Carol Marinelli - Bound To The Sheikh Read online

But then slowly she remembered that there was a life that was separate to him and one that she must somehow now return to.

  He turned his back and answered his phone and she pulled out hers.

  Of course it was still flat and Emily started to panic.

  She didn’t even know what time it was, just that she had a flight at two and it was one that she hadn’t prepared for.

  Breathe, Emily told herself.

  Think.

  Not about him.

  Not now, not now.

  She ran from the beach and then to the markets, trying to plan a menu for Princess Alice in her head.

  But all she could think of was him.

  All she could think of was their one day and their hot sultry nights and so she bought the ingredients for the meal they had shared.

  And still she thought of him.

  On her way back to the hotel, she asked the taxi to stop when she saw wild poppies outside a shop because, despite best efforts, every thought she had somehow led to Ashim.

  Emily stepped into her hotel room and only then did it dawn she’d been racing around dressed in his shirt.

  Usually, she’d be mortified.

  There wasn’t enough of her left to be mortified, she just stripped it off and threw it into a bin.

  She remembered the last time she had been in this room, getting dressed to see Blaze, with no idea as to what was to come.

  Emily plugged in her phone to charge it and she looked out of the window and there was his yacht, still there. She wanted to step out on the balcony and scream out to him, but instead she pulled out her computer and typed up the menus for the flight. Then she rang down to the business center and asked them to print and laminate them and Emily told herself that she was in control here.

  His yacht was still there.

  Emily went into the shower and tried to scrub his scent from her body.

  Her sex was swollen and his come was on her fingers as she washed herself and she denied that even now he turned her on even as her fingers burrowed in.

  He would forever, Emily thought with a sob.

  Her dark fantasies had a face and name now.

  She wanted to cry and she almost did, she just about gave into all she held back but she was scared to.

  Even more scared to now.

  Her phone was ringing as Emily came out of the shower and she guessed it would be Cathy wanting to catch up with the news.

  Ashim was wrong.

  She would never share what had happened between them but then she saw that it was Julia.

  “Hi,” Emily said wondering how to sound normal.

  Wondering what normal was.

  “I need a favor, Emily.”

  “Sure,” Emily replied, her voice as firm as she could make it, because Julia was the one who selected the crews and she had mattered to Emily once.

  And she would again, Emily told herself.

  “We’ve got someone else to cover Princess Alice’s flight, but I need you to take another. It’s another royal—Sheikh Crown Prince Khalid, you’ll fly him to Alzaquan, stay there overnight, and then an empty leg to Dubai for scheduled maintenance.”

  “When?” Emily asked.

  “Now,” came the brisk reply.

  “But I haven’t prepared anything suitable.” She thought of the food she had bought and the menus that had been printed in French.

  “It’s fine, he’s easy with his food preferences. Just bring whatever you had for the Princess. You’ll be teamed with one of his regular staff, Nishi, she’s probably got the catering covered.”

  Emily wanted to say no, but then what was the point in that? If she stayed here all she would do was sit staring at his yacht, willing him to change his mind.

  And she was better than that!

  He didn’t even know her surname let alone where she was and, even if he could somehow find out, she had more pride than to be at his beck and call.

  “I need your answer Emily,” Julia pushed.

  “Yes,” Emily replied. “Of course.”

  Before Ashim, she had led a very organized life and Emily was very glad of that now.

  She did her hair and makeup and instead of pulling on a skirt, she wore her grey trouser suit. Emily packed and, when she was ready to leave, she put a cream scarf over her head that she used when flying Middle Eastern passengers. She was just about to leave when she glanced out and his yacht was still there.

  “Bastard!”

  And even from here he dictated her needs and she opened up her case and retrieved his shirt from the bin and put it in.

  Then Emily took out her rings and slid them on.

  It was easier at work to wear them.

  That was all.

  Before she had hidden behind them, almost terrified that without them she might give into that glance and run to a lover.

  But you never did, Emily told herself.

  She had never, with another, given into her desires.

  Not until she had met Ashim.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nishi was extremely thorough.

  Having introduced her to the captain and copilot, Nishi walked Emily through the plane to the galley that was at the back.

  “There’s a sleeping area for the flight crew behind the cockpit and one for the cabin crew at the tail of the plane,” Nishi explained. “The galley is at the rear.”

  She had worked on this model of plane several times, Emily wanted to say, but kept her mouth closed.

  Still, the furnishings in this one really were beyond stunning.

  Emily had seen more walnut trim than most, but Ebony was the trim of choice here. The leather sofas were black, too, and there were exotic rugs on the floor. It was so dark and sensual that she wondered what it would like when the lights were dimmed.

  “The main sleeping area needs to be turned back,” Nishi said, but she must have seen that Emily was struggling with her bags and they headed straight to the galley where Emily put them down.

  “Have you done menu cards?” Nishi checked.

  “I have.” Emily gave a worried nod. “Although I was expecting to fly Princess Alice and so the food is European.”

