Chapter 37
Shehryar
“ S hehryar,” I heard my mother call over the loud music filling the public dining hall.
I glanced to my right and smiled as Mum, with her hand around Prince Arsh’s elbow, approached. Transferring the glass in my hand into the other, I opened my arm. “Hello.”
Mum wrapped her arm around my back in a quick, tight hug as she said, “What are you doing slinking by the wall?”
The reception party was in full swing thanks to Esmeralda, Mariyah, and Alisha with nearly everyone on the makeshift dance floor set between a semi-circular scattering of round decorated tables. The moment the feast of Touman and Jahandari dishes had been eaten, the cake had been cut, and everyone had gushed over Prince Fay’s lifelike painting of the happy couple, the three stubborn women had grabbed Gary and demanded he start DJing the palace down.
I’d stayed by the table except for Esmeralda’s few attempts to get me on my feet. Every time I went back, Mariyah had rolled her eyes and snarked, “Leave the boring old man, Ez,” and sauntered off with swishing hips, at which point I had wanted to turn around and correct her statement. Seeing her having fun with Esmeralda and Alisha was the only reason I resisted the urge.
Old habits died hard, and at some point, I’d taken my tie off and made my way to the closest wall and silently observed from a familiar position. The only difference was that while I still kept an eye on Esmeralda, she wasn’t the only one I watched. From the vantage point of being by the wall, I could see Mariyah wherever she went, whoever approached her, and however she danced.
I snuck a quick glance to check Mariyah was still at the table, taking a break; Esmeralda seemed to have disappeared from the seat next to her. “I’m just watching,” I said to Mum.
“Well, I suggest you do less watching and more dancing,” she replied, sinking back against her new husband’s side. “Don’t miss out on having fun with everyone.”
“I won’t. But are you having fun?”
Prince Arsh looked at Mum as she looked to him, and they both grinned. “Yes, we are,” she said lovingly. “Thank you, Sher. For putting this all together with Mariyah. It was lovely.”
I offered her a smile and shook my head. “No, Mum. It was the least I could do after the way I acted—have been acting.” I swallowed slowly. “I’m sorry. To the both of you.” I held Prince Arsh’s gaze. “For the things I said and for making assumptions off what happened in the past.”
I couldn’t have said I was a hundred percent comfortable with the idea of being in the public eye for the rest of my life, or having to hear and see people scrutinising Mum, or judge us when they found out whose son I was, especially if—and that was if —I wanted to give Andrew Platmon a second chance. But the last ten days had challenged a lot of my issues, fears, and unease, and it definitely hadn’t been comfortable, but it had been what I’d needed. And the wedding, seeing Prince Arsh waiting with wet eyes at the end of the aisle for my mother had been the balm to most of my worries and shed the light that confirmed I had been wrong about a lot.
“Don’t be silly, Shehryar,” Prince Arsh said, shaking his head. “Being protective of your mother is nothing to apologise for. You’re a good son and an even better man for the way you care.”
“Still,” I said. “You were far more patient than I would have ever been.”
Mum scoffed, and Prince Arsh chuckled. “Well, I am not inherently so, but you and Katiya were and are both worth it. And it paid off. Because you’re my family now.”
Tears filled my mother’s eyes as she curled into Prince Arsh and kissed his cheek. A lump formed in my throat that I struggled to swallow around.
Somewhere inside me there was a little boy who smiled at the prospect of having some sort of father figure who actually wanted and joyed at having me and Mother in his life.
It occurred to me then that maybe I’d resisted the idea of getting close to Prince Arsh because the thought of that little boy being let down again wasn’t something I was sure I could have handled.
Prince Arsh cleared his throat and blinked rapidly, grinning away the obvious sheen glistening in his eyes. “Moving swiftly on.” He chuckled lightly. “Your mother and I have something for you. Nothing big, but just a small thank you for what you did for us today.”
The older man pulled his hand out from behind his back, and a little blue bag dangled from the white rope straps across his fingers. I stared at it, unsure what to do. “You didn’t have to,” I said.
