ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (125 page)

Kamal shook his head. “Enough. I have too much going on to mediate issues between you two. Clear the air right now or stow your problems until I’m not around.”

“Kamal,” Nahid said in a warning voice.

“No. He should know why I’m angry,” Ameena said harshly. “He’s the reason I’m angry. You’re both idiots. How can two men, one running a country and another in line to run a country, be so stupid?”

Dropping his jaw, Kamal stared at his mother. It had been a long time since he’d seen her so upset. “What did I do? I haven’t even been here,” he objected.

“No, you haven’t,” she snapped. “You have a beautiful and brand new bride waiting for you, and you probably don’t spend more than five waking hours with her a day. Not to mention that you’re abandoning her in a few weeks while you move to America. And how long will be gone, Kamal? A month? Three months? Half a year?”

“This is business,” Nahid said heatedly. “This is what he needs to be doing. There will be time after to woo his wife. We’re talking about increasing the profits that go into this country.”

“But does it have to be now? You couldn’t have waited a year? Let the poor woman find her feet!”

“Did she say something to you?” Kamal asked. Jaded hadn’t implied that she was upset that he was leaving, did she?

“Of course not. She’s the perfect dutiful wife. Since she has no idea what kind of man you are since you don’t spend any time with her, she’s probably terrified to voice her opinion on anything!”

Nahid stood. “Ameena,”

“Sit down, Nahid,” his mother commanded. “You may run a country, but when I have something to say, you’re going to hear it!”

Kamal had enough. Pounding his fists on the table to get his parents attention, he gritted his teeth. “Mother, I understand that the timing is poor, but perhaps this is better time than you think. Jada and I are not a match of love. She’d had very little time to adjust to the idea of being married. She can learn under you how the palace works while I’m away. If I stayed and bonded with her, like you seem to suggest, the business trip would only be that much harder.”

Ameena stared at him. “I raised a fool for a son,” she said as she quietly shook his head. “Excuse me.”

Kamal stared in confusion as his mother left the dinner table. Nahid shook his head. “Son, I may have to go with you. Your mother will have a terrible temper while you’re away.”

“I don’t understand why she’s so upset,” Kamal said in bewilderment. “My wife has not mentioned her displeasure about my trip.” In fact, Jada didn’t mention her displeasure about anything. She was almost robotic in her actions around him, and he drove him crazy. Just once, he wanted to hear her opinion.

Kamal assumed that Jada would be pleased that he would be out of the palace for an extended period of time. She’d be able to relax and explore. Surely she didn’t think she existed for his pleasure?

She was hardly on automatic at night. In his arms, the carefully polished Sheikh’s wife mask slipped away, and she lost all control. He loved that. He loved to see just how far he could drive her up. And she, in turn, was not shy. Her desire to explore all the facets of sex amazed and exhausted him.

But during the day, she was completely different. He couldn’t even begin to pierce the shell around her. Time away would be good for both of them.

“We will never be able to understand women,” his father muttered as he pushed his plate away.

Kamal pushed the unpleasant situation from his mind. “I’ve pored over hundreds of applications, but only about forty make the cut. It’ll take me about two weeks to get through the interviews, and that’s just for the top tier. I know we’ve already got twenty men coming with me, but I may need about five more to run background checks. I got updates that the inspectors approved of the construction of the warehouse, but we still need to set up the offices.”

He sighed. There was still so much to do before he left.

“I’ll spare five more, but that’s it, Kamal. I can’t afford to slow production down . You’ll have to make do with that,” Nahid said with a sigh. It was clear that the fight with his wife had diminished his appetite.

The five additional men was only a fraction of what Kamal needed, but he knew better to ask for more. He considered himself lucky that he’d gotten this far. While a political and business alliance with America would be strong, he knew there were many who didn’t agree with the expansion. Most of his country wanted to keep themselves as secluded as possible. Something not being on America’s radar was a good thing.

