Bella and the Merciless Sheikh (16 page)

‘She is resting!'

‘We are all worried. Even Batal is very unsettled,' Yousif fretted. ‘He wants to see her.'

‘I'd like to see him,' came a small voice from the bed, and they all turned and saw a white-faced Bella, struggling to sit up.

‘Don't move,' Zafiq commanded, but she ignored him, pushing her blonde hair away from her face with a hand that was scraped raw from her fall.

‘I need to sit up.' She gave him a wary look, as if she sensed trouble, and then glanced over to the doorway where everyone else was gathered.

Watching her face brighten, Zafiq felt something tug deep inside him.

She'd made friends.

‘You were magnificent,' Rachid said hoarsely, crossing the room in two strides and pulling her into a hug without waiting for Zafiq's permission. ‘What a woman!'

Stunned by how badly he wanted to drag his brother away, Zafiq watched in tense silence as everyone poured into the room, all of them ignoring him, apparently too over whelmed by the need to check on Bella to care about protocol.

Smothered in fuss and praise, Bella looked faintly uncomfortable and the only thing she said was ad dressed to Yousif. ‘Is Batal all right?'

‘He is very proud of himself,' Yousif assured her immediately. ‘I think he knows he has achieved something quite extraordinary. No doubt he will be quite unbearable now.'

Bella grinned weakly and flopped back against the pillows. There was a bruise across one cheek bone where she'd fallen and Zafiq knew she must be aching from head to foot. But she didn't utter a word of complaint; she just listened while everyone bombarded her with stories of the reaction of the crowd.

‘They all thought you were dead—'

‘—reared up, thought he was going to kill you—'

‘—formed a cage—'

‘—and when the horse knelt down—'

‘—the fastest race anyone has ever seen—'

‘—such a relationship between horse and rider—'

‘At least we kept Amira,' Bella murmured happily and then
frowned slightly as her words were greeted by an uncomfortable silence. ‘What? We won, didn't we?'

‘You won. The rest of it doesn't matter,' Yousif said quickly, but Bella glanced between him and Zafiq.

‘What's going on? What's wrong?'

‘You are a woman,' Yousif muttered. ‘The officials are saying that Batal must be disqualified because he was ridden by a woman.'

‘What?' Her distress visible, Bella shot upright again, wincing with pain. ‘No, they can't do that.' She turned to Zafiq, her expression desperate. ‘You're the Sheikh! Tell them they can't do that! Batal won. He was a complete champion. It wouldn't have mattered if he'd been ridden by a monkey, he still would have won. Oh, this is all my fault for fainting at the end. I was supposed to ride him to the stable and swap places with Hassan.' With a groan she covered her face with her hands and Rachid pulled her into his arms.

Seeing her clinging to his brother for comfort was the final straw.

‘Out,' Zafiq commanded in a low, dangerous tone. ‘All of you out. Bella doesn't need this level of stress.'

But Bella was already struggling out of bed, her legs buckling as her feet touched the floor. ‘You can't let them take Amira, Zafiq! Promise me!'

He caught her before she fell and lifted her back onto the bed. Letting her go was harder and he kept his arms around her for a moment, his body tightening as he felt the softness of her skin and the familiarity of her slender frame.

An in tensely disciplined man, it exasperated Zafiq that all he wanted to do was flatten her to the bed and soothe her injuries personally. Apart from that one brief kiss in his stables, he hadn't touched her since the desert.

‘Zafiq, you have to do something!' Her fingers dug into his arm, her eyes a deep, fierce blue as she pleaded with him. ‘Batal won that race!'

Realising that they still had an audience, Zafiq threw a fulminating glance towards the doorway and intercepted his brother's startled gaze. Whether the shock in his eyes was caused by Bella's lack of formality or the fact that Zafiq was still holding her, he had no idea, but that glance was sufficient to ensure their privacy and Rachid coloured and ushered everyone out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

With a huge effort of will, Zafiq forced himself to release Bella. Sitting down on the edge of the bed he put a safe distance between them but the strain on his self-control combined with the anxiety of seeing her fall, added to his stress levels.

