Beauty and the Sheikh(30)

His hand slid beneath her loose shirt to cup her breast and she cried out with pleasure. He never lifted his mouth from hers while his hands traveled her body.

The linen trousers were no barrier to him, and his seeking fingers explored the ache between her thighs. Holly’s head fell back against the mass of soft pillows; her hips rose and fell as he brought her quickly to the edge.

Outside the tent, the storm had reached them. The walls shook, the sand assaulted, the wind howled, but they were all secondary to the sensations taking over her heart and body. And then he pushed her over the edge, stroking her into abandon until she sobbed with pleasure and gripped the fabric of his robe.

With her mind quieted and her body still trembling, Holly found herself in Rafiq’s arms. His lips pressed against her forehead as his hand stroked down her back.

“I want you,” he murmured thickly. “But I have no protection.”

Though her body was sated, there was still an ache, only this time it was in her heart. He hadn’t taken her completely because he didn’t want to risk getting her pregnant.

Would it really be so awful? She wanted to ask the question, but why bother when she already knew the answer?

Her fear of the storm diminished as a trickle of sadness made its way into her heart.

“You’ve gone quiet, habiba.”

“I’m trying not to think about the storm,” she lied. “And I’m a little tired.”

“Rest then.” He adjusted her in the cradle of his arms and brushed another kiss over her forehead. “We will return home soon.”

Home. Funny how she’d come to think of it as such. Her thoughts slid to Portland and her small apartment there. She didn’t miss it. Not really. Perhaps she missed her friends, but she didn’t miss the cold or gray skies. And Portland lacked the one thing she would miss most. Rafiq.

And he was the one man she could never have.



The next few days, Rafiq kept his distance from Holly. He returned late at night to the palace and tried not to wake her. But today, with the dinner, he knew he must stop avoiding her.

Since the day of the sandstorm, he hadn’t been able to shake the sense of unease riding him. Hadn’t been able to dismiss how much he’d allowed his feelings for her to addle his brain.

What had he been thinking, the morning he’d taken her out riding? Were he thinking straight, he’d have realized the weather conditions were perfect for such a storm.

But he hadn’t bothered to seek them out ahead of time. Had only wanted to spend time with her alone, outside the palace, and anticipated her excitement at riding a camel for the first time.

And he’d placed them directly in harm’s way. Not only with the storm, but by sending his guards back to the palace and going on without them.

Never, since the assassination attempt, had he been so alone and exposed. It was unheard of for him, the Sheikh of Raljahar, to enter an isolated desert tent without it being cleared by a guard first.

Not that Rafiq doubted he could’ve defended himself in an attack. His bigger fear was having Holly with him—her safety had become his priority. Which made him entirely too close to the man his father had been. A chill raced down his spine.

Picking up his phone, Rafiq dialed the palace to inform them he would be returning earlier and requested to speak with Holly.

“Miss Winchester is not within the palace, Your Majesty,” he was told. “She is out at the market this afternoon.”

At the market? Rafiq disconnected the call and dialed the cell he’d given her. When she didn’t answer, a knot formed in his gut. He called out instructions for the driver to take him to the market instead.

They pulled up out front of the crowded marketplace a moment later. His personal bodyguard slid from the front of the limo and followed Rafiq through the market.

“Who is guarding Miss Winchester?” Rafiq asked him tersely. “Can you find him?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Rafiq continued to search the market as the guard placed a call. He listened to the one-sided conversation and learned his guard was being given Holly’s location.

“This way,” the guard said a moment later, urging Rafiq through the crowds and toward a smaller building.

Rafiq’s bodyguard insisted on traveling first through the narrow hall of the building, and a deep sense of unease gathered in Rafiq’s gut.

This was not the market—there were no shops back here. What was Holly’s purpose, being in such a place?

They stopped outside a closed door, where Rafiq noted Holly’s guard standing.

“Where is she?” Rafiq demanded, his gaze sliding to the closed door.

“Your Majesty, she is inside. But if you would wait a moment, I can retrieve her.”

Retrieve her? What was it that Holly’s guard did not want Rafiq to see? Was she meeting someone? Images of her and another man danced in his mind. His vision went red.

“Open this door now.” His voice resonated through the narrowed hallways and had the two guards cringing.

Before anyone could move to obey him though, the door swung open and Holly appeared in the entryway. Her hair was disheveled and falling free around her shoulders, her expression stricken. “Rafiq? What on earth are you doing here?”

What was he doing here? She dared ask? Rafiq’s jaw clenched as he glanced beyond her into what appeared to be someone’s house.

He struggled to control his temper as the tic in his jaw quickened, but the images of her and another man didn’t stop. He saw the unease in her eyes as she twisted her fingers and could no longer deny the truth.

Later, he would deal with her, but for now, someone else would pay. He turned on the guard he’d assigned to her.

“How often did you bring her here?” he accused, thrusting the man against the stone wall. “Did you take her to meet her lover? You would dare to go against your Sheikh this way!”

The guard’s eyes widened. “Your Majesty, please.”

“Stop!” Holly’s fingers curled around Rafiq’s arms as she struggled to pull him off her guard. “Rafiq, you must stop. It’s not how it seems.”

He growled low in his throat and brushed her free as if she were an annoying bug. “What is not, habiba?” he ground out. “That he did not protect you while you met another man daily? What a fool I am to not suspect your daily trips to the market were to—”

“I wasn’t meeting a lover,” she cried. “I was studying Arabic.”

Rafiq nearly laughed at her ridiculous excuse but then froze. It sank in then that every word they’d exchanged since she ran into the hallway had been in his language. Not perfect, but close enough that it hadn’t registered.

He released the guard and turned to face Holly once more. Her eyes were wide and her lips trembled with fury.

A movement in the doorway revealed a woman and her child, staring at him with obvious trepidation.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” the guard behind him apologized. “Miss Winchester wanted to surprise you and begged me not to say anything. I assumed since I ensured her safety there was no harm. I am sorry if I made the wrong choice.”

Rafiq lifted his hand to silence him, not turning his focus from Holly. “Enough,” he muttered distractedly. “Please, if you could have the limo brought around to the front of the building. We will return to the palace at once.”

He gave quick instructions to his guard, and the man strode forward and handed the woman in the doorway a handful of currency.

The ride back to the palace was strained at best. Holly glowered at him, and he found himself shifting in his seat under her furious stare.

“You still don’t trust me.”

Finally she’d spoken, but he flinched inwardly at her toneless words.

“I told you once I don’t trust easily. Assuming the worst is habit.”

Frustration flickered in her eyes. “Do you think that excuses it?”

“No, perhaps not.” He paused, considering his words. “I had no idea you wanted to learn Arabic. If you had but asked I could have hired you the best tutor in Raljahar.”

“I didn’t want you to know, Rafiq. That was the whole idea. I wanted to be able to interact with your guests tonight in their own language.” The anger seemed to leave her in a rush. Her shoulders crumpled as she turned her attention out the window. “It was to be a surprise for you. A silly one, I suppose.”

“Not silly at all.” Actually, probably one of the most touching things someone had ever done for him, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. “Though possibly dangerous. There will, of course, be repercussions for your bodyguard.”

Holly stiffened and turned to look at him again. “Rafiq, he didn’t tell you because I instructed him not to.”

He gave a soft laugh of genuine amusement. “I am the Sheikh, habiba. All things are to be reported to me.”