Giving the Sheikh a Love Child: A Sheikh's Arranged Baby Romance Page 8

  The revelation stunned her like a punch to the gut, and when she walked back to her suite, Honey felt as if her head were buzzing and her feet did not entirely touch the floor.

  I always thought that walking on air was supposed to be a good thing. I don't feel good right now. I feel a little bit like I'm going to be sick.

  She knew she would be fine. She knew she simply needed to pause and regroup, maybe speak with the palace publicist or someone that Kashif recommended. If anyone knew about the rehabilitation of an image, it would be him, and the thought made her wake up a little more and return to the present.

  I'm not that kid anymore, she told herself. I'm not the poor kid at the table who has clothes that have been mended, and I'm not facing off against kids who have never learned anything about kindness or sympathy. It's fine. I'll be fine.

  Honey was just getting her emotions under control when she heard a step in the hall behind her, just a little short of their private wing. Something about the noise sent a chill down her spine, and she jerked to a halt, her head shooting up.

  It was Kashif at the end of the hall, looking at her with surprise. There was something dark on his face, a scowl as he held his tablet in front of him, and a thrill of absolute terror and misery raced down Honey's back. She stared at him, her jaw dropping open.

  “Honey? Honey, what's the matter?”

  She shook her head, turned, and ran.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kshif

  Kashif had been thinking of nothing more irritating than the new details for the trade deal with Vietnam. It should have been signed, sealed, and delivered by last week, but the Vietnamese trade commission kept returning to add for what felt like the most minor of concessions, to add this or that or the other.

  Almost as if they really don't want this deal at all, he thought with frustration. I had such high hopes for seeing this in place before the next quarter.

  He wasn't in the best of moods, he supposed, when he decided to call it a day and go back to the private wing of the palace. He figured he could take a break and then see what his lawyers had to say about all of this. It would be a good idea to get his eyes off of it and perhaps get a fresh perspective.

  He hadn't thought he would see Honey until later, and when he sighted her in the hall, a cool relief like sinking into a pool on a hot day came over him. He called out to her, and then to his shock and dismay, she simply took off. One moment she was giving him a look that was frankly haunted, and the next she was sprinting down the hall, her heels kicked off in her wake and her footsteps already receding.

  For a single appalled moment, Kashif stared after her, and the next, he took off in pursuit, pausing only to scoop up her shoes. It looked like she was headed for the garden, where she would definitely need her shoes again, and he didn't know what the household staff would make of simply finding designer shoes on the ground.

  As he had guessed, she darted out into the private gardens, and he gave chase. What in the world could have made her run like this? What made her flee as if she was terrified? There was a terrible voice in the back of his mind saying that of course it was him, of course she was terrified of him, but he pushed that thought away grimly. If she was, that was something they were going to have to deal with when she had stopped and calmed down.

  Either way, there was nothing to be gained by Honey running hell-bent through the garden.

  He chased her to the edge of the pool where they had sat not long after they’d gotten married, and at the very edge of it, she turned to face him with a cornered and confused look on her face. He was relieved to see her looking calmer and less afraid, but then he realized that there was a window in which to stop his headlong charge and he had entirely missed it.

  With a warning cry that Honey had absolutely no time to heed, he crashed into her and both of them went pinwheeling into clear water. The pool was barely more than four feet deep, and there was no fear of drowning, but Kashif still grasped Honey by her shoulders, lifting her above the waterline so he could look in her face.

  “Honey,” he said after he had gotten the sputtering out of the way. “What's the matter? What's wrong?”

  She gave him a look of such sorrow and misery that his heart beat faster, and then she simply threw her arms around him with a tiny sob.

  “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” she moaned, and instinctively Kashif hugged her close, stroking her back with large firm passes of his hand.

  “All right, it's all right. Come here, let's climb out of the water, okay? Any conversation we're going to have is best going to be had on dry land and honestly in dry clothes, all right?”

  She nodded almost meekly, and Kashif wondered all over again what had happened, what had hurt her. Whether he could make whatever had hurt her pay for doing such a thing.

  She slipped on the shoes he had saved, and while she was silent getting back to their wing of the palace, she seemed calm enough. She excused herself to go to the bathroom to shower the pond muck off of her body and change clothes, and taking the hint, Kashif did the same. By the time she approached him on the couch in his suite, he was calmer but no less curious.

  Dressed in a pair of pale pink silk pajamas, there was something beautifully soft and sweet in Honey as she came to sit next to him. Without saying a word, he pulled her in to lean against his side, and without any resistance, she snuggled against him, releasing a long and tired sigh.

  “You sound like you had a long day, love,” he murmured softly.

  “That would be a funny way to say it,” she said ruefully. “It's not like I spent too much time on my feet or that I was doing too much hard labor or anything like that—”

  “But it is still allowed to be a hard day,” Kashif said sternly. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I'm afraid this is going to sound far less dire than it felt,” Honey muttered.

