The Sheik's Furious Bride (Love By Accident) (18 page)

“I really hurt your feelings tonig
h
t?  You’re not just trying to be stubborn to avoid making love with me?”

If Isla hadn’t been watching closely, she might have missed the flash of vulnerability that sparked in his eyes, only to be quickly smothered by that ever present arrogance he wore like a cloak of armor.
  Since she had seen it and she knew that he was trying a little, she gave him something as well.  She looked down at her hands which were still on his chest, her palms flat against the muscles hidden underneath the white cotton fabric of his tailored dress shirt.  “I wore the blue dress in order to impress you and get your attention,” she whispered. 

Hussan was stunned by that revelation.  It wasn’t just what she’d admitted
because he’d already figured that out
, but that she’d openly given him that small piece of information that showed a part of her that she’d been trying to avoid
revealing
to him since he’d tossed her over his shoulder yesterday morning.  He took a long, slow, deep breath and rubbed his hands against her back.  “I’m sorry I ignored you at dinner,” he finally replied.  “You looked extremely lovely and all I wanted to do was order everyone out and pull you into my arms.”

Isla felt that silly warm glow start to form inside of her and she smiled, still looking at his chest, but now her hands were moving, her fingers exploring just a little bit.  “That sounds nice.”

“Am I forgiven for being an ass?” he asked, his hands moving against her back and waist, mimicking her movements. 

She thought about that,
then
shook her head.  “I don’t think so.  You thought I’d left the palace.  You don’t trust me.”

He laughed and let his hand slip underneath her blouse.  “I know that you’re actively trying to find a way to sneak out of here.  What you need to understand is
,
I will be in your bed every night going forward.  So if your
former
team needs you, they’re going to be disappointed because there is absolutely no way that I’m letting you outside of the palace security measures so that you can go out in the black of night and assist my people.” 

“But…” she started to say but he interrupted her.

“Forget it, Isla,” he countered emphatically.  “It simply isn’t going to happen.  You’re going to be my wife and the mother of my children.  I can’t risk having you fall into the hands of my enemies.”

A part of her wondered if she might ever become something more to him than a security
challenge
, but his hands moved up her waist and cupped her breasts at that moment and rational thoughts were no longer allowed.  She didn’t even try to pull back after that, needing him just as badly as he seemed to need her. 

Chapter
6

Isla stretched onto her side and looked around.  She knew that Hussan had spent the night with her because her aching muscles reminded her of the many times he’d woken her throughout the dark hours to make love to her again.  The sun was high over the horizon already because he’d exhausted her to the point that she couldn’t wake up at her normal early time.  The man was certainly relentless, she thought as she pushed her hair out of her eyes and rolled over onto her back. 

The stickiness between her legs also reminded her of all that they’d done last night and something struck her suddenly.  If there was stickiness….that meant…..

She sat up straight in the bed and groaned out loud.  Hussan hadn’t used any kind of birth control! 

Goodness!  How had she been so careless?

Well, that wasn’t hard to understand.  The man had kidnapped her, literally picked her up and carried her out of her home and dumped her in his.  Making love to him the past two nights had been too new for her to think about anything, much less be cognizant of the long term implications of their actions. 

She’d always been so irritated when she’d heard about teenage girls g
etting pregnant because they’d
gotten
‘
caught up in the moment’ but she was now just as guilty as they were.
  As soon as Hussan had touched her, her body had lit up in flames of excitement and sexual need, never
thinking of
the problem of contraception. 

She bit her lower lip and sighed heavily, wondering why Hussan, who was obviously much more experienced at this business than she was, hadn’t he thought of this?  Or had he intentionally omitted contraceptio
n? 

Was he trying to get her pregnant?  Was this a master plan for him to ensure succession of power? 

Sadly, she understood that producing the next ruler was her primary function.  She crawled out of the silken sheets and walked towards the shower with a heavy heart.  She knew that, deep in her heart, she’d been hoping that Hussan thought more of her than just being a convenient baby machine.  The way he touched her, the intensity of his lovemaking had given her hope that he wanted her as a person and it wasn’t just about her fertility.

She supposed she had been deluding herself about that though.  She turned on the shower, her hand reaching out to let the water run over her fingers from the rocks above and tried to reconcile herself t
o the role for which she’d been raised
.  She was a political asset and a
female who could procreate.  She’d known that all her life.  It wasn’t such a horrible existence and she didn’t have the overwhelming responsibility to lead a nation like Hussan or her brother had to bear.  Rashid didn’t have any choice in his future either.  He’d been raised to lead and she had no idea if he’d ever wanted something else for himself but had repressed that side of him because of his responsibilities to Tasain. 

Hussan hadn’t been raised from birth to lead, but he’d taken up the role as a young adult because he believed in the beauty and strength of Silaria.  His patriotism and integrity wouldn’t allow his lovely country to be raped by his uncle so he’d done what he had to do. 

Was his marriage to her his next obligation?  Did he simply need Rashid’s support to maintain the border security?  Or were there other political issues that were resolved by
Hussan’s
marriage connection
to Rashid
who was a powerful influence in the region?  Between the two of them, they would be a major force within the oil producing nations.  It helped that they were like minded on many political and economic issues.  Funny, but she
wouldn’t
have been able to say
that
three days ago.  She’d listened to Hussan during yesterday’s dinner and he’d been very firm on several positions that even she agreed with. 