“No, but we got Mariyah something, so it only seemed right that you got something too.”
Swallowing, I placed my glass into Mum’s awaiting fingers, then took the bag from Prince Arsh. Going off the brand name printed on the bag, I knew what it was, but an appreciative smile still stretched across my face as I snapped open the box inside and saw the glistening silver wristwatch with the exposed clockwork visible behind the glass face.
“Do you like it?” Mum asked.
“Yes, I do. Thank you.”
Her smile widened. “Mariyah chose it.” That made me pause. “She asked for an engraving on the back too.”
With a curious frown, I set the bag down between my feet and pulled out the velvet cushion the watch was strapped to. I slid it off, flipped it over, and on the back of the face was a detailed sketch of—
I stilled. And squinted. And brought it closer to my face. “Is that a…”
“A peanut,” Mum said curiously. “Yes, it is.”
A surprised grunt burst from my lips before I let them rise into a grated grin.
Oh, that fucking little menace.
Prince Arsh arched a brow. “I take it it’s an inside joke?”
“Yes,” I said with a shake of my head, but no fucking way was I going to explain to my mum and her new husband that the peanut was a reference to my dick.
I clipped the watch back around the cushion, slipped it into the box, and placed it back in the bag. When I looked up, Mum and Prince Arsh were staring at me with identical smug expressions.
I straightened. “What?”
“Esmeralda knew what she was talking about,” Prince Arsh said, his hazel eyes dancing.
“Talking about what?” I questioned.
“You and Mariyah,” Mum answered. “She said you two only needed a push to see that you were perfect for each other. And now we know that it worked.”
A faint blush crept across my cheeks before my mother’s words washed over me. I reeled my head back and frowned. “Wait, what? What worked?” Prince Arsh threw his head back and laughed, while Mother gave me a toothy grin. “Mum. What did Esmeralda do?”
“Well, technically,” the older prince started, “she didn’t do anything. But…”
Mum met her husband’s mischievous look and continued. “She may have asked us to put you in rooms next to each other.”
Prince Arsh nodded. “And suggested you plan our wedding together.”
“Oh.” Mother pursed her lips sheepishly. “She may have also encouraged Mariyah to dance on Candy’s lap too, which I heard you saw.”
Wow…wow. So this whole time…
Oh, I wasn’t pissed that she’d been right, but I was pissed that Esmeralda had played us like fools.
I made quick work of scanning the hall and found her by Gary, pointing to his laptop screen, likely suggesting some songs to play. I angled back to Mother and Prince Arsh and bowed my head. “Please excuse me, while I go have a word with the meddlesome princess.”
Prince Arsh hooted again, but Mum called out, “Do not yell at her, Sher.”
When Esmeralda saw me coming at her, she beamed and waved. I arched a brow, and her smile turned into a caught red-handed little ‘o.’
She sunk back into herself sheepishly. “Hi…”
“Hello,” I said, my tone flat and deep. One she knew meant she was in trouble. “Is there something you need to tell me, Princess?”
She darted a glance at Gary. “No…”
I angled my head. “But I just heard that you’ve been scheming behind my back.”
Realisation lit up her eyes. She pursed her lips together, trying not to smile, but it burst out, bright and audacious, anyway. “What?” she said in a high-pitched, dragged-out way. “Me? Scheming? Whatever do you mean? I would never do such a thing.”
Gary grunted in amusement, and Esmeralda took that as her escape. “What was that, Gary? You heard Kai calling me? Let me go find him then.”
“Princess—”
But she’d already hitched her dress and was making her escape. “You may thank me later!” With a safe distance between us, she stopped and angled back. “Oh, and Shehryar. Please grab Mariyah and come dance properly for once. I promise it’ll be far better than sticking to the wall and watching her dance with Candy the rest of the night.”
She nodded her chin in the direction of our table and sauntered off, leaving me to glance the same way. A stampede of green jealousy and dark storm clouds rampaged across my rib cage as I caught Candy, with his hair tousled and top shirt buttons open, dragging Mariyah by the hand towards the dance floor. She rolled her eyes at something he said, but grinned and shook her head. She was no longer wearing her heels, and she swayed tiredly on her bare feet.
