The Sheik's Furious Bride (Love By Accident) (5 page)

“Until we meet again,” he said and lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the tender flesh of her wrist and feeling the racing pulse.  Good, he was glad she was feeling the same thing he felt for her.  Their desire was already powerful.  That would start off their marriage well.

Isla pulled her hand away, grateful when he allowed it because he was large enough and strong enough to hold her here if he wanted.  “I doubt we’ll ever meet again, but I’m glad I was here for you tonight.”

She spun around, eager to get away from him and get some fresh air.  The other soldiers were standing beside the truck where the prisoners were bound, patiently waiting for this man who was obviously their captain or something
similar, but definitely the authority figure within the group
. 
They treated him with too much deference for him to be anything other than their leader.  The thought also occurred to her that the man was too strong, too arrogant for him to accept anything other than a leadership role.  There was just something about him that shouted authority.  Perhaps it was in his bearing or the way he spoke, but he was definitely the boss. 

Released from the soldiers, h
er team rushed through the quiet streets, all of them apparently eager to get away from this scene.  Nothing had gone right tonight and they needed to get back before anything else happened
and before anyone discovered her disappearance
. 
She financed this team, ensured they were well equipped and even paid them a salary so that they could work their magic and get positive results. 
She had far fewer new outfits because of this team, but she derived much more satisfaction from financing their efforts than she ever could by wearing a pretty new gown. 

They got back across the border and all of them relaxed.  “Wow!” Dinan said and collapsed against the metal wall of the van.  “
There were moments that
I didn’t think we were getting out of that one alive tonight.”

With
his initial
comments, the tension was broken and they all started laughing, the adrenaline flowing as they got farther away from the scene. 

One by one, Loan dropped them off and Isla was careful to go back through her secret passageway as silently as possible.  The passage was old and hidden, but that didn’t mean that one of the servants might not hear her.  She had to be extra careful at this time of the day when the servants were moving about, getting
things
ready
within the palace
. 
This early in the morning, servants
had time to look into suspicious activities
or noises coming from places that should be vacant – such as empty hallways or walls that shouldn’t exist
. 

She made it back
silently through the secret tunnel
,
then carefully
climbed up through her
trap door, pushed the shoes back into place
and
quickly
changed out of her black clothing, storing it away so it wasn’t included with her laundry. 
She’d wash that herself tonight in the shower, hanging it to dry in her closet where it
would be less obvious
.  She had several other similar black outfits, just in case she was called out tonight and this material hadn’t dried yet. 

That day, s
he helped the rest of the staff get the palace back to normal but even she had to admit that she was mildly depressed.  The excitement of the past few days had been intense, and now, the lack of that excitement was a
letdown
. 

Over the next week, there were two more skirmishes in which her team was called out.  She was also called upon to help a woman in a small village give birth to her first baby when the village doctor was called away on another emergency.  She enjoyed these interludes of excitement, but there was something missing now.
Isla refused to admit that she wanted to see that ma
n again.  And when she found her
self thinking about him, she told herself that it was only mild concern for his wound and she wanted to make sure he’d seen a doctor. 

She also had thi
s strange feeling, as if she were
being watched.  When she snuck out of the palace, there was just a tingle that she couldn’t identify, as if there was a spy following her.  She was extra careful, had learned long ago to pay attention to these kinds of feelings.  But as the week went by, the feeling intensified.  It changed subtly though.  The feeling of being watched was still there, but she felt almost as if she were waiting for something to happen. 

The feelings intensified and she kept looking over her shoulder, trying to see if someone inside the palace was doing
anything
malicious.  But there wasn’t anything she could see.  Her guards were starting to look at her strangely and when she went out at night, she was more jumpy that usual.  The dark shadows that they used for their protection and to hide from detection now looked
cruel
and scary, as if they were hiding something she should run from as fast and hard as possible. 

Chapter
3

Zarah rushed into the dining room, breathless from her run.  “They’re back!” she yelped, eager to see her
brother and new
sister-in-law
.  They’d just returned from their honeymoon and Zarah had been waiting anxiously to see if they were still as happy now as they had been on their wedding day.  Isla wasn’t sure what Zarah expected to see.  It wasn’t as if they would be fighting on their honeymoon.

Goodness!  She actually blushed because her mind pictured
her mysterious stranger and herself wrapped in each other’s arms, gloriously naked and enjoying the same act
ivities.  What was she thinking?
 

When Isla only sipped her coffee once again, Zarah stared at her curiously.  “Aren’t you excited to see them?”

Isla thought about that for a moment. 
She couldn’t put her finger on her wariness and it was really starting to bother her now.  The feeling had intensified in the past few days and she was becoming jumpy and paranoid. 
“Yes.  But don’t you feel something?”

Zarah came more fully into the
beige and maroon
room and sat down
on one of the brocade covered chairs
.  “What do you mean?”

Isla couldn’t put her finger on exactly the issue, but she felt a shiver run down her spine. 
She leaned forward and placed her coffee cup carefully in the china saucer, trying to figure out what was wrong. 
“I don’t know really. 
I just have this feeling that
something is going to happen.”

