by Julia James
He smiled at her in return, the lamp on the table softening his features. In the dim light, Nikos looked less formidable than he so often did.
‘You’re a very complaisant wife—do you know that, Diana?’ he observed. ‘How many other brides would be so undemanding?’
She gave a laugh. ‘Good heavens, I’m perfectly capable of entertaining myself for a day, Nikos. So you go off and get your business done. Anyway, it’s not like I’m a real bride, after all,’ she finished lightly.
Was there a strange look in his eyes suddenly, or was it just the flickering candlelight?
His voice was lazily amused when he replied. ‘That very swish wedding seemed real enough to me.’
She made a face. ‘Oh, you know what I mean!’ she exclaimed, taking another piece of fruit.
‘Do I?’ he replied, in that same lazily amused tone.
‘Of course you do!’ she said in mock exasperation.
She made herself look straight at him. She had to put it behind her—right behind her—that stupid, totally inappropriate mooning that had come over her when she’d been showering. There was no place for it—none, she told herself sternly.
I have to crush it down if it ever strikes again. Blank it and ignore it until it no longer exists.
He didn’t answer, only continued to hold her gaze a moment longer with that same quizzical, amused look in his eye which she was making herself meet in a determinedly unaffected fashion. Then he broke contact, reaching for the bottle of wine and moving to refill her glass.
She covered it with her hand. ‘I’d better not. I’m starting to yawn already,’ she said.
She didn’t want any more discussion about the nature of their marriage. It didn’t need to be discussed. Let alone questioned. It was useful to both of them. Nothing more than useful. End of, she told herself firmly.
He accepted her decision. ‘Well, it’s been quite a day,’ he said.
‘It certainly has,’ she said lightly.
Light—that’s the way I have to be. Keeping everything nice and light. Or composed and businesslike. And friendly. Easy-going. Bright and cheerful. Or—
She ran out of adjectives that described the kind of behaviour that she needed to demonstrate for the next two years of marriage with Nikos.
A yawn started in her throat and she was unable to prevent it. She made another face. ‘That’s it, I’m calling it a day,’ she said, and started to get to her feet. ‘I’m off to bed.’
He stood up, helping her with her chair. He seemed very tall beside her suddenly.
‘Goodnight, then,’ he said. There was still that lazy note in his voice. ‘Enjoy your bridal bed.’
There was nothing but amusement in his voice, Diana was sure, because obviously there couldn’t be anything else. Not in a marriage like theirs.
So she answered in the same vein. ‘Indeed I shall,’ she agreed. ‘I wonder if it’s been deluged in rose petals again?’
An eyebrow tilted. ‘Shall I come and check for you?’
‘Thank you, no. I’m sure I can sweep them away with my own fair hand,’ she said, lightly but firmly.
Then she beat a retreat. Any banter, however light-hearted, about bridal beds and rose petals was best shut down swiftly. Any banter at all between her and Nikos about anything that could have the slightest sexual connotation should not even be acknowledged. It had no place in their marriage. None at all.
And she had to make sure it stayed that way. Absolutely sure.
* * *
The following day passed very pleasantly for Diana. Nikos went off to his business appointments and she went browsing in the tourist souks, lunched at the hotel, then had a lazy afternoon poolside.
Nikos returned early evening, just as she got back up to their suite, his mood excellent.
‘Good meetings?’ she enquired.
‘Highly satisfactory,’ he said.
He disappeared down to the pool to cool off, and by the time he came back up Diana was ready. They’d agreed to try out one of the other restaurants at the hotel, less formal than where they’d dined their first night. Tonight she wore a cocktail dress in pale blue had used minimum make-up and wore low-heeled shoes. Nikos looked relaxed and casual in an open-neck shirt, turned-back cuffs and no tie.
He looked devastatingly attractive, but she refused to pay attention to that fact. Instead she chattered on about her adventures in the souks as they tucked into the Italian-style dishes.
