The Sheikh's Impatient Virgin

by Kim Lawrence

  ‘It was quite a big bad experience, Karim, and,’ she added, nipping gently at the curve of his beautiful mouth, ‘you have educated me too.’ She let her bold sultry gaze linger on his mouth and added with a throaty chuckle, ‘And I rather enjoyed the instruction. You’re a very good teacher.’

  Not proof against this form of provocation, with a groan Karim slid her beneath him, pinning her arms either side of her face, and fitted his mouth to hers.

  It was several breathless minutes later that Karim resumed his story.

  ‘I was trapped into a loveless marriage and after seven years of celibacy—’ He nuzzled his nose against hers before pulling back a little to drink in her face, taking in each feature and the smooth curve of her cheek. ‘You are adorable,’ he breathed, lifting a strand of hair from her cheek to give him access to her smooth throat. Eva’s eyelids dropped and her breath came in fluttering sighs as he kissed his way towards her mouth. Once there he looked into her half-closed eyes with such glowing adoration shining in his that her heart stood still as he pressed a butterfly kiss to each corner of the soft, quivering curve.

  ‘There was nobody else?’ Her expression was dreamy as she forced the words past the aching lump in her throat. ‘I really can’t believe this is happening…’ She stopped abruptly in the act of pulling his head down and her eyes flew wide. ‘Seven years! You didn’t have sex for seven years.’

  ‘This surprises you? That I would respect the vows I made…?’

  ‘Oh, no, it isn’t that,’ she rushed to assure him. She had learnt pretty early that, far from being the shallow playboy stereotype the media liked to paint him, Karim possessed strong moral principles. Sometimes she thought he took it too far. ‘It’s just that’s a long time and you’re very…’ She stopped, feeling the heat climb to her cheeks.

  Would there ever be a day, she wondered in frustration, when she didn’t blush like a schoolgirl?

  Karim arched a brow and grinned broadly at her discomfiture. ‘I am?’ he prompted.

  Feeling the laughter vibrating in his chest, she batted his ear playfully and said, ‘All right, you’re such an animal in bed I can’t imagine you going two days without sex, let alone seven years!’ Eva teased, only half joking.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, no longer hiding his amusement. ‘But it is you, my little one, who brings out the beast in me. Actually a man can channel his energies.’ He stopped, the sardonic smile fading from his face as he looked at her.

  ‘The truth is there has never been anything in my life I could not control, including my emotions and libido—until I met you. I have wondered recently if I would have been able to show such nobility and self-sacrifice if I had met you while I was still married. To find you and be unable to claim you as my own would have been, I think…more than I could bear.’

  Moved to the point of tears by his admission, she curved her hands around his face. ‘Well, it didn’t happen that way around. You’d already been on the open market for some time and from what I have heard you made up for lost time.’

  He accepted the caustic observation with a wolfish grin. ‘I must admit then I was enjoying my freedom. I knew that marriage was necessary but I was in no hurry and then…’

  ‘Then I trapped you in my web.’

  ‘Do not remind me what I said!’ he begged. ‘I was a fool!’ he observed, rolling onto his back and pulling her on top of him.

  Eva planted her hands either side of his face, and gazed down into his dark features, a bemused frown creasing her smooth brow. ‘Why did she do it, Karim? Why did she marry you if she already had a lover?’

  ‘It was a simple matter of expedience. She said there was no chance of this man she loved marrying her and marriage to me was the only way to avoid disgrace. She was,’ he recalled drily, ‘very frank. She said she had considered not telling me and letting me think the baby was mine, but she decided to tell me the truth.’

  ‘A bit late in the day to have a crisis of conscience!’ Eva exclaimed, utterly appalled on his behalf.

  He conceded this with a shrug, feeling the throb of desire as he spread his fingers over the curve of one perfect breast. Above him Eva closed her eyes and gave a small gasp of pleasure.

  ‘It was not conscience that made her reveal her condition, but a repugnance at the idea of sharing my bed.’

  If Eva had ever had any doubts she now knew the woman had been barking mad!

  ‘She did offer to fulfil her wifely duties after the baby was born,’ he admitted, grimacing at the memory. ‘But I passed.’

  ‘You didn’t sleep with her ever?’

  He shook his head.

  Eva rolled away from him and, arm curved above her head, stared at the ceiling as she reeled slightly under the impact of the revelations. It was particularly ironic when you considered how she had been tormented by the conviction that every time she screwed up Karim was comparing her with his perfect first wife.

  ‘Who is Amira’s father?’

  ‘I am, Eva.’

  Eva turned her head and smiled lovingly. ‘I know…did anyone ever suspect?’

