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Eliana smiled sardonically at her father. "But, it isn't up to you, father. Not while you're here in Qazhar."
He peered quizzically at Eliana. "What do you mean?"
"Royal protocol, and the four generation rule, allows the proposed bridegroom completely free choice over whether he decides to take a bride. And we are not in Zahram," she said.
Azem drew in a harsh, deep breath. His face turned red and his brows furrowed. "You do not mean to say you think this lowly sheikh will deign to offer his hand to you," Azem said. "I have heard all the reports of how he treats you in public. His conduct has been disgraceful. He is not fit to be your husband."
Eliana thought about her and Kadeem's grand scheme. It seemed to have worked better than they had planned. Everyone believed they hated one another. After tonight, that would never be the case.
'That isn't for you to decide," Gretchen said. "Eliana is correct. It is Kadeem's choice tomorrow. And there's nothing we can do. When we agreed to come here, we made a commitment to see this process through to its end. We are honor bound to do so."
Azem whirled around angrily and strode to the double doors which led out to the terrace. The same ones Eliana and Kadeem had used to escape from the embassy. That seemed like an eternity ago now, she told herself.
"Gretchen, you told me yourself, that Eliana and Kadeem had been arguing all the time. Did you not?"
Gretchen smiled at Eliana and shrugged. "It depends what you think it means when two young people are courting," she said. "Sometimes all those arguments don't always mean what you think they mean."
Eliana looked at her mother and thought about the way she had witnessed the disagreement between herself and Kadeem at the palace this morning. Her mother seemed to think that those arguments meant Eliana and Kadeem were falling for each other.
Azem shook his head. Eliana could see that his patience had been worn out. Maybe it was time to make a very diplomatic exit, she told herself.
She excused herself quickly, said goodnight, and left her mother and father to continue their conversation.
Eliana made her way upstairs to her room. Sayirah knocked on the door and offered to help Eliana. Despite her fatigue, Eliana declined the offer and said goodnight to Sayirah.
Left alone at last, Eliana prepared herself for bed and settled down for the night. As she lay in the darkness, she thought about Kadeem and what had happened at his apartment.
Parts of her body still ached from the pleasure she'd experienced with Kadeem. It was an exquisite ache, though. One she knew she'd still feel in the morning. And, perhaps in the morning, it would all seem like a dream.
But she knew it hadn't been a dream. It had been all too real.
So, why had she run like that when she'd been discovered? Because that was what it had felt like. Almost like her guilty secret had been revealed in a most shameful manner.
Sighing to herself, she realized that she didn't care about that. Didn't care about the approval or disapproval of others. There was something amazing about the way Kadeem had drawn out her rebellious nature.
It had hardly been the conduct of a royal princess, she told herself.
And that was what had made it so exciting, she told herself.
There had been so much to enjoy while she had been with Kadeem. He'd tempted her into an illicit act by escaping from the overprotective clutches of the embassy security. And, when she'd been in his private domain, he'd conquered her resistance with consummate ease.
Why had she submitted so easily to him? At first, she couldn't explain why. All she knew was that it had happened, and that it had been incredible.
She closed her eyes and images of Kadeem's naked body flickered into her awareness. She did nothing to push those images away. Instead, she savored them, recalling the way his body had felt; the heat of his skin; his powerful scent; how he'd felt while he'd been inside her.
Just thinking of that made her heartbeat quicken. Made her pulse race furiously.
What had she done!
Had she just made the biggest mistake of her life?
What was going to happen now? Her father had made his disapproval of Kadeem perfectly clear. Eliana wondered if her father would ever come around to accepting Kadeem. What would it take for him to see the side of Kadeem she'd witnessed.
Of course, Kadeem could be arrogant, even ruthlessly selfish. But, she'd also seen another side of him. The private Kadeem. A man capable of so much more than what people saw in his public persona.
She turned over onto her side and scrunched up the pillow beneath her head. Tomorrow was going to be a huge day. She already knew how Kadeem felt. He'd laid it out in no uncertain terms back in his apartment.
He wanted her.
