The Sheik's Baby Surprise (11 page)

Jina almost danced down the hallway, too excited as she felt the weight of the ring on her finger.  If someone had told her three months ago that she would be dancing down the hallways of a palace, engaged to marry a man like Malik, she would have laughed and dismissed the possibility.  It was simply too farfetched! 

But here she was and all of her dreams were coming true.  It was too fabulous to be real!  Malik loved her and she couldn’t believe how much she loved him.  It was almost like a dream…but not a dream!  Her memories of this morning, of the way Malik had woken her up, couldn’t be a dream.  She had never been capable of dreaming anything so wildly sensuous before meeting this man. 

“Food!” she gasped.  “I need food!”

She turned to the right versus to the left, heading for the dining room instead of the library where she’d been spending most of her time during the days.  She was teaching herself Arabic and loved every nuance of the exotic language.  She’d understood a bit of the language before, but now she was really getting into the details, the subtleties of the words.  Thankfully, languages had always come easily to her and, although Arabic was significantly different from French or Spanish, the basic rules generally applied across most languages.  The trick was to learn the idiomatic phrases that were more a part of culture than they were an aspect of grammar. 

As soon as she entered the dining room, she reared back.  The smell!  Good grief, the smell of coffee was too strong!  It was making her stomach churn! 

Turning around, she hurried back where she’d come from, not wanting to smell even a hint of coffee. 

Wow!  Apparently, she hadn’t become quite as acclimated to the stronger brew as she’d thought!  Never before had she had that kind of a reaction to not just the smell of coffee but the richness of the Arabic blend was much stronger than what she was used to. 

Sighing, she realized that her appetite was completely gone.  So instead of grabbing a bite to eat, she headed to the library, eager to start her studies again.

After about an hour of studying, Jina felt the headache start to build.  No caffeine, she thought with resignation.  Maybe a soda would help?  But she really wanted a cup of coffee.  She wasn’t a big fan of sodas. 

Standing up and stretching cramped muscles, she looked around and wondered if there was a way to have coffee delivered here instead of walking all the way back to the dining room.  She suddenly felt exhausted.  She almost laughed at how silly that thought was but, at the same time, she truly was wiped out even though she hadn’t done much other than study. 

Glancing at her watch, she realized that she’d been awake for less than two hours.  Why was she so…?

Jina shook her head.  “Of course,” she whispered even as she packed up the books and carried them out the door.  “No coffee and very little sleep.  What did you expect, gal?” she asked herself. 

“Sorry,” she said when the bodyguard that had been assigned to her looked at her curiously.  “I was just going to head towards the dining room for some coffee,” she told the man.

His only response was to bow slightly and wait for her to precede him. 

Feeling awkward because the man seemed to just be standing around, waiting for her to move, she smiled up at him as an apology.  “This is going to take a bit of getting used to,’ she told the man.  But again, his only response was a slight inclination of his head.  “Got it,” she said, tapping her stack of books with her thumb.  “Dining room.  Off we go,” she said, almost as if to herself but it really was for the benefit of the guard. 

The dining room had already been cleared of breakfast foods but there was a small, silver urn filled with coffee sitting on the side table.  Walking over to the pot, she carefully approached, wary of feeling sick again as she had this morning. 

Carefully, she poured the coffee into the cup, relieved when her stomach didn’t start churning again.  Taking a small sip though, made her almost wretch and she set the cup down with a crash.  The hot coffee spilled out over the rim and she stepped back, not sure what was happening to her. 

“Is everything okay, my lady?” one of the dining room servants asked, appearing suddenly at her side.

Jina was too busy covering her nose with her hand to answer.  Lifting up her palm, she nodded her head, trying to convey that she was okay even when she didn’t feel okay.  She definitely was not okay! 

Walking out of the dining room, she hurried down the hallway, forgetting all of the books she’d brought to continue studying.  She couldn’t help it, her mind was focused only on getting away from that smell.

She hurried down the hallway, pushing through the doorway of the suite she was sharing with Malik and, before she could stop herself, she was falling onto the bed.  Jina wasn’t even aware of her head hitting the pillow before she fell asleep. 

When she woke up again, her hands covered her stomach as the hunger pains hit her hard.  Glancing at her watch, she was shocked to find that she’d slept for four hours!  She never napped during the day!  Even when she worked with clients on assignments that lasted well into the night, she still wasn’t able to nap during the day.  She’d always just thought it wasn’t in her nature.

“You’re awake!” Malik snapped, coming over to her and looking angrier than she’d ever thought possible.

Jina cringed back at the look of fury in his eyes.  “I’m so sorry!  Was I supposed to meet you for lunch?” she asked, trying to sit up but the dizziness was making her more than a little wobbly. 

Malik looked down at the woman who had snuck into his heart, furious that she wasn’t feeling well but not sure how to help her when she was still trying to hide that trouble from him.  “What’s wrong?  Why have you not eaten and why have you fallen asleep?”

Jina pushed herself up to a sitting position and inched back against the soft pillows.  “I can’t believe you are asking me that,” she commented with a self-conscious laugh. 

His only response was to lift his dark eyebrows, silently demanding an explanation. 

She shrugged, becoming irritated with his demands.  “Are you really going to interrogate me about my sleeping habits when you have kept me up all night, for several nights?” she demanded, standing up and coming towards him. 

“Yes,” he snapped right back.  His eyes noted her pale complexion and the fatigue that was still around her eyes.  “You are not well, Jina.  You haven’t been taking care of yourself.”

“I’m fine,” she promised, her tone softening when she saw genuine concern in his eyes. 

He continued to look at her, then shook his head. “You are not fine.  You will stay in bed today.”

