“So you will now stay?”
“If that is your wish.”
He smiled. “Liar. You want more. You want it all.”
Her joy grew. “Of course.”
“Very well. I am Malik Khan, Crown Prince of El Bahar. This is my land and these are my people. You are Liana Khan, wife of the Crown Prince. Your place is at my side. Stay.” He held out his free hand to her. “Stay because you are the possessor of my heart. Stay because I need you. Stay because I love you now and will for all time.”
As her daughter had before her, Liana threw herself at him. He caught her against him and held her close. “I love you,” she whispered as spontaneous applause broke out among the passengers. “And I will stay with you forever. On your land, with your people.”
“My wife,” he said gently and kissed her.
For Malik, the sense of homecoming was complete. The last crystal of ice surrounding his heart melted, and he knew that he’d found the one thing he’d been searching for all his life. As he acknowledged his love for Liana and Bethany, he felt the peace and strength flowing through him.
Years from now, Bethany Khan would tell her grandchild about that day on the airplane when a future king had become her father and how his great love for her mother had been the start of a visionary dynasty that would rule for a thousand years. But that is a different story altogether.
The Sheik's Secret Bride Page 22