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      "You deserve to be happy."

      He shook his head. "I don't know about that. I've been an ass."

      "Ziyad," she said, cupping his face. "You've lived through a nightmare I cannot even imagine. You were angry. You were grieving and terrified. I do not fault you for trying to deal with everything in the only way you knew how."

      "My anger and grief pushed you away," he replied, giving her a chaste kiss. "I never would have forgiven myself if you'd chosen not to return to me."

      Her gentle smile melted away the last remnants of his fear. "Do you know what Zara told me when we were on our way to Suridesh?"

      "What?"

      "She said the god of Spiders was looking down on us."

      Ziyad scoffed. "The god of Spiders is the one who ripped my life to shreds."

      Amani's eyes softened. "No, Ziyad. He made it so I wasn't accepted by any man. Not even you, until you were ready. He knew Karis would be killed. He knew you would need someone to heal your heart. We were meant to be together, my love."

      "If that's true," he said, knitting his brows. "Then why didn't I just choose you over Karis?"

      "Because then I would be in that grave by your oasis."

      "Gods." Ziyad shivered at her words. Just the thought of Amani dying like his first wife sent a chill straight to his bones.

      Amani caressed his arms and shoulders. "As much as you loved Karis, the god of Spiders gave her to you so that you could recognize love when you found it again. When you found me."

      "She was pregnant, Amani," he said, unable to hold back the sorrow within him.

      "I know," she whispered, giving him a few kisses across his face. "But do you not believe that your child and your first wife are in heaven watching over us? Karis knew I had fancied you for years. Perhaps she asked the god of Spiders to give me to you. She knew you'd come to love me as well."

      Ziyad released the breath he'd been holding and hugged Amani close. "I won't survive if you leave me too."

      "I will never leave you. I do not believe that's our god's will. I will give you a brood of sons. I will love you for the rest of my life and into eternity."

      After her confession, Ziyad could no longer hold back. He lowered his head and kissed her, but unlike his brutal kisses, this time he was tender, drawing Amani's tongue into his mouth, stroking it serenely with his own.

      With a moan, she wrapped one of her lovely legs around his hips, inviting him in. He didn't give a single thought to resistance. He pulled back gently only to push forward, sinking his cock into her, and cherishing her heated gasps.

      Lifting his palm, Ziyad teased her nipple and watched as his wife threw her head back, giving him free reign over her neck. As he plunged within her depths, he nibbled on her skin until she returned her mouth to his.

      Gods, but he wouldn't last much longer. Her fingers in his hair ensured he couldn't pull away, but he didn't want to. He wanted to lose himself inside of her and never emerge.

      Her body's rhythm against him urged him to thrust harder. He obeyed her silent command. Amani's eyes caught his and wouldn't let go. He knew the exact moment she came. Her pussy gripped him and pulsed her pleasure as she cried out, making half-moons on his shoulders with her fingernails.

      That was all it took.

      Ziyad's own pleasure shot from him, into her, over and over. He growled and took her mouth, demanding every ounce of her heart. He pushed forward until he was completely sheathed, and gasped as her heat burned him from the inside out.

      Amani didn't say a word, but her hands did the talking. She loved every part of him she could reach, from his arms to his ass. The trusting smile on her face sealed his fate.

      He belonged to her. For the rest of his days.

"Amani?"

      "Mmm?" She rubbed her thigh on Ziyad's, content to snuggle with him under his blankets. His arm was around her shoulders, and she rested her head on his chest, while drawing circles on his skin.

      "Do you have magic?"

      She was silent for a moment before answering. "I didn't think I did for a long time. But I found out after you'd married Karis that my ability is with plants." Amani lifted her head and rested her cheek on her palm. She gazed down at him and smiled.

      "My wife is a gardener?" Ziyad flashed his handsome grin at her, making her suck in her breath. She'd never get tired of seeing him so content and relaxed. She doubted he'd ever know just how gorgeous she thought him to be.

      "I suppose I am," she replied. "I was alone a lot and spending time outdoors was one of my favorite things to do. Along with gazing at the stars, I used to cultivate my mother's garden. But one day, a plant was dying. I spoke to it. I wished it wouldn't die, because I needed someone to talk to."

      "You had sisters," Ziyad said.

      Amani nodded. "Yes, older sisters who were married, younger sisters who chased after dragonflies, and other sisters who were too enraptured with attracting men for their own good. I'd learned a long time ago there was no hope for me."

      "Don't talk that way," he told her, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You are mine now. And I will not allow the

Spider Princess to think less of herself."

      She held his hand in hers and brought his palm to her lips. "I don't believe this now, but I did then. The plants were my only friends after Karis left with you."

      He gave her a short nod. "Continue."

      "My sisters learned I talked to the plants and they laughed at me. I was teased for it, as well as for not being able to find a husband."

      Ziyad sat up so fast, Amani yelped when he flipped her over. "They laughed at you?"

      His tone was angry, if not on the verge of furious.

      "Childish banter, nothing more," she assured him.

      His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. Amani's heart thudded within her. The Spider was ready to do battle. With her sisters.

      She grinned. "I am sure that now, they are crying in their tea, Your Highness," she said, kissing his nose. "For I am the Spider Princess and they are the mere wives of goat herders."

      Ziyad grinned devilishly. "Perhaps the god of Spiders bestows his justice after all."

      Amani giggled and he chuckled right along with her.

