Ilara groaned, then faced Zuri. “Are you going to tell me? Or is it a secret?”
Ilara gasped when Jabril was tossed again. “It’s not a secret,” Zuri explained. “He has a little girl. He is disgustingly wealthy and his wife, or ex-wife now, I guess, is using their daughter to extort more money from him. It’s been a brutal divorce that’s been splashed all over the papers. I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it.”
“Oh! Right! That actress who can cry at the drop of a hat.” Ilara turned and looked at the man with fresh eyes. “He’s the father of a little girl?” she gasped.
“Yes. Believe it or not, Sebastian Hughes used to be an incredibly eligible bachelor before that horrible woman got her claws into him. But the divorce has been…difficult.”
Zuri sighed and turned to watch Tarin. He was speaking with Ryker, both of them about equal in height and breadth. And while Ryker was handsome in a striking way with dark hair and an intense face, he couldn’t hold a candle to Tarin.
She sighed, wondering why Tarin hadn’t slept with her last night. She’d been in the bed alone, only one side of their bed messed up.
Where had he slept? Had he found another woman? Did he have a mistress here in the palace that he went to for comfort? Had he spent the night with her?
The idea was too painful to contemplate and she turned away, needing a bit of space to catch her breath.
“I have to go,” she told Ilara. “I…” she’d come looking for Tarin for some reason. But for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what that reason was now. “I have to go.”
With that, she left the gym, leaving the men to battle their demons.
Entering the dining room, she froze at the entrance, startled to find the room swarming with guests. Shoot! This was her wedding breakfast!
She should be standing here on the threshold of the dining room on Tarin’s arm. Or even better, having breakfast in bed with her new husband. Or even better, not having breakfast! Having him!
The crowd seemed to be just as startled as she was, but they rallied quickly. Everyone put their forks, plates, and glasses down, the people standing in the buffet line handing their plates to servants or balancing them precariously on the table in between the serving platters. And everyone clapped!
Zuri had absolutely no idea what to do. Her cheeks heated as the applause increased in volume. “Thank you,” she finally said, lifting her hands in the air. Her stomach churned and she prayed that she could maintain her balance as she looked out over the room. Thankfully, there were only about fifty people eating breakfast, but she still wanted to run away and hide.
Instead, she stepped into the dining room, doing her best to thank everyone for dropping everything to be here for her wedding. It was such a crazy moment, and every step, every greeting, only increased her anger.
This was her fault, but it was also Tarin’s! She shouldn’t be here! She should be in bed with him, enjoying his body and spending time in his arms. But was she there? No! Why? Because he hadn’t slept with her! He’d abandoned her on their wedding night!
Ignoring the fact that she’d fallen asleep on him last night, her temper only increased as she made her way through the dining room. By the time she’d greeted everyone and exchanged pleasantries, she was furious and ready to…well, she wasn’t going to beat anyone up. Not after having witnessed Tarin and the others in the gym. She’d probably only amuse Tarin if she even attempted something like what he’d been doing to Ryker.
But still! This was no way to treat her!
When all of the guests had been greeted, she slipped out of the dining room, making her way back to his apartment.
Slamming the door shut, she heard the shower in the bathroom and…well, first she pushed the image of him naked out of her mind. This was not the time to start thinking about him naked. And wet. And…well, any of those other things that popped into her mind.
No, this was the time for a confrontation.
Pacing back and forth, she fumed, ready to unleash her anger on him. How dare he ignore her! How dare he have her sleep alone! By now, all of the servants knew that they’d slept apart! Her wedding was less than twenty-four hours old and already she was the talk of the servants!
Chapter 13
Zuri was so angry, so hurt, and felt so neglected that she couldn’t stop the anger from lashing out when he appeared from his dressing room several minutes later.
“Don’t you dare leave this room, Tarin!” she yelled.
Thankfully, he stopped and turned to face her, his expression startled at first, but as the sight of her, his features shifted to resignation. His expression made her heart ache.
“Give me one good reason why I should stay?” he demanded.
Angrily, she swiped at a tear, reminding herself to be strong. “Because I’m sick of the silent treatment! I didn’t get into this predicament on my own! I begged you to stay away from me! I didn’t want this wedding and neither did you!”
Shaking his head, he looked down at the thick, burgundy carpet for a moment, then back up at her. “I wanted to marry you, Zuri! I wanted to share my life with you! You’re the one who kept pulling back, dragging your feet, and refusing to set a wedding date. What the hell do you want from me?!”
She couldn’t hold back the tears, which streamed down her cheeks. She saw no reason to hide her feelings any longer. She was already trapped. Why hide now?
