The Sheik's Furious Bride (Love By Accident) (12 page)

“You don’t own me!”

“Tsk tsk, my dear.  You’re really going about this whole thing the wrong way.  You should be trying to tempt me into your bed and show me how willing you
are to be my wife
. 
Wives should always be excited to be with their husbands
.”

She tried to step around him but he blocked her escape with a strong arm planted firmly against the courtyard wall behind her.  “I
don’t want to be your wife and there’s nothing you can do to change that fact
!”
  She was trying very hard to not scream out, keeping her voice low and firm so that he knew that she wasn’t just being arbitrary but truly didn’t want this marriage to happen. 

He chuckled.  “Ah, but you see, I
very much want to be your husband,
to touch you and feel you.”
  His hand cam up and a finger slid softly down her bare arm, sending shivers along her skin
and her mind whirled, her thoughts scattering just as they had earlier in the day.  Both times he’d held her in his arms, he had been able to make her do things that were crazy
and out of character
. 

“You’re not my husband!” she cried out, desperate to get away from him because even now, her body wanted to sway towards him and relive that feeling she’d experienced earlier today.  She felt betrayed by her own skin, her mind telling her to run and fight this man while every other part of her wanted to melt into him and taste him, feel his body as close to hers as possible. 

“I will
soon be your husband.  You need to accept that
.
”  He watched the
goose bumps
form on her skin as his fingers moved back up her arm, softly caressing her neck and the delicate shell of her ear.  “
Perhaps we should move up the wedding date.  I don’t think I’m going to make it another week without having you in my bed.”

She thought frantically, trying to come up with some way to gain a reprieve.  She couldn’t marry this man in less than a week.  She had to figure out what to do, how to handle this situation. 
“No!”
  She wanted to be more articulate, to give him valid reasons to keep their wedding date set for the following week but his touch was making her mind turn to mush. 

His fingers moved down her arm, watching with fascination as the goose bumps appeared along her skin following his fingers wherever they went. 
“Why not?
  We both want this.  Why torture ourselves with waiting?”

“Because I don’t want this!
  I really don’t!”

“Your body is telling me differently.”  He looked down into her scared eyes and thought about backing off, but he’d done that earlier today and she’d retreated too far.  Maybe it was time for him to show her that things didn’t have to be so contentious.  “Let me show you that this can be much more enjoyable than earlier today.  What you experienced in my office this afternoon was only a precursor to how good we can make each other feel.”

“No!” she gasped, terrified of how alluring his words were.  How could their actions feel better?  This afternoon had been mind-
boggling
, how was she to endure anything more intense?  “Please.  Just give me time to work this through in my mind.”  She was struggling, but her plea seemed
to trigger something in him
, slowing down his fingers as they trailed along her arm. 

Hussan
dropped his hand and took a deep breath.  “You really want a whole week to get used to the idea of marrying me?”

Isla frowned at his resigned tone of voice.  It struck something deep inside of her, something she hadn’
t been aware of.  A tenderness for his
emotions
and she was concerned that she might have hurt his feelings by needing the week.

“It isn’t that I don’t…” sh
e stopped.  What was she to say?
  She glanced up at him, worried about how to express herself.  “We just don’t….I can’t….”

Hussan
watched as she stammered out an explanation, amused and touched that she was trying to soothe what she considered his hurt pride when all he was thinking about was the bed behind him and getting her into it.  She really was a strikingly beautiful woman and he
had new evidence that
she
was
just as lovely inside. 

He would have to protect her, he thought.  That kind of soft heart would get her hurt while living inside the palace.  She didn’t know the dangers lurking around every corner, all the political intrigue and the people who pretended loyalty towards him but actually had their own agendas.  She would have to toughen up, or she’d be torn up by the cruelty of the people who came and went through the palace. 

His mind started working out a compromise and he thought about it carefully, sifting through the details in his mind.  He wanted her and she had the same
reaction to him when he touched her, but she was scared.  He suspected that she’d never experienced anything like what they had between each other.  He had to accept that no other woman had made him feel this way either, but he was more experienced and knew what was to come.  He wasn’t afraid of
it,
in fact he wanted it very painfully. 

“How about a compromise?” he suggested, wondering if he was actually insane for offering her something like what he was thinking.  Was he such a masochist? 

Isla crossed her arms over her stomach, her hands covering her bare arms as much as possible as if to protect herself from that soft, gentle touch from his fingers.  “What did you have in mind?” she asked, not sure she actually wanted to know but not willing to live in fear either.

He pried her hand away from her arm and tucked it onto his
arm
, leading her out of the corner and back to the main area where his servants had already set up their evening meal.  “How about if we sit down and eat, you ask me questions about whatever interests you, I’ll ask you questions and we’ll answer each other so that we get to know one another.”

Isla looked up at him, uncertain about his proposition.  There had to be more to it than that.  He was in too good of a mood for it to be that simple.  “And?” she prompted nervously. 

He smiled, glad that she’d picked up on the fact that he wasn’t telling her everything. 
Smart and beautiful.
  What a combination! 

“And…
you need to talk to me.  I get to kiss you and you need to stop hiding from me.”  He watched her carefully, looking for signs that she would rebel at his suggestion.

