The Sheik’s Captured Princess (The Samara Royal Family Series Book 4) (10 page)

Ciala wasn’t that smarter woman.  “I won’t marry you!  Every woman is a virgin at some point and then she’s not!”

Jurar was furious that this tiny woman was not bending to his will.  In one sense, he was proud of her.  Damn proud!  He didn’t want a shrinking violet for a wife.  He wanted a strong-willed woman who would pass along her sense of pride and integrity to their children.  So this battle was only reinforcing his opinion that Ciala would be the perfect wife for him and mother to his children. 

But he had to come up with another tactic.  He was an expert at both strategy and the law in both Kilar and Drakar, which had developed similar legal structures over the centuries. 

Turning away from his spitfire, he looked directly at Ramzi.  “As head of the house as well as Sheik of Kilar, I’m asking for your sister’s hand in marriage.”

Ramzi wanted to punch the man’s face, but Jurar had circumvented that possibility by that question.  He heard his sister’s gasp of outrage but ignored it.  By law, if the head of the household, male or female, agreed to the marriage, the couple was basically wed.  By agreeing, his sister would be legally bound to the man she’d chosen with her body. 

Ramzi looked down at his sister’s soft, brown eyes, he smiled triumphantly.  “I agree.”  And it was done. 

Jurar watched as his woman’s face turned a beautiful shade of pink with her outrage.  But he wasn’t concerned.  The woman was his, by law and by deed.  She was all his!  There was no need for a wedding now, although he would still give her all the trappings of a special day!  She was his woman!  His wife!  As archaic as the law sounded, he didn’t care.  All he cared about was getting his woman back into his bed and making love to her until neither of them could move. 

Not even glancing back at her brother, he lifted his woman up into his arms and carried her out of the other man’s office.  He didn’t stop until he found the conference room where they’d first confronted each other.  Slamming the door, he held the struggling woman in his arms.

“Put me down, you stupid jerk!” she practically screeched, furious about how he’d gotten around her objections, hadn’t even listened to them actually, and then how he’d paraded her down the hallway in such an undignified manner.  She suspected that, in a few hours, the entire palace would hear about how he’d carried her down the hallway.

He released her legs, but held onto her upper body and he was much stronger than she was.  Not only that, he didn’t allow her feet to touch the ground.  “You’re being rude and inconsiderate!” she snapped at him.  She opened her mouth to continue, but his own covered hers.  She struggled for perhaps a millisecond before that crazy heat stole through her.  There was perhaps another second when her mind wondered how he could do this so easily, but then all of her focus was on his lips, the way his tongue slipped into her mouth and explored, made her body hot and crazed, just from a kiss.

Jurar turned and leaned her shoulders back against the wall, then slid her skirt up around her waist so that he could lift her legs around his waist.  When she was completely clinging to him, he allowed his hands to roam over her soft outer thighs, her bottom.  Frustrated with the barrier of her satin underwear, he ripped the material away and let his fingers roam over her satiny bottom.  Seeking and finding her heat, he groaned when he discovered that she was already wet and ready for him.  He couldn’t make love to her here, not with so many palace staff roaming right outside the doorway.  But he could show her who was in charge.  And remind her of the benefits of being with him.  Perhaps that might ease some of her fury over his manipulations.

When his fingers slid inside of her heat, her whole body shuddered but he also felt her inner muscles tighten around his fingers.  He had to grit his teeth to stop himself from burying himself inside of that tight sheath.  It wouldn’t do, he told himself as he watched her features while he slowly, inexorably brought her to a shuddering climax. 

She was beautiful, he thought as he held her body in his strong arms and ignored the throbbing pain of his own erection as her body continued to shudder around his fingers, her hands clutching at his shoulders and her legs still wrapped around his waist. 

When the shudders slowed to a stop and her eyes opened again, he moved his hand against her skin, enjoying the way the goosebumps still came up all over her sensitized body.  “You were saying?” he teased. 