“I want you to love me! I want you to feel even a fraction of what I feel for you! I want to walk into a room and take your breath away! Because that’s what happens to me every time you walk into a room. I want you to talk to me and make love to me and tell me that you love me! But you don’t! You just want a wife and an heir! I’m sick of it! I tried to avoid this, because I knew that you’d never feel for me the way I felt for you, the way I’ve always felt towards you! But you couldn’t just stay away! You couldn’t tell my brother that a marriage between us was a bad idea! So now we’re here and we’re stuck and I love you and I hate you and…”
She couldn’t say anything else because she was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, her heart aching as she crumpled into a chair. The sobs racked her tiny frame, hurting her lungs as she ached to feel his arms around her again. But not the polite, horribly appropriate touches that he’d given her lately. She wanted the passion, the excitement. She wanted him to…
Strong arms wrapped around her, but she fought his embrace furiously. “Don’t touch me!” she shrieked. “Don’t touch me ever again! You don’t love me!”
“Zuri, stop it! You’re going to hurt yourself,” he gently took her hands as her knees gave out. He drew her into his lap, stroking her hair.
By this point, she was crying so hard, she didn’t even care. There was no fight left in her and she sobbed into his shoulder, releasing the heartache she could no longer contain.
“Honey, I love you. I’ve loved you for so long,” he whispered, rubbing her back as he pulled her closer.
“You don’t have to say that,” she sniffled, trying to stop the horrendous sobs. “I understand that you don’t…” She couldn’t finish because he kissed her.
Desperate, she lifted her tear stained face, kissing him back even though she knew that she should pull away.
When he lifted his head, she licked her lips, wanting so much more. He was looking at her strangely but she was too tired, too worn out from her outburst to interpret his expression.
“I love you,” he repeated, his voice deep and husky.
She smiled sadly. “You don’t have to say that, Tarin. I…” Once again, he stopped her with a kiss.
This time, when he lifted his head, his hand was under her shirt. “I love you, Zuri. I’ve been trying to show you how much I loved you this whole time. But…” he lifted his hand, looking at it. “I know how to rule, Zuri. I know how to protect my country and my family.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how to tell you things sometimes. So instead of the words, I’ve tried to show you with
actions. By loving you in the only way I understood.”
“By making love to me?” she whispered. A tiny ember of hope burst into flames inside of her chest.
“Yes. By making love to you. By showing you. By giving you as much joy as I possibly could.”
“I didn’t understand, Tarin. I thought…I thought you only wanted me physically. And you’ve loved so many women over the years.”
“No, I had sex with those other women. I made love to you.”
Her eyes widened. “That day…several months ago! When you said that, I stopped you!”
“Yes. And I was furious with you for not understanding. I took that to mean you didn’t feel the same way.”
“I did. I just…You love me?”
He nodded his head, chuckling at her stunned expression. “Yes!” That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time!”
“I need the words, Tarin. You’ve ‘said’ the same thing to too many other women. I need words. I need to understand.”
“Fine,” he told her and turned her around so that she was straddling his hips. “I love you. I’ve been trying to court you all this time, but every time I’m near you, things…seemed to get out of hand.”
“Court me?”
“No, you annoying woman,” he growled, but softened his words by kissing her. “By showing my regard and respect for you.” He shook his head. “But every time I tried, we ended up in bed.”
“We rarely made it to the bed,” she corrected.
“Good point.” He eyed the bed behind them. “There’s one right there.”
She ignored his comment. “Why didn’t you say the words, Tarin?”
“At first, I didn’t understand myself. All I knew was that I enjoyed your company. You were always so spirited with the comebacks and ready to try and put me in my place.”
“I did put you in your place!” she argued, but ruined the retort by sniffling inelegantly.
He laughed. “You tried. But I think we waged a pretty even battle over the past few months.”
“Okay, I’ll concede that much. But…”
“But you needed the words and I failed to tell you,” he finished for her. “I’d like to point out that I needed the words as well and you never told me how you felt either.”
She shifted guiltily, but because she was on his lap, the movement was oddly off-putting. “Because you were always bossing me around, demanding that I set the date for our wedding. Why do you think I wanted to hold off?”
“Because you’re stubborn,” he replied, then lifted her into his arms. “And because you wanted me to grovel.”
She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’d never grovel,” she pointed out.
He put her down on the bed, staring intently into her eyes. “I will for you, Zuri,”
She sighed and shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t want you to. But I wouldn’t mind hearing you tell me that you love me a few more times.”
“I love you,” he growled, shifting slightly. “I love you,” and he kissed her, teasing her as he pulled her clothes out of the way. “I love you, Zuri, my queen.”
She sighed, feeling as if her world was finally clicking into place. “And you’re not upset that I’m pregnant so quickly?”
He froze, looking up at her. “Are you serious?” he asked, shifting again, but this time he held himself away from her as he glared down at her. “I’m over the moon that you’re going to have our baby.” Shifting again, he leaned so that he could lay one hand over her flat stomach. “This child is a physical manifestation of how I feel about you. This child is how much I love you, Zuri. It means everything to me. I’m thrilled, excited, and…” he looked at her curiously. “And I love you more because you are pregnant with our child.”
She smiled, relieved and so excited. Lifting her arms, she wrapped them around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I needed to hear that. I was afraid that you might…”
“What?” he asked when she stopped.
“That you might resent our child or me or our circumstances.”
