Her heart turned over in her chest.
“And very young.” He sighed heavily, as he lowered his mouth to hers. He had intended only to brush his lips against hers, but the moment their flesh connected, he felt electrified. He groaned in his throat as he deepened the kiss, plundering her mouth as he wanted to her body. Her hands lifted of their own accord to the side of his face. His stubble was rough beneath her fingers.
It lasted only a minute, but it was long enough for Eleanor to know she would weaken sooner than she wanted to. Denying herself what she wanted didn’t seem noble any more. And she wasn’t sure she cared enough for her self-esteem to keep resisting her husband.
She lifted fingers that shook slightly to her lips. They tingled beneath her touch.
“Aki,” she said quietly, her eyes searching his.
“I know, I know.” He shook his head and looked down the narrow path. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
“I… that’s not what I was going to say.”
“Wasn’t it?” He fixed her with a direct stare. “I gave you my word that I would respect your conditions. It is important to me to honor that. I am a man of my word, azeezi.”
She swallowed convulsively. “You also said you’d … find other ways to … umm…”.
She flushed to the roots of her hair, and despite his misgivings about what had just happened, he couldn’t help but smile at her naivety. “That I’d replace you with someone who was willing to sleep with me?”
“Yes,” she said on a rush of breath. “Exactly.”
He shrugged. “I was angry. I spoke without properly examining my wishes.”
She nodded, surprised by the admission of fault. “So you haven’t? Or, you won’t?”
He moved a little closer, so that Eleanor’s face was just an inch from his. “I haven’t. And I won’t.” A frown seemed to flicker across his expression, as though his words came as a surprise to him, as much as they did Eleanor.
What if she told him what she’d caught him saying about her? Perhaps he would apologise? Perhaps it would be something else he’d said without thinking it through properly. She opened her mouth but couldn’t make herself admit that she’d overheard such horrible things about herself coming from his mouth. She shook her head and shrugged. “Okay.” She forced a smile to her face. “I really have to get back now.”
She had been about to say something else. Something momentous. Aki had felt her prepare herself; had seen the way she’d stolen herself to speak, and then changed her mind at the last minute. As they drove back to the palace in silence, he felt his mood darken. Why had his wife got under his skin in this way? When they’d married, he’d had her stored perfectly in a box. He knew she was simple, and vapid, and probably boring. Passably attractive. But now, after one argument, he felt like she was taking over his mind, both waking and not. He wanted her physically, but the fact she was withholding herself from him made him wonder about her in other ways too.
Surely it was just that she was keeping him at a distance. Once he’d indulged his desire and slept with her, this fascination would be at an end. His original opinion was correct. They had little in common. Besides that, she was the daughter of his enemy. Her family had represented a sleeping threat to him for as long as he’d known. It was impossible for him to start feeling anything for her other than a combination of disdain and acceptance.
Fortified, he said a brief good night to Eleanor and disappeared to his office. She was his wife, but she was not entitled to take over his thoughts.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Why don’t you come back over here? I miss you.”
She could hear the weight of worry in her sister’s silence. “I can’t. Jak’s too busy.” Her voice was quiet. Cracked. Eleanor’s heart swelled with sympathy.
“If Jak’s so busy, he might not even notice you’re gone.”
It was a lie. Jak knew everything about Michelle’s schedule. Eleanor wouldn’t put it past her brother in law to have micro-chipped his obedient wife.
“It’s because he is so busy that I can’t possibly leave him. You know how he counts on me.”
Eleanor compressed her lips. He counted on her to iron his shirts, cook his dinner and be his verbal punching bag whenever he was in a bad mood. Which was more often than not, she suspected. “Shell,” she said with a sigh, sitting down on the edge of her bed and staring out at the sun-drenched garden below. A colourful bird danced before her eyes and then perched on a small twig in a large green bush.
“Don’t.” Michelle’s voice was shaken. “I can’t take it today.”
