The Defiant Princess (24 page)

“No. You don't know that he would've killed me rather than accepted my abdication. Don't try to justify your actions by pretending you were trying to protect me. There's no way you can justify this.”

“What we've just shared is something good.”

“Let me go!”

He released her immediately.

“Take me back now, Khalid.”

“No.” His features may as well have been carved in granite. The tautness of every muscle of his body told her he would never give in.

“I insist.”

“I told you last night,
habibti
. What I have, I keep and I protect. You are my wife now.”

“You can't just treat me like some possession.”

He cursed in Arabic. “Did I just treat you like a possession? Is that how you felt when you were moaning in my arms and begging me for more?”

“That's not fair.”

“Did you not just feel that I care for you as well as desire you? That I will consider your needs, protect you and keep you safe?”

He
cared
for her? Maybe he did, but he wouldn't deny this marriage was a duty to him.

It wasn't enough. “We don't love each other.”

He gave a mirthless laugh. “No. We don't love each other, but we make love beautifully.”

She tilted her head into an angle of defiance. “That was just sex.”

“That was far from
just
sex. That was the
most incredible sex
I've ever had.”

His admission pulled her up and away from all her arguments and made her forget all that she was actually fighting for.
“
Really?”

“Really.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Imagine how much more incredible it would be if we really loved each other,” she voiced aloud.

The noise he made scoffed her words. “There is no such thing as romantic love.”

“I believe there is.” She did and she wanted it. “I'm not going to settle for a marriage where love doesn't exist. I certainly don't want to be the wife you had to stay married to when you didn't even want to marry me in the first place.”

He let out a frustrated breath as he retrieved his pants and began pulling them on. “I resented the idea of taking you as my bride initially but I'm content to keep you as my wife.”

“Well, that's just great, Khalid. It makes me feel so much better!” Of all the arrogant—

He ignored her sarcasm. “We have this attraction between us and you've proven you have the necessary qualities to be my queen.”

“Of course,” she said. “By marrying me you get me to depose Mustaf and solve the problems between Rhajia and Turastan. I'm the perfect queen.”

“I didn't think you'd need flattering, Sabihah, but I was referring to the qualities of compassion and caring you've shown,” He tied the strings at his waist. “I admire the way you've handled yourself at official occasions.”

“So I tick all the boxes,” she said, fuming at his matter-of-fact statements. “That's really good for you, but not so good for me.” She jabbed a finger in his direction as she continued, “You don't tick all my boxes, Khalid.”

The tension of his body in response to her words was only slight before he was completely still. His eyes held hers with such intensity that she swallowed nervously. Time seemed to stretch and she was as paralysed as a mouse confronted by a cobra waiting to strike.

“I may not tick your boxes, Sabihah, but I certainly satisfy you.”

“It's not all about sex,” she refuted as she felt the blush heating her face.

“No. It's about sex, trust, and respect.”

“Well, you've certainly blown the last two.”

He shook his head with impatience. “Grow up, Sabihah. This is bigger than just the two of us. Being born royal means we're expected to make sacrifices for the good of our people.”

So, we're back to duty again?
“I want to marry someone who loves me.”

“That's rubbish. By your own admission, you would've married Hazim.”

Oh, Lord! How could she wriggle out of that?
She'd already admitted she'd expected to be Hazim's bride. As she sought for a feasible response, she trailed a foot in the sand and made a small pattern. She hoped he wouldn't realise just how much he'd rattled her.

“I … adjusted my mindset when Hazim married Barika,” she invented quickly. “I realised he must've loved her to have broken our betrothal and it made me understand that love was a much better reason than duty to make a lifetime commitment to someone.”

“Love is an illusion. Get over your romantic fantasies and be happy with what we have between us.”

Unhappy with his decree, she turned and looked at the still water of the oasis. “If I had a pebble handy, I'd skip it across the surface,” she mused aloud. She needed to do something frivolous to escape the tension that had mounted between them. She wanted to think about something else and to leave their impasse behind. “A friend taught me to do that when I was growing up in Australia.”

It had probably sounded inane—a comment right out of the blue when they'd been in the thick of their argument. She'd just decided he must think she was a nutcase, when he responded.

“My father brought Hazim and me here when we were just boys.” His words came from just behind her, and she nearly bumped into him as she turned toward him. “He tossed a coin into the water and told us how one action can have a ripple effect and disturb everything around it.”

Unsure of what to do next, Sabrina sat on the sand at the edge of the water.

Silent as a jungle cat, Khalid sat beside her.

After a while, she ventured, “You looked upset today as I approached the altar. If love is an illusion, why did you look like you regretted our marriage?”

His entire frame tensed but he said nothing in response.

“I thought it was because you were marrying me instead of Inaya.” She was determined to draw him out of his silence. “But now you've told me you don't love her. So what were you thinking that made you look so grim?”

He took a handful of sand and let it slip slowly through his grasp. “When I stood at the altar, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. But when you joined me, I was thinking of Hazim. When my brother was alive, I didn't once envy anything he did or had. Today, I found myself disturbed by the fact that had he been alive, I would've been the best man and not the groom. I don't know whether I could have stood back and let him claim you as his wife when I wanted you so badly.”

She felt her jaw slacken. It took her a few moments and a couple of mental replays to comprehend his words. Khalid's admission was an amazing revelation. He'd enjoyed a never-ending stream of beautiful women on his arm and, if the reports were to be believed, in his bed. Surely if he could have come between her and Hazim marrying, what he felt must be something more than purely physical. Relief, and something more than relief—something she couldn't identify or name—flooded through her. It may have been hope. It might have been elation. But, whatever it was, it was fleeting because exasperation soon took hold. “You're telling me you want me but you don't love me.”

