Hidden in the Sheikh's Harem: Christmas at the Castello(20)

'Well, I care about my honour,' he said coldly. 'Especially at a time  when I need the support of our people. And let's not forget your  father's small threat of war.'

'But-'

'Enough. I find I am exhausted from all the excitement of the past  week, not to mention tonight. We will be married, Farah. Perhaps it is  fate.'

A sense of inevitability stole over her at his words. She had always  known there would be a price to pay for her father's actions; she just  hadn't expected that price to be her marriage.

Shaking her head, she swallowed past a lump in her throat that extended  all the way to her stomach. 'I've never liked fate,' she said dully.

The prince gave her a faintly mocking smile. 'While I have never  believed in it. But it won't be all bad.' His tone softened. 'I will be  gentle with you, habiba.'

Heat bloomed across her cheeks as she realised how exactly he was going  to be gentle with her. 'I don't want you to be gentle with me,' she  blazed. 'I don't want you to be anything with me.'

He smiled as if he knew better than she did. 'We'll see.'                       
       
           



       





      CHAPTER TEN

THREE DAYS LATER Zach found himself a married man. Something he should  have felt worse about, given that he wasn't in love with his bride, but  didn't.

The wedding had been small, nothing like his brother's extravaganza,  but everyone had said it was romantic, the way the prince had fallen in  love with the daughter of his father's archenemy thus uniting what had  once been the two biggest tribes in the country. Zach hadn't thought of  it that way at the time it was going down, but the advantages were  obvious on a political level. On a personal level his mother seemed to  take great delight in the 'love match' so he had remained silent about  the real reason behind their union     .

A union      he'd had the power to prevent when Nadir had informed him  that he'd come up with a plan to extricate him from it. Zach knew it  would have been what Farah wanted. Hell, it was what he wanted. So why  hadn't he done it? Especially with his brother about to become the next  king; it would have meant total freedom for him, which he had now firmly  denied himself.

Nothing made sense, not the churning feeling in his gut, nor the way  Farah made him feel so hungry for her. As if she was the last woman in  the world for him.

Well, she is, his conscience reminded him, and you will be the first man to touch her.

Something he found himself increasingly impatient to do. Probably he  should be a little worried about his eagerness to bed a woman who so  obviously didn't like him, but he wasn't. They might not have started  this marriage in a conventional way but he had no doubt that she would  please him. As he would please her once she stopped being so prickly  about everything. *#*

She was an intriguing personality, his new wife- headstrong and handy  with a sword, as well as brave and fiercely loyal, with a keen  intelligence all tied up in one delectably feminine package he was  straining to unwrap.

Nadir's comment about his deliberately choosing the wrong women in the  past came back to him. Was it possible? He never would have said so  before but he also knew that Amy had never stirred the level of feeling  in him that Farah did.

Scanning the milling crowd he easily located Farah across the room  talking with his mother. She looked striking in a long-sleeved cream  gown that skimmed her slender frame and ended at the floor. A whiff of  something far more insidious than desire curled through him as he  watched her. It gave him pause and, as if sensing the swirl of emotion  coursing through him, his lovely bride glanced at him from beneath her  long lashes.

Her eyes flared briefly as he took her in and Zach could almost feel  the shudder that went through her. As much as she might not like to  admit it, she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. His blood  heated, driving everything else out of his head except bedding her.

'Drink, little brother?'

Cursing under his breath, Zach arched a brow at his brother. He knew  Nadir felt sorry for him. He knew he wasn't in love with Farah and since  finding love himself he'd turned into some sort of agony uncle. But he  didn't want a drink. He didn't want anything to dull his senses for his  wedding night to come. 'No, I'm good.'

Was it too early to leave? He glanced at his watch. They'd been at the reception for an hour; surely that was long enough.

'Imogen was wondering where you intend to go for your honeymoon.'

