The Sheikh's Stolen Bride-To-Be

by Rayner, Holly

  Jerry was standing at the partition door, staring at his daughter with a wistful expression. Steph approached him and placed her hand on his forearm.

  “See, Dad? You get to walk me down the aisle after all.”

  Jerry sniffed, pulling himself together. “Yes, well, I’m very happy to be giving your hand to a man who is worthy of you, Steph. That’s all we’ve ever wanted for you, you know.”

  Steph squeezed his arm encouragingly. “I know,” she whispered.

  They heard the start of the wedding processional, and Steph’s mother moved to the front so that she could make her way in first. After a moment, the wedding coordinator gave Elora the signal to walk, and she grinned at Steph and Jerry before making her way down the aisle. Then the music changed and Steph and Jerry were given the green light to move forward.

  As they stepped into the temple, Steph’s eyes shot to the end of the aisle, where she saw Mehdi, dressed in a handsome suit with a traditional crimson scarf around his neck. He only had eyes for her, in spite of the fact that the temple all around them shimmered with gold. There were candles everywhere, giving the whole place an ethereal sheen as Steph walked by her family, friends and coworkers, along with a host of El Farahn dignitaries.

  Now that she was actually living the moment and the planning was done, Steph was glad that she and Mehdi had opted to share their union with the people of El Farah. She and her father reached the end of the aisle, and Jerry handed her off to Mehdi, whose hands were perfectly soft and dry.

  “You’re not nervous?” Steph whispered.

  Mehdi shook his head. “The only time in my life I’ve been nervous was when I was scared you might not meet me on the beach. Now that we’re here together, I’m ready to take on the world.”

  Steph beamed as the two of them turned to face the officiant, and she followed all the necessary actions as they promised to love and cherish one another until the end of their lives, and into every lifetime after that. Mehdi’s scarf was removed and tied around both their hands as they made their vows to be true to one another for all eternity, and finally, they were pronounced man and wife.

  Steph kissed Mehdi even as they laughed, hearing the wild cheers coming from outside the temple. They faced the crowd of happy onlookers and waved to everyone as they walked back down the aisle together. When they reached the entrance, the doors opened, and they were met with a blast of joy from the thousands on onlookers who had come to celebrate with them.

  A small carriage was waiting outside the temple, and Mehdi gestured for Steph to step inside. She stepped in tentatively, careful not to tear her dress, which would likely be placed in a museum after the occasion.

  “Well that was easy, for all the planning that went into it,” Steph said, and Mehdi took her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

  “It certainly wasn’t as drawn out as the old ceremonies used to be. Things really are changing here, aren’t they?”

  “Thanks to you,” Steph said, and Mehdi laughed.

  “Hardly. There are many people in the country who are working to change things.”

  Steph lifted an eyebrow. “You underestimate the amount of influence you have, my love. You are a good enough person that you will always change this country for the better, even if you’re unaware that you are the reason for it.”

  Mehdi grinned down at her. “Fair enough. Now, let’s enjoy this after-party, shall we?”

  With that, the royal couple looked out and began happily waving to all the people lining the streets. Many people ran up to the carriage and handed them little gifts—homemade prayer scarves, beads, little trinkets that Steph began collecting on the floor of the carriage.

  “We won’t be able to fit in here if we keep getting gifts,” she said, laughing.

  Mehdi’s smile was peaceful as he accepted another small gift from a child, who was thrilled at the chance to be so close to him.

  “We’ll find a way. Don’t you worry, Sheikha.”

  “Now that will take some getting used to,” Steph giggled.

  “I think it suits you just fine,” Mehdi grinned, still waving at the crowd.

  The carriage made a wide sweep of the city before heading back toward the palace. The Arabian horses that were pulling it looked like they were getting hot under the desert sun.

  “We’re not really taking this all the way back there, are we? It will be too much for them!” Steph said, her brow furrowed with worry.

  Mehdi gazed out ahead. “Certainly not. Look over there,” he said, pointing ahead of them.

  Steph stared out and realized there was another limo waiting at the crest of the road, which had been closed for the ceremony. Once they reached it, the carriage driver stopped the carriage and watered the horses while Steph and Mehdi stepped into the limo, Mehdi careful to help Steph with her gown.

  “This thing might not look it, but it’s enormous!” she said, laughing as she tugged her veil from her head.

  “You are absolutely beautiful,” Mehdi said, gazing lustfully at his new wife.

  Steph swallowed. The two of them had foregone any physical relationship during their courtship, and it had been one of the hardest things Steph had ever had to do.

  She’d been engaged to the handsomest, most kind-hearted man in the world and had somehow kept herself from jumping on him for over a year. They had enjoyed their kisses and cuddles well enough, but she would be lying if she didn’t admit that she was hungry for him.

  They spent the rest of the car ride kissing hungrily, enjoying their brief moment of privacy together before the limo pulled up in front of the palace. There were several other limos parked out front, and Steph realized that the wedding guests had been transported over while she and Mehdi did their little victory lap. She reluctantly pulled away from her husband’s embrace.

