The Sheik's Furious Bride (Love By Accident) (8 page)

This city wasn’t like that.  It was actually quite lovely despite the damage.  There were trees growing in some areas and a fountain in the middle of the town.  She only had a brief glimpse of that as they flew overhead but she saw people in markets and rushing around. 
As the helicopter flew lower in anticipation of landing inside the palace compound, she could see the faces more clearly.  They were still far away, but Isla had the distinct impression that these people were happy. 
Relaxed even.
 

She glanced over at the man who was also looking out the window and she was startled by the look of
intense
pride on his face.  She tried
hard
to pull her eyes away
, not wanting to look at him and notice how attractive he was
, but it was such an astounding expression, it struck something deep inside of her, sending her stomach quivering in
an odd and not so comfortable
fashion. 

Unfortunately, h
e chose that moment to pull his eyes away from the city below and look at her instead.  She was startled by the heat, the
force
of his gaze and she blushed once again.  And those feelings in her stomach increased, making her feel
peculiar
and
awkward
. 

The helicopter landed gently on the ground and several men rushed up to the machine, some with rifles ready, others holding papers close to their bodies so they wouldn’t fly away with the wind of the rotors. 

“We’re here,”
Hussan
said needlessly and touched Isla’s arm to help her out of the
seat
.  His hand briefly touched her waist when he unlatched her seat belt and he felt the shiver run through her. 
Hussan felt the
tremor
and looked into her eyes, telling her that he’d felt her reaction
and wasn’t going to ignore it
. 
She turned her head away and he smiled slightly, not at all fooled by her attempt at being demure. 
He was glad she was
now
feeling something besides anger towards him because being near her like this, smelling her soft, pretty scent, was driving him crazy with the need to get her all to himself and show her just how much he wanted to touch her.  Everywhere!

Isla held her breath as his hands unstrapped her seat belt.  She could have done that just as easily herself, but the man seemed determined to touch her.  Was he doing it just to irritate her?  Or was he trying to embarrass her by showing that he had some sort of control o
ver her body and how it reacted?
 

Isla looked around, startled by how efficient everyone looked.  The guards were standing at attention but still surveying the area surrounding the helicopter landing pad.  The others were also very industrious and she didn’t understand why this man c
ould attract so much attention and such deference.  Why was the whole crowd vying for his attention?  She even noticed some of the soldiers stand taller as this man approached. 

The tall man beside her helped her out of the helicopter and, even as Isla tried to avoid it, he was able to touch her in small ways that bothered her.  She wanted to step out of his reach, but he held her arm,
then
moved his hand
to the small of her back as he led her through the guards. 

As they approached the building, t
he helicopter rotors had slowed so the wind and noise had died down significantly.  She heard the other men rushing towards him, all of them vying for his attention first, asking him questions, waiting for his guidance.  He’d only been gone for the morning, hadn’t he?  Isla didn’t understand why this man could be so important.

And then it hit her.  The questions these men were asking, the way they treated him so deferentially, the guards, the helicopter….he wasn’t some ruler’s minion.  He was the ruler! 

She stumbled as the reality of her situation hit her and the tall man beside her stopped and caught her, looking at her without any expression since he was still answering questions fired at him from the left and right, never missing a beat and making decisions for everything that was presented to him. 

She was looking up at him as she corrected her step,
then
nervously
turned away so he couldn’t see the confusion in her eyes
. 
She’d thought he was just some sort of
high level
deputy coming to retrieve her for his leader’s wedding but the man who had carried her out of her home like a sack of potatoes, who had watched her fight back tears throughout the helicopter ride and sat closely next to her while they drove, he was to be her husband! 

She was so embarrassed, humiliated, to have said those things
earlier
in her future husband’s presence. 
Thinking back, she realized that h
er brother had tried to warn her! He’d told her to stop, to cease because he knew that El
Hamin
was right behind her, watching her theatrics and hearing her call him a monster and a torturer. 

What was she going to do?  How could she smooth this over?  Was he furious?  He should be.  As
S
heik of Silaria, he had the power to lock her away and do anything he wanted to her.  He might only be her fiancé
at the moment
, but in their culture, that was almost the same as her husband.  He had rights n
o
man other than her brother e
ver had and he could hurt her, kill her even, if he wanted.  And no one would ever know. 

They were walking down
a set of
stairs and through hallways that were pock marked with bullet holes, some even had giant holes in them and she suspected that was damage from a bomb or a grenade during the
recent, brutal
civil war
Silaria had endured
. 

By the time he stopped walking, she was
shaking so hard she thought she might
fall on her face because her knees
wouldn’t
hold her up any longer. 
They walked into a room, everyone following and Hussan took it all in stride, his efficiency at answering all of their questions and giving guidance lost on Isla because she was just too nervous about what he might do to her in the very near future. 

“Enough!”
Hussan
called out and with one look, everyone cleared out of the room.

