The Sheik's Furious Bride (Love By Accident) (7 page)

She looked back up at him
and
,
despite her anger, she was genuinely intimidated.  This man wasn’t one to be crossed and she’d already humiliated herself enough today.  She
would save herself to fight another day. 

In silence, she stepped into the black vehicle and found a seat, glaring at the large man who climbed in and sat down next to her, his huge body crowding her in the normally abundant space but because he was so tall, his left leg was pressed against her right one and his arm had to move behind her to make room for his enormous shoulders. 

“Can’t you sit in the front like a good minion?” she asked as she tried to scoot over so she wasn’t touching him.  He didn’t take the hint but moved closer himself as the driver drove
off,
taking her away from everything she’d ever known.  She was terrified of what she was facing and bit her lower lip as she stared out the window, trying desperately hard not to cry. 

How had this happened?  When Rashid had threatened this previously, she’d been quite adamant that s
he would be against an arrangement
with this man.  Rashid had even used
Hussan El Hamin
as a threat when she was getting too irritating.  El
Hamin
was like the boogey man for small kids and marriageable daughters or sisters.  And now she was on her way to the man’s palace.  She
couldn’t
believe how cruel life could be, she thought and her stomach churned with the fear of what was to come.  She tried to rationalize the situation but it was hard.  Rashid said he respected
El-Hamin
but what did
that
mean? 
Reporters weren’t allowed in the country, the borders were basically shut down so how would Rashid know if his sister was being abused? 

Thoughts were tumbling through her mind, she worked the details, tried to figure out how she was going to get out of this situation.  She couldn’t marry this man!  She had to find a way out, to get help and hide away.  Surely she could get some sort of communication ou
t to find
some help.  She didn’t
have her blackberry, she didn’t even have additional clothes
, she’d acted out and now she didn’t even have her purse with her wallet and identification, much less her credit cards or any money
.  How was she going to escape? 

And what would be the political repercussions if she
actually succeeded in an escape
?  Would Rashid be blamed?  Would the people of Tasain be hurt in battles they had nothing to do with?  She could imagine
El-Hamin
crossing over the borders and slaughtering the
innocent
villagers who
were minding their own business and
had nothing to do with this union
, probably wouldn’t even know that there had been an engagement
. 

She put her head in her hands, the sobs just under the surface and she tried to control her fear but it was slowly taking over. 

Hussan
felt the slender woman’s shivering and knew he should try and reassure her.  Hell, she didn’t even know that he was her fiancé!  He almost laughed when he remembered her calling him hairy and knew that was from the earlier photographs of him out in the field during the civil war.  There had been no official portraits since then
so people outside of Silaria didn’t know what he looked like anymore
.  He didn’t have the time to sit around for a photographer nor did he want to was
te the people
s
’
money on official pictures when there was so much more that needed to be done
and better places to spend their tax dollars
.  Every cent was to be used on repairing the roads, building new schools and educating his people.  The civil war had caused a great deal of damage and, although his country was not poor by anyone’s standards, they were troubled by a broken infrastructure
that would still take years to build up to former levels of efficiency
. 

This marriage
celebration
would
need to
be
somewhat
elaborate though.  He knew that his people had been working hard for years and they needed something to celebrate.  As much as it would pain him, he would allow celebrations, as long as they didn’t go too far.  The woman beside him would have to be controlled
so she didn’t cause damage
, but after seeing her out in the night, sewing up his wound
and knowing that her team helped so many others in the same way
, he knew that she had more inside of her that the superficial women who had previously been offered to him
by other leaders and powerful men
.  She would be an asset to his reign and help him re-build the country. 

How he was going to get her on his side was a whole other issue. She obviously had heard some pretty horrible things about him and the people inside the country.  Perhaps a country wide tour
would be
a good start to their marriage.  It would give everyone a chance to see their new queen and give him a reason to both
embrace
the
celebration
and make sure that the money being channeled through the villages for repairs was actually getting to them. 

He sighed and looked down at her lovely face, noticed the tears she was
fiercely
fighting to keep from dropping from her lashes. 

He didn’t like the empty feeling he had as he watched her struggle with her fears.  He should reassure her, make her feel welcome and show her that he wasn’t just buying a pretty face.  He knew that he
’d
wanted this particular woman ever since he’d first seen her wearing two different shoes at her brother’s wedding.  No, that wasn’t quite true, he corrected in his mind.  He’d wanted her as soon as he saw her trying not to laugh at the fact that she was wearing two different shoes at that event.  She had a luscious figure and a beautiful face, but it was the way she’d handled that scene that had fixated her in his mind.  Some women would have been embarrassed, or angry that he’d noticed.  But she’d been fighting back laughter and that was a huge plus in his opinion. 
“We’re here,” he said softly but with a gruff voice. 

Isla looked up and wondered where they were.  “Why are we stopping here?
” she asked as she took in the helipad and already prepared helicopter standing by. 

He surveyed the scene, noting that all of his instructions had been followed. 
“We’re flying the rest of the way.”

She looked from the helicopter to the large man sitting next to her, confused by the situation. 
“But the border is only another half mile.  Shouldn’t we just drive?”

