“You are.”
“Forget it—”
Mercilessly, he pulled her into the gleaming marble bathroom. Outside, twilight had fallen. The shadowy room was lit with flickering candles.
“What’s this?” she said, bewildered as she looked around the bathroom, set for beauty and romance.
“Rayah must have done it. I didn’t,” he said grimly. “Now get in the tub.”
Her lips parted. “I’m not taking off my robe in front of you!”
“Get in the bathtub, Beth.”
She saw by the gleam in his eyes he wouldn’t rest until she was in the bath, one way or the other. Dropping her silk robe she stood before him naked in the candlelight.
His dark eyes flickered as he slowly looked over her naked body, pink in the steamy bathroom. Her cheeks burned, but she lifted her chin defiantly.
* * *
He abruptly turned away, his jaw tight. “I will leave you to get ready.” His voice was almost strangled. “Come down for the banquet within the hour.”
“Why is it so important to you?” Beth was holding back tears. “What can we gain from me pretending to be your future bride?”
“Pretending?” he ground out, still not looking at her. “We are already wed, even if no one knows it. The banquet is in your honor. You will respect my people, and your position, by showing up.”
His words made her heart hurt. Turning away, she climbed into the hot bubble bath, laced with rose petals. After all the drama of the day, her whole body ached with exhaustion. She leaned back in the hot, fragrant water, giving a soft groan of unwilling, unexpected pleasure.
Hearing a gasp, she looked up. Omar was staring down at her in the candlelight, his dark eyes wild.
Her breasts had risen above the surface of the water. Her skin was pink with heat, her nipples red, surrounded by bubbles and floating rose petals.
Even as she willed her body not to react, her nipples pebbled beneath his glance, every inch of her body suddenly shivering with desire.
No! She could not let herself want him! Not now! Humiliated, she moved the angle of her body so her breasts swiftly disappeared beneath the water.
His eyes found hers. Electricity pulsed between them.
“I never meant to hurt you,” she whispered.
“Hurt me?” His jaw clenched, and he turned away. “No. I am merely—disappointed. You made my people love you with your lies. Now, you will make their love for you evaporate.”
“How?”
“Be rude. Be unkind. Be a vicious, filthy liar.” His lips twisted sardonically. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”
The big jerk! She swallowed back a retort. “And if I turn out to be pregnant? How can I remain as your wife if I’ve made everyone hate me?”
“In that unfortunate event, you can easily win back their love. I am the last of my line. If you are pregnant with Samarqara’s heir, you will instantly be the most adored person in the land.” He gave a cold smile. “By everyone, of course, but me.”
“Oh.” A lump rose in Beth’s throat. He called the prospect of her pregnancy unfortunate. Making it clear that any child born of their union would be an unwanted and regrettable burden, forcing Omar to remain yoked to Beth, when he despised her.
And this after he’d been so determined to make love to her, that he’d lured her into unknowingly speaking wedding vows! “What about my job in Houston? I can’t stay here for weeks until—until we know. I’ll be fired!”
“Fired?” he snorted. “As if you ever intended to go back to work at a charity shop after you collected your three million!”
“That money wasn’t for me, I told you!”
“You told me a lot of things. Why would I believe any of it?”