She looked up at him carefully.  “Just kiss?” she
asked,
her voice barely above a whisper.  She waited tensely to hear if he would just kiss her, not sure if that’s really what she wanted. 

He smiled and moved closer, putting his hands on her waist.  “I’ll stop whenever you tell me I’ve gone too far.”

She took a deep breath and shook her head.  “I don’t believe you will do that.”

He chuckled and looked down into her wary eyes.  “Why are you so skeptical?”

She bit her lip before she proceeded to say, “Because I doubt you would have stopped earlier today if I’d said no.”

He smiled at her blush and his hand moved a bit higher on her body.  “You didn’t want me to stop this afternoon.”

She wanted to pull herself out of his arms, but he held her firmly.  “How do you know what I wanted?”

His firm lips quirked upwards, but she could tell that he was trying to hide his amusement.  “Because I knew what was going on inside you and it wasn’t
simply
pleasant.  You were on fire, Isla.”  He stopped her protest by placing a finger over her lips.  “If we’re going to survive this marriage, you’re going to have to be honest with me.”  He hesitated a moment before he continued by saying, “And honest with yourself.”

She sighed and shook her head.  “I can lie to myself all I want,” she gritted out.

He laughed outright with that statement,
then
kissed the top of her head.  “Okay, so you can lie to yourself if that makes you feel better.  Just don’t think that I’ll believe your silly nonsense.”

“So let me get this straight.  You get to touch me and kiss me whenever you want, I have to attend all meals with you and answer your questions,
you’re
apparently going to answer my questions as well.”

He knew where she was going with this but played along.  “That about sums it up.  What’s your answer?”

She shook her head and looked back up at him.  “What do I get out of this?” she demanded. 

He shrugged one of those massive shoulders. “You get the pleasure of my company, the excitement of kissing me back, you may feel free to touch me in any way that strikes your fancy and you get to know me better.”

“But I don’t want to touch you!” she lied.  Even now, her hands wanted to smooth up his forearms, to feel the muscles that were revealed by the cuffs of his shirt
that were
rolled up.  She wanted to place her hand over his heart and feel the rhythm, to find out if his heart raced when she touched him just like hers did when he touched her. 
But she kept her hands firmly on his hands, considering that to be a “safe” place to leave them. 
At least for the time being.
 

He shook his head and pulled her slightly closer.  “You can lie to yourself, Isla.  But don’t lie to me.”

She rolled her eyes.  “What do you perceive I’m lying about now?”

“You want to touch me.  You want to touch me so badly that your fingers are twitching against my hands.  I can also see it in your eyes.  So tell yourself whatever you need to.  But keep it honest when it leaves those pretty lips of yours.”

She snatched her hands away, keeping them by her side which she worried was a dangerous way to stand in his arms.  At least with her hands on his, she could more easily and quickly reach up to push him back. 

“As for what you get out of the agreement…I’ll hold off on the wedding until next week as we’d originally planned…”

“As you had planned.
  There was no ‘we’ in the discussions,” she interrupted.

He conceded her point with a slight smile.  “As your brother and I agreed, the wedding date will remain next week, and you get to know me better.”

“This sounds like a one-sided agreement.  Why should I do this?”

He leaned closer and his lips nuzzled her neck.  “Isla, you’ve got to accept that, one way or another, you’re going to be in my bed.  It’s a matter of time but we can marry now, as strangers who want each other painfully, or we can do it as friends next week.  Those are my concessions.”

She shivered as his mouth found a sensitive spot on her neck and nibbled with his teeth.  “That doesn’t really sound very fair,” she said, unaware that her voice was breathy and she actually tilted her head to the side to give him better access. 

“Life isn’t fair.  Anyone who tried
to tell you otherwise was
lying,” he said and moved to
her
ear lobe, giving it the same treatment.

Isla tried hard to get oxygen into her lungs but it was difficult when he was doing this to her ear and neck.  She shivered, her hands unconsciously moving to his shoulders and her body pressing against his.  She wasn’t aware of anything except the way his mouth made her feel so she was startled when he lifted his head and stepped back. 

“Let’s eat,” he said,
confusing her because she’d completely forgotten that he’d come to her rooms to have dinner with her
. 

He turned and, with a nod, the servants were allowed into her bedroom to set
out the food
in the courtyard where they could eat out in the moonlight. 

When they were once again alone, he sat down and poured her some wine.  “Tell me what you used to do during the days
when you lived in Tasain
.”

Isla sighed and leaned back
in the comfortable, white iron chair with soft cushions to make the metal more comfortable
, taking a long sip of her ice water to cool herself down.  That interlude with
Hussan
so close had heated her up and
fizzled
her brain. 

She needed to pull it together, to act just like he was doing and pretend that their intimacy of moments ago hadn’t affected her like it had. 
“What do you want to know?” she asked, putting her water down and picking up her wine, hoping it might relax her somewhat. 

He shrugged and asked her questions, which she answered vaguely, wondering why he wanted to know so much about her daily activities. Even though he’d seen her out on the streets of one of his villages, she still didn’t want to talk about her secret team too much.  They were hand selected for their skills and their discretion and she didn’t want them hurt because she’d given away their
identities
to a man she didn’t really trust.

The meal was adequate, but lacked any kind of creativity.  She ate the healthy but bland food, wondering why a man in his position didn’t have a better chef.