by Mel Teshco
Within moments the captain of his guard entered his apartment a laptop under his arm. He bowed.
"The princess is gone." His words were no more than a rasp.
"If Your Highness would permit me?"
The prince gave him a short, sharp nod.
The security head opened his laptop to show a close up of Lilly sitting on a low piece of the wall at the bottom of the estate where they had been last evening. She was looking down as if she wished to grow wings.
"She's still here," he said, his fingers stroking the scene as if she were an apparition.
"She rose with the sun and walked down to the gardens. She's spent over two hours below the old fort observing the town below. I have a male servant discretely watching her close by after the crypt incident last night. Do you wish me to command the man to bring her back?"
Relief flooded through him. "No. I will go to her. When I'm with her, turn off the security cameras. I desire to have privacy. Send some servants down with breakfast in ten minutes. Make sure the coffee is hot."
"Do you wish me to withdraw the servant I have watching her?"
"Call him back now. I wish to be alone with the Sheikha."
"It will be done, Your Highness." The man bowed and left.
***
Lilly heard the crunch of footsteps and looked at her watch. It was 7.30 in the morning, but she'd woken two hours earlier, restless and searching for a decision. Their lovemaking shouldn't have changed a thing but suddenly her life had become both fascinating and compelling thanks to Jamal. Even the colors of her existence seemed more vibrant as the sun intensified the yellow of the desert beyond.
Wracked by indecision on awakening, she'd skirted clear of the crypt and walked to the fort, finding the ruin calming. There was so much work to do here and the misery of the people to be alleviated. The past travesty wasn't of her doing so why had it affected her so much? She needed to think, rather than make the rash decision of going over the wall in the middle of the night after being spooked by the crypt. When the great orange sun rose over the earth at five thirty in the morning, she'd found herself automatically falling back in to the work she loved when she'd walked around the old fort. Here in this country, she could concentrate on fascinating projects forever.
And then there was Jamal.
She didn't want to sneak off like a thief in the night.
Yet her freedom meant everything to her.
So she sat and stared out at the city and the desert sands beyond immersed in indecisiveness for the first time in her life. Jamal thought love could grow and maybe he was right because she certainly wanted him. The crunch of footsteps was closer this time, so she turned to greet him but instead saw a short, dark older man dressed in the white and gold-emblemed livery of the House of Qutum. A ceremonial sword in his saber belt was the only addition to the uniform. Perhaps Jamal was awake and wanting to see her.
"Lilly Jones," the man said in a guttural voice.
An uneasy ripple of fear raced down her spine. A royal servant would never address her by her name. She jumped off the wall and faced him, not taking her eyes off him for a second. "What is it?"
"Did you like the crypt?" The man's small, dark eyes glinted.
"It upset me." She kept her answer short. It was none of his damned business.
"My parents lie there in the servant's hall. My three older brothers and my grandfather too. The invaders killed most of my family."
Lilly backed away. "Why are you telling me this?"
"We don't want you here. So many died because of the first Lilliantha Jones and you are one such as she." He put his hand on the ornate hilt of his saber.
Holy hell. "No, I'm not. This marriage is to create stability. Your ruler plans to live here and keep a close eye on the border while there is unrest. He has a lot of security here too. This time his people will be protected."
"Yet last night you ran like Lilliantha Jones."
"I was frightened last night. Terrified. This terrible blood debt is on my shoulders."
The man shifted a step closer, watching her intensely. "When my grandmother came to say goodbye to her loved ones, the ground was red with the blood of my tribe, so much so that even the sand could not soak it up. The first Lilliantha Jones should be made to pay."
"She's old. Too old."
"Then you will pay. I will slice your throat in the manner of my parents' death." He pulled out his saber and although the hilt was covered in gems, the blade shone sharp in the sun. This was no ceremonial weapon.
"Stop Adli." Jamal strode toward them, his tone authoritarian. "I command you."
Lilly's heart beat so frantically, she thought it would explode. She'd never been so glad to see the prince as she was now. "Jamal!"
"Back away from my wife." He walked straight up to Adli, stopping only when he was a few feet away. "Put the saber down."
The man's eyes were glazed as if he'd been taking drugs. "Lilly Jones must pay for the death of my family."
"Lilly Jones is innocent. Zimbian invaders killed your family. Drop your weapon." Jamal stepped close to Lilly.
"There has been enough bloodshed here. I give you my word I will stay and work for the benefit of the people," Lilly said. She caught Jamal's quick glance at her. It spoke of many emotions. Respect. Fear for her. Love.
"Liar!" Adli leapt, his blade held high. "She will leave us. She will run."
Jamal pushed Lilly behind him and she fell on the uneven ground.
Adli swished the blade at Jamal who jumped out of the way.
"You will die for this treachery," Jamal roared.
"It is you who will die my prince, for bringing this creature here." Adli ran at him, his saber held high.