“The border is a half mile away.  But the palace
and the capital city
is another three hours in a car.  I don’t have the time
to drive all that way
.  We’re flying
to save time
.”  He held out a hand to help her out of the vehicle, but she ignored it and stepped gracefully down onto the asphalt.  He put a hand to the small of her back to lead her to the helicopter
, irritated that she’d ignored his outstretched hand.  He wanted to touch her, feel that soft skin and have her look to him as a man instead of a monster.  Why that bothered him, he couldn’t guess but it was there and he was reacting to it
. 

When they reached the helicopter, i
nstead of waiting this time for her to accept his help, he l
ifted her up and placed her in one of the
leather
seat
s
, ignoring the glare he suspected she was giving him for his assistance. 

If he hap
pened to have accidentally
used her very cute, very round derriere as a lifting point, who could blame him? 

He smiled to himself as she huffed about getting into the seat.  He didn’t even acknowledge her irritation at his assistance but he’d enjoyed it a great deal.  He suspected he would ‘assist’ her in many other ways before this battle of wills was won. 
By him, of course.

He also thought it was amusing that
she still didn’t realize that he was El
Hamin
, her fiancé.  As he climbed into the helicopter and took his own seat next to her, he considered various ways to let her in on the horror that he was actually the one she was going to marry.  He c
huckled at ways to shock her b
ut then thought it was probably better to just tell her.  The amusement factor he might achieve for himself might be counterproductive in the long term. 

But it was nice to think about.  He’d been focusing so much on getting his country running and back to
productivity
,
he hadn’t realized how little amusement he’d had in his life recently. 
And how long it had been since he’d had a woman.
  That wasn’t a good thought, he groaned.  Especially with this beauty sitting so primly next to him, looking like his own very
desirous
siren.  He’d have to be careful she didn’t sway him to the rocks.  He’d bet she could do a lot of damage if he let her. 

Isla looked out the window, but she wasn’t really seeing the landscape fly by below.  She was terrified of what was to come, of how she was going to endure this marriage, or get out of it and the consequences if she tried to run.  She knew she couldn’t do that.
It was her duty, but dammit, w
hy did she have to be the one to sacrifice?  Why couldn’t Rashid have given Zarah to that disgusting man? 

No, she’d never ask her sister to take her place.  Zarah was sweet and innocent, and definitely too young to be married.  She had several more years of freedom before she needed to think about the dire responsibility of marrying a man. 

With a sigh that turned into a hiccup, she covered her mouth and tried to gain control of herself.  She couldn’t meet her future husband looking like this.  She wiped her eyes, hoping that she didn’t have mascara running down her cheeks. 

“You
wouldn’t
happen to have a mirror handy, would you?” she asked the annoying man sitting next to her.

He looked down at her with those dark, enigmatic eyes and shook his head.  “I don’t, but you look fine.”

Fine?
  Isla bristled at the term.  Couldn’t he have said ‘lovely’ or ‘beautiful’ or even ‘nice’?  ‘Fine’ was so bland.  She didn’t want to look ‘fine’.  She wanted to look pretty. 
She didn’t consider her looks to be her only asset.  She had a brain and she was a quick thinker.  She’d never let anyone get the best of her in an argument unless she was wrong.  But she’d like to at least meet her future husband on terms better than ‘fine’.

This obnoxious giant obviously wasn’t married or he would know better than to use that kind of description for any female.  She pinched her cheeks and fluffed her hair back into place.  At least she hoped it was falling into place.  Without a mirror, she had no idea what she might look like after being tumbled over this
behemoth’s
back and trotted through the palace in such an undignified manner. 

“Don’t think I won’t tell El
Hamin
how you treated me, by the way,” she grumbled. 

Hussan
smothered his laughter.  “Should I mention how you called him a monster?  Or…what was that other term you used….” He
pretended
to think for a moment, rubbing his chin which Isla hated to admit was a very strong, very handsome jaw.  It made him appear more intelligent than she suspected he actually was. 

“Hairy?” he remembered and he enjoyed the soft blush that stained her lovely cheeks. 

“The man is hairy,” she growled.  “Let’s just leave both of those issues alone, shall we?  It’s a draw, I guess.”

He chuckled softly as he watched her pout, thinking she was lovely even when admitting she was wrong. 
“I didn’t know we were fighting.”

Isla turned and glared at him. 
“Life is always a battle. 
Especially when it
comes to the opposite genders.”

He raised his eyebrow, wondering why she was so disparaging at such a young age.  He might have expected something like that from a woman in her forties or fifties after a failed marriage or
bitter
divorce.  But he knew Isla was only in her mid twenties. 
“That sounds like a cynical take on life.  I wouldn’t have expecting something like that from someone so
fresh and lively
.”

Isla wasn’t sure how to respond.  Besides, they were getting closer to the palace and her fear was increasing.  She tore
her eyes away from the handsome
but irritating man and focused on straightening her clothes for the man she was probably going to meet the moment they touched down on that helipad less than a mile away.  The sun was bright on the palace and she could see the city surrounding the walls.  There was a great deal of damage
to some of the buildings
, but
she
also
saw
people bustling about and construction work was everywhere.  It was a thriving city and she didn’t see signs of abuse.  Normally, when people were neglected or tortured, they weren’t out during the day. 
Frightened c
ivilians
did their daily activities at night when they had a better chance of not being hurt or discovered, questioned by the wrong person who might cart them off to jail.