‘Buy any gold?’ he asked, with a lift of his eyebrow.
‘A few bits and pieces,’ she conceded. ‘I know it’s not hallmarked, but I couldn’t resist. And,’ she added, ‘I bought a carpet! I saw it and thought it would be perfect for the library at Greymont—the one there is very moth-eaten now. I’m having it shipped home directly.’ She made a moue. ‘I probably got diddled over the price, because I’m not much good at haggling, but it seemed good value to me all the same. Cheaper than a dealer in London, at any rate.’
‘A good morning’s work,’ he said, and smiled.
His mood was excellent, and not just because he’d had a very productive meeting with one of the Sheikh’s key people, but also because Diana was clearly considerably more relaxed with him this evening. His careful strategy was working—get her comfortable with him, let her lower her guard, so she would be ready to accept what was inevitable between them. Ready to accept her own desire for him and his her for her.
The ice maiden melted in passion. Made mine at last...
And now, thanks to the Prince and Princess, he was going to be presented with the absolutely perfect setting in which to do so.
‘Oh, desperately strenuous!’ she laughed. ‘So I rewarded myself with lazing by the pool all afternoon.’
He looked her over. ‘You’re starting to tan,’ he said. ‘It suits you.’
There was nothing particularly provocative in the way he was inspecting her, but she had to steel herself all the same.
‘How sweet of you to notice,’ she said, making her voice lightly humorous. ‘I’m still using huge amounts of sun cream all the same!’
He smiled. ‘Well, make sure you take plenty with you when we head off into the desert tomorrow.’
She looked at him. ‘Desert?’ Had he planned an expedition? Dune-bashing perhaps?
But it was not dune-bashing.
‘Yes. I’ve had a communiqué from the palace.’ He paused, letting his eyes rest on Diana. ‘Apparently it has pleased the Princess to request that her brother the Sheikh lends us the use of his...ah...“desert love-nest”, I believe is the term the Princess used, since we are here on our honeymoon...’
Dismay filled Diana’s face. ‘Nikos, we can’t possibly accept!’
She’d deliberately not told him what Princess Fatima had said to her—had hoped the Princess would forget all about it, or that her brother would turn down any request she might make. But in vain...
His expression changed. ‘Diana, we can’t possibly not.’ His tone was adamant. ‘It would cause grave offence to do so. It’s a singular honour, and an indication of how the Princess has taken to you.’
‘To refuse would be to offend...’ Diana echoed in a hollow voice.
‘Exactly,’ Nikos confirmed in that same steely voice. Then his expression softened, and there was a humorous glint in his eye now. ‘Think of it as an adventure. You’ll be able to dine out on it in years to come.’
She gave a disheartened sigh. ‘I suppose so,’ she said reluctantly.
Her mood had plummeted. For a start, she felt a total hypocrite. A complete fraud. Here was Princess Fatima, bestowing upon her what she fondly imagined would be a fantastically romantic interlude, when it was the very last thing that was appropriate for her and Nikos.
But there was more to her dismay than the consciousness of being a hypocritical fraud. The thought of being wafted off to a desert hideaway, all on her own with Nikos...
Sternly, she rallied herself. There was nothing she could do to evade
this, and it would, after all, be very good schooling for her to get more and more used to being with Nikos. It would help her to get over this ridiculous overreaction to him she had.
It was an instruction she kept repeating to herself as they set off the next day, heading out into the desert in a luxurious leather-seated, air-conditioned SUV with jacked-up wheels that would clear the desert sand, shielded from the burning heat outside.
It was a heat that deepened as they left the coast and drove along black metalled roads that glistened in the sunshine, first across scrubby flat land and then snaking amongst towering sand dunes that signalled the start of the fabled Empty Quarter.
