Loved by the Sheikh (3 page)

Jenny didn't even know how to respond. She could never imagine shopping after her husband just had a heart attack. Even after everything that's happened to her, she still wanted the crazy, head-over heels kind of love.

"And this is your room."

Surprised, Jenny stopped in her tracks. She hadn't even noticed that they were going anywhere and wondered what she had missed. Telling herself that she would have a look around the house later, she looked at the big bedroom and felt her heart drop.

It had a wonderful view of the gardens, a white king-sized bed, a dainty cedar table and from where she was standing, a pretty big bathroom. But it wasn't Sadiq's room. There were no personal mementos lying around. No photographs of his siblings around the tables or walls. It was the visitor's room.

She frowned. Had she read something wrong?

Sensing her reaction, Sadiq asked, "Is the room not to your liking?"

She paled at the thought of him thinking she was ungrateful. The room was probably bigger than her whole apartment. "No, no. The room is wonderful. I was expecting, or rather, hoping..." She shook her head, stopping herself. "It's wonderful. Thank you."

Sadiq's eyes darkened as he stepped closer to her. "You were expecting different accommodations?"

She gulped at the danger in his voice. If he only knew.

Feeling as if she was playing with fire, she broke eye contact. Her cheeks flared as she thought about what she'd assumed. She'd been so occupied with sleeping with Sadiq that she hadn't thought clearly. Concentrating on the circular pattern on the marble floors, she felt a tug of war with her emotions, wondering how to respond.

If he said no, she'd probably die from the embarrassment. But if he felt the same...

Oh boy. She could just imagine what it would be like if they hit the sheets.

Knowing that she was would regret it if she didn't, she took a deep breath and looked up. "I thought that we would be sharing the same room."

Relief poured through Sadiq at the simple admission. Worried that she might've felt obligated to sleep with him because of the trip, he hadn't wanted to pressure her into something that she didn't want or was too fast for her.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him. "Is that what you want?"

Her cheeks reddened and he cursed himself for being so straightforward. He was certain she could feel his hardness pressing into her, but he had to know. He had to know if this inexplicable bond he was feeling was one-sided or if she felt something as well. Instinctively, he pushed his hardness deeper into her harder, loving the way she felt and making sure she knew exactly what she was asking.

Her eyes widened and she nodded silently. Groaning, he bent down and kissed her. Hot fire coursed through him as he finally tasted her sweet lips, but it wasn't enough. The more he had of her, the more he wanted. He ran his tongue over her lips and was rewarded when she parted her lips, mating her tongue with his.

A rush soared through him as she relaxed in his arms, giving her all into the kiss. She was so responsive to his touch and the only thing he could think of was
more
. He wanted more of this sweet angel's kiss, more of her small hands on his body, roaming his stomach and getting dangerously near his hardness.

She whimpered softly when he bit her neck and began kneading a breast through her dress. His control was quickly slipping when he felt her shudder. Groaning, he pulled away.

It wasn't the time or place. His father and brother would be wandering the hallways soon, looking for them. And if not, one of the servants could've seen them.

He groaned frustratingly into her hair as he inhaled the sweet perfume of her hair.
Tonight
, he promised himself.
Tonight.

"My family will be back any time now." He bent down to steal one more kiss from her, loving how she softened like butter in his arms.

"Sadiq!" He heard a voice from down the corridor.

He cursed under his breath as he broke the kiss. Keeping his arm strongly around her, he turned to see his younger brother sauntering over with a big smile on his face.

"Jenny, this is my brother Raja."

Her eyes lit up with a smile as she extended her hand to shake Raja's and he felt a surge of envy burst through him.

"It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"Not bad, I hope?" Raja said, keeping a hold on Jenny's hand longer than he should've. Sadiq glared at his brother. He was definitely flirting with his Jenny.

"Of course not." Jenny said as she looked back to Sadiq.

"Sadiq seems to really care for you."

