Chapter One
“brIAR.” The glitter in the sheikh’s eyes was unmistakable, and my throat dried at the sight of it.
He wanted me.
The knowledge had me trembling, and I could only stare at him, trembling but unmoving, as Mik’hail slowly reached for me.
He ran his knuckles ever so carefully down my cheek, and I had to suck my breath in an effort not to cry out.
It wasn’t even the way a man would caress his lover, with his touch more tender than erotic.
But because I was so starved for his touch, even the most fleeting contact from the sheikh was enough to have me burn.
He had always been kind and affectionate to me, his gaze ever gentle every time he looked at me. But now, it was different.
The way he was staring at me made me feel bare despite the scrap of silk that covered my body, and when his hand began moving down, I felt even more exposed and vulnerable.
His fingers drifted down my neck, leaving in its wake a blazing trail of heat that had me biting my lip hard.
He was so good at this.
I felt his fingers change direction, and I couldn’t help but glance down, helplessly mesmerized at the way his lean, brown fingers traced the bare slope of my shoulder. His touch came to a brief halt when it encountered the flimsiest of obstacles: a string-thin strap of my nightgown.
My gaze flew to him.
Would he or wouldn’t—
Oh.
He would.
He did.
His fingers took careful hold of the strap before pushing it down bit by bit until I felt it fall over my shoulder. And still his fingers went on pushing, down, down, down until the silk slipped lower and lower and—
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
I woke up.
My eyes flew open, and I jerked up to a sitting position on my bed. For more than a few seconds, I could only stare blankly around me, unable to comprehend why the other half of my bed was empty.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
The heavy sound of knocking on my door tore through the haze that still clung to my mind, and I nearly gasped out loud.
I had dreamt about the sheikh that way.
Again!
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
This time, the heavy but rapid rapping on the door was followed by the sheikh’s voice, which was tinged with exasperation.
“Aurora?”
The sound of his voice, even tinged as it was with exasperation, made me cringe and blush at the same time, and I had to clear my throat before I could trust myself to speak. “I’m comi—” I stopped abruptly.
Eep.
The words ‘I’m coming’ suddenly had a whole new meaning, but while I was still struggling to find something else to say, the door had already opened, and an impatient-looking Mik’hail was striding inside my room.
“I’ve been knocking for five minutes, brat.”
I couldn’t answer. I was too busy making sure that my expression didn’t give me away.
I knew I should be used to his looks by now, but I wasn’t.
It was almost like he grew even more gorgeous in my eyes with every day that passed, so much so that there were times the sheer gorgeousness of him almost felt unbearable.
He was dressed, like always, in the kingdom’s traditional robe, with the loose flowing cloth emphasizing the impressive breadth of his shoulders and the muscular expanse of his chest. I loved him most when he was like this, and by the time he reached my bed, I could barely breathe.
He was just so impossibly attractive, and I had to make a show of yawning just to buy myself time while I fought to steady my reeling senses.
“Good morning, akh.” My voice shook only the smallest bit. It wasn’t always like this before, and I wasn’t sure when it started. It just felt like one day I simply woke up to the knowledge that I wanted him...and the sheikh wanted me back.
Mik’hail frowned down at me. “Did you stay up again?”
“Umm...no?” It was a lie, of course. Last night, I overheard the palace maids gossiping about how the sheikh had been out visiting Lady Rissah, a widow who supposedly had an eye on becoming the sheikh’s wife.
And technically, there wasn’t anything wrong with that. Over a year had already passed since the accident. Although Aretha’s body still hadn’t been found, there was little evidence to go by that would let us hope she was still alive.
As far as even the royal laws were concerned, Sheikh Mik’hail, the King of Layla, was free to marry anyone...and it was this that had kept me up the whole night.
I just wanted to know...
“Are you even listening, brat?”
Oops.
The sheikh’s exasperated tone cut into my thoughts, and I quickly glanced up, intending to apologize—
But then I noticed it.
For so many days now, I had caught signs of how the sheikh’s body responded whenever I was around. The way his robes would shift. The tension in his stance. The way he’d angle himself away from me, as if trying to hide something.
While I had a very sheltered upbringing and remained a virgin to this day, I was no clueless fool when it came to such matters. Even without the aid of racy novels, the stories that the other girls in school shared were more than enough to educate me.
I knew how it felt to want a man. And I knew the signs that told me when a man wanted me back.
And the King of Layla?
He definitely wanted me, and oh, just the thought of what could happen if he ever unleashed his desire...
The thought was enough to have my pulse quicken.
“Aurora.”
My cheeks flamed when I realized the sheikh had caught me daydreaming again. “I’m sorry, akh. What was that again?”
His frown deepened. “What is it with you today?”
“I just have a lot of things on my mind,” I hedged.
“Such as?”
“School stuff.” Since I could see Mik’hail having a hard time believing me, I changed the subject right away, saying, “I promise I’ll listen this time.
So please...” I clasped my hands in a pleading gesture, and just as it had always been in the past, this was enough to have the sheikh shake his head in resignation.
“I was asking about tonight,” Mik’hail said a bit dryly. “Do you want to go out for dinner?”
“If you’re free to spend time with me,” I said cajolingly, “could we just watch a movie here?”
“If that’s what you want.” The sheikh was looking at me oddly.
I frowned up at him. “What?”
“I’m worried that you don’t act your age anymore,” he said slowly. “Young girls like you are supposed to enjoy going out, but you have never asked my permission to spend time with your friends. It’s not right that you’ve locked yourself here in the palace—”
“Akh.” I shook my head, exasperated that he was still thinking this way. “Here we go again. You keep harping about how it’s not right I’m stuck with an ‘old man’ like you,” I grumbled, “when I’ve never thought of you that way.”
“I see.”
Since he still didn’t sound convinced, I said insistently, “I’m just really happy being with you—”
“Alright, alright.” He made a vague gesture with his hand to silence me. “As long as you know I only want what’s best for you—”
“Of course I do!” Rising to my knees on the bed, I surprised the sheikh by wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing myself against him in a tight embrace. “I’ll always be thankful that you took me in even when you didn’t have to...”
My voice trailed off as I became belatedly aware of how rigid his body had become in my arms.
So very still...so very tense...
A moment later, the sheikh abruptly pulled away as if only realizing the same thing, and both of us couldn’t quite meet each other’s eyes as the sheikh gruffly told me to get moving and I quickly mumbled out my assent.
In the corner of my eye, I saw the sheikh about to turn away when he noticed my nightgown hike up as I climbed off the bed.
His powerful body went completely still at the sight, and my heart slammed against my chest even as I took my time rising to my feet, the reckless part of me wanting him to keep looking.
“See you at breakfast in ten, Your Majesty.”
“Yes.” The unnatural thickness of his voice sent warmth flooding through me, and as I forced myself to turn around, I could feel his dark gaze lingering on me.
Oh please.
Hold me.
Please.
I wished I could beg him just like that, but the words were stuck in my throat, and my whole body tightened with longing when I heard the sheikh swallow audibly.
A moment later, the door slammed shut behind him, and my knees instantly gave out.
I sank to the floor, a trembling and aching mess, every part of me yearning for his forbidden touch.
Would the day ever come when the sheikh could forget he once belonged to my sister?