Eventually her eyes fluttered open and found his. And then she smiled and his whole world lit up from within.
“Habibti,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. Such incredible emotion. He’d never thought he could love so deeply more than once in a lifetime. But he did. He’d experienced it numerous times now, he realized. His wife. His children.
He was a lucky, lucky man.
“Have you been here long?” she asked.
He pressed his lips to her hand, her palm to his cheek, and reached forward to slide his fingers over her jaw. “Every moment.”
Her eyes widened then. “Rashid! You have to get some rest. Go to the adjoining room and sleep. That’s why they prepared this suite for us after all. So the king could rest with his wife in the hospital.”
“I couldn’t leave you.”
Her smile was tender. “It’s okay, Rashid. I’m not going anywhere. I plan to hang around and give you hell for the rest of your life. And I plan to give you more babies, too. Though maybe we’d better get used to two for right now.”
His throat was tight. She understood his fears and knew just what to say to him. “I love you, Sheridan.”
Her eyes were soft and filled with love. For him. It continually astounded him. “I love you, too, arrogant man. Now go and sleep for a while.”
“I napped here in the chair. I’m fine. I also have some news for you.”
Her gaze sparkled with interest. “What kind of news?”
“Your brother-in-law called.”
Her eyes lit up with hope. “And?”
“The twenty-week scan shows a girl. A healthy girl.”
Her eyes squeezed tightly shut. “Oh, thank God.”
“He says your sister is very happy and she looks forward to talking to you when you feel up to it.”
She pushed herself upright, wincing only a little. “I feel up to it now. What time is it?”
He almost laughed. “It’s the middle of the night in Georgia. I think you need to wait a few more hours.”
She sank back down again. “If I must.”
“Kadir and Emily arrived a few hours ago. They’re resting in the palace, but they will come by and visit soon.”
Sheridan smiled. “I can’t wait to see them.”
“I believe they have some news to share, as well.”
Her eyes widened. “Is Emily pregnant? Oh, that’s so wonderful!”
He laughed at the way she didn’t even let him answer the question before she exclaimed it was wonderful. “I did not confirm this to you, but yes. Kadir told me that Emily wanted to tell you herself, so you will act surprised.”
“I promise I will.”
There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in. “Your Majesty, are you ready for the babies? They’re awake and hungry.”
Sheridan’s face lit up. “Yes, please, bring them here.”
Two nurses came in and gently placed little Tarek and Amira on Sheridan’s lap. Rashid watched his wife settle down with their children and his heart filled with emotion. He’d never thought he would experience this kind of utter happiness in his life, but he was so grateful he’d been given the chance. It continually astounded him that he had been.
When the twins were content and starting to sleep, Sheridan looked up at him, her eyes filled with love. “Would you like to hold one of them?”
Fear crowded him then, but he sucked in a breath, determined to be brave for his family. “Yes, I will do this.”
She laughed. “You’ll be a natural, Rashid. And you have to start some time.”
He reached down and picked up a baby—he didn’t know which one—and held it close to his chest, making sure to support the head the way he’d been told. The little face was pinched tight, the eyes closed, but the tiny creature’s chest rose and fell regularly and the little lips moved.
“I don’t know which one this is,” he said softly, gazing with wonder at the baby and not wanting to wake it.
Sheridan laughed again. “That’s Tarek. See the blue band on his little wrist?”
“Tarek.” Rashid could only stare at the sweet little face. And then he lifted the baby higher and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “My son.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from AT NO MAN’S COMMAND by Melanie Milburne.
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Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin, Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the one man who ruined it all.
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CHAPTER ONE
AIESHA HAD BEEN at Lochbannon a week without a single whisper in the press about her whereabouts. But then, who would have thought of hunting her down in the Highlands of Scotland in the home of the woman whose marriage she had effectively destroyed ten years ago?
It was the perfect hideaway, and the fact that Louise Challender had been called away to visit a sick friend abroad meant Aiesha had had the place to herself for the last couple of days. And, being the dead of winter, there was not even a housekeeper or a gardener to disturb her idyll.
Bliss.
She closed her eyes and, tilting her head back, breathed in the ice in the air as fresh flakes of snow began to fall. The soft press of each snowflake was like a caress against her skin. After the traffic fumes and incessant noise and activity of Las Vegas, the cold, fresh, quiet Highland air was like breathing in an elixir, bringing her jaded senses back to zinging life.
Being up here on her own where no one could find her was like coming off a stage. Stepping out of a costume. Undressing the part of Vegas showgirl. She could feel it falling away from her like a heavy cloak. Up here she could take her game face off. The flirty vamp face. The face that told everyone she was perfectly happy singing in a gentlemen’s club because the tips were great and she had the days free to shop, hang out by the pool or get a spray tan.
