Millie blinked and realised daylight was streaming through the curtains. ‘What happened?’ she asked, looking around.
‘You’re still wrapped in my arms and I’m in no hurry to move away,’ Khalid told her in a growly, morning voice. ‘I’ve been watching you sleep.’
‘Snoring?’
He pulled a wry face. ‘Not that I could hear.’
‘What are you doing?’ she asked. ‘I’m still asleep.’
‘Not for long,’ he promised.
Kissing and touching, he stroked and soothed her as she whimpered and sighed. It was all too easy to fall under his spell, but when she woke up and came to her senses, what then?
‘Better?’ he asked as she trembled in anticipation of more pleasure to come.
‘No,’ she said, trying to regain a grip on reality that didn’t include the mighty Sheikh of Khalifa taking up a permanent berth in King’s Dock.
‘How about now?’
As Khalid sank deep, she lost control immediately, which made reasoned thought impossible. Wrapping her legs tightly around him, she worked as vigorously as he did to bring them both the satisfaction they craved. After making love, they slept again, and she woke in his arms. Khalid was still sleeping—or so she thought—when she slipped out of bed to shower and dress.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked.
She turned to see him resting his chin on his hand as he stared at her.
‘Home,’ she said quietly.
There was a pause, and then he frowned and said, ‘Why?’
Because this was the perfect ending, Millie thought. She’d spent so many teenage years dreaming and imagining that she knew exactly when the curtain should come down.
‘There’s nothing to be gained by staying any longer,’ she said. ‘We both know this can’t go anywhere.’
‘So you’re leaving before we talk about the baby?’
‘I’m sure you’ll have your lawyers handle your side of the discussion.’
He looked astounded.
‘I’ll be ready for them when they arrive,’ she promised calmly as her heart began to crumble like an iceberg in the sun.
‘Is this because of some silly idea you have about me being a king and you being an apprentice?’
‘Well, of course it has something to do with it,’ she admitted. ‘I’m hardly a suitable match. Don’t you have an arranged bride on the horizon?’
Millie’s heart shrank to the size of a pea as she waited for Khalid to reply. She could bear this, she told herself firmly. Whatever he had to say, she could take it.
‘There’s something I should have told you,’ he said as he swung off the bed.
She prepared for the worst.
‘That time...before the ball,’ he began.
‘When your meetings overran,’ she supplied tensely. ‘Were you...?’ She had to brace herself to say the words. ‘Were you discussing a marriage?’
‘Yes, I was,’ he admitted.
She swayed. He caught hold of her. ‘I was discussing our marriage.’
‘What?’ she said faintly.
‘It takes time to change the constitution of a country,’ he explained as she stared up in bewilderment. ‘That constitution has been changed to allow the ruler of Khalifa to choose his own bride. It’s the way forward, Millie, not just for us, but for our children, and for all the future generations.’
‘You did this for me,’ she whispered.
‘Yes, I did.’
‘I don’t know what to say,’ Millie admitted.
‘You’re a self-made woman and an inspiration to everyone who meets you. And you’re the mother of my child,’ he added. ‘The simple fact is, you’re a woman and I’m a man. Do I need any more reasons?’
Perhaps one, she thought.
‘And I love you,’ he said.
Yes.
‘I can’t think of anything more important than that, can you?’
And neither could Millie. ‘So...’
‘So, you’re not going anywhere,’ Khalid said as he lifted her into his arms. ‘You’re staying here with me.’
‘Well,’ she teased, hardly able to contain her happiness, ‘I suppose if I have to be anyone’s captive—’
With a laugh, Khalid swung her around. ‘That imagination of yours should be bottled and sold, and then I wouldn’t need sapphire mines to make a fortune.’
‘Another fortune?’ Millie commented as her heart threatened to explode with love.
‘Think of all the good you can do with my money.’
‘Now, there’s a suggestion I doubt anyone’s heard before,’ she admitted.
‘Then, it’s time you started thinking about it,’ Khalid insisted, turning serious. ‘You’re the love of my life, and I want to share everything with you.’
‘Are you asking me to believe that His Majesty the mighty Sheikh of Khalifa loves Millie Dillinger, oil-smeared apprentice, and sometime laundress?’
Khalid’s mouth pressed down in the way she loved. ‘A man called Khalid loves Millie,’ he said, ‘and that’s the beginning and the end of it.’
‘So, what are you proposing?’
Pulling back his head, he stared down at her. ‘Marriage, of course.’
‘Are you serious?’ she gasped.
Lowering her to the ground, Khalid got down on one knee? ‘Either that, or you’ve lost an earring. Marry me, Millie,’ he said in a very different tone, ‘and stand at my side for ever.’
‘As your Queen?’ Millie blurted, still shocked.
‘As my wife,’ Khalid corrected her. ‘You’re the only woman who is uniquely qualified for the job.’
‘What qualification would that be?’
‘You love me.’
‘Well, yes, I do,’ she admitted. ‘So much it hurts.’
‘Is that a yes?’ Khalid demanded, his eyes burning with love
and laughter. ‘Can I get up now?’
‘You are serious,’ she said.
‘Never more so,’ he confirmed. ‘I knew the moment that the young Prince hurried to escort you that I had to move heaven and earth to push that new law through. No one else could be my wife. No man could ever love you as I do. I intend to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want the whole world to know that I adore you. Starting with you,’ he added softly as he cupped Millie’s face in his hands.
It was a long time before they broke apart, and when they did, she remembered their talk.
‘About this child or the next?’ Khalid teased as he stroked her belly. ‘Or all of our children to come?’
‘Stop it,’ she said, laughing. ‘But what about my education?’
‘I intend to continue that in depth.’
‘I mean my college education,’ she whispered against his wicked mouth.
‘You can continue that at one of the best engineering colleges in the world.’
‘In Khalifa,’ she said.
‘Exactly. If that’s what you want.’
‘It is what I want.’
‘Good.’
‘But where will we live?’
Khalid shrugged as he smiled and admitted, ‘I have homes across the world. Where would you like to live?’
‘In one of the transportable palaces,’ Millie exclaimed softly as her imagination took her flying back to the desert.
‘Maybe when the baby’s a little older,’ Khalid suggested. ‘But we can take holidays in the meantime,’ he added quickly when he saw her disappointment.
As Millie stared up into dark, beloved eyes, she knew there would never be anyone to compare with her Sapphire Sheikh, and that whatever else Khalid had to tell her about the past, they had a lifetime to understand and discuss it.
‘I love you so much,’ she said. ‘I always have—right from that first moment when you came to my rescue like an avenging angel striding into the bowels of hell on board the Sapphire.’
‘I never doubted it,’ he said as he backed her towards the bed. ‘And I love you so much, it’s going to take a lifetime to prove it.’
‘Starting now?’ she said hopefully.