Saving the Sheikh (The Legacy Collection) (4 page)

He touched her cheek again softly. “Anything we do will be discrete. I promise you that.” When she opened her mouth to respond to him, he gently placed one finger over her lips and said, “And if nothing happens at all, my opinion of you will remain the same – you are one fascinating woman, Zhang.”

A female voice called out from a short distance. “Zhang? Are you back here?”

Damn.

Zhang looked into those amazing black eyes and said, “That’s Lil. She shouldn’t find us like this.”

After one last brief kiss, Rachid nodded his agreement and walked away in the opposite direction of Lil’s voice.

Zhang let out a long breath and brought a shaky hand to her mouth, savoring the lingering warmth of his touch.

If this is a dream, don’t wake me up yet
.

Lil bounded around the tent and stopped dead when she saw Zhang. “There you are! Abby wants a picture with the whole wedding party and no one could find you.”

Zhang straightened her dress and boldly lied. “I needed a moment alone.”

Instantly, Lil’s expression changed and she swept closer, making Zhang regret her choice of excuses. “I’m so sorry. I know how you feel about weddings.”

A secret smile tugged at the corners of Zhang’s lips.
I may have just changed my opinion of them.
“Please do not be concerned, Lil. I’m fine.”

Lil looked around, saw the glasses of champagne at Zhang’s feet and drew her own conclusion. “I’m an ass. I shouldn’t have dared you to kiss that sheikh. It was childish and stupid. Forget I even said it.”

Real concern clouded her friend’s eyes and tore at Zhang’s composure. This wasn’t fun if it hurt someone. “It wasn’t childish, Lil. You wanted to give me a reason to smile today and you did.”

Lil countered, “Really? Then why are you hiding back here drinking by yourself?

“I wasn’t . . .”

Lil shook her head sadly, clearly not believing her. After all, the evidence was at her feet.

“I was with Rachid.”

Lil’s jaw dropped open. “The sheikh?”

Zhang kept her expression serene, although some amusement filtered into her tone. “Is there more than one here tonight?”

A slow grin swept all worry from the brunette’s face. “Holy crap! You kissed him, didn’t you?”

Zhang nodded, a proud smile bursting forth.

Lil hopped in excitement and hugged her. “You are one hot shit, Zhang! I love it!”

Pulling back slightly from her overexuberant friend, Zhang repeated the label. “Hot shit.” She mulled the term. “I can’t say I’ve been called that before. It’s a compliment?”

Lil was practically dancing with excitement and might have hugged her again had Zhang not taken another step back. She enjoyed Lil, but the constant touching was something she wasn’t quite used to.

Lil said, “From me, it’s a huge one. You’re my new hero.”

Now I know I’m in trouble.

Suddenly sobering a bit, Zhang asked, “Can we keep this between the two of us?”

“Absolutely,” Lil said. She linked arms with Zhang and together they started walking toward the wedding party. “I can keep a secret.”

Zhang paused, causing Lil to come to an abrupt halt beside her, and simply looked up at her until the younger woman blushed.

“When it’s important,” Lil qualified.

Zhang’s eyebrows rose in challenge.

“Do you want me to pinkie-swear?” Lil asked in growing offense.

Zhang started walking again, but this time she was smiling. “No, one per wedding is all I can handle.”

Lil hugged Zhang’s arm to her side and laughed as they strolled together. She added in a stage whisper, “I can’t believe you did it.”

Lil’s enthusiasm was impossible to resist. A light laugh burst from her as Zhang conceded, “I can’t either.” She gave her friend’s arm a slight squeeze. No matter how the evening ended, Zhang had taken a risk, and the result was that she felt more alive and hopeful than she had in years. Life shouldn’t be a story about what the world did with you; it should be about what you did with the world. “Thank you.”

Nearing the grassy area where the wedding party was already standing in position, waiting to complete the photos, Zhang couldn’t help but sneak a look at Rachid. He was standing with the other groomsmen on one side of Dominic. Composed. Looking every bit the visiting monarch he was.

