The Sheikh's Amulet (Sheikh's Wedding Bet Series Book 3) (6 page)

T
rue to his word
, Jaymin gave her a quick kiss on the lips before leaving her in the hotel room to sprint to his conference. Two guards followed him, leaving only one to watch her. She cocked her head and studied him. Although he didn’t make eye contact, she had a feeling that he was aware of her every mood.

“I’m going to change into my bathing suit and sun by the pool. I have a feeling that you’re going to stand out if you follow me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I guess that means you’re coming anyway. That’s fine. You could probably use some sun. You are, however, not allowed to watch me change. If you insist on staying in the room, you’re going to at least have to turn around. I’m about to get very naked.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He turned his back, and Tamrin smiled. Shimmying out of her dress, she quickly pulled on the red bathing suit. She had a feeling that would be Jaymin’s favorite. After slipping on her shimmery cover-up, she slid her cellphone into her pocket and looked over her shoulder.

The guard was still facing the wall. “All done,” she called out. “And I’ll be happy to report that you were a gentleman the whole time.” Giving him a bright smile, she practically skipped out to the pool.

The resort was absolutely stunning, and she’d never stayed in a place so nice before. The pool was a beautiful shimmering blue, but it had nothing on the view beyond it. White sandy beaches separated them from the expansive sea. Breathing in deeply, she settled in one of the chaise loungers and put her feet up.

Bordering the pool were beautiful white columns holding up the pergola. Vines and brightly covered flowers hung from the sides, and she giggled. Only in her wildest dreams did she ever think that she would stay at a place like this.

Opening one of the books that she’d borrowed from the palace, she settled back and tried to relax. Her phone vibrated every twenty minutes, and she soon switched it off without bothering to respond to any of the messages from her father. Despite what she’d told him, she really did want to treat this like a vacation.

Her guard took a stance by her chaise, and for a full hour, he didn’t move. Frowning, she finally pushed her sunglasses up and stared at him. “I don’t think you have any relief here. You’re welcome to sit down. If I need you to protect me, I’d rather you not be tired from needlessly standing.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” he said, but he didn’t move.

Rolling her eyes, she returned her attentions back to her book.

When a shadow fell over her, it scared her so much that she shrieked and jumped.

“Whoa!” Jaymin said as he held his hands up. “It’s just me. Don’t be scared.”

“Damn it,” she said as she picked up her book. “Someone in those shoes should not be able to sneak up on me.”

“I have two younger brothers. I learned the art of sneaking a long time ago,” he said wryly.

Intrigued, she looked up and smiled at him. “Oh really? So you weren’t always the uptight older brother?”

“No,” he said with a chuckle as he took the chaise next to hers. “For a few years, I was just the older brother who took delight in tormenting Masoud and Adil. I suppose when my father told me that I should look out for them rather than tease them, I took it a little too seriously.”

Tamrin swept her eyes critically over him. He was still dressed in his suit from the conference, and he sat up rather than lounged in the chair. Jaymin could not have looked more out of place in an environment where he was supposed to relax and enjoy himself.

“I bet I could fix that,” she murmured to herself.

“What was that?” he asked.

Putting her book down, she swung her legs over the side and stood. Holding out her hand, she smiled seductively at him. “Come with me. And see if you can’t give us a little privacy in our room.”

“Why is that?” The look of anticipation on his face told her that he knew very well what she had in mind.

“Your conference is over, and I don’t see any family members here to remind you of all the responsibility on your shoulders. You have the whole weekend to relax.”

He took her hand and stood. “And you don’t think I can relax right here by the pool?” he asked teasingly.

Tamrin rolled her eyes. “Please. You hardly look relaxed. I think I know something that can help you with that.”

He didn’t say anything as they walked down the brick steps to the villas. Through the green gardens, she stepped nimbly on the brick path until they ducked under the vines to the private entrance to their balcony. Jaymin stopped to murmur something in the guard’s ear and immediately the three guards inside came out to take positions outside the door.

Feeling her heart beat against her chest, she pulled him inside and shut the door. Jaymin immediately framed her face with his hands and forced her head up to look at him. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said softly. “I asked you here to help you relax.”

She reached for the belt over her cover up and slowly pulled the ties out of the loops. “So you didn’t bring me here to seduce me?” she asked with a smile.

His eyes widened when the cover up dropped away. Standing in only her bikini, she pulled his hands away from her face and slid them over her shoulders. His thumbs brushed along the curves of her breasts, and once they skimmed along her bare abdomen, she reached up to tug on his tie.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” he said in a thick voice.

“Don’t think about what you thought we would do or what you wanted to do. Think only about this. We have to live in the moment. It’s all that we really have,” she whispered.

