Never Seduce a Sheikh (International Bad Boys Book 2) (22 page)

He had no idea where he was going, he just walked. And it was only when he stepped through a particular doorway that he realized, with a cold shock, where his subconscious had led him.

Why this room? Why now?

Footsteps behind him, quickened breathing.

He turned sharply to see Lily coming through the doorway. Coming into the room where he’d beaten his father to a bloody pulp.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, dark eyes full anger. “You can’t tell me not to love you, have passionate sex with me on my desk, then walk away without a word. I won’t let you.”

“Go,” he ordered harshly. “You have a plane to catch.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere. I meant what I said, Sheikh. You want a fight? You have one.”

She began to come closer and the breath caught in his throat, because he didn’t want her in this room with him. Where all the memories were. All the horror.

“Get out. Get out of here!”

Lily just shook her head, coming closer and closer, brown eyes fixed on his. “I’m not walking away from you. I’m not running. There’s nothing you can do, nothing you can say that will drive me away.”

His heart twisted, a sudden, agonizing pain. “Do you know where we are, Lily? Do you know what this room is? It’s the dining room.”

She blinked at him, the crease between her brows appearing. “The dining room?”

“Yes. I haven’t been in here for years. Do you know why? Because over there is where I nearly killed my father.”

The words seemed to sink into the silence of the room like heavy stones, weighing everything down.

The look on her face froze. For a second, she stared at him. Then abruptly, she turned away and he couldn’t help feeling a certain savage satisfaction. But it wasn’t for long. Because instead of walking straight out the door, she went over to the spot he’d indicated and stood on it, looking down at the tiled floor. “Here? Right here?”

He didn’t want to look, because he could still see Khalid on the floor, still see the blood that stained his shirt. Still feel the hard leather of the crop in his hands. But he made himself do it. “Yes. There.”

Lily glanced down at the pale tiles of the floor. “Interesting,” she said after a long moment. “There must have been a lot of blood.”

“Yes.” So much of it. On the floor, on his hands, so slippery. Slick.

Lily swept the sole of her shoe across the tiles. “There,” she said, quiet. “It’s gone now.”

Icy shock slid down his back. “Gone?” he demanded. “It is not gone. It will never be gone. Don’t you understand? It will always be there. That is why you have to leave. That is why you cannot love me and why I cannot love you in return! Love isn’t possible for a man like me.”

But her dark eyes just held his, so certain. So sure. And she began to walk towards him again.

He wanted to run, turn around and walk away, away from the memories and the anguish, but something held him still. Waiting for her.

She stopped right in front of him, her eyes so dark. Looking at him. Into him. As if she could see every part of him, even the blackest corners of his soul.

“Give me your hands,” she ordered softly.

And he found himself raising them to her, felt her cool, forgiving fingers take them in hers. She turned them over, his palms facing up. Then, she bent her head and before he could move, she pressed a kiss to the center of each palm. “And it’s gone here now, too,” she murmured.

Shock expanded outwards, through his body, through his heart. Her mouth felt warm, her lips soft, making all his nerve-endings sing. His throat felt constricted and he tried to pull his hands away, but her fingers locked around them, gripping them tight in her own. She lifted her chin, looking up at him, will burning in her eyes. A strong, stubborn will that would not be denied.

“The past is over, Isma’il. It’s gone. Wiped away. Let it go.”

Isma’il could feel himself begin to shake, a tremor deep inside him. “It is not that simple.”

“Yes it is. The boy you were then was only that, a boy. An angry, abused, teenage boy. He wasn’t bad. He wasn’t evil. He wasn’t tainted. He was angry and hurt and betrayed. That’s all.”

“It is not all. What I did cannot be forgiven.”

Her cool fingers wrapped around his. “I forgive you, Isma’il. What you have to do now is to forgive yourself.”

He could hardly speak. “I am afraid.”

The look in her eyes softened, as if she could see the war inside him. The hope battling with the fear. “I know. I was afraid too. But you showed me how much strength I had. How powerful I truly was. You gave me back so many things I’d thought I’d lost forever. Let me do that for you. Let me give you back the strength you lost. The belief in yourself that Khalid took from you.”

His voice sounded cracked and broken. “I do not know if I can let you.”

“You can. You are a strong man, Sheikh. A good man. And deep in your heart, I think you know this.” She raised his hands, kissed his fingers. “I see it. Every time I look at you, I see the man who set me free. The man who wants to heal his country. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Why Harkness is here in the first place? To fix what your father nearly broke. You want to make things better.” The look in her eyes was utter surety. As if doubt was something she’d never even heard of. “You’re not him, Isma’il. There is no stain in you. No taint. No violence. There’s passion and fire, but those things aren’t something to hide. They’re part of you.” She took a little breath. “And they’re part of what I love about you.”

He did not know why accepting what she said was so hard. He’d spent so long believing himself to be one thing that accepting a different vision was difficult. Letting go was difficult.

She’d told him once to trust her and he had. And discovered that the part of himself he’d been so afraid of was not to be feared after all.

