The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress (18 page)

“Then where the hell is she?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair.

He heard a discreet cough at the doorway and swung around. “What is it?” he demanded, his black eyes boring into one of his aides. “Tell me quickly and then get the hell out of here.”

“There"s news, Your Highness,” he started off warily. “Tell me now!” he growled, pulling the man into the breakfast room and reading the report quickly.

Whenhe was finished, he shoved the papers back at the man. “Get the plane fueled and ready to depart immediately.”

“Already done, Your Highness,” he said, bowing low. “All is ready and waiting for your arrival at the airport.”

Electra pulled the paper toward her once again but this time, it was simply to make out a grocery list. She felt better, but she had to take things one step at a time. Food was one of the most basic things in life and she"d been living off of coffee, cheese and crackers for the past two days.

When she finished with that trip, she would start calling people, making plans and seeing if there was a small town somewhere that needed a teacher. She"d need some place that needed help and wouldn"t ask too many questions. It would have to be small, she thought, thinking through the small villages she knew of. And it would have to be far away from London.

Grabbing the keys to the jeep off the hook, she opened the front door, only to inhale sharply when she saw the man standing on thefront stoop. “Dharr!” she gasped, backing into the room as he entered.

“Good morning, my dear,” he said, walking into the small beach house, his eyes sweeping through the place quickly before coming to rest on Electra. “I wish I could say otherwise,but you"re really not looking well.”

She was torn between two reactions. Part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms and cry out with joy, thinking for the past ten days that she"d never see his handsome face ever again had been devastating. The other part of her wanted to run and hide, terrified of what he was already making her feel. Her determination to fall out of love with this man was already disintegrating.

“How did you find me?” she asked, deciding to start with the most basic issue. H er hands were shaking so she hid them behind her back, holding onto the kitchen chair for support.

“My agents started tracking you when you crossed the border. We found out you"d come back to London seven days ago, but then you"d dropped out of sight again.”

“And?” she prompted.

“You went grocery shopping two days later. It took my agents that long to determine where you might be staying.”
“Oh,” she said, looking down at the floor. She hadn"t thought anyone had recognized her at the small store ten miles away. “Well, then. Where does that leave us?” she asked.

“Where do you want it to leave us?” he asked, walking into the small galley kitchen. He was looking around, his eyes latching onto her lists that were tacked upon the refrigerator.

“That"s nothing,” she said, quickly moving towards him in an effort to grab her lists out of his hand. But he simply raised it higher, out of her reach while he read through the lists. For the first time, his firm mouth eased into a slight smile. He glanced down at her. “Interesting list. I assume these are my character traits?” he asked, then went on to the next one. He actually chuckled as he read through her list of things she wanted in a man. When he was finished, he looked at her again. “Liar,” he simply said.

“What do you know?” she asked and walked away, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.

He quickly read through the final list. She"d made that one yesterday and wished she"d burned it instead of tacking it up with the others. It was the one that listed all the things she liked about him. All his finer qualities. At the bottom of the long list, she"d written, “Great lover”.

He laughed at that one. “I"m surprised „great lover" is at the bottom of the list. I would have thought it would rank higher.”

“That just goes to show how much you know me, Dharr. I don"t consider sexual compatibility one of the finer features of a man.”

He put the lists down on the table and walked toward her once again. “Obviously. There are abouttwenty other things on the list that you love about me.”

“Like,” she clarified defiantly.

“The list says „love about Dharr",” he challenged.

“It"s a mistake,” she countered, her chin inching up defiantly.

“But we"re not,” he responded.

Her eyes clouded over and she shook her head. “Yes. We are.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because of all the things on the first list.” “That"s just window dressing and you know it. Want to know yourfaults?” he suggested. “You"re too stubborn for your own good, you"re too independent for my good and you aren"t very honest with yourself. If you were, you"d admit that you"re in love with me.”

She turned away from him, not wanting him to see her face which would surely reveal that he was right on target. “What"s the point?”

“Perhaps because I love you and not having you by my side or at least knowing where you are has driven me insane this past week?”

She swung around to look at his eyes and her mouth fell open with his admission. It was so unlike him to admit a vulnerability. “Really?” she whispered, a small glimmer of hope sparked in her heart.

He nodded for emphasis, his dark eyes holding her gaze, not letting her look away from him. “Really. Add to that the idea of you being in another man"s arms makes me a little murderous so don"t ever cheat on me.”

“Never,” she said and didn"t resist when he pulled her into his arms.

“And you"re going to marry me in one week and you"ll say you love me every day until and after that time.”

“Will you also say that to me?” she asked, hurt and pain of the previous ten days coming to the forefront.

“Absolutely.” He kissed her gently before saying, “And as for number three on the „Don"t Like About Dharr" list, you"ll have plenty of freedom. I won"t be taking you out like some sort of trophy wife.” He chuckled and hugged her close. “In fact, the whole world is eager to know what kinds of reforms you"d like to start making in my country. So you have a great deal of responsibility. You"ll have to make sure to save some time for me once in a while,” he teased when she snuggled up against his massive chest.

“Oh, Dharr. Do you really mean all of this?” she asked, thinking it was all too much of a fantasy.

“All of it. Especially the part about me loving you.”

“Oh, Dharr! I love you too!”

“Please don"t ever leave me,” he whispered against her hair. “I don"t think I can take that kind of fear again.”

“You were scared?” she asked, pulling back slightly. “Terrified. I thought I"d lost you. And I was willing to tear up the world in order to find you.” He looked around the tiny beach house and smiled. “But I guess I should have considered a place like this instead of a luxurious hotel somewhere. You"ve always kept me on my toes, haven"t you?”

Electralaughed and stood up on her toes to kiss him. “No more than you do for me,” she whispered.