ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (81 page)

“I said I wouldn’t dream about it Mimi, not that I didn’t think about it or hope it would happen. And since you planted the seed,” he leaned in until his lips brushed against her ear, “it’s all I can think about.”

THE END

There was something incredibly erotic and sexy about sneaking around with someone.

That was what Keisha had originally thought when she started seeing Ahmed. She had thought that being secretive brought them together because it meant that only they two could share in the special connection that had brought them together nearly a year ago now.

But that year had changed her opinion on the matter. When she got the results yesterday, a lot had changed.

She waited in the bazaar, a cowl brought over her head to cover her hair, though she was grateful for her arms at least to be exposed to just above the elbow. It was too hot today to remain entirely covered.

It was her nicest outfit. A two piece dress that was almost the brighter color of red that she always admired and embroidered with a shiny yellow thread (gold was both expensive and a little too ostentatious for a woman of her social status). The dress dropped down to her ankles and matched the top, and she was grateful that it was of that lighter summer fabric, allowing some air to pass through on a day that was otherwise sweltering.

Of course, she probably would not be sweltering outside like this if Ahmed had been there already. She’d been waiting for nearly an hour, and she’d only arrived maybe ten minutes early. Which meant he was late. Very late. Late enough that Keisha wished she were in a position to go to his home and demand where he was. Had he stood her up? Was he all right? Had his plans changed without warning?

These were all reasonable questions to ask for a normal couple—but they were questions she could never ask. Their relationship was, unfortunately, very much a secret and it was very unlikely that that would change. Ever.

The thought caused her full deep rouge colored lips to pull down in a frown. Was that to be the rest of her life? Secrecy?

Fool,
she chided herself as she walked down the dusty pathway glancing disinterestedly at several of the booths offering bargains along the way.
Of course that is to be your life. Until he marries.

The thought was painful, piercing her heart like the stabbing of a knifepoint. It was all she could do to keep her breathing even, her expression neutral, and her eyes dry. Part of her had always understood that it was inevitable that one day Ahmed would leave her, but she had convinced herself somehow that things would be different because they were in
love
.

At least,
she
was in love.

But now things were even worse. Now, she had to back him into a corner. She was no longer allowed the luxury of pretending one way or the other on his feelings. Tonight she would have to face the truth, whatever it was, and hope that somehow she might pick herself back up from it after it was all said and done.

“Fool.” This time, she said it out loud.

She stopped at a booth that was selling fresh fruit. She did not have a lot of money with her; these were difficult times. If she waited for Ahmed, there was no question that he would buy the sweet looking peach for her, but that assumed he would show. At this point, doubt had started to gnaw at her and she was not sure that was the case.

Besides, she did not
need
his charity. This was not about the money and never had been. Unfortunately, she also understood that the money situation was about to
become
very important. Her situation was changing rapidly and there was little she could do to stop it.

Reaching into her small beaded bag, she pulled out a couple of coins and then offered them to the man running the booth as she pointed towards the peach. He smiled at her, an old crinkly smile that reminded her of her grandfather, and nodded.

“Thank you,” she told him as she took it up.

Her mouth watered as she thought of the taste of the rich, sweet fruit. It was her favorite, always had been, ever since her father had brought some home for her and her sisters when they were still young. That had been a long time ago.

She raised it to her lips, about to sink her white teeth into the thin velvety skin of the fruit, when everything suddenly went dark. A pair of hands slipped across her eyes as a warm body pressed closely behind her. A breath tickled at her lips as she heard his smooth, deep words slip into her ears, “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, my love.”

Her heart fluttered and her doubts were suddenly forgotten. “Ahmed,” she breathed, her body warming from something other than the heat of the day.

He laughed in her ear and released her, taking a single, small step back from her. She turned around to face him and could not help the smile that slipped across her features.
Oh, how handsome he was.

His dark eyes twinkled with mischief, the same mischief that lingered in his smile, and his cheeks were flushed as though he’d just been running. His dark, short hair was damp, too. Maybe he was running because he had been late?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, Keisha regained some of her anger at him. Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “Where were you? You are almost an hour late!” She was not as mad as she had been only moments before, because that was how it always was with Ahmed. There was something about his scent and his face and the broadness of his shoulders that made her insides melt until she forgot everything but the need to be wrapped once again in his arms.

Still, she clung to as much of it as she could.

Ahmed looked around nervously, checking down the packed streets of the bazaar, before returning to her. He took a step closer to her and said, “Can we talk somewhere more private?”

She let out a sigh; what could she say but yes? “Very well. This way.”

They did not hold hands as they walked, nor did they do much in the way of talking or interacting. There were a few heated glances shared and every so often his hand would brush hers, sending a tendril that felt like lightning up her arm and across her entire body.

She led the way towards her home, little more that the equivalent of a small studio apartment, but since her parents’ death, there had been no one else to share the home with. Her sisters were all married now and they often begged her to move in with them, just until she found a suitable husband, but she staunchly refused.

She would make her own way in this world, no matter what.

Keisha led him inside, and when they were finally alone, he took her into his arms and planted a fierce, desperate kiss against her lips. Keisha allowed it for longer than she should have given that she wanted answers, but it was difficult to deny the man she loved so deeply. Her eyes fluttered closed and she allowed his hands to wander her form for a moment, his palms slipping across her hips only to travel back up again along her ribs and belly.

But this was not the time for it. Her body was responding, of course, and there was no denying that she wanted what he was offering, but she needed answers first. Moving her hands up to lay palm flat against his chest, she pushed at him until they’d broken apart.