  “I suppose we should rejoin the party.”

  Mehdi tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, his expression still heavy with unfulfilled passion. “We’ll have our time,” he said, kissing her once more before the door opened.

  Mehdi’s grin was wicked as he stepped from the car, and Steph found herself aching to grab his hand and make a run for it while they still could. Being royalty meant they had to fulfill certain obligations, and with that in mind she did her best to wipe away all lustful thoughts as she took her husband’s hand once again and entered the palace.

  The main foyer was quiet, which was a small relief, but Steph could hear exactly where the party was happening. The couple were escorted to the doors of a large ballroom, where they waited for their official entry as sheikh and sheikha.

  Mehdi’s expression turned wistful, and Steph looked up at him with concern.

  “What is it, honey?” she asked.

  Mehdi’s gaze darted down to her for a moment before he focused back on the door.

  “I just wish my parents could have been here to see this. They would have loved you.”

  Steph squeezed his hand. “I’m sure there here, Mehdi, right now. And they would be so proud of you.”

  He looked at her again, his expression full of love.

  “Thank you,” he said, planting a quick kiss on her temple before they heard their formal introduction.

  The doors opened, and they were once again met with wild cheers. Their family and friends all rushed them at once, and Steph found herself caught in a whirlwind of well wishes and happy faces. She held tightly to Mehdi’s hand, lest they get separated, before a man tapped into a microphone and announced that they would be sharing their first dance as man and wife.

  The group parted, giving the couple some much needed air, and Steph and Mehdi walked onto the dance floor alone. Mehdi took her hand in his and placed his other at the base of her back. The music started, and he twirled her around the room, dipping her in her flowing, beautiful gown.

  “If only we had a fountain here,” he whispered in her ear.

  Steph looked up at him, confused.

  “A fountain?”

>   Mehdi grinned, spinning her again and pulling her close.

  “Yes. So that if you ever need to make another wish, you can do it here with a smile instead of tears.”

  Steph laughed. “I don’t suppose I’ll ever have the need for such a thing again, though I think I know where I would like to make my wishes tonight.”

  Mehdi lifted an eyebrow, and she swatted him playfully on the arm.

  “Not there… At least, not yet. After the party is over there’s somewhere I want to go before we turn in for the night. Deal?”

  “For my wife? Anything,” Mehdi said.

  As their dance came to an end, the partygoers joined them on the dance floor, and the rest of the evening was spent in merriment. Steph laughed as she chatted with her mother and cousins, now close friends of hers. Shivika was a particular fan of Steph’s fashion line, and she took every chance she got to ask about the latest designs.

  “Did you design your wedding gown?” Shivika asked, and Steph nodded.

  “Every last stitch of it. I wouldn’t trust anyone else!”

  Even when they were pulled apart, Steph and Mehdi managed to lock eyes from across the room. It was a connection Steph had been searching for all her life, and she had finally found it in the least likely of places.

  As the night wore on, Steph’s feet began to ache from her heels, so she went to find Mehdi, who was close to the punch bowl.

  “Are you ready to call it a night, my love?” Mehdi asked, reading her like a book.

  Steph nodded. “I think so.”

  “You said you wanted to make one stop before we go to bed, though I hope it won’t be too taxing. I do have plans for us this evening.”

  There was a promise in his eyes that sent a shiver of awareness down Steph’s spine. Still, there was something she wanted to do before they continued the evening in their private suite. She whispered in his ear, and he smiled, nodding.

  They bade adieu to their wedding guests, who were quite content to continue the party without them. Fortunately, the ballroom was on the opposite side of the palace to Mehdi and Steph’s bedroom, so they knew they wouldn’t hear a thing once they were in the other wing.

  As they made their way down the hallways, the palace grew quiet, and they enjoyed the moment of peace that came after such a raucous day. Mehdi led Steph to the rocky staircase and gestured for her to go first.

  Steph began the ascent to the astronomy tower, careful not to stumble in her heels and send them both down several flights of stairs. When they arrived at the top, the sky glittered with twinkling stars, as though wishing them a happy marriage in its own silent, ethereal way.

  “And what brings us up here, my dear bride?” Mehdi asked, pressing his lips to the base of her neck.

  Steph’s whole body tingled with anticipation as she looked up at the stars and reached for Mehdi’s hand.

  “A wish. This is a much better place to make it, as someone once told me.”

  She felt Mehdi’s smile against her skin before he lifted his head to the heavens and looked up with her.

  “And what do you wish for, my love?”

  Steph paused, thinking about his question. She had been thinking about it for quite a while.

  “Nothing,” she said softly. “I have everything in the world I could possibly want.”

  She turned to him, then, wrapping him in her arms.

  “You are my wish come true.”

  Mehdi beamed, kissing his new bride hungrily before escorting her back down the stairs and to their room, where they prepared to start a whole new family of their own, exactly as they were destined to do.

  The End

  * * *

  I hope you’ve enjoyed Steph and Mehdi’s story!