My left eye twitched and teeth scraped together as I watched.
I numbly heard Gary clear his throat. “You want me to look after that while you—” he started.
I placed the gift bag down before him, shucked my blazer, and carefully picked my way through the dancing crowd to them.
He doesn’t fucking learn, does he?
But Mariyah…you fucking menace. Just you wait.
It was the dress. It was knowing she was wearing Candy’s fucking dress that was clouding my vision with flashes of black and green and red.
With the low, curved neckline and silky, pale pink fabric that seemed like it had been painted on her shapely figure, he’d made her look like trouble epitomised. The seductive, yet elegant kind that caused a man to lose his mind after one interaction. And the back…
I wanted to lay her down on her stomach and spend hours pressing kisses to the sweet arch of her spine in exchange for all the tears she shed during the ceremony, before I untied the zigzagging straps and slid the dress off her. But every touch after would be poisoned by the reminder of it being designed by Candy, piloting my actions in a far rougher and greedier direction.
Like fucking her throat and ruining the silk with her spit and my cum before I ripped it apart and fucked her tight little arse, reminding her she was mine.
But it was no longer a game of only fucking. It was seduction, claiming, courting, respecting, and fucking , and all of it was meant to lead to making her mine. So, despite wanting to drag her out immediately and drive her deep into a mattress, I shoved the urge down in the order of steps.
For now.
Mariyah
“There’s still time to change your mind,” Candy said, pulling me by the hand back to the dance floor.
Trudging behind him barefoot with my dress fisted in one hand, I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “And why exactly should I change my mind?”
He threw a glance over his shoulder like the answer was obvious. “Because he’s an idiot.”
“He is,” I agreed with a grunt. “The biggest idiot and bossy, irritating control freak, and he’s a smug dickhead.” I tilted my head as I stared at the delicate silver tied around my wrist. “But—and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but —his irritating presence has grown on me, and I want more of it.”
“Just say you’re a masochist, Mariyah.”
I smirked at the back of his head. “Well, I never said I wasn’t, so…”
We merged into the edge of the dancing crowd where Pierre and little Tara were boogying like they’d lost the plot while Trevor was videoing them and bobbing along.
I chuckled at the sight, and Pierre looked up. “You brought Mar back.” But his eyes went wide as he stumbled. He gripped the side of his head and winced. “Bloody Neves, my head.”
“Uncle Pie,” Tara said, giggling as she gripped his other hand. “Don’t fall.”
“Thanks, Princess Tara. Who needs a knight when they’ve got you, huh?”
She grinned proudly and quickly put her little hand out towards Candy and Trevor. “Uncle T, Uncle Candy, dance,” little Tara demanded. “Mar, you too!”
Candy snuck his arm around my waist. “Sorry, Princess Tara. Mariyah will be dancing with me for a bit.”
“Candy,” I warned. “Hand.”
He smirked. “But don’t you enjoy it when he comes running like a raging beast?”
As much as making Shehryar jealous had its perks, doing it on purpose once we’d agreed to being exclusive wasn’t something I had any interest in doing. I was loud, proud, snarky, and spiteful, but I wasn’t toxic, and going out of my way to make him jealous would’ve been a toxic move.
But before I could voice that, Candy’s hand was ripped off me, and a possessively tight band latched across my stomach. My eyes widened and lips parted as I was tugged back against a rock-hard wall. I was quickly engulfed by a familiar heat and clean, citrusy scent that warmed my lungs.
“Keep your hands to yourself, Candy,” Shehryar said, his voice deceptively calm but his piercing gaze laced with murder.
“See.” Candy rolled his eyes. “Raging mindless beast. He’s worse than Kai.”
Trevor smacked Candy across the back of his head, causing little Tara to giggle. “Then don’t touch his woman and pi—irritate him,” he said, and Candy glared, holding the back of his head.
“Um, I have a name,” I said blandly.
Pierre knocked Candy’s shoulder too. “Apologise. Now.”
“For what?” Candy snapped.
