The Sheikh’s Tamed Bride Read online

  The orgasm built slowly. When it finally hit, it was a soft cascade through her body, but it felt like it lasted forever. She trembled and cried out, but he never stopped loving her.

  It wasn’t easy, but Rashid stood and carried her to the bed without ever leaving her warmth. Still hard and pulsing inside her, he lowered her to the bed and followed her down. Her orgasm had subsided, and she was slick with sweat.

  “Mila,” he whispered as he wiped the hair from her face. “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last.”

  “That’s okay.”

  It wasn’t. He wanted to make her come again. He wanted to make her come all night. Regretfully slipping out of her, he ignored her protests and kissed his way down her body as he settled between her legs. She opened for him, and he pressed his lips against her.

  He’d planned to come home and fuck her until she begged for mercy, but something had changed when he’d listened to her breathy moans while she was still asleep. He wanted to draw this out and make it last.

  She’d touched herself and thought of him. It was almost his undoing.

  “Rashid,” she gasped. “I want to play, too.”

  “Can’t,” he grunted. “I won’t last.”

  She pushed him away and crooked her finger. “Come here.” She patted the spot beside her.

  Wanting to make her happy, though he could not help feeling disappointed for himself, he crawled up next to her, but then she kissed him and moved to straddle his face. Rashid held his breath as she lowered her body and stretched across him before slowly sliding her mouth down his cock.

  This woman was perfect.

  His woman was perfect.

  His moans were muffled as he pulled her hips lower and went back to the task of pleasuring her. Her own cries vibrated against him, and he knew that he wouldn’t last long. Gently scraping his teeth against her clit, he continued until he could feel her knees start to shake. Then, he flicked his tongue rapidly over her, again and again.

  She screamed against his cock, and that was the end.

  Quaking, he released it all into her mouth as he lapped up her juices. He’d never felt anything like it before. It was so different to be with someone who had opened up to him so completely.

  She trusted him with her body.

  Did she trust him with her heart?

  “Come here,” he whispered as he turned her body and pulled her back up against his chest. Her legs fell around him, and she cradled his cock against her pussy and wiggled in pleasure. He kissed her slow and deep and ran his hands along her spine.

  They fell asleep just like that, and when he woke up again in the middle of the night, he was inside her, and she rode him all through the night.

  13

  Rashid sighed as he leaned back in the seat of the car. “It’s just dinner. Why can’t you tell me where we’re going?”

  Smiling mischievously, Mila leaned over and kissed him. “You need to learn to give up some of that famous control of yours. This is supposed to be a surprise, so just relax and be surprised.”

  Excitement jumped inside her. Tonight was the night of the surprise engagement party. Karam and Arvio had assured her that they’d invited all of his friends.

  She had borrowed one of Amira’s dresses so she wouldn’t embarrass Rashid if the press showed up. After the past few long and heady nights of making love, she really felt like they were making progress.

  He’d changed. He’d turned back into his charming and patient self, and she was falling in love with him.

  Not falling but fallen. Head over heels, completely, madly, in love with him.

  It was exhilarating and terrifying. She’d never felt this way about any man, and she wanted to believe that her heart would be safe with Rashid. In fact, she planned on telling him tonight. She could see the question in his eyes sometimes when he looked at her. She wanted to assure him that she was in this for the long haul.

  “The sports complex?” He frowned as she pulled the car into the arena. “We’re having dinner here? You do remember that I own this place, right?”

  “Of course.” She laughed. “But I haven’t been inside since you proposed to me, and I wanted to get to know the place that you love so much.”

  “Really?” A slow smile curved over his face. “If you had said something earlier, I could have arranged a private tour, and then you could have really gotten to know the place.”

  “Dirty mind.” She leaned over and kissed him, long and slow. “I may have checked with your secretary and gotten the scoop on all the empty rooms tonight, so we might be able to do just that,” she whispered in his ear.

  He groaned and slid his hands down her sides until he could shove the hem of her dress up. She knew he could feel the heat radiating from her center when he said, “You’re killing me.”

  The car pulled up to the valet station before things could go too much further. Mila laughed and shot out of the car before the driver even had the opportunity to open the door. Rashid had no choice but to follow.

  Feeling devious, she led Rashid to the elevators, and as soon as the doors were closed, he was up against her, his hands roaming her body. “We could skip dinner and go straight to dessert,” he said as he pushed her panties aside and slipped a finger inside her.

  Mila gasped and clutched at him. She’d planned on seducing him to get him into the room, but she hadn’t expected it to get this far. If she didn’t put a stop to it, she was going to come all over his finger.

  “There are cameras in here,” she whispered, but she let him stroke her a couple more times before she reluctantly pushed him away. “Are you planning on giving them a show?”

  “I’ll destroy the recording.” He cocked his head and grinned. “Or maybe keep it for later.”

  “You’re terrible!” The doors opened, and she quickly danced out of his reach. Scanning the doors for the right one, she stopped at the closed double doors and knocked to let them know inside that she was ready. “Maybe just a quickie.” She winked at him and opened the doors.