  In case you missed it, keep reading for a look at the first chapter of my previous book, The Sheikh’s Must-Have Baby

  Love, Holly x

  The Sheikh's Must-Have Baby

  Chapter 1

  Joanna

  “Excuse me! Excuse me, miss!”

  Joanna sighed and hitched a smile onto her face. She was well into the fourth hour of her eight-hour flight home from Bolivia, and at times like these, it felt like the only thing keeping her going was the promise of a couple of days off when she got home.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like her job. Being a flight attendant was great. It allowed her to see the world in a way she could never have done without making a ton of money.

  But sometimes it was hard dealing with touchy and restless travelers for eight hours at a time.

  She made her way over to the woman who had called out to her. “How can I help you?” she asked, making sure to keep her tone warm and compassionate and her expression cheerful.

  One of the most important things she could do as a flight attendant was to set the tone for the travelers. She had to keep calm so that they wouldn’t get upset. She had to stay upbeat so the pressures of air travel wouldn’t overwhelm them.

  The woman held up the complimentary earbuds that the airline staff had placed in every seat-back pocket. “These don’t work,” she groused.

  Joanna held out her hand. “I’ll see if I can find you another pair,” she said.

  The woman dropped the earbuds in Joanna’s palm, squinted at the name tag she wore, and pulled out her phone.

  Great. She was probably using the plane’s Wi-Fi to log on to social media and complain.

  Sometimes Joanna wished she could tell her customers that it didn’t matter whether or not they threatened to complain about her. She was going to give everyone who flew with her the very best service she could provide. That was just who she was. So they might as well save their time and their ire.

  She made her way back to the rear of the plane, the galley, where supplies were kept. Her colleague Jill was already back there preparing a drink cart, and she looked up when Joanna came in.

  “What’s going on?” Jill asked. “We’re out of white wine, by the way.”

  “It’s meat loaf for dinner,” Joanna said. “Push the red. Just tell them the white isn’t the right pairing.”

  Jill burst out laughing. “You want me to suggest appropriate wine pairings for airline meat loaf?”

  “Well, or you can deal with two hundred people kicking up a ruckus about the fact that we don’t have their favorite pinot grigio,” Joanna chuckled. “It’s up to you.”

  “We should start heating up the dinners,” Jill said. “How many vegetarian meals did we have on this flight?”

  “Seven,” Joanna said. “I already pulled them to the front of the cooler so we could do them first. The list of seats that get them is pinned up there.” She pointed.

  Jill shook her head. “Has anyone ever told you that you were born to do this job?”

  “Don’t say that,” Joanna groaned. She dropped the earbuds she’d been given in the trash and fished around in the compartment for a new pair. “Let me take these earbuds back out to 36D, and then I’ll come back and help with those veggie meals.”

  Jill nodded. “I’ll get them started.”

  Joanna headed out into the main cabin of the plane. The woman in seat 36D was twisted around in her seat, staring back at the galley.

  “Well, that took long enough,” she grumped as Joanna approached her.

  Joanna ignored the jab.

  “Try this pair,” she said, handing the sealed packet to the woman. “They should work. And can we get you started with a drink? The dinner service will be beginning shortly.”

  “White wine,” the woman said.

  Joanna gritted her teeth.

  “We’re actually suggesting red wine for tonight’s meal,” she said. “We’re having meat loaf, and it pairs very nicely with a pinot noir, if I can tempt you with that.”

  “Fine, then,” the woman said. “Red wine.”

  Joanna breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the galley to pour her troublesome passenger a cup of wine.

  She had almost reached Jill’s drink cart when her s
tomach gave a lurch. At first, she thought she had experienced turbulence, but she hadn’t lost her footing. And besides, she had never been prone to airsickness. Airsickness was a deal-breaker for a flight attendant.

  Her stomach lurched again. She hurried into the galley.

  Jill looked up and frowned. “What’s up with you?” she asked. “You’re ghostly white.”

  “Can you take a glass of pinot noir to 36D, please?” Joanna asked.

  “Sure, but what’s going on? Are you okay?”

  “Just need the bathroom.” Joanna hurried into the bathroom, pulled the door closed, and locked it behind her.

  She was just in time. Her stomach lurched once more, and this time, she couldn’t suppress it. She bent low over the toilet and vomited, black spots obscuring her vision.

  She heaved and retched until she could no longer bring anything up. Finally finished, she slumped on the floor beside the toilet, reaching up for the flush.

  What the heck?

  Had she picked up a bug in Bolivia?

  Her mother had never been comfortable with the fact that Joanna’s job took her to so many exotic places. She had always urged Joanna to choose airport-adjacent hotels and to stay inside when she was abroad.

  Joanna had never listened. Her travel gave her opportunities she would never have had otherwise, and this might be the only time in her life she would have them. She was going to take advantage of that. If she had a night in Bolivia, she wanted to see Bolivia, not just the inside of a hotel.

  But now, she had to wonder if perhaps her mother had been right. Her muscles felt rubbery and her stomach was still very uneasy. She didn’t feel well at all.

  Carefully, she struggled to her feet and looked in the mirror.