Captive for the Sheikh's Pleasure, page 14
And there were no stockings in her drawer.
She would just have to do.
Maggie was reciting her rehearsed lines as she checked her purse.
‘Hi, Hazin.’ She did her best breezy voice. ‘We met a few months ago...’
Or, ‘Hi Hazin, it’s Maggie, the girl in the green bikini...’
No!
‘Hi, Hazin,’ she said in a serious voice. ‘Could you tell Ilyas that I need to speak with him...?’
All her opening lines were terrible, Maggie knew, and she was consoling herself that she would never get past the doorman to even try them.
She locked up her little room and then headed down the hall and opened the front door... And there he was.
The something that was missing.
The very thing that had been missing since the morning they had said goodbye, the man she had been telling her heart to get over, all the while knowing that she never, ever would.
‘Maggie.’
Ilyas sounded so formal, yet just a little unsure.
He was wearing a suit and tie—and wearing it terribly well—but it messed with her fantasies, because she saw him at all times in a robe, or naked, or in those black harem pants he had worn.
Yet here he was immaculate in deep navy with a crisp white shirt and tie, and his jaw was clean shaven.
His voice was a touch uncertain, for, far from missing him, Maggie was clearly on her way out.
‘You were supposed to answer the door in pyjamas with red eyes and a bucket of ice cream,’ Ilyas told her.
‘That was last night.’ Maggie smiled. ‘And how dare you come to my door looking so different from how I remember you?’
‘I was supposed to be meeting with my brother.’
Maggie was about to tell him she had intended to do the same when he utterly floored her, for Ilyas said something she’d never thought he would.
‘I could not bear to leave things, though, not for even one more night.’
He took a step forward and she held open the door.
They walked down the hall that housed the shared bathroom and kitchen and Maggie had to get her keys out for her room on the left.
As she did so, she wondered how to tell him the news, for he couldn’t have noticed, given he hadn’t said anything.
Perhaps Flo’s suggestion to rely on a mass of red hair and a flash of cleavage had worked a little too well!
Ilyas knew.
The second he had seen her he had known, but he was used to keeping his expression from betraying his thoughts.
‘I don’t think I made the bed,’ she admitted as she fumbled with the door.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
He walked into the small home she had made and he was so incredibly proud of her for picking herself up and starting over again and again.
And she was very pregnant.
Ilyas needed a moment to centre himself and for the news to take hold.
He was a planner.
But there were times when the world upended even the very best laid plans.
He had left with his country’s future planned yet still somewhat uncertain, having jeered to his father that he had no heir.
And then, when his head was swirling, he saw something and he walked over and picked up the glass bottle and held it in his palm. ‘The sands of home?’ he checked.
‘Yes.’
He removed the stopper and peppered his palm with grains and drew on their wisdom.
All would be well.
‘Ilyas...’ He heard the nervousness in her voice and responded to it with warmth.
‘Yes...?’
It took only a moment and when he walked over, his palm went straight to her stomach and his touch embraced them both—mother and child.
His arms were the luxury she had missed, Maggie knew as he pulled her towards him.
When there, her mind did not search for answers, she just let herself be held.
Maggie had been so unsure how to tell him, and had made herself dizzy trying to fathom what his reaction would be. But Ilyas’s embrace was just right, and then his tender touch to her stomach told her all would be well.
Maggie did not know what would happen, but if an occasional lover was all she could be, she would take it, because there could be no one else for her than Ilyas.
She breathed in his scent, so familiar to her soul, and each nerve flared in instant recall and with desire.
Oh, she had missed him so much.
Words were not required now, and instead she succumbed to the bliss of his kiss. She did have a fuse, it just required Ilyas to ignite it. And so very easily he did.
He kissed her down onto the unmade bed and when they ached for skin-to-skin contact there simply was no time, for their needs had been left unaddressed for too long.
Ilyas ran a hand between her bare legs as her dress ruched up.
The lipstick she had so carefully applied smeared both their mouths as she held his cheeks in her hands.
Ilyas took delicious care of the rest.
He tore at her knickers and he unzipped.
As she moved to open her legs, it was not fast enough for Ilyas, and his impatient hand was already there, parting them. His breath felt hot on her ear, and then Maggie closed her eyes as he slid in and filled her.
He took his weight off her, but she wrapped her legs around him and dragged him closer. Their lovemaking was intense and frantic and he took her hard and deep. She held his broad shoulders and Maggie ached for his skin to be against hers, but he was fully dressed, the only naked part of him deep inside her.
She was suddenly frantic, her hands patting his suited shoulders as if somehow she might find the flesh beneath.
‘Ilyas...’ she gasped, for she was trying to hold on, scared that her orgasm might herald the end of a torrid dream for, even now, she could still not quite believe he was there.
Then he gave a low shout and she could no longer hold back as he shot into her and she came hard to him—tight, intimate beats, dragging out each precious drop he delivered.
And they were lovers again, Maggie thought as he pulled out of her. In a moment, she thought, they would get undressed, but for now they were breathless and anything other than holding the other seemed like too much effort.
