The Sheik's Jealous Princess(30)

Linda huffed. “Well, that’s no excuse! I wanted grandchildren!” she said.

Shantra thought back to the previous three days and her heart cringed inwardly. She had to get away from these women. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to…make some calls,” and she pulled her arm away from Julia again, spun around on her heel and almost ran down the hallway.

She was unaware of her guards following her or she would have slowed down, been more considerate. But all she wanted to do now was to find a place to hide. She stopped by the kitchen and found Janus, hugging the tiny ball of fur to her chest as she hurried to the suite.

Once inside, she let the sobs flow, desperate to ignore all of what Linda and Julia had said, but they had the ring of truth to their words. She couldn’t ignore the fact that Laithir had looked so sad in the pictures at his wife’s funeral. And he hadn’t married for years afterwards! If that wasn’t a clue as to his feelings towards the mysterious Angela, she didn’t know what was!

Laithir had said he wanted to start a family as soon as possible but…Shantra hadn’t agreed! Panic welled up inside of her when she thought back over the past three days. It didn’t bother her that Laithir hadn’t been using protection because she’d taken precautions. Raven had helped her get on birth control before her wedding, and Shantra hadn’t really thought much of it at the time. She’d seen how quickly Ciala and her sisters-in-law had gotten pregnant. But they’d been in love with their husbands.

She wasn’t in love with Laithir!

Shantra’s heart ached even thinking those words, but she refused to accept that she might be in love with her husband. No, this was a marriage of convenience! This was a politically savvy marriage!

She fell onto one of the chairs, her head dropping into her hands as she tried to think. Janus was curled up beside her, but lifted his fluffy head when his sleep was disturbed, blinking his enormous, dark eyes at her before tucking his head back down. Even going so far as to wrap his tail around his eyes.

Shantra lifted the tiny creature into her arms, needing the affection of something since her husband was most likely still grieving over the death of his first wife. And he was trying to get her pregnant. He had no idea that she’d taken precautions. She should have told him. She should have been up front with her desire to get to know him before they started a family. He’d been very clear about wanting children but she’d been so…confused and…okay, angry about being pushed into this marriage so quickly.

Sighing, she stared up at the ceiling, her mind whirling. She was too tired to deal with all of these emotions, she thought with sadness and irritation. Laithir wanted children. She wanted his love. And if she couldn’t have his love, she at least wanted his respect.

Closing her eyes, she tried to figure out her next step. Coming face to face with his previous family hadn’t been the ideal introduction to palace life, but at least she knew more about what she was up against.

She’d just talk to him, she thought with a yawn. She’d talk to him and explain her position. Surely he would understand. He wouldn’t be mad she tried to convince herself.



By dinner that night, she’d worked herself up into a state of righteous anger. So when Laithir walked into the living room and pulled off his tie, she was practically bristling with her need to argue with him.

“Cats are very clean animals!” she announced, adding a nod of her head for emphasis.

Laithir had just lifted a bottle of scotch but froze with her words, looking over at her curiously. “Okay. I agree.”

“So, Janus shouldn’t be banished to the kitchen!”

Laithir’s eyebrows went up with those words. “I agree with that as well.” He poured himself some liquor, tossed a few ice cubes into the glass then walked over to where Shantra was pacing angrily. “First of all, I’m guessing Janus is your kitten, correct? You named him?”

Shantra jerked a nod of confirmation but didn’t stop pacing, too upset by the events of the day to slow down. “Yes. And he’s very sweet, and I adore him, but I won’t have him banished.”

Laithir nodded his head, wanting to pull her into his arms, but she looked too bristly for that kind of affection. Besides, he was doing his damnedest to not pull her into his arms and make love to her. He was trying to keep his distance because Shantra was dangerous. He could become addicted to being with her if he let his guard down.

He took his glass over to the sofa and sat down, watching Shantra’s pacing, enjoying the way her bottom pressed against the silk of her dress.

“The thing is,” she started to say, really getting into her rant, “I don’t think that it is the right time to start a family. I mean, you have that pressing business with the countries to the south that are demonstrating, there’s the issue of the oil prices, and the education system that you want to overhaul…there are so many initiatives that are very important, and I don’t want to distract you from all of that.”