      "What happened with the dead plant?" he asked.

      "Well, after I…told it not to die, it didn't. It began to grow before my very eyes. The leaves turned green, the stems became strong and its petals bloomed more than I had ever hoped. It comforted me on many nights. My mother still makes her perfume from it."

      Ziyad leaned back and cocked his head. "Your mother wears the perfume of the rahala blossom."

      "Yes, she does."

      "But…those grow only at my oasis."

      "That is why I knew it bloomed from my own ability. That rahala blossom was the gift you gave my mother when you came to Suridesh to choose your wife between Karis and myself."

      "I…I gave a blossom to Karis's mother as well."

      "Her blossom didn't last but one day after you'd left the tent city with your bride. My mother's flower still blooms."

      "It has been years, Amani!"

      She nodded. "After the Falcon told my father you'd finally accepted me, I used to pray to the god of Spiders where that rahala blossom is planted. It reminded me of you, of your strength and resilience. And your gentleness and honor. It is a delicate flower, but it survived the odds against it."

      Ziyad just stared at her with his mouth open.

      "I suppose I've been in love with you for a very long time, my handsome Spider."

      "Then how could you accept me?" he asked. "After what I'd told you before we wed, that I would never love you. How could you accept that if you cared for me so?"

      "I knew you were hurting and I knew you were brusque, but I also knew a side of you many didn't. You'd once flirted with me. You were a good man. And I knew I wasn't about to find another husband. I figured…you'd give me a child who would love me."

      "Amani, by the gods, that is no way to live a life!"

      She shrugged but kept her voice even. "I would have accepted you regardless of your terms, Ziyad."

      "I must have broken your heart a hundred different ways."

      "Do not think on it, husband," she whispered. "What's done is done. All we can do now is move forward from here. We love each other. That is what we should think on."

      Ziyad lowered himself until he stretched out beside her. "The Falcon was right."

      "About?"

      "I don't deserve you. I almost dragged you down into my despair."

      "Ah, but you didn't drag me down, Spider," she replied, caressing his belly. "I lifted you out."

      He closed his eyes and sighed brokenly.

      "And you do deserve me," Amani continued, tugging him close. "You are the Spider Prince of the Golden Desert and your god has seen fit to bless his steward with a second bride. You deserve me, Ziyad. And it's about time you believe it."

      He groaned and crushed her to his body, then hid his face in the crook of her neck. "Everything I am belongs to you, Amani Bihar."

      Amani took a shuddering breath. "Just when I thought I couldn't love you any more than I already do…"

      Her husband chuckled and silenced her with a sweet, amorous kiss.

~ * ~

      When evening came, Amani marveled that all the princes save for one came to their caravan in celebration. Apparently, the Cobra and his princess weren't feeling well and had declined to come. But the feast Ziyad ordered was what they should have had the first time they married. Not for the food, but for the revelry.

      Amani sat on Ziyad's lap, due to his own insistence. He'd given her a lovely black robe to wear, heavily embroidered with silver spiders along the cuffs and hem. The sleeves were short, to show off her new Spider armband, and the silver belt-wrap she wore glittered in the firelight.

      The Scarab and the Falcon regaled them with their prowess for playing their lialas, stringed instruments that filled the air with lyrical music. Both men sang the same song, yet their booming voices complemented each other, harmonizing as they played. The Scarab's liala was a gorgeous blue, matching the color of his caravan, while the Falcon's instrument was the green of his people.

      "Would you care to dance, my princess?" Ziyad breathed in Amani's ear.

      Her back straightened and she cleared her throat. "I've never danced before. I might step on your toes."

      "Never?" Ziyad sounded surprised.

      "Never." She looked him in the eye, silently reminding him that men had never looked twice at her.

      His soft grin stole her breath. "Then I will teach you. Come."

      He stood and pulled her behind him until they were before the fire. Many hoots and whistles filled the air, making Amani smile and gaze at Ziyad's chest in embarrassment. But his finger hooked her chin and made her gaze into his eyes.

      Soon, she swayed in Ziyad's arms and placed her hands on his shoulders. As if taking a cue from their prince, many other couples began to dance as well. The Scarab and the Falcon sang all the louder, seemingly overjoyed to have such an adoring audience, and Amani could see both Trianna and Zara giggling with each other out of the corner of her eye.

      "I have regained the respect of my people," Ziyad said before he corrected himself. "Our people."

      "What do you mean?" Amani asked, barely threading her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck.

      "After you left me, my servants and family members would have mutinied if I hadn't turned back to Suridesh to chase you."

      Amani cracked a grin. "What, did they serve you cold flatbread?"

      Ziyad chuckled. "Worse. I had to endure more than my fair share of hostile looks and murmured whispers. They love you, Amani. I knew they would. And it was Khalil who told me my people had already considered you the mother of my caravan, whether or not I recognized you as my princess. Truer words have never been spoken."

      "And now?"

      "And now, they gaze at us with the moons in their eyes."

      Amani glanced around. Ziyad was right. His people were grinning at them, sighing and laying their heads on each other's shoulders.

      "I think they wanted to believe you would find love again, Ziyad. They wanted you to be happy, and they could see what you could not. That I was perfect for you." She rubbed her body against his. "In every way."

      Ziyad arched a brow. "Is that so, little minx?"

      Amani nodded, allowing her hand to wander down his back. "If your people—"