by Leslie North
“How much did it sell for?” She swirled a brush in the paint thinner, tapping it against the side of the cup.
Aubrey paused. “Half a million dollars.”
The paintbrush slipped out of her hand, tumbling to the ground. Flecks of paint thinner dotted her sweat pants, and she sucked in sharply. “What?”
“I’m serious.” Aubrey laughed. “You’re rich, lady! Plus, there’s interest in your other work. You’re big time now!”
“Who bought it?” Her words came out dry, like her voice had stuck in her throat.
“It was an anonymous sale.” The phone rustled. “But the owner of the gallery just called to tell me. He said that the money can be transferred to your account later today. You’ll just need to call him.”
Her heart thudded in her chest. “Do we at least know if the buyer was international or not?”
Aubrey tutted. “It was from the US, hon. I’m sorry.”
Elena nodded, squashing the tiny sprout of hope. “It’s okay. The most important thing is that I have a buyer…and the little one and I are set for a good while.” She rubbed her belly, a grin spreading across her face. “Aubrey, this is incredible!”
“It sure is.” The friends chatted a bit more before hanging up, and then Elena turned to her work in progress, admiring the impressionistic take on a cathedral in Istanbul she’d been perfecting. Inspiration swelled again, just in time with the baby’s kick, so she reached for the paintbrush and resumed work on the background.
As with every quiet moment lost in the meditative swirl of painting, her mind blanked and drifted. Echoes of thoughts crested at the back of her mind. Like floating along a river and just skimming fingertips against the top of the water.
Asim cropped up—he always did. Her mind seemed to drift to him at least hourly, if not more. He was a constant presence, lurking in the shadows, urging her to wonder. What is he doing now? Has he thought of me? Does he miss me as much as I miss him? But it wasn’t the time to reach out to him—not until the baby was born. Not until she found her footing as a mother.
The doorbell rang, and she dipped the brush in her rinse cup, wiping her hands on a towel as she headed for the front door. Humming softly, mind still stuck on the gradient of color in the steeple of her work in progress, she tugged open the door and gasped.
Asim stood in the doorway, eyes wide and imploring, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
Emotion overcame her, and just then, the baby kicked. Hard.
She clutched at her stomach and slumped against the doorframe, feeling faint. “Holy shit,” she breathed, wincing as the baby kicked again.
“Elena.” Asim’s eyes careened over her, and he brought her into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“A little shocked, is all.” She laughed feebly, relaxing into his embrace, the feel of his arms around her a welcome pressure she hadn’t exaggerated one bit in her memory. Is this actually happening? She clutched at his waist, finding him solid beneath her grip. Definitely real, and hard-bodied. She took a shaky breath and buried her face in his chest, overcome with the scent of him, and started to cry. “Oh my God, you’re here.”
“I’m here, my darling,” he murmured, stroking her hair, pressing her against him. His chest heaved beneath her, the echo of his deep breaths ringing through her ears. “I’ve found you.” He laughed and sniffed and then laughed again. “Oh my God, I’ve been looking for you since the day you left. I can’t believe it’s really you. After a while I thought maybe I’d never find you.”
Elena clutched at him, unwilling to let go long enough to make it into the house. Guilt crashed through her—she hadn’t expected him to try to find her or even to care. And she’d left nothing behind for him, not even a last name. “How did you find me?”
“Your painting.” He stroked her back, rocking back and forth slightly. “Nasir saw it at a charity event in LA. He knew right away what it was and who had done it.”
She laughed into his chest, and it turned into a sob. The baby grew restless inside, kicking up a storm. Like maybe she knew that her daddy was here for the first time. She tensed, a hand drifting to her belly. Asim’s hand trailed hers, smoothing over the roundness of her belly.
He pulled back to look her in the face. “Are you…?”
She jerked her head into a nod, looking up at him. “Pregnant.”
Confusion creased his face, his eyes searching hers. “Is it…ours?” Tension hung heavy in the air; maybe he thought she’d gone off and found someone else. And so soon? Not a chance. I’m yours, Asim.
She grinned, sniffing back more tears. “Of course it is. It’s a girl. I’m about six months along.”
A mixture of emotion crossed his face, a disbelieving smile cresting. “Are you serious?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry I ran…but I knew you didn’t want a family. I didn’t want to rope you into it if you didn’t want it…and I didn’t want you to think I was just using it keep you in a relationship.” She sniffed, wiping at some tears that spilled over. “I couldn’t stand the thought that maybe I’d just drag you into this against your will. That’s not how I wanted things to go.”
Asim stroked her head and looking down at her belly with wide eyes. “But you would have raised a child on your own?”
“I thought that would be better than forcing you into a situation you didn’t want to be in. Being with you when you didn’t want me.”
He blinked down at her. “Elena, I…I don’t even have the words.” He laughed a little. “I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a father.”
Elena pushed the front door closed, grabbing the bouquet of flowers from him. She invited him inside the house, leading him to the kitchen so she could put the flowers in water. “This is my childhood home. Where my parents raised me. You can see them on the wall there.”