He pulled her dress down a little and he arranged himself, and then his hand came to her stomach and Maggie felt his curiosity about the changes in her.
And, of course, he had questions.
‘When did you find out?’ he asked with his hand on her stomach.
‘A few weeks after I got back,’ Maggie admitted.
‘Were you scared?’
She nodded.
‘Of me?’
‘No. I think I was more scared of our baby being without you,’ Maggie said. ‘And I was scared what might happen...’
‘I hate the thought of you alone and dealing with this.’
‘I wasn’t alone. I had Flo and Paul...’ She closed her eyes because tears were threatening.
‘You can cry,’ he said.
‘I don’t, though,’ Maggie said, and blew out a breath.
She told him what she had found out the day before.
‘It’s a little boy,’ Maggie said.
Ilyas let that sink in.
A boy.
He would have a son. He did not need to swear that he would be a better father than his own. There was no doubt in his mind as to that.
And there was no needless questioning as to whether or not he was the father, but there was one thing he needed to know. ‘Were you ever going to tell me, Maggie?’
She looked up at him. ‘I was on my way to.’
He raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
‘I truly was. I’m supposed to be meeting...’ Maggie let out a yelp and then she leapt from his arms and off the bed and raced for her purse and phone. ‘Oh, I was supposed to be meeting Flo...’ She felt terrible at the thought of her standing outside Dion’s alone.
‘Your friend?’ he checked. ‘So what happened to telling me?’
‘Flo was going to help get me into Dion’s. It’s a bar—apparently your brother is there tonight...’
The fear of never knowing about his son left him then, for he would have been told tonight.
Perhaps even by Maggie herself!
‘I arranged to meet Hazin there tonight too,’ Ilyas admitted. ‘I need to speak to him and I thought it would be less formal to do so there.’
‘You were on your way there too!’
He nodded.
‘I would have died if I’d walked in there and seen you!’ Maggie smiled in delight at the thought, and then worried as she read through Flo’s texts. ‘She says she’s left my name at the front and to meet her inside...’
Maggie looked at the time and then she looked at Ilyas, who was wearing a lot of her red lipstick on both his face and shirt. She could only hazard a guess how she must look!
‘What do I do?’
‘Text her and tell her something came up,’ Ilyas suggested, and reached over and pulled her back to the bed. ‘Tell her you are sorry but Ilyas proposed and you hope she understands...’
‘Proposed?’
‘Will you marry me, Maggie?’
She had thought a part-time lover might be the best she could hope for.
‘Do you have to marry me because I’m pregnant?’
‘No.’ Ilyas shook his head. ‘I could have the palace deal with all that. I want to marry you. Why do you think I’m here?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Do you really think I came all this way for sex?’
‘Maybe,’ she admitted, for she wouldn’t put it past him. ‘You really came here to ask me to marry you?’
‘And for sex,’ he said, and watched her start to laugh, but then midway it faded. His Maggie was wise, and instantly she saw the impossibility of it happening in the land she had, a few months ago, left.
‘Your father would never agree.’
‘I don’t need him to. I make the decisions now.’
‘But he is king.’
‘And I have told him that unless there are changes—big ones—I shall take it to the people.’
It was daunting but Ilyas seemed incredibly calm.
‘Maggie, I have been planning this for a long time. Many years ago, I knew that change was required. At first I thought I would have to wait until I was king, but, as the years passed, I knew it was not fair to the people. I have been waiting until the time was right to step up. You—’ he smiled ‘—expedited the process.’
‘Me?’
‘When you told me I should ask the Bedouins, when our thoughts met and were the same, I knew I could wait no longer for change.
‘I have something for you.’ He reached into his jacket and he handed her a soft black pouch. When she opened it, into her palm fell a huge, rough, uncut stone.
A ruby.
‘It is from the red river,’ he told her.
‘Every night since you left I have been to the hammam...’ He saw her purse her lips. ‘I have been in the cave pool each night, and this morning, when finally I retrieved this, I knew it was time. I took this stone in with me when I challenged my father. Tonight I bring it to you.’
‘You could have drowned.’
‘But I didn’t.’
She looked at the stone in her hand and thought of all he had been through for her.
‘I need to return tomorrow to Zayrinia. I want to be certain that things are moving in the right direction before I bring you there.’
‘And if they’re not?’
‘Then together we shall work out what to do.’
‘Together?’ she checked.
‘Now and always.’ He nodded. It was a solemn vow indeed, for he understood now the power of love and having another to share his thoughts with. ‘There is one problem, though—I have to take the stone. As soon as I inform the palace that I have offered it to you, we shall have to remain apart until our marriage. That is, if you say yes.’
‘Oh, yes!’ Maggie said.
‘I’m going to take care of you both,’ Ilyas told her.
It was overwhelming.
Wonderful.
‘When is he due?’ Ilyas asked.
‘Christmas.’
And finally there was a Christmas she was looking forward to when she hadn’t for so long.