Jamal stepped into his body space, grabbing Adli's wrist with his left arm, trying to break his hold on the saber. Unarmed the man would be defenseless against the larger, stronger prince but Adli pulled a small gold fruit knife concealed in his belt and thrust it at the prince, hitting his thigh. Jamal grunted. Blood stained his thobe. Still gripping Adli's saber arm and grabbing at Adli's other forearm, he swept the smaller's man's feet from under him so that he fell to the ground. Jamal leaned over him, his bleeding thigh pressed on the man's torso.
"Lilly run and call the security," he said, before head butting the smaller man who was struggling to rise.
"Why the hell aren't they here already?"
"I called my man away. I wanted to give us some privacy," Jamal gritted out before bashing the smaller man's hand repeatedly on the rock-hard ground until he dropped the saber. Lilly swooped in and grabbed it, holding it to the assassin's throat.
Jamal looked up at her. "I don't need help."
"Really? Then why's your thigh bleeding? You could pass out on me any minute then what use would you be?" She pressed the saber to the man's throat. "Drop the knife, asshole."
The man swore at her, spittle spraying from his lips.
She pressed the saber closer and a red strike line appeared on his throat. "Speak to me like that and I'll cut your head off."
The man dropped the knife.
Jamal raised his eyebrows at her.
"What?" Lilly kicked the small knife out of the way while Jamal turned the man onto his stomach and bound his hands with the rope from his ghutra. He forced the man to his feet.
"Nothing." Jamal frog-marched the assassin up the hill and Lilly, picking up the smaller knife too, followed him.
A line of servants carrying platters approached them. Cries of distress filled the air when they took in the situation.
"Take the food to our rooms. Call my security. We have a traitor to interrogate."
***
Several hours later, Jamal sat in their rooms, his thigh stitched and bandaged, his leg up on an ottoman. The knife had been too small to do serious damage but what left a mark on him was how brave Lilly had been. Most women would be begging him to free them after an attack like that. Even now she sat next to him on the lounge, appearing re
laxed with a cup of mint tea in her hands.
"Why are you smiling?" Lilly asked him.
"My Grand Vizier said the wildness of Lilliantha Jones had been bred out of you."
Lilly took a sip of her tea. "What would he know? I've never met the man."
"Grand Vizier Khan is the client who gave you all that work in Mahaba."
"Mr. Khan is your Grand Vizier? We spent hours together. I was amazed he was so interested in everything I showed him, right down to the trims on the cushions. I got to know him well. We talked about everything. He's quite a sweetie."
"Ahem," he coughed into his hand. That wasn't how he thought of Ahmet Khan. "He also arranged our marriage."
"That funny little old man. No wonder he was interested in my life. He asked me so many questions, especially about granny."
"He insisted you would suit me." Jamal searched her face, looking for the truth. Did Lilly want to leave him? Although his security had interrogated the assassin, the man had vowed he had acted on his own volition.
"Fancy Mr. Khan being a matchmaker. He got it wrong though."
"Lilly?" Pain speared Jamal's heart. The guilt of what he'd done to her sat heavily on his shoulders. He hadn't thought that anyone would replace Araminta in his heart, but when he saw the assassin threaten Lilly, he realized he was wrong.
Lilly reached over and lightly stroked his bandaged thigh. "Grand Vizier Khan clearly thought bringing me here would appease the hilltribe people, but no matter that I look different from my grandmother, they want someone to blame."
"It was one foolish drug-addled servant."
"True. But an 'eye for an eye' is part of your culture. He won't be the only man to blame me for the wrongs of the past."
"It was easy to blame Lilliantha Jones when she wasn't here to defend herself. But your grandmother made the right choice to leave. The invaders killed my people, not Lilliantha Jones. It is time we rewrote the history books, so that people learn where the fault lay. Lilliantha Jones played a brave role. The Qutum army should have been ready and stationed on the border to prevent it ever happening as I have them now."
Lilly's expression turned to admiration. "I never thought you would see it that way. What has changed you?"
"You and meeting the first Lilliantha Jones. She called me a 'scorpion of the desert.' She rattled all my beliefs, twisted everything I'd been taught about the history of my province. I couldn't get her words out of my head even though I argued with myself that she was wrong." Jamal reached over and took her hand.
"So you think differently now."
"Lilly, I need to talk to you. I forced you to marry me and it was wrong."
"It was a shock," she said quietly, "but seeing that crypt was a bigger shock. I understood why you made me come here. Besides, you can't contain me. I can climb down that wall."
Jamal smiled at her youthful delight. "Yes, you can." Now was not the time to repeat he had security cameras focused on all walls of the fort. That she would be caught and dragged back if he had the mind to treat her like that.
Lilly's thumb grazed over his knuckles. "I don't like my freedom being taken away. I miss Granny. I'm the only one who's left to look after her."
"Which is why I want to give it back. I realize I'm a hypocrite. I want to educate women, free them from young marriages and yet I took your liberty."