  Kashif listened intently as she told him about her observations and her realizations, and he winced when he recognized the part he had played in making her so fearful of this kind of censure and shunning.

  Through it all, she stay snuggled up next to him, and it was hard not to read that as a kind of success. No matter what she had gone through, or how harrowing her realization had been, she still found him a safe person to be with, and he caught her in his arms, pulling her even closer as he kissed the top of her head.

  “And I know you're probably going to tell me that it's nothing, or that I'm stupid for being worried but—”

  “No,” he said firmly. “I never will. I may tell you that I don't agree. But I am never going to tell you that you are stupid, because you are the farthest thing from being stupid. I have known from the beginning how bright you are. I wanted that wit on my side, so why would call it stupid?”

  Honey made a dubious sound of agreement that he would take for now, but he continued.

  “If this has been persistent, if you have noticed it happening more and more, there likely is something going on. We have experts to look into that for us, and it is something that can be settled. While concern is legitimate, however, panic is not. There is nothing in this that should frighten you. There is nothing this can do to you.”

  “I'm not worried about this hurting me, or embarrassing me, or doing anything else to me!” Honey burst out, and Kashif looked down at her with surprise.

  “No? I thought—”

  “No, what do I matter?” Honey asked impatiently. “I don't. If they make fun of me, if they find something terrible about me, what does it matter at all? However, you brought me to be your wife to help you get your initiatives pushed through. You needed a rubber stamp for your reign, something that would help the old guard feel more at ease with everything you are doing. When I can't do that for you anymore... well, what's the point of keeping me as your wife?”

  It was clear that Honey had meant the question rhetorically, but Kashif had to bite back the next four or five things he had to say to that. It was not because he didn't feel them or believe the
m. It was more that he didn't think Honey would feel or believe them. If he could shout her worth at her, if there was anything he could do to convince her she was valued and adored, he would do it, he would say it.

  However, he had come to know her well enough that he didn't think it was a revelation that could come all at once. No, it had come slowly, with time and through actions and unfailing regard for this woman that he now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved.

  Kashif kissed her gently on the head to give himself time to think, and then he pulled back, pushing her up into a seated position.

  “Kashif?”

  “I want you to come with me tonight,” he said. “I'm going to cancel anything either of us have for the next... let's say two nights. There's nothing that is going to burn down without us around. There's nothing that is going to miss us terribly much. We're getting out of town for a while.”

  She blinked at him, and the uncertain look in her eyes would have broken his heart if she didn't also willingly take his hand. There was trust there, and there was faith, and he would take it and slowly if necessarily, build something grand.

  “Is it really that easy?” she asked, and he grinned at her.

  “It can be. It is right now. It won't always be, so let's let it be easy for us right now. Will you come with me, Honey?”

  “Yes,” she answered right away. “Absolutely, I will come with you.”

  It was, Kashif thought as they rose to pack overnight bags, a start.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Honey

  Honey wondered if she should be more concerned when Kashif wanted to keep their trip a secret. He arranged it with impressive speed while she was packing, telling her that she didn't have to worry too much about packing appropriate attire.

  “It's a spot that my family has owned for a long time,” he told her with a wink. “It'll have everything we need there, and probably some things we don't.”

  When she appeared at the elevator down to the garage in a deep red sundress and sandals, Kashif gave her a look up and down that raised her temperature a little.

  “What a very good thing you met me down here like this,” he said softly. “If I had gotten you like this near a bed, we wouldn't be leaving for hours.”

  She laughed, because she was fairly sure he was joking, but in the car, he laid a proprietary hand on her thigh as he swung the car through the city and towards the freeway. She must have made some kind of small sound, because he glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

  "Is that all right?"

  "Yes," she said, and in case he didn't believe her, she pressed her hand down over his so he wouldn't pull back. "I like it," Honey said, sounding a little shy and nervous even in her own ears. "I ... like being yours."

  "Mine," Kashif said, and there was no avoiding the pleasure in his voice. "I like the sound of that. I want you to enjoy being mine. I want that to make you proud and to make you safe."

  The moment he said it, Honey sighed, closing her fingers more tightly over his.

  "Yes," she said quietly. "I want that too."

  "Then that's all you have to be this weekend," he said firmly, a new resolve coming into his tone. "You are going to feel safe and good. I'll take care of all the rest."

  Honey started to laugh at that, both at her surprise at how very much she wanted it and also at how of course Kashif couldn't want to do something like that for a whole weekend.

  "Surely not—"

  "You're not meant to be questioning me right at this moment," Kashif said, and though his tone was light, there was something deadly serious about it. She realized that he completely meant what he said, and the thought took her breath away.

  "This isn't why you married me," she whispered. Somehow, Honey felt as if she needed to make up for what she was asking him to do.

  "No, but it's what I want today. Tomorrow, maybe things will change, but I can tell you right now that this is what I want. I have always been honest with you, Honey, and right now I need you to be honest with me."

  "Kashif—"

  "If you don't want this, be honest and tell me. If not ... well, this is what is happening, and all you have to do is to enjoy yourself."

