The Sheik's Secret Bride (5 page)

“The man talking beside us married us quickly.  Before you got on the plane.”

She shook her head.  “But I never agreed!  I didn’t agree to become your wife!”

He walked over to her, his hand smoothing back the golden locks that floated about her face as the air conditioner worked to cool down the house from the August heat.  “You gave your consent when you agreed to marry me.  In Larcatia, that is a committment.”

She couldn’t believe what he was saying.  It was impossible!  “That’s barbaric!” she cried out.  “And completely irrelevant.  I didn’t give my consent, I didn’t agree.  Therefore, we’re not married.”

He chuckled.  “I assure you, we are legally married.  Just because you don’t agree with the laws, doesn’t mean they don’t apply to you.” 

She jerked back but cringed when she discovered that his fingers were tangled in her hair.  “Well, then, I’ll just get a divorce!” She lifted her hands, unaware that the movement pressed her breasts against the thin cotton of her tee-shirt again.  She quickly disentangled his fingers from her hair and glared up at him. 

He laughed softly again with her attempt at being stern.  She was so soft and her hair was so beautiful, her glares only made her look more sensuous, a fact that he was definitely not going to tell her at this moment.  “That is indeed a woman’s choice.”

She huffed and stepped away from him.  “I’m so glad that women have some legal standing in your country.”

He shrugged one massive shoulder.  “You must prove abuse or infidelity to obtain a divorce.”

Her mouth fell open with that bombshell.  “I haven’t seen you in almost five years!  How am I to prove how many women you’ve slept with over the years?”

He shook his head. “Then I supposed we will remain married,” he told her with wicked intent in those dangerously dark eyes. 

Those words stirred something deep inside of her, something she didn’t understand nor would she examine too closely.  She couldn’t because that horrible excitement could hurt her.  Badly! 

“No.  That simply isn’t going to happen, Zahir,” she declared, not even wanting to think of any other woman touching this man’s body or of his mouth doing….  Zahir was a passionate man.  During the weeks they’d been together, they had spent a great deal of that time in bed, exploring each other’s bodies.  And boy, did he know how to make her scream with need!  He’d been intoxicating and infuriating and everything inside of her clenched at the memories of the power he’d had over her. 

“You’re remembering all of the nights and days we spent in bed, aren’t you?”

She stepped back once again, taking a deep breath.  “We have nothing between us, Zahir.  We’re just two people who tried and failed.”

He shook his head, his eyes conveying the finality of his next words.  “Callie, you are my wife.  We have five years of marriage between us and a son.  A boy who is amazing and I thank you for caring for our son so well.”

Callie felt like a steel band was wrapping around her chest.  How did he know about Luca?  She’d been so careful!  “You stay away from Luca,” she gasped.  “He’s my son!  You can’t have him!  I refuse to let you take him back to that country where humans can do such…horrific acts to another human being.  I won’t let you, Zahir.  I’ll fight you.”

“Since you are my wife, there is little chance of a legal battle being successful, my dear.” 

Callie heard his words and the panic went higher.  Was he right?  Could he take Luca away from her?  The idea of never seeing her little boy again made her stomach feel nauseous.  “I can still divorce you.  There has to be a way.”

He chuckled and moved closer.  “Yes.  There are other ways.  Perhaps you could prove that you no longer feel the same way you did during the wedding.”

She grasped onto that.  “Well, since I was terrified out of my mind, that should be easy enough to prove.”

“If both parties agree to a divorce, it is a simple matter of dissolving the marriage.”  With that, he bent lower and kissed her neck, enjoying the way she shivered and tried to pull away, but her body couldn’t do it. 

“I would ask you for a divorce,” she said, shuddering and taking another step backwards, “but I doubt you’re going to be reasonable about this.”

“Not a chance,” he agreed.  “So I guess we’re stuck with each other.” 