Raja turned to Sadiq, his eyebrows exaggeratedly raised. "Yes, I imagine he's trying to impress you with all his family talk."

"Raja," Sadiq warned. He didn't know what his brother was up to, but he didn't like it one bit.

Raja smiled as he turned back to Sadiq. "Father is pleased that you are home. He cannot stop talking about his successor."

Jenny's eyes narrowed when she heard the envy in Raja's voice. On the jet, Sadiq had explained how Raja had asked him to pretend to be interested succeeding their father while he earned the public's respect. Apparently, Raja had been quite wild during his younger years and many people disapproved of him.

But instead of Raja being appreciative of all that Sadiq was doing for him, he was being haughty. If Raja couldn't see what Sadiq was doing for him, he didn't deserve him.

Sadiq took a step towards Raja. "This was your idea to begin with."

Raja looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped suddenly. He covered his eyes and sighed. "Yes, I know. Forgive me." He wrung his hands frustratingly in the air. "You have been gone for so long and hearing everyone sing your praises has driven me mad."

Sadiq nodded understandingly as he put his arm around his brother. "It is of no consequence. Now tell me, how is father?"

"He's doing fine," Raja answered. "The doctor even said that because of his cleared arteries, he's better than ever."

Surprised at how quickly Raja had gone from wanting to fight to asking for forgiveness and how quickly Sadiq had forgiven him, Jenny stared at them dumbfounded.

She, more than anyone, knew about sibling rivalry and she knew for a fact that siblings did not argue and forgive within a two minute span. It was usually a whole month ordeal, or a week at the least.

But she hadn't been able miss the sincerity in Raja's eyes as he apologized or the love in Sadiq's eyes as he looked at Raja.

It amazed and touched her to know that that kind of brotherly love existed in the real life and and not just on tv.

She briefly wondered if she and Sarah would ever reconcile before realizing that their relationship had never been that great to begin with.

A sudden clashing noise rung in her ears and before she could ask about it, Raja had already begun walking down the hall. "Father is here."

****

Jenny's eyes darted nervously back and forth across the dining table as a tired Sadiq argued with his father while Raja remained silent. The conversation had been in English, which she knew, was for her sake, but she wished that they hadn't put in that extra effort. The conversation seemed so strained that she would rather have not been there at all.

The conversation was going nowhere, with Sadiq and his father arguing over the same thing over and over again. His father, urging him to come back to Atal and Sadiq, telling him that he wasn't interested.

Her heart stopped when she caught Sadiq's father looking at her. She didn't know why he kept doing that, but it was unnerving. It was as if he could somehow read her thoughts and knew what she was planning to do with his son. Her cheeks flushed up under the close inspection and she wanted nothing more than to run to the door.

But she couldn't. Not just to save face, but for Sadiq as well. For some inexplicable reason, she knew that he needed her there.

She couldn't help but smile as Sadiq ran a hand through his hair and began talking in his native tongue.

There was just something really sexy about his voice when he spoke Arabic. There was a roughness to it, as if he was taking care of things. She bit her lip as the image of Sadiq taking control in the bedroom suddenly entered her mind before she forced the thoughts away in case his dad was some kind of mind reader.

Well, probably not. He couldn't seem to take that hint that Sadiq wasn't interested in politics. It was obvious that the only reason why he'd gone along with this whole scheme was because he'd hoped that Sadiq would one day change his mind. That in time, Sadiq would forget his business and run for president.

Suddenly, his father glanced at her, and leaned over towards Sadiq, whispering. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity. It wasn't as if she understood Arabic.

Sadiq's eyes met hers. "My father thinks that you would rather marry a president than a businessman."

Well,
that
was new.

She shook her head, smiling. Not correcting his father on the state of their relationship, she told Sadiq, "Nope. I'm not interested in politics either. Does he do this to all your girlfriends?"