“Why not today?” She asked, honing in on her use of the betraying word. “What’s happened?”
Like a clam, she closed down. “Nothing! God. If I’d known I was in for an inquisition, I wouldn’t have called you.”
Tears filled Eleanor’s eyes. The sense of helplessness was extreme. To see the person she loved most in the world in obvious pain, and be powerless to help her, was a form of torture. “But you did call me. You wanted to talk to me.”
“Not about… anything in particular,” Michelle insisted. “It’s just been a while. I wanted to catch up on your news.” There was a pause, and Eleanor worried that Michelle was fighting tears. “How’s life as a fully fledged Queen?”
Eleanor fiddled with the corner of her duvet. “It’s good. Fine.”
“Oh? Now who’s keeping secrets?”
She expelled a steady breath. “It’s boring, if I’m honest. Apparently I’m not expected to do much more than attend official functions and get busy making babies.” She winced at her insensitivity. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just because Jak and I aren’t ready for a pregnancy doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be thrilled for you.”
Eleanor ground her teeth together and resisted the urge to point out that Michelle had wanted a baby for years. It was the way of their relationship. Michelle accepted Jak’s unreasonable behaviour and dressed it up as ‘their’ choice, rather than allow him to bear the brunt of family disapproval. But it was wearing thin for Eleanor. “I didn’t mean that we’re having a baby, Shell. I just mean that I don’t seem to have much to offer besides my womb.” And even that was tinged for her now. What had he said? That he wished his heir was not to be of the Rami family?
“That’s ridiculous,” Michelle retorted hotly. “Have you talked to Aki?”
Eleanor watched as the little bird began to pull at a piece of leaf with its grey beak. Tenaciously, he worked the springy greenery until it gave a little. “Not yet.”
“Why not?”
That was an excellent question. Eleanor thought about it for hours after disconnecting the call with Michelle. He was her husband. She’d come to his country. She was living in his palace. She’d attended every function she’d been expected to appear at. All without complaint. But what did he think she was doing with her time, besides that? Yet another week had passed since their wedding, and she’d barely seen him.
Since that one bone-melting kiss in the walkway, they’d said perhaps twenty words to one another.
“Ellie? Why don’t you just talk to him?”
Eleanor let out a slow sigh. “He’s the Sultan. Not my personal diary manager. It’s not up to him to keep me entertained.”
“He’s your husband.”
How could Eleanor begin to explain? Her position felt tenuous at the best of times. “I’ll think about it.” She rung off with a small frown on her face. Beyond her window, the day was warm and clear. Not as hot as the last few days, there was a slight breeze rustling the palm fronds. With a grunt of frustration she reached for a hat and pushed out of her room. Immediately, two attendants fell into step beside her.
It added to her already frayed temperament. “I’m fine.” She said dismissively. “I’m only going into the palace grounds. Please let me be.”
She stalked away before they could argue.
In the fortnight since marrying Aki, she’d gathered little bits and pieces o
f information. She knew the palace was centuries old; that it sat on a piece of land that was considered to be sacred to the Talinese. That it was designed with war in mind, with walls that were reinforced with four layers of stone beneath the marble façade. She knew that the same springs of water that served parts of the capital also serviced the palace, meaning the garden was lush and verdant even in the middle of a heatwave in the desert.
She’d looked out at the grove of fruit trees beside the palace for days now. Apples and oranges jostled with figs and bananas. Eleanor plucked an apple from a tree, wiped it in her hands and then took a bite. The crunch was satisfying; the flavour delicious. She made a small sound of pleasure as a little juice dribbled down her chin. It could have been the beauty of the day, but she could have sworn the apple was imbued with special sweetness.
She nibbled it down to its core as she walked, then tossed it beneath another tree. The action knocked loose a different fruit. One she hadn’t seen in her life. Curious, she bent down and picked it up, and turned it over in her hands. It was a dark green, almost grey, with a furry skin and little bumps at irregular intervals. She brought it to her face and sniffed it. The fragrance was nice. Sweet like honey. As she lifted it again, preparing to bite it, a voice caught her attention.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Irrationally guilty, she spun around to see Aki’s friend Ryan walking indolently towards her.