“Mummy says you shouldn’t be mean,” little Tara added. “So don’t be mean, Uncle Candy.”
Candy grumbled under his breath as he glared down at the girl. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
Tara grinned and clasped a small hand around Candy’s. “I can hold your hand and you can say sorry. Daddy holds my hand when I don’t want to say sorry, and—and then I do.”
I pursed my lips together, trying not to grin, while Pierre snickered behind his palm. Candy looked far from impressed, but he huffed out a breath. “Fine. I apologise,” he said and lifted his chin high. “But that doesn’t mean I like you or think you’re worthy of her.”
“I don’t like you either,” Shehryar said instantly. I felt the rise and fall of his chest against my back as he fought for control. “For some reason, though, Mariyah does. But if you can’t respect the boundary of friendship, I will show you just how far my rage can go.” His pause added a dark weight to his threat. “And the only one who can judge whether I’m worthy of her is Mariyah herself.”
It was clear from the way they stared at each other that Candy and Shehryar were never going to get along, but their silence was at least some sort of agreement not to kill each other.
After a moment longer, Shehryar uncoiled his arm from me and bent down to Tara’s height. “Is it okay if I take Mariyah to dance with me, Princess Tara?”
She twisted at the waist, smiling shyly. “Okay. But only for…three minutes.”
He nodded gently. “Okay, only for three minutes. I’ll bring her straight back to you after.”
Wow…
I saw it. Right then. Right there.
The whole men with kids thing. It was like an epiphany in my lady parts.
One that gave Daddy a whole new meaning and shone a new, sexy light on Shehryar.
Too busy trying to convince my ovaries not to explode, I went pliant as he took my hand and pulled me through the crowd away from them. He set one hand low on the small of my back and clasped my palm in the other. For several quiet moments, we swayed to the slower beat of the music.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I asked casually.
The pads of his fingers pressed into my back, causing me to straighten. “One day, seeing you with Candy is going to give me an aneurism.”
I let my mouth tip high as I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be a jealous beast, Sheri,” I teased. “And anyway, before you came raging in, I’d already told him to remove his hand.”
He tugged his bottom lip between his teeth slowly before his mouth pulled up high in one corner, and it was the fucking stupidly sexiest thing I’d ever seen him do.
“I used to hate that name,” he said, amusement lacing his low voice.
“What? Sheri?” He nodded. “But you don’t anymore?” I scrunched my lips. “Well, that’s annoying. I only call you Sheri because I thought it irritated you.”
He spun us around, swapping our positions, and tsked through his teeth. “All this effort just to irritate me.” He smirked, sparking the grated, addictive feeling in me only he could awaken. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were obsessed with me.”
I scoffed, but the twisted tingling was sinking lower through my belly. “Obsessed? Me? Well, if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black, then I don’t know what is.”
He didn’t deny it. Instead, a slow grin blossomed across his face that did something bouncy and warm to my chest. I fought it so damn hard, but my mouth had a mind of its own. There was no stopping it from matching his big smile.
“You did amazing today,” he whispered, so deep, so gently.
My heart collapsed against my rib cage, its knees giving out. All the blood that wheezed out surfaced to my skin, but I licked across the front of my teeth, trying to tame my happiness. “You did pretty good yourself, Sheri.”
“I didn’t expect you to cry though.”
A hit of embarrassment had me averting my eyes to the bracelet around my wrist. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. I’m not usually a crier.”
His face softened as he dipped his head. “Why did you cry?”
My instinct to hide from any sort of vulnerability in front of him was still there, but it was encouraged to sit down by his patient openness as he watched me ridiculously closely. “I’ve grown close to everyone, especially your mum and Prince Arsh, and seeing them so happy together was kind of…beautiful.” I nodded my head to the side. “Plus, Esmeralda’s sobbing set me off.”
In his silence, my feet stopped, and my breath stuttered.
He was looking at me like that again. With stars in his eyes and an endless glow of heavy, aching, warm emotion that set off fireworks and sparklers in my belly.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I said breathlessly.
“Like what?” His voice was so low and thick and raspy.
