Page 38 of At the Sheikh's Pleasure
She’d have left him even if he hadn’t ordered her to.Because she had only one thing she wanted to know now from one man—and that man wasn’t her father.
Chapter18
Zaire had been pacing the room, alert for any sound, anything which would give him the excuse to rush in and put himself between Rosana and her father.He whirled around when the door opened, half-expecting her father to come rampaging through.Instead, it was Rosana, and she didn’t look upset or in need of comforting.She looked furious.
“What’s happened?”he asked, glancing into the room where her father was sitting down, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.He closed the door behind him.Whatever was going on, he was determined to find out without her father watching on.
“Tell me the truth,” said Rosana.“Did you seduce me for political reasons?”
He reached out and placed his hand on her arm.“Rosana, please, calm down.”
She shook his hand off her.“Answer my question please, and do not tell me to calm down.”
Words formed, but he rejected them before he spoke them.There was only one way out of this, and that was the kind of evasiveness for which he admonished his advisers.
“Rosana, I love you, and I want to marry you, and neither of these are connected with politics.”
But her expression glowered even more darkly.“You did not answer my question.”
“Rosana, please, hear me out.”
“Only if you answer my question.Did you seduce me for political reasons?You told me before that you’d spread a false rumor that we were in a relationship.You said nothing about actual, pre-meditated seduction to destroy my country’s pact with their allies.”
“Okay, I will answer your question if you’ll do one thing for me.”
“And that is?”
“Take a seat and hear me out.”Silence followed, and his heart pounded heavily, punctuating the seconds.He knew if he answered her question and she walked out on him, he might never get a chance to explain himself and he’d lose the happiness he’d only had a tantalizing glimpse of.
After a few moments, she took a seat, and he sat opposite and held her gaze.He chose his words carefully.A lot depended on them.
“When I first heard you were coming here, all I knew was that I wanted you gone as soon as possible.As far as I was concerned, you were the daughter of our enemy, which made you, by association, also our enemy.You had shown only arrogance on your previous visit.There was nothing to recommend you.Until I saw you.”
“And then you decided you would seduce me.”
“Not at first, no.That came later.”
She frowned.“How much later?”
“About five minutes.”He risked a seductive smile.“I couldn’t resist you.”His eyes dropped to her lips, which tightened under his gaze.He glanced back into her flashing eyes.
“Because you knew how it would seem to my father’s allies when you fed the information back to them?”
This was the tricky bit, because he had.“Maybe, momentarily.”
“Momentarily.”Her fingers drummed as she repeated the word.“And when did this moment cease?One hour?One day?A few moments ago?”
“The moment I saw into your soul and saw the real you behind that facade you show to the world.That was the moment when everything else faded away, and all I could think about was how much I wanted you in my life, no matter the consequences.”
“Oh,” she said with a sigh.
He was relieved with the sigh and even more relieved when a look of hope entered her eyes.He waited for her to speak.He’d said all he could say.But she said nothing to reassure him.
“Rosana?”
She extended her hand to him and he closed his eyes and pressed it to his lips, concentrating all his relief and gratitude that she believed him in that kiss.
“I love you, Rosana, and I want us to be married and, I promise you,thathas nothing to do with politics.”
