‘You’re just the kind of hands-on queen my country needs,’ Shazim argued.
‘But how about you, Shazim?’ she asked with concern. ‘What kind of queen do you need?’
‘I was hoping you’d ask that question, because I need you—’
‘Be serious. I’m not compliant enough to be your Queen. I wouldn’t fall in step behind you—though I might stumble in your wake. And, if I do take that job—’
‘Is there any doubt?’
‘No,’ she gasped, horrified just at the thought of turning it down. ‘But I’ll have no free time. You should pick one of those celebrity types—’ Isla frowned as she thought about it. ‘Or a royal princess...’ Her eyes glazed over as she imagined what it might feel like to be that beautiful royal princess on the eve of marrying Shazim...
‘Earth to Isla,’ Shazim murmured, jolting her out of the daydream. Cupping her chin, he made her look at him. ‘You have no idea how much I love you, do you?’
‘You should found a dynasty,’ she said, still distracted by thoughts of whom he should marry. ‘You should marry one of those princesses, settle down and have children. Make your life easy, Shazim, and let me go.’
‘What was it you once said about easy? I don’t think either of us is happy taking that route, are we?’ Shazim’s lips pressed down as he shrugged. ‘Though my life would certainly be easier if I let you go. But I’m afraid there’s a problem with that too.’
‘I’m good with problems,’ Isla offered. ‘Tell me and I’ll try to sort it out for you.’
‘Marriage with a princess?’ Shazim’s mouth tugged in a quick grimace. ‘That’s not a concept I’m comfortable with. I never will be.’
‘But—’
It was no use trying to fight him off when Shazim pulled her into his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ she demanded, putting up a token fight.
‘Explaining to you that your life is going to be with me. I’m not sure how yet, but we’ll work it out—though I do need your agreement if we’re to be married, and you haven’t given me your answer yet. How else can you be my Queen?’ he prompted. ‘Well? Do you agree? What’s your answer, Isla? Will you do me the honour of agreeing to become my wife—my Queen?’
As Shazim knelt in front of her Isla was speechless for a moment, but then she did what felt right and knelt too, so they were facing each other. Shazim kissed her mouth, her earlobe, and then her neck...
‘What you said,’ she managed when she could catch breath enough to speak. ‘Do you really want my answer now?’
‘I’ve already guessed your answer, but you can tell me again, if you want to.’
‘Yes,’ she exclaimed.
‘Just as I thought,’ he murmured, kissing her again, but this time deeply. ‘You’re easy to persuade.’
‘Depends on what the problem is,’ she countered on a shaking breath. ‘And now, no more talking. I need you to concentrate.’
‘Again?’ Shazim murmured, laughing softly against her mouth.
‘Oh, yes,’ she confirmed. ‘Always again...’
It was hard to believe how far she had come in her trust of men, but Shazim wasn’t just any man, he was the love of her life, this man she had given her heart to. There were so many times when he had shown her why she should trust him, and though Shazim had battled through terrible issues of his own while they’d been together, he had never let her down. More than that, he had opened up her world to amazing possibilities, and had expanded her horizons in every way.
* * *
‘How can this work?’ she asked later when they were lying with their limbs comfortably entwined in Isla’s bed at the palace.
‘Let me see,’ Shazim said as he moved over her. ‘I’m sure if I try hard enough, I can work something out—’
‘Stop!’ Isla exploded into laughter as Shazim tormented her with kisses and all kinds of unmentionable things. ‘All the answers can’t be found in bed.’
‘But most of the problems can be solved here,’ Shazim countered. As he was nudging her legs apart with one hard-muscled thigh at the time, she was in no mood to argue. ‘We’ll have to dig deep, of course,’ he added, ‘if we are to find the answer to making this work...’ As he was lifting her and positioning her so she was straddling him, it didn’t seem the right time to disagree.
‘Look at me when I’m talking to you,’ Shazim commanded.
‘Must I?’ She threw her head back on a groan.
‘Yes,’ Shazim insisted. ‘Now, ride me,’ he murmured, encouraging her with his hands.