Lil announced, “I found Zhang! She was . . .” Her hesitation hung heavy in the silence as everyone waited. “Lost,” she finished lamely.

All eyes flew to Zhang.
Thanks, Lil, now people are wondering if I’m drunk.
Agreeing was easier than attempting another cover story, so she shrugged and concurred, “So many tents that all look alike.”

Abby broke the awkward pause that followed. She waved Lil and Zhang toward her side. “Well, come on! We’ve been waiting for you. Get over here. Just a few more photos and then we can go eat.”

Lil took her spot near her sister.

Zhang headed toward the other bridesmaids, looking over at Rachid one last time as she joined them. His expression gave nothing away as he stared back at her. It would be easy enough to convince herself that she had imagined the entire alley exchange.

He was right to pretend nothing had happened.

Nothing had.

Not really.

Just one meaningless kiss.

Better forgotten.

Then Rachid winked at her and the photographer recorded Zhang’s happy responding flush.

In the words of one expressive American:
Holy crap
.

Seated chastely with the bridal party at a large, round table in the enormous white main tent, Zhang laid her napkin across her lap. Everywhere she looked there was a combination of practical and bold design. The table decorations were simple crystal vases of white orchids that complemented the enormous size of the tent and the opulence of the hanging chandeliers. It was easy to distinguish which ideas had come from the bride and which had come from the groom. The blend of both of their styles was a lovely and impressive display of their love.

Abby had taken great care to ensure the comfort of their guests. Each glass was adorned with handmade stem jewelry, and each place card held a personalized message on the back. Most likely Abby had chosen the words and Dominic had chosen the diamonds. Both were something the guests would treasure. Everyone else at her table was focused on the bride and groom performing their first dance as a married couple, but regardless of how she tried to distract herself, Zhang was finding it difficult to concentrate on anything but the man beside her.

Rachid whispered in her ear. “I thought your dress was floor-length.”

The tickle of his breath on her neck sent a naughty shiver down her spine. She defended the wardrobe change, even though she knew from the light in his eyes that he wasn’t complaining. “The bottom was detachable and meant to be removed after the ceremony.”

He raised one eyebrow playfully.

She shook her head with slight smile. “That’s the only piece that comes off.”

“Pity,” he said, and her heart beat double-time at the sexy purse of his lips.

Zhang turned her attention to the newly married couple. This was normally the point where she would have made excuses and ended the night early. There was only so much happily ever after a person could stomach when her own life was an emotional desert. Tonight was different. For the first time, watching two people publicly and repeatedly proclaim their love for each other didn’t sadden Zhang.

I determine my path. I can have love if I choose it. Tonight is not about sleeping with an Arab sheikh, it’s about opening my heart to possibilities. The past doesn’t determine my future.

I’m finally free.

The groom’s sister, Nicole, gracefully stood and took Stephan by the hand. “This is where we join them on the dance floor.”

Maddy and Richard rose from their seats. Both couples turned to look at Zhang and Rachid.

Zhang shook her head quickly and remained seated. “I don’t dance.”

Maddy said, “Oh, but you have to! Abby will be so disappointed if we don’t all join her. Where is Lil?”

Perfect excuse!

Zhang stood and hastily offered, “I’ll go look for her.”

Rachid also stood, held out a hand to her and said, “I’m sure she and Jake would rather have a moment alone.”

An inner battle ensued. She wanted nothing more than to be in Rachid’s arms again, but not like this, not in public – and certainly not while displaying her complete lack of dance experience. “I don’t – ”

Bending to her ear so that his words would be heard only by her, Rachid said, “Tonight you do.”

His eyes burned with a desire for more than a dance. It held a question she wasn’t prepared to answer yet.

“One dance,” she answered huskily, heat from the pleasure she read in his expression spreading through her abdomen and lower. She took the hand he offered and followed him onto the dance floor, trying to ignore the knowing expressions on the faces of those in their group.

Once on the dance floor, Zhang was careful to keep an acceptable distance between them as they swayed to the slow ballad. Rachid placed a hand on her waist, intending to pull her closer, but when she tensed he relaxed his hold and allowed the space between them to remain.

