The Duke's Runaway Princess (Love By Accident)

The Duke's Runaway Princess

by Elizabeth Lennox

Copyright ©2012 by Elizabeth Lennox

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

The lightning slashed across the black sky and Zarah grabbed hold of the wet railing, bracing herself for the next ocean wave. It came just as the thunder erupted with vibrations that she could actually feel and she bowed her head, praying that the wave wasn’t too large this time. The freezing cold rain was driving down onto the deck of the ship hard, feeling like needles against her skin and she couldn’t understand why her long sleeved shirt wasn’t protecting her more effectively. How had she gotten into this mess? How was she going to get out of it?

The wave of water crashed but it knocked her against the wooden railing of the ship. She had to ignore the pain tearing through her side, forcing her mind to focus on just surviving the storm. There was a door off to the side and she rushed towards it but it was locked! She tried to grab hold of the wheel of the ship, tried to steer out of this insane storm, but the waves and current were too strong and the downpour from the heavens made it difficult to see more than a couple of feet in front of her. The moment she tried to steer, the current ripped the wheel out of her hands, hurting her fingers. Looking around, she peered through the darkness, desperate to find something to protect her from this storm.

It was her own fault, she thought as she tripped her way towards the bow of the ship, wishing her legs would move faster. She had known that this storm was coming and she hadn’t done anything to avoid it. There were so many things she could have done to steer around this storm but she’d just sailed along, pretending it wasn’t coming.

Suddenly, she tripped and looked down, surprised by the coarse ropes that were wrapped around her ankles and the scrapes along her legs where the rough wood of the deck had torn her wet skin. How had she missed those huge rolls of ropes? Why hadn’t she walked around them?

Another wave was coming. More lightning slashed and the thunder boomed but she ignored those problems. The thing she feared the most was almost upon her and she told herself that the wave was the worst. She could deal with the thunder because it wouldn’t hurt her while the lightening was too far away at this point. The wave! She had to get out of the way! She had to find shelter or the wave would take her out to sea! Run faster! She tried to dash to safety but the rope was still tangled up around her legs, holding her back. Her numb fingers couldn’t unravel the rope from around her ankles and she kept glancing at the wave then to the rope that was now knotted to her legs. Panic filled her chest as she watched the wall of water build higher, the fear that she would be washed off the deck and drowned at sea terrified her. The wave was coming closer, closer….her fingers ripped at the knots but nothing would unravel them and the wave was almost upon her now!

Someone was coming! More lightning but it didn’t illuminate the man’s face. He was terrifying. Large and dark, coming directly towards her. Why wasn’t he affected by the storm? He seemed dry and he stepped over the ropes, not getting tangled up even though they were everywhere.

The wave! She could see the swell in the distance. It was coming faster! She had to find something to hold onto!

But it was too late. The swell rushed over the top of the ship and she hadn’t made it to the railing yet. She had nothing to hang onto and she felt the water wash over her, taking her with it out to sea.

And then it was all gone. Zarah sat up in bed, gasping for breath as her mind shifted away from the nightmare, trying to orient herself to the present and wakefulness. She looked around, confused because the storm…it had been so real! She squinted her eyes trying to figure out where she was and what had just happened. Her breathing was heavy as reality slowly returned. “It was just a dream,” she told herself, trying to calm her racing heartbeat and orient herself to her bedroom. Just a dream.

The doorbell rang.

She looked around, seeing the blanket wrapped around her ankles and she sighed, taking in deep, cleansing breaths to try and release the nightmare from her sluggish mind. She’d taken a nap after her last exam and now it was early evening.

The doorbell rang again, sounding more insistent.

Zarah looked at her watch and gasped. “Rashid!” she whispered and hurried out of her bedroom and over to the apartment door. Looking out through the peep hole, she saw her older brother, Rashid, and his wife, Sidra, standing outside. Rashid looked impatient as he reached for the doorbell again while Sidra simply looked concerned. Zarah wondered how long the two of them had been there but didn’t take the time to figure it out. The dream had muddled her mind and gave her an odd sense of time so she just pulled open the door and threw herself into her brother’s arms.

“Rashid! It’s so good to see you!”

She felt safe and secure in her brother’s strong arms. As sheik of her country, she knew he was extremely busy but he always made time for her, evidenced by the fact that he flew all the way to New York just to take her out to dinner. After hugging her brother, she spied her sister-in-law and grinned broadly. “Sidra, you look stunning, as usual,” she said as she put her hands on her sister-in-law’s growing stomach. “How far along is he?”

Sidra smiled and touched her stomach as well. “She,” Sidra replied, emphasizing the feminine pronoun, “is about five months along. We’re in the twenty-fourth week and she’s really starting to prance around.”

“Come in!” Zarah laughed. “I’m sorry, but I sincerely hope that this one is another boy. Believe me, you do not want to have a baby girl. Can you imagine Rashid with a girl? He’d never let her out of the palace!” She glanced at her older brother who was looking down at her with exasperation. “Trust me, I know. It took me years of arguing just to get him to let me go to school.”

“But you’re finished,” Rashid announced emphatically. “And you’re ready to come home. I’m very proud of you,” he said and kissed her on the top of Zarah’s head.

Zarah bit her lower lip, wondering when it would be a good time to bring up her suggestion regarding her future to her older brother. She knew what Rashid expected of her. She was to be married, become the wife of an important ally of Tasain, her home. Rashid was a very powerful man and she could help him by marrying someone who could give him support in either the region or on the international scene.

But she didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to become some man’s trophy wife or his political asset. Her older sister Isla had accepted her role as a female in their country but Zarah had always rebelled against their place. She wanted something more.