  ‘Obviously the hospital knew—that was inevitable. The blood tests proved that I could not be her biological father…completely ruling me out as a possible bone-marrow donor.’ The inability had at the time driven him to despair.

  ‘And Hakim.’

  ‘He was the one who initially diagnosed Amira. I think he suspects, but I know he would say nothing. Zara never told me who the father was and I did not ask. All I know is that he was a married man.’

  ‘What did you do…say…when she told you?’ It was a scenario that Eva could not even imagine.

  ‘What could I say? Our marriage was a sham. The only good thing to come out of it was Amira. I was determined to do my duty, but I never expected to feel genuine attachment, paternal feelings for another man’s child,’ he admitted. ‘But when she was born and I held her the bonding—it was instant. Zara went through the motions but she wanted a boy…she never really forgave Amira for being a girl.’

  Eva’s horror at the lack of maternal feeling showed in her expression as she shook her head and said, ‘How could any mother…? I just don’t understand…’

  ‘Of course you don’t,’ he said, his deep voice thick with emotion as he wrapped his arms tight around her. ‘You will love our babies unconditionally. You will forgive them anything just as you have forgiven me.’

  ‘Did she ever see him again, her lover?’

  Karim gave an uninterested shrug. ‘Possibly. She took lovers during our marriage but she was always discreet.’

  Eva did not hide her astonishment. ‘And you didn’t care?’

  He nodded. ‘Why would I? But do not let this give you any ideas, mon coeur. I would not be similarly disinterested if you ever looked at another man.’

  Eva laughed at the absurdity of the idea and teased, ‘Then you’ll just have to make sure I don’t get bored with you.’

  ‘I bore you?’

  ‘You…’ She paused, the teasing light fading from her eyes as her voice dropped a husky emotional octave. ‘You complete me, Karim. You make me a whole person. I think without you I would fade away and not exist at all.’

  His eyes darkened with passion as he murmured her name. ‘Before I met you I believed…I believed in duty in a man’s ability to shape his future, but I didn’t believe in anything I could not touch and feel. I did not believe in love, then you came into my life and all that changed.

  ‘At this meeting today I told them that should we not be able to conceive at a time of my choosing I would step down…abdicate.’

  Eva stared at him, convinced she had misheard. ‘Why would you do that…?’ She shook her head, her thoughts in a whirl. What he was saying made no sense. Karim’s duty to his country and his people would always be an integral part of him.

  ‘I don’t believe it.’

  Karim’s lips curled into a grim smile. His advisors had not, either, and when they had realised that he mean
t what he said they had suddenly become less eager to set a deadline.

  ‘You couldn’t abdicate. This is your life.’

  ‘You are my life. I would give my life for my land, the people, but without you beside me I have not the…’ He swallowed as he lifted his shining eyes to her face. He struggled to control his erratic breathing as he placed a hand to his heaving chest and husked. ‘Heart!’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I would not have the heart to do this alone, Eva. You are my heart and my strength.

  ‘If they want me, I come as a package and if I fail to supply an heir I will be honour-bound to step down and it will be Hakim’s turn. Our playboy doctor must take the helm.’

  ‘I can’t let you do this, Karim,’ she gasped.

  ‘I am doing nothing but give myself permission to love you. Would you deny me this, mon coeur? My life has been all about duty up to this point—have I not a right to be selfish?’

  ‘You say this now and I know you believe it, but if…’ she sniffed, struggling to hold back the tears ‘…if we don’t have a baby and you do this, you throw it all away, you will grow in time to resent me. This country to you is like…like…it’s like the Church is to a priest.’

  He looked startled. ‘A bad-fitting analogy,’ he chided with a laugh. ‘I am not priest material. And do not believe that I don’t understand your fears,’ he added gently. ‘But,’ he told her firmly, ‘this is not about sacrifice. I have my family—you and Amira. My country will survive without me but I will not survive without you. The equation is that simple. Life is at its heart that simple.’

  Eva listened to his impassioned words with tears of emotion flowing unchecked down her cheeks. She could not believe this incredible man loved her that much. ‘And I can’t survive without you, Karim,’ she whispered.

  ‘Then do not cry. I cannot bear to see you cry, Eva. There is nothing to cry about. I see you with a baby in your arms.’

  Eva gave a wistful sigh. ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Hope does not make babies,’ he said, drawing her to him. ‘But I know what does.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘I do, ma belle,’ he confirmed, smiling deep into her eyes.

  She kissed the corner of his beautiful mouth and rubbed her nose against his. ‘Show me?’

  ‘I thought you’d never ask!’ he sighed with a grin.

  Nine months later Karim was regretting his success in the baby department.