Diana gazed rapt at the desert scenery which was gradually becoming rockier. The road wound through deep gullies and past oases of palm trees, with few signs of habitation and an occasional glint of murky-looking water. Camels—some being herded along in a chain, some merely wandering on their own, presumably either wild or having been let out to graze as and where they could—wandered along the roadside sometimes, but otherwise there was little visible sign of life.
Though they’d set out early in the morning, in order to catch what amounted to the coolest part of the day, it was nearing lunchtime when they finally arrived. They had been through a village of sorts, and what looked to Diana’s eyes like some kind of military base, and now, about half an hour’s drive thereafter, a building hove into view that at first she thought merely to be an outcrop of rock.
But she realised as they approached that it was a small, square building, made of the same sand-coloured stone as the earth, two storeys tall against the surrounding desert. Only a perimeter fence indicated that there was something special about the place—and the guards standing to attention as they drove through the metal gates to approach the building itself. High, arched double doors opened wide, and the four-by-four drove through with a flourish to enter what was soon revealed to be an outer courtyard.
Along with Nikos she climbed down. Palace servants were running forward to help. At once the heat struck her, clamping around her like a vice. Immediately she felt perspiration bead on her spine, despite the loose cotton shirt she was wearing. The glare of the sun after the tinted windows of the vehicle made her reach for her dark glasses.
‘We need to get inside,’ Nikos murmured, putting his arm around her waist and guiding her forward.
She craned her head as she walked towards the ornately carved inner doors that were opening as if controlled by a magic genie, and entered what she realised was the inner courtyard—the palace itself.
The love-nest.
CHAPTER SIX
DIANA GAVE A gasp of pleasure.
‘Oh, how absolutely beautiful!’ she exclaimed spontaneously.
The courtyard was an exquisite garden—an oasis with trickling fountains in stone basins, little channels that wound about bordered by greenery, the whole edged with vine-covered columns creating shady arbours under which marble benches were set.
They were ushered forward by bowing servants into the interior of the bijou palace, and Diana gazed in pleasure at the delicate fretwork archways and the inlaid marble columns as they went up to the upper floor where the royal apartments were. There might be only one bedroom, huge though it was, but the day room—or whatever it might be called in Arabic—contained plenty of silk-swathed divans, which would, she hoped uneasily, solve the sleeping situation.
Quite how she would cope she didn’t know, but somehow she would. She must.
For now, though, what she wanted was a bathroom to freshen up in, and she was relieved to discover it was western in style. Even so, as she took a cooling shower she kept her water usage to the minimum, mindful that they were in the middle of a desert. Then she donned a calf-length, floaty, fine cotton flower-printed dress, draped a chiffon scarf over her hair and bare shoulders.
She found Nikos, also showered and changed, waiting for her by an arched colonnade that looked out on the wide room-length balcony. Lunch had been set out for them, and as they took their places, soft-footed servants unobtrusively waiting on them, Diana resolved that however inappropriate being in an Arabian love-nest might be for her and Nikos, they might as well make the most of this privileged stay.
Lunch passed congenially while they chatted in what had now become quite a comfortable fashion, on subjects roaming from the journey they’d had that morning to more intellectual consideration of the geopolitics of the region and the impact on world affairs and global economics.
Nikos was, as Diana already knew, very well informed, and she found it stimulating to discuss such matters with him. It struck her that he was a far more interesting person to talk to than most of her friends and acquaintances. He had a world view that they lacked, a broadness of opinion and a highly incisive intelligence. No wonder he’d come so far in his life.
I never find his company tedious, she found herself thinking.
So often when she was talking to people socially she was conscious of simply going through the motions—saying what was proper, most of it trivial but socially acceptable, anodyne, appropriate to the occasion. She could do it in her sleep, but it was hardly a mental workout. Exchanging views and arguments with Nikos was quite the opposite, and she found that she really enjoyed trying to keep up with him.
We get on surprisingly well.
The thought was suddenly in her head, lingering a moment, and then, as the leisurely meal ended, Nikos brought the subject round to themselves again.