  He waited, and when Honey stayed as silent as a little mouse, he made a pleased sound. His hand came up to brush a stray lock of hair back from her face and trace a gentle finger along the line of her throat.

  "Good," he said, and Honey's body suddenly felt both very heavy and lighter than air. She was here with Kashif, and all she needed to be was good for him.

  Two hours later, just as the sun was beginning to set, they pulled off the freeway and navigated a labyrinthine path in increasingly desolate roads until they came to a large house, set far back in the hills.

  "What is this place?" asked Honey, looking around in the growing dark.

  "A family house," Kashif said with satisfaction, pulling their bags from the trunk. "I had them prepare it for us when I realized we needed to get away from it all. Come on. I think you'll like it. There's a surprise in the back."

  The house was small but stunningly beautiful; stone and glass and steel coming together to create modern spot of luxury in the wilderness. Inside, the house was warm and cozily lit, and as Kashif took their bags to the bedroom, Honey took a seat by the tall windows that looked out over a dark ravine. It was lonesome but not lonely, and she felt a kind of peace come over her that she was not sure she had ever felt in her life.

  Kashif returned and leaned over the back of the couch, nuzzling the side of her neck and then giving her a soft kiss right behind her ear.

  "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Are you tired from the drive?"

  "Actually no," she told him with a little surprise. "I feel good. Awake."

  He smiled at her.

  "All this fresh country air will do that to. If you have some energy left, come on, I want to show you this place's secret."

  "I do love secrets," Honey commented, and she followed him out the back door.

  In the few minutes they had been inside, it had gotten substantially darker, and Honey rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms.

  "Chilly," she said, and Kashif laughed.

  "Not for long. Come on, you'll see."

  They came around a stand of trees, and then they stood in front of a pool that was set with small ground lights. It was a lovely little place, very beautiful, and Honey started to say so before she realized how warm the air was and how little wisps of steam rose up from the water.

  "Oh! It's a hot spring?"

  "Yes," Kashif said. "My family has always had some kind of house on this location. It was always one of my favorite spots. Come on. It's amazing."

  Honey shrank back.

  "Oh, I wish you had told me. I didn't bring a suit."

  Kashif shook his head, holding his hand out to her.

  "There's no one to see, I promise," he said.

  "But... I'll be naked."

  "So will I."

  Whatever other protests Honey might have made, they dissolved under the heat of Kashif's gaze. There was something in him that could not be questioned, something that forced her to catch her breath.

  Under his watchful eye, she stripped down to her skin, putting her dress, shoes and underthings in a neat pile on the ground. She started to cover herself, but Kashif shook his head, pulling her hands down.

  "No," he murmured. "Not when you are so beautiful."

  Honey watched with bated breath as Kashif stripped, his movements efficient and economical, utterly unashamed. By the low light of the hot spring, she could see how very beautiful his body was; his lean muscles, the casual strength and easy grace of his motion.

  "Come on," he said, and he led her into the water.

  For the first few moments, it felt too hot, as if she was being boiled, and then when her body adjusted to the heat and the faint metallic smell of the steam, Honey let go of a deep surprised breath.

  "Good?" Kashif asked, and she nodded in wonder.<
br />
  "I'm not sure I have ever been better."

  "Very good," Kashif laughed, and he came behind her, wrapping his arms around her body and leaning down to kiss the back of her neck. The worry and pain she had been carrying from earlier started to dissolve as he kissed her, and she leaned back against him, closing her eyes.

  "Oh, that's good," Kashif murmured in her ear. "That's exactly what I want for you. That's perfect. That's just right."

  Honey started to turn around to kiss him in return, but his powerful arms kept her in place.

  "No, I have you right where I want you, and I am going to do exactly as I like."

  "Make me feel good?" she asked drowsily, and he laughed, sending a tickle of pleasure up her spine.

  "Exactly."

  There was a moment where Honey was convinced she wouldn't be able to let go. There had been too much going on that day, too much going on in her entire life, to allow herself to simply let go, but then she remembered that this was Kashif. This was her husband, the man who saw her as no one else did. No one had forced him to be out here with her. No one in the world could force Kashif into anything. He was doing all of this precisely because he wanted to, and with only a sigh, Honey let go.

  The hot spring at its deepest only came up to her shoulders, and it was easy to let Kashif move her as he wished to, to let him cup her small breasts in his hands, to push up against her so she could feel his hardening manhood against her rear.

  "My beautiful wife," Kashif murmured. "You are all mine. I am going to make you feel so very good. I'm going to take such good care of you..."

  Honey gasped a little when his hand ducked under the water to cup her between the legs, his strong fingers sliding back and forth along her slit.

  "This is mine," he whispered intimately. "I'm going to make you feel so good, and you are going to make me feel the same way."

  So overwhelmed with desire, Honey couldn't do anything but moan and whimper at Kashif's touch, and then he was taking her over to a cunningly hidden set of stairs that would allow someone to get in and out of the water with ease.