The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress

Prologue

Your Majesty:

I am sorry to ask you for advice but I have no one to turn to at this point. I have used up all of my resources trying to resolve the situation but nothing has fixed the problem. I am imposing upon your letter of years ago where you offered help raising Electra after her father’s untimely death.

Simply put, the child is out of control. She is running with the wrong crowd and, as she reaches her teen years, I fear for her safety and her future. If her father were around, I would trust that he would know how to stop her dangerous behavior. But since his death five years ago, Electra has just become more and more unmanageable.

I understand that she is hurting from the loss of her last parent, but I can’t seem to get through to her and teach her to stop. In my old age, I fear I am unable to provide more than love and kisses, which isn’t up to the task any longer.

Any advice would be wonderful.

Sincerely,
Edna Knight
Electra’s Grandmother

“You called, father?” Dharran Rashid Abbas, Sheik of Sandura asked as he walked into his father"s private study.

“Yes,” the king said weakly. “Sit down,” he waved to a chair beside his bed.

Dharr immediately sat down, pulling the blanket higher over his father"s chest, the worry eating into him while he maintained a calm exterior for his father"s benefit.

“Read this,” the king said, handing the letter to Dharr. Dharr read through the words quickly, then glanced at his father. “This is your ward? The girl you have been caring forsince the incident?”

“Yes. The bullet was meant for me but her father selflessly dove in front of me, protecting me at the cost of his own life.”

No expression came over Dharr"s face, but the assassination attempt had dramatically changed his way of looking at security issues. “The mother died years earlier, correct?”

“That"s correct. It will be up to you to ensure for this girl"s safety now.” Dharr suppressed the horror that his father"s words provoked inside him. He shook his head confidently. “No father, you will survive this bout just as you have all the others. You need to have hope and be strong.”

The king smiled wanly but then became serious again. “You owe her your life as well. Without the sacrifice of her father, you would have been king years ago. Now that you have had time, you are ready to carry on the throne. You are strong and powerful which would not have been the case if I had died that time.Her father"s sacrifice allowed me more time to guide you and teach you about the world and ruling our kingdom.”

“You are still strong,” Dharr commanded sternly as if the force of his voice could make it so.

The king took his son"s hand earnestly, wanting to make sure the responsibility was understood. “Listen, my son. You must protect this girl as I have done. She is now your ward. She has only her grandmother. There is money being sent for her care every month but if she ever needs anything else, you must ensure that she is cared for and protected.”

“I will see to it, father,” Dharr said immediately.

“The grandparents are very nice, but are also older than I am. They can"t be expected to turn this wild child into a presentable adult. It will be up to you. They will give her the love she needs. You will give her the protection.”

“Yes, father,” Dharr agreed. “I will set someone upon the task this afternoon.”

“Good.” The king"s eyes shut and Dharr froze in his seat until he noticed the slight rise and fall of his father"s chest. Breathing more easily, Dharr stood up and walked quietly out of the bedroom and down the palace hallways to his own office.

Handing the letter to his aide, he said, “Put some body guards on this woman. Her name is Electra Knight. I believe she is about sixteen years old. The guards should protect her around the clock and pull her out of any trouble she gets into. She should be guarded as if she were my sister.”

The aide quickly took the letter while efficiently writing down the instructions at the same time, nodding his head as well. “I will make it happen.”

“Tonight,” Dharr said.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Chapter 1

Eight Years Later

Electra Knight stood in the small but elegant restaurant feeling nervous but determined. “This has to work,” she whispered to herself before taking a sip of hot coffee. The caffeine immediately went to her system, giving her an alertness she"d been lacking earlier. The stress of preparing for this meeting, and all it could do for her future, had kept her up last night worrying.

Looking straight ahead , she went through her speech one more time although she"d rehearsed it over and over again. She didn"t look to her right or left, knowing the sight of the bulky men seated at nearby tables would only make her furious and resentful. She needed all her wits about her in order to make this work and negative emotions would only fog her brain.

She had only five minutes with King Dharr Abbas. Five minutes to convince the man to get rid of the guards. They were destroying her life and driving her crazy in the meantime.

Pulling the newspaper forward, she idly skimmed through the front page articles. She was a half hour early for her appointment and she really should check the job openings. Unfortunately, her focus was not on the words describing possible jobs but on her upcoming interviewwith the man who"s orders had destroyed what little was left of her normal childhood. He"d stolen her father"s life and then, in an attempt to ease a guilty conscience, had placed guards on her around the clock. As if the guards could take the place of the man she"d lost! It was ridiculous and she had to make it stop before more of her life was turned upside down by the ridiculous guards.

Eight years ago, the men had showed up unexpectedly at a party she"d been att ending. It had been horribly embarrassing since she was playing spin the bottle and was thrilled when the bottle had stopped spinning on Danny Miller, the cutest boy in school. She was just about to lean over and kiss him when one of the men came down into the basement where they were playing the relatively innocent game.

The man standing at the bottom of the stairs didn"t do anything at all. He simply stood there, his arms crossed over his chest watching Electra. All the others in the room were completely intimidated, as she was but Electra was the only one willing to stand there and question the man.

“Excuse me, what can we do for you?” she asked, planting her hands on her slender, sixteen year old hips.

“I"m here at the request of your grandmother and Prince Abbas.” Electra"s jaw immediately dropped. “Are you serious?” At the time, the prince"s name only reminded her of the man her father had worked for and lost his life for, taking a bullet meant for the king. Resentment welled up inside her at the representative of the man who, in her teenage mind, had killed her father.