  “I’m sure that Prince Khalid won’t mind,” Nishi said with a slight edge to her voice and then took a message on her walkie-talkie. “His helicopter is here and we are behind with the preparations. I will go with the captain to greet him,” Nishi said, taking off her apron and putting on a jacket. “If you could please turn back the bed. Prince Khalid usually goes straight there as soon as he is able to.”

  “I shall.”

  “And warm a cognac for him,” Nishi said, then added as an afterthought, “you had better make it two cognacs, he often brings an extra guest.” There was a disapproving note to her voice and Emily guessed that the royal prince’s ways did not meet Nishi’s approval.

  “You will remember to look down and not to meet his eyes?” Nishi checked.

  “Of course.”

  Emily went through to the main bedroom and saw that it was as sultry and dark as the rest of the plane. A vast bed was dressed in thick, black silk. It was so soft and cool to Emily’s hands that as she turned it back she wished she could simply climb in and just close her eyes…

  …and dream of Ashim.

  Of course she couldn’t. and so Emily headed back to the galley and lit the small candles to warm the cognacs. She prepared two plates with some chocolates that she had bought and, for a nice touch, she added a poppy to each of the plates.

  A bell rang and this time it was Emily who took off her apron and put on her jacket and quickly checked her appearance and wondered how she could possibly look so calm when her mind felt like a war-zone.

  She had had plenty of practice over the years, Emily reminded herself.

  She headed out the galley to join the copilot and they made polite small-talk.

  Emily glanced at the cabin door but when she saw that they were approaching Emily quickly looked down.

  She
could hear the surprise in the copilot’s voice as he greeted the prince and then Nishi came and stood beside her.

  “There has been a change of plan,” Nishi whispered in a nervous voice but Emily already knew that.

  Even looking down, her heart recognised him.

  “Crown Prince Ashim,” Nishi introduced her in English. “This is Emily.”

  “Welcome…” Emily croaked.

  She looked at his outstretched hand and at those beautiful, long fingers that had been inside her a matter of hours ago and she was tempted to slap him.

  Instead though, she lifted her hand and tapped it to her heart, which was custom for women who did not want to touch.

  But then she heard Nisih’s intake of breath because it was not custom to refuse to shake the hand of a prince.

  As she offered her hand only then did Emily remember her rings and forgot not to meet his eyes, for hers flew to him.

  Distaste, Emily saw first, closely followed by disgust.

  But she held his gaze for a moment and hers matched his.

  Then she looked quickly down, trying to work out what to do as his fingers pressed into the rings.

  She could run to the door, Emily thought, for she knew not how, just that as Ashim did not believe in coincidence now, neither did she, and Emily was certain that he had planned this.

  He dropped contact and walked off and Emily, her heart hammering and not so brave now, looked as he walked through the plane.

  Ashim was wearing a straight, black robe that, even more so than western clothes, showed the lines and strength of his impressive body. On his head, he work a keffiyeh that was gold and decorated with a black rope. As he took a seat Emily glanced again at the door which Nishi was arming.

  The scent of him, that was coded now to her mind, lingered. She watched as he took a seat and those long legs stretched out and there was satisfied smile on his lips as he looked back at her.

  Oh, she could guess very well why she was here now and she thought of those black sheets cool on her back, or on her knees, or whatever way he hadn’t yet taken her and she walked through the cabin towards the galley.

  Yes, she was staying; it was going to be a long seven hours for Ashim. She wanted the pleasure of him not getting his bastard way.

  As Emily came out with his drink, a flustered Nishi was walking briskly towards her.

  “Crown Prince Ashim does not drink cognac,” Nishi said in a harsh whisper. She was clearly panicked and Emily realised that Nishi had nothing to do with this at all—she was visibly shocked to have him on board and Ashim’s calm voice actually stopped Nishi in her tracks.

  “A cognac will be fine,” Ashim called over his shoulder. “Emily, bring it to me.”

  Emily served him his drink and as she did he picked up the poppy and held it between finger and thumb for a few seconds before raising his hand to her.

  “Wear it,” Ashim said.

  “I’m not some doll for you to dress up,” Emily quietly retorted.

  “You didn’t mind before,” Ashim said. “Oh, but that’s right—you were pretending to be single then.”

  A soft bell sounded and he drained his drink and handed her the glass but it wasn’t that hand he wanted. As Emily went to walk off he caught her other wrist and examined the rings for a moment.

  “Take a seat,” Ashim said.

  “No,” Emily responded. “I’m working.”

  “Nishi,” he called out. “Take this glass from Emily.”

  Nishi came and did as told and Ashim addressed her. “You will remain in the staff quarters and Emily will take sole care of me on this flight.”

  No one questioned him and no one argued with him, Emily realised, because, even though she could see bewilderment in Nishi’s eyes she simply nodded and then headed off.

  “Take a seat,” Ashim instructed again and this time she did seemingly as told. Emily sat in a sumptuous leather seat opposite him and belted herself in but, as the plane started to taxi she warned him as to how the flight would proceed.

  “I take my work very seriously, Ashim,” Emily said. “So if you think I’m going to be serving you anything other than dinner, then you’re wrong.”

