Sheikh's Purchased Princess (15 page)

Chapter Fourteen

After that, their days fell into a pattern. At night, they would make love, and perhaps in the morning, they would eat breakfast together. Then Adnan would leave, and in the evening, perhaps they would attend some sort of event together.

The first time Emily found herself in the newspaper, glowing like a star on Adnan's arm, she felt a sting of panic.

“They can't print this,” she said, agitated. “I never said that they could!”

Adnan glanced at it over his breakfast and shrugged.

“They can, actually, since it’s the newspaper. I am a public figure, and that makes me—and by extension you—newsworthy. In general, my family has been on good terms with that photographer and that publication. I can request it be retracted, but I fail to see the reason to do so.”

Emily looked at the picture—she was looking at something Adnan was pointing at, a slight smile on her face. The caption at the bottom called her “the sheikh's entrancing new companion,” a phrase that made her strangely anxious.

“They like you,” Adnan said, brushing the matter aside. “Right now, everyone is excited to see who I am keeping company with. It'll die down eventually.”

She bit her lip. The picture felt like a lie, she finally decided. In it, they looked like a carefree couple out for a night on the town. That was technically true, but it didn't tell the whole story—of her kidnapping and Adnan's rescue or heroism. She would have swept it aside if Adnan hadn't mentioned one more thing.

“Honestly, they are probably excited to have anything exciting to print about me.”

“Oh? The fact that you do desert rescues isn't enough?” she teased.

He laughed. “That's old news as far as Nahr is concerned,” he said with a wry grin. “I've been doing that sort of thing since I was twenty. No, they're excited that I am stepping out with a woman again. I had a bit of a reputation, but after my father died…well, it simply seemed less important.”

Emily blinked. She had somehow formed the impression that Adnan was some kind of playboy. He certainly had the lifestyle to warrant it, but when she thought about it, she had seen no signs that he was eager to return to the nightlife she imagined he had.

“So tell me,” she said, striving to keep her voice casual. “How many women have you had here?”

“None,” he said immediately, and then he hesitated, as if afraid that he had revealed too much. “You are the first to come here.”

Emily didn't understand the surge of pleasure and relief inside her, while at the same time understanding it far too well. She supposed that it was natural for a woman to want to be special; it was only that with a man like Adnan, it seemed the height of folly to expect it. He was a man with the world in the palm of his hand, and she had already seen the way that women looked at him when they were out in the world.

As she was thinking, Adnan rose from his seat and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead as he passed by.

“Never doubt how special you are to me,” he whispered, as he left the penthouse.

Emily wished that she could be sure of anything. The end of the month was coming up faster than she would have thought, and at the end of it, the two of them had a decision to make. What would happen then? Did they know each other well enough? What had they learned?

All Emily had learned was that with every passing day, she was growing to love Adnan more and more. It was more than just the passion between them that could be ignited at the briefest touch. It was more than his good looks or his generosity. There was a primal pull between them. It was the way that no matter how crowded the venue, she could look up and know exactly where Adnan was in the room. It was the way he touched her, sweet and gentle even when they were too worn out to continue their play.

Emily put it out of her mind. The doubt and the fear was going to be there no matter what, and if she focused on them too much, she would simply ruin the time she had to spend with him. Deep in her heart, she knew that there was no way he would choose to stay with a little nobody from Queens. She needed to enjoy this strange time in her life while she could, cherishing the moments that she had with Adnan. For the moment, for the precious moment, he was her man, and that was enough.

***

That night, Adnan came in and found Emily carefully cutting out the newspaper picture.

“If you want a better print of it, I'm sure we can get one,” he mentioned, and she smiled at him, a thing that still managed to make his heart beat faster.

“No, there's no need,” she said. “There's always the digital archive if I want to make a better print when I get home. I…just wanted something solid, something real, that I could keep for now.”

He nodded as if he understood, but her words stuck with him that entire evening, through the dinner they shared and the play they went to see. When she rose up on tiptoes to kiss him, he returned the kiss, but pulled back. It felt strange in the extreme to pull back from her, and he could tell from the confusion in her eyes that she wasn't sure what was going on.

“Things have been fraught at parliament,” he explained. “I have a little too much on my mind to be much use to you right now.”

The smile she gave him was wry and understanding. “You could be wrapped up in work for the next fifteen years and I would still have plenty of use for you,” she said, “But I understand. Let's turn in early, okay?”

When she slept, she looked like an angel, curled up so trustingly in his arms. He should be sleeping as well, but something kept him from it. He couldn't get her words—“when I get home”—out of his head.

No matter what he did or what he offered, Nahr would never be her home, not really. She was still looking forward to returning to Queens at the end of the month.

He told himself that it didn't matter, that it had been likely that this was exactly how things were going to turn out from the beginning. They would discover that they were incompatible in every way, or perhaps they would simply grow tired of each other.

He had not expected his life to change so much upon having her in it, though. Everything looked brighter, and everything was somehow more vivid when she was around. The fact that she didn’t feel the same way was more devastating than he would have believed.

He’d told himself at the beginning that no matter what, more time with Emily could never be wasted, but now that it seemed that time was drawing to a close, he could feel despair lurking around the corner, waiting to pounce.

Chapter Fifteen

Emily would have had to be a fool not to realize the change that had come over Adnan. He was away more than ever, and when he did deign to appear, he was often absent minded, as if he wished he were anywhere but here with her. While part of her was saddened by this development, the rest of her was merely resigned.

