The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress (15 page)

Electra let out an indignant snort, remembering the boys and how silly they were. “That was pointless,” she replied with a disgusted grimace. Even now, the memory of how her friends had played such meaningless activities amazed her.

Edna took her granddaughter"s hand and forced Electra to look into her eyes. “Dear, you"ve just proven my point. You thought it was pointless and went your own way. All your friends were running trying to catch up with you. You were never mean to them, and loved having them around. But face it, honey. You"re friends didn"t really understand you. You had ideas they just couldn"t grasp. Not one of your class mates could have thought of building a village with sticks and stones. Now you have a man who is dynamic and charming and excites you as no other man has ever done. And I think he genuinely understands the real you.”

She huffed and crossed her arms over her stomach. “I wouldn"t know about that,” she sighed. “I wasn"t ever able to experience other men. How would I know that no other man could excite me?”

Edna had to laugh at her granddaughter"s disgruntlement. “Oh, I know you occasionally tried to sneak out and experience a little of their romance. But you never did it, did you?”

“That"s because of those silly body guards, always shadowing me. Good grief, Gran! Did you know they used to hang out underneath that tree by my window trying to catch me sneaking out?”

Her grandmother nodded, a twinkle in her eye. “Who do you think warned them you would do that?”

Electra"s mouth dropped open in horror. “You Gran? You betrayed me?” She shut her mouth and looked at the cabin of the plane to see if anyone was close enough to hear their conversation, then quickly back to her grandmother. “How did you know what I was doing?”

Edna patted her granddaughter"s hand gently. “Guess who used to have that room before you?”

Electra"s eyes widened. “You?" Grandmother, did you sneak out at night to meet with boys?” she asked, knowing that the tree outside her window was at least a hundred years old with large, sturdy limbs that could easily hold a body. “Why you little rebel,” she laughed, the first laugh she"d had for several hours.

Edna smiled, obviously proud that she wasn"t just an old fuddy duddy in her granddaughter"s eyes any more. “Of course I slipped out. Why do you think your grandfather and I married so young?” she asked, primly straightening her cardigan more securely over her shoulders.

“If you"d done it all those years ago, then why did you warn the guards about me? Why couldn"t I have had those experiences as well?”

Edna sighed heavily. “Because you were too strong and too wild, my dear. I loved you so much but after your father died, you were in so much pain and were lashing out at anyone and everyone, including yourself. I was terrified of what you might do.” She looked down at her weathered hands. “And I couldn"t face the idea of losing you as well.”
A lump formed in Electra"s throat, making swallowing difficult. She put an arm around her grandmother"s shoulders and hugged her frail body gently. “Oh, Gran. What a pair we are,” she sniffed.

Ednareached up and embraced Electra as well. “Yes, well, that brings us back full circle. Your current predicament.”

Electra sighed and pulled away. “Yes. So how do I get out of this tangle?” she asked. “And why I should even be in a tangle is beyond me.”

“Perhaps it" s because you dive into things with all your heart and mind, embracing life first with curiosity and enthusiasm. The questions generally come a little later.” Electra could see the worry and concern underlying her grandmother"s gentle remonstration. “But you always land on your feet and that"s what has happened now.”

“I don"t think this constitutes landing on my feet. I"m in a plane going who knows where with a man I thought I…” she was about to say love but stopped herself in time, “admired and respected but now I find out he"s a stranger. And he resents me because I"m not who I presented to him either and have made him a laughing stock with the press.” Putting her head in her hands she shivered. “How can one life get so tangled and messed up?”

Edna laughed and squeezed Electra"s shoulder. “I don"t think things are as messed up as you believe, dear. I think you"re just following the plan God has made for you. After all, how can you veer from the path? It"s inevitable.”

Electrashook her head. “I don"t believe in letting fate decree my future. I prefer to establish what is ahead of me myself.”

Her grandmother smiled. “Do as you wish, dear. You can"t fight it, so you might want to just relax and enjoy the ride of your life.” With that, her grandmother picked up her mystery book and proceeded to read, leaving Electra to her troubled thoughts.

