Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“And your self-control has been nothing but remarkable.”
It was?
“But I digress.” The sheikh’s lips curved in a smile then, and Anisah stiffened. No. It could not be. It could not. And so she rubbed her eyes hard, but when she peered fearfully up at the sheikh one more time, the cursed smile was still there—-
Allah save her!
She had seen that smile a thousand times, and she had always thanked Allah that such a smile had never been directed at her because it was an omen from hell. In the fifteen years she had lived in the palace, she had seen that smile directed at the women the sheikh had intended to bed – and he had always succeeded in doing so – as well as breaking their hearts in the process.
Did that mean she was next?
Her heart came to a screeching halt at the thought, but when she saw the sheikh’s lips start to move, her heart came pumping back in full force, its every hard and heavy thud telling her that she had no time to lose.
“Maehdina, alshaykh.” I’m sorry, sheikh. “I just remembered that there is an urgent errand the queen has tasked me with. I beg your forgiveness, but please excuse me, Your Highness.” She bowed without meeting his gaze and turned away without letting the sheikh speak another word.
Yes, she knew she was being abominably rude, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
As she rushed away, she felt the sheikh’s eyes follow her, and she almost tripped over her feet at the smoldering heat of his gaze.
Oh curse the man, but it was as if his gaze was actually laying a claim on her body, letting her know that it was only a matter of time before she, too, came to his bed willingly and offered her virginity—-
NO.
NO, NO, NO!
It took everything Anisah had to not pick up her skirts and make a run for it. This...this was just a whim of his, she decided feverishly.
But what about the fact that he said he had been observing you for two months
Just a whim, Anisah!
But what about that smile
A whim, she forcefully tried to convince herself.
And the way he’s still looking at you now
Nothing but a whim, Anisah Kahveci, and by the morrow, she would see the truth of this, with the sheikh ignoring her like he always did, and treating her no differently from any of the other hundred or so employees working in the palace.
The sheikh was used to having women at his beck and call, and it was impossible for Tarif Al-Atassi to waste another second of his precious time pursuing someone like her – a nobody, and even worse, a nobody who obviously did not welcome his advances.
Anisah found herself nodding determinedly as she hurried down the stairs.
Yes, that was surely how it would be.
Surely.
But only a few hours came to pass when the sheikh proved the opposite true.
Chapter Two
Hail the Queen of Ramil, for in her womb rested Ramil’s most precious heir to the throne!
Such were the cries that rung throughout the desert kingdom, with every town celebrating Queen Harper’s pregnancy and the announcement that the Emir Sheikh’s wife was carrying a boy. The palace was of course having a celebration of its own, with its ballroom welcoming a steady influx of well-wishers for the royal couple.
Following a lavish dinner, King Khalil took the hand of his beloved queen for the night’s first dance, and the couple made a majestic and breathtakingly romantic figure as they swirled and twirled until finally, at the end of the song, the king literally swept his queen off her feet as he lifted her high up in the air.
“Malaka lilia, malakti.” The king uttered the words for the whole world to hear, which meant ‘forever yours, my queen.’
Tears stinging her eyes, Harper could only whisper back, “Malaka lilia, mikkhi.” Forever yours, my king.
As the orchestra played the next song, Khalil gently lowered his wife back to her feet, and with one arm curving protectively around her waist, the king bid his guests to join them on the dance floor.
No second invitation was needed, and in moments the floor was completely taken up by couples swaying to the gentle notes of a Ramilian ballad. Love was in the air, and with everyone under its spell, invited members of the press had the time of their life taking one glorious photo after another, the innumerable beautiful couples waltzing before them making the perfect subject for tomorrow’s news.
There was Sheikh Malik Al-Atassi with his dazzling young wife, Kyria, and although the fires of controversy that once surrounded their union had finally died down, the two still made quite the intriguing couple: a man and woman who had still fallen in love with each other despite having been raised as brother and sister under one roof.