The Sheik's Secret Bride

The War, Love, & Harmony Series: Book 3

The Sheik’s Secret Bride

By Elizabeth Lennox

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Sheik Zahir del Hassar Alzar watched with almost savage anticipation as the last of the documents were signed.  When the pen was finally dropped onto the desk, there was an almost tangible sigh of relief.  Four rulers, all their aides and staff members as well as the personal guards standing sentry, understood the significance of that last signature. 

There was a moment when every person stood silent, each person within that room looking around as the implication was absorbed. 

Zahir nodded to his body guard who understood the signal.  “It is done,” he said quietly but with a satisfaction that was so intense, he felt like pounding something.  Instead, he stood still, looking at the other three men at the table.  They were all leaders of their respective countries now, all just as tall as he was and none were afraid to fight for their people.  But Zahir could also sense that they understood that this war had to end. 

“It is agreed.  Marriage and heirs,” Zahir said despite the fact that everyone had just signed their name, agreeing to the terms. 

The other three men nodded. 

Zahir turned and lifted one of the four celebratory glasses of thirty-year-old Isle of Jura scotch, waiting for the other three men to do the same.  Their battle-scarred hands lifted their glasses into the air.  “To peace,” he said.  Simple and yet profound. 

“To peace,” the other three agreed, just as somberly before clinking glasses. 

Zahir looked at each of the men as they sipped their drinks.  He’d grown to respect each of these men over the past few months.  They’d all agreed to negotiate the peace treaty, just the four of them.  It had been an unprecedented act for each be at the negotiation table himself instead of sending representatives.  But the secret fort, built on the point where all four of their countries met, had been the perfect place to end this violent, ten year war.  It had also been the place where the animosity had started with the dissolution of marriage contracts had started much of the animosity so their efforts, culminating in the treaty today, were significant. 

“I’ve arranged a celebratory dinner for tonight,” Zahir said. 

Sheik Tarek bin Faisal of Tularia nodded his head.  “We are celebrating marriage?” he teased.

Two of the other men laughed, agreeing with him but Zahir only smiled.  “Ah, gentlemen.  I hope that each of you find a woman like my Callie,” he told them all, startling the three men who were dreading the loss of their freedom but accepting that it was their duty and responsibility.  Not just for the treaty but for their countries as well.  They were all in their thirties, past time for them to marry and produce an heir so the line of succession would not be in question. 

“I just hope to get the task over with quickly,” Sheik Garon Al Sharhi of Lurasa stated with grim acceptance. 

“To a wife and an heir,” Sheik Dassar bin Sarook of Altair replied with equal cheerless acquiescence.  “May they all be beautiful and gracious.”

Tarek chuckled.  “When word of this gets out, all the pretty little gold-diggers of the world are going to be on our doorsteps,” he forecasted with revulsion.  “How about if we all agree to keep our matrimonial plans private until we’ve selected our appropriate bride?”  He turned to Zahir.  “Three of us aren’t as lucky to have married years ago.  You’re fortunate you don’t have to start the search now.”

Zahir’s lips compressed.  “We all have our challenges,” he told the three of them.  No other words needed to be spoken.  These men knew what had happened to his wife five years ago.  None had approved either, which was one of the reasons why Zahir respected these men so intensely.  They all believed in keeping hostilities between combatants.  They had all fought hard, but with honor. And all of them had approached the peace negotiations with determination, none believing that the war was good for any of their countries. 

“To peace,” Zahir said again and all four men downed the thirty year old scotch with appreciation. 

As the celebration dinner commenced with enormous amounts of food, excellent wine and dancers for entertainment, Zahir sat back and watched with a fierce sense of pride that the peace treaty was signed as well as an almost savage impatience to get to his woman, to bring her back to his home.

And to meet his son! 

“Hello Callie.”

Callie heard the deep voice but her arms, still loaded down with the items of daily life, didn’t move.  Not a muscle in her body moved. 

At first her heart soared, excitement ripped through her mind and body.  He was here!  He came back for her!  She almost turned to throw herself into his strong arms, but then the painful memories, the horror and fear of those terrible days in his country….

There was a pause, a pregnant moment when nothing in the world moved.  Possibly even the earth stopped rotating because her excitement swiftly changed to paralyzing fear. 

That voice.  It was impossible!  He couldn’t be here, she told herself even as her arms started shaking from the effort of holding everything.  It simply wasn’t possible that he was here.  Not this man, not now.  Things had been going so well!  This man would…well, things would change! 

The mail, her purse, computer bag and groceries that had been precariously balanced in her arms suddenly tumbled to the floor as the world mercilessly started moving again.  “No!” she whispered with both anguish and that silly, irrational hope that she’d tried very hard to obliterate over the past five years. 

As she slowly straightened up, she whispered, “Please, please, please, please,” as if her begging could diminish the possibility of the one man with that incredible voice standing in her apartment at this moment. 