His eyes burned deep into hers. "You're the first person I've brought home and naturally-"

"Oh." Heat transfused over her face as she tried to force down the grin that was tugging at her lips. If Sadiq saw what his simple admission did to her, he would know that she was getting attached to him. And being the gentleman he was, he would probably break things off with her before it became too late.

She used this knowledge to try to ease the giddiness she was feeling. He didn't feel the same about her.

Just because she was the first person he'd brought to Atal didn't mean anything. He had told her himself that he hadn't been home in five years.

Relief coursed through her when Sadiq and his father began arguing again. She wasn't going to have to respond.

She glanced at Raja and was surprised to see how angry he looked. It looked like he was going to blow any minute and she understood. In his eyes, he probably thought that he had to compete with Sadiq for his father's approval.

Sadiq was the other brother and had created a multinational business from virtually nothing while everything that
he
worked for, though important, didn't exactly leave an imprint with his name on it.

It would be so easy for his father to take him for granted, because he was always there. And having to put his future into Sadiq's hands probably made it that much harder.

"So what are the must-see places in Atal?" she asked, trying to distract him.

Surprised, Raja looked up at her. Amusement replaced the bitterness in his eyes when he saw that she was talking to him. In the background, his father laughed and said something to Sadiq.

"It depends on what you like," Raja said ignoring them. "We have a rich history, so you might want to try one of our museums. The Atal National Museum is the largest and the most popular. And our beach, Al Keffiyeh is a must. I can take you there if you like."

"No, you will not," Sadiq interrupted.

Jenny looked curiously at Sadiq and was surprised at how angry he looked. "Al Keffiyeh is a nudist beach," he explained.

Jenny narrowed her eyes as she looked back at Raja and wished that she could kick him. Unfortunately, the tables were too wide to make such a thing feasible without looking stupid. She'd only been trying to help. That ungrateful son of a...

Chapter Six

Sadiq closed the bedroom door and turned around, his eyes burning into Jenny's.

He couldn't believe she had flirted with Raja.

Most of the time he'd looked at her during lunch, he'd found her looking or talking with his brother. And Raja, blast him, was drinking in the attention and even seemed to return her feelings, given his suggestive looks and his inviting her to Al Keffiyeh.

What was the matter with Raja? Was he so jealous of him that he was trying to steal his woman?

"I do not like the way you look at Raja," he said menacingly as he stepped closer to her, forcing her to look up to meet his gaze.

"What?" Her eyes widened as she took a step back. The movement twisted his gut. She was afraid of him.

Maybe she liked her men soft and mellow like Raja, but he wasn't like that nor would he ever be.

"I saw the way you and Raja were looking at each other."

"I wasn't-"

He shook his head silently. Did she think he was stupid? "Your interest in my brother was so obvious that even my father could see it." His anger boiled as he remembered his father telling him how wrong he was about Jenny. Couldn't he see, his father had told him, that she wasn't interested in an investor like him? That all her smiles and laughs were for Raja, who'd one day rule the country.

His jaw hardened. If she left him for Raja, he would run for presidency, hurting her ambitions just as she had hurt him.

Jenny shook her head wordlessly. She looked genuinely confused, but he now knew that his heart had a way of blinding himself to who she truly was.

"You know I want you," she said plainly.

His eyes narrowed as he eyed her luscious lips and hated himself for still wanting her. What was her game? Did she mean to entertain him while she made his brother jealous?

"Is that why you spent most of your time chatting with my brother? Because you
want
me?"

"No." She combed her hair frustratingly with her hand and he couldn't help but notice the way her breasts heaved up and down. His throat dried and he licked his lips. Even knowing what she truly was didn't stop him from wanting her in the most primitive way.

"I don't know about you, but your brother's jealousy is tangible from a mile off. Did you see the way he was looking at you?" She looked at him, her eyes so full of worry and concern that he felt himself being pulled right back into her spell.
Please let him be wrong about her.
"It looked like his head was going to burst from anger. I can't blame him though. Your father acted as if he wasn't even there."