He gave her a questioning look, but when she folded her arms and raised an eyebrow pointedly at him, he sighed.

“I am sorry, my lovely Keisha,” he said in a tone that was most sincere. “I tried to get away sooner, but the guards made it difficult today. I worry that soon they will know something.”

A frown tugged at Keisha. She had assumed mostly that it had been something like that. It had been the constant strain on their relationship from the very start. Did someone know? Who might they tell? Could his father discover this illicit affair?

All of these questions might not have been so pressing if he weren’t who he was—or if Keisha had been someone else.

Keisha’s arms dropped and she could not help the sadness that swept her features. “I see.”

“Don’t worry my love,” Ahmed told her quickly, stepping close to her again. His hands came to her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “They know nothing. We are safe still and might continue with our love.”

He leaned down to kiss Keisha again and her eyes fluttered shut once more. She put the worries out of her head, ignored what they meant, and for that moment embraced her pure and simple love for the man right in front of her. They could worry about the rest later.

Quickly, the kiss deteriorated into something more. They lost themselves to passion as her clothing slipped from her body and his hands found the bare spots that they loved the most. His clothing did not last much longer and by the time they reached the bed, they smoldered and burned with a passion that could not be quenched.

Their lovemaking was beautiful and lingering and made Keisha think that perhaps all her worrying was for nothing. Perhaps, in the end, they might find a way to still be together.

***

They washed together before Ahmed had to leave. And he did have to leave, though it always broke Keisha’s heart just a little more each time. Her tub was small and it took time for the water to heat, but when it did, they sank in together. She settled between his legs and leaned her back against his chest as his hands used the cloth to wash off the sweat from the day.

She let him do it for a while in silence, though she’d made up her mind earlier about things. Sometime today, before he left, she would have to bring up what was happening to her body. Things were changing rapidly and if she hoped for any future between the two of them, they would have to discuss it thoroughly. They would have to come up with a plan.

It was foolish on Keisha’s part, she knew. There was no chance for the two of them to be together, but she had to try. She loved him too much not to.

“Ahmed?” she spoke eventually, her voice soft and quiet.

“Hm?” he answered with little more than a hum in his throat, sending vibrations through his body which Keisha could feel.

She bit her lip and considered her next words carefully. They would change her life and his completely and once spoken, they could never again be taken back. Was she brave enough to go through with this?

Yes,
she thought.

“I wanted to be sure before I told you,” she began, still speaking softly. “But now there is no question. I am sure.”

She could hear the uncertainty and the curiosity in his voice as he said, “Sure of what?”

Taking in a deep, shaky breath, she said the words that had bubbled inside her since she had seen him first in the market today. She did not know if she had the courage, but now, there was no going back. “My love, please, I am pregnant.”

Everything froze. Time, the air, the sun, the beating of their two hearts. There was nothing but silence to fill the space of her small apartment, because this was the moment that would decide their future.

“Pregnant?” His voice was small, questioning, but it did not yet sound angry.

Keisha could only bring herself to nod her head in answer. She was still waiting for her heart to beat again. At his next words, it did.

“I’m going to be a father?”

It was not a sad or shocked or angry question, but rather one filled with excitement. Maybe some nervousness, too, but mostly it was just a giddiness that surprised Keisha. His arms wrapping around her and lifting her out of the tub as he stood also surprised her. She let out a small laughing cry.

“Ahmed!”

“My beautiful love! The mother of my children!
My everything
!”

He swung her around in his arms, not caring that they were both naked and both still wet from the bath. He kissed her all over, tender sweet kisses that spoke of his excitement and love. They made their way back to the bed where Ahmed laid her back down on the bed. This time when he crawled back over her, his face stopped above her belly and he smiled down at it, as though he could see right through it to the tiny person that grew in her womb.

“You will be my most beloved thing,” he whispered to it as he caressed her stomach gently, sweetly, thought there was not so much as a bump there yet to indicate she was with child. “You and your mother both.”

Keisha could not fight back the tears in her eyes, so she let them fall silently as she watched him speak to her tummy as though the tiny thing inside it could hear him at all.

His excitement and acceptance of her was overwhelming. It was more than she had ever dreamed of, but it worried her, too, because it told her that he had yet to think of the consequences of this. He hadn’t realized yet that it was not just a matter of them being unmarried and pregnant. It was a matter of who he was and of the very reason they had kept their relationship a secret for so long.

After all, there was no way that the future Sheikh would be allowed to marry a pauper.

Ahmed Kandalama stood as straight as he could muster, his hands firmly clasped behind his back. If he was truly going to do this, he would have to do it now. There was no more time, not for this, and if he was going to ever have a chance to marry for love, it might be now.

His mother, Aisha, came into the large open room looking both pleased and regal. Her long hair was braided down her back and the blue she wore was unquestioningly beautiful on her. Her eyes sparkled, much like Ahmed’s he’d been told, as she caught sight of her son.

“Oh, you look so handsome!” she cooed. She reached for him and embraced him tightly. He was her only son and thus infinitely more important than anything else in this world that she might call hers, despite having three additional children, all girls. They were older than Ahmed and though he loved them dearly they took too much of an interest in him, he thought, and often interfered with his life.

He could not help but glance behind her quickly, checking to see if his father was coming on her heels, but it seemed she was alone.

When she pulled back she must have caught sight of his nervous gaze, because she chuckled a little and said, “It is only me, my son. Your father will join us shortly, but he has a small importance to address before he does.”