She lowered the fruit and looked at him curiously. “Why not? Is there some penalty for taking fruit from the orchard?”
His grin was disarming. He had a casual lope to his walk, and a lack of artifice that was refreshing. He was very handsome. Tanned skin, blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and even white teeth. His physique was strong and muscled, like someone who worked outdoors. And yet he did nothing for her. Not a single fibre of her body vibrated with longing when he approached her. Apparently, Aki alone could stir that reaction.
“It’s poisonous,” he said with a wink, reaching down and taking the fruit from her hand. He tossed it away. “These are Desert Ilati trees.”
“Poisonous?” She stared at the spectacular foliage in surprise. “Why the heck is it in the orchard?”
“Ah.” He winged his thick, fair brows at her in a sign of a shared joke. “It’s a trap.”
“A trap?”
“Ancient Talinese wisdom… that intruders and the unworthy will be drawn to the fruit because of its size and fragrance. More fool them, for the true bounty comes from the pedestrian, rather than the extraordinary.”
She looked at him in surprise. “I know that story. It’s the legend of Miraya, isn’t it?”
“Very good,” he complimented with true surprise. “You’ve been reading your histories.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It was a story Papa used to read me as a child. I grew up with an eclectic mix of Talinese folk tales and Disney movies.” She wrinkled her nose. “I used to despise the popular girlhood fantasy of marrying a prince and becoming a princess. But look at me now.” It was said with such droll misery that he couldn’t help but laugh.
“A fantasy that became a reality?”
“Not my fantasy.” She felt a lurch of embarrassment as she recalled his part in the conversation that had wounded her so badly. “Contrary to popular belief, I never aspired to marriage to someone like Aki.”
He frowned, not quite sure where her acerbic statement had come from. “You’re an academic?”
She nodded. “International law.”
He had known that. It caused him to speculate just why she’d agreed to the marriage, and for the first time, he got a sense of Aki’s misgivings. For a beautiful young woman to give up a career she’d worked hard to attain seemed like a foolish move, especially given that she hadn’t known Aki from Adam.
“And you?” She asked, reaching up for another apple. “I presume this is safe?”
He nodded.
“Good. Otherwise I’d be keeling over about now. They’re delicious. Can I pick one for you?”
He laughed. “Sure, thanks.”
She plucked a large, red fruit from the tree, wiped it on her palm and then handed it to him.
“So?” She asked, swallowing her first mouthful. “How do you and Aki know one another?”
He let out a low whistle. “That’s a long story.”
“Tell me.”
“A command?” He asked with a wink.
“Can I do that? If so, then yes.” She sighed. “I have all day. It’s not like there’s an awful lot for me to do.”
He studied her face thoughtfully. “Are you bored?”
“I won’t be if you tell me something interesting,” she joked, taking another bite on her apple. They turned by silent but mutual consent down another corridor of fruit, heading back in the direction of the palace. “We were at school together. My parents were divorcing, and they decided I’d be better sent far away from the tabloids and all-out warfare. They sent me to the international school in Kalinad, because my father’s best friend was the principle. I didn’t speak any Talinese then, and I missed my friends something chronic. I met Aki on the first day. He caught a group of older boys in the middle of slapping me around a bit. He scared them off and earned my gratitude.”
Eleanor looked at him in surprise. Ryan was almost as tall as Aki and certainly as strong.
“Yeah, I had a late growth spurt. Back then, I was a wimp.” He grimaced. “Now I work for Aki, and I love Talina. It’s my home.”
“Your accent is still pronounced.”
“Yeah. Don’t think I plan on shaking it.” He grinned. “It’s the most Australian thing about me.”
“I see.” She finished the apple and pitched the core across the grass. “And what work do you do for my husband?”
