Page 30 of Sheikh's Unexpected Triplet Babies

"You're going to tell me what this is all about right now," he said softly. There was a gentleness to his voice that she had never heard before, but there was also something dire in it, something that wanted answers and wanted them right away.

"There was a newspaper article." Her voice was soft, but it was strong. If he thought he was going to get some kind of capitulation out of her, if he thought she was going crumble into tears, he was sadly mistaken.

"A newspaper article?"

"Yes. One with a picture of you and the princess looking very...very loving. When I read it, it had plenty to say about how you two have always had feelings for each other, and how wonderful an alliance between your houses would be, how you would benefit. It even talked about how you have always carried torches for each other, and now you could finally fulfill that."

Jahin's arms tightened around her. He rested his chin on the top of her head and was silent for a long moment.

When he spoke, his voice was soft, but there was an undercurrent of strength there, something that would not be denied. "Darling, that article is conjecture and borderline libel."

"Jahin..."

"Listen to me now, please. I had to listen to you spout the most ridiculous nonsense for a few minutes there, and I expect to be repaid for that rather unpleasant experience." He smiled slightly to take the sting out of his words.

"Layla and I have been friends for a long time, off and on. It is more or less inevitable if you were raised the way that we were. We went to the same parties, we know the same people, and generally we have many of the same views.

"But that must have been a very slow news cycle if they trotted out the idea that Layla and I are looking to get together. Articles come out like that nearly every week or so, matching me with an eligible woman that I have been sighted with, matching her with anything male in the vicinity. It's a dead bore under the best of times, and irritating and frustrating most of the rest of the time."

"So it wasn't true?"

'I'm sure that some parts of it are true," Jahin said with a shrug. "We are friends, we care about each other a great deal. We support each other when we are on the same committees and delegations. I thin you would actually like her very much, and if you wished, I could certainly set up an arranged meeting for the two of you. But the gist of the article? That we might decide to take each other's hand in marriage? That is very false, and if you go back to look, I'll bet it was never said outright. Just sort of implied until you were certain that they must have said it."

When she thought about it, she could quickly see that Jahin had the right of it. There was very little in the article that pointed to a real match, and she sagged against him in relief. For one brief and shining moment, everything was all right. Everything was the way it had been.

Then reality intruded, and she knew that very little would be the same again.

"It wasn't true this time," she said softly, "but it will be at some point, won't it?"

He paused for a moment. "How do you mean?"

"I mean...at some point, you really will want to marry someone. Someone appropriate. Someone who may not be Layla, but will certainly be like her."

Jahin sighed, and instead of letting her go, he simply held her a little tighter. If she didn't know better, she would have believed that he was unwilling to let her go, upset and saddened at the idea, but that couldn't be right.

"Someday," he said finally. "Someday, I will be called to do my duty, and my duty is to marry and to produce an heir, just like it is my duty to lead my people in times of peace and war. Someday...this will all change, and it will...be something that we both have to deal with. Sometimes, life provides us with no easy options."

She twisted out of his arms to look at him. He must have seen the panic in her, because he reached out to run a finger, feather light, over her cheek.

"That is someday," he said quietly. "This is now. This is the now that I have wanted without ever knowing that I have wanted it, and it is one that I will keep for as long as I am able. This is what I have with you, and I do not want to lose it sooner than we have to."

On that, they both agreed, and she nodded reluctantly.

"You will likely see those articles in the future," he said. "In fact, I am a little surprised that you have not run into it before."

"And what should I do when I see them?" Bedelia asked, her voice quiet and level.

The smile he gave her was brilliant, small but honest and perfectly him. In this moment, it was as if his eyes lit up from inside with some kind of secret fire.

"When you see them, you should ignore them because you are an intelligent woman who knows better. Alternately...simply have faith in me. Have faith in the fact that I cherish you, and that I will not lie to you."

His words had comforted her at least a little, but that night as they lay in each other's arms, she wondered. Being cherished was different from being loved, she knew that.

Now that the thought had occurred to her, it refused to stop, and she wondered a little wildly when it would all end. How it would end.

Who he would move on to next.

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