The Sheik's Furious Bride (Love By Accident) (10 page)

The administrator quickly shook her head, one hand moving to h
er throat while the other waved in front of her to allay Isla’s fears. 
“Goodness!  Of course you can come in and see what we’re doing.  We’re honored
by your presence and thrilled to have you interested in what we do here
!
  The kids will have a fabulous story to tell for the rest of their lives because of your visit!
”  The woman was so flustered Isla had to work hard to help her calm down. 
As they moved slowly into the building, Isla
asked about the curriculum, the number of students that
attended,
the school year and anything else that would put the administrator at ease.  The woman was knowledgeable and proud of her school, singing the praises of
El-Hamin
. 
Unfortunately, hearing good things about the man she hated wasn’t what she was hoping to hear. 

And she felt horrible about that!  The kids should come first, and finding bad things to throw at Hussan should come secondary.  She had to give him credit because the school looked well kept and, although there had at one point been severe damage to the building, the walls and fences had already been repaired and only an experienced eye could see the damage. 

She sat down in the back of one of the classrooms, hoping she wouldn’t disturb the teacher too much.  She watched as the teacher
helped
the kids through some math problems and was impressed with how encouraging the woman was.  Isla had always loved school, but
until she’d gone away to finishing school,
she’d had private tutors
for her schooling
who had
given her and her siblings
one on one
instruction
.  That made for much easier lesson plans
and when the instruction wasn’t getting through to
them,
the teacher instantly knew it and changed the explanation so that it was absorbed
.  This woman
seemed to be teaching fifty students at various age
s
and skill levels, and she was doing a pretty good job at it. 

Isla
moved out of that classroom and into another where a younger teacher was working on a craft project with the smaller kids.  This classroom was definitely out of control and the administrator knew it, was worried about the impression Isla would have.  Isla leaned over to the administrator and shook her head
to try and put the administrator at ease
. “Don’t worry.  I’m not here to judge.  I’m here to help.  What if I took half of these children and read to them while the teacher worked with the others?”

The administrator was obviously conflicted.  She didn’t want to impose, but how was she to say no to her future queen?

“Anything you’d like, Your Highness,” she finally said
, bowing slightly but the worried look on her face remained
.

“Thank you.  This is a very hard group to teach and it looks like this
instructor
has her hands full with a larger than normal class size.”  She looked around at all the children who were eager and excited about the project, which was definitely a good sign.  “I’ll talk to Hussan and see if there’s any way t add some funds so you can have additional teaching staff.”

The lady seemed relieved, and more than a small bit grateful.  “That would be wonderful!”

“Don’t get too excited,” Isla warned.  “I don’t know my future husband very well, but he seems like a reasonable man. 
T
here could be other priorities.”

She nodded and smiled broadly.  “I completely agree.  It’s just very nice to know that there are advocates out there who understand the importance of education.”

Isla walked over to the bookshelf and chose one of the
colorful
stories.  It was a well used book with the spine starting to collapse.  She wondered how many years this book had been in use, but knew that it was also a favorite of hers. 
She mentally added a box of books to her ideas for helping out this school.  There were probably so many more
schools
that needed the same thing, so perhaps this was one area she could make a difference. 

The administrator was moving up to the front of the class, the teacher throwing her a worried look of panic.  But Isla smiled warmly and pulled up one of the small chairs and perched down on it.  While the teacher
gratefully
rounded up a
bout half the class, the other children
looked on eagerly. 

There was a great deal of chaos initially, but soon the children settled down and some worked the craft project which would help them with their motor skills and eventually with their writing, while Isla read to the other half out of the storybook.  The children were darlings and sat enraptured by the story while she read.  Isla made sure to change her voice during each of the characters and had the children laughing when she growled like the l
ion or cackled like the witch.  The thought occurred to her that, at some point in the very near future, she might be reading this very story to her own children. 

Goodness, that thought led to images of how those children would be conceived and she stumbled through the page she was reading
as her mind snapped back to that kiss, and what might happen immediately after the wedding ceremony
.  She didn’t want Hussan to touch her in that
way,
did she?  Then why did her stomach flip like that and her wh
ole body tingle with excitement?
 

To distract herself from the thought of what Hussan might look like naked, s
he picked up another book while the teacher worked with the first half of the group, switching off
with the project to the reading group
,
all the while,
the administrator looking on with glee the whole time. 

What that administrator didn’t realize was that Isla was having trouble thinking of things other than Hussan touching her with his large, strong hands.  Thoughts of him kissing her, not just on her mouth but doing things she’d read about in
other
books, wondering what it would be like for him to touch her with his mouth in those other areas.  Her fingers actually shook as she turned the page but thankfully the children were too absorbed with the story to understand and the administrator couldn’t see Isla’s face, so she didn’t notice the telling blush that turned her cheeks a painful shade of red. 

