The Sheikh's Stolen Bride-To-Be(10)

Steph pulled open her door. In the living room, her cousins, mother, and  father were all standing there, watching her with a combination of  pride, sadness, and joy. Her father looked a little gray, she noticed,  but when she approached he lifted her hand and kissed it.



"You make a beautiful bride, Steph. We look forward to celebrating with  you after the ceremony. I'm sorry I won't be able to walk you down the  aisle though."



He cast a sideways glance at his wife, who ignored his comment and  pressed a hand to Steph's back to usher her from the room. They rode the  elevator down in heavy silence, the ding when they hit the lobby floor  the only sound they heard. Steph glanced around her, noticing the stares  she elicited as they walked as a unit to the front of the hotel. A few  people congratulated her, and she offered them a weak smile.



When they stepped out into the desert air, which had precipitously  heated up from the night before, Steph saw a long black limo at the  curb. The driver was standing in front of the car, but when he saw her,  he stood at attention and opened the door for her.



Steph turned back to her parents, gripping each of their hands.



"You're sure this is the right thing to do?" she asked.



Her father looked a little doubtful, but her mother chimed in immediately.



"Of course it is. It may seem scary now, but you'll be grateful when  you're living a comfortable life later. Try to enjoy yourself a little,  Stephanie. I regret that I did not at least try." She didn't look at  Jerry as she said this, though he looked at her in surprise.



Not wanting to be a part of that conversation, Steph turned and thanked  the driver before sliding into the seat. He said something in El Farahn,  which she had to assume was something akin to "you're welcome."



The driver closed the door behind her, and as she drove away, she saw  her parents arguing about something. If they were discussing the  possibility of her not having an arranged marriage, it was a bit too  late for that, as the limo sped off down long city streets.



Steph gazed out the window, wondering what Mehdi was up to at that  moment. Then she forced herself not to think about him, since it seemed  inappropriate to daydream about one man while on the way to marry  another. There was a small snack bar in the center of the car, but Steph  had been far too nervous to eat anything all day. She could tell she  was hungry, but the thought of food made her want to retch.



The limo continued out of the city and onto a road carved between a  stretch of long, mountainous desert. Steph wished she had thought to  bring her purse so she could check the time, but she had been instructed  to leave her belongings at the hotel, as she would be escorted back  there after the private ceremony. She had nothing to distract herself  with and nothing to tell her the time; she was lost in a vortex of  nothingness as the limo continued on and on.



After the fifth dune, Steph began to feel nervous. This didn't seem  right, for some reason, and the driver didn't seem to know any English.  How would she find a way to ask him if they were going in the right  direction? If it were possible, Steph's stomach would have turned into  one big actual knot after the day's events. She sat wringing her fingers  together as they drove on for what seemed like eternity.



Suddenly, a building came into view up ahead. Leaning close to the window, Steph did her best to make it out.



It was a palace! She was getting married in a palace? How was that possible?



Steph remembered her parents' description of her future husband. They  had said he was rich, but this was clearly something else entirely. This  was royalty. While it looked different from what she was used to, Steph  knew a palace when she saw one. The structure was a clear, magnificent  white, but the rounded tops were capped with solid gold. Even from a  distance, Steph knew that gold was real.



Somehow, she managed to become even more nervous than before. As the car  pulled up the long, curving drive to the front of the palace, Steph's  eyes were glued to the window as she took in everything. Finally, they  landed on a man, who was leaning nonchalantly in front of the ornate  structure.         

     



 



Steph gasped.



There, looking as casual as ever, stood Mehdi. He watched her with a  hand over his eyes as he stood in the shade, as though he were looking  for her. Was it possible? Could her life really be that wonderful?



The limo pulled to a stop, and Steph waited with butterflies in her  stomach as the driver came around and opened the door, helping her step  out. She kept her gaze on Mehdi, who pushed himself off the wall and  approached her with a grin on his face.



"You make a beautiful bride. That much is true," he said. He stood close  to her as he gazed down into her eyes. "The most beautiful I've ever  seen, in fact."



"Are you …  Are you … " Steph stammered, unable to get the question out.



Here, in front of this palace, Mehdi seemed so much more than he had the  night before, if that were even possible. He was tall and handsome and a  little imposing, and she couldn't find the words to ask if he would  become her husband.



"The Sheikh of El Farah? Yes, I am," he said. "I must escort you from  this hot sun though. No need to have a bride melting on her wedding  day."



"You're the Sheikh?" Steph asked, incredulous.



That wasn't the answer she had been looking for, but she was so taken aback that she forgot that for a moment.



Mehdi nodded. "I am. It was so nice to meet you last night, and after  our conversation I thought you might want rescuing one more time."



They stepped into the shade, and Steph felt instant relief from the  glaring heat of the El Farahn sun. She gazed up at Mehdi, finding her  words.



"Are you my fiancé?" she asked.



Mehdi met her gaze and laughed. "Oh, I can see where you'd be confused.  No, I am not. However, I do know what it's like to have choice taken  away from you, and I didn't want you to have to suffer the same fate.  I'm giving you a choice now, Steph. You can go back to the limo and I  will have my driver take you to your original destination with no  questions asked, or you can stay a while with me and enjoy breaking the  rules a little bit."



Steph's brain struggled to catch up with what was happening. Mehdi had  sent a decoy limo to rescue her from an arranged marriage, and he was  now offering her asylum until she was ready to face the consequences of  that action.



She stopped in the main foyer, closing her eyes. "Wait. Hold on a minute. I just need to process this."



She opened her eyes and looked back up at Mehdi, who was staring down at her patiently. She pointed at him.



"You're like … the king of El Farah," she said.



"That's right," Mehdi said with a nod.



She waved her hands around the room at large, which, she noticed, was extremely large and glittering with gold designs.



"And this is your home," she said.



"That is correct."



"And you aren't supposed to be marrying me today," she said, and he shook his head.



"Unfortunately not," he said, and Steph noticed a small pang of disappointment in his voice.



She stared at him for a moment as it all came together. Then she burst into a wide smile.



"You are insane," she said, and Mehdi laughed.



"Probably, but here we are. So what do you choose, Steph?"



"What do I choose? You just kidnapped me from my own wedding!"



She was torn between feeling indignant and feeling relieved. Mehdi looked completely unrepentant, the paragon of confidence.



"It's as I said. I think you deserve to choose, and I took action  accordingly. If I have acted out of place I will apologize, but I think  there is a part of you that is glad you're not in the middle of a  wedding ceremony right now."



"And you are used to doing as you please, given your status? Is that it?"



Mehdi frowned. "Yesterday I told you that I lived in my own gilded cage,  always meant to behave in a certain manner. Do you now hold me to that  standard, now that you know who I am?"



Steph thought back to the aquarium, when that worker had been so quick  to give Mehdi whatever he wanted. That all made perfect sense now. She  felt a stab of guilt at his words.         

     



 



"You're right. I'm already making assumptions about you, and that's  wrong. But you made assumptions about me, too, when you assumed I would  be perfectly fine being kidnapped."



"And are you?" he asked, his eyes searching hers.



She could have fallen into his arms and kissed him then and there, but  instead she stepped back and crossed her arms, mostly to keep them for  wrapping around him without her permission.



"Maybe," she said, and Mehdi smiled.



"Aha! There's the truth now. Worry not, fair maiden, for you will not be  another man's bride this day," he said, his tone playful.