‘Good heavens... Grandad knows about all this?’ Zoe gasped, already shaken by Raj’s serious respect for her ancestry, which was, she realised finally, far more valued in Maraban than it would ever be anywhere else.
‘Your grandfather is agreeable to the exchange of bridegrooms,’ Raj delivered.
Zoe turned slowly pale with anger. ‘But what about me? What about what I want?’ she demanded starkly.
‘That is why I am here...asking,’ Raj stressed sardonically. ‘Your grandfather and my father are quite happy to believe that only their consent is required. I am not that foolish.’
Her anger drained away again. ‘Thank goodness, someone here has some sense,’ she mumbled.
‘You were willing to marry Hakem sight unseen,’ Raj reminded her.
Zoe’s knees felt weak and she flopped down on a cushioned seat as if her breath had been stolen from her. She was at a crossroads. ‘That’s different, that was before all this happened and I realised Hakem had abandoned his wife for me and stuff like that,’ she argued uncomfortably. ‘It was a mistake to agree. Now I just want to forget all this nonsense and go home again.’
‘But I am asking you to stay here and marry me,’ Raj stated with precision. ‘And it is an entirely selfish request.’
Taken aback at that confession, Zoe tilted her head back to look up at him. ‘Is it?’
‘Yes. It would mean the end of my exile and my estrangement from my father,’ Raj pointed out grittily. ‘And not only that, my marriage to Azra’s granddaughter would delight my people as well. What is in it for you other than the acquisition of an entirely useless title, I don’t know, but it would at least be as much as you would have received from my uncle. I can also promise to treat you as well as he would have. He is a decent man, regrettably poisoned by his pointless need to compete with my father.’
What is in it for you? Zoe appreciated his honesty with regard to the advantages to him should he marry her. Even so, her understanding of his position did nothing to stop her brain from whirling with wild indecision. She had been ready to go home and give up on her quest for greater independence but now Raj was offering her another option. Yet somehow marrying him struck her as a far more intimidating prospect than marrying a much older man, who had sworn he would treat her like a daughter. Raj was so much younger, more aggressive, more virile... Her brain ran out of descriptive words as she glanced warily at him.
He was so poised in his long white buttoned tunic, a black cloak folded back over his broad shoulders, his lean, darkly handsome face grave and cool while he awaited her answer, those glorious dark-as-the-devil eyes gleaming with an impatience he was too polite and intelligent to voice. A positive reply would mean a lot to him. She understood that, she really did. She also still yearned for the opportunity to live an independent life, unfettered by the expectations of her family. But most of all, she wanted to prove herself to herself and she wanted to be strong without leaning on anyone else for support. Even less did she want to run home with her tail between her legs and disappoint her grandfather as well.
‘What would it take to win your agreement?’ Raj pressed, the skilled negotiator that he was breaking cover.
Zoe coloured as if he had turned a spotlight on her and dropped her head. ‘Well, I don’t know what your expectations would be but I can assure you now that I wouldn’t want sex. I’m not into sex. It’s something I can live without, but you?’
That he couldn’t even look at her without thinking about sex was a truth Raj decided he needed to keep to himself. Overpowering curiosity assailed him at the same time. What had put her off sex? One bad experience? An assault? Those were not questions he could ask and he suppressed the urge to probe deeper even as he winced inwardly from the upfront immediate rejection she was handing him. She didn’t want sex with him. He had never met with that kind of rejection before and he pushed away that awareness, deeming it arrogant and ultimately unimportant in the greater scheme of events.
‘I can offer you the exact same marital agreement that persuaded you that you could marry my uncle,’ Raj broke in to insist with measured cool.
Zoe tossed her head back in surprise. Little tendrils of white-blonde hair were beginning to cling to her damp brow because she was feeling too warm even in the shade of the tent. Probably because even talking about sex set her cheeks on fire with self-consciousness, but she knew that she had to be frank with him. There was no other way and no room for any misunderstandings if she was candid from the outset. It shook her to acknowledge that she was seriously considering the marriage he was suggesting, for it was unlike her to take a risk. And Raj, her sixth sense warned, would be a risk.
‘Unfortunately, you’re not old enough to treat me like a daughter!’ she told him ruefully.
‘But I am old enough not to put pressure on a woman, who doesn’t want me, for sex,’ Raj retorted without hesitation. ‘I appreciate that you would have to take that guarantee on trust but it is the truth. I have never had to put that kind of pressure on a woman and I never will.’
‘OK,’ Zoe mumbled, feeling that they had done the topic of sex and not having it to death. ‘I admit that I would like to stay in Maraban and explore a little of my heritage.’
‘I could make that possible,’ Raj told her.
‘Where would we live?’
‘In the palace, which is, I must admit, a little dated,’ Raj acknowledged, choosing to understate the case because he himself considered his surroundings immaterial as long as the basics were in place.
His father, unhappily, had a great reverence for history and it had proved a major battle to persuade Tahir to allow even modern bathrooms and cooking facilities to be constructed in the ancient building. Guests were lodged in one of the very contemporary villas built within the palace compound to provide convenient accommodation for visitors while preserving his father’s privacy.
‘I could live with dated,’ Zoe muttered uneasily. ‘I’m really not very fussy. My sisters and I lived in some real dives before we met our grandfather a couple of years ago and he invited us to move into a property that he owns in London.’
‘The palace is not a dive,’ Raj murmured with reluctant amusement. ‘To sum up, you are prepared to consider my proposal?’
‘Thinking about it, wondering if I can trust you.’ That admission slid off the end of Zoe’s tongue before she could snatch it back and her face flamed with guilt.
‘I keep my word...always,’ Raj proclaimed with pride, dark eyes aglow with conviction. ‘You have nothing to fear from me. You would be doing me a very great favour. The last thing I would do is harm you. In fact, if you do this for me, I will protect you from anything and anyone who would seek to harm you.’
He was gorgeous, she thought helplessly, standing there so straight and tall and emotional, so very emotional. She had never met a man who teemed with so much emotion that he couldn’t hide it. She had never met a man she could read so clearly. Reluctant hope, growing excitement and the first seeds of satisfaction brimmed in his volatile gaze. She couldn’t take her eyes off his, could still hear the faint echo of his fervent promise to protect her from all threats.
‘We would still be able to get a divorce after a few months?’ Zoe checked anxiously.
‘Of course. We would not want to find ourselves stuck with each other for ever!’ Raj quipped with sudden amusement.
And for the very first time in a man’s presence, Zoe felt slighted by honesty. She scolded herself for being oversensitive. Naturally, he wouldn’t want to stay married for good to a woman he didn’t love and neither would she wish to stay with him, would she? He was simply voicing the facts of their agreement.
‘Then...’ Zoe rose to her feet, suddenly pale with the stress of the occasion and the big decision she was making for herself without consulting her sisters, who probably would’ve voiced very loud objections ‘...I will agree to marry yo
u and I can only hope that it brings you the advantages that you believe it will.’
Raj took a sudden step forward and raised his arms and then let them fall again as he stepped back. ‘Forgive me, I almost touched you but I am sure you prefer not to be touched.’
‘I do.’ But Zoe was lying. He had been about to sweep her up in his arms and hug her and she was disappointed that he had recalled her rules and gone back into retreat. He was passionate, a little impulsive, she suspected, the sort of guy who occasionally in the grip of strong feeling would act first, think later. She would have liked the hug, the physical non-sexual contact, the very warmth and reassurance of it, but it was better that he respected her boundaries, she told herself urgently. ‘So when will this marriage take place?’