‘I’m getting quite good at riding.’ She threw him a mischievous smile.
‘You certainly are,’ he agreed.
And then he turned her beneath him, and Isla, still being aroused from the last time, was ready to fly again, and one firm thrust was all it took.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEEN
‘I CAN’T BELIEVE what you’ve done for me, Shazim.’ It was the eve of their wedding and Shazim had promised Isla a wedding gift that would exceed her wildest dreams, but never in all her fantasies could she have conjured up anything as incredible as this. He had recreated the university coffee shop in every tiny detail, but on the banks of a glittering oasis.
‘I hope you like it.’
‘As temporary structures go, it’s pretty impressive,’ she admitted, shaking her head.
Shazim laughed and tightened his arm around her shoulders. ‘You can keep it as long as you want to—turn it into a refreshment stop for the rangers if you like, or dismantle it. It’s entirely up to you, but I do think you should take a closer look at it before you decide to do anything too drastic with it.’
‘I can’t wait,’ she admitted. ‘But this is far too much...’
‘Money can buy anything, but it can’t buy happiness. Isn’t that what they say? Nothing I do for you could ever be too much. And isn’t it usual for a bride to enjoy a pre-wedding get-together with her friends?’
‘My friends?’
Isla was astonished when she walked inside. Just about everyone she knew was sitting at a booth, or at one of the basic Formica tables. Shazim had faithfully recreated every detail, even down to her high-vis’ jacket hanging on a hook by the door.
And... No!
‘Charlie?’
Bounding up to her grumpy ex-boss, Isla threw her arms around him, and only when she pulled back did she get chance to realise that even Charlie was smiling today.
‘Latte? Or your usual double macchiato with a caramel shot?’
‘Chrissie!’ Hearing the familiar voice, Isla whirled around to show Shazim with a smile how much she appreciated the thought he’d put into this fantastic wedding gift. ‘I don’t believe this!’
As the two girls hugged, Isla realised that it wouldn’t have been a proper wedding without Chrissie to help her dress for the ceremony. ‘I don’t know how to thank you,’ she said, shaking her head as she turned around to look at Shazim.
‘Yes, you do,’ he murmured so that only they could hear.
Isla’s heart flipped at the thought of their wedding night as Shazim gave her one last look before leaving her with her friends. The next time she saw him would be at their wedding tomorrow.
Their wedding! Her marriage to the man she loved...the man she would always love.
It didn’t get any better than that. She would have married Shazim if he had been one of the roaming Q’Aqabian tribesmen, with only his horse, his cooking utensils, his bedroll and a tent to his name, Isla thought as she watched Shazim spring onto the back of his stallion and ride away.
‘So...how does it feel to be almost Queen?’ Chrissie asked her, green eyes wide with wonder as she looked at Isla as if she had never seen her before.
Isla pulled a comic face. ‘A bit like sitting my finals all over again.’
‘Then, let’s not talk about it,’ Chrissie agreed. ‘Shazim said my job is to distract you, so you don’t get nervous about the wedding. So, I’ve got a great idea—let’s talk about me.’<
br />
Isla collapsed into laughter. ‘Great idea. There are so many people I want you to meet.’
‘Hot men?’ Chrissie asked hopefully.
‘Surprise—she cuts to the chase,’ Isla teased, rolling her eyes as she gazed heavenwards. ‘As it happens, I’ve got some very hot men I want you to meet. Shazim’s got a lot of friends coming over for the wedding, so you can take your pick. Just don’t get too distracted, because I’m going to need your help more than ever when you dress me for the ceremony.’
‘I still can’t believe you’re marrying the Sheikh of Q’Aqabi.’
‘How do you think I feel?’
‘Loved. At least, that’s how you look.’ Chrissie studied Isla’s face. ‘You’re all glowing and bright-eyed...’ She drew in a long breath. ‘You’re not...’
‘Maybe.’ Isla grinned and shrugged. ‘We’re certainly putting in all the effort required, but it’s still far too early to tell.’
