His Defiant Desert Queen(27)

                And then she remembered—she’d married him.

                Or so he’d said. She didn’t feel married. She didn’t feel anything at all but sleepy and numb.

                Jemma slid her legs from the bed and slipped on the white robe she’d seen draped over a chair before she answered the outer door.

                It was Mikael.

                “Good afternoon,” he said.

                She tucked a tangled strand of hair behind her ear. “Afternoon?”

                “It’s after two.”

                “Is it? I can’t believe it.”

                “I’ve ordered coffee to be sent to you, and then you’re to join me for a late lunch in the east pavilion. Don’t be late.” He turned and walked toward the door, but Jemma followed.

                “That sounds rather rude, Sheikh Karim,” she said, following after him. “Is that how you speak to all your women?”

                He glanced at her. “I’m accustomed to being in charge.”

                “That’s fine, but you don’t need to be quite so aggressive. A little kindness and courtesy can go a long way.”

                “I thought I was being kind and courteous by sending coffee to you.”

                “Yes, but then you ruined it by ordering me to join you, tacking on a warning not to be late. It would have been much nicer if you’d simply asked me to join you in thirty minutes.”

                “Kings do not ask, Jemma. They command.”

                “I’m sorry, but I didn’t marry a king. I married a man. That is, if we are truly married...”

                “We are married. Quite married. As married as one can be in Saidia,” he said, cutting her off, and walking back toward her. “But if it takes our consummating the marriage to feel married, then so be it. Tonight I will take you to my bed and there won’t be any question in your mind afterwards.”

                “That’s not what I want!”

                “How do you know? You’ve never been in my bed. I think once you are there, you’ll like it very much.” And then he was gone.

                * * *

                The next half hour seemed endless to Jemma. He was planning on consummating the marriage tonight?

                But she didn’t even know him.

                She couldn’t imagine having sex with him.

                He couldn’t be serious.

                And yet here she was, in the Kasbah, being waited on hand and foot, so she didn’t doubt him anymore. He wasn’t a man who made jokes. He meant what he said, which meant...

                He intended to bed her tonight.

                Jemma’s clothes from last night had been washed and dried and returned to her. She dressed in the short skirt and blouse, and then slipped her feet into her high wedges. Her hair was wild, a thick tangle of waves from falling asleep with it still wet, and she subdued the waves as best as she could, pulling the long mass into a ponytail and then adding some fat silver bangles to her wrist and simple silver hoops to her ears. Not very fancy but it was the best she could do.