‘Once again you were reckless, wilful—' His restraint snapping, he leant forward and kissed her, the softness of her mouth creating an explosion of sensation through his body. After weeks of self-denial he was on the verge of losing control and it was only her sudden gasp that made him draw back. ‘I am hurting you,' he groaned guiltily. ‘You are bruised everywhere.'

‘No, it isn't that—I don't care about that.' Her eyes were swimming with tears. ‘I wasn't trying to be wilful or reckless. For once in my life I was trying to do the right thing. There was no one else who could ride him and we all wanted to save Amira—and I messed it up.'

‘You didn't mess it up.' Telling himself that it was perfectly reasonable to comfort her or she might make herself worse, Zafiq shifted position and lay down next to her, pulling her carefully into his arms. ‘You were ridiculously brave. Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw that it was you? And then when you slid off the horse a second time—'

‘You caught me. It's becoming a habit.' Her face rested on his shoulder, her voice muffled.

‘That is one habit I would gladly break.' Zafiq moved onto his side so that he could see her properly. ‘You are the bravest woman I have ever met.'

‘And the most annoying.'

Zafiq gave a faint smile. ‘That too.'

‘What can you do about Amira?'

‘Do you really think I would let them take Amira?'

‘But if the rules say a woman can't be riding—'

‘The rules don't say that. There is actually no mention of women in the rules. It is time I rewrote them.' Confident that this announcement would ensure an appropriate degree of gratitude, Zafiq was surprised when she pulled away.

‘But that won't protect Amira! They've already tried to steal her once, and Kamal's fall wasn't an accident and then there was today…'

A red mist of anger descended on Zafiq's brain as he saw the bluish tinge on her cheek. ‘Today,' he said thickly, ‘you could have been killed. And the culprit is already in custody. There will be a full investigation but you can trust me when I say that there will be no more attempts to infiltrate my stables.'

‘Life's hard, isn't it? You think people are basically good,' she mumbled, ‘and then this happens and you realise that some people are horrid.'

‘What happened to you was a symptom of greed and jealousy. The horse who came second is owned by the ruler of a neighbouring state, but it was his jockey who pulled you off Batal at the marker.' The thought of what might have happened turned him cold. ‘You could have been killed. If the stallion hadn't stopped—'

‘I didn't realise you were watching. I thought we were too far away for anyone to see what happened.'

‘I had binoculars. And there were officials positioned at every part of the course. They saw what he did. They would have helped you, but you were back on the stallion before they could reach you.' Zafiq drew in a long breath. ‘Did you not think that getting back on the horse was dangerous after that fall?'

‘I wasn't thinking at all. All I was thinking of was not losing Amira and not letting you and everyone else down. But when I felt his hand on my leg, I thought that was going to be the end of me. With Batal galloping and my foot stuck in the stirrup—and then he just stopped. As if he knew.'

‘It was the most surprising, moving thing that anyone watching had ever witnessed. All the more surprising when you know what a bad-tempered, aggressive animal Batal can be. That he showed such gentleness towards you…'

‘It's because of him I'm alive,' Bella said simply, her eyes drifting shut. ‘I suppose next time he bites me in the stable, I'll just have to put up with it.'

‘You will not be returning to the stable,
habibiti
.' His mind made up, Zafiq delivered the news he knew would bring a smile to her face.

Her eyes flew open and the look on her face was one of horror. ‘You're firing me?'

‘I am not firing you. You can spend as much time in the stable as you like, but the rest of the time you will be living in the palace,' Zafiq announced, pleased with his solution to the problem.

She would live with him. Why not?

‘L-living in the palace?'

‘Yes. I have…' Zafiq hesitated and her eyes widened.

‘What?'

‘I have…missed you.' He found it almost embarrassing to acknowledge just how badly he wanted this woman. ‘I've missed having someone who…challenges me.'