She shampooed her hair and thoroughly washed her tired, sore body.  When she was done, she dried off and went to her closet, not really caring about what she was to wear today.  She was hungry, but the idea of another bland breakfast wasn’t tempting enough to get her into the dining room. 

She pulled a soft
blue
sundress from the hanger angrily.  “Food is definitely one thing I can improve upon in this place,” she thought with determination. 

She straightened her shoulders and shook off her depression.  There was no need for her to just meekly accept her baby making status.  She could still do something important.  And making the food more
palatable
was one area she was determined to change.  It didn’t have a high priority because the food was at least nutritious.  But there was a morale issue that could be helped if the palace food was improved. 

She had no idea how to do it, and she knew that Hussan wouldn’t give her any additional funds to help
because
she
suspected that he would put palace food on the back burner.  But she wasn’t going to eat tasteless chicken and rubbery eggs any longer. 

“Marketplace!” she thought as she dried her hair and pinned it back.  She could hit the marketplace and ask for advice on the spices they sold.  She could also consult with the chef, find out what he or she was planning for the evening meal and get some alternatives that would add flavor and a bit more excitement to the meal. 

Feeling better about her plan for the day, she stepped out into the hallway and, sure enough, two body guards were standing right outside, ready to follow her wherever she went.

She remembered trying to get Hussan to talk to her yesterday about her agenda but he’d blown her off for things he considered more important.  Well, she wasn’t going to take that any more so she
decided  that
, if he didn’t have time to go over her plans, she simply wouldn’t discuss her plans with him. 

She thought that was fair since he didn’t discuss his plans with her.  In truth, he didn’t really discuss anything with her.  He simply came to her, made love to her and then departed when he was finished. 

She knew she should discuss her plans with her body guards.  After all, it wasn’t their fault that she was furious with her soon to be husband.  Unfortunately, with her current mood, she considered her body guards to be minions of Hussan and she wanted to hurt him as much as she was hurting. 
Petty attitude?
 
Absolutely.
  Did it make her feel better? 
More in control of her destiny?
 
Absolutely.

Her heels clicked along the marble floor of the palace hallway and she easily found the palace kitchen.  There was absolute chaos inside the steel and concrete area with people rushing all over the place, large pans being washed in a massive sink and other pots being brought
to the cooking area.  Several people covered in white aprons were chopping vegetables, several others were doing something with a large slab of meat but Isla wasn’t sure what that task might be. 

One man stood in the center of everything, looking on with concern and anxiety.  Isla assumed that he was the head chef, but thought to approach him carefully in case she offended someone.  There was nothing worse than an angry chef when one sat down to dinner at night. 

She smiled carefully at the man as she approached.  “Excuse me,” she called out and was startled when almost everyone in the entire kitchen area stopped what they were doing, froze and started looking at her.  She looked around, wondering why they’d stopped so suddenly but then turned back to the man she’d approached to find him on his knees, prostrate on the floor by her feet.

“Goodness!  Please don’t do that!” she gasped and reached down to lift the man up, trying to reassure him with a smile.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said, thinking that this man had obviously been abused by Hussan’s predecessor.  “I just wanted to discuss the dinner menu for tonight,” she said softly. 

Turning to the others, she smiled brightly as she said, “Please carry on with whatever you were doing and I apologize for the interruption.”
  The workers slowly went back to work, but she caught several of them glancing at her nervously as the
y
continued their tasks. 

“How can I serve you, Your Highness?” the strange man said as he stood in front of her, his hands clasped nervously in front of him as he continued to bow. 

“Please, I don’t want to harm you,” she said with a soft voice, trying very hard to reassure the man.  He seemed terrified and she didn’t want that on her conscience. 
“Honestly, this is just a friendly visit.”

The man seemed to relax, but his gaze moved from her to
the body guards behind her.  In
response, she turned to the two men and smiled up at them.  “Would you mind leaving us for a moment?” she asked politely. 

The men both shook their heads and Isla sighed.  “Orders from Hussan?” she asked and gritted her teeth when they nodded, confirming that Hussan had ordered them to stick to her like glue.  What did he think she was going to do?  Escape? 

Okay, well, that wasn’t a bad assumption since she’d done that several times while living in
Tasain and Hussan knew it.  Plus
she’d disappeared last night and she had no idea how long Hussan had been looking for her.  Perhaps his suspicions about her were not too crazy. 

With resignation, she turned back to the chef and smiled gently.  “Would you mind if we went over to that table there and discussed tonight’s menu?  I don’t want to be a problem, but perhaps there is something I can contribute?”

The man glanced once more to the guards,
then
nodded.  His nervousness didn’t disappear completely, but he at least was able to go over the menus he was preparing for the evening meal.  Apparently, this kitchen prepared meals for not only herself and Hussan, but also for the entire security staff and all the palace employees as well.  There was a cafeteria style dining area where the employees and guards could get free food during the
day,
and
a smaller number of options
at night for any of the guards still on duty. 

She discussed the menus for the next several nights,
going over
the ingredients and Isla instantly knew the issue.  The man didn’t know how to use spices for the meals.  He simply grilled or steamed the ingredients at Hussan’s orders. 

“Okay, I think I have what I need,” she said as she stood up.  “I’ll be back with some suggestions as soon as I can.”   She patted the man on the shoulder to reassure him,
then
walked out of the kitchen, smiling and waving to various other workers as she passed.  Some responded shyly, but others just bowed their heads quickly, wanting to avoid catching her gaze.