Sheikh’s Fiancée (11 page)

When he came, groaning her name, she closed her eyes and imagined his face. His amber eyes would darken, his face would grow tight, and those gorgeous, sculpted lips of his would part as he moaned his pleasure. The image of that in her mind, and the sounds of him coming behind her, made her climax again, and she gripped the headboard hard, shuddering again.

When it was over, he said nothing, simply gathered her in his arms and spooned her. And as Alice closed her eyes, enjoying the way he cradled her with his big body, she thought that if this was the kind of payment he asked for, she could afford to be a good wife for him.

Chapter Eleven

Alice sighed as she turned her brand-new silver Mercedes into the driveway of her and Karim’s new home. He’d given her the Mercedes as a wedding gift, had actually had it waiting in the driveway for her, and she’d been so excited to see it at the time – no one had ever bought her a car as a gift before. But three weeks later, the glamour and excitement of their honeymoon and the fancy house and gifts had started to wear off, and replacing it was the hole created by Karim’s absence.

Sure, she thought as she exited the Mercedes and headed into the house. He was there in bed with her every night, and they shared breakfast together in the mornings before they both went off to work. But they didn’t see each other much in the evenings – occasionally it was because she had to work late, or fly out of town somewhere, but more and more it was because he was simply staying at the office for long periods of time, working on designs, talking with project managers and who knew what else, aside from helping his brother. Alice was starting to feel the strain of his absence on their marriage.

If this is what it is like already just a month in, how can we possibly make it past a year?

No. She wasn’t going to think like that. There was no point in being defeatist, especially not this early in the game. She’d called Karim around noon and asked him if he was going to be late, and after he’d told her he would be home on time, she’d called a local grocer and asked for specific items to be delivered for the house. She was going to make a fabulous dinner for the both of them, and they were going to sit outside and eat it and drink wine and talk and laugh. And maybe even have sex.

Spirits lifted, she grabbed the box of groceries that had been delivered, then set the oven temperature and began chopping, slicing, sautéing and grilling. An hour later, she had a platter full of steaks, some mushroom risotto, fresh rolls with butter, and a nice bowl of Israeli salad to top it off.

And no Karim.

She waited for over an hour before she finally decided to serve herself and sat outside by the pool quietly as she enjoyed the fare. It was good stuff, she thought to herself as she chewed on a piece of flavorful steak. Damn good stuff, and her husband wasn’t even here to enjoy it.

Maybe he’ll be home soon, and I can still sit with him while he eats. That would still be something, wouldn’t it?

But another two hours passed, and eventually she put the food away and headed upstairs with a lump in her throat.

This is stupid,
she thought to herself angrily as she kicked off her shoes and pulled on a pair of pajamas. Why was she putting all this effort into trying so hard when it was clear to her that Karim wasn’t? Clearly his career as an architect took precedence over everything else, including their marriage. Maybe Alice should treat her fashion career the same and throw herself into her work so she wouldn’t leave herself open to heartache and disappointment.

But if she was going to do that, she may as well just get herself an apartment and move out altogether. What was the point of living with a man, of being married to one, if she didn’t get to enjoy the benefits of spending time with him? They hadn’t had sex in nearly two weeks, and she missed the feel of his body against hers and his passionate kisses. The knowledge that he was a good lover only made the neglect hurt more.

She turned on the flat-screen TV and watched Netflix for a while – none of the local channels had anything she could really understand – and then finally she turned off the lights and went to bed.

The tears didn’t come until she heard Karim enter the house, fairly quietly but not quite enough that she missed the sound of the door closing behind him. As the salty drops hit the pillow, she bit her lip and sniffled a little, refusing to show him how much this hurt. She wasn’t going to beg him for his attention – she wasn’t that needy, she wasn’t that low. Alice knew how much she was worth, and if Karim didn’t see it that was his problem.

When he came to bed, slipping quietly beneath the sheets, he hooked an arm around her and drew her close to his chest like he always did, as if there were nothing wrong between them and they were a normal, loving couple spooning each other in the darkness.

