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His scalp prickled and his stomach hardened. He might actually need to increase security until he got word on how Arif had reacted to Yasmine marrying someone else. That she’d married a younger, wealthier and more powerful sheikh would undoubtedly have rubbed salt into Arif’s already wounded dignity and pride.
Too bad. The old sheikh didn’t deserve her. He didn’t deserve any woman.
Yasmine’s face was even now open with delight as she gazed at the modern city with its sculptures and steel and glass structures mixed with ancient buildings and artifacts. Spice markets cropped up here and there amongst it all so that even inside the air-conditioned jeep the scent of cinnamon and ginger permeated, and most notably, the floral yet metallic notes of saffron.
“You are captivated by everything you see. Were you not allowed to explore outside your father’s palace?” he asked, just barely withholding a growl at the thought of her locked away like some well-guarded investment.
She grimaced. “Dad was very protective of me. I only wish it was because he cared about me like a father should. Instead he was more worried about the taint of my western blood affecting my decision making with men.”
“Then he’s a fool.” Jamal wanted nothing more than to force Zameer into acknowledging the beautiful daughter he’d been lucky to have. It was rumored the old sheikh was infertile, so any child was a blessing.
Jamal’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, his senses prickling. Was there more to his wife’s background than what he’d even considered? He made a mental note to get in contact with a PI whose success rate was legendary. Of course the man was exorbitantly priced and therefore unavailable to anyone but the super-rich, but Jamal had no problem with that.
It wouldn’t even put a dent his bank account to have his wife investigated and erase any doubt about her pedigree. His lips twitched. Not that it bothered him if her bloodline wasn’t what he’d imagined. She was his perfect match.
Her usually light, tinkling laugh sounded raw. “Except I’ve proven him right now after he caught me in bed with you.” She sighed softly. “It must have taken every bit of my mom’s arsenal to convince him to allow me to travel to the UK and study for a couple of years to broaden my horizons.”
Jamal didn’t want to think about what sacrifices her mother had been forced to endure with Zameer to let their daughter go. The western culture was mostly frowned upon by the people of his world, especially when it came to their women. And though Zameer was modern enough to share a select number of his harem with esteemed guests, Yasmine would be regarded as an asset, an innocent pawn in the game of advancement.
She might feel cheapened by her father’s behavior, but in truth her unique, western looks were priceless to Zameer.
Jamal shuddered to think of what would have happened to Yasmine if she hadn’t decided to ensnare him in bed before her arranged marriage to Sheikh Arif had been enforced.
“Oh, look,” she said, pointing at a string of camels walking sedately in a line with wares tied to their backs, a lone man leading them alongside the road. “I’ve always wanted to ride a camel.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “My dad isn’t into camels, he breeds Arabian racehorses.”
Jamal was aware of her father’s horses. But for those buyers wanting a champion racehorse, they simply couldn’t go past Fayez’s quality horses, which all too often outraced Zameer’s.
Her dad hadn’t just been set in his ways about their failing tourism. He also still stubbornly backed his own racehorses.
Jamal pushed aside his thoughts and raised a brow. “Riding a camel is nothing short of torture,” he said with a grim smile.
He should know. He and his friends, Mahindar and Fayez, had agreed to a dare made by their other close friend, Hamid. They’d lost the bet, which had then seen them having to race camels in the nude in the baking hot, desert heat. They’d all been sunburned, bruised and sore for a week after. Not to mention just a little bit humiliated.
Yet the memory was a fond one that he and his friends often discussed and laughed about, their friendship with Hamid still as strong as ever. Especially now their betting friend had lost his biggest gamble of all by falling in love.
That Hamid loved his wife even more than his drinking and gambling, his camels and the desert, still shocked Jamal. He’d never thought he’d see the day Hamid would choose a woman over any one of those things. Yet Hamid was now happily married and living his best life.
Jamal glanced at Yasmine once again. It was only now that he was married himself and already developing strong feelings for his wife that he understood Hamid’s change of heart. Jamal would sacrifice anything to keep Yasmine happy, just as he’d do anything to make her fall in love with him.
It was a heady and exhilarating epiphany, but it was also one that shook him to the core. What if she never fell in love? What if she was happy just to escape a future that would have been full of sick depravity and humiliation if she’d been forced to instead wed Arif?
Jamal had never wanted commitment from anyone before, quite the opposite. Those women who’d believed he was the love of their lives had left him cold and with no desire for a long-term relationship. Give him one night stands any day of the week, a physical release without any emotion entanglements.
How things had changed.
Perhaps Karma had interceded to teach him a lesson? He’d been a confirmed bachelor with absolutely no desire to change his ways. Then he’d taken one look at Yasmine, and actually cared about her predicament, and he’d been lost to her. And willing to do whatever was needed to keep her safe and by his side.
He was yet to discover if he’d become the world’s biggest fool, or the smartest man on the planet.
Chapter Nine
Yasmine’s pulse picked up speed as Jamal turned into a driveway. It cut between high, impenetrable walls of sandstone, where the tops of date palms poked over the wall and rustled in a salt-laden breeze, the greenery softening an otherwise austere look.
The first security car slowed then stopped at the fancy black, wrought iron gates, which immediately opened for them. She read the gold lettering in the center of the gates.Qadir Palms Resort.
