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She quirked her head so that she could see him over her left shoulder. The sheikh kept his chin held high but that hesitance seemed to shadow his eyes.
“How are they chosen?” she asked, her voice low and reverent.
“The line of succession does go through me, but I need an heir. It only needs to be a child already conceived. If my father dies while the baby is still in utero, then I’m still the next sheikh. If I have no discernible heir at all, it will pass to Abir as he has several children already. So, yes, I do need a child, and soon.”
She swallowed hard and bolted up from him. Pacing seemed easy then, natural. She needed to get the anxiety out of her, needed to let her frustration out somehow.
This can’t be, it can’t!
He brought her there because he needed an heir.
“So I need some IVF treatments now? Is that the real cost of helping Haley? You do that, and then I owe you my body?” she asked, vibrating with anger. Jamsheed started to stand, but she held her hands out in front of her defensively. “No, please don’t. I need to understand this. Was this ever even about me? About us? Or is this about needing an heir? You didn’t ask me out until your father was sick, and now you need me to be a surrogate or something even more?”
Jamsheed did stand then but was wise enough, it seemed, to stay on his side of the tent. “The rules don’t need us to marry. They do need us to have a child and, yes, the ancient laws have been interpreted by our judges as the old-fashioned way. Father was trying to change all the succession rules these last few years because…”
“Because you’ve been a man-whore.”
He laughed ruefully. “I’ve been busy, yes, but he couldn’t get leeway on our laws. I do care about you, and I think that morning, seeing you try and act like walking in on me didn’t bother you, really made me think about everything. I wasn’t feeding you lines. I was being sincere. Hardly anyone cares about me or sees more than the money and the title. You do.”
“And don’t you think that this is too much to ask? Maybe no woman but me asked about how you were dealing with your father being sick because of how you treated them. I’ve been the one on more than one occasion to head groupies off at the pass. You want love? You have to act like you deserve it. Bringing me here without telling me everything? That’s not worthy of love!”
He flinched. “You were ready for the ‘love’ stage.”
“No, but I wanted to explore what’s between us. I don’t know how it can be anything now but you seeing me as a brood mare. I hate that.”
“If I don’t have a child and soon, then Abir will be the sheikh and he will drag my country back to the Stone Age, and into pointless wars. He’ll support terrorist groups and other awful things with Zomelia’s rich resources. I can’t let that happen.”
“Then ask a Zomeli girl.”
“I could, but I don’t want to.”
“Why?” she asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “What could be so special about me?”
He strode across the width of the tent, wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and reached out with the other to touch one, auburn braid. “If you have to ask that, then you don’t know how valuable you are, how amazing.”
“I don’t know if I can do what you’re asking.”
“It’s not about marriage or forever. It could be, if we feel that between us some day. We can both work to let it grow, to nurture it. It can be a deal, too. I’ll give you ten million dollars to have my heir, and after the first year and nursing, you can leave, no strings attached and no other caveats.”
“How can I trust that now?” she asked, even as she felt the heat of his breath against her cheek. That traitorous heat flared through her belly and wetness pooled between her legs. Even as mad as she was, Brenda still wanted him. She craved his touch like an addict needed heroin, and she wanted it even now.
With ten million dollars, she’d never have to work again. There would be a safety net for Haley in case anything like the car accident ever happened again. It would mean she could finally rest and do what she wanted after years of servitude. But what she wanted was Jamsheed, and he broke their trust.
“It’s not only about deals and security. All you had to do was trust me enough to tell me the truth in London. I know you need help, and I’ve already met Abir. He’s a nasty ass. The last thing I’d want to do is condemn a country to his craziness. You only had to trust me, but you didn’t. You gave me pretty words and promises, but now I can never know if you would have been with me or me or because you’re working against the clock.”
His hand stroked over her cheek, and she shivered even as the heat flared through her more fiercely. Jamsheed had so much power over her, and she knew in her heart of hearts that she was about to let him have more. After all, there was no way she’d walk away from this and, deep down, she knew it wasn’t just about Zomelia’s future.
It was about the way he made her feel alive, like a jolt of electricity through a heart that had long been left too dormant and almost dead.
I can’t trust him.
And yet, if she walked out now, her life would never have color again, never have the potential to be a fraction as exciting.
“I… we can do this, but I don’t know how I can ever trust you again.”
He nodded and grinned back at her. That devil’s smirk, that Let’s Make a Deal smile. “I have two years to win you back, to prove to you that I can love you and whatever child we bring into this world together. I promise you, Brenda, that you’re right. I could have chosen any woman, and I still could, but there’s only one I want, only one I dream nightly about and have for months now. It’s you.”
Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she swallowed hard. It was everything she ever needed to hear. Things she’d never heard, but she couldn’t trust it now. Not with the stakes for him and for his kingdom. This was about slaking her lust and about saving Zomelia, about the fact that she couldn’t quit him even though she knew she had to someday, or it would crush her.