What the fuck? Why is he talking like that?
My heart ran a mile a second, and it wouldn’t slow down. “Like an idiot.”
“Explain it to me.”
I fumbled for a reply, making incoherent choked syllables as I opened and closed my mouth. “I don’t know how to explain it. Just stop.”
His mouth curved up wolfishly, and my leg muscles began quivering like jelly. “I don’t think I want to if it’s going to make you this flustered,” he purred, tightening his arm around my waist. “And it feels good. Looking at you. Seeing you. What lies behind the menacing attitude. Because while I enjoy bantering and arguing with you, I like catching glimpses of parts of you I’ve never had the chance of seeing before.”
With our chests pressed together, I couldn’t tell whose heart was pounding so hard, mine or his, but either way the pressure on my chest was immense. And yet it felt fucking magical.
His piercing pale eyes took on an earnest glow. “There are generic things I know about you from years of watching you, but I want to know everything else too. So yes, when you show me something new, I stare at you like an idiot, because despite all the ways you drive me mad, everything seems to click into place like I’m finally standing where I should be.”
There was no music, no people, no sounds of laughter around us.
My entire focus—every sense, every reaction, every feeling—centred only on Shehryar, turning everything else into a distant blur of nothing.
From the bottom of my bare feet to my scalp, I pulsed as one nerve ending, buzzing with energy and hypersensitive to the feel of him all around me. His heat, his large frame, his pinning stare, his faint smile. And I understood why he said everything seemed to click into place.
That was how it felt. Like the last puzzle piece fell into place, firing a zing through my blood.
It wasn’t until Shehryar started swaying us again that the world around us aligned back into place, and I released the breath I’d been holding in a flood.
“You’re serious about this…” I mumbled neither as a question nor a statement.
“I am.” His hand caressed up my spine. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“No, I just…it’s kind of…surreal how quickly things changed.”
He grinned as his fingers snuck under my hair and teased across my nape. “Might be because you’re far less annoying and mouthy now.”
I scoffed and pulled a narrow-eyed look of disagreement. “Okay, relax, dickhead. You’re the one who decided to be annoying first. I was just paying you back.”
“I know.” He surprised me by leaning forward and planting a long kiss on my forehead. My heart hiccupped, and I blinked dumbfounded as he added, “But I’ll make it up to you, little menace.”
He just — that was just…ah fuck, I’m screwed.
The prickle of his beard and imprint of his wide mouth lingered on my skin as he gently pushed me away by the waist. With a flick of his wrist, he spun me back into him. My back was against his chest as he coiled his arm around my belly, but something made him pause.
“You’re wearing it.” He lowered his face beside mine as he lifted my hand in his.
I followed his gaze to the bracelet. Made up of two chains, one slightly thicker than the other, it was a beautifully delicate silver piece. The thinner chain was of a simple twisted pattern, but the thicker chain had a single sage-green gemstone dangling from it—my favourite colour.
“Prince Arsh said you chose it.” I sunk into his arm to eye him properly. “How did you know I prefer silver? And sage-green is my favourite colour. Or is that just a coincidence?”
His thumb traced over the stone as he smiled. “The same way you knew I’d like the watch with the exposed clockwork.”
My chest expanded with satisfaction. “You saw the watch?”
“I did.” His eyes sharpened in question. “Would you like to explain the engraving on the back?”
Amusement lit up inside me. “I don’t think there’s anything to explain.” Arching my back, I subtly rocked my arse against his groin. “You know exactly what it means.”
His breath hitched in my ear, and he quickly grasped my hip, stopping me. I shuddered as power and excitement whizzed down my spine. He pressed his mouth heavily over my ear, and that whizz of sensation dissolved into molten tingles.
“How many times,” he growled, “am I going to have to fuck you for you to stop calling it a peanut?”
My lashes fluttered, desperately trying to shut and give in to the heady feeling of his voice and breath in my ear. “Can’t fuck it out of me, Sheri. It will always be a peanut.”
“Is that so?”
“Hmm,” I moaned. “And I don’t think you really hate it. Do you… Daddy ?”