“You are dangerous,” he said hoarsely as his hand roamed even lower. When he swept his fingers across the covered apex of her legs, her breath hitched, and she leaned into his touch.

“More,” she demanded softly. Tugging on his shirt, she slipped the buttons out of their holes and spread the palms of her hands over his bare chest. Every fantasy that had been running in her dreams the past couple of nights was coming to life right before her. She’d never wanted another man as much as she wanted Jaymin.

His thumb continued to caress her, and she pulled his head down for a deep kiss. Thrusting into his touch, she moaned and pushed at him until they were at the bed.

As he fell down, she straddled him and leaned over. His hips moved up against her as she sucked on his lower lip. “Tell me that you’re mine for tonight,” she whispered.

Jaymin reached for the tie on the front of her bikini top. As her breasts swung free, he cupped them with his hands and pinched her nipples lightly. Pleasure swept through her, and her arms shook. He seemed to understand. Grabbing her hips, he rolled her over on the bed until his weight settled on top of her.

“You are absolutely stunning,” he murmured as he leaned down and took a nipple in his mouth. Tamrin closed her eyes and lost herself in the sensation. He seemed to know all her pleasure points, and while his tongue worked over her breast, his hands caressed the inside of her wrists.

“Jaymin,” she moaned as she wrapped her legs around him. “Please. More.”

“Patience,” he murmured as he released her breast. “I’ve been dreaming of this from the moment I laid eyes on you. I intend to take my time with you.”

He slid down her body, and Tamrin gripped the sheets as his tongue delved in her belly button. Lower, he tugged on the ties of her bikini bottom with his teeth until they loosened. A sound of appreciation escaped him as she lifted her hips so he could slide the rest of the fabric away.

Jaymin placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh as he slid a finger over the wet folds of her sex. Teasing her, he kept his touch just outside her hot zone, and she gripped the sheets and tried to move her hips, but he had an iron grip.

“You’re killing me,” she gasped.

“On the contrary,” he said with a smile. “I want you screaming under me.”

As he pressed his lips against her clit, she almost screamed right then and there. Waves of ecstasy rolled through her as he worked his tongue over her, and the tension inside her grew more and more taut. Arching her back, she pressed even harder against him and held her breath.

“Oh God,” she screamed suddenly as her orgasm ripped through her. Tamrin’s whole body shuddered as she collapsed back on the mattress, but she wasn’t alone. When she opened her eyes, Jaymin cradled her head in his hands.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

Smiling, she reached down and undid the snap of his pants. “I’m more than okay.”

When she wrapped her fingers around his hard length, he moaned and thrust gently. “I was going to ask if you needed more time, but I guess you don’t,” he managed.

“I just need you.” Pushing his pants down, she waited until he slid them off completely and rejoined her. Wrapping her legs around him, she arched her hips. She didn’t need any more foreplay. After her shattering orgasm, she was very wet and ready for more.

Planting a hot open-mouthed kiss on her, he widened his knees slightly and nudged at her entrance. “Are you sure, baby?”

In answer, she sank her teeth in his shoulder. He growled and pushed himself home. Moaning, she widened her legs and took him. He felt different than anyone else she’d ever had. This was a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

“Fuck, Jaymin,” she moaned as he began to thrust. “Right spot. That is definitely the right spot.”

“Oh yeah?” he gasped. “What about this?” Moving, he rolled back so that he sat on the bed and she straddled him. Hovering over him, she moved so that he sank even deeper inside her. The pleasure was so intense that she couldn’t even respond to his question. There was nothing left to say and everything to feel.

He gripped her hips and nuzzled the crook of her neck as she continued to rise and sink over him. Heat coiled inside her and threatened to strike, and she was helpless against him. Every touch, every moan, every hot breath against her skin drew her even closer to the fire, and soon she realized that she was shouting his name over and over again.

Finally, he pressed his thumb against her clit and grunted as he released inside her. She held on tight as her own orgasm broke, and they both fell against the mattress and nearly rolled off.

When her heartbeat returned to normal, she realized that she was still wrapped tightly around him. Scooting, she slid her legs off him, and he grunted under her. “God, Tamrin, if you do that again, we won’t be able to rest.”

Covered in sweat, she laughed weakly. “I think I’ll die if you do that again,” she gasped. “Oh, my God. Jaymin. I lied. Let’s do it again.”

As she licked the sweat off his neck, she wiggled her hips suggestively against him. He rolled them over and pressed her into the mattress with his body. Hooking her arms, he held them over her head and grinned down at her. “You are the devil.”

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be if you’ll make me feel like that again.”

Running one hand up her body, he pinched her nipple hard. Her whole body jerked under him, and she cried out. “You like that?”

Unable to say anything, she nodded her head. The thin line between pleasure and pain excited her.