  As soon as he stepped inside, she flipped on the lights, and sensed rather than saw everyone in the room turning to greet them. Then Mila saw the shock in Rashid’s face and turned to take a look at the decorations.

  Except that there were none. Instead of the big Happy Engagement banner that she’d planned, half-naked women were dancing on the tables. Televisions flashed with several games going at once, and some people groaned while others cheered. Money exchanged hands, and booze was flowing freely.

  “Oh, no,” Mila whispered.

  Karam and Arvio sauntered out from the corner. “Surprise, Rashid!” they crowed. “Happy engagement!”

  Rashid barely looked at them as he stepped out of the room, back into the corridor, and pulled out his phone.

  Mila stared at the two supposed friends. “I don’t understand. What’s happening?”

  Karam winked. “We thought we might give you a taste of what Rashid’s life used to be like. Before this sports complex and diamond rings. This is how he spent every night. Women, booze, and gambling.”

  Arvio grabbed her hand and kissed it while Karam crowed with laughter.

  She snatched her hand away and wiped it on her dress. “He’s not like that anymore,” she whispered.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Dread filled her, and she watched three men loudly placing bets on the football game. “You’re the ones who have been gambling? You’re going to get this place shut down! I thought you were his friends!”

  “What? He doesn’t care. We are his friends. We’re just making a little money on the side.” Karam held his hand up and helped one of the dancers off the table. Openly caressing the woman, he grinned at Mila. “Table’s empty if you want to get up there and show us what you’ve got.”

  “Leave her alone,” Rashid said coldly, suddenly reappearing.

  Grateful that he’d returned, she reached out for him. “Rashid, I’m so sorry. This was supposed to b
e an engagement party. I thought your family and friends would be here.”

  Instead of embracing her, he stepped back. “Stop talking,” he hissed. “You’re so naive. I had to call security—did you know reporters are swarming the parking lot? How long before one of them slips in and gets a picture of this? And I’m supposed to admit that while I had nothing to do with it, my fiancée orchestrated it? You didn’t think to ask me about these so-called friends that I never talked about? They’re the reason I had to get engaged in the first place! Of course, maybe this is your way of thanking them. If it hadn’t been for their reckless behavior, you’d still be a waitress at a bar instead of engaged to a sheikh, wouldn’t you?”

  Numb with shock, Mila stepped back. Everyone in the room had quieted to stare at them, and she felt like she’d walked into someone else’s nightmare. Never in her life had she imagined that this might happen. “You don’t really think I did this on purpose, do you? I wanted to do something nice for you.” She was sobbing now. “I love you!”

  Her confession did nothing but turn his eyes even colder. “I don’t know what’s worse. The idea that you did it on purpose, or the idea that you were stupid enough to fall for their lies. You want to be a world traveler? You don’t know a damn thing about how the world really works, do you, sweetheart?” His words were dripping with poison.

  Mila was paralyzed, but when the doors flew open and the police arrived, reality came crashing down around her.

  Rashid was right. She didn’t know how the world really worked. She’d thought that maybe, just maybe, he could fall in love with her.

  She was a fool.

  With the chaos inside matching that going on around her, she turned and ran from the room. In the privacy of the elevator, she let the first few tears slide down her face, but she struggled to keep herself together.

  Police cars lined the parking lot, and the press were taking hundreds of pictures, but she ignored them all as she searched for a way out.

  A car pulled up, and the window rolled down. “Mila?”

  “Ori!” Relieved, she jerked on the door handle and slid inside.

  The driver’s expression was full of concern as he gazed at her in the mirror. “Is Sheikh Rashid coming with you?”

  “No.” She closed her eyes. Ori probably had orders not to leave without him. “I just need to go home. I’ll call a cab.”

  “No, miss. I’ll take you.”

  He didn’t say anything as he drove, and she did nothing but stare at the ring on her finger. Was everything that Rashid had said to her a lie? Fabricated to manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted?

  She’d been so blinded by love and hope that she hadn’t even seen it.

  Slowly, she slipped the ring off her finger and set it on the seat next to her.

  The veil was off, and Mila knew one thing for certain.

  She needed to get as far away from Dubai as possible and never look back.

  14

  “Rashid.”

  He stood on the balcony in his suite and let the warm breeze wash over him. The moon hung high in the sky and cast a romantic glow on everything, and all he could think about was how he wished Mila was standing next to him.

  Holding the engagement ring up, the one that he’d found in the car, he watched the silver light sparkle over it. “Mother,” he said dully.

  “Your family is concerned for you,” Shekinah said softy as she joined him on the balcony. “Amira says that you aren’t eating. Asad said you’re picking fights at work. Even Khalid is concerned.”

  Rashid dropped his arm, curled his fingers around the ring, and pocketed it. “I can’t find her,” he said hoarsely. “I think Sahaar knows where she is, but she won’t tell me. Liyah isn’t even speaking to me, and if Asad did happen to know, he wouldn’t dare cross his wife. I’ve looked over this entire city, and she’s nowhere to be found.”

  Shekinah put her hand over his. “Rashid. She almost ruined you.”

