“Aram, habibi, come with me….”
He let go at her command, splashing her walls with his essence. And she cried out her love, her adoration, again and again. “Ahebbak, ya hayati, aashagak.”
*
Aram looked up at Kanza as she cried out and writhed the last of her pleasure all over him, wrung every drop of his from depths he’d never known existed before collapsing over him, shuddering and keening her satisfaction.
She’d taken her sentence back, had again expunged his record, giving him the blessing of continuing as if nothing had happened. She’d called him her love and life again. She’d made soul-scorching love to him.
So why wasn’t he feeling secure that this storm was over?
She was stirring, her smile dawning as she let him know she wanted to lie down.
Maneuvering so she was lying comfortably on her side on the couch, he got her the jacket she reached for. She fished an envelope from its pocket. At its sight, his heart fisted.
He recognized the seal. The king of Zohayd’s. He was certain what this was.
With a radiant smile, she foisted it on him. And sure enough, it was what he’d expected. She’d gone and gotten him everything that just a week ago she’d thought he’d married her to get.
And she’d made love to him before presenting it to him to reassure him that accepting this wouldn’t jeopardize their relationship. She was giving him everything she believed he needed. Zohayd as his home. The job that would be the culmination of his life’s work, putting him on par with the ruling family.
He again tried to correct her assumptions about his needs. “I need only you, ya kanzi….”
“How many times will I tell you I’m okay now? I just showed you how okay I was.”
“But we still need to talk.”
She kissed him one last time before sitting up. “And we will. As much as you’d like. After the ceremony, okay? Just forget about everything else now.”
Could she forget it, or would she just live with it? When she’d said before that she couldn’t?
He feared that might be the truth. That she was just giving in to her love, her need for him, but even more, his love and need for her. But in her heart, she’d never regain her total faith in him, her absolute security in his love.
“Let’s get you ready,” she said as she pulled him to his feet. “This is the most important day of your life.”
“It certainly isn’t. That day is every day with you.”
She grinned and he saw his old Kanza. “Second most important, then. Still pretty important if you ask me. C’mon, Shaheen said he’d send you the job’s ‘trimmings.’”
He’d always known she was one in a million, that he’d beaten impossible odds finding her. But what she was doing now, the extent to which she loved him, showed him how impossibly blessed he was.
And he was going to be worthy of her miracle.
*
Aram glanced around the ceremony hall.
It looked sedate and official, totally different than it had during his and Kanza’s fairy-tale wedding. The hundreds present today were also dressed according to the gravity of the situation. This was the first time in the p
ast six hundred years that a foreigner had been introduced into the royal house and had taken on one of the kingdom’s highest offices.
As Amjad walked into the hall with his four brothers behind him, Aram stole a look back at Kanza. His heart swelled as she met his eyes, expectant, emotional, proud.
What had he done so right he’d deserved to find her? An angel wouldn’t deserve her.
But he would. He’d do everything and anything to be worthy of her love.
Amjad now stood before his throne, with his brothers flanking him on both sides. Shaheen was to his right. He met Aram’s eyes, his brimming with pride, pleasure, excitement and more than a little relief.