He nodded. “Don't underestimate the power of desire, Sabihah. What I feel for you is intense.” He leaned back on his arms.

“So, you've never been in love?”

After a lengthy silence, he got to his feet. “Once, I thought I was in love …”

“Dr Namir?” As painful as it would be, she had to know.

“No. It was when I was at university in the UK. I was mistaken. It was a long time ago and not something I care to discuss.” He reached out his hand to her.

“What happened?” She accepted the hand he offered and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“No. No more questions. The subject is closed. Content yourself to know that you are my wife and I desire you. From this day, there will be no other woman in my bed.”

This was too important to her to brush over and she was far from content to simply accept a relationship based on monogamy. “Just because you don't believe in romantic love, doesn't mean it doesn't exist,” she persisted “What if you do fall in love one day?”

“I won't.” He dropped her hand, turned and began to stride away from her toward the tent.

“I've craved love all my life, Khalid.” She scrambled after him. Even more revealing than the physical nakedness she'd exposed to him already that evening, she was about to bare herself emotionally to him in a way that made her much more vulnerable, and she needed to make him listen. “Do you really want to trap me in a loveless marriage?” She reached out and caught his arm to get him to stop and give her his full attention. “Do you think that's what I deserve?”

He came to a stop and shot her an irritated look. “What I think is that you will be happy with the passion that's between us and the work we can do together to make our two countries strong and our people content. I think you'll come to understand that my duty to my country demanded I do whatever it took to get you to come here with me. In time you'll realise you can both trust and respect me.”

She twisted her lips as she removed her hand from his arm. “I wouldn't count on it.”

“Come, Sabihah.” His tone warned her that he would brook no further discussion on the topic of love. “You'll be sore tomorrow if you don't come now and bathe with me.” He didn't wait for her response as turned toward the tent again.

The reference to their shared intimacy heated her blood and addled her mind.

She took a few steps toward the tent with him as she tried to come to terms with all he said. He desired her but didn't love her. He had no intention of divorcing her but that didn't mean she was powerless. It didn't mean that she'd stay in a marriage she didn't want.

But what are my options?

She couldn't divorce Khalid and deny him the throne of Turastan. If she simply separated from him, she could return to her unmarried life in Australia—but suddenly that held no appeal

She regarded Khalid closely. By his own admission he desired and cared for her. He'd said it would've been hard for him to watch her marry Hazim.

Khalid may not believe in love, but what if she could turn his passion for her into love?

He was hell-bent on making this marriage permanent. If he was serious about forsaking all other lovers, would marriage to him be such a bad thing? Apart from the attraction between them, when he spoke about her being his wife, about belonging with him, she knew a sense of satisfaction. Since her parents' death she'd never truly belonged with anyone. Looking deep into her own soul, casting aside the resentment that she'd been railroaded into her current circumstance, she had to admit that being with Khalid felt right. At this moment she felt more complete than ever before. It was a start.

“The thought of working alongside you to help Rhajia holds more appeal now than it did when I thought about the prospect from my living room in Australia. Now that I'm back here, I do feel a sense of belonging, of homecoming.”

His steps slowed, then he came to a complete halt. Again, he offered her his hand. She looked at it for a moment then decided to take a gamble. “We're married for now,” she told him.

“Then come, my wife.”

She placed her hand in his, amazed at how right it felt despite everything he'd just revealed to her. “As far as I'm concerned, this is temporary,” she warned. “There has to be a loophole somewhere we can find and exploit.” She didn't want him to think she was a pushover, and she certainly didn't want him to guess that a small part of her was hoping she could succeed in making him feel more than lust for her.

“We'll see.” The two words challenged her and he was all autocratic desert prince as he led her toward the tent. She didn't want to think or to argue anymore. Life was short. Tonight, she was in a fantasy location with the man she'd dreamt about for years. The man who'd initiated her into lovemaking in the most incredible way. Tonight, she would dwell on the fact that Khalid was her husband and he desired her. She would forget that he didn't love her.

Tomorrow, in the harsh light of day and surrounded by the inhospitable desert, reality would return and she'd deal with it then.

The ringing of Khalid's mobile broke into her thoughts.

With a sound of irritation he reached into his trouser pocket and withdrew the phone. He looked at the number, let go of her hand and said, “I have to take this.”

He might be annoyed at the interruption, but if this had been a real marriage based on love, his phone would've been switched off. She was unaccountably riled that he could be so focused upon her one minute and answering his phone the next.

Khalid's expression gave no clue as to the nature of the call, nor did his short, sharp responses.

Just who the hell dared phone him on his wedding night and why hadn't he told them where to go? So much for looking after her comfort.

Her ears strained, hoping to make out the voice at the other end. Surely he wasn't accepting a call from another woman when he'd just vowed she'd be the only one sharing his bed?

The call ended fairly quickly. Khalid turned toward her but there was no contrition on his face.

“The man who tried to kill you in Australia has implicated your uncle in your attempted assassination. The Arab Council are about to place Mustaf under arrest.”

Chapter Ten

“That's fantastic news!” Sabrina could hardly contain her delight.

“It will be when I know he's actually behind bars.” Khalid slipped the phone back into his pocket. “The Council wishes to arrange your coronation ceremony as soon as possible.”

Sabrina's joy dulled as she faced the enormity of her responsibility. “So they believed me?”

“You're the image of your mother and the pendant you wear has been verified by the royal jeweller as having been made especially for her. You've been living with your former nanny all these years and gave a DNA sample to prove your relationship to the Rhajian royal family. The facts are all there. The Council does not need Helen to testify.”