Life had been going so beautifully lately, she simply would not allow for the possibility that he was standing here.  The last time he’d come into her life, her world had gone out of control.  She’d fallen madly in love with that man and followed him from the United States to his beautiful country.  For a few weeks, they’d been deliriously happy and she couldn’t believe her luck in finding a man as tall, strong and handsome, wondering what he could possibly see in her.  But on a normal trip through the exciting Saturday market where she’d started to learn about his country and the people, she’d been kidnapped, tossed into a dark hole for three days and, at the end of it all, she’d come back to the relative safety of the United States.  As if being kidnapped and traumatized, then ripped from the arms of the man she loved more than life itself wasn’t bad enough, she’d discovered that she was also alone, homeless and…pregnant. 

She’d turned her life around.  She now had a job she loved, a warm, comfortable place to come home to every night and friends, not to mention her adorable little boy who gave her so much happiness.  Life was good.  And no matter how amazing the sex had been with this man, no matter how shockingly wonderful he had made her feel or how alive and vibrant her life had become for those short weeks she’d been in his company, she would never go back to that world.  She could never let this man back into her life.  She wouldn’t do that to her son or to herself. 

When she was once again able to breathe, she looked up, almost afraid – maybe afraid that he was here or perhaps that he wasn’t.  Her mind might be adamant that this man was not coming back into her life, but her body was remembering what it was like to be touched by this man.  To be held in his arms.  Good grief, just listening to him had been a turn on because of his deep voice that felt like naughty thoughts sliding over her skin whenever he spoke.  He could be droning on about oil prices or treaties and her whole body would start tingling.  It had been embarrassing the last time they’d been together because he could so easily break down her resistance. 

Resistance.  That was a laugh, she thought as she slowly turned to find the man through the dim light of the fading afternoon sunlight, praying that it wasn’t really him.  Because she had zero resistance where this man was concerned.  He had powers over her that could make her knees tremble from just a look. 

“You’re not here,” she said to the image standing in her living room.  “You can’t be here.”

Zahir watched the woman that had haunted his dreams as she slowly straightened.  She’d lost weight, he noticed.  But she was still as beautiful as he remembered.  And she still had the most powerful effect on his body just by her presence.  He’d never been able to control his body’s response to this woman.  She was like a drug that had become an addiction to him.  A drug he’d had to send away to protect. 

But it was safe now.  And he was determined to claim his woman. 

Her words were soft and her full, pink lips rounded in surprise as she confronted him.  Even as he stood there, he couldn’t believe how quickly his body hardened just at the sight of her.  She was truly beautiful with her thick blond hair and her almost golden eyes.  They were actually brown, he remembered, but the golden flecks changed the color, making them appear lighter during certain moods.  Her eyes had always fascinated him and he wanted to pull her into his arms right now, make love to her and bring her back to his country so that he could rediscover all those secret places that had fascinated him five years ago.

He restrained himself from his initial instinct, his need to toss her over his shoulder and carry her out of this place.  He had to be careful with her.  She’d been traumatized the last time he’d brought her to his home.  He would have to show her that she could trust him, prove that she would be safe.  As much as he wanted her, in his home and in his bed, proving that she was safe would take time. 

“I’m here, Callie,” he replied softly, urgently. 

She shook her head, a few glossy, golden wisps of hair caressing her neck and shoulders.  “No.  You’re not here.”

Zahir moved closer and she stepped back, forgetting the mess surrounding her feet.  When she stumbled on her purse, he was quick to reach out and catch her but she pushed his hands away, shaking her head and causing those gorgeous tresses to tumble out of the clip that had been holding them on top of her head.  The sunny locks fell down her neck and floated around her shoulders like a golden, silken cloud. 

“Don’t touch me,” she gasped as she found her footing once again.  “Just get out of my apartment,” she ordered him.  She leaned up against the wall, not sure if her legs would hold her upright much longer. 

“The war is over,” he told her, needing her to know.  There was so much he had to tell her, but the most important issue was that the war was over and she would be safe.  Safe with him. 

Callie stopped cold, her amber eyes sweeping up to his with hope and yearning.  “Over?” she whispered.  She couldn’t believe it.  The war had been going on for ten, long, ghastly years!  How could it just be over?  The trembling that she’d felt initially rushed back with volcanic force, making her fingers shake so badly she had to hide them behind her back, not wanting him to see how intensely that news, as well as his presence, affected her. 

He moved a step closer and Callie was stunned anew at how tall he was.  And how muscular!  And handsome!  Goodness, he was so tall and both his height as well as all of those packed muscles on his body never failed to make her feel small and feminine.  She’d fought that sensation when they’d first met, thinking she needed to be strong in order to be a woman.  But she’d quickly discovered that it was pointless when he was close.  Every part of her knew that she was soft and feminine when he was close.  Every part of her trembled in anticipation of how he would make all of her femininity scream out with joy and excitement when he was close. 

Zahir nodded his dark head, his chestnut brown eyes searching hers and she could see those eyes even in the shadows cast by the descending sun.  “Over.” He affirmed firmly.  “There has been a dramatic change in the leadership of the other three countries over the past few years which allowed the negotiations to begin.  A peace treaty was signed by all four countries last week.  It is over.”

