Page 38 of The Sheik's Embrace

“This ismydisobedient wife!” Elijah explained in a sneering tone. “You are a bigamist! The divine creator will have you burn in hell for stealing my woman from me!” He turned to Kaia, his grin widening. “Ethan has special plans for you, girlie! You’ve infuriated him to the point where he must bring you back into the fold of our community. Just as I will do to Tara, we must bring you back and teach you the right path!”

Elijah started moving backwards, still pressing the knife against Tara’s throat. Kaia stepped forward, but Riaz wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her back. He whispered something in her ear, and as Tara watched, Kaia seemed to relax. Of course, Kaia never fully relaxed. Tara’s sister was always tense, always on the lookout for danger.

So the fact that Kaia had allowed herself to be held back instead of breaking the man’s arm, told Tara that help was close by. She wasn’t going to have to leave with Elijah.

With her hands still gripping Elijah’s forearm, she released one hand and let it drop to her side. Then she watched Kaia, waiting for her signal. Two more steps and Tara saw it. The short nod was barely discernable. But Tara saw it. And she reacted immediately!

The yelp of pain echoed in her ear, but Tara was careful not to let it distract her. In fact, she tightened her grip around Elijah’s testicles, even twisting to increase the pain. As she continued to grip the man’s balls, she turned, not surprised to find two of Zayed’s body guards less than a foot away.

They both moved quickly, securing Elijah’s arms behind his back. Tara heard something snap, but wasn’t sure if the sound was caused by breaking bone or torn cartridge. If Elijah was lucky, the bodyguards had merely dislocated his shoulder.

However, Tara didn’t release her grip. She didn’t care that Elijah was secured with handcuffs and pain. She kicked him in his already injured groin. The man curled into the fetal position on the floor, no longer yelling. Apparently, the pain from Tara’s kick had stolen his voice.

Before she could take another breath, Tara was scooped into Zayed’s arms and carried to the far side of the dining room. Tara shifted so that she could watch as the guards lifted Elijah onto his feet. The man couldn’t hold his weight, but the guards didn’t care. They picked him up by his arms and dragged him out of the dining room, away from Tara and Kaia.

There was a long silence after the guards had departed with their prisoner. Tara was shaking, shocked by the scene. But there was an enormous surge of relief. She hadn’t realized how worried she’d been over the past few days, wondering where the bastard was, waiting for Elijah to find her.

“Well, that was a surprise!” Kaia said, her voice completely deadpan.

Tara glanced over at her sister, then she burst out laughing. Slowly, Zayed lowered her feet back to the floor, but didn’t release her and Tara didn’t move out of the circle of his arms. A moment later, everyone was laughing.

Several hours later, Tara stepped into the extremely large bedroom that she hadn’t really explored the first time she’d been in here. But for some reason, she felt more nervous than the last time.

“What’s wrong?” Zayed asked, taking her hands and leading her away from the bed.

Tara glanced over her shoulder, surprised at their direction. “I don’t know,” she told him honestly.

“You’re nervous,” he stated, sitting down in an overstuffed chair, then pulled her onto his lap. “Talk to me, Tara. You’ve always been so confident about work issues. It’s just the personal stuff that gets you confused.”

She looked down at his hand resting on her knee and remembered the moment several days ago when her hand had rested on his knee. She’d been so curious then.

“Tara?”

She lifted her gaze from his hand, looking into his eyes. “I don’t understand why I’m so nervous.”

“I love you, Tara,” he told her, his voice velvety with sincerity. “Since the moment you walked into my life, I can’t remember a moment when I didn’t love you.”

That warmed her heart in ways she couldn’t put into words. Twisting, she cupped his face with her hands. “I love you, Zayed,” she whispered back. “Not because you saved me from that horrible creature. But because you are a good, kind, compassionate man, who genuinely tries to make the lives of your people better.” She kissed him softly. “That’s not been my experience. The men I’ve known have been self-centered, manipulating people and systems so that they gain more power and more money.”

He covered her hand with one of his own. “You never have to worry about anything again. I’m going to take care of you, Tara.”

She smiled gently. “I’m going to take care of you as well.”

He chuckled. “I will enjoy your efforts.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t think I can?”

His hand stroked her knee. “Tara, I want to spoil you and make you so deliriously happy that you’ll never want for anything ever again. I want to make up for all the pain you’ve endured in your life.”

She kissed him sweetly then. Not because of his promise, but because of his sincerity. No, she couldn’t spoil him with material things. But she could spoil this man with her love and affection.

That kiss was a lingering, gentle caress. It was the first time she’d initiated a kiss and she wanted to explore, to experiment. And he let her. Zayed didn’t move while she kissed his lips, remembering how he’d nibbled on her lips and she mimicked that movement, smiling when he groaned. She felt his hand tighten on her knee and blinked. “Are you holding back for some reason, Zayed?” she whispered and kissed him before he could reply.

His answer was to leap up from the chair, lifting her with an arm under her knees and behind her back. Gently, Zayed laid her on the bed, then braced his hands on either side of her, looking at her from her head all the way down to her toes still enclosed in shimmering heels.

“I think I want to see you in nothing but those shoes,” he murmured, pushing away from the bed and lifting one leg as heexamined her heel. “How in the world did they fit so many little rhinestones on one shoe?”

She laughed, feeling silly, but his playful examination of her shoe helped her relax. “I have no idea, but they are surprisingly comfortable.”

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