‘One day, when you’re ready...’ Ilyas said, for he could see that she fought not to cry, ‘I will be there to wipe your tears.’
It was such a comfort to know.
But not tonight, for she leant in to kiss him and her fingers worked to undo his tie, for it was a different comfort she required now.
She wanted him naked, and as Ilyas dealt with the remainder of their clothes, she knew he wanted the same.
Tomorrow he would return to the palace and pave the way to bring back his bride.
And he would do whatever it took.
For now, they had this night.
EPILOGUE
‘GOOD LUCK!’
Flo’s eyes were a little worried as she wished her friend all the best for this most special day.
‘Can’t I be with her?’ Flo asked again.
‘I’m sorry,’ Kumu said. ‘Only family can be with the bride.’
And Maggie didn’t have any.
There were many things that were changing in Zayrinia, but this custom was carved in stone and so Flo left to get ready for the ceremony and Maggie was left alone.
Well, she had Kumu and many maidens but, no, it wasn’t the same.
Today, on this her wedding day, she missed her mother so much.
Maggie, Flo, Kelly and Paul had arrived in Zayrinia a couple of days ago. But only Maggie had fully understood the sweeping change and the glimpse of more to come when the car had pulled up at the main entrance to the palace.
There had been a formal greeting and she had smiled politely and curtsied for the king and queen.
Ilyas had told her that the king had accepted the transition as if he himself had thought of it. And that, if anything, his mother seemed relieved.
The queen actually had a small smile for Maggie, and was far politer in her greeting than she had been the first time.
Of course there was no Ilyas.
For two nights there had been formal dinners and stunning days spent in the hammam with Flo, but today the pre-wedding celebrations and preparations had ended.
Maggie sat wearing a muslin slip. Her hair had been done and Kumu was attempting to do her make-up, but tears kept slipping out and she knew that today, of all days, it was imperative she did not cry.
She might never stop if she did.
Maggie wanted the wedding over with. She just wanted to be alone with Ilyas, for despite rehearsals she was terrified she might mess it all up.
* * *
Ilyas knew she would be feeling scared and alone.
‘Hazin is still not here,’ an extremely concerned Mahmoud informed him. ‘His jet is still in Dubai.’
But Ilyas had more on his mind than his wayward brother today.
‘I want you to find out how Maggie is.’
As Mahmoud walked off to follow his instruction, Ilyas called him back.
‘Not just a vague enquiry,’ he emphasised. ‘Ask Kumu. In fact...’ He gave Mahmoud more specific instructions.
It had been a very long two weeks.
Ilyas had not been making idle conversation when he had told Maggie that as soon as he asked her to be his wife they would be kept apart.
That time in the bedroom, that very precious night, had been their last real time together.
He had returned on his royal jet to get back to Zayrinia and put plans under way as Maggie had spent a frantic few days sorting out her rapidly changing life.
Now she took a break from the attempts to make up her face and tried to calm down.
Foolishly perhaps, she looked out of a window and saw the streets below, all lined with people awaiting their first glimpse of the married couple and their first sighting of her when they came out onto the balcony.
Maggie ran a hand over her stomach, which seemed so much bigger than when Ilyas had left. She looked down at the waiting people and knew they would soon find out about the pregnancy, and she was nervous what their reaction would be. Maggie didn’t want drama and negativity to surround her son before he was even born.
A cheer went up as a car drove towards the palace and Kumu told her that it was a neighbouring country’s king and queen arriving.
‘Has Prince Hazin made it yet?’ Maggie asked, for she had heard he was causing his usual brand of chaos.
‘I don’t think so,’ Kumu said, and rolled her eyes. ‘There will be trouble for him if he isn’t here soon.’ Then she smiled. ‘But no trouble for you. All you have to do today is smile.’
‘I will,’ Maggie said. She wished she could calm her fluttering nerves, and she did her best to hold back the flood of tears that seemed to well from her throat to her eyes.
‘Excuse me a moment,’ Kumu said.
Maggie nodded and gazed out of the window and willed herself to be calm. She was cross with herself because she was usually so tough, yet today, when she very much needed to be, she was having trouble pulling herself together. ‘Maggie,’ Kumu called. ‘You need to come with me.’
She was led from the dressing area and down a long hallway and then down several steps. Maggie had long ago stopped asking for a running commentary and had decided to somehow just go with the flow. Kumu opened a large wooden door and she entered a small room with a lattice partition.
Perhaps Kumu had decided to bring her away from windows and to somewhere quieter to attempt her make-up again.
Maggie was guided to a gorgeous high-backed chair where she was instructed to sit.
‘I’ll come back for you soon.’
‘Where are you going?’ Maggie asked, but Kumu didn’t answer and closed the door. Maggie was left alone. The sun streamed in through a window and it was actually nice to be quiet and still for a little while, for the wedding was just an hour away.
Oh, she wanted her mum!
She could not cry, but her eyes were filling with tears and she loudly sniffed them back.
