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In a powerful surge of energy, Rafiq rose from his chair and strode across the room, wheeling round before swinging back to face her again. Already, he was fighting the sensation of feeling trapped. ‘Honesty would’ve changed everything between us. Pretending that I was an ordinary businessman kept it relaxed.’
Unimpressed, Izzy lifted her chin. ‘The truth is always preferable,’ she told him.
‘I also liked the fact that you treated me as an equal and that you would have no reason to go and report your night with a prince to the tabloid newspapers who deal in such sleaze.’
‘I didn’t get a night. I got an hour in bed,’ Izzy breathed tightly, wondering if he had been subjected to tabloid exposure of that nature at some stage, resolving right there and then to look it up and devour every word of sleazy revelation. She lifted cool hands to her hot cheeks, wondering what was wrong with her brain, why she would eventhinkof doing such a crazy thing.
‘And it was a wonderful hour,’ Rafiq sliced back at her provocatively, his resolve to be calming taxed by her prickliness and the wall of distrust etched in her once clear eyes.
‘It was an hour that destroyed all my future plans,’ Izzy told him, furious that he was wriggling adeptly out of all her accusations. He had more lives than a cat, she decided resentfully. ‘I love children but I wasn’t planning to have any until I was much older. I wanted to finish my education and get my career started before I even thought of settling down. Now that I’m pregnant my ability to follow those plans has been seriously compromised.’
‘I agree. Children will certainly limit your freedom, which is why I have every intention of ensuring that that accident of fate does not destroy your future,’ Rafiq intoned silkily. ‘This is not a development which either of us foresaw but we must make the best of it.’
‘I doubt that a royal prince knows very much about making the best of anything!’ Izzy parried angrily.
‘I didn’tchoosethis life, Izzy,’ Rafiq fielded almost harshly. ‘I was born into it and it imposed frustrating limits even when I was a little boy. Couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that, couldn’t be seen to do many things as future King, couldn’t be allowed to do anything that might seem too bold or different or aggressive or dangerous. There was an endless list of prohibitions and rules to follow, so, yes, Idoknow a great deal about making the best of a situation.’
Disconcerted by that flood of blunt explanation, Izzy lost colour and dropped her head. ‘I’m in a snippy mood...but look on the bright side, at least I’m not shouting.’
Rafiq moved closer, his extraordinary eyes a mesmeric pure gold fringed by well-defined inky lashes. ‘Must we dispute? Cannot we...even for one short minute...celebratethe conception of our children?’
‘C-celebrate?’ Izzy stammered and stared back at him in stark disbelief.
‘Yes, celebrate,’ Rafiq countered forcefully, leaning back against the footboard of the bed. ‘You said that the truth is always preferable and I will not lie to you. That you have conceived feels like a miracle to me. It is amazing news and I am overjoyed...’
‘Overjoyed,’ Izzy almost whispered in her astonishment.
‘I thought I couldn’t have children,’ he reminded her drily. ‘And because of that inability, my younger brother was going to be forced to marry young to provide me with an heir to the throne.’
Izzy frowned. ‘Why can’thebe your heir?’
‘It doesn’t work that way in Zenara’s constitution. Zayn’s child being accepted as an heir would have been a big enough change to the usual direct line of succession from the eldest son. That I have conceived my own child makes life simpler for everyone,’ he completed.
Her heart had been warmed by the notion of her conception being worthy of celebration. Such an attitude radically changed everything because it was far removed from her far more prosaic expectations, which had run the gamut from Rafiq utterly denying that he could be the father to his having her conveyed back to the airport with a suitcase of cash to keep her quiet.
‘Aren’t you even about to ask me how it happened when I told you that I was on the pill?’ Izzy prompted.
Rafiq shrugged. ‘Does one question a miracle? I believe in fate.’
‘Apparently a course of antibiotics can stop birth control working properly, so that may be what contributed to the...er...miracle,’ she extended awkwardly. ‘And the episode with the condom, of course.’
‘Twins,’ Rafiq pronounced with a slashing smile, ignoring that reminder. ‘Could be boys, could be girls, could be one of each. That’s even more exciting.’
‘I’m surprised but delighted that you’re pleased about the development. However, it doesn’t sort out the problems,’ Izzy remarked stiffly.
‘There won’t be any problems to worry about once we’re married,’ Rafiq countered with supreme assurance. ‘Any problems you foresee will vanish.’
‘And I’d vanish too if that were theonlysolution,’ Izzy declared dizzily, stunned at that response, that apparent assumption that marriage was the only possible answer to their dilemma. ‘I’m only twenty-one. I don’t want to get married to anyone. I haven’t even started living my life yet. For goodness’ sake, I only had sex for the first time a couple of months ago!’
Rafiq registered that he had a problem and one he had not foreseen. For too long he had been encouraged to view himself as a matrimonial prize in terms of rank and wealth, his apparent infertility his only flaw. But the immediacy of Izzy’s rejection showed him that rank and wealth meant nothing to some women. It was a supreme irony, he conceded grimly, that even though he didn’t want to marry any woman her lack of greed and ambition might also have raised a tiny spark of enthusiasm in him for the venture.
‘We will discuss it tomorrow,’ he breathed in a driven undertone, emotions he didn’t want pulling at him, refusing to allow him to embrace his usual cool-headed thought processes. He had learned to be unemotional during his first marriage, had learned that it was the only safe way to cope with doing his duty. He could not change that mindset, not when once again he had no other choice but to surrender his freedom. Lightningcouldstrike twice in the same life, he acknowledged, but at least this time he had the joy of becoming a father to lighten the load...
CHAPTER FIVE
ACOUPLEOFhours after Rafiq left Izzy alone, she slid into the big bed with a sigh of appreciation for its comfort.
She couldn’t believe that she was tired again after napping throughout most of the afternoon but that had been one of the warnings given by the doctors. A multiple pregnancy would take more out of her than a singleton one and she would need more rest and a very healthy diet. She smiled, fingers creeping across her stomach as she thought about her babies.