Up here in the Highlands she could relax. Regroup. Get in touch with nature.
Revisit her dreams...
The only hiccup was the dog.
Aiesha could babysit cats, no problem. Cats were pretty easy to take care of. She just filled their dish with biscuits and cleaned out their litter tray, if they had one. She didn’t have to pat them or get close to them. Most cats were pretty aloof, which suited her just fine.
Dogs were different. Dogs wanted to get close to you. To bond with you. To love you.
To trust you to keep them safe.
Aiesha glanced down at the limpid brown eyes of the golden retriever sitting at her feet with slavish devotion, its tail brushing against the carpet of snow like a feathered fan.
The memory of another pair of trusting brown eyes stabbed at her heart like a knitting needle. Eyes that still haunted her, even though so many years had passed. She pushed back the thick sleeve of her coat and looked at the underside of her wrist where the blue-and-red ink of her tattoo was a vivid and permanent reminder of her failure to keep her one and only best friend safe.
Aiesha swallowed the monkey wrench of guilt in her throat and frowned down at the dog. ‘Why can’t you take yourself for a walk? It’s not as if you need me to show you the way. There aren’t any fences to stop you.’ She made a shooing motion with her hand. ‘Go on. Go for a run. Go chase a rabbit or a stoat or something.’
The dog continued to look at her with that unblinking stare, a soft little ‘play with me’ whine coming from its throat. Aiesha blew out a breath of resignation and began trudging in the direction of the forest that fringed the stately Highland home. ‘Come on, then, you stupid mutt. But I’m only going as far as the river. It looks like this snow’s going to set in for the night.’
* * *
James Challender drove through the snow-encrusted wrought-iron gates of Lochbannon as evening folded in. The secluded estate was spectacular in any season but in winter it turned into a wonderland. The Gothic-style mansion with its turrets and spires looked like something out of a children’s fairy tale. The frozen water in the fountain in front of the house looked like a Renaissance ice sculpture with delicate icicles hanging down like centuries-old stalactites. The thick forest that backed on to the estate was coated in pure white snow, the rolling fields were also thickly carpeted, and the air was so sharp and clean and cold it burned his nostrils as he drew it in.
The lights were on in the house, which meant the housekeeper, Mrs McBain, had generously postponed her annual holiday to look after Bonnie while his mother visited her friend, who had suffered an accident in outback Australia. James had offered to look after the dog but his mother had insisted via a hurried text before she boarded her flight that it was all organised and not to worry. Why his mother couldn’t put her dog in boarding kennels like everyone else did was beyond him. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t afford it. He’d made sure she was well provided for after the divorce from his father.
Lochbannon was a little large for an older single woman with only a dog for company and a handful of staff, but he had wanted to give his mother a safe haven, a place that was totally unconnected to her former life as Clifford Challender’s wife.
Although he had insisted the estate was in his mother’s name, James liked to spend the occasional week up in the Highlands away from the fast lane of London, which was why he’d decided to come up in spite of his mother’s assurances that Bonnie was well taken care of.
This was the one place he could focus without distractions. A week working here was worth a month in his busy London office. He liked the solitude, the peace and tranquillity of being alone, without people needing him to fix something, do something or be something.
Here he could let his shoulders down and relax. Here he could think. Clear his head of the stress of managing a company that was still suffering the effects of his father’s mishandling of projects and clients.
Lochbannon was also one of the few places where he could escape the intrusive spotlight of the press. The repercussions of his father’s profligate lifestyle had spread across his own life like an indelible stain. The newshounds were always on the lookout for a scandal to prove their theory of ‘like father, like son.’
Even before he turned off the engine he heard the sound of Bonnie’s welcoming bark. He smiled as he walked to the front door. Maybe his mother was right about her precious dog being too sensitive to leave with strangers. Besides, he had to admit there was something rather homely and comfortable about an enthusiastic canine greeting.
The door opened before he could put his key in the lock and a pair of wide grey eyes blinked at him in outraged shock, as if suddenly finding a prowler on the doorstep instead of the postman. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
James’s hand fell away from the door. His body went stiff as if the snow falling behind him had frozen him to the spot. Aiesha Adams. The infamous, lethally gorgeous, impossibly sexy and outrageously wild Aiesha Adams. ‘I believe that’s supposed to be my line,’ he said when he could locate his voice.