Zarah laughed
, waving her hand as if her sister were being ridiculous
.  “Are you turning psychic on me now?”

Isla knew she was sounding odd.  Even a bit mysterious, but she couldn’t help it.  She’d never felt this way before and it was making her
think she was seeing things now, shadows that couldn’t possibly be there and had no reason to hide from her
.  “I’m sorry.  I do sound weird.”
  She ran a nervous hand through her hair and tried to get a grip on her fears. 

Zarah jumped up and pulled her sister’s hand, trying to get her out the door to greet their older brother. 
“Come
on,
let’s go see Sidra
and Rashid
.  I’m sure she’s feeling a bit left out
and overwhelmed
right about now.”

Isla laughed and shook her head, but allowed
herself
to be pulled out of the chair so she could follow her sister. 
“I doubt it.  She’s probably just furious that she’s back with all of our prying eyes instead of hiding away in some secluded place enjoying her new husband.”

“Rashid isn’t someone to enjoy,” Zarah challenged.  “He’s more of
an endurance
.”

“Is that any way to talk about your favorite brother?” the man in question strolled in to the dining room.

Zarah instantly
spun around
and threw her arms around him, giving him a huge hug.  “Oh, you know I love you but you’re a royal pain in the neck sometimes too.”

Rashid returned his baby sister’s hug, but his eyes skimmed over to Isla who
had returned to the table.  She was sipping a cup of coffee and he could see the nervousness in her eyes.  Briefly, he wondered if she already knew what he was about to say, but couldn’t figure out how that might be possible. 

After releasing Zarah, h
e moved over to the side table and poured himself another cup
of coffee
, grateful for the brew since he’d been without for the past week and a half.  Sidra’s pregnancy has caused her to have a severe reaction to the scent of coffee so he’d banned it from their honeymoon.  He might even ban it from the palace if she fainted again.  There was no way he would put his new wife in danger. 
Or his unborn child.
 

With a sigh of satisfaction, he took a long sip of the caffeinated brew,
then
closed his eyes as he instantly felt the
beverage
seep into every cell of his body.  There was no doubt that he was addicted to the stuff but he’d give it all up if it would help Sidra. 

He glanced to his right, noticed Isla sitting at the table, staring at him as if she were bracing for something horrible to happen.  He set the coffee down and turned to
watch
her, knowing he couldn’t avoid facing the conversation he had to now have. 

“Would you excuse us, Zarah?” he asked his sister, still looking towards Isla.  “I need to talk to Isla alone.”

Zarah looked from her sister to her brother, then back again.  “Sure,” she said, already worried just from the anxious look on her
siblings
’
faces
. “But I might as well stay.  It isn’t as if I won’t know what’s going on a few moments after you tell Isla.”

Rashid turned to her and glared. “Go!” he commanded and was relieved when she obeyed.  It c
ontinued to astound him that he could command everyone but these two daring women.

When they were alone, he turned to Isla, looking down at her carefully.  “How have you been this past week?” he asked and sat down next to her, sipping his coffee and trying to appear casual. 

Isla didn’t like the look on her brother’s face at all.  “I’ve been fine.  But if you don’t tell me what you are trying to avoid telling me, then things are not going to be fine.”

He sighed and nodded his head, acknowledging that there was an important issue to discuss. 
“I have had a request while away and I’ve taken a great deal of time to consider it.”

“You’ve chosen my husband,” she said and her heart plummeted.  She carefully placed the coffee cup in the saucer, trying to not allow it to clatter with her shaking hands. 
This was the news she’d been dreading, but she also knew that it was inevitable.  She’d had no illusions that she could continue on as she had been.  Marriage was an absolute. 
“
W
ho is he?”

“He’s actually a man I approached about two years ago
, suggesting that you might be an asset to him
but
he
wasn’t ready for a wife at that point. 
He wasn’t sure if things were safe enough or how people would accept him. 
But since then, things in his country have changed.  They’re more settled and he can take care of a family now.”

Isla had a very bad feeling about this.  She was looking into her coffee cup, her mind working hard to figure out who had been selected.  What country had been in turmoil and
was
now doing better? 

The answer came to her quickly and she pushed back her chair
as she stood up abruptly
, uncaring that it fell back onto the floor as she glared at her brother,
shaking her head in denial.  “No
!  You can’t do that Rashid!  Not him!”

Rashid stood up as well, holding out his hands in an attempt to calm his sister down.  “Isla, I don’t know who you’re talking about, but the man I’ve selected is honorable.  He’ll treat you well and he’s proven that he can rule a country
wisely
and protect you.”

The word ‘honorable’ made her relax just slightly and she tilted her head
, curious, but still warily suspicious
. “So you’re not talking about
Hussan El Hamin
?”

Rashid blinked and nodded his head. “Well, yes actually…” but he couldn’t continue.

Isla jumped back and shook her head violently. 
“No!  Rashid, you promised
I could have a say in this matter
!  Anyone but that man!  He’s a monster!  He’s tortured his people and they’re all suffering under his rule.  You don’t know what it’s like in that country.  People are hungry and struggling!”