The Sheik's Baby Surprise (12 page)

When she finally regained some control of her stomach, she wiped her mouth with a cool washcloth.  Unfortunately, that was the end of her control.  Her knees gave out on her and she curled up into a ball on the marble floor of the bathroom, so stunned and terrified for Malik’s life that she couldn’t think properly. 

Jina had no idea how long she sat there on the cold, bathroom floor.  It might have been minutes or hours, she couldn’t determine.  All she knew was that Malik was in danger and she had no way to stop someone from hurting him.  The pictures obviously were someone’s way of telling her that they could kill Malik any way and anytime the culprit chose and her heart ached with the pain of someone hurting him.  She couldn’t imagine a world where Malik wasn’t in it!  Goodness, just a few months ago, she hadn’t even known the man existed, he hadn’t meant anything to her other than as a ruler to a country she’d never visited and never planned to visit.  Now he was her life!  He meant the world to her and she couldn’t let anyone hurt him! 

There was a rustling noise out in the sitting room and Jina scrambled off of the floor.  She splashed cold water on her face and moved out of the bathroom.  She didn’t want Malik to see her like this!

Oh no!  The pictures!  They were still laying on the table in the sitting room! 

Stepping into the bedroom, she caught Malik a moment before he stepped into his dressing room.  “You aren’t sleeping,” he cajoled as he pulled his tie loose and disappeared.

Jina watched him for a long moment before her eyes darted to the doorway.  Rushing out of the bedroom, she found the pictures and shoved them back into the envelope, hiding everything under the cushion of the sofa. 

She’d just finished hiding the horrible pictures when Malik stepped into the doorway, minus his shirt and tie.  “What are you doing?” he asked, looking at her curiously. 

Jina shook her head, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation since her fear for this man’s life was choking her. 

Malik walked over to her, looking at her pale features.  “You didn’t sleep at all this afternoon, did you?” he asked, worried about her.  Something was very wrong.  She looked like she was about to pass out on him at any moment and her eyes were wide, almost as if…

His body tensed with the fear in her eyes.  “You’re scared about something.  What happened today?  Did someone say something to you?  Did someone hurt you?”

Jina’s mouth opened and closed, not sure how to respond to him.  She couldn’t lie to him.  He always knew when she was lying.  But in this case, she had to!  His life depended on it. 

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to smile, trying to appear calm and relaxed.  “No.  No one has said anything to me.  I’ve been here in your suite all day, just studying and lazing around.”

His eyes narrowed on her but, after several moments, he accepted her statement.  “You didn’t leave for any reason?” he asked.

Jina shook her head.  “I haven’t even peered outside the doorway,” she promised.  And that definitely wasn’t a lie.  She’d been curled up in a terrified ball for…well, she had no idea how long.

“I ordered dinner to be served here.”

Jina’s heart melted with love for this man.  He was so kind and generous and trying hard to protect her from something he couldn’t understand.  She couldn’t explain it to him either because she didn’t understand it herself.  All she knew was that someone was trying to kill this man and she wasn’t going to let it happen.  Not if she could do something about it.

Malik walked into the bathroom and she heard the shower start up.  She bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do.  What had the voice said?  Get out of the palace or something along those lines.  She wasn’t exactly sure now.  The whole afternoon seemed like a nightmare, one that she couldn’t really decipher a beginning or end to. 

When she heard him in the shower, she grabbed the pictures and hid them in the closet, worried that he’d suspected something.  She was about to hide them in another place when she heard the water shut off. 

Pacing back and forth, she bit the end of her thumb, trying to figure out how to save Malik.  She’d have to leave.  That was an absolute.  She’d just leave the palace, go home and pretend she wasn’t madly in love with the man.  Pretend that her world wasn’t destroyed by her departure. 

She wished she could say that he wasn’t the man of her dreams, but he really was.  Oh, he was nothing like the man she’d dreamed she would eventually marry when she was younger.  That man was softer, less powerful and so much less of a man than Malik.  No, the men she’d come into contact with over the years were so dramatically different from Malik.  She knew that she’d never find another like him. 