Eventually, she fell asleep and woke up several hours later with her feet propped up, the seat completely reclined and a soft blanket covering her. The chair had turned into a bed that was almost more comfortable than the one she had at home. Trust Dharr to have all the little luxuries, she thought angrily and tossed off the blanket. The plane had stopped, she realized and looked around warily. The other occupants of the plane were packing up their briefcases efficiently, all nodding politely to Dharr as he walked forward. “Are you ready?” he asked, bending down to help her out of the chair.

“Where are we?” she asked, looking out the window but all she saw was darkness and the normal airport runway lights which meant they could be anywhere in the world.

“We"re home,” he said uninformatively. Electra shook her head and smiled sarcastically. “Dharr, I can guarantee that we"re not at my home because mine doesn"t have a runway down the center of it. So that must mean we"re at your home,” she replied, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for him to answer her original question.

In response, he took her hand and led her out of the plane down in to a waiting limousine. The night air didn"t tell her anything either but she inhaled sharply fifteen minutes later when she saw the city lights outside the limousine window. There were lights everywhere and she could tell that the streets were laid out in neat rows. The shops were all closed at this time of the night but there was obviously a thriving cottage industry as well as many skyscrapers in the distance. But what caught her attention the most were the lights in the distance that seemed to be lighting a building more magnificent than the Taj Mahal. The place was enormous and seemed to be made almost completely of gold but she knew that wasn"t possible. It glittered in the night sky, the windows twinkling and the colors shining as if covered with jewels. “Oh, Dharr, your home is magnificent,” she breathed.

“Thank you,” he responded. “It is now your home as well. The announcement of our engagement has already been released and the festivities planned for the next ten days.”

She had a hard time pulling her eyes away from the mind boggling building but his words did the trick. “Engagement?” she asked, focusing on the one word that seemed to feel like a punch in the stomach. “What engagement?”

“Ours. The announcement of our imminent wedding. We"ll be married in ten days time.”

She blinked, hoping that he would smile as if he were teasing. “Are you kidding?” she asked, when he only looked back at her seriously.

“I"m afraid not, my dear.”

“We"re getting married?” she asked slowly, the concept not really coming through to her fatigued mind.

“Of course,” he said.

She latched onto the only question that might make sense to her. “Why of course?” she asked.

“Because of our relationship over the past couple of months. You were my ward and it is now common knowledge that we were lovers. Being responsible for you has made it imperative that we marry as quickly as possible. It is the only right thing to do.”

Electra felt deflated. Of all the romantic marriage proposals, that had to rank as the lowest of them all. “Well, do I have anything to say about this? I mean, what if I don"t want you to make the ultimate sacrifice and marry me to save my ruination?” she asked, the sarcasm coming through loud and clear.

Dharr raised one eyebrow but the astonishment was written on all his other features. “You would deny me?” he asked, incredulous.

Electra raised one shouldercasually. “I don"t know. Since no question has been asked of me, its irrelevant, isn"t it?”

“You want me to ask you for your hand in marriage?” he asked but it was more of a statement than a question and she could tell he was laughing at her again.

Turning away from him, she crossed her arms over her stomach and stared out the window. “Don"t bother. I can pretty much tell you what my answer will be,” she said and blinked back the tears that started to form in her eyes.

His black eyes immediately hardened with her comment. “Good to know,” he said sharply. “I wouldn"t want to waste my time on silly questions we both know the answer to,” he snapped back.

The car pulled to a stop outside the immense front gates and Dharr exited first, then turned to help her out of the car. For appearances sake, she allowed him to help her out, but as soon as she was on the sidewalk, she dropped his hand as if it were a bomb. She walked forward as if she were already queen, completely ignoring the man behind her but she smiled brightly to her grandmother who walked from the limousine that had been traveling behind them. Arm in arm, she walked into the palace with her grandmother, pretending the man who had just shattered her dreams was not two paces behind her. She could feel his angry gaze boring into her back but didn"t care.