‘Zafiq—'

‘We are not going to talk about this now.' Zafiq sprang to his feet and pressed the buzzer by the bed. ‘You are to stay in hospital and rest until at least six doctors agree that you are well enough to return to the palace. Then you will be guest of honour at the winner's banquet.'

She looked slightly dazed. ‘
Six
doctors?'

‘Just to be sure that they know what they're talking about,' Zafiq said firmly. ‘I don't want you being discharged and then collapsing again. The winner's banquet is normally held the night of the race but, given what has happened today, I have given instructions for it to be postponed until you are well enough to attend. It is
the
social event of the Al-Rafid calendar. No more sand in your hair, no more improvised tunics and belts made from the leaves of the date palm. An excuse to dress up and party, which is something I'm sure you've been missing out here in the desert.'

‘You don't like me with sand in my hair?'

He was so relieved to hear her sounding like herself that he smiled. ‘It's time you were Bella Balfour again. And this time you will be standing by my side,
habibiti
.'

 

So what exactly did all this mean?

You will be standing by my side…

Did he mean by his side for one official banquet? By his side for a whole night?
Lots of nights?

She'd been waiting for him to mention the fact she'd said, ‘I love you,' when she fell off Batal, but he'd avoided the topic.

Bella stared at the delicate rose petals floating on the surface of the enormous bath, unable to contain the excitement fizzing inside her even though she knew their relationship had no future.

He'd been to see his princess, hadn't he? He was already considering marriage.

‘You are very quiet, madam,' one of the women said, and she gave a small smile, pushing away that thought. She was here now. That was what counted.

‘Just thinking. You have no idea how long it is since I wallowed in a bath.' It had been weeks. First she'd been in the desert with the Sheikh and then she'd been living in the
stables and was always far too tired to take anything more than a quick shower.

She was woman enough to be excited at the prospect of walking into the room and watching Zafiq's face when he saw her wearing a dress.

Running her hand through the scented water, Bella suddenly found herself thinking about the swims they'd shared in the cooling waters of the oasis.

Feeling a sudden pang, she frowned. This was much better, she told herself firmly. It didn't even compare.

She sat still while the team of women washed her hair and combed soothing, conditioning oils through each golden strand.

‘The whole country is talking about the way you rode the devil horse. It is no wonder that His Highness is so taken with you.' One of the women rubbed oil into Bella's shoulders. ‘You are brave as well as beautiful.'

‘I feel as though I'm being prepared for the harem,' Bella muttered and then wished she'd kept her mouth shut when the women exchanged shocked glances. ‘Look…sorry, just ignore my big mouth.'

‘It is very unusual for the Sheikh to have such a public relationship with a woman,' another of the women said quietly. ‘Since the death of his father he is a man whose sole focus has been his duty.'

‘Yeah, I know.' Bella leant her head back against the bath and closed her eyes. ‘To him emotions and love are a sign of weakness—blah, blah—I've heard it all before.' It had been impossible not to hear some of the gossip that had hummed around the stables and the more she'd heard, the more surprised she'd been that he'd ever embarked on a relationship with her. Even though their's had been a secret desert tryst, it was obvious to her that his own strict code of behaviour should have prevented him from succumbing to the chemistry that had connected the two of them.

‘He is afraid of being like his father,' the woman said in a soft voice. ‘Sheikh Zafiq's father was a good man, but he had no self-control when it came to women. The woman he married. She was—'

‘A mistake,' her friend said grimly, rinsing the oil from Bella's hair. ‘She thought only of herself. everything she demanded, he bought her. She was wilful and extravagant and had no sense of duty.'

Bella blushed, knowing that some of that description could have been applied to her up until a short time ago. ‘I bet you don't want to see him with anyone like her, then.'

‘You are nothing like her, madam.' The women helped her out of the bath, wrapped her in soft, warm towels and started to dry her hair methodically. ‘Everyone in Al-Rafid is pleased to see the Sheikh smiling. These past few years have been difficult for him. Not only did he become ruler at a young age, but he had responsibility for his younger brothers and sisters. He has had little time to himself and that is not good for such a virile, masculine man.'