“Then I think tonight will be an interesting evening,” he said with a wicked smile as he leaned down to kiss her again. Still cuffed by his hand, she was helpless against his touch and surrendered to him completely.

T
hey lounged
in bed all weekend, and when the sun set Sunday evening, Jaymin rolled over in the tangled sheets and stroked her cheek with his finger. “We have to leave soon or we’ll never make it back in time.”

“I know,” Tamrin said as she snuggled even deeper into her pillow. “I’m okay if we’re late, but I have a feeling that you have something very important planned for first thing tomorrow morning.”

“I feel like every minute of my life is planned,” he said with vague frustration. “So yes, I do have something important Monday morning. Believe me when I tell you that if I didn’t, I would extend our stay even longer.”

Sighing, he slipped away from her touch and swung his feet off the bed. Standing, he stretched and yawned. Quadir wanted him to head a board meeting while he was stuck at the embassy. Normally, Jaymin would have jumped at the chance to run a meeting in place of his father, but spending time in Tamrin’s arms felt like a much better use of his time.

“Well, we didn’t do much unpacking, so if you’ll give me a chance to shower first, I’ll be all set to go,” Tamrin said as she stood up. She looked over her shoulder and gave him a small smile. “If you shower with me, we’ll save even more time.”

Jaymin chuckled. “Nice try. If I shower with you, we’ll never leave. Go ahead and hop in. I’ll shower once we get back.”

“I can see that this weekend hasn’t changed you one bit,” she joked, but he could hear the underlying truth in her tone.

Walking around the bed, he gathered her in his arms. “This weekend has changed me in more ways than one,” he said softly.

She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest. “I like the sound of that.”

Jaymin gave into the moment and held her in the silence. He knew that once he got back to the palace, things would change, but for right now, he completely belonged to her.

Finally, she pushed herself away and walked quietly into the bathroom. Once he heard the water running, he walked around the room and began to collect the clothes that were still strewn about on the floor. His phone was still on the nightstand, and he had three missed calls.

They were all from Kaz, and he’d left voicemails.

Doom settled in the pit of his stomach as he put the phone up to his ear to listen to the first voicemail.

“Sheikh Jaymin, I need you to call me back. I had someone else go back over the car from the shooting, and he managed to pull prints. They belong to two freelance hit men who work closely with someone you’ll be familiar with. Anton Negatin. Call me back. Now.”

“Shit,” Jaymin muttered as he checked the call log. Kaz called yesterday. Frantically, he returned the call. If Kaz told his father, Quadir would pull the whole investigation away from him. “Kaz! Kaz, why the hell didn’t you try to keep calling me!” he growled when the man finally picked up.

“And risk interrupting your romantic weekend? No, thank you. I enjoy my head right where it is.”

“Enjoy that head while it lasts, because if my father takes this away from me, I’ll personally remove it myself. Tell me that you’ve kept this to yourself.”

“My loyalties lie with the crowned sheikh, but I’m not stupid, Jaymin. I would never interrupt your father with such a small matter when he’s at the embassy. Letting you know is the second best,” Kaz said easily.

Relief washed over Jaymin. Kaz was smart. “So you think Anton is behind the shootings. The problem is that he’s a thief, Kaz. He’s not an assassin unless there is someone standing between him and what he wants.” He closed his eyes. “You think he stole the amulet.”

“I don’t have anything linking him to the family or the amulet except for the shooting,” Kaz said quickly. “I’m not making assumptions. But I did tell you that I have some reservations about the Lewis family, and when you get back, I’d like to talk with you more about it. Maybe you’ll actually listen this time.”

Jaymin sighed and stared at the closed door where Tamrin was still showering. She would be standing under the water, rubbing her hands all over her naked body just like he’d ran his hands all over her. Like how she’d run her hands over him. How could she be naked in his arms, vulnerable, and still be hiding secrets from him?

“Fine,” he said softly. “I’ll listen.”

Kaz was quiet for a few beats. “Jaymin, we don’t have to do this. We can turn everything over to the authorities. You can oversee everything that they do.”

Jaymin could turn it all over and turn his back on the whole thing. The investigators could look into the Lewis family with an objective point of view that Jaymin no longer possessed. But the fact that he couldn’t see the situation clearly was exactly why he wasn’t going to turn anything over.

Maybe Tamrin Lewis was innocent and this whole weekend had really been the romantic getaway that it seemed. If that were the case, he wanted to protect her. If Sean Lewis was involved, he wanted to do his best to protect Tamrin.

But if she did know, if she was involved, then she had used this weekend to make sure that he would protect her. And if that were the case, he wanted to personally bring her down.

“We keep the case,” he said quietly as he closed his eyes. “I need to see this through. After what the man has done to my family, I intend to put this whole situation to rest.”