Kamal polished off his dinner and stood. A servant came out to quietly clear the table, and he nodded his head in thanks. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Perhaps you should join us for breakfast with your wife,” Nahid said with a sigh. “Maybe that will pacify your mother.”

Kamal hesitated. He had planned on getting to the office early, and frankly, he knew that things with his mother would blow over. She could never stay mad at him for long. But since it was his father asking, he knew it was probably important. “Very well,” he muttered with a curt nod.

His father almost looked relieved as Kamal left the kitchen to retire to his suite.

It was the latest he had ever come home, and Jada was sleeping on the couch. His body tensed as he stared at her form stretched out on the cushions. He knew quite well that the body beneath the blue fabric of her dress was absolute perfection. He had traced every inch of her skin his fingers and his mouth, and it drove him to distraction.

There were moments where he could barely focus on his work because his thoughts were consumed with her. When he was sheathed within her, she was warm and welcoming. It had been a long time since he’d felt that way with a woman. Even when he was with Sara, it wasn’t like this.

Thinking of his ex-lover made him angry, and he tried to push the thoughts away. It wasn’t fair to his wife that he would be thinking of another. While it was customary for men in surrounding countries to take multiple wives and lovers, Kamal wanted to be faithful.

If nothing more than that he believed more than one woman would be far too much trouble.

His wife stirred, and when she opened her eyes and stretched, he hardened. After the day he’d had at work, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself within her. He knelt down by the couch and ran his hands over the curves of her torso and over her hips. Jada parted her lips in surprise. “Kamal?” she asked sleepily.

“Shh,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. She opened readily for him, and as she tangled her fingers in his hair, his senses were reeling. These moments with her were more than just sex. She bared everything for him, and he finally got to see the real her. It was both physically and spiritually intimate.

Gently, he scooped her up and carried her to the bed. He didn’t mind that every second with her tonight was a second that he would have without sleep. It was worth it to feel the connection between them.

And when she cried out his name in the darkness, it made him feel something that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

* * *

His mother was delighted when they showed up for breakfast. Although the looks she sent his way were anything but pleasant, she hugged Jada and kept the conversation going.

“Darling, I have some errands that I need to run today. Would you like to join me?” Ameena asked.

Nahid gave her a sharp look. “Why don’t you send someone to do your errands for you?” he asked her.

“I’m perfectly capable of running errands,” she muttered. Kamal studied them. Why were they fighting over errands?

“I would love to join you,” Jada said quickly. “It’ll be nice to get out.”

Get out? “Why do you need to get out?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he immediately regretted them. His wife immediately looked down at her plate.

“I’m sorry. I don’t need to go.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said impatiently. He opened his mouth again, but his mother shot him an angry look.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Kamal and his father seem to be very busy with work, so they don’t need to pay any attention with what we do today. We may run errands all day long. We might go see a movie and have lunch and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have dinner out tonight and tell the staff to take a day off,” Ameena said in anger.

Stunned, Kamal sat back and stared at them. What the hell was going on with his parents? Nahid stood. “Come on Kamal, we need to finalize some details before you leave,” he said darkly as he stalked from the table.

“Jada, can you give us a minute,” Kamal said gently. Jada pushed her chair back and immediately left the dining room. “Mother. I know you’re upset that I’m leaving for a little while…”

“Kamal, you are so blind. So blind. Your wife is trying so hard to please you, and you are never home. Not only are you never home, but now you’re leaving. At the very least, you should take a few days off to spend with her,” she interrupted him sharply.

“Why?” Kamal said in frustration. “She’s not comfortable enough around me to even be herself. I’ve seen her when she’s talking to herself alone and when she’s with her friends. She’s crazy and fun and sassy, but when I get around here, she can barely look at me. I feel like she thinks she’s a prisoner, so she probably thinks it’s a relief that I’m leaving.”

In frustration, he got up and left the table. Jada stood in the hallway staring at him. He could tell from the look on her face that she’d been listening. “How much did you hear?” he asked quietly.