He bent to once again whisper in her ear. “Where is the bold woman who takes what she wants?”

She smiled sadly up at him, hating that she felt awkward before him. She was certainly that person when it came to business, but in private matters she had closed herself off for so long that she still felt unsure. “If I were that woman, I wouldn’t have needed the dare.”

“You’re a dangerous combination of everything I like in a woman,” he said. In response to the skeptical expression on her face, he asked, “That surprises you?”

“I would have thought your taste ran more toward submissive women.”

“And what do you know of my preferences?”

“You’re right. I guess I let your title shape my fantasies,” she admitted, instantly wanting to retract the words.
I don’t know why I said that.

If her goal had been to test the level of his interest, she wasn’t disappointed. His hand tightened on her waist. “Fantasies?” The sudden heat in his eyes was everything Zhang would have wished for – if she’d let herself make such wishes.

Passion without love was wrong.

But was it more wrong than spending a lifetime without intimacy? Never feeling the brush of a kiss on your shoulder? Never knowing the warm touch of a lover? A decade of celibacy was a hefty price to pay for success and duty.

One evening. That’s all I ask.
A few hours that have nothing to do with the life I must maintain or the one I left behind. Give me the words that will keep this man interested long enough to make a memory that I can savor when I return home alone tonight.
She said, “You have to know that many women fantasize about Arab sheikhs.”

Now he did pull her closer, and this time she didn’t resist. “I don’t care about women in general, but you have this fantasy?”

She studied his chest for a moment, then boldly met his eyes. “Yes.”

“Tell me.”

She looked down again, suddenly feeling unsure. She should tell him now that she had no intention of sleeping with him that evening. Continuing the conversation would only lead him to believe that she wanted him.

Not that I don’t want him, but wanting and acting are two completely different things. I must end this now before things get awkward.

She hedged as she sought the strength to walk away. “It’s silly, really.”

There was nothing silly about the need she saw in his eyes as he raised her chin with one finger. “Tell me.”

The universe whispered,
Prove that you want it, Zhang. Be brave.

Zhang squared her delicate shoulders and said, “The slightly unwilling virgin being swept away to a desert castle by a hot-blooded sheikh and forced to pleasure him.”

His head tipped to one side. “Forced?”

She shrugged. “It’s a fantasy. No one gets hurt in a fantasy.”

He massaged her lower back as he contemplated what she had shared. “That’s it?”

In for penny, in for a pound. She smiled wickedly and added, “Hardly. There is something about those harem outfits and silk pillows.” She shuddered in response to a wave of sexual excitement coursing through her. “I know it’s outdated and a Hollywood stereotype, but it doesn’t change how fun it is to imagine.”

When Zhang glanced up at Rachid’s face she expected to see him laughing, but he wasn’t. His serious expression worried her.

I hope I didn’t offend him.

“Are you a virgin?” he asked softly.

She gulped and met his eyes proudly. “No.”

His smile was completely unexpected – and devastatingly sexy. He spun her around, catching her fully against him, and growled into her ear, “Good.”

Well, that could be taken a thousand ways, and not many of them flattering
. Never one to play coy, Zhang demanded, “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“I have no respect for men who take advantage of innocence, but I want to be with you tonight, Zhang.” Their dance came to a sudden halt and he simply stared down at her. A playful but oh-so-sexually charged fire lit his eyes. “And I have a desert castle.”

Zhang would have slid to the floor if Rachid hadn’t caught her.

Holy crap.

Nothing about being with Zhang was a good idea.

And yet, she was all that mattered to Rachid when he held her in his arms.

Many women had thrown themselves at him over the years – money and a title tended to do that for a man. Some had been subtle, some obvious, and a few had even played hard to get. He liked to think that their time together had been mutually satisfying, if not earth-shattering. History was stained with wars born from lust for a woman. He’d always scoffed at the feasibility of any woman having such power over a man.

Until Zhang had shared her fantasy with him and lit a need in him that swelled and choked out all reason. Tonight he didn’t want to be a successful businessman or dutiful son. He didn’t want to carry the weight of his people or the expectations of his family.