Perhaps, he could trust her again. Perhaps, he could accept what she saw in him. He was getting so tired of fighting.

“I went to the desert,” he heard himself say thickly, “to burn Khalid out of me. To get rid of the blood. And when I came back, I realized it had not worked. That nothing I did would ever get rid of it. That the only way I could ever feel clean was with you.” His chest squeezed tight. “I wanted you so much, but I could not have you, Lily. I did not deserve to.”

Pain filled her eyes. “No, Isma’il. You deserve it. You deserve everything. You helped me face something I never thought I’d come to terms with. You made me see that I was more than just what Dan did to me. More than just a CEO. That I could be more than I’d ever thought possible.”

Gently, he pulled his hands from hers, slid his fingers into her hair. Let the warm, silky feel of it brush against his skin. And the feeling he’d been denying for days now expanded inside him, inescapable as the sun rising.

She loved him. As he was. Despite his history. Despite hers. He could do no less.

“I do not think I have ever loved anyone before,
Habibti.
But I think that I am in love with you.”

Lily smiled at him. And he’d never seen anything as beautiful as that smile. Then, she rose up on her toes and brushed her mouth with his. “Perhaps you could show me?” she said softly. “A small demonstration of this love?”

His heart felt too large for his chest, too large for his body, for the whole room. He pulled her close, held her tight. “You are more experienced in love than I am. I think it is something you will have to show me.”

So she did. She took his hand and much, much later, in the privacy of his bedroom, in her arms, he saw her love in her eyes, felt it in the heat of her body all around his, enclosing him.

Felt it in his heart.

And discovered she was right. There was no darkness inside him after all.

Only endless, shining light.

*     *     *

In the depths
of the night, Isma’il’s arms held her close, his face turned into her hair. “I am not going to let you leave,” he murmured. “Not ever. You understand that?”

She let her hands drift over his shoulders, tracing the hard, powerful muscles beneath the oiled silk of his skin, and smiled. “I did tell you I wasn’t going to leave.”

“I will have to use force to keep you here. You heard me, did you not?”

A little surge of delicious excitement went through her. “I did. Perhaps I’ll try to escape.”

His mouth pressed to her skin. “Try it,
Habibti.
I will take great pleasure in tying you to my bed and convincing you to stay.” Another kiss. “I may even marry you to make sure you never leave.”

Warmth and a happiness she hadn’t known existed unfurled inside her. “So arrogant. Was that a marriage proposal or a threat?”

His gaze was dark in the dimness of the room, but the expression on his face was all the light she needed. “Both.” Delivered with all the authority and surety of a sheikh. “Be my wife, Lily.”

“And what about my company? What shall I do with that?”

“I do not care about your company.” He kissed her hungrily, fiercely. “Your company can go to hell.”

She pushed at his shoulders and when he finally let her take a breath, she glared at him. “I can’t be your wife and run my company at the same time. There’s a conflict of interest now that we have the oil rights.”

His eyes gleamed in the dark, her wicked, seductive sheikh. “I realize that. But in exchange for your company, I offer you a country.”

“Hmmmm.” She pretended to think about it. “And what exactly would my position be in relation to said country?”

He smiled. “What do you think? You are an intelligent, astute woman with many amazing talents. I would be a fool not to make use of them.”

“Be clear, Sheikh.”

“Help me rebuild Dahar, Lily. Help me heal it.”

Her throat tightened with an emotion so powerful she could hardly speak. “So, you would offer me a country. Is that all?”

“No.” His smile faded, to be replaced by something far more intense. “I offer you my heart along with it.”

The feeling inside her grew impossibly large. “Tell me, Isma’il. Tell me and I’ll give you my answer.”

He knew exactly what she was talking about. His arms tightened around her, holding her close. “I love you, Lily Harkness,” his voice a whisper. “You are the light in my soul. The strength in my heart. And I cannot live without you.”

Lily’s throat closed, her eyes pricking with tears. “In that case, yes, I think I will be your wife.”

Isma’il didn’t wait. He kissed her and she let him.

The End

If you enjoyed
Never Seduce a Sheikh
, you’ll love the other International Bad Boy stories!

No Rest for the Wicked
by Katherine Garbera

Available now!

Born to be Bad
by Carol Marinelli

Coming soon – October 2014

Sympathy for the Devil
by Kelly Hunter

Coming soon – October 2014

Jackie Ashenden
has been writing fiction since she was eleven years old. Mild mannered fantasy/SF/pseudo-literary writer by day, obsessive romance writer by night, she used to balance her writing with the more serious job of librarianship until a chance meeting with another romance writer prompted her to throw off the shackles of her day job and devote herself to the true love of her heart – writing romance. She particularly likes to write dark, emotional stories with alpha heroes who’ve just got the world to their liking only to have it blown wide apart by their kick-ass heroines. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, the inimitable Dr Jax, two kids, two cats and two rats.

To keep up to date with Jackie’s new releases and other news, you can sign up to her newsletter at
www.jackieashenden.com
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