Sheikh's Purchased Princess (11 page)

The twin impulses tugged at him, making him rest his head in his hands. He couldn't let her leave. He didn't want to see her unhappy.

Adnan wasn't sure how long he had stayed like that, but at some point, a plan began to form. At the core of it was his love for her, and at this point, all he could hope was that perhaps it was enough.

He straightened, looking east, where his beloved city lay. He had dreamed just twenty-four hours ago that perhaps she would come to love it as much as he did. Perhaps that was still possible.

He started to walk back into the hotel, his phone already in his hand. He had arrangements to make.

Chapter Ten

Emily awoke to an empty apartment, but the last few days had been full of so many strange twists and turns that she was losing the ability to be surprised.

She had just taken her shower and put on clothes when there was a knock at the door. For a moment, she froze. Knocks were for people who actually had power, whose privacy other people respected. Knocks hadn't been for her for what felt like forever, and she was slow as she made her way to the door.

At the last moment, she remembered to check the peephole, and to her surprise, a pair of women stood in the hall. They were roughly her age, and they both wore the colorful tunic, trousers, and light scarf that she knew were customary among the women of the region.

“Who are you?” she asked, opening the door. “What are you doing here?”

She noted with some chagrin that the bodyguards were still there. Wherever Adnan was, he was still intent on keeping an eye on her.

“We are here for you,” the first woman said warmly. “I am Bina, and this is Masha. We're here to take your measurements. As soon as we have those, we can start putting together a wardrobe for you.”

“Some of our clients require specialty sizing, but I think that what we have will fit you perfectly,” chirped Masha.

Emily felt as if she had slipped into some kind of strange wonderland when both women pulled out tape measures. As they advanced towards her, however, she came alive, scrambling back and putting the couch between them.

“No,” she said, feeling as if all of the indignities that she had suffered were coming to a head. “No. I'm not doing anything you say unless you tell me what it's for. What the hell is happening right now?”

Both women looked at her curiously, their heads tilted at such an identical angle that Emily thought that they must have been sisters.

“We're here to measure you for your wardrobe,” Bina said carefully, as if she were talking to a child. “The sheikh has flown us in for the purpose. If you are interested in working with someone more prestigious…”

“We assure you they don't exist,” Masha finished crisply. “We will provide you with the tunics and trousers, of course, but we will also outfit you with leisure wear, couture dresses, and of course the foundation garments and shoes…”

Emily shook her head. “No, I mean, why are you doing this?”

“Because we were asked to do so by the sheikh,” Bina exclaimed.

Masha gave her a sharp look. “He asked us to outfit you for every occasion we can think of. He came to us because we are the best. Do you doubt this?”

Emily felt as if she were drowning under some kind of tide. At this point, under the gaze of two women who seemed to know so well what was going on, she gave up.

“All right,” she said helplessly, and with bright smiles, they helped her to the center of the room.

As they worked, they chatted with each other and with her, complimenting her hair, her body, telling her that their creations would be amazing on her.

It occurred to Emily belatedly that this must be some kind of apology and farewell gift from Adnan. He was rich after all. Perhaps he wanted to give her a wardrobe before she left Nahr. The thought of never seeing him again made her heart squeeze, but she forced herself to ignore it. She was through shedding tears for him. If he wanted to give her a luxury wardrobe that she would sell as soon as she made it back to the United States, so be it.

When Bina and Masha finished taking her measurements, but they had another surprise for her. At a word from them, one of Adnan's bodyguards came in, pulling a rack of clothing behind him.

“These are samples, but I think they will fit you quite well,” explained Masha.

Despite the anger and sorrow that had been simmering in her, Emily was still impressed with the clothes they brought in. If she had ever doubted that Adnan was truly the sheikh of Nahr, the richness on display here dispelled those doubts. The clothes that the two women tossed around so casually were made of pure silk. The traditional garments were studded along the sleeves and the necklines with what looked like real gems.

Emily had never in her life been able to even touch garments like that before, and now she was being encouraged to try them on. At first, she did it simply because Bina and Masha were so insistent, but when she pulled on the first gown, she gasped.

Emily had always known that she was pretty enough, more likely to be called cute than beautiful. Now, she realized that had something to do with the clothes that she wore. She was cute when she was running around town in jeans and a T-shirt. When she was dressed in a sweeping traditional tunic embroidered with silk and set with sapphires, or a long sleeveless gown that clung to her like a second skin, she barely recognized herself.

“You two do amazing work,” she said, and the two women beamed.

“It is more that you are a lovely jewel that has always needed a fine setting,” declared Bina. “These are the clothes you should have been wearing all your life, the ones that suit you best. We will take your old clothes and throw them away; there is no reason to keep them at all.”

Seeing as those clothes had been given to her by slavers, she was more than happy to see the last of them. Still, a part of her could not really understand that the clothes were hers, even as she pulled on a lovely green tunic and trousers set. It was plain, but the quality of the silk and slight embroidery at the hems was obvious. When her hair was half-covered with a sheer scarf, she looked understated but enormously fashionable.

“All this so I can go home?” she wondered.

Just then, one of the bodyguards knocked on the door.

“Are you almost ready?” he asked politely. “The plane leaves in less than two hours, and I do not want you to be inconvenienced.”

“No, of course I will be ready,” she said. “Just…just let me get myself together…”

It wasn't like she had much to pack. Bina and Masha assured her that the rest of the clothes would be sent along, and she could simply walk out with what she was wearing.

When the bodyguard showed her to the waiting car, she realized with a sinking heart that Adnan wasn't going to show up. After what had passed between them, she could not say she was surprised, but a part of her couldn't believe it.