  “This isn’t her fault.” Rashid let the pain of losing her wash over him. “I used her to get back at you guys, and when I had her, I wanted to turn her into something she wasn’t. I shut her out of the real parts of my life, and she only wanted to help me. She had no reason not to trust them—because I hadn’t warned her. She was going to be my wife, and I couldn’t tell her that I suspected my two friends were involved in the illegal gambling that was threatening my business.”

  His mother squeezed his hand, and Rashid closed his eyes. He could still remember the pain on Mila’s face as she’d stared at him. “She said she loved me,” he whispered. “I had her love, and all it took was one night for me to ruin everything.”

  “You know, I always thought that you would end up with a quiet girl. You were always so protective over Amira when you were growing up, and I thought you needed someone to protect. When you announced your engagement to Mila, I saw it for what it was. A play for you to upset your brother. I thought that she was all wrong for you.” Shekinah patted her son’s arm. “It turned out that I was wrong,” she admitted. “I think that she’ll push you to be the man you were always meant to be.”

  “What good is that?” Rashid asked bitterly as his mother pulled away. “She left me.” In a lower voice, he said, “I drove her away. She doesn’t want to be found. She’s probably halfway to America by now.”

  “You’ll find her,” Shekinah promised as she hugged him. “If you feel for her the way that I suspect you do, you’ll find her, and you’ll figure out a way to make it right.”

  Rashid stared at her. “You really think so?”

  “You’ve never let anything stand in the way of what you wanted.” His mother smiled as she touched his cheek. “I don’t believe that you’ll start now.”

  As he left his suite, he realized that she was right. Even if he wanted to give up, he knew that he couldn’t. He needed, at the very least, to find her and talk to her.

  To make her understand.

  The ring still in his pocket, he decided to swing by one more time and talk to Sahaar. She was the weak link. The old woman still liked him, he could tell. He’d admit to her how he really felt about Mila, and Sahaar would break down and tell him where to find her.

  At his private entrance, he threw open the door and froze. To his surprise, Mila stood on the other side, her finger poised above the call button.

  “Mila?” he asked incredulously. “You’re here.”

  She’d been crying. He could see the red rims around her eyes. It tore him up to think that he was the cause of those tears.

  “I know that you don’t want to see me,” she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I just needed to apologize, and then I’ll go.”

  She was going to apologize to him? Stunned, he waited.

  Rubbing her nose, she sniffed. “I’m sorry, Rashid. You’re right. I am too trusting and naive. I think that’s sort of been our problem all along. I knew why you wanted me for your wife, and I was in denial about it. I thought that maybe, eventually, you might come to love me the way that I loved you. That’s why I threw the party. I didn’t know about your friends. I wasn’t out to ruin you. I just wanted to be involved in your life. I wanted to be something other than merely the woman you lusted after. I should have just accepted you for who you were and let things go. For that, I’m sorry.”

  “Mila.”

  He reached for her, but she stepped back. “I’m going to go now. You won’t have to worry about me again.”

  As she stepped away from the door, panic took hold of him. She could disappear, and he would never find her again. “Mila, please stop. I love you!”

  She did stop and turn. He put his hand in his pocket to pull out the ring, but it wasn’t joy he could see on her face. It was pure misery as she burst into tears.

  Alarmed, he reached for her. “No. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I love you.”

  “Stop.” She wrenched out of his arms. “God, please stop saying that. I know that you don’t mean it, and it k
ills me to hear it.”

  Pain squeezed his chest. “Mila, I do mean it. How can I make you believe that? What can I do? You want to visit a castle? I’ll buy you one. I’ll buy you castles in five different countries. You want to visit the Louvre? I’ll rent it out for the day so you can have it all to yourself. Baby, please.”

  “Stop.” She shook her head and took a step away from him. She was getting farther and farther away, and he didn’t know how to stop her. “That’s just money. Everything that you do is for money. You wanted to marry me because you needed to save your reputation. You needed to save your arena.” Her voice broke on the last word, but somehow she managed to sob out the rest. “You needed to prove yourself in the business world. That’s not what love is about.” With a gasp, she straightened, wiped her face, and said, suddenly and frighteningly calm, “If you really want me to believe that you love me, you’ll find a way to do it without money.”

  Rashid stared at her. He had no idea what to say or do to make her stay. “Tell me what you want. I’ll do it,” he whispered desperately.

  “Goodbye, Rashid.” Wiping the tears from her eyes, she walked away until the darkness covered her.

  Leaving Rashid all alone.

  15

  “You’re an art lover?” Mila smiled fondly at the bombshell beauty beside her. “You are going to love Dubai. I swear, everything about this city looks like it was carved by an artist.”

  Katie, the new traveler taken in by Sahaar, looked almost dazed by Mila’s whirlwind welcome. After not hearing from Rashid in three weeks and having no job to take her mind off things, she’d eagerly awaited the arrival of her new roommate.

  Temporary roommate.

  From the moment Katie’s plane had landed, Mila had been a whirlwind of warm welcome and information. Now with Katie trapped in the taxi on the ride from the airport, Mila had found an outlet for some of her nervous energy.

  “I have heard wonderful things about it. I’ve been a little nervous about coming here,” Katie admitted as she stared out the window. “But I am so excited to be here.”