The Sultan's Choice

Sadiq sat back in his seat and a muscle twitched in his jaw. ‘When you tell me who it was that nurtured your lack of confidence, and why you can’t look at yourself in the mirror, then I’ll tell you why I believed it necessary to get checked out.’

Stalemate. No way was Samia going to open herself up to his pity and mockery.

He was grim. ‘I didn’t think so.’ He stood up then and loomed tall across the table. ‘I have business to attend to in my study, if you’ll excuse me?’

Samia half stood too, her mind whirling. He sounded accusatory, as if angry with her for bringing up these issues. ‘Of course …’

He stopped at the door and turned back. ‘When we arrive in London in the morning we’re going to give a press conference to announce the marriage, so wear something suitable.’ His mouth quirked as he obviously saw the terror dawn on Samia’s face. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll do the talking. You just have to stand there and look like you’re not walking the plank.’

As they stood in front of the world’s media the next morning, Sadiq’s arm was tight around Samia’s waist. She was tucked in to his side and tense enough to crack. Cameras flashed and questions were hurled out in about five different languages. Sadiq of course replied in kind, and with him by her side, she had to admit that this wasn’t half as scary as she’d feared.

She’d be eternally grateful that Simone had called to the house that morning to drop off some photos of suggestions for accessories for the wedding. She had helped Samia pick out an outfit, and now she was wearing a plain shift dress in dark blue with a matching jacket.

Her hair was down after Sadiq had given her an express look on the private jet and said succintly, ‘Either you take it down, or I will. The hairdresser was told to leave it alone for a reason.’

To her utter relief Samia heard Sadiq announce that he would take a final question, and then a cheeky Cockney voice piped up from the back. ‘Give her a kiss, will you?’

Samia hadn’t really registered what he’d said until she was being turned into Sadiq’s body and his hands were on her arms. He was smiling down at her, a sardonic expression on his face. ‘They’re looking for a public display of affection—think you can manage it?’

Samia gulped and wanted to shake her head and say no, because suddenly standing in front of a baying pack of news-hounds was far less threatening than the fact that Sadiq’s head was coming closer and closer and she couldn’t move.

In that moment Sadiq thought how ironic it was as someone who’d never previously relished any kind of PDA, he found that he couldn’t wait to kiss this woman, despite the wall of media just feet away. He pulled her into his body and knew that surprise was making her more malleable. She felt so delicate, so small, and instinctively he curved around her as if to protect her. She was looking up at him like a deer caught in the headlights, eyes huge.

Anticipation lasered through his veins like a shot of adrenalin, and the first taste of her mouth against his was so impossibly sweet that he groaned softly. Her lips were as soft as he’d imagined they would be. The room and all the people faded into the background as he slid his arms around her back to arch her into him even more.

He felt her hands cling on to the lapels of his jacket, but he was drowning in the sweet nectar of possibly one of the most chaste kisses he’d ever experienced. It was having anything but a chaste effect on his body—especially when he could feel the firm swells of Samia’s breasts pressed into his chest.

Everything was tightening and hardening, and he knew he had to stop and pull back, try and regain some sanity. But just at that moment Samia opened her mouth. He felt the tentative touch of her tongue to his and his brain went red-hot.

It was a long second before Samia realised that Sadiq had stopped kissing her and was practically pushing her back from him, hands on her arms. She felt dizzy and disorientated and her lips were tingling. Catcalls and whistles brought her back to earth, though, and with her face flaming she let Sadiq usher her off the temporary dais and out to the waiting car. Her legs were wobbly and she prayed she would stay upright.

He handed her in to the car, but didn’t follow. He was stooping at the door, looking in, and Samia felt bewildered and curiously emotional. It was as if an earthquake had just happened. But Sadiq looked so cool she wondered for a minute if they had even kissed.

His voice was as cool as he looked. ‘I’m staying here to take a flight to Al-Omar. I have to return to take care of government business—I’ve been gone too long. You’ll be well protected in the meantime, and I’ll see you in two weeks.’

Samia looked at the harshly beautiful face, the pristine suit and tie, her eyes glittering. Every inch of him was the stupendously powerful ruler who had taken care of sorting out a convenient wife. He’d come into her life like a whirlwind, upending everything, and now he was leaving just as suddenly.

To avoid having him see the sudden confusion she was feeling written all over her face, she said, ‘Okay …’ and turned to face the front. As if she was absolutely unmoved by that kiss, and not feeling suspiciously bereft!

‘I trust you’ll have enough time to get your affairs in order?’

Samia swallowed back the lurch of emotion that came from somewhere scary. He was making it sound as if she was going to die. And was she going to die a kind of death? Even as she thought that she could feel the blood pumping through her veins, making a mockery of her thoughts. She’d never felt more alive than in this moment. Not even when she’d battled the ocean on that boat.

Aware of Sadiq waiting for a response, she vigorously nodded her head. ‘Yes. It’ll be fine.’ She just wanted to be gone—away from his intense regard and those all-seeing eyes.

&n

bsp; After an infinitesimal moment the door shut, and then the car was moving and she was being driven away from the tall figure. Samia didn’t turn around to look at Sadiq, so she didn’t see how long he stood there—long after the car had disappeared.

The shockwave that had gone through her body when Sadiq’s mouth had touched hers was still there. His effect on her had been nothing short of cataclysmic, but she could imagine just how mind-numbingly unerotic that kiss must have been for him. How could it have been anything else? She remembered the way it had taken her a second to come to her senses, only to realise that he was all but prising her off him. And in front of the world’s media.

Samia’s emotions were all over the place. Up till now they’d been pretty straightforward: she had agreed to this marriage because quite simply she knew she had a responsibility and a destiny to fulfil. Except now … something had shifted inside her. Something had given way, and in its place were emotions and feelings. And that kiss hadn’t helped one bit. It had put those emotions right to the forefront. The kiss had made the desire she’d been trying to deny rise up, and now it would not be suppressed again.

In the past couple of days she’d seen chinks in the cool armour the Sultan wore so well. It had been easy to think of him as just a ruthless, cynical man, determined to get his own way. But she now knew—or at least suspected—that he’d once been in love. She knew that he’d had a less than perfect relationship with his father. He’d grown up alone, with no brothers or sisters. Despite the pain her stepmother had caused her, Samia wouldn’t have survived without her brother and sisters.

She couldn’t stop an image forming in her head of a small dark haired toddler running into Sadiq’s arms, and put a hand to her mouth in shock at her wayward imagination—and, worse, the yearning feeling that accompanied it. She’d never thought of herself as maternal, and it would be emotional suicide to harbour such fantasies when marrying someone who would only see children as heirs and spares. Sadiq hadn’t said as much, but he hadn’t said anything, either, to discount that view.

Samia groaned softly, and jumped when the driver asked, ‘Is everything all right, Your Highness?’