But for once, Alice found the strength to push him away, and she clutched a pillow to her chest on the other side of the bed, holding on tight until she finally fell asleep.

***

Karim frowned down at his wife as he helped her out of the limo outside the steps of the Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s most exclusive hotel, where a charity gala was being held. Ever since three nights before, when he’d tried to spoon with her in the bed and she’d rejected him, the atmosphere between him and Alice had been fraught with tension, and he had no clue what to do about it.

He offered her a smile along with his arm, but she only gave him a blank look as she took it, and he sighed. As they ascended the steps to the lobby, which boasted a dancing fountain and huge, soaring gold columns, his mind worked, trying to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do to fix things.

He’d tried to talk to her about it the next morning over coffee, but she’d simply given him a sullen glare over her sleep-swollen eyes, and he decided that it was probably best not to talk to her when she was sleep deprived. But the last couple nights when he came home, she’d been in bed watching TV and studiously ignoring him, and things had felt so awkward that he hadn’t known how to break the tension between them. So they’d stuck to their respective corners of the bed and the house, crossing paths when they had to and staying out of the other’s way otherwise.

But this kind of stalemate couldn’t last forever. After all, they were going to have to do things together sometime, like attending this gala. If they always acted frigid toward each other people were bound to notice, and he didn’t need outsiders speculating about the state of his marriage.

He tried to catch Alice’s eye as they crossed the lobby, but her neck was craned, her eyes following the honeycomb grid of the hotel floor layout. It seemed to stretch on to infinity, going so high that they couldn’t even see the ceiling from where they stood. The layer of ice cracked momentarily as her eyes filled with wonder, taking it all in.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Instantly her face shut down. “I suppose so,” she said as they boarded the elevator.

Karim bit back a sigh. “I helped design the hotel, you know.”

“Is that right?” Her eyes flickered briefly with interest, but she simply studied her nails as if he were talking about something as inconsequential as the weather.

Karim felt as if he’d been stabbed in the heart. She’d always loved it when he talked about architecture, and now she was acting as if she couldn’t care less about him or his passions. He had to fix this somehow.

“Alice…” he began.

The elevator doors opened, and he shut his mouth as six people boarded. Annoyance filled him at the interruption, but he swallowed his words – he couldn’t talk about this in front of strangers, or really in front of anyone. It was private, between him and Alice, and they needed to work this out.

Eventually they got out at the top floor, where the main banquet hall was, and Karim entered with Alice on his arm. The ice had fallen away from her expression, replaced with a calm, almost serene expression, but she still studiously ignored him, her bottle-green eyes roaming the swarms of people, the extravagant decorations, the rows of tables and food and the huge stage at the back of the room that had been set up for the auction and entertainment.

There was no time to talk to Alice after that – they were instantly swarmed with greetings from various people. As the sheikh’s brother, Karim couldn’t afford to be ungracious and ignore them. Thankfully, Alice played her part perfectly as the wife of a royal, smiling and looking pretty, and laughing and throwing about compliments when she was addressed. Everyone who spoke to them quickly fell under the spell of her charm and congratulated him on finding such a beautiful and well-spoken wife.

Which would have made him feel fantastic if not for the fact that his wife was treating him like garbage.

They made it through dinner and a large portion of the entertainment without incident, and Karim gave up on interacting with Alice in any way, engaging in conversation with the politicians, diplomats and businessmen there while Alice talked with their wives as well as some of the men who wanted to hear about her life in America. He was a little unnerved about the amount of attention she was getting from the single men, but no one was actually being disrespectful, so he could do nothing but try not to dwell on it and let jealousy get the best of him.

Eventually he excused himself to go to the bathroom, and when he was done with his business, he braced his hands on the counter and stared at himself in the mirror for a long time. Was it the long hours she was upset about? Did she feel neglected? He knew that he was spending a lot of time away from home, but she knew that he was busy, and she had her own career, did she not? Surely she knew that they couldn’t always spend time together.