Isla looked around, realized they were in a large office that definitely had seen better days.  The
enormous
desk was filled with
files, neatly stacked along the perimeter
and another rough table behind
the desk was
also filled with files and rolls of papers which looked like architectural plans. 

The chairs in the office had once been gorgeous leather
seats
but someone had taken a knife to each of them and they were now taped
with rough duct tape
so one could sit on them
without the springs or stuffing coming out
. 
Amazingly,
they looked more comfortable than the hard, wooden chair that was behind the desk.  Even the lights overhead were broken with bare bulbs showing in some of them and an old, metal desk lamp as the main source of light.  The curtains were
gone,
the book shelves on one end of the room filled with yet more files and rolls.  She wasn’t sure what room this was, but it was barren and harsh. 

“You’re El
Hamin
,” she said as soon as they were alone
, her voice cracking with her nervousness
. 

“How did you figure that out?” he asked as he leaned against the desk and crossed his arms over that massive chest, the muscles in his arms actually showing through the fabric of his suit. 

“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped, and knew she should use a more deferential tone but something about this man just irritated her. 

“I never thought that you were.”

“So why did you try and fool me?”

H
e
laughed softly and stood up
, moving casually towards her while his eyes watched her features carefully.  Hussan was trying to gauge her mood, but since he didn’t know her well enough, he
was
n
’
t
sure what her reaction to everything was
at
the moment
.  “How did I try and fool you?  And when?”

Isla gritted her teeth. 
“That night in the village.
  You pretended to be just a guard or police officer.”

“I didn’t pretend to be anything.  I was on a night raid.  We were trying to capture the weapons dealers
. 
The same group of felons
that your team
was
trying to work around.
  It was a successful night, mostly
because of your group, by
the way.  Thank you for your tender ministrations as well.”  He was standing over her now, not giving her any room to breathe. 

“If I’d known who you were, I wouldn’t have helped.”

He watched her for a moment,
then
shook his head. “I don’t think that’s true.”

She bristled at his confident tone and tried to step back, but a piece of solid furniture was blocking her, keeping her in place. 
“Why not?
  You don’t think I’m capable of the same kind of cruelty that you use on your subjects?”

He raised an eyebrow at her comment, but shook his head. “I think you’re a very soft hearted woman who would help anyone that needed your assistance, regardless of their
political or criminal
affiliation.”

She squirmed at his
response
, wishing that she could claim that she chose sides
just to contradict him
.  But the truth was
,
her whole team was selected because of their lack of political
associations
.  She
had
create
d
a team that helped anyone in need as best they could. 
There was t
oo much violence in the world and she wanted to make a difference. 

Her chin jutted out in defiance of his assumptions. 
“I’m not soft hearted.”

He smiled slightly. 
“Just soft, right?”

She didn’t like that description either.  “I’m definitely not soft!”

He reached out and touched her che
ek, his finger running down the unblemished
skin gently.  “You feel very soft to me.”

She tried to pull away, but for some reason, her body wasn’t obeying her mind’s commands to retreat.  She stood there, transfixed by this touch and by his eyes that were looking down at her, telling her something she didn’t fully understand. 

“I’m tough,” she contradicted. 

He smiled slightly.  “Let’s find out how tough you really are,” he said and his
head
bent, slowly coming towards her with a strange look in his eyes. 

She gasped and reached up, putting a hand to the middle of his chest to stop his forward momentum. 
“What are you going to do?”

He leaned down even more, her hand not stopping him in any way, but he was amused by her attempt. 
“I’m going to kiss you, Isla.”

“I’d rather you not do that,” she said and pulled back. 

Hussan
shook his head and put his hands on her waist, pulling her forward but keeping some distance from her body.  “It’s going to happen.  Enjoy it.”

She shook her head
frantically, her fear of this man increasing exponentially.  He didn’t obey the rules, he was too large, and there was something about his closeness that was making her stomach do that quivery thing that she didn’t like
.  “I won’t!  I won’t enjoy it at all.”

He smiled again and shrugged one shoulder.  “I guess I’ll just have to risk your wrath again, won’t I?”

Isla was going to say something else, but he covered her mouth with his
, stopping her next protest.  He was gentle at first, teasing and tempting her to participate.  Her gasp of surprise gave him exactly the entrance he needed and he took full advantage.  His tongue slipped inside her mouth, taunting her to participate with the kiss, to imitate him when he touched her. 

Isla stood in this man’s arms,
her whole body shaking from her reaction to
his kiss, the way he was kissing her.  It made her feel….decadent!  She didn’t like that feeling but there was nothing she could do.  When his tongue touched hers, she tried to pull back but his hand came up to the back of her head to hold her still.  The next time he invaded, she tried to push his tongue out with hers and the electricity that shot through her body when he did it again and again, their mouths battling, was the most electrifying, terrifying and exhilarating moment of her whole life.