Girl in the Bedouin Tent (15 page)

‘All those weeks together I told myself it was infatuation. That once lust was sated I’d move on, do my duty and marry a suitable wife. It was what I’d spent so long planning, after all. I was a coward—telling myself I acted to protect my country and my unborn children when really I hid from the possibility of true intimacy. Of caring.’

His mouth twisted grimly.

‘I was thoughtless and self-absorbed. But what I felt didn’t pass. I was drawn deeper. That day I urged you not to go out with the class? Yes, I wanted to avoid publicity, but it wasn’t so much to protect the marriage arrangements but so I could keep you to myself for as long as possible. Because I couldn’t let you go.’

Cassie’s mouth dropped open, not only at his words, but at the tension in his stance, the vehemence of his tone.

‘It wasn’t till you confronted me that I realised what that meant.’

She licked her dry lips, watching emotions flicker across Amir’s face, unable to look away.

He lifted one hand to cup her jaw, his fingers splayed over her cheek, and her eyelids fluttered at the thrill rioting through her dormant hormones.

How could his touch awaken her? She should stop him, but for the life of her she couldn’t move.

‘I told you that day I cared for you, Cassie. The truth is I love you.’

Her eyes blurred and heat slammed into her chest, crushing it tight as she fought to hold on to sanity. They were just words designed to tempt her. Yet she longed so much for them to be true. How could he be so cruel?

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing emerged. In that instant his head dipped low. Cassie stiffened and tried to pull back, but he held her remorselessly, ignoring her gasp of distress as he took her lips.

It was a gentle, tender caress so piercingly sweet she almost wept.

‘It’s not true,’ she whispered when he lifted his head. Yet he surveyed her steadily, his expression unlike any she’d read before. Determined yet uncertain.

Inside her poor, bruised heart leapt.

‘On my life it’s true, Cassie. I was never more serious.’

Long fingers cupped her jaw, then caressed her cheek. Was that her trembling or him? Her eyes widened. The sincerity in his voice sounded real, as if it was dredged from his very soul. Was anyone that good an actor?

‘I think I’ve loved you almost from the first,’ he confided. His hand slipped gently into her hair to massage her scalp, making whorls of pleasure spiral through her. ‘You were so strong, so determined, so beautiful. Your courage alone made me yearn to understand you.’

‘You didn’t want me for my courage.’ Cassie tried to pull her defences close, still not ready to believe his easy words. ‘You wanted my body.’

‘Of course I did. What man wouldn’t? You’re beautiful, sweet Cassie.’ His smile was bittersweet. ‘That was the trouble, I couldn’t see past that till the day you confronted me with what I’d done. I couldn’t see that this wasn’t simply lust. That it was much, much more.’

Staring up into his eyes, Cassie wanted to believe him so badly. Already something melted inside at the urgency of his words and the yearning in his gaze.

‘Then I saw what I’d done to you.’ He clasped her tight. ‘Cassie, can you forgive me? I had no idea until that evening. I didn’t
let
myself think about it, though Faruq and Musad tried to persuade me to break with you.’

‘They did?’ She’d known Musad didn’t approve of her, but Faruq too?

He nodded. ‘Musad fretted over the potential scandal, but Faruq feared what the situation would do to
you.
He saw what
I was too blind to see. I was too wrapped up in my own selfish pleasure to listen.’

Amir lifted her hands, pressing kisses on each.

‘It wasn’t love you felt. Just lust.’ Desperately she tried to shore up her defences against insidious temptation. She wanted Amir’s love so desperately.

‘It
was
more, Cassie. But I’ve had a lifetime believing love doesn’t exist because I’d never known it. Never seen it up close. I didn’t believe it could hit me like it has. I wanted you so badly I didn’t think past my needs. I wanted you happy and I let myself believe you were.’

There was anguish in his eyes and Cassie’s heart lurched. A spark of warmth flared. ‘I
was
happy.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes.’ Stunned, she watched light blaze in the velvet blackness of his eyes. Could this possibly be real? ‘So you … care for me?’

The uncertainty in his voice tore at her. The Amir she knew was always sure of himself. That, above all else, convinced her. She drew a shaky breath and the cramped tension in her chest eased.

‘Of course I care. How could you not realise that?’ Her voice was gruff.

Slowly Amir smiled. The tightness around his mouth disappeared as he grinned down at her. The warmth of that grin wrapped around her like an embrace.

‘You do? Enough to forgive me?’

‘I …’ Cassie tried to be sensible, to remind herself of the pain he’d wrought. But suddenly being cautious didn’t seem sensible—not with Amir here, looking at her as if she was the most precious thing in his world. Not when her dreams were coming true.

She swallowed hard, dredging her courage. ‘I love you, Amir. I—’

The rest of her words were obliterated as his head swooped down and he took her lips in an open-mouthed kiss that tore
the last shreds of thought from her. This was no tentative foray but a bold, demanding caress that heated her blood and made her shiver in delicious anticipation.

Cassie kissed him back, holding his face in her hands and tugging him lower as she stood on tiptoe, pressing herself against him with the urgency of a woman who’d found her man against all odds.

‘It’s not real,’ she gasped when the kiss ended.

Amir tucked her close, arms wrapped tight round her. ‘It’s real, sweetheart. Believe it.’ He drew a shuddering breath. ‘I couldn’t bear to lose you. I want you with me always.’

He drew back enough that she could see his face.

‘Can you forgive me, Cassie?’

She saw the shadow of fear in his eyes and her heart swelled, blanking out the last of her doubts. ‘Yes.’