  He had read all the books. He had attended all the classes. He had felt confident and well equipped to cope with what was to come; he had been looking forward to it…!

  And then Eva had gone into labour and nothing had followed the plan he had helped her write and nobody seemed particularly surprised.

  It also quickly became obvious that all the literature skimmed too lightly over the pain part; nothing had prepared him for watching his wife endure agony for hours on end. Amira had been born by a forceps delivery and he had not been allowed in the room.

  And the female doctors and midwives appeared to respond to everything he said with the same patronising smile.

  And the helplessness, that was the worst—to watch her suffer and not be able to do anything about it.

  He closed his eyes as, when urged to push by the doctor, Eva let out a cry that made his blood freeze.

  And nobody seemed to act as if this were anything untoward!

  It was clearly time he took charge.

  ‘I think she needs a Caesarean. There are obviously complications.’

  The doctor smiled; they were all so damned cheerful. ‘Your wife is doing extremely well, Prince Karim.’

  ‘Karim,’ Eva gasped. ‘Will you please sit down? I’m trying to concentrate.’

  ‘But…?’

  ‘Just do it, Karim.’

  Recognising the tone, he did as she requested. He had barely taken his place beside the bed when the doctor said, ‘The head is crowning…the next contraction…push hard.’

  In the final stages his fascination overcame his fear, and as Karim watched his son being born his eyes filled with tears. It was the most emotional moment of his life, until ten minutes later when his daughter followed her brother into the world screaming loudly and sporting a full head of bright red hair.

  ‘Oh, you poor little love,’ Eva said when her daughter was placed in her arms. ‘You got the hair.’ Her son had been born as dark as his father.

  Carrying his firstborn, Karim sat down on the bed beside her and looked into the perfect face of his daughter. ‘She’s beautiful,’ he said, raising his voice to be heard above her shrill cries.

  ‘And loud,’ Eva added with a smile as she lifted the blanket to take another look at their son.

  ‘You were marvellous, Eva, incredible,’ he said, pressing a long lingering kiss to her lips. ‘That,’ he added, expelling a long shuddering sigh, ‘was the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me.’

  Eva looked up at her handsome husband, the love shining like a beacon in her eyes.

  ‘You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Karim. Nine months to the day,’ she added with a naughty smile. ‘When you decide to make a baby you really don’t do half measures, do you?’

  ‘I must admit I did not foresee this level of success.’

  Eva, weary but glowing with contentment, leaned back into the pillows. ‘I remember the look on your face when they said it was twins.’ The sheer panic on her normally über-controlled husband’s face had been priceless.

  ‘It was hot in that room, very poorly ventilated.’ He broke off and grinned. ‘I thought I was ready for this…I was so wrong. I’m sorry…’

  ‘You were fantastic, the perfect distraction from the pain,’ she added with a teasing smile. ‘Though the staff might not agree,’ she admitted.

  ‘Shall I fetch Amira?’

  ‘Please. How about you give that one to me and you go and fetch their big sister?’

  Karim placed the baby carefully in the crook of her free arm and, looking back at the picture they made, paused and sighed. ‘I really am the luckiest man in the world. Remind me to give Tariq a raise for drugging me.’

  ‘Tariq would work for you for free,’ she told him with a laugh. ‘And you know it.’

  A few minutes later, with her husband by her side, her babies in her arms and their sister holding their hands with an expression of awed wonder on her face, Eva found herself echoing Karim’s sentiments.

  ‘We’re the luckiest people in the world,’ she said huskily.

  Karim bent over and kissed her until he was obliged to stop to allow Eva to attend to her noisy daughter.

  ‘You don’t suppose she’s going to do that every time I kiss you, do you?’ Karim asked as he watched Eva put the baby to her breast.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Eva asked, her eyes on his face.

  ‘The sheer miracle of it all kept coming over me in waves,’ he admitted. ‘I still can’t believe we came in as three this morning and we’ll go home tomorrow as five.’

  ‘You promised me a miracle, Karim, and you delivered.’ And he would, she knew, carry on doing just that. Eva gave a contented sigh. She knew she could face whatever the future might hold with her husband at her side.

  He looked at her tired face and felt his heart swell. ‘Now I am going to deliver on some sleep. Give me those two,’ he said, consulting his watch. ‘And do not think of moving for the next two hours.’

  ‘Is that a royal command?’

  ‘It’s a humble request.’

  Eva gave a sleepy laugh. Her husband did not do humble, but he did everything else extremely well indeed, she thought, closing her eyes.

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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  First published in Great Britain 2009

  Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,

  Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Kim Lawrence 2009

  ISBN: 978-1-4089-1307-9