Lilly dropped his hand. "You mean you don't want to be married to me?"
"I want to stay married to you. I love you, Lilly Jones but I want you here, only if you wish to stay. You can come and go as you please."
Lilly put her teacup down and leapt on him, straddling his thighs with her own.
He grimaced.
"Oh sorry." She moved her weight over to the thigh that wasn't bandaged. "I love you too, Jamal. No man has ever gone to such extremes to have me. No one has ever cared about my interests. It isn't everyday I can find a man who is as passionate about ancient Arab architecture, as I am."
"So you'll stay?" The burden of guilt lifted off his shoulders.
"Haven't you been listening to me?" She took his face between her palms. "I love you." She bent forward and kissed him on the lips and his arms folded around her. Lilly was his.
"We haven't been using contraception. Do you really want children?" She had dressed in a gauzy kaftan that covered the whole of her body but he could feel her tight sporty body beneath his hands.
"I'm an only child and I didn't like it. I want a large family." She started to pull up his thobe. He lifted his buttocks to assist her, pleased that she was so assertive. It didn't take her long to get it off him.
"I love it when you smile. It takes all the sternness out of your face." She swept off her kaftan and threw it on the floor beside them, leaving herself naked in his arms. She had a tight body with minimal fat and firm, medium-sized breasts that he liked to cup in his hands.
"I don't think I've ever smiled so much as when I'm with you. Once you make your mind up about something you jump right into it."
"Glad you like my style. Now stay still while I jump right on you. The doctor said you're not to move around too much while your leg is healing." She positioned herself above his cock and slowly slid on to him, one notch at a time.
He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the close fit of her pussy as she slid onto him and the way she rubbed her nipples against his chest as she began to move up and down on his cock. He knew he'd taken her faster than he should have last night. He'd lusted after her for a month and it had been hard to slow down. This time she could be as slow as she wanted to be because there was nothing sexier than her stark innocence and her delight in discovering sex.
Unable to stop his searing lust he rolled his hips until his cock was totally consumed in her slick, wet heat. She bent forward to kiss him again, her sweet tongue exploring his mouth. God she was beautiful. He almost couldn't believe that his arranged marriage to such a vibrant woman was so promising. He hadn't expected to fall in love but there was no doubt in his mind that he loved Lilly.
Lilly broke the kiss and moaned, her eyelids fluttering, her back arching. "You are so big."
"And you are so tight that if you keep wriggling like that I'm going to come." At five foot two, Lilly seemed petite to him. Jamal reached between her legs and stroked her clitoris round and round as she moved over him. It was swollen and marble like and he knew if he kept it up she would come. He wanted to watch her face as she did and feel her pussy spasm on his cock as she rode him. It didn't take long, especially when he nuzzled her neck.
Lilly trembled and started to cry out.
He grabbed her hips and rammed her down on him.
"Oh God, Jamal," Lilly screamed. She gripped his shoulders and her fingernails dug into his shoulders as she came.
His balls tightened as she contracted around his cock and he followed her, his whole body shuddering until finally spent. Even now he couldn't quite believe how wonderfully suited she was to him and how Lilly had brought a slice of heaven to his heart.
He sat staring into her bright blue eyes as her warm, sweet-scented breath mingled with his. She was smiling just as he remembered in the photograph the Grand Vizier had shown him, only this time her smile was all for him.
Thank you for reading Stolen by the Sheikh. I hope you enjoyed it!
If you would like to know when my next book is available you can visit me at my website - http://cathleenross.com/CR/
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About the Author
Cathleen Ross’ first novel, Man Hunt sold to Black Lace/Random House in 2001. Man Hunt became the number one best selling erotic novel on the Publisher’s website in 2006. She is currently self-publishing her indie Forbidden Fantasy series. Her wild highlanders stories have given readers a lot of pleasure. Try the first Highlander for free.
She also writes for Harlequin and Escape publishing and can find out more about her at her website http://www.cathleenross.com/
The Sheikh’s Rebel
Mel Teshco
Copyright 2017 Mel Teshco
Cover Art by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design
www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy
Acknowledgments
Thanks so much Cathleen and Christina for being so easy to work with and for being so committed to making our sheikhs the perfect heroes. May there be many more box sets (and sheikhs!)
The Sheikh’s Rebel
Chapter One
Amber Al-Fayed drew back from her rifle’s scope and blinked her gritty eyes. Day three of lying on the baking hot sand and scrutinizing Sheikh Zafar El-Amin’s sprawling desert palace, and she was beginning to think her father’s informant was either mistaken or deliberately giving out false information.
Of course the famed Zafar had many supporters willing to lick his feet in exchange for the countless riyals his black gold brought in. She’d put nothing past the Qutum sheikh whose small province of Czuden grew ever wealthier while her barren country, Yheman, lost what little wealth it had due to fighting off the Zimbian insurgents who repeatedly tried to overthrow its rulers.