Honeymoon? Interesting question and one he hadn't even considered. He'd  spent the last three days in back to back meetings trying not to think  about sex before marriage. Now he realised that a honeymoon would be the  perfect excuse to take Farah away from the worries of Bakaan and the  reason behind their marriage. A chance to start fresh.

But where to go? Paris? New York? The Seychelles? No, wrong time of  year for- Suddenly Damian's birthday invitation swung into his mind.  Ibiza? Could he take her to Ibiza?

'I wouldn't recommend it.'

Not realising he'd spoken out loud until Nadir replied, Zach frowned. 'Why not?'

'It's a bit...wild. But why would you- Ah...' His brother smiled. 'Offshore racing.'

Zach shrugged. 'I am still the team owner,' he pointed out. 'But it's Damian's birthday. I should be there.'

Nadir's brows rose. 'You're going to spend your honeymoon at a mate's birthday party?'

'Of course not,' Zach grated; he wasn't that selfish. 'The party is one  night and we'll have the whole week. What's wrong with that?'                       
       
           



       

Nadir held up his hands at Zach's aggrieved expression. 'You're the expert on women, not me.'

'Glad you finally admit it,' Zach growled. Ibiza was the perfect idea:  fun, carefree and totally different from Bakaan. What could possibly go  wrong?

* * *

'The wedding was beautiful and you look especially lovely in your wonderful dress.'

'Thank you.' Farah automatically murmured the rote response she had  given most of the well-wishers at the wedding even though the gentle  woman who had just joined her was now her mother-in-law. The fact was  her brain was operating in some sort of a fog. She kept reminding  herself that she was doing this for her father but that didn't always  feel like the truth and that worried her just as much as being married  did.

'I hope you don't mind about the orchid.'

'The orchid?'

'A wedding gift from my private nursery. I had it delivered to your  apartment in the palace. It's very rare but also very hardy. It  represents love and fertility.'

Farah forced a smile at her words. Earlier Zach had asked her not to  reveal the reason behind their marriage to his mother. She didn't know  why, other than to stroke his massive ego, but she had agreed to go  along with it. Now she felt like a phony as his mother beamed up at her.  'My son always said he would marry for love, and I am so glad he has,  because he deserves it.'

Love? Farah never would have imagined that her new husband would be  motivated by such a deep emotion and it made her wonder if he had been  in love with the woman he had almost married. And if he had been in love  then, was he still? She clutched her stomach, feeling a little ill at  the thought. Or was that just the bubbly drink she'd consumed? Imogen  had warned her to go easy on it but it was so sweet and refreshing she  kept forgetting. She took another sip and realised that her  mother-in-law was waiting for her to say something.

Wondering if 'thank you' was even mildly appropriate, she was almost glad when Zach approached them.

'I hope my mother is not making your ears bleed, habiba?' He smiled  down at her like any indulgent new husband who was indeed in love with  his wife.

'Not at all,' she said a little breathlessly, trying to remember how much she disliked his handsome face.

She noticed the loving look he bestowed on his mother and suddenly  wondered if his wish to keep his mother in the dark about their union       had less to do with his ego and more to do with real caring. She'd  lived on a diet of her father's prejudices against this man and his  family for so long it was difficult to differentiate fact from fiction  where he was concerned. His comment that perhaps her father wasn't the  only one living in the past returned but she shook it off. She  absolutely did not live in the past.

Grumpily, she watched his mother return his smile as if the sun shone  out of him and Farah felt a pang that her own mother wasn't present.  Probably if she had been, then Farah wouldn't have been here because her  father would not have been bitter enough to kidnap the prince.

She glanced across the room to where her father was talking with a  group of men, seeming to have forgotten the events that had led them to  this night. He was the only person from her village present because  Farah hadn't wanted to invite anyone else. It wasn't as if this was a  real celebration and now she wished she had at least invited her good  friend, Lila. She could do with the moral support, if not some advice  about her wedding night to come.