“What? And you didn’t tell me? Zee, I’ll kill you!”
Jen grimaced at her sister’s loudness as Zeena spluttered, “Tell you what? All I know is that this genie seemed to appear out of nowhere, materialized beside Jen and then poof, they were both gone.”
Jen had to laugh. As ridiculous as that account was, it sounded more plausible than what had actually happened.
Fayza turned excited eyes to Jen. “Spill!”
Knowing it was pointless to avoid their questions, Jen told them everything, with some key elements left out. Like Numair almost making love to her, and his pregnancy-to-marriage demand.
It was late in the day before Zeena and Fayza left, during which they did order pizza, watched Will and Grace reruns and did their nails—hands and feet.
The two girls floated away, buoyed by delight that their big sister wouldn’t barter herself for their kingdom’s peace and economic salvation, and that a knight in shining armor had charged to her rescue.
Jen closed the door behind them, slumped against it and let the smile she’d pinned on for their benefit crumble. If only they knew her knight was a black-as-sin marauder, and as unstoppable as a hurricane...
Though she still couldn’t bring herself to do as he’d demanded—tell her father everything would be taken care of—she did believe Numair when he’d said she didn’t have to say yes to his proposition in return for his help. That wasn’t why she was in such turmoil.
It was his demand itself. Becoming his lover, sleeping in his arms, sharing every intimacy sounded deliriously fantastic. Since he’d touched her, she’d been aching with need for him. She felt certain he was the man who’d show her what sex could really be like,
what passion and satisfaction were.
Yet getting pregnant by him? It sounded terrifying.
But what was her alternative? She could continue to live alone, work, succeed, exercise, volunteer... Rinse and repeat. Sure, that was great, and it had been good enough—before him. But she’d had the hope that she’d one day find a man and fall in love, at least in lust. But now she knew no other man would ever compare to Numair. She’d never look at another man twice, let alone share her body with him. So if she didn’t indulge her feminine urges with Numair, she’d have to put them in deep freeze for life. That sounded as horrible as a lifelong prison sentence. Living in hope, even if it never came to pass, was one thing; knowing there was no hope was another.
As for having a baby, she’d always thought she’d one day have one. But since she’d given up on marriage, and no one had tempted her to have sex with him, she’d thought she’d seek out a donor. But after Numair, that didn’t feel like an option anymore. Now that she knew he existed, that she could want a man that much, that he wanted her as fiercely, how could she contemplate having a child not born of this perfection, as he’d said?
To have a child with this wonder would be incredible. And once she got pregnant, if they married as he’d insisted, he’d certainly never be a needy, clingy, exploitative partner, like her ex had been, so she had nothing to worry about in that arena. He’d also promised he’d never smother her. Realistically speaking, with a man like him, who was so preoccupied with burdens the magnitude of which she probably couldn’t imagine, the opposite would probably be true. He’d probably have little time for her, giving her all the space she needed and then some.
His ardor would probably cool off gradually, too. And hers as well, no doubt, especially with a child changing the essence of her existence. Once things settled, she’d end up having everything she had now, plus a child and the best possible partner in raising it.
Though Numair felt as if he was missing human components, she had a feeling he would make a good father. That protector vibe told her he would. She knew in her bones she’d be safe with him, and so would a child.
In fact, the more she thought of it, the more it sounded too good to be true. She couldn’t even imagine why all this was happening to her, of all women. It sounded like too much of a coincidence, too much the answer to her every fantasy. Everything about him, everything he’d said and done, was the best thing she could have hoped for. So was it what it appeared to be? Or was there somehow more to it?
She had a thousand questions. And worries. This man was the most unfathomable quantity she’d ever met. She knew there was far more to him than even she could imagine. And for some reason she couldn’t even begin to explain, she felt there was far more to this whole thing...
The bell rang right at her back. She jumped as if at a close-range gunshot, blasted out of her reverie.
Her eyes tore to the clock on the wall. It was 7:00 p.m. This had to be Numair’s right-hand man.
Heart hammering, she squared her shoulders. She would go to Numair. To ask him to have a long, rational talk.
She’d ask her questions, demand her terms—her safeguards, more like. Once he’d given her satisfactory answers and they had a roadmap of sorts, she’d tear his clothes off and demand he show her no mercy.
Inhaling a bolstering breath, she opened the door with the smile she’d patented for strangers. The next second her lungs almost burst in shock.
Numair. On her doorstep.
Before she could draw another breath, she was swept up as if she was made of cotton candy, in arms that defined power, looking up into a face that was mastery incarnate.
Kicking the door closed behind him, he looked down at her with a voracity that turned her body from solid to molten. And that was before his deep, devouring words hit her.
“I realized I’ve been remiss. I spoke of the untold pleasure I have in store for you if you say yes, but gave you no true sample of my claims. I’m here to rectify my oversight.”
Five
A high-pitched alarm kept clanging in the distance.