And her whole body ached because, in her heart, she knew she’d never want to find another man like Malik.  She didn’t want another man, she wanted him.  She wanted this man!  She’d fought him so hard at first.  For those first few days, she’d been determined to not become involved with the man. 

Goodness, how easily she’d fallen into his arms!  Just one pair of shoes!  Those dratted shoes!  She should have returned them that first night.  She should have dumped them into the trash bin and never looked at them again.

Of course, they were sitting in the closet right now.  The closet that had her own clothes intermingled with his.  Exactly how she wanted her life to be. 

But she wouldn’t risk his life.  Not even for her own happiness.  She loved that man.  More than she wanted happiness, she needed Malik to be alive.  Even if she couldn’t have him, she needed to know that he was here in this world. 

And he was a good leader!  He genuinely cared about his people!  He worked hard to make sure that they had a good life, a fair playing field in which to work and he was honest, believing in the governmental systems but not trusting them.  He went to great pains to make sure that the employees who served the people were well taken care of.

So she had to leave.  She had to get out of here. 

When Malik emerged from the bathroom, he was wearing only a towel around his waist while he rubbed his hair with another one.  And he looked amazing!  All those muscles covering his tall body.  She was mesmerized!

Okay, so she couldn’t have him in her life.  But she could have him tonight!  She could make love to him with all of her heart and all of her soul.  She wanted this man.  She loved him!  And this was her one last night with him. 

She’d leave the palace if it meant keeping him safe.  But she would add a few memories to savor on those long nights when she’d be alone and lonely.  Because no other man could take his place in her heart.  Or in her life. 

Walking over to him, she placed her hands on his chest, gaining his full attention.  Kissing the middle of his chest, she slowly lowered herself until she was on her knees in front of him.  When she took him into her mouth, she heard his hiss and a moment later, his hands dove into her hair.  From past experience, she knew that his head would be back and his eyes closed so she looked up at him and was so turned on when she realized that he was actually looking down at her, not up at the ceiling or at nothing.  His eyes were on her, doing this to him, and that dark look made her increase her efforts.  She had done this before, but she was never sure if she was doing it correctly but he seemed to like it.  And his enjoyment made her body throb with awareness of her feminine power. 

“Jina!” he roared after only a few minutes.  His hands lifted her up but he didn’t stop with her standing there.  He continued until she was in his arms and she wrapped her legs around his waist.  He laid her on the bed and quickly stripped her clothes off of her.  Then it was her turn to hiss as he impaled her body on his erection. 

“Why?” he growled but didn’t care at this point in time.  He shifted his focus from trying to get an answer from her to making sure that she was feeling just as much pleasure as he was. 

When Jina splintered apart in his arms, she felt the tears in her eyes and couldn’t hold them back.  So instead, she buried her face in the wonderful curve of his neck, hiding her sorrow from this man that she loved so intensely that it was almost a physical need to be with him. 

A long time later, he pulled away slightly.  “You okay?” he asked gently when he could finally breathe. 

Jina laughed.  “Yes.  I’m fine,” she replied, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes so that he wouldn’t worry. 

But there was nothing this man didn’t see.  “You were crying!” he noticed and pulled back.  “I hurt you!  Dammit Jina!  I’m so sorry!”

Jina laughed and put her arms around his waist, pulling him back to her.  “You didn’t hurt me.  Just the opposite.  You give me so much pleasure, it is all I need.”  And she kissed the middle of his chest again.

Malik shook his head.  “You need food, love,” he told her.  Pulling back, he used his thumb to wipe away the newest tears.  “You haven’t eaten all day.  Pull on something simple and I’ll call the servants.  I ordered food to be brought here tonight so we can be alone.”

Jina smiled weakly.   “That sounds wonderful.  Thank you for thinking of it.”