Her eyes lit up and her body started singing that song that it always crooned when Malik was close by.  “Promise?’ she asked, laughing softly when she noticed his own body respond. 

Malik groaned, rolling his eyes because, just the thought of her desire made him want her even more.  “You will stay in bed alone,” he told her, even as he pulled her closer to him, gently wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. 

“I don’t want to be alone,” she replied, lifting her face and breathing in the wonderful scent of the man.  Brazenly, she kissed the warm skin of his neck and smiled when she felt the rumble of a groan in his chest. 

“No, Jina.  You need sleep.”

“I just woke up,” she told him, letting her tongue dash out to taste him. 

She felt his hands tighten on her upper arms and smiled, knowing that she’d won.  So when he pushed her away with a shake of his head, she was almost painfully disappointed.  “No.  You’re going to take another nap to get rid of those dark circles under your eyes and, hopefully, that will add more color to your pale skin.”

Jina glared up at him, irritated.  But then the headache that had been bothering her all morning because she hadn’t had any coffee pushed more into her consciousness.  Her hand came up, pressing against her temple. 

“What’s wrong?” he demanded.

Jina shook her head, not wanting to worry him.  “Nothing.  I just haven’t had any coffee yet so I have a caffeine headache.”

His hand went to her chin, tilting her head so that he could study her features more carefully.  “Why didn’t you have any coffee this morning?” he demanded. 

Jina saw the worry in his eyes and it hurt her to know that he was worried.  She pushed the pain away and smiled up at him, trying to reassure him that she was fine.  “I was studying your language,” she told him, which was only partly true.  “I want to learn to speak it more elegantly before we are married.”

His eyebrows popped up with her explanation.  “I will endeavor to teach you.”

Jina heard the suggestion in his voice and her heart rate accelerated.  She looked into his eyes, her whole body coming alive.  “Now?” she asked, holding her breath. 

Malik only chuckled.  “No.  Now you will sleep.  I will bring dinner here tonight.”  He laughed again at her frown.  “Sleep, my love.  We will be married in one month and then we’ll have two weeks alone.”

Jina sighed with delight.  “Promise?” she asked him, pressing her nose against his chest and inhaling his wonderful smell.  She couldn’t get enough of him, she thought.  She’d gone from a prim, prude translator of romance languages to a hussy who couldn’t get enough of her fiancé. 

“Promise,” he assured her.  “I have to go,” he told her, pulling out of her arms gently.  “Get more sleep.”

Jina watched him walk out of the room and smiled.  She knew that man and he wanted her.  He was just trying to be kind with her.  Such a sweet, gentle man, she thought. 

But she really wasn’t tired.  Not anymore.  The headache was a problem and she went into Malik’s bathroom, finding some over the counter painkillers.  Hopefully they would kick in and ease the pain quickly. 

She found the books she’d been studying earlier, now stacked in the sitting room of Malik’s suite and she pulled them over to a table, settling in to study. 

“You must leave the palace,” a strange voice said from behind her. 

Jina lifted her head and looked around.  Had she just imagined that voice?

“Get out, and he’ll be safe,” the voice said again. 

A moment later, an envelope slid out from under the chair on which she’d been sitting, stopping right under her foot. 

Jina yanked her foot away, startled by the voice and the unexpected movement.  “What is this?” she demanded, looking down at the plain, manila envelope but not picking it up.  Her stomach was churning at whatever might be inside that package.  She knew that she didn’t want to see whatever it was.  She didn’t even want to touch it!

“This is your only warning.  If you’re not out of the palace by the end of the week…”

Jina waited, swiveling her head around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from.  But each time she thought she’d found the source, the voice would come from another direction. 

She was trembling now, genuinely terrified and not sure what she should do.  “Who are you?” she demanded, trying to sound confident but her voice quivered, giving away her fear.  “Why are you doing this?” she asked desperately.

Nothing.  No sound.  Not even a slight shuffling of feet to indicate someone had scampered away. 

When there were no other instructions, she looked down at the envelope.  She had to see what was inside, even though she instinctively knew that she wouldn’t like it. 

Her fingers were shaking as she opened the flap and peered into the package.  There were only a few sheets of paper.  Pulling them out, she realized that they weren’t papers, they were…

Gasping, she dropped the pictures onto the table in front of her and scooted back, reacting as if the pictures were a spider or snake.  They weren’t alive, but the images burned into her eyes, making her heart stop beating.  And then racing forward, speeding and feeling like her heart might just burst out of her chest.

“No!” she cried, her fingers shaking as she looked at the images.  “Please no!”

The first one was a picture of Malik in his office and, in the background, she could see the hazy shape of a gun through an ornate screen.  She knew that screen!  She’d been in Malik’s office just yesterday and had commented on it.  The workmanship was exceptionally good and she’d run her fingers over the ironwork.  She had no idea that an assassin could be hiding behind that screen! 

The next picture was of Malik out riding his horse but, as she looked more closely, the image was captured through the scope of a rifle!  With Malik in the crosshairs.  “No!” she cried out, flipping the picture to the ground. 

She was afraid to look at the third picture but she forced herself to review it, afraid not to.  Sure enough, it was another of Malik and he was in the dining room.  This time, there wasn’t a gun anywhere in sight but there was a hand holding a pill.  It was just a small pill and if someone hadn’t been courteous enough to write “cyanide” on the picture, she wouldn’t have known what it was.  The implication was that someone was willing to poison Malik. 

Looking at the three pictures, she actually had trouble breathing for several moments.  And then, it was a race to the bathroom where she threw up.  Since there was nothing in her stomach, having skipped breakfast and lunch, there was only the small glass of water and the acid that burned her throat as her stomach continued to churn.