She hoped she"d hurt his feelings because she was about to shrivel up and die of shame and disappointment herself. All those feelings she"d been harboring for the man had been pointless. All the dreams she"d built up during the nights she couldn"t sleep because she"d been thinking of him, weaving fantasies about what a wonderful life they could have together and how much she loved him, were all shattered now. He only wanted her because of duty! Because of obligation!

“Good evening, Your Highness,” a man in a long white robe said, stepping around Electra and her grandmother. “I trust your flight was comfortable?”

“Very. Please see that Ms. Knight and her grandmother are comfortable in their suites. And send Jamil to my office as soon as he arrives.” Turning to Electra he said, “This is my chief of staff. He"ll make sure your rooms are to your liking. Please excuse me,” he said, bowing slightly. “I have some work I need to attend to.”

Without another word, he walked stiffly away. Electra watched him walk away and, if she didn"t know better,she"d think he was hurt. But that was impossible. Being hurt would mean that the man had feelings but everyone knew monsters and robots didn"t have feelings, she told herself.

She followed the other man down several long hallways. When he stood in front of one door, he allowed both of them to enter. “Mrs. Knight, this suite has been assigned for your pleasure. Ms. Knight, if you"ll follow me, I believe the suite next door is for you.”

Electra walked into a beautiful room done in soft whites and azure blues and yellows. The windows were covered in long drapes but she pulled them back, gasping in pleasure at the twinkling night lights in the distance. “You just need to lift the receiver on the phone if you wish anything. Your luggage has already been delivered and hung up,” he explained before bowing out of the suite.

Electra watched him go with stunned silence before looking around. There was every conceivable luxury in the room, including a huge television screen that dropped from the ceiling, an expensive stereo system, dimming lights and a bathroom with a pink, marble sunken bathtub. Unfortunately, she was so tired, she could barely keep her eyes open in order to investigate the rest of the room.

Strolling to the closet, she opened the door, wanting to pull on one of her tee-shirts and dive into the comfortable looking bed. But all she found were silk negligees and lace teddies. No comfortable pajamas or large sleep shirts around.

Angry at the man"s presumpt ion, she stomped over to the phone and lifted the receiver. All her fatigue was instantly gone, replaced by more fury. When the line was immediately answered, she said, “I need to see Dharr immediately.”

Seconds later, a knock sounded on the door. Electra looked at the phone oddly, then shrugged and slammed it down. Pulling open the door to her suite, she stared at the man lounging against the door frame. “You!” she snapped.

She could see the fatigue on his face and almost relented, but the tiredness quickly disappeared, to be replaced by his normal arrogance. “Yes. Me. I came by to make sure you had everything you need.” Without asking permission, he pushed his way into the room and looked around as if he"d never been in the suite before.

“No, as a matter of fact, I don"t have everything I need.”

His eyes turned back to her but his face was completely impassive. “I"m sure the staff will be able to fulfill any of your needs.”

“I need something better and more comfortable to sleep in that these,” she stated firmly, her hand gripping the lace and silk pieces disdainfully.
Dharr"s eyes traveled from the silk crumpled in her hands to her face, a smile forming as he said, “I can suggest many ways to be comfortable in bed. Would you follow my advice?”

Electra shivered as her body remembered how easily he could make her decidedly
un
comfortable. “No. I wouldn"t,” she said firmly.

He took a step forward. “Would you like to wager on that? I"m pretty sure I can make you forget wearing either ofthose.”

“No,” she whispered and took a step back.

His eyes flared and he nodded slightly. “Yes.”

Taking a deep breath, she planned her escape, knowing it would have to be quick. Darting to the left, she dashed out of his reach, running at full speed for the open doorway. She had no idea where she would go or what she would do when she got there, she just knew that she couldn"t let Dharr reduce her to a puddle of desire, which was exactly what he intended to do. She could see it in his eyes.