She shook her head.  “I can get a divorce here in the US.  I’ll figure out a way.”  She once again stepped around him and walked to the other side of the bed.  “I have to take care of my son and you have to get out of this house.  It isn’t yours, it isn’t even mine.  So just…”

She stopped in her tracks and looked around.  “Where is Luca?”

Zahir quickly saw the panic develop in her pretty amber eyes and stepped in to help her ease the concern.  “He is safe.  Ms. Fisher arrived right after you fainted and she has been watching over him.  Also, my guards have been teaching him to fish down at the dock so have no fear.  They will protect him with their lives.”

She took a deep breath and pushed her hair out of her eyes.  “Great,” she sighed.  “No problem.  My son is surrounded by men with guns down by the water.”

He looked at her curiously, trying to understand her.  “What concerns you the most?” he asked.  “The fact that our son is safe without you?  Or that he’s with my men?  Men that he will someday rule, I have to point out.”

Callie didn’t like the sound of that at all.  Luca was never going to that horrible country!  It might be beautiful and amazing but it was also devastated by a horrible war.  “No.  He is just a little boy.  You can’t determine his whole future when he’s just four years old.”

He took her hand and tucked it onto his arm.  “Callie, his future was decided the moment he was conceived.  I’m sorry that this disturbs you, but I will ensure that he is trained well to take his place as ruler of Larcatia.”  He opened the door and led her out into the lovely house that had enormous windows that looked out onto the lake where the sun was sparkling in the late afternoon sunshine.  “And we will have more children that will help him rule, will be with him and grow with him.”

She shivered at the idea, shaking inside at the possibility of having more children with Zahir.  It wasn’t the thought of being pregnant again that scared her as much as the process of conception.  It had almost killed her to walk away from him the first time.  She couldn’t let him do that to her again.  She might not survive leaving him a second time. 

“Zahir, this is...”

She looked out and spotted Luca, laughing up at a big guy that she recognized although, from this distance, she couldn’t see him clearly.  “Who is that man?” she asked, her voice low and anxious.

Zahir looked down to the dock and smiled with pride.  The boy was already strong and confident.  He would make a good leader.  “His name is Amman.”

“I’ve seen him before!  He works in the building I live in.  I thought he worked for Mike.”

“Who is Mike?” Zahir asked, a tinge of anger tainting his voice. 

Callie blinked at his reaction.  Was that jealousy?  Could he really have strong feelings for her?  She hesitated, not sure what to think. 

Zahir could barely contain his fury when his wife uttered another man’s name so casually.  “Callie, answer the damn question.  Who the hell is Mike?” he demanded once again, turning so that they were facing each other. 

Callie started to think that this might be a good idea.  If he was jealous, maybe he would let her go.  Maybe he would think she was tainted.  Zahir was a possessive man.  And old-fashioned.  He wouldn’t want her if she’d slept with another man, would he? 

She smiled victoriously, feeling only a slight twinge of guilt at the deceitful implications she was about to give Zahir.  “Mike is a really great guy,” she told him, staying within truth’s boundaries but omitting pertinent details that weren’t useful to her.

“And what is he to you?” he demanded.  Zahir looked into her golden eyes and felt more fury than he’d thought possible.  He couldn’t believe that his guards hadn’t protected her. He would have words with Marcia and the rest of them, demanding to know how a man had gotten through their protective layers. 

Callie’s chin went up.  “Like I said, he’s a nice guy.  He comes over and helps me whenever I call on him for any reason.  He’s polite and kind and I know that I’m safe when he’s around.”

Zahir thought his mind might explode at the possibility of another man being in her apartment.  It was impossible!  He’d gotten reports on her activities almost daily!  How could his men have omitted a man entering her apartment?  And it sounded like this was an ongoing event! 

“Tell me what I need to hear, Callie!” he growled, ready to do physical harm to this man.  “I want his name.  I want his full name and I want to know where he lives.”

Callie cringed, feeling awful but she pushed that feeling aside.  This was her life she was dealing with.  She couldn’t back down.  This was too important. 

