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And he was the father of her child.
Zane rubbed the backs of her hands with his thumbs. ‘My ego is dying here, Catherine,’ he said in a hoarse, self-deprecating chuckle.
But she heard the slight edge in his tone—proving he was more concerned about her answer than he was letting on—and that tiny glimmer of insecurity was enough to allow the hope to expand and push aside the doubts.
‘Okay,’ she said, suddenly shy when the tension in his jaw released and an assured smile spread across his features.
‘Thank God,’ he said. ‘I’m not used to spending so long on my knees,’ he added and they both laughed.
Standing, he tugged her off the bed, until she was flush against the line of his body, his arms banded around her.
Happiness filled her as he stroked her back.
She mattered to him. They both wanted this. And that was more than good enough for now.
‘The wedding will need to be a state occasion,’ he murmured against her hair. ‘But I’ll instruct Ravi to keep it as small and manageable as possible. I’ve waited more than long enough already to have my woman in my bed again.’
The urgency and possessiveness in his tone was like an aphrodisiac. He clasped her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and the deep well of yearning opened inside her.
But then the same feeling of vertigo that had crippled her when he’d first persuaded her to come to Narabia paralysed her again. Because this time the cliff was so much higher, the landing so much more uncertain and her ability to stop herself from tumbling over the edge so much more unsure.
CHAPTER NINE
THE SMALL AND manageable ceremony Zane had alluded to on the day of their engagement turned out to be anything but.
After a week of planning and preparation, a five-day tour of Narabia was arranged—during which Catherine was introduced to her new subjects as His Divine Majesty’s betrothed. Once they had returned to the palace, two days of feasting with five hundred invited guests were followed by a lavish ceremony in which Cat signed a lengthy document and then Zane made a series of solemn vows to support Cat and their children before presenting her with a gold chest full of jewels that looked to her like a prop from a Hollywood pirate movie.
The whole experience was overwhelming; as the marriage ceremony finally began to draw to a close, Cat felt as if she had stepped into an alternative reality.
Other than the series of fittings with a team of dressmakers to make her a wardrobe fit for a queen, the endless meetings with Zane’s financial, legal and religious advisors to brief her on the customs and legalities of the marriage, and the intensive language lessons she’d embarked upon with Kasia to learn enough so she could converse fluently with her new subjects during the betrothal tour, Cat had had no part in the organisation.
She didn’t mind. She already felt overwhelmed enough by the prospect of marriage to such a powerful, intoxicating man and the realities of her pregnancy—which made themselves felt quite forcefully each afternoon.
In fact, she was glad she hadn’t had to do much during the ceremony itself. The feasting had been exhausting enough with her and Zane situated on two gilded thrones while the neighbouring princes, kings and dignitaries came to pay their respects to the Sheikh’s new bride. She tried to learn all their names and answer them as best she could in the Narabian language. She was pathetically grateful to see a familiar face when Kasim marched into the hall in full battle dress, flanked by an honour guard of his tribesman. After giving a sweeping bow before Zane and her, he winked at her and for the first time in days she found herself smiling—when he whispered, ‘So it seems you are Zane’s woman after all?’
She hid a laugh behind her hand. The man was incorrigible, his dark eyes tempting her to share the joke.
‘You must name your firstborn after me,’ he added for her ears alone. ‘As I believe the babe was conceived in my camp.’
She blushed, making Kasim laugh.
She shifted her gaze to Zane, who was watching them both intently, and hoped no one else h
ad heard Kasim’s claim.
The pregnancy was not yet common knowledge—even though Zane’s advisors had assured her there would be no need to hide the fact the baby had been conceived before the nuptials.
Marriage in this culture was about practicalities, they had told her. A union between two like-minded souls in which the man was required to prove he would always protect and nurture his wife and their children.
She assumed it was the weight of that responsibility, as well as the many legal and constitutional practicalities Zane had to observe in the run up to the marriage, that explained why she had barely seen him during the past two weeks. And when she had seen him, she’d detected a strange distance, as if he were constantly distracted.
He’d done his very best to prepare her for the responsibilities that would fall to her as his Queen. But even so she felt exhausted when she and Kasia finally left the festivities and made their way to the bridal chamber.
She stood on the balcony in the elegant chamber, which the palace staff had spent days preparing for her, and watched the pop and sparkle of fireworks light up the night sky above the courtyard.
Kasia set about filling a copper tub with steaming water, while Cat listened to the music and merriment from the wedding celebrations, which were still in full swing.
Goosebumps rose on her arms and she rubbed the sensitive skin as Kasia helped her out of the scarlet robe, edged with gold thread, which she had worn during the ceremony.