The school bell rang and the children
excitedly
herded out of the classrooms but several stayed behind, all wanting to shake Isla’s hand and talk to her.  Isla took her time, greeting each of the children and staff members, asking their names, what their parents did or how their spouses were employed. 
It was a good way to get
an idea of the local economy. 
She tried hard to remember everyone’s name, but by the end of the impromptu meet and greet, she knew she’d only remember
a few of the names and faces. 

She was
procrastinating
, she thought with resignation.  She didn’t want to go back to the palace.  She was afraid for two different reasons but the first one was most prominent in her mind.  On one level, she wondered if Hussan would be angry with her for leaving the palace without his direct permission but that issue was minor compared to the idea of what her mind had been conjuring up during that story time. 
Children, and the way they were conceived, was
uppermost in her worried mind.  She wanted children, but didn’t want Hussan.  She didn’t want him to kiss her like that and make her feel out of control.  She didn’t want to find someone like him attractive. 

When all of the kids had left, Isla rounded up her security guards and left, waving to the group of teachers who were congregating out in the school yard.  “That was fun, wasn’t it?” she asked to the security guard in the front seat. 
“Where can we go visit now?” she asked, not wanting to go back to the palace.  She didn’t want to see Hussan especially with her mind going in directions that were better left alone.  Normally, Isla preferred to face her problems head on and resolve them but Hussan was a completely different beast.  She didn’t know how to face him, much less resolve the problems she had with him.  The man terrified her. 

The body guard
looked back at her through the rear view mirror and nodded his head, but didn’t say anything.  Isla sighed, wondering if these men ever took a break from their discipline. 
She suspected that the spur-of-the-moment assembly hadn’t been fun or entertaining for any of them but
she
still smiled as if she’d done something good today
despite her thoughts of children and Hussan
. 

They didn’t ask her where she wanted to go next, but immediately took her back to the palace
where they could more easily ensure her safety
.
  Isla didn’t bother to ask if she could drive around the city any more.  She suspected that she would be greeted with stoic faces and a negative reply.  She sat back against the leather seats and
concentrated on
her moment of accomplishment
instead of the
man waiting back at the palace who was probably furious with her.  On wobbly legs, s
he walked back inside
the palace
and the guards led her directly to the office she’d been in earlier that day.  She didn’t ask, and wasn’t told why. 
But as soon as the door closed behind her, her happiness over the school visit evaporated and her nervousness returned. 

Inside, she was alone once again, staring at the torn leather chairs and wondering what this room was
used
for.  When
Hussan
walked in, she was surprised to find him angry.

He walked right up to her, surprising her so much by his outburst that she jumped and reached behind her for the large chair to steady her balance. 
“Where the hell have you been for the past several hours?” he demanded, stopping only when he was less than an inch from her and staring down into her expressive brown eyes. 

She was so
stunned
,
she didn’t have time to figure out why he was so angry.  But his anger sparked her own temper and she straightened her shoulders, coming right back at him with all she had.  “I wasn’t here so what do you care?” she snapped back at him.

Hussan took a deep breath and tried to calm down his raging temper.  He’d never been this angry before and couldn’t believe that this tiny, angry woman could make him feel so out of control.  He’d inquired about her activities about an hour ago and just about tore off a door when he blasted through it after hearing that his fiancée was out visiting the city, even traipsing through a school yard. 
“I care because you will be my wife.  You didn’t ask to leave the palace and my guards told me you were out driving.  I’ll ask again, where did you go?”

Isla was fed up.  It had been a horrible day and she was tired of being pushed around by this man. 
Only a half hour ago, she’d felt as if she’d done something good in the world and here he was, standing there yelling at her as if she were some sort of recalcitrant child!  There was no way she was putting up with that kind of treatment! 

His fury instantly banished her nervousness and she was grateful for that release. 
She didn’t care how big or tall he was
,
she wasn’t going to take it
from him
.  Poking him in the middle of the chest, she leaned forward to emphasize her point.  “I went out.  If you needed something from me, you failed to express that before you stormed out on me during our last irritating interlude.”

The fact that she was calling their kiss irritating just increased his ire. 
He pointed his finger towards the floor to emphasize his point. 
“Isla, you don’t leave this building unless you have my express permission!  Do you understand me?”

She squared off.  “I understand you’re being ridiculous!  I refuse to clear my daily schedule with you of all people.”
  Not that she actually had a daily schedule she thought in the back of her mind.  But that was
besides
the point!  She wasn’t going to be a prisoner here in his palace.  He was placing ridiculous restrictions on her for no reason. 

He took several deep breaths in order to calm himself down.  How she could rile him so quickly was beyond his understanding, but he was putting a stop to her
spontaneous departures.  There were too many people out there who wanted to hurt him and they weren’t above snatching her in order to do that.  His mind shuddered at what could happen to her if his enemies got hold of her. 
“Me of all people is now your lord and master,” he said, gone was the blatant fury but it was
replaced with something
even more dangerous
.  His tone was more terrifying
when it went low and growly like this.  “And I will know where you’re going or I will ensure that you don’t sit down for a week to ensure that you don’t go anywhere!”