‘So, how do you want to spend the afternoon?’ he asked her. His tone was easy, relaxed, his glance at her the same.
‘Camel riding?’ she suggested, with a hint of humour in her voice.
He nodded. ‘We must most definitely do so while we are here—but not in the main heat of the day. However, there’s a pool if we want it—though for me...’ Nikos flexed his long legs ‘...I wouldn’t mind a good workout after our long drive and this highly delicious lunch—there’s a gym here too.’
‘Well, why don’t you?’ Diana smiled amiably, then smothered a yawn. ‘I have to say that our early-morning start and that large lunch is making taking a siesta very tempting!’
And that was what she did, dozing peacefully for a good couple of hours or more.
The palace had been built long before air-conditioning, and used the ancient Arabian technique of maximising the up-draught of air through cleverly positioned open archways and slatted wooden windows to create a cooling effect.
When she finally arose, much refreshed, it was to be served with mint tea and tiny pastries, before going to change into her swimming costume and sarong and being shown down to the pool. It was situated in the gardens that stretched beyond the palace, away from the entrance they’d arrived at, bordered by a high stone wall and fronted by palm trees for total privacy.
The heat was beginning to ebb, she fancied, and once she was wet it was much cooler as she swam lazily around, feeling her loose hair streaming sleekly behind her. A sense of well-being eased through her. This really was a magical experience, and however inapplicable it was for her and Nikos to be here in the Sheikh’s love-nest it was not an experience she would ever have again.
‘So this is where you are.’
Nikos’s voice penetrated her consciousness and she looked up from her lazy circling of the pool to see him standing at the water’s edge. He looked even taller from this low perspective, and he’d clearly done a vigorous workout indeed. His T-shirt was damp, so were his shorts, and his muscles were pumped.
A moment later she saw even more than his shoulders, biceps and quads. He peeled off the damp shirt and chucked it, then yanked off his trainers. A moment later he was in the pool beside her, under the water, then surfacing in a flurry of diamond droplets, shaking the water from his eyelashes and grinning.
‘Wow! That feels good!’ he exclaimed feelingly. He looked at Diana. ‘Apparently the temperature will start dropping once the sun has set, and for that I shall be grateful.’ He quirked an eyeb
row in his characteristic manner. ‘Do you fancy some star-gazing later on? There’s a very fancy telescope up on the roof, I’m told, but even without that the show should be spectacular.’
As he spoke, he found himself thinking about Nadya for a moment. He’d never have made such a suggestion to her. She’d have looked at him as if he were mad, and then counter-suggested going to a fashionable nightspot instead, where she could enjoy being seen and admired.
He frowned inwardly. Had he really never noticed how limited Nadya was? She was a professional to the hilt in her work, but when it came to anything else—from astronomy to geopolitics—her eyes would glaze over.
Diana’s eyes brightened and sharpened—she listened and responded, sometimes agreeing, sometimes arguing a counterpoint, putting a different perspective and engaging vigorously, holding her corner, but open to new views as well.
She was open to the prospect of studying the night sky too. She was smiling enthusiastically at his suggestion, as he’d thought she would.
‘Oh, yes please!’ she said eagerly.
‘Great,’ Nikos returned, banishing the memories of Nadya’s time in his life, utterly irrelevant to him now that he had Diana.
Diana, who was opening the door to the next stage of his life with her impeccable background, her very own stately home, the upper-class world she had been born into and which he would now enjoy as her husband, the world she took for granted, the world he himself had had no right to. Diana would give him that and more.
Diana was the woman he desired for her cool pale beauty, the woman he was so close to making his own in the most intimate way.
Soon...so very soon now.
With a flexing of his muscles he executed a perfect duck-dive and disappeared under the water completely, swimming strongly to the end of the pool and back several times before needing to surface.
Diana watched him admiringly. ‘That’s amazing breath control,’ she told him as he finally broke the water.