“Just the part where you think I want you to leave.” She took a deep breath and met his eyes. “This is all very new for me, Kamal. I’m not going to get the hang of being your wife in just a few months. And I’m sorry that I’m not pleasing you, but you’re not right. I don’t want you to go. But as your wife, I know I’m supposed to be supportive. So go. Do your thing. And when you get back, maybe we can finally talk to each other and find out how we can make this work. Because I really want to make this work.”

She didn’t wait for a response. As she brushed past him, he closed his eyes and shook his head. He was married. He should be fighting for the marriage to work like her, but the truth was that if anyone felt like a prisoner, it was him. He stayed out late on purpose. He was looking forward to leaving.

But she was beautiful, and when she was in his arms at night, she was perfect. She was absolutely perfect. So why the hell was he so happy to run?

Kamal had been gone for a week now. Nahid and Ameena were barely speaking to each other, and Jada had been cooped up in the wing all this time. She was going stir crazy, and she needed to do something.

Carefully, she crept out into the hall and listened. The palace was silent. Taking a deep breath, she slipped down to the stairs and tip-toed down. She’d made it to the bottom when Nahid walked in. Freezing at the bottom step, she could only stare at him like a deer in headlights.

“Jada,” Nahid said with a chuckle. “Are you sneaking around the palace like a teenager?”

“Sheikh,” she said as she bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I’ll go back upstairs.”

“Jada, I am your Sheikh, but I am also your father-in-law. And since my son is across the ocean in another country and my wife is no longer speaking to me, I’d very much appreciate it if you were my family right now instead of a citizen of my country.”

“Of course.” She smiled and shook her head. “I’m kind of lonely myself. So you and your wife are fighting over your decision to let Kamal leave. I think I’m supposed to take her side in the matter.”

He chuckled. “Didn’t realize you had the spunk. I like it. I suppose you’re right. You should be taking my wife’s side. Does that mean that we’re not going to be friends?”

“Yes, I do think it means that. But you didn’t want a friend, you wanted family. And as your family, I know you’re doing what you think is right for the biggest company in this country. I understand what the expansion means. Certainly more money and a bigger export base. It’s not just business. It’s political.”

Nahid gazed at her curiously. “Your father said that you went to school.”

Jada blushed. “Sorry. I like international politics. I think the move that you’re making is brilliant. I just wish it didn’t include my husband. Not that it matters.”

“Are you saying that you don’t think your voice matters in this family?”

“I think it doesn’t matter that I didn’t want my husband to leave. I think that my husband wanted to go, and that I didn’t say anything to stop him.”

Nahid grunted and cocked his finger. Jada sighed and followed him. It’s probable that he was pissed at how forward she’d been, but the truth felt good. She didn’t care that she’d said it.

“Ameena and I didn’t even know each other when we were married. After the wedding, it was rough. She was too scared to talk to me, and I was too damn cocky to care. It went for an entire year before she finally broke and screamed at me. And after that point, we didn’t speak at all for two months. It took all that time for me to realize that my wife had been terrified to speak to me. I wasn’t actually seeing her.” Nahid led her into the office and sat his briefcase down.

Jada blinked. “I’m not sure why you’re telling me this.”

“Because you, my dear, are too scared to talk to your husband. And your husband isn’t seeing you. You need to let him know that you need to be seen.”

“I’m not scared of Kamal. In the beginning I was concerned. Not all arranged marriages work out well for women. But Kamal has made it clear that I should not be scared of him, and I’m not scared of him.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Laughing softly, Jada shook her head. “My father raised me to marry Kamal. From the moment I was born, my father made sure that I was groomed and ready to be the future wife of the future Sheikh. It wasn’t until I left for college that I even knew what I wanted, and I knew that I wasn’t the woman that my father raised. But he is my family. Until I married into your family, he was my only family. And I can’t let him down, Sheikh. I can’t. I need to make this work, so I’m trying to be the woman that he raised me to be.”