He smiled and it was like the sun emerging from behind clouds. His hold firmed. ‘Will you marry me, Cassie?’

A world of hope and love lay in those words, yet she hesitated. ‘You didn’t want a wife who was notorious. You wanted someone with an unblemished reputation—’

‘When I lost you I got a short, sharp lesson in what
really
matters. No gossip could stop me making you mine. Besides, nothing you do could come close to the antics of my parents. They filled the tabloids for years. Yet I survived. Our children will be fine.’

For a dizzying moment Cassie’s brain stuck on the notion of having children with Amir.

‘But there’ll be an awful fuss. The story of me being given to you will get out.’

‘And we’ll survive the headlines. Besides, when people come to know you it will be water under the bridge—especially when they see how devoted we are to each other.’

It sounded like heaven.

‘But I’m a foreigner. I don’t speak the language.’ ‘You’re intelligent. You’ll learn. The fact you’ve already spent time teaching here will stand you in good stead.’

‘And what if it comes out who my mother was? How she lived?’ She forced the words out, old shame clogging her throat. ‘I can’t do that to you, Amir.’

His hands tightened and his mouth turned grim. ‘You are not your mother, Cassie. Any more than I am my parents. I’m tired of worrying about public opinion. My people have accepted me and they’ll learn to love you too.’ He stroked his palms over her face, into her hair, and held her while he pressed a gentle, loving kiss to her parted lips.

The perfection of it brought tears to her eyes. Love welled in her heart for this man who understood her so well. The one man in the world for her.

‘The past is the past, sweetheart. I refuse to let it destroy what we’ve got. This is too precious.
You’re
too precious.’

She gazed up into that beloved, familiar face, devoid now of any trace of arrogance. Instead Amir looked determined and endearingly vulnerable.

A shadow flickered across his face. ‘You still haven’t answered me.’

Cassie smiled, feeling the answer deep inside and knowing it was right. She let everything she felt show in her eyes. ‘I’ll be your wife, Amir. You’re the one man in the world for me.’

Happiness and love blazed in Amir’s face. The sight stole Cassie’s breath.

‘I couldn’t ask for anything more.’ He raised her hand and pressed a fervent kiss to her palm. ‘Now, let’s go and break the news to the crowd outside. The sooner we announce our engagement, the sooner we can be together always.’

I
N THE
end Amir refused to wait long for the wedding. The betrothal celebrations were barely ended when the nuptials began.

Secretly Cassie wondered if it was abstinence that motivated his desire for an early wedding. Instead of installing her in the harem on their return to the capital Amir had taken her to the house of his cousin, an academic whose claim to the throne had been bypassed when Amir had been made Sheikh.

If Cassie had had worries about jealousy between the cousins, or not being welcomed, they were dispelled within minutes of arriving. Within an hour she and Amir were the centre of an impromptu party with Amir’s cousin, his wife, his wife’s sister and husband, and a gaggle of excited children.

Cassie remembered what Amir had said about being isolated as a boy. But if Amir the loner felt any qualms about the lively family gathering they didn’t show.

At the end of the afternoon she saw him holding the hands of a toddler while the little girl jumped up and down on his knees. The tender look in his eyes made Cassie’s heart melt, especially when he looked up and held her gaze.

The world fell away and there was only them, and the promise of their future to come. It took her breath away.

It made her hope that maybe they, a pair who’d never known the love of family, would one day create their own.

For three weeks Cassie stayed with Amir’s relatives, fussed over and cosseted. Finally the wedding day arrived.

That was when she truly understood how popular Amir was, how much his people wished him well. Not by a whisper or sideways glance did anyone hint at disapproval or doubt. Instead there were smiles, cheers, and an abundance of goodwill. Cassie was overcome.

There’d been speculation in the press, of course, and her story had caused a sensation in the foreign media. But instead of dwelling on titillating details most were captivated by the romance and drama of their story.

Cassie suspected Amir’s masterful handling of the press had been a significant factor in the slant taken.

‘Are you all right,
habibti?’
Amir’s voice at her shoulder betrayed concern as they stood now before his people, receiving applause and good wishes. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’ She blinked rapidly. ‘I’m just happy. So very happy.’

‘Because of this?’ He gestured to the crowd.

‘That too,’ she murmured, turning to face him. ‘But mainly because of you.’

His eyes lit with that special fire she knew was just for her, and her heart tumbled over once more. Would she ever get used to seeing Amir’s love? Hearing it in his voice? Feeling it in every touch?

Never.

He raised her hand and pressed a kiss to its centre, then turned it over and kissed her palm, lingering while his tongue swirled. She shivered with delight.

‘Amir! You can’t! Not in public.’

‘Then we’ll go somewhere private.’

‘But doesn’t the wedding reception have hours to go?’

He shrugged, and the devil was in his eyes. ‘It does. Traditionally such occasions don’t end till the early hours. But our guests will understand our absence.’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’ Cassie tried to inject reproof into her voice, but instead she sounded breathless with anticipation.

‘Do you mind?’ Suddenly he was serious. Cassie shook her head. ‘I think it’s obvious to everyone that I’m smitten.’

‘That makes two of us.’

He made a deep, courtly bow, then held out his hand. Cassie placed hers in his, feeling Amir’s strength, his tenderness, and knew that whatever the future held their love would last a lifetime.

Amir paused and waved to the crowd before leading her away to their private apartments.

Behind them spontaneous cheers rang out for the Sheikh and his bride.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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First published in Great Britain 2011
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Annie West 2011

ISBN: 978-1-408-92607-9