Asim wandered through her house as if he’d just been teleported from the other side of the world unexpectedly. His face showed wonder and shock; she’d never seen him so overcome.
“This is amazing.” He slid into a chair in the breakfast nook, watching her like she’d sprouted an extra arm. “I’m so sorry.”
She glanced back at him as she emptied the packet of plant food into the vase. “For what?”
“For making you think I didn’t want you. That I wouldn’t want…this.” He gestured to the air between them. “But your leaving made me understand what I do want. I want you, only you. And I’m never letting you go.”
Elena turned to him, clutching the flowers in her fist. Her lip trembled. “Really?”
Asim stood, coming to her with the most heartfelt look in his eyes she’d ever seen. “I want to be with you Elena. I love you. I loved you in Beirut, too—I just didn’t know how to say it. I was too caught up in figuring out how to get rid of that horrible engagement. By the time I realized I was falling for you, I felt trapped between the arrangement we’d made and my feelings for you.” He sighed, gnawing at the inside of his lip. “Please, say you’ll be with me. Say you’ll have me. I want us to have a family. I want to be in your life and in our child’s life.”
Elena set the flowers in the vase and laughed, wiping at tears that had spilled. “Well, you took the words right out of my mouth.”
Asim’s face lit up, his hands circling her waist. “So I can tell my mother I made the right choice all along?”
“Tell her this is the engagement she shouldn’t dissolve,” Elena said through laughter and tears. “I love you, Asim. I want us to be a little family, together forever.”
Asim took her head in his hands and crushed his lips to hers. Stars exploded behind her eyelids, and for the first time in six months, the knot of anxiety dissolved inside her, giving way to expansive bliss.
Epilogue
Asim trailed his fingertips over the curve of Elena’s hip, up over the dip of her waist, tracing the swell of her breast. He’d never seen the effects of pregnancy on a woman before, and being by Elena’s side through the end and then the birth and bey
ond was the most special and illuminating gift. He cupped her heavy breast, catching the glint of her eye in the moonlight.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, pressing his lips to hers. She often complained of her post-pregnancy body, but he hoped that she’d take his ceaseless appetite for her curves as proof of her perfection. He couldn’t get enough. And now, on the first night of their honeymoon in Hawaii, the need arose again, urgent and hungry.
“You’re eager for number two, it seems,” Elena murmured, laughing. She turned onto her back, welcoming him on top of her. The soft sheets rustled as he eased into place. They’d waited until the baby was six months old to go on their honeymoon, even though they’d married in the final month of her pregnancy. Safiya had been both amused and dismayed by the breach of tradition, but their wedding photos showed a vibrant, joyful family, including an immensely pregnant Elena.
“We should wait a bit longer for that,” Asim murmured, skipping kisses over her collarbone. “But I can’t wait much longer. You’ve made me the happiest daddy in the world.”
She giggled, hooking her arms around his neck, locking her ankles behind him. “You know, when we met, I never pegged you as the eager daddy type.”
“And I never pegged you as the frisky mother type either, but here we are.”
He covered her mouth with his, and they kissed passionately, drawing out each kiss, exploring the other as though it was the first time. Elena made a small noise, and he rolled onto his back, bringing her along with him. She sat up on top of him, arching a brow.
“You love me on top,” she whispered, tugging her nightgown off, tossing it aside.
“I love you anywhere,” he said, squeezing the flesh of her hips. Elena let out a throaty laugh and smoothed her hands over his chest. She leaned forward to align their parts and then eased back on top of him. Asim gave a jagged moan as his cock sank into her damp heat. Her head lolled back and she sighed slightly.
“Why is this the most heavenly?” She rocked slowly back and forth, a languid friction, one that somehow sparked even more heat than if she’d ridden him buck wild. He moaned low, his dick stiffening more inside her, enjoying this sweet, slow rhythm.
Something about it pushed him to the edge, far faster than he’d expected. Slow was sometimes desperate in its own way. He smoothed a hand up to her heavy breast, tweaking the nipple. “I’m close, darling.”
A grin drifted across her face, and she moved faster against him, pelvis knocking against the base of his cock, and he moaned low as the orgasm shuddered through his body. She clutched at his shoulders and whimpered as her pussy quaked around him, her hair shrouding her face as she came. When the pleasure subsided and they were both left panting in the afterglow, Elena tensed.
“Did you hear that?” She turned, looking toward the door of the master bedroom. They’d left it open a crack, in case the baby cried during the night. A crib had been set up in the second hotel bedroom.
Just as Asim opened his mouth to answer, the baby hiccupped and then began crying. Elena smiled a little, pushing off him. “I’ll go get her this time.” She pressed a kiss to his lips and headed toward the door. “Time to give mommy’s boobs back to little Eleanor.”
Asim laughed, flopping back onto the bed, listening to the small noises as Elena lifted Eleanor from the crib and murmured to her. After a few moments of quiet, Asim followed her to the other room, already missing both of them.