“I won’t let you hurt him, Zahir.”

He ignored the worry in her pretty, amber eyes, his entire focus on getting the name of the man who had dared to touch his wife.  “I’ll rip him apart, just as soon as I get the information I need.”

She pulled out of his arms and backed up.  “Then I’m not telling you anything.”

Zahir barked an order in his own language.  Immediately, a man stepped into the room, startling Callie who had thought they were alone.  “Where did…?”

Zahir ignored her and spoke in the same language, obviously demanding to know who had entered Callie’s apartment.  But this man…did he look familiar too?  Was she losing her mind? 

The man quickly responded in the same language, gesturing slightly.  When he backed up with a bow, Zahir turned back to Callie with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.  “Mike is one of my men, Callie.  His real name is Haffas Ilarasas and he has been in my employ for the past fifteen years.”

Callie’s mouth dropped open as the implication of what he was saying hit her.  “He works for you?” she asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

“Yes.”  Zahir twirled her around so that she was once again in his arms. “So you see, my little liar, your ‘Mike’ is no one that could make me jealous, but I appreciate the reason you tried.”

Callie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  “Leave me alone,” she grumbled, trying to push him away again.  “I’m going to start my vacation and, when I get back up to start dinner, you’d better be out of here.  I want to have this time with my son all alone.”

Callie didn’t wait for him to respond.  She simply opened the sliding glass doors and walked down the stairs of the elaborate deck that wrapped around the back side of the house.  She was fuming inside, feeling like a fool but that was her fault.  She never should have tried to challenge Zahir.  He was better at all the games and made up his own rules while she played by the ones she thought were set in stone. 

“I’ll take over now,” she said to the man as politely as possible.  It was hard because she knew that this man was here specifically to guard the boy who might become a future ruler unless Callie was very smart and very careful. 

When the man walked back up into the woods, apparently leaving them alone on the dock, she breathed a bit easier.  “What are you doing?” she asked.

Luca’s grin lightened her heart, as it always did.  “I’m fishin’” he exclaimed and handed her the fishing rod that the guard had abandoned a moment ago.  “You can bait the hook with the worms over there,” he told her, pointing to a plastic container that looked as if it only contained dirt.  She guessed that this was only a pretend fishing expedition and was grateful to the guard who hadn’t given her four-year-old son a real hook.  Those things had always freaked her out.  “Okay, sounds like a plan.”  She sat down next to him, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the deck, grateful that the deck was high enough that her feet weren’t in the water.  “What are we fishing for?”   She figured she could ease herself closer and closer to the murky depths of the lake, getting used to not seeing what was around her.  There was absolutely no way she was going to touch the bottom though!  Nope, that was out of the question.  How she was going to accomplish that…well, she’d need to work on that part of her plan.  She cringed at the very idea of her toes touching the muddy bottom of the lake.  Ick!  “Are there even any fish around here?” she asked, peering down carefully. 

Luca looked out at the water.  “Catfish!”  He tugged his fishing pole slightly, obviously working very hard to concentrate on his fishing skills.  “You have to be really quiet,” he explained in a stage whisper, “because voices scare the fish away.” 

“Ah,” she replied, her feet swaying back and forth.  She wanted very badly to look back up at the house, to see if Zahir was leaving.  He wouldn’t, she thought with rising desperation.  The sun was setting slowly but Zahir was still in the house.  What was she going to do if he wasn’t gone by the time Luca needed to get ready for bed?  She couldn’t sleep in the same house with him.  She just couldn’t! 

“You okay, momma?” he asked, forgetting his whisper voice. 

“I’m fine, buddy.  Why do you ask?”  She ruffled his hair, thinking he needed a haircut.  Again! 

“You just moaned like you were in pain.”  He went back to concentrating on his fishing.  “You do that a lot at night too.”

Callie blushed, shocked that her son had heard her during her dreams.  She was really going to have to get some sort of soundproofing for her room.  “I think I’m just hungry.”