Chrissie’s face lit up. Reaching across the table, she grabbed hold of Isla’s hands. ‘Congratulations! You’re going to make a fabulous mother. You’ve had the best teacher, after all.’
Touched by her friend’s sincerity, Isla felt tears smarting behind her eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly. Her mother had been constantly in her mind since Shazim had asked her to marry him, and she was confident her mother would be with her, watching over her daughter every step of the way on the happiest day of Isla’s life.
* * *
They were to marry in his palace, and his last task was to persuade Isla to wear his mother’s jewels. His people would expect it. The golden casket was to be delivered to Isla’s suite of rooms at the palace. This was the same casket that had been placed into Shazim’s hands by his mother on the day she had begged him not to throw away his life because of his brother’s death. She had told him that that would be no tribute at all, a sentiment he hadn’t heard echoed until Isla had said exactly the same thing to him.
Lifting the lid, he stared into the glittering depths, and then grinned. He could just imagine Isla’s reaction when she saw them. She was so understated, so dedicated to her work, he couldn’t be entirely sure that his bride wouldn’t rush to the wedding still dressed in scrubs and overshoes, fresh from the operating theatre.
Mounting up, he turned his stallion towards the palace where thousands were due to arrive to witness their wedding. The palace courtyard was so vast that Isla would ride to the ceremony in a horse-drawn carriage. The matched greys were being groomed even now. He would be waiting for her, mounted on his stallion as tradition demanded.
‘Ready for a quick getaway if I change my mind,’ he’d teased her.
‘Fine. Just leave me to my work,’ she had countered with a cheeky grin, which had obviously called for more physical pleasure in order to persuade her once and for all that he would be there.
There wasn’t a chance he would change his mind about his wedding tomorrow. He would never find another bride like Isla if he searched the entire globe.
* * *
On the morning of her wedding Isla could not believe how her life had changed since that one rainy day on a building site in London. She had asked the women of the village to come to the palace to help her dress, and Shazim’s sister, Millie, as well as Chrissie. With all their help, she hoped that she might feel—if not yet a queen, then almost a queen.
‘You look beautiful,’ Chrissie said as Isla studied her reflection in the mirror.
‘I certainly look different,’ Isla conceded, turning this way and that to watch the diamond coronet sparkle on her hair.
She couldn’t believe the jewels Shazim had given her. There were glittering bracelets, countless rings, and the dainty diamond anklet she had decided to wear today, together with sparkling earrings and, of course, the royal coronet.
She would only have to wear them on state occasions, Shazim had promised—or maybe in bed with him, if she felt like it.
Better confine them to state occasions, Isla had concluded as she’d handled the priceless jewels with reverence. In bed with Shazim was always such a hectic affair she couldn’t risk the coronet bouncing across the floor.
He had also suggested she could wear them to work—to impress the animals. She’d known he was only trying to tease her into accepting the riches that came with the job of Queen, and she had lost no time in teasing him back. ‘Better not. Can’t risk losing them down the sluice—’
Of course she would honour his people by wearing the jewels, as Shazim had explained they had been in his family for generations. She thought about his ancestors as she put them on, and made a sacred pledge to devote herself to Q’Aqabi as they had.
‘Let me fasten your dress,’ Chrissie insisted. ‘We’re running out of time.’
Shazim had flown Isla to Rome in his jet for the design and fitting of her wedding dress. It was a dream of a dress in cobweb-fine lace over a close-fitting base of cool ivory silk. There was a long, floor-length veil, lightly embroidered with diamonds and pearls, that billowed out behind her for more than twenty feet, and her hair, having been polished to a honeyed sheen, had been left loose to cascade around her shoulders, because that was how Shazim liked to see it.
A mischievous smile touched her lips when she remembered how he liked to fist a hank of it so he could ease her head back and kiss her throat—
‘Isla?’ Chrissie chivvied.
She stared at Chrissie blankly for a moment. She had been so wrapped up in her fantasy—a fantasy that, quite incredibly, was about to become reality—that she hadn’t heard a word Chrissie had said.