Nevertheless, if she felt neglected, he was going to have to do something about it. Maybe they would have to set some kind of schedule that would allow them to spend time together without compromising their careers.

Decided, he exited the bathroom and went back to their table. The lights were dim as there was a performance going on up at the stage, a group of Arabian dancers performing to colorful lights and lively music, so it wasn’t until he arrived at the table that he noticed Alice wasn’t there.

“Do you know where my wife went?” he asked one of the women, pitching his voice low so as not to disturb the audience.

“I believe she went to procure more refreshment from the buffet table,” the woman responded with a friendly smile.

“Thank you.” He would have sat down, but he felt the antsy need to find her and make sure she was by his side, so instead he wandered over to the buffet tables on the far side of the room.

He found her there easily enough, with a wine glass in her hand, and she wasn’t alone. Karim’s blood boiled as he saw her chatting and laughing quietly with Nabil Ali, a wealthy brick factory owner and a notorious womanizer, to boot. And as he drew closer, the bastard actually had the nerve to place his sleazy hand on Alice’s shoulder, an intimate gesture that was highly inappropriate.

“Good evening, Nabil.” Karim clamped his hand around his wife’s upper arm and pulled her back from Nabil, baring his teeth in a ferocious smile. “I see that you’ve met my wife, Alice?”

“Oh, hello, Karim.” Nabil’s eyes widened, and though he flashed a quick smile, he stepped back nervously. “So nice to see you again. I was just talking with Alice about—”

“Yes, well, I actually need to speak to my wife about something, so you’ll have to excuse us.” Karim jerked his head down in a quick nod, daring Nabil with his eyes to say anything. “Good evening.”

He dragged a quietly protesting Alice from the banquet hall and into a smaller room, ignoring her attempts to dislodge his grip from her upper arm.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she cried as he shoved her into a small meeting room and locked the door behind him. Her cheeks were flushed, and her bottle-green eyes glittered with anger. “How dare you manhandle me like that?”

“And how dare you flirt with another man in public behind my back!” Karim shouted, anger overtaking him. “I turn around for one moment to use the restroom, and then I come back to find you in a dark corner with Nabil. Do you take me for some kind of fool?”

“Flirting!” Alice propped her hands on her curvy hips and glared at him. “What the hell are you talking about? I wasn’t flirting with him, I just went to refill my glass and plate, and he was there, and we started talking.”

“Alice,” Karim growled, advancing on her. She took a step back, eyes widening, and he pressed her up against the wall, his pulse pounding hard in his ears. “Nabil is a notorious womanizer, and you were talking and laughing with him
alone
,
in the dark,
and allowing him to put his hands on you. If
anyone
had caught that on camera, it would be national news, and I would be a laughingstock.”

He expected Alice to be contrite, but instead she tossed her head and glared defiantly at him. “Oh yeah? Well, maybe if that happened you would sit up and start taking our marriage seriously!”

“Taking our marriage seriously?” Karim exclaimed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“That means spending time with me!” Alice cried, glaring at him. “It means being home on time, having dinner with me, watching TV together, hell, maybe even having sex! Maybe if you actually satisfied me, you wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not I’m flirting with another man?”

“Is that it?” Karim asked softly, pressing her back into the wall again as fury took hold of him. He couldn’t believe he was hearing this. “Is that what needs to happen to ensure you won’t go back into the banquet hall, Alice, and flirt with Nabil again? Do I need to fuck you, right here and now?”

Uncertainty flashed in Alice’s eyes, and she bit her lip, but the desire there was unmistakable. “I –”

Karim kissed her, hard, shoving his hands in her short, fiery hair. A loud protest issued from her lips, but he pinned her fast to the wall, shoving his tongue down her throat and silencing her protests. The fury racing through his bloodstream quickly transformed into lust, and his raging erection strained against the drawstring of his pants, pressing into Alice’s hipbone. He was going to take her now, to remind her that she was his and no one else’s, no matter what.