“Absolutely, miss,” the man said, his face impassive as he looked down at her.

“For what purpose?” she demanded, irritated immediately at her grandmother"s interference. King What"s-His-Name was only a face in a far away country. Her grandmother was here, close by and therefore, Electra determined that she was a much better target than a faceless ruler.

The guard at the bottom of the stairs looked at her impassively, not impressed with her teenage hostility. “I am here to protect you. From yourself if necessary,” he clarified, his eyes moving to the teens behind her.

Electra didn"t like the sound of that. “My grandmother requested a goon to stand watch over me? That"s ridiculous. I can take care of myself.” Her tone was purposefully insulting but the man didn"t even blink.

“I believe your grandmother thought differently,” was all he said, his dark eyes looking across to her with no emotion.

Her fists balled up under her arms and she considered punching the man, but his bulging muscles would probably protect him. “And do I have any say in this matter? I mean,” she harrumphed, looking back at her friends and Danny in particular to gain support, “no one here is going to do anything wrong,” she lied.

The man didn"t respond.

His silence only infuriated her more. Electra was known throughout school as someone who spoke her mind, was daring and challenged authority. This was obviously not going as it normally would. “Well, what"s your name?” she asked, mimicking his crossed arms, her anger increasing several notches with his uncommunicative demeanor and inability to be intimidated or even irritated by her attitude. Usually, she was quite adept at producing some sort of emotion in all the people she met, either frustration, irritation or outright anger. She liked that one the best. People"s guard comes down when they are angry and she could get away with more things.

“You may call me Micka.”

Electra eyed the man carefully for a long moment. “You work for me?”

“In a sense,” he responded. “Good,” she brightened, her face breaking out into a bright smile. “Then head on upstairs and wait for me there. I"ll be up in a while.”

The man didn"t return her smile. He simply stood his ground, unblinking as he watched her.

Her hands dropped and she waved them forward as if he were a heard of sheep she was trying to get out of the road. “Go on! Get out! I don"t want you down here,” she said, becoming embarrassed that the man was intimidating her friends, and more importantly, Danny. When he didn"t move, she got angry. “What? Are you some sort of baboon? Get out of here! This isn"t your house. You can"t be here like this.”

Her best friend cleared her throat. “Ellie, maybe we should all head home,” she suggested from behind Electra.

That only roused her temper more. She"d probably missed her opportunity to experience her first kiss, but there were always other opportunities and she meant to make one here, tonight, with Danny! “No. This is ridiculous. This man shouldn"t be here. I have no need of his protection so he should go. Not us.”

The other boys and two other girls laughed selfconsciously. One of them said, “Electra, I"m not sure how you"re going to get that man to move, but I"d better head home. I have homework to do.”

The others chimed in with similar excuses and Micka moved slightly to the right, allowing them to ascend the bare, wooden stairs to the main level of the house.

“Fine,” Electra spat out. “I"d better get home as well.” She walked around the man, unsure of what he would do to follow her. She pulled her keys out of her purse and offered a wan smile to her friend. “I"m sorry about this. I"ll get it straightened out with Gran.”

Electra walked up the stairs sadly, knowing that her chance with Danny was gone. There might be others, but this one was lost and it was painfully embarrassing.

Out in the cool, autumn evening, she looked back at Micka and smiled secretly. With her keys in her hands, she unlocked her dilapidated car and dove inside. Slamming the keys into the ignition, she turned it over and sped away as quickly as possible.

Racing through the drowsy streets, she sped along, eager to lose the man who had ruined her kiss with Danny, the man of her dreams.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. As soon as she turned the corner, the sirens and lights started flashing in her rear view mirror. “Oh, no!” she said to the darkness. Pulling over, sheknew it wouldn"t be a good idea to try and out-race the police. Adding insult to injury, the black Land Rover pulled up behind the police officer. Without letting her into the conversation, Micka and the police officer spoke softly. Electra tried to hear the conversation with her window rolled down but nothing came along. She was hoping Micka was convincingthe officer that she shouldn"t get a ticket. Could he? Would he?

No luck.

“May I see your license and registration, Miss?” the officer said sternly.

Fifteen minutes later, the officer came forward again, handing her the ticket for reckless driving. A moment later, Micka was opening the door to her car and pushing her into the passenger seat. “I"ll drive,” he said and started the engine, waving to the officer who immediately laughed before getting back into his cruiser.

“What are you doing?” Electra demanded.

“Put your seatbelt on,” was Micka"s only reply.

First the lost kiss, the not-lost ticket, the shoving aside and now an order?“No!” she said adamantly.

He didn"t even shrug as he said calmly, “Then we sit here until you do.”

Electra"s mouth dropped open. “You can"t do that!”

Micka did not respond. He simply waited, staring out the front window with teeth grinding patience.

The battle of wills was soon won that night, but Electra was unwilling to accept defeat in the war. Unfortunately, she didn"t know that twenty-four hour surveillance had been posted on her. She discovered that night that sneaking out of her window was a pointless endeavor. As she climbed out the window and shimmied down the tree, strong arms reached up and simply plucked her from the lowest branch, then tossed her over his shoulder and carried her right back to her room.

There were five different body guards that protected her, drove her to and from school since the reckless driving incident had her license revoked for two years, and worst of all, rode with her on her very few dates that happened after that night.