‘They’re ready for you,’ Chrissie prompted gently, standing back.
‘Your carriage awaits,’ Millie added, leaning forward to kiss Isla fondly on both cheeks. ‘Welcome to the family, Isla.’
Millie was in charge of the wedding bouquet that Shazim had had specially flown in, along with all the wedding flowers, from the English Channel Islands. The blush-pink, cream, and ice-white roses had been chilled to keep them fresh, and as Isla brought them to her face to inhale their delicate scent she brushed the tips of the petals against her cheek. They were cool and slightly damp, and she knew at once what she wanted to do with them, and she always followed her heart.
Shazim was waiting for her, mounted on his stallion beneath a flower-strewn arch. Nerves gripped her when she first heard the roar of the crowd. There were so many people. As her carriage drew closer they seemed to form an endless sea. She would have preferred a quiet, intimate ceremony, but had always known what she was getting herself into. This wasn’t just her day, it was for the people of Q’Aqabi too, and that was a small sacrifice to put her wishes aside for them and for Shazim.
Shazim’s smile was all the reassurance she needed, and as he helped her down from the carriage his expression was so intense and so loving that her world shrank around him, and she saw only him.
Shazim had never looked more astonishingly handsome. Dark and swarthy with his howlis covering his head, but not his face this time, he was dressed in black flowing robes, edged in gold. She had heard it said that brides went through their wedding ceremony in a dream, but she’d done with dreaming. Every single atom in her being was fully aware of the reality she was entering into. When she accepted Shazim’s ring, she was accepting him as well as everything he represented. She was pledging to support him and his country, to share his life and his duty to the land he loved, and she couldn’t have been more sincere when she made her vows.
‘Do you like it?’ he murmured as he placed the ring on her finger.
She would have loved anything Shazim had chosen for her, with the exception, perhaps, of that safety gear back at the building site. But this platinum band studded with diamonds was nothing short of spectacular. Like the man at her side, she thought, smiling up at him as the ceremony concluded and they were declared man and wife.
They walked through the crowd to their reception at the palace, and were cheered every step of the way. But there was
just one small detour she wanted to make...
‘What is it?’ Shazim asked with concern when she touched his arm.
‘There’s somewhere I have to go.’
‘Anywhere you want,’ he said.
Linking arms with him, she walked up to the beautiful fountain Shazim had built in his brother’s honour and, kneeling in front of it, she laid her bouquet down.
‘For your brother, for your country, and for us,’ she said, when Shazim raised her to her feet. ‘But most of all, for you,’ she whispered.
‘How did I get to be so lucky?’ he demanded, folding her arm through his.
‘You found a high-vis’ jacket that would fit me?’ she suggested.
‘I think it was a little more than that,’ Shazim argued softly. ‘I love you more than life itself, my beautiful wife.’
‘I love you too,’ she said with belief in the very brightest of futures shining in her eyes.
EPILOGUE
TICKLE TORTURE WENT on for much longer that night. No wonder the children refused to go to bed when Shazim got them so excited. And it was the same each night, just when she got them calmed down. But when he looked at her and shrugged with that look in his eyes, she would forgive him anything. He was the most wonderful father to their three children, and the most wonderful man to share her life with. He hadn’t stopped at recreating the café in London to make her happy. Sensing something of her feelings on living such a public life, he had built them a getaway on the outskirts of the city, where they could enjoy a proper family life. This wasn’t just any getaway, but a building he had designed to remind her of the simple cottage where she had lived as a child.
Though Shazim’s version of the cottage was at least twice as big, she had to tell him tactfully, and the home she’d grown up in hadn’t been packed to the brim with Shazim-style luxuries. But that was one of the benefits of marrying not just a king, but a highly skilled architect who was always creating the most innovative structures. Her children had been born here, and the kitchen was her own—such a small thing, but it meant the world to her, and to their daughter, Yasmin, who was rapidly turning the kitchen into a makeshift clinic for the overflow of pets, having recruited their twins, Darrak and Jonah, to act as her rangers.
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