  “I think,” he answered slowly, “that you take your work far more seriously than you take your wedding vows.”

  She could tell him she was a widow, but Emily chose not to. He thought her a whore and was treating her as such, and Emily felt absolutely no need to right his opinion of her.

  Yes, she was angry but she wasn’t scared of him. Far from it. In fact, as the plane lifted she felt the familiar sense of relief and tried to fathom that it was still there.

  Ashim’s eyes never left her face and when she closed her eyes just on takeoff they opened to him.

  “Still there?” he checked and moved his hand to his chest.

  “Still there,” Emily responded. “As I said, I love my work.”

  “You’re not working this flight.”

  “Oh, but I am,” Emily said and when the bell went she undid her belt and walked off and then came back with the menu. “You’ll see Ashim,” Emily said as she handed it to him, “that sex isn’t on it. Or, to be more specific, Sheikh Ashim Al Raquar, Crown Prince of Alzaquan, I shall do what I can to make your flight comfortable.” She gave him her sugarcoated smile. “Just not that comfortable.”

  “That’s not what you’re here for,” Ashim said only Emily wasn’t really listening.

  “You’re just another rich playboy who thinks he can have whatever he wants whenever he wants it.”

  “I can,” Ashim said, “and I didn’t bring you on board for sex.”

  “Then what am I here for?” Emily sneered but she literally felt the color drain from her face when he answered.

  “You are coming to Alzaquan to live as my lover.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Now Emily wished that she had run when she had had the chance.

  She could feel his power, not just his title and that he was robed, nor just the way Nishi had obeyed him, she could feel it now, for it was fully aimed at her.

  Those amber eyes had turned to fire, that sensual mouth that had once softly kissed her was tense with suppressed rage.

  “Ashim…” Emily croaked. Somehow she was still standing but any moment now she would sink to her knees and do what she had sworn not to—beg.

  “Ashim, no.”

  “Leave him,” Ashim ordered. “Leave your husband and I will take care of the details.”

  And that was her darkest fantasy of them all.

  So many nights alone in a hotel room, or dancing to Blaze with wine, Emily had imagined someone stepping in and whisking her away. She had dreamt of this very moment and Emily now sat back on the seat she had so proudly left, pale with guilt as she wondered what her reaction would have been to this offer a couple of years ago.

  Or even before then?

  What if she had met Ashim during those long, lonely years spent running away from nights out long before Cinderella would have? When away with work, long before midnight, she had always been tucked up in bed. Was that why she had hidden away in hotel room? Had the night they had met happened a couple of years ago would she have been unable to resist?

  “Leave him and live with me,” Ashim said again.

  “No,” she said it, she meant it and then she grew back to angry with him. “You’re so fucking arrogant!”

  “I’m so fucking right,” Ashim retorted. “I can get what happened the first night, Emily—sex is sex, fantasies happen and if your husband can’t satisfy them, then you decided to get it elsewhere.”

  “No!” She shouted it now because Emily hadn’t! She had never done that even though there had been the deep pull of want.

  But Ashim was relentless in his pursuit.

  “We made love this morning, Emily, you know that we did.”

  “We didn’t.” She lied, oh how she lied but she had to. Who the hell did he think he was, telling her to run away from her lif
e on the back of two nights?

  “Are you on the pill?”

  She sat there in terror that he thought she might be pregnant with the Crown Prince’s child and on the way to his land.

  “Are you kidnapping me?”

  “Grow up,” Ashim said. “Stop being so dramatic. You could have got off the plane when I came on yet you didn’t.”

  “I didn’t know then that you were intending to bring me to live in Alzquan as your mistress, as your lover.” Emily was furious at his filthy offer. “So you’re married?”

  “Not yet,” Ashim crisply answered. “But I am returning to my country to marry. My father has a selection of brides from whom I can choose and a divorcee could never be amongst them.”

  He delivered it coolly, yet he had stood staring out to when she had gone from the shore in anguish, going over and over the rules and laws of his land and trying to work out how there could be any chance for them. “I cannot marry you, though I can take a lover. I never thought I would use that law, but for us to be together it is the only way.”

  She laughed in his face.

  “You expect me to share you?!”

  “Yes.”

  “For the second time,” Emily responded. “Fuck off.”

  “Don’t you use that language with me. I thought you were sweet…”

  He got right in her head, taking her back to that night.

  “For the second time,” Ashim now said. “Are you on the pill?”

  “Is that why you’re bringing me back with you? Are you going hold me there until I get my period?”

  “You really need to calm down,” Ashim drawled. “We had unprotected sex this morning. I would have been asking this question sooner had I not…” Ashim cleared his throat and gathered his composure. “When you went to make breakfast I found your wedding and engagement ring. ‘Love Always’. Does he know what you get up to on your little trips away?”

  Emily just stared back at him, no she would not give him the truth—that she was a widow.

  What rights would he decide that gave him?

  “If you are pregnant…”

  “I’m on the pill.”

  She always had been, Emily thought, just in case she gave into dark desires.