Twice in her life, he had had an unimaginable impact on who she was and what happened to her. The first time, he had appeared, caught her heart as easily as a man might pluck a flower from a field, and then disappeared. This time, he appeared, saved her from a dark fate, and…disappeared again, almost as quickly.

She thought wryly that perhaps the third time he would stay, but then she would have to have some serious bad luck to need his intervention again.

No, she told herself, this was for the best. He was a sheikh after all, and she was, well, a nobody. The passion that passed between them had been amazing for her, something she would remember for the rest of her life, but if she was honest with herself, it was likely just another day for him.

Emily decided that she was being very adult and very mature about it indeed, and she would even have been proud of herself if she could just stop crying. In the car, tears stung at her eyes, but the idea of losing her composure in front of the professional driver had helped her control them. She might not have had much dignity left to lose, but she had some of it. She had managed to restrain herself until she boarded the sleek little jet that was waiting at the private airfield.

There were only six seats on the jet, but there was still a smiling attendant who wanted to know if she needed anything or if she was hungry. When the woman retreated to her own private compartment on the plane, Emily finally let the tears fall. They began slowly at first, dripping from beneath her closed eyelashes. She was able to dab those away, but then, as if encouraged, they started to come faster and faster, until she was sobbing into the cloth napkin tucked into the side bin of her seat.

Emily barely noticed the plane start its run down the strip or when it finally gained the air. When she next looked out the window, she could see nothing but the clouds beneath her, nothing but the blue skies above her.

I am going home
, Emily thought, and she knew that she should be elated, but she felt a resounding emptiness in her where her heart should be.

Adnan
…

She loved him. She knew that now, but the knowledge brought her neither joy nor comfort. His would be the face that she held up at night, and it would be his charm, his strength, and his beauty that she used to judge other men.

Perhaps that was what stung the most, that he would be a permanent part of her mind and her heart when she had been such a temporary part of hers.

She shook her head. Emily knew that she had her entire future in front of her, and it did not contain Adnan. It would be better if she got used to that now.

Chapter Eleven

Emily's suspicions awoke after they landed in Nahr. She had expected that there would be a connecting flight that would get her back to the United States. Instead of being guided to a commercial flight, however, two suited men escorted to the parking lot, where a sleek black sedan was waiting for them.

“No, this is wrong,” she said in confusion. “I am meant to be going back to the United States.”

The men looked down at her politely, but there was nothing yielding about them.

“Our orders are to get you safely to the sheikh's residence at the Plaza,” one said, and from the serious way they looked at her, she could tell that they meant it.

“No,” she repeated, as if speaking more loudly and more clearly would help them understand. “I was kidnapped. I was sold. Sheikh Adnan…he rescued me. I am supposed to go back to America.”

The man speaking to her shook his head. “I am sorry. My orders come from the sheikh himself. He says that you are to be taken to his residence.”

Emily had shed so many tears over the plane trip that she could find no fresh ones for what came next. Instead, all she could find in her was rage.

“No,” she said, loudly enough for a passing group of businessmen to look up in concern. “No, I refuse. I am not leaving here unless it is to get on a plane that is going to take me back to the United States. I do not care what the sheikh says.”

The man looked pained.

“Then perhaps it is best that you speak to him about it,” he said, and in that moment, Emily understood that she could enter the car of her own free will, or she could be picked up and placed in it.

“Fine,” she said, forcing every bit of icy civility she could muster into the word. “I will.”

She got into the car with dignity, noting the driver's relief. He wasn't the one that she was angry with after all, and when she calmed down, Emily realized she didn't want to make his life harder. No, the one who had made this happen to her was Adnan, and when she got to the Plaza, wherever it was, she was going to demand answers.

At least, that was how it was supposed to go.

The Plaza turned out to be the tallest skyscraper in Nahr, a beautiful glass and steel monument to Nahr's prosperity. The lower levels were a riot of exclusive shops and boutiques, food vendors and purveyors of the rare and exotic. Above them were the most powerful businesses in Nahr, along with several government offices. Far above them was the two-story penthouse reserved exclusively for the sheikh's use.

As she traveled up the elevator, still under the watchful eye of a guard, Emily wasn't sure she had ever felt quite so much like an imposter. In her green silk ensemble, she looked like many of the other elegant shoppers that populated the Plaza, except for her blonde hair. She knew deep in her heart, however, that she was out of her element, completely lost in the midst of all the opulence. This was Adnan's world, not hers, so why had he brought her here?

No answers waited for her at the penthouse. Instead, when the elevator doors whooshed open, she realized quickly that Adnan wasn’t there. The guard took his leave, and all she could do was wander around the space in wonder. The enormous floor to ceiling windows of the living room looked out over the broad sweep of the city. The sky was already taking on a hint of lavender as the sun began its descent; she could tell that the sight would be spectacular.

Emily found a folded note with her name on it in the middle of the marble coffee table. For a moment, she only held it in her hands. It was as if everything lay under a deep spell, and the moment she read what the note had to say, it would all change.

Emily,

I wish I could be here to greet you, but unfortunately, business has called me to parliament. I have been remiss in my duties while I was in Mirago, and now I must attend to them again.

However, I will be free by eight this evening, and I will meet you at the Swan and Sword, a restaurant that has hosted members of my family since time out of mind. Bina and Masha tell me that you will have something to wear by that time. I am looking forward to seeing you in the beauty that you deserve.

I hunger for the sight of you.

—Adnan

Emily's eyes narrowed. The command was implied, but it was there. What was he playing at, keeping her in Nahr? Who did he think he was?

The answer was clear the moment the question formed in her head. He was the sheikh of Nahr, and she knew that here, in the city he ruled, no single voice could gainsay him.