Chapter 40
Mine.
She’s finally mine.
No more separate beds or sleepless nights, my body aching with need.
To touch her, to breathe in her scent.
To lose myself in her soft, warm flesh and hear her whisper begging for more.
We didn’t stay at our wedding reception longer than necessary to receive the guests’ congratulations. Then we stepped out onto the palace balcony to greet our people.
By protocol, the wedding celebration could last up to three days.
I hope the guests enjoy every moment of it. Outside the palace, long rows of tables overflow with food and drink so that the citizens of Rheadur may share in our happiness.
But now, I want her all to myself.
The only tense moment of the evening came when Arif approached to offer his greetings.
Adeela stiffened at my side. She looked anxious but not afraid. Not once did she lower her head to him, to his wives, or to her half-sisters. I was pleased she didn’t allow herself to be intimidated by the bastard’s arrogance or by those people who call themselves her family.
Her sisters didn’t hide their envy, but they were wise enough to treat her with the respect she deserved, even if I don’t doubt their courtesy was purely for show.
We still haven’t had an answer regarding the scorpion incident, but the investigators found nothing indicating Arif had been anywhere near the palace in the days following my mother-in-law’s arrival.
That can only mean he has one or more accomplices with unrestricted access to the private quarters. We just have to discover who.
Several fingerprints were found in Daisy’s suite, but it’ll take time to match them to anyone. In any case, Amin is arranging for every palace employee to be accounted for. Whoever tried to harm my mother-in-law has no idea how far I’ll go to find and punish them.
I push the worries to the back of my mind.
It feels like ever since I set foot back in Rheadur, I’ve done nothing but deal with one crisis after another.
Tonight will be different. Tonight it’s just me and her. Not the ruler of Rheadur and his wife but a man and a woman who crave each other beyond reason.
Despite what she said at the end of the ceremony—that she didn’t wish to linger either—she played her part, changing clothes a few times, and now she’s wearing the gown made by the European designer.
Adeela carries herself like a queen. It’s something you’re born with, not something you can learn.
As I watch her saying goodbye to our closest guests, including the American painter who came with her husband, I can barely contain my urge to go to her.
A surprise, she said.
I’ve never been a fan of surprises. Despite the life I’ve led, my world has always been one of plans and control. But tonight, I’ll set caution aside and accept whatever she’s planned for us.
Suddenly, she stops in the middle of the hall, as if waiting for me.
I stop hearing the guests’ chatter, the music, the smell of food in the air.
If someone asked, I couldn’t even tell them what day it is.
My focus is entirely on her.
In a silent agreement, we walk toward each other until we’re face-to-face.
Nothing else in the world matters more than the woman who, from this moment on, is a permanent part of my life.
One hour later
Out of control.
That’s what I feel as the four-wheel-drive takes me to the place my wife said I should meet her—out in the desert.
This isn’t how I imagined spending my wedding night, especially because Adeela insisted on going ahead of me. I only agreed because Amin was in the car with her.
Somehow, she managed to persuade my trusted man to join in her plan. I have no doubt my assistant—now officially my public relations officer—had to orchestrate a full-scale military operation to pull off whatever Adeela, surely with Jazmina’s help, arranged.
When the car stops and I see a tent pitched ahead, one that could easily pass for a house in size, I smile inwardly.
She went to the trouble of preparing something special for our first night together. She’s stepping into this not as a contracted wife, as I once feared because of the terms she demanded, but truly as my woman.
I step out of the car and motion for the guards to stay back. They know they’ll be waiting all night. I assume Amin organized them into shifts.
To call what stands before me a tent would be an understatement. My wife has arranged a full royal camp, like the ones I used to join with my father when I was a boy.
There must be a power generator, and I’m certain there’s air conditioning inside.
A massive Persian carpet stretches like a pathway to the entrance, with torches lining each side. The firelight gives everything an air of intimacy.
With every step I take, my pulse quickens, because I know who’s waiting for me inside.
When I finally enter, candles flicker everywhere, set in glass holders, but there is no sign of Adeela.
The space is large, at least two adjoining rooms. Just as I consider going to look for her, her voice stops me.
“Sit down, my sheikh.”
I smile.
Who would’ve thought my shy wife could turn into such a temptress?
Then I remember the night she danced at my father’s party, when she danced for me, and every nerve in my body ignites with raw desire.
As if the memory itself has echoed into reality, music begins to play.
I still can’t see her, but now I can already imagine what’s about to happen.
My wife.
My own private odalisque.
So powerful in her sensuality that the image of her body moving to the rhythm has been seared into my memory, no matter how hard I tried to go back to the life I had before.
I tried to escape her, and the hunger she awakened in me, for almost two years. But now I know for certain that, whether I became sheikh or not, it was always destined.
From the very first time we met, it was written: Adeela would be mine.