It was natural that he would lose interest, that he would realize that even spending a month with her as his sole companion would be too long. However, a prideful part of her resented him showing it so obviously.

If he truly wanted this to be over, he could just send me home early,
she thought mutinously.
There's nothing stopping him.

Once or twice, she toyed with the idea of asking to be sent home, money or no. It would spare her the last few weeks of lingering doubt and anxiety. It would show him that she was not someone who could be toyed with, strung along until he felt like coming to play with her.

No matter how much her heart hurt, though, she could not take the step to end things, not when her spirits still leapt when she saw him. Instead, she tried to ignore the sinking in her soul and focused on the pleasure they still took in each other, the smiles and the touches even when it felt as if he was drawing away.

The problem was that it didn't always feel as if he were drawing away.

Sometimes, when he came home, he would be absent and preoccupied, but other times, he would seize her up in his arms, kissing her as if he hadn't seen her for years. The passion running through him then made her heart beat like mad and she would think, no, she could never do without it.

Sometimes, after being absent for most of the night, he would suddenly come to her, pulling her up in a storm of passion that left her sobbing with need and pleasure. It was something that she could never predict, never quite anticipate, but whenever it happened, she gave herself up to it entirely, needing him in a way that went deeper than her skin, deeper than her heart.

It hurt so much to think of a time when she would no longer have him; the pleasure was becoming its own strange source of pain. There was nothing better in all the world than being in his arms, but she knew in her heart that sooner or later it would end.

One night, when they were getting their breath back, Emily couldn't stop herself from bursting into tears. Alarmed, Adnan gathered her into his arms, soothing her with sweet words and gentle kisses, but it was almost an hour before she could calm herself.

“What's the matter?” he asked while she was drinking some water. “What's troubling you, little one?”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him, to beg him to either let her go or keep her, but something held her back. She felt as if she were caught between a whirlpool and a dangerous cliff side—no matter which direction she went, she would be destroyed.

Instead, she only shook her head, coming to rest against his side. He gathered her against his body as if they would sleep that way every single night after that, and Emily had to fight another pang that went through her.

“I think I'm just tired,” she said softly. “I feel as if I've not been getting much rest lately.”

She could tell that Adnan was still troubled. A subtle tension ran through him that she could now read as clear as day. He only nodded, however, planting another kiss on her forehead.

“You should sleep in tomorrow,” he decided. “Perhaps I will take a half day and come back to check on you.”

“I would like that,” she said honestly.

Neither of them talked about how few days there were left in the month, or what would come after that.

***

Emily could tell that Adnan was tense the moment she walked into the dining room. He only glanced at her for a moment before returning his attention to the files in front of him.

The oppressive silence persisted even as the servants brought in the first course, and Emily had to take a deep breath before she could broach it.

“You don't look happy,” she said, and she was struck by how surprised he looked when he glanced at her. It was as if he had forgotten her very presence.

“I am very concerned with some things going on at parliament,” he replied, but instead of expounding on those things, he sank into silence again.

“If you told me about those things, perhaps I could help you,” she said patiently, and this time, there was a flicker of irritation in his eyes as he glanced at her again.

“This is a fairly complicated matter,” he responded, and Emily felt a prickle of irritation run through her.

“Is it an emergency?” she asked, and he didn't even look up when he said no.

“All right then, it's time to put it down,” Emily said, putting a great deal of firmness into her voice. “At the very least, stop and really taste your food. We're meant to be going to the museum gala this evening, and I do not think that it will feed us more than hors d’oeuvres.”

The look he shot her was positively withering. “Do you know how much like a nagging wife you sound?” he sneered. “There are things that are much more important than dinner or some damned gala.”

Emily stood up from the table so fast that her silverware rattled against the china. It startled Adnan, who looked up at her with shock and surprise.

Good,
she thought.
I should at least be able to surprise him from time to time.

“You are a fool with your head screwed on backwards,” she told him, “and I don't know what part of the bargain gives you the right to treat me like the help, but I am telling you right now that I did not agree to that.

“I am going to eat in my room. At seven, the car will pull around to take
me
to the gala, and you are certainly welcome. However, if you are not interested, then by all means simply stay here and brood, if you think that is the best course. I certainly won't miss you, not if you are like this.”

Before she could hear what kind of cutting response he might make to that, she swept out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Her heart raced, and she felt her face flame.

It didn't matter what Adnan did or didn't do, she decided. The important thing was that she told him what was on her mind.

If he thinks that I was going to be a cowering little slave who allowed him to lead in all things, he is very, very wrong,
she thought to herself.

In the resounding silence after Emily made her exit, Adnan finally shook his head and began to laugh.

When he had come home from the parliament building, he had been walking under a dark cloud, feeling as if the world was a shut door. With just a few carefully placed words, however, Emily had drawn him out and put him soundly in his place.

For a girl from another country who had been bought and sold, her spirit was incomparable, and Adnan realized that if he didn't enjoy it, he would be missing out.

He’d had every intention of skipping the gala this evening. As it was, there were still a few things he wanted to take care of before he left. If his charming Emily was going to be there, however, he couldn't bring himself to deprive her of an escort.

No, he would go. At the very least, it should prove interesting.

Chapter Sixteen

The museum gala was a star-studded event, and when Emily stepped out of the car onto the red carpet, a dozen photographers' bulbs flashed in her direction. It left her dazzled, and after her rather grim ride to the event, oddly giddy.

She had hoped against hope that Adnan would come, even holding the car for an extra fifteen minutes, but as the minutes ticked by and he still hadn't appeared, she had finally had to concede defeat and head to the museum alone.