“I’m a financier. I control his investment fund.”
She lifted her brows. “Sounds onerous.”
“Actually, it’s a lot of fun. Playing with other people’s money is far better than gambling your own.”
She laughed. “I guess when you put it like that.”
“What are your first impressions of life as Emira of Talina?”
She looked up at him dubiously. “You’re Aki’s best friend?”
“Guilty as charged,” he grinned with a disarming nod.
She expelled an impatient breath. The need to confide in someone was great, but speaking too freely to this man would be a mistake. She had heard for herself the open nature of his relationship with Aki. Evidently they had no secrets. It would be foolish of her to think she could confide in either of them. “Fine,” she said with a tight shrug of her shoulders. She sensed he was waiting for more, and so she elaborated somewhat vaguely. “It is nice to be in a place my father has talked of so often.”
Ryan rubbed a hand across his jaw. “His exile must have been difficult.”
She shot him a sarcastic look.
“Understatement, huh?”
“He never wanted to be Sultan,” she said firmly. “Despite what Aki thinks. Despite what anyone thinks. My father is an academic, like me. Or rather, I guess I’m like him. He desired only the ability to read his books in peace and quiet, and the security of a home for his children.”
Ryan was quiet for a moment. “You resent Aki, and his grandfather, for the exile of your father?”
She shook her head. “I resent that it was seen to be necessary.” She felt the need to be circumspect and so smiled apologetically. “I resent that my father spent thirty years in a country he doesn’t understand, amongst a people he doesn’t really get. I resent that he was unable to return, even for vacations. That he feels he denied his daughters a chance to enjoy their heritage. All because of a stupid birth right he never had any intention of claiming.”
“Have you spoken to Aki about this?”
Ryan was the second person that day to ask her if she’d spoken to Aki. It was a perfectly normal consideration. He was, after all, her husband. He was also the person she f
ound it hardest to communicate with on earth.
“No.” She tilted him a look. “The past is in the past. My father is now free to visit Talina as often as he likes, after all.”
Ryan nodded slowly. There was a hard edge to her words, and a small red flag was flying in his mind. He probed gently. “Aki is not as emotionally distant as he seems, you know. He takes time to crack, but once you do, he will be loyal to you for life.”
A flash of anger seared through her. She wasn’t sure the Sultan possessed a loyal bone in his body. “He will be loyal to me for life because he is my husband,” she said with a firm confidence that caught him off guard. “Any suggestion to the contrary is treasonous.”
His expression was filled with candour. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just felt a reserve in you, when you were speaking about Aki.”
“You are my husband’s best friend and confidante.” She stopped walking and looked up at the palace. “It is natural that I would feel a sense of reservation. After all, I’m quite certain you and he discuss everything in great detail. Which makes it difficult for me to bare my soul to you.”
He lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Woah. I was only giving you a little insight from my years of experience with Aki. I didn’t mean to make you feel under siege.”
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back, focussing on the azure blue of the sky. “I’m sorry,” she said, finally. “I snapped at you.” She lifted a hand and rubbed the back of her neck. “It won’t happen again.”
“That’s okay,” he said quietly. She really was beautiful. And in a moment of contemplation, her expression was so sombre, her eyes so filled with sadness, that he thought she might actually cry.
“I’m just… working things out.” Her brave attempt at a smile made him feel even worse for her. “I suppose it’s all a little different to what I expected.”
He watched her for a moment. “Look, Aki is like a brother to me. He’s my best friend. I love him. But you’re his wife, and I know he’d want me to be here for you. You and I are both foreigners to this land. To its ways. Its fruit.” He joked, nodding towards the poisonous tree. “If I can help you settle in, I’m happy to.” He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, to catch her attention. “I mean it, ma’am. If you just want to talk to someone, you don’t need to worry I’m going to report back to Aki. I’m not like that, and nor is he.”
The Sultan's Virgin Bride: A story of lust, loyalty and passionate resentment. Page 5