Although she had to admit that Isla was extremely happy with her current place. She was expecting their second child any day now and was still madly in love with her husband after several years of marriage.

Sidra noticed Zarah’s forlorn expression and glanced at her husband but he seemed to be more interested in his baby sister’s apartment. He was currently surveying the small space filled with well worn furniture, chipped plates on the shelves above the counter and a bookshelf that was propped up by broken pieces of wood to ensure that it didn’t topple over from the weight of all the books lining its shelves.

“Is this where you’ve been living all this time, Zarah?” he asked, his voice coming out as harsh and disapproving.

Zarah looked around and beamed with pride. “Yes. It’s been a great place to stay while I’ve been at school. My friends and I have had some great times here.”

Sidra laughed softly and put her hand in Rashid’s, squeezing to give him warning. “It looks like a fabulous apartment for a college student. Very comfortable and conducive to great study time. Doesn’t it?” she asked her glowering husband who obviously didn’t approve of his baby sister living in anything lower than the fabulously decorated condominium he’d bought for her several years ago.

Zarah seemed to glow with Sidra’s approval and Rashid quickly caught on. “Yes. I’m sure it’s favorable to a great deal of concentration.” He sighed and put his arm around his wife. “Do you still have time for dinner tonight?” he asked, refusing to look at the tiny apartment and the contents that might be better off in a trash heap that in his baby sister’s apartment. She was a princess! She shouldn’t be living in a closet and wearing a tee shirt and jeans, regardless of her student status. Besides, her exams were now over, her thesis paper had been approved with high praise from her professors and she should be packing up to move back home.

Zarah nodded eagerly. “For you? I’m always available for dinner. Let me go change.”

Rashid watched carefully as his sister walked through one of two other doors in the apartment. Sidra watched him watching her and her concern grew. As soon as Zarah had disappeared behind her bedroom door, she turned to face him, her eyes looking up into his concerned features. “What’s wrong?” she asked, placing a gentle hand on his chest to get his attention.

Rashid looked down into his beautiful wife’s face and sighed. “She’s going to fight it.”

Sidra nodded, sadness growing in her eyes because she didn’t want her husband to go through the confrontation she knew was brewing with his baby sister. “I know.” She put a hand to his cheek to comfort him and he covered her hand with his larger one.

“She can’t.”

“She will.” She smiled gently, praying that it wouldn’t tear him up too harshly. He was strong and knew how to handle his family. And she’d be there for him the whole way.

He pulled her closer and gently hugged her, mindful of her protruding stomach. “Any ideas on how to change her mind?”

Sidra laughed and hugged him back. “Personally, I wouldn’t even try. But I didn’t grow up in Tasain so I’m not as close to the culture as she is.”

“She knows what her role is. We can’t fight it.”

She stood up on tip toe and kissed his jaw. “Do you have a groom in mind?”

Rashid shook his head. “Several men have asked for her. But I haven’t responded. I wanted to put the names to her and let her decide.”

Sidra glanced over at the closed door. “And what if she rejects all of them?”

His face hardened. “Then I’ll choose the one that can protect her the best.”

She knew that was coming, but it still made her heart ache that he would have to make that kind of a decision. Sidra didn’t fully understand his position, but she trusted him to do the right thing.

Inside her bedroom, Zarah leaned against the door, her stomach churning with the conversation her brother and sister-in-law were having on the other side of the paper thin door. Several men had already asked for her? Who were they? And how long did she have to decide? Would Rashid take her preferences into consideration? Or would he choose the one he wanted even after she’d met all of them?

She had so many friends from classes and various activities, all of them were dating and having a grand old time. She’d been on a few dates, but no man had piqued her interest so far. She supposed that she couldn’t imagine being with a man who wasn’t as strong and powerful as her father was, or her brother currently is. They were both physically imposing men with a brilliant intelligence and a great sense of humor. The men she’d met here in New York were smaller and shorter than her father and brother by several inches and none had the muscles she was used to in a man. Having been raised in the palace, surrounded by body guards and her brother or father, she had high standards for men and so far, none that she’d met had lived up to those expectations.

And now her brother was going to sell her off to any man who could protect her adequately? What exactly did that mean? She could protect herself! She didn’t need a man to do that. She was strong, capable, intelligent! She could damn well make it through this world on her own.

Opening her closet, she surveyed the clothes hanging to one side. There were two sides to her wardrobe. The majority of the clothes were jeans and tee-shirts, things she could wear to class and blend in with the rest of the student population. The other side had less outfits, but they were still just as useful. Hanging to the back and covered with plastic covers were her “princess” clothes. They were designed and tailored especially for her, with matching accessories and shoes. She pulled out a soft, purple dress from this side of her closet, grabbing the shoe box which contained the appropriate shoes. She had to keep them in boxes because of the dust that accumulated due to the lack of use. It wasn’t very often that her brother would come to New York to visit with her. More often, she flew home for significant events and she had other clothes there which she could wear for those occasions.

It took her less than ten minutes to change into the sophisticated dress, slip on her purple, Prada shoes and wind her long, black hair into a twist at the base of her neck. Adding a pair of diamond earrings, a bit of lipstick and she was set. At the last minute, she added mascara and powder, but only because Rashid would expect her to look nothing less than her best when they were out in public. There was always the risk of the press when they were outside of Tasain and she didn’t want to embarrass her brother by looking even slightly dowdy. She also knew that the cameras tended to make her look pale and sickly if she didn’t have just a small touch of makeup on and she’d rather not have the paparazzi assuming she was falling ill with a deathly disease and all the silly speculations that came with that conjecture.