A Whisper of Disgrace

‘Marry you?’ she said drily. ‘Don’t you have someone more suitable you could ask? Perhaps somebody you’ve known longer than five minutes, in a relationship which is founded on more than lust and insults?’

Briefly, Kulal thought of Ayesha and wondered whether now was the time to reveal his broken engagement. In terms of getting the Corretti girl to agree to his plan, surely it would be better to keep it secret? But he remembered the bitterness on her face as she’d spoken disparagingly about ‘secrets’ and figured that she was bound to find out some time. Far better it came from him than from some mischievous news source.

‘Actually, I had a fiancée,’ he said. ‘Until very recently.’

Rosa’s eyes narrowed. ‘How recently?’

There was a pause. ‘Until yesterday.’

The brutal time scale meant that no mental calculations were necessary and she stared at him in disbelief. ‘You mean you … you made love to me when you were engaged to another woman?’

He gave a short laugh. ‘I don’t classify kissing someone who has just hurled themselves into my arms as “making love.”‘

‘You bastard,’ she said quietly. ‘You complete and utter bastard. You know damned well that if I hadn’t been drunk then, you would have ended up in my bed that night.’

Kulal only just managed to repress a shudder. It was outrageous that he was going to have to marry a woman like this. A woman who showed no shame about spreading her favours so widely. Yes, he liked his lovers to be liberated—of course he did—but a wife was something completely different. That a royal prince should take such a tramp as his bride was unthinkable! Until he reminded himself that this was intended to be nothing but a temporary marriage and that her virtue was irrelevant. He remembered the way she’d kissed him. The way she’d pressed her delicious body into his so her magnificent breasts had flattened against his chest. At least she would come to the bridal chamber with a satisfying degree of sexual knowledge.

‘I was behaving no differently to how men have always behaved,’ he drawled.

‘You mean you expected your fiancée to ignore your outrageous behaviour?’

‘I expected my fiancée to know nothing about what I was doing,’ he said. ‘But it seems I was wrong. And it also seems she didn’t understand that a man owes it to his future bride to gain as much experience as possible before he takes her innocence on their wedding night.’

Rosa almost laughed at his insolence. ‘Is that supposed to be a joke?’

‘What’s funny about it?’

‘You’re making it sound as if you were doing her a favour by sleeping with as many women as possible.’

‘That is one way of looking at it,’ he agreed seriously. ‘And it is certainly a valid point. Generations of men from all cultures have taken a comprehensive amount of lovers before tying themselves down to marriage. For no woman wants a man who is a novice in the art of lovemaking.’

‘And no woman wants a man who is so arrogant that he doesn’t realise what a jerk he’s being!’

‘A jerk?’ he ground out. ‘You dare to call the sheikh of Zahrastan a jerk?’

‘I do when it happens to be true.’

His eyes narrowed, but he could not deny the rush of blood to his groin, because her unprecedented insolence was inexplicably turning him on. ‘And tell me this, Rosa Corretti—are you always so outspoken?’

In truth, no—she wasn’t. The old Rosa was often button-lipped and uptight. She never voiced the scandalous thoughts which sometimes plagued her because that was the way she’d been brought up. To be serene and calm and ladylike. To hide her feelings behind a polished exterior. But what had been the point of playing her obedient role to perfection when everyone else had been deceiving her?

This man Kulal had deceived her too. He hadn’t bothered telling her he was engaged to be married when he had practically glued himself to her on the dance floor, so why on earth would she tread carefully to spare his feelings? She doubted whether he had any!

‘My outspokenness is irrelevant,’ she snapped. ‘And you haven’t explained why you’ve made this astonishing proposal of marriage.’

‘To protect my reputation,’ he said.

She gave a short laugh. So he was self-serving as well as arrogant. ‘Surprise, surprise.’

‘And to protect yours.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

There was a pause while he chose his words, though he was finding it difficult to keep the irritation from his voice. ‘My brother has found out that we spent the night together, so the information is out there. From what I understand, your own family is pretty good at information gathering.’ He glanced at her from beneath the half-shuttered lids of his eyes as he watched her body tense. ‘How do you think they might react if they discover you’ve been sleeping with an Arabian prince?’