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He covered her palm, absorbing the certainty in her words. She meant it. He could see that now with every fibre of his being.
He had no idea what he had done to deserve this, to deserve her, but he would not question it again—ever.
‘And I think you love me too,’ she added with a confidence, an arrogance, he had always adored, perhaps because it was more than a match for his own. ‘You just don’t know it yet. That’s all.’
His heart exploded with joy as he lifted her off her feet then captured her mouth with his. The kiss was fierce, furious, but also tender.
A long time later, when they were finally forced to come up for air, she wiggled out of his arms and grasped his hand.
‘Come on—we probably need to get back to Zokar ASAP,’ she said, attempting to tug him towards the door. ‘We’ve got a wedding to plan and time is running out.’
He smiled as he resisted, charmed by her urgency. ‘There is no need,’ he said simply. ‘The wedding is cancelled.’
‘What?’ Her eyebrows launched up her forehead, charming him even more. ‘But what about your throne? Oh, my God...’ She began to tug on his hand even harder. He remained firm. ‘Kamal, stop messing about. For goodness’ sake, we have to un-cancel the wedding. Pronto.’
‘Shh, Kaliah.’ He actually laughed, her frantic expression only making him adore her more. She would always have his back. Why had he not realised how much he needed that support from her until now? ‘It’s okay. We are not un-cancelling anything.’
‘But the elders? The law? You have to be married to...’
‘No, I do not,’ he said, cradling her cheeks, loving the feel of her soft skin, the intoxicating scent of her. A scent he had become addicted to the first time he had inhaled it. ‘If the elders choose another man to rule Zokar on this foolish technicality, that is on them.’
‘You can’t mean that!’ she said, still sounding frantic.
‘I do mean it,’ he assured her, knowing he spoke the absolute truth. ‘I will not jump through hoops for their benefit. You are too important to me. Our marriage is too important to me to rush into it before you are ready.’
‘But I am ready now—totally. What difference does a few extra days or weeks make if it means you can keep...?’
He pressed his finger to her lips to silence her panic. ‘Do you not understand, Kaliah? It was never about that.’ He sighed, the relief that he was finally able to be honest with himself, as well as her, almost palpable. ‘I wished to rush you into marriage because I was scared of losing you. I see that now. The marriage ultimatum, the throne, was just a convenient excuse.’ He shrugged. ‘If they are foolish enough to discard me because of their asinine demands, then they are the idiots. Because I am by far the best man to be their king.’
‘True.’ Her lips quirked as the panic finally died, to be replaced by amusement and the same joy exploding in his heart. ‘And you’ve also found the best woman to be their queen.’
‘Also true.’ He grinned, boosting her into his arms so he could take his own sweet time ravaging her lips.
Maybe the elders—especially Uttram and his followers—would see how good Kaliah and him would be as Zokar’s rulers, maybe they would not. But, as she gripped his scalp and sunk into the kiss, the joy streaking through his body became turbo-charged.
Because the only kingdom he reallyhadto rule now—and always—was the kingdom of Kaliah Khan’s heart.
EPILOGUE
‘YOUWERESPECTACULARTODAY, Kaliah. I am so proud to have you as my wife, my partner, my queen.’
Liah sighed as Kamal’s lips brushed her nape. She covered the hands he pressed into her stomach with her own. Her heart beat a giddy tattoo in her chest, as it had been doing all day—ever since she had stood before a crowd of people she loved and respected and had declared her loyalty to this strong, commanding man and his kingdom, while he’d declared his loyalty to hers.
She blinked furiously as he kissed the pulse point in her neck, which always made her ache, and stared down at the enchanted garden in the Golden Palace’s courtyard where she had once dreamed of finding a prince to love.
A watery smile lifted her lips. Today’s ceremony had been part of the week-long wedding celebrations that had started five days ago in Zokar, not just to make their marriage official but also to link their two kingdoms, as Kaliah had taken her place beside Kamal on his country’s throne and they’d been declared joint heirs to her parents’ throne in Narabia.
The ceremony had been over six months in the making, with Kamal—intractable man that he was—insisting he did not want to stake a claim to her father’s throne. In the end, she’d had to make him see that she had no desire to lead Narabia without him when the time came. But the good news was, her father and mother didn’t look as if they were about to relinquish the throne any time soon, the recollection of their proud, happy smiles this afternoon making the emotion swell in her throat.
‘What are you thinking?’ Kamal murmured as he turned her in his arms.
She smiled, reaching up to place her palms on the rough stubble that had grown on his cheeks during the long day of official engagements. ‘That I’m ridiculously proud to finally have you as my husband,’ she said, lifting up on tiptoes to press her lips to his.
His hands grasped her waist in her beaded gown as he bent to take her mouth in a firm, possessive kiss. Need sparked and throbbed in her belly, right beside the flicker of excitement and anticipation at the news she had waited five interminable days to give him.
They’d been too tired and busy for her to find the right time ever since she had taken the test—the schedule of engagements and ceremonies to celebrate their union in both kingdoms nothing short of punishing. And, anyway, she’d wanted to wait until she was at the Golden Palace, in her childhood home—where all her dreams of love and romance had begun.
Kamal was nothing like the man she’d envisioned falling in love with one day. He was far too forthright and demanding, far too intense and masculine, far too vivid and vibrant... He made the Prince Charming of her daydreams seem pale, insubstantial and, frankly, exceedingly dull in comparison.