That news was like a song bursting for joy in her heart but she mercilessly tamped down that delight.  She couldn’t believe in the peace, she told herself firmly.  She’d naively followed him to his home the last time, thinking that everything would be roses and sunshine and that innocent dream had been shattered when that disgusting thug had simply lifted her up as she’d examined the spices in the marketplace, dumping her into the trunk of a car and driving off with her.  The guards that had been assigned to protect her hadn’t been able to do a thing to stop the abductors and Callie had been too weak to do anything.  Too weak and too scared!  But never again!  She was stronger now.  She was not going to be weak ever again!

Pushing those paralyzing thoughts out of her mind, she confronted him, not even trying to hide the emotions in her body or her tone.  “How long?” she asked, her body trembling at the idea of being in his arms again, of being free to love this man.  If the war was over then…. “No!  It doesn’t matter,” she said firmly, squinching up her eyes in an effort to get her mind back on the right track.  “Wars have stopped and started again.  Besides, it is over between us.”

Zahir moved closer, his eyes darkening even more as he recognized both her fears and her desires.  “The war is over, Callie.  And we’re going to be together again.”

She shook her head, unaware of how that caused her hair to shimmer in the overhead light.  “It’s never over.  You have been at war with your enemies for far too long.  Your people don’t know how to live with peace.  They’ll come up with some reason to start fighting again.  And I won’t go back.  I don’t want you and I will not endure that life ever again.”

He moved closer, hearing her gasp as he put a hand on either side of her head against the wall behind her.  He wasn’t holding back now.  Every fiber of his enormous body emanated the innate authority that had been such a powerful aphrodisiac five years ago.  But she fought that feeling, fought against the melting desire to throw herself into his arms and feel his strong muscles hold her gently against his massive chest. 

Zahir watched those beguiling amber eyes, seeing everything in them as well as in the subtle movement of her lips and her speeding heart rate on her neck just underneath that soft, tender skin.  He would not let her back away from him though.  This was his woman and she had to understand that they were meant to be together.  He’d worked hard to get them to this place and he wasn’t going to let her ignore the way she felt for him just because she was scared. 

“The war is over.  The last of the old guard died six months ago.  I’ve spent every moment since then working with the rulers of the other three countries, building up a peace agreement.  That agreement is signed, sealed and delivered.  In addition, the people of our countries are sick of wars, sick of their sons and daughters dying.  They want peace.  They all want to build their towns up again, to live without fear, to walk down the street or go to the market and not be afraid of being attacked.  And I’m going to make that happen.”

“How?” she demanded.  “You saying it won’t make it so!” she panicked because he was so close and he smelled so good!  Her fingers ached to reach out and touch him, to feel his warm skin and run her fingers across the stubble already forming on his hard jawline.  This man, and only this man, could make her feel like this.  And she had to fight it.  She couldn’t go through that again. 

Besides, she had Luca to worry about now.  She refused to let him be raised in a country where violence was always the answer.  He was four years old and the most amazing little man.  She was a mother now and she had to protect her child. 

She just had to fight against his appeal.  She reminded herself that she was stronger now.  She’d learned the hard way what could happen when she ignored caution.  She could ignore this!  She had to!  His confidence might make her shiver - as did that voice - but she tamped down those feelings.  In the past, those two aspects of this man had been a powerful aphrodisiac, never failing to make her body respond but right now, she needed to just push him out of her life. 

Zahir perceived the battle she was waging inside of her and realized that this would be harder than he’d anticipated.  His beautiful Callie wasn’t the naïve, sweet, trusting woman she’d been five years ago.  Oh, she was still shockingly beautiful, so much so that it made him ache to keep his hands off of her.  But he had to gain her trust first.  That was the most important thing right now. 

“The peace will hold.  I have secret meetings every three months with the rulers of the other countries involved, more often if something happens to threaten the peace even slightly.  It is done.  The other three rulers are just as determined to push this behind them as I am.  We are all working very hard to rebuild our economies, our cities and villages.  We will make this work,” he told her forcefully.

She shook her head, both to stop his words as well as to stop the thrilling impact of his nearness.  “I don’t believe you.”

“It is over.”  His hand moved to her hair, his fingers tangling in her blond tresses.  “It’s over,” he repeated adamantly.  “We can get on with our lives.” 

A moment later, his mouth covered hers.  She tried to resist.  She truly did.  She stood there, trying to not react, to ignore the heart-pounding, desperate need that surfaced with his touch and bubbled throughout her whole body.  But this was Zahir.  She’d never been able to resist him.  Never.  And this time was no different. 

The kiss went on and on and her whole body pressed against his, needing more than just his lips against her mouth. For five years she’d suppressed her need, ignored her dreams and refused to let herself even think about how he could make her feel.  So this kiss, his hands on her waist and her back, made five years of brutally suppressed yearning spring to life inside of her, almost choking her with the need that this man could so effortlessly generate within her.