At a casual glance there was nothing outstanding about her features. Dressed in a loose-fitting boyfriend sweater and yoga pants and without make-up, she looked like your average girl next door. Midlength chestnut hair that was neither curly nor straight but somewhere in between. Skin that was clear and unlined apart from a couple of tiny scars that were either from chickenpox or the site of a picked pimple, one on the left side of her forehead and one just below her right cheekbone. She was of average height and of slim build, the result of lucky genes rather than effort, he surmised.
For a moment—a brief moment—she looked fifteen years old again.
But look a little closer and the unusual colour of her eyes was nothing short of arresting. Breath-snatching. Storm and smoke and shadows swirled in their depths.
The shape of her mouth had the power to render a man speechless. That lush, ripe mouth was pure sin. The bee-stung fullness, the youthfulness, and the vermillion borders so beautifully aligned it physically hurt to look and not touch.
What was she doing here? Had she broken in?
What if someone found out she was here...with him? His heart galloped ahead a few beats. What if the press found out? What if Phoebe found out?
Aiesha’s chin came up to that don’t-mess-with-me height James had seen her do so well in the past, her body posture morphing from schoolgirl to sultry, defiant tart in a blink. ‘Your mother invited me.’
His mother? James’s frown was so tight it made his forehead hurt. What was going on? His mother’s rushed text message hadn’t mentioned anything about Aiesha. Not. One. Word. Why would his mother invite the girl who’d caused so much heartbreak and mayhem in the past? It didn’t make sense.
‘Rather magnanimous of her under the circumstances, is it not?’ he said. ‘Has she locked up her jewellery and all the silver?’
Her eyes flashed gunmetal-grey fire at him. ‘Is anyone with you?’
‘I hate to repeat myself, but I believe that’s what I’m supposed to be asking you.’ James closed the door on the chilly air but, in doing so, it made the sudden silence and the space between them far too intimate.
Being intimate—in any sense of the word—with Aiesha Adams was dangerous. He dared not think about it. Would not think about it. Being in the same country as her was reputation suicide, let alone in the same house. She oozed sex appeal. She wore it like a slinky coat, slipping in and out of it whenever she felt the urge. Every movement she made was pure seductress. How many men had fallen for that lithe body and that Lolita mouth? Even with that smoky glower and that upthrust chin she still managed to look sex kittenish. He could feel the thrum of his blood in his veins, the sudden rush of sexual awareness that was as shocking to him as it was unwelcome.
He bent down to ruffle Bonnie’s ears to distract himself and was rewarded with a whimper and a lavish licking. At least someone was pleased to see him.
‘Did anyone follow you here?’ Aiesha asked. ‘The press? Journalists? Anyone?’
James straightened from ruffling the dog’s ears to give her a sardonic look. ‘Running away from another scandal, are we?’
Her lips tightened, her eyes burning with the dislike she had always assaulted him with. ‘Don’t pretend you don’t kno
w. It’s been in every paper and newsfeed.’
Was there anyone who didn’t know? The news of her affair with a married politician in the U.S. had gone viral. James had pointedly ignored it, or tried to. But then some unscrupulous newshound had unearthed Aiesha’s role in the break-up of his parents’ marriage. It had only been a sentence or two and not every paper or newsfeed ran with it, but the shame and embarrassment he had been trying to put behind him for a decade was back with a vengeance.
But what else could he expect? Aiesha was a wild child who attracted scandal and had been from the moment his mother had brought her home from the back streets of London as a teenage runaway. She was a smart-mouthed little guttersnipe who deliberately created negative drama, even for the people who tried to help her. His mother had been badly let down by Aiesha’s disreputable behaviour in the past, which was why he was puzzled that she had allowed her to come and stay now. Why would his mother invite the unscrupulous girl who had stolen not only heirloom jewellery from her, but tried to steal her husband from her, as well?
James shrugged off his coat to hang it in the cupboard in the hall. ‘Married men are a particular obsession of yours, are they not?’
He felt the stab of those grey eyes drilling between his shoulder blades. He felt the sudden kick of his pulse. He got a thrill out of seeing her rattled by him. He was the only person she couldn’t hide her true colours from. She was a true chameleon, changing to serve her interests, laying on the charm when it suited her, reeling in her next victim, enjoying the game of slaying yet another heart and wallet.
But he was immune. He’d seen her for what she was right from the start. She might have got rid of her East End accent and chain-store clothes, but underneath she was a pickpocket whose aim in life was to sleep her way to the top. Her latest victim was a U.S. senator whose career and marriage were unravelling as a result. The press had captured a damning shot of her leaving his suite at the Vegas hotel where she worked as a lounge singer.
Carrying the Sheikh's Heir Page 16