Chosen by the Sheikh (17 page)

“You're sure you really love me?”

He put his hands on her shoulders, bent to look her in the eye. “Dr. Geneva Gray, I love you. Only you. Forever you. Come to the desert with me. Be my wife, bear my children, grow old with me.”

A tremor passed through her. It was real. He was real.

“Kiss me, Zafir,” she said.

“Gladly.”

The kiss was everything she'd hoped. It was the kiss of a man who loved her. Happiness flooded her soul with sunshine,
breaking through all the pain and emptiness of the last few weeks.

“I love you, Zafir. This time you can't get rid of me.”

“Exactly as I'd hoped,” he said, before kissing her again.

One year later…

K
ING
Z
AFIR BIN
R
ASHID AL
-K
HALIFA
was in a hurry. He strode through the palace corridors at a pace that had the staff scurrying out of his way. Finally he burst into the royal apartments and kept going until he found his wife in the bathroom, removing her soiled clothing.

Genie looked up when he came in, her face creasing in a smile that did odd things to his heart. Dirt and mud streaked her fair skin. Her hair, spiked with drying sweat, stood at odd angles from her head.

Zafir thought she'd never looked more beautiful. “You are home early,
habiba
,” he said.

She continued to remove clothing, dropping it in a pile at her feet. The more of her luscious body that was revealed, the more his own body responded. Oh, yes, he was definitely going to have her.

In the shower. On the bed. Perhaps even the floor if he couldn't make it to the bed first.

“I was feeling a bit tired,” she said.

Zafir frowned. “But you went to bed early last night. I remember this quite well. Did you awaken?”

“No, I slept straight through.” The last of her clothing fell in a
poof
of dust. She reached for the taps and turned on the shower. Zafir worked hard to make his brain function. Her gorgeous
pink nipples were ripe for his touch. He needed to touch them. Needed to taste them.

Marrying Genie was the best decision he'd ever made. Not just because he needed her with a fierceness that hadn't abated in the last twelve months, but also because she made him whole. She filled his life and took away every ounce of loneliness he'd ever felt.

She was the other half to his soul.

“I have sent for the doctor,” she continued, and Zafir's heart dropped to his toes. She was his greatest treasure, his reason for being. She could not be ill.

“Doctor?”

“Don't look so worried,” she said, coming over and giving him a quick squeeze while trying not to soil his clothing at the same time. “It's nothing serious.”

“You can't know that. You aren't a doctor—” He stopped, amended the statement when she arched an eyebrow. “Not
that
kind of doctor.”

She walked into the steamy shower and stood under the spray. “I simply need him to confirm something for me.”

Why would she need a doctor to confirm…?

And then it hit him. His knees felt suddenly weak, his heart thudding into his throat. He realized that Genie had opened her eyes and was watching him.

“Are you…? Do you mean…?” He couldn't find the words.

Genie smiled and opened her arms. “Why don't you join me?”

He ripped off his clothes and stepped under the spray, taking her into his arms. “No more digging in the dirt in the middle of the hot day, Genie,” he ordered. “And no more crawling into dank tombs beneath the temples.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said. “Besides, I doubt I'll be able to get inside those narrow spaces in the next few months anyway.”

“I love you,” Zafir said. “More than you can ever imagine.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, I can imagine a lot.”

“So can I, thanks to you.”

And then he proceeded to show her the depths of his very creative imagination.