He disconnected the call and slowly lowered the phone as he stared at the closed door. She wasn’t involved. She couldn’t be.

But when the water shut off, he couldn’t shut off his doubts.

* * *

O
nce they’d returned
to the palace, Tamrin headed to her room to unpack, and Jaymin met with Kaz in his study. The open file on his desk showed the mug shots of the two men who normally worked with Anton. “If they are freelancers, what do you have that ties them to Negatin?”

“The only reason they aren’t still in prison is that they rolled over on Negatin. They gave several pertinent details on several items that Negatin had stolen, so they were given a lighter sentence. Of course, if you look carefully at the reports, it looks like Negatin might have set the whole thing up. He wanted his favorite men back, and he managed to stay one step ahead of the authorities. And now they’re working for him again.”

“This is all you have?” Jaymin said as he tapped his finger on the file and stared absently at the open door.

“Yes, sir.”

Jaymin blew out his breath. “We need to know why, and the only way we can do that is to talk to Sean Lewis.”

“He left a few hours ago to go home. We gave him a detail to the airport and released him after that.”

“What?” Jaymin whipped his head around and stared at Kaz. “Who the hell authorized that?”

“Your father. When I couldn’t get ahold of you, I called him. At the time, we were only holding him to protect him, and the crowned sheikh said we could release him.”

“It’s just as well. We probably wouldn’t get any information from him anyway. Get someone to escort Tamrin here. And when I say someone, I mean someone from the staff. She’s not a suspect until I say she is,” he said tightly.

“Jaymin,” Kaz said softly. “I would strongly recommend that you order Sean Lewis back.”

“When I want Sean Lewis brought back, I’ll have him brought back,” Jaymin said with a hard look. Kaz nodded and left the room. In frustration, Jaymin turned on the computer and brought up the file the family had on Anton Negatin. The man had plagued them for months now. First, the man stole Solomon’s Diamond from Masoud, and his brother nearly lost his life trying to retrieve it. Negatin was supposed to be in Interpol custody after that, but he escaped and stole Bathsheba’s Crown from Adil. Now Jaymin had to assume that the man also stole the Menalik amulet from Tamrin.

Only he had a horrible feeling that it wasn’t that clear cut.

“You wanted to see me?”

He looked up to see Tamrin standing stiffly in the doorway. She had changed from her dress to a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. For some reason, she didn’t even begin to resemble the woman who’d made passionate love to him all weekend.

“Have a seat,” he said in a gentle voice. He got up and leaned against the desk so that he could be near her again. “We’ve uncovered some information about the shooting.”

“Really? You know who it is?”

Reaching over, Jaymin spun the laptop around so that she could see the profile picture. “Do you know this man?”

A flicker of recognition lit her eyes when they swept over the picture, but she shook her head. “No. Should I?”

Angry, Jaymin pushed away. “Did you just lie to me?”

Tamrin’s eye’s widened, and she bit her bottom lip. “His name is Anton Negatin, and he’s a collector of rare antiquities. A couple of months ago, my father sold him a set of scrolls that are supposed to date back to the early years of Christianity.”

“So you do know him. Why the hell did you just lie about it?”

“After my father made the deal, I did some research. The collector is also a thief, and he’s wanted across the world. I didn’t want you to know that we had associated with someone like that. My father made a mistake.”

“Anton may be a thief, but he’s also a killer when someone stands in his way. There’s something that you’re not telling me,” Jaymin said as he tried to get control of his anger.

Tamrin rubbed her hands together and looked down. “The transaction went smoothly, but after a few weeks, Negatin came back with a horrid accusation. He thought the scrolls were fake. My father thought he was trying to con more money out of us, but when he showed us the evidence, it was irrefutable. The scrolls were fake.”

“And your father didn’t return the money.”

“He told me that he did, but I guess he lied to me. I don’t know why he would try to kill us. It’s not like he can get the money back from us if we’re dead!”

She was scared. Jaymin reached over to touch her and reassure her, but she recoiled as if he slapped her. “Tamrin. I said that I would protect you, and I meant it.”

Instead of leaning into him, she stood and pushed her chair back. “I appreciate the offer, and I’m sorry that we’ve brought this to your front door. I’ll call my father and see if we can’t get this taken care of immediately.”

She sounded so distant. “Tamrin, this isn’t the first time that my family has dealt with Negatin. He doesn’t only buy artifacts. There is a good chance that those scrolls are real. Negatin gets his kicks from stealing from people. Give me a chance to look into this, okay?”

Tamrin nodded. “Thank you,” she said stiffly. Jaymin watched as she moved easily away from him and walked out of the office. He didn’t bother going after her.

Kaz was right. There was something strange about that family, and he wasn’t going to rest until he got to the bottom of it. If Tamrin was using him, he would never be able to forgive himself.