“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “Never! In fact, if you hadn’t gotten pregnant, I wonder if you ever would have agreed to marry me.”
She laughed and leaned into him so that she could feel more of his body against hers. “I would have eventually confronted you about your feelings for me,” she told him. “And maybe you would have been brave enough to tell me that you loved me.”
“Don’t ever doubt it,” he said.
Epilogue
“She’s beautiful,” Zuri whispered worshipfully, starring down at her infant daughter with tear-filled eyes.
“I agree,” Tarin looked frazzled after twenty-four hours of labor. “Almost as beautiful as you are, love,” he whispered against her lips. He kissed her. “I can’t believe that we have a beautiful little girl.”
“Your future heir,” she corrected, waiting for his reaction.
Tarin’s eyes narrowed slightly as he took in her words. “My heir?”
“The future ruler of Catare, right?” she offered.
“But…” he looked at her, horrified and confused. “Honey, she’s a girl.”
Zuri continued to look up at him, unblinking and resolute. “Yes? And?”
Tarin started to say something, then closed his mouth. “You’re just provoking me, aren’t you?”
“Nope,” she whispered back. “It took me years to get you to admit that you love me,” she teased. “But I’m up for the challenge of getting you to allow your first born to rule Catare when she’s old enough.”
“We’ll talk about it later, once you’re feeling better.”
Zuri smiled, that secret smile that never failed to make his insides tighten with desire and love. “Oh, yeah. We’ll talk about it.”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t want our daughter to suffer the same fate as you.”
“What fate is that?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t want her to have to be stuck in a fate that is predetermined for her,” he teased.
Oh, he was good! “Excellent point! And one we will discuss at another time. Right now, I want to enjoy being just with you and with our daughter.”
“Good idea.”
Tarin made a mental note to talk to his poker buddies about this situation. A woman ruling a country? What a crazy thought! Zuri really was out of line now!
Excerpt from “The Sheik’s Vengeance”
Release Date: May 17, 2019
Click HERE to Order The Sheik’s Vengeance!
Prologue
Four men stared at the increasing pile of chips, then at the man who had just tossed four more onto the pile.
“Call.” This from Sebastian Hughes, the only man not currently showing concern for the enormous pile. Of course, the concern wasn’t necessarily for the amount of money, but for the man betting three million dollars on a single hand of poker.
“Everything okay?” Jabril, the Sheik of Piara, asked. But he tossed the increased bet onto the growing pile.
The man everyone was concerned about, Kazar el Sizar, the Sheik of Rian, tossed more chips onto the pile, even though it wasn’t his turn to raise the bet.
“I don’t think that our friend is following the game very closely,” Sebastian commented, taking a sip of his scotch as he lounged back against the luxurious chair. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t be betting so much on a pair of twos.”
The others around the table, including the man in question, looked at the international banker with curiosity. “How do you do that?” Tiran demanded. Looking at the others, he laughed. “And why do we keep inviting him to play with us?”
“Because he’s a challenge,” Jabril laughed.
“Can we please focus on the game?” Kazar growled, another sign of his increasing frustration.
Sebastian lowered his cards to the table. “Although I thoroughly enjoy taking your money, old man, I have to say, there’s not much challenge to it today. What’s wrong?”
>
Kazar glared at his friend, his eyes bright with whatever demons were bothering him now. “Nothing! Now pick up your cards and…”
The others put their cards down, sure that something was seriously wrong. “What the hell is going on that has you betting over three million dollars on a pair of twos?” Jabril demanded.
Kazar glared at his friends. “Maybe I have more than a pair of twos,” he commented.
They all looked to Sebastian who shook his head briefly. When they received confirmation that their friend indeed only had a pair of twos in his hand, they looked back at him.
“What gives?”
Kazar sighed, rubbing his face as he pushed the scotch away. It wasn’t helping anyway. Nor was the game of poker, although he usually enjoyed the intellectual challenge of trying to outmaneuver his friends. Poker was never about the cards in your hand. It was more about the cards in your opponents’ hands. There were eight of them in the group, although not all of them could make it to each month’s game. He probably shouldn’t be here either. He should be back home, trying to figure out this latest “invasion”.
Staring at his friends, he saw the concern on their features and knew he had to ‘fess up. “Someone is invading my country!” he growled and stood up, pacing back and forth along the elegant marble floor.
Their monthly games had started off with just the four rulers of his neighboring countries, a way to keep the communication open among their countries. But the game had grown, incorporating others who could offer a challenge and could afford the high stakes intellectual battle.
“What do you mean?” Jabril demanded, concern all over his rugged, features. The scar on his cheek was a bit more visible now, as righteous fury for his friend intensified his eyes. “There’s been no breach to your borders.”
“Whoever is invading isn’t doing it through traditional means. They’ve snuck in through technology. My security team discovered the breach this morning but they can’t figure out how to stop the malware that is sapping information, government secrets and security measures, military plans. It’s an invasion, but they’re doing it in a more stealthy manner. And I can’t figure out how to stop it.”
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