She pulled out of his arms slowly, savoring each touch of his rougher skin against hers, loving the way he felt so close to her when they were both completely naked.  With regret, she walked into his closet and pulled down a silk robe, wrapping it around her with a sigh.  She really was hungry, she supposed.  But she’d rather forgo food in order to be in his arms. 

But he was already lifting the phone, saying something into the receiver.  He glanced in her direction as she came out of the dressing room and, when he noticed she had a robe on, he gave the order to bring in the food.  Seconds later, servants appeared through a secondary door and set up a pretty table filled with various foods, then disappeared once again. 

Jina chuckled at that kind of service.  “You have a charmed life, Malik,” she said as she sat down in the chair he pulled out for her. 

Taking the seat, Jina opened the folded napkin and placed it on her lap.  “What’s for dinner?” she asked, always curious.  The palace chef was amazing, cooking up elaborate meals for Malik, and her, every night.  Malik took off the covers and filled her plate with all of the delicacies.  “Eat!” he ordered and sat down across from her, filling his plate even more. 

Jina didn’t argue.  With the smell of food, she realized that she truly was hungry now that her stomach wasn’t upset.  As they talked about everything and nothing, she devoured more than half the food he’d piled onto her plate, then sat back in her chair, feeling significantly better.  The wine was excellent, the food outstanding and she loved listening to him talk about the issues facing him each day. 

So when he stood up and pulled her into his arms, she didn’t hesitate.  She moved with him to the bed, knowing that this was her last few hours with him. 

And even after they’d made love again, she still couldn’t sleep, too afraid that someone would come to him in the night and hurt him.  The pictures showed that, whoever was trying to hurt Malik, could easily get to him.  She knew that there were guards outside of the suite, but she still stayed awake, worried that she hadn’t left fast enough to save his life.  Throughout the night, she beat herself up mentally because she’d been so selfish about wanting one more night with him.  It had been wrong!  She should have left the palace immediately.  So when the morning light filtered through the curtains, and Malik was still alive, she breathed a sigh of relief. 

He slipped out of bed, just like he did almost every morning, and she pretended to be asleep.  She felt his gentle kiss on her bare shoulder, knew the moment that the shower turned on and off, heard him rustling about in the room, careful not to wake her up.  By rights, she should be exhausted.  But the possibility of someone hurting this man, simply because she was still with him, kept her awake and terrified for his safety. 

When the door clicked shut, she threw off the covers and raced into the bathroom.  She showered as quickly as possible, dried off and hurried into the dressing room.  Pulling down her suitcase, she loaded her own clothes, leaving all of the fabulous outfits he’d purchased for her.  She loved every one of them because she loved the way his eyes lit up when she’d pulled on each outfit for him.  But she didn’t deserve them now.  Nor would she need them.  She would go back to her old life, restart her life and figure out some way to get through the days without Malik.  Because at least he would be alive.  That was all that mattered. 

A moment before she closed her suitcase, her hand ran into the horrible photographs and she hesitated.  She wanted to tear them up, to shred them and burn them.  But she couldn’t do it.  Not here.  She wasn’t sure why, she just knew that Malik wasn’t meant to feel threatened.  Perhaps she was being irrational, but death threats against one’s future husband tended to do that to a woman!

As she stood there in the middle of the suite, she looked around, tears streaming down her cheeks, she realized her next challenge was to get out of the palace.  If she tried to leave with a suitcase, Malik would be informed.  He would stop her, she knew. 

Looking down at her suitcase, she realized she’d just have to leave without it.  She’d get out of the palace, find a cab and get to the airport.  And she’d have to do it all very smoothly so that Malik’s guards weren’t notified. 

With a sigh, she unpacked her suitcase and stuffed it back in the closet.  But at the last moment, she took out the Louboutin shoes.  She couldn’t leave without them!  She could leave without everything else, but those shoes…they were the beginning.  Well, his glance at her was actually the beginning but these shoes…she might not ever wear them again, but she had to keep them.  They were hers.  They were a memory of a night when…