Elena sat on the couch nursing Eleanor, who looked around the dimly lit room with wide eyes. A grin spread across his face, the same reaction every time he saw his beautiful family together. Nothing could be more beautiful than his naked wife nursing their perfect creation. He eased onto the couch beside her, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.
“This is my favorite part,” he said, smoothing his fingers against Eleanor’s forehead. “Living proof of our family. Seeing you nurse. Watching our gorgeous child grow.” He kissed her shoulder again. “I love you both so very much.”
Elena glanced back at him, tears in her eyes. “I would tell you how much I love you if I had the words.” She sighed, gaze drifting down to Eleanor. “But all I have is our daughter and my paintbrushes to speak for it. The purest testaments of my love for you.” She smiled, welcoming the kiss he coaxed out of her.
Asim twirled a piece of her hair around his finger, grinning down at her.
“I bet you never imagined you’d actually end up with a wife that day you asked me to pose as one on the street.” She laughed, shifting Eleanor against her breast. They loved to joke about their unlikely turn of events. Truly, it was a story that would become legend in his family. Something to inscribe on the walls of the palace.
“Yet I ended up with both a wife and a baby.” He nuzzled his nose against hers, lodging the trifecta of the moment: Elena’s soft heat against him, the sweet sounds of Eleanor nursing at her breast, the slow pulse of contentment that accompanied him daily, ever since he’d laid eyes on Elena’s painting in Beirut. “And what’s more, I got exactly what I never knew I was looking for.”
End of The Sheikh’s Fake Fiancée
Azhar Sheikhs Book One
PLUS: Do you like sexy princes? Keep reading for an exclusive excerpt from Leslie North’s bestselling novel, The Sheikh’s Secret Bride, Book One of The Adjalane Sheikhs series.
Thank You!
Thank you so much for purchasing and reading my book. It’s hard for me to put into words how much I appreciate my readers. If you enjoyed this book, please remember to leave a review. I want to keep you guys happy! I love hearing from you!
For all books by Leslie North visit her Website and follow her on Facebook for exclusive offers, updates and more!
Get SIX full-length, highly-rated Leslie North Novellas FREE! Over 548 pages of best-selling romance with a combined 634 FIVE STAR REVIEWS!
Sign-up to her mailing list and get your FREE books HERE!
BLURB
Work always comes first for Sheikh Nassir Adjalane. From an early age, he learned business was infinitely more important than having a personal life. But with pressure from an opponent on his board, Nassir suddenly has only one month to marry, or risk being voted out of his company. With everything he’s worked toward on the line, Nassir desperately needs a bride…and only one woman will do.
Wedding planner Janna Davis never imagined she’d be summoned to the Middle East to plan Sheikh Nassir’s nuptials. But the outrageous sum he’s offered will finally give her what she needs to stand on her own two feet. As the planning gets underway, Janna is put off by Nassir’s businesslike manner, but she can’t deny his appeal. No matter what she’s feeling though, Janna has a job to do.
Janna values her independence and refuses to fall for a soon-to-be married man, but what will happen when she learns that she is Nassir’s intended bride?
Get your copy of The Sheikh’s Secret Bride from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
EXCERPT
Nassir said nothing, just watched her.
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind his intense onyx gaze and she found the feeling unsettling to say the least. She hadn’t noticed before in the hustle and bustle of the night, but now sitting here so close to him, she realized Nassir Adjalane was a very handsome man—all dark hair and dark eyes and long, lean muscled form.
Janna looked away fast. She had no business thinking about one of the wedding guests like that. Especially one from Al-Sarid.
“The wedding was very nice,” he said, his voice lower than before.
“Yeah. It was beautiful, if I do say so myself.”
“Amare looked very happy with his choice of a bride.” Nassir continued to watch her, his face unreadable.
“Why wouldn’t he be happy? They’re in love.”
“Marriage is not only for love.”
And there it was. She’d wondered where his pompousness had gone. Janna shook her head, “No. Marriage is love.”
He leaned in closer, and her breath hitched. Close enou
gh for her to smell his cologne—spice and sandalwood and something else indefinably him. “Do you have a business card?”
Momentarily flustered by the nearness of him, her normally ordered thoughts scattered. “Um, a business card? Are you getting married soon?”
“Yes.”
Of course he was. Time for the butterflies flitting around her stomach to go back in their cage. She pulled out one of her cards from the small evening bag she carried and handed it to him. “I didn’t realize you were engaged. Have you been together long?”
“No. We only met recently, but I’m positive she is the one. The woman I wish to marry.”
All righty then.
Their fingers brushed as he took the card from her and an electric jolt zinged up her arm and into her bloodstream from the contact. Her heart raced and his dark gaze fell to her lips.
Nassir inched closer, as if…
His phone rang again, and he cursed. “Excuse me, but I must take this call.” He rose and tucked her business card into his pocket. “Janna, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for speaking with me.”
He walked away, his phone to his ear, and Janna sat there and watched him leave. For some weird reason, she missed his presence. As if her world felt somewhat emptier without him.
Silly, considering he was practically married and the last thing she needed were more complications.
Get your copy of the The Sheikh’s Secret Bride from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com