Ciala had no recollection of what she might have been discussing with him.  Right now, her whole body felt relaxed and limp.  All she wanted to do was curl up in his arms.

But then her location hit her and she looked around, noticing the dim lighting and the conference room table behind him.  With a gasp of outrage, she pushed at his shoulders and forced her legs to unwind from around his waist. “I can’t believe you just did that to me!” she muttered, pushing her skirt back down around her legs.  She looked around and caught sight of her underwear.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough.  He snatched them up before she could put them on and stuffed them into his pocket.  “Mine,” he told her.  Then with a strong arm, he snaked it around her waist and pulled her flush against him.

Ciala struggled not to notice that hardness pressing against her belly, but it was impossible.  The man himself was hard to ignore but anything that large and imposing wasn’t something she could pretend wasn’t there either. 

“Mine,” he said and kissed her again, hard.  “Don’t forget it either,” he told her before he released her.  “I have a meeting, but I’ll be in touch with you about the details of our wedding.”  He held her close for another moment.  “Ciala, look at me,” he commanded.

“Just because you say it, Jurar, that doesn’t make it so!”  When her angry eyes looked up at him, he almost chuckled but her anger only increased the painful need inside of him.  He wanted to subdue her anger all over again and yet, still revel in how strong she was, how defiant!  She was beautiful and strong and he was fascinated by her.  Damn, she was gorgeous!

“I know you’re angry with me about how this was handled, but once you calm down, you’ll understand that this had to happen.  We have to be married.”

She clamped her lips closed, too angry and confused about her reaction to this man to agree or disagree with him. 

With a swift kiss, he released her and walked out of the conference room, leaving her in the dim light, still trembling. 

She stood there for several long moments, trying to pull herself together.  But as soon as she took her first steps, she realized that she wasn’t wearing any underwear!  Good grief!  The man had stolen her underwear! 

Well, he’d actually torn them off of her first.  So even if he’d handed them back to her, she still wouldn’t have anything on!  At least he had a pocket he could stuff the torn material into.  She wouldn’t have been able to do anything with them. 

Oh!  That man was just….irritating!  There was absolutely no way she was going to marry him! 

She stopped in mid-stride as a thought occurred to her.  The man still had all of her research! 

She stormed out of the conference room only to come to a stilted halt when she saw Jurar and her brother in the hallway.  They were discussing something in earnest and she knew, especially when they both looked over at her, that they were discussing her.  Or more likely, the wedding date.  The wedding date that wasn’t going to happen!

She walked over to them, but Jurar nodded his head and stepped away.  Ramzi gave her a fast glare, then walked back into his office while Jurar walked over to her, wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her.  A moment later, he was walking out of the palace, leaving her with her mouth hanging open and wondering what the man had been discussing.

A part of her wanted to storm into her brother’s office and demand some answers.  But another part of her needed some space and time alone.  She didn’t want to be around anyone right now. 

Walking in the opposite direction, she closed the door to her private suite with a sigh.  Closing her eyes and leaning her back against the door, she started the process of regaining her composure.  That man had always been able to throw her control and her self-discipline into a complete tizzy!  From the very first time they’d met…goodness, had it only been a week ago?  She looked down at her hand.  The bandage was gone now although there were still some lines where the cuts had been.  Thankfully, they hadn’t been deep cuts.  And her neck had fully recovered.  Those bruises had quickly faded and had only required a few days of neck scarves before they were faded enough to go about her business. 

But the rest of her, the parts of her inside where no one could see, those parts of her have not recovered.  And last night…

She shivered at the memories of the previous night.  She’d really lost herself in the beauty of his touch.  She should be ashamed, but the feelings and excitement she’d experienced at his hands had been too wonderful. 

Anger?  Oh yes.  She had a great deal of anger still roiling inside of her.  His highhandedness was outrageous.  But then again, she should have anticipated something like that.  She knew the men in her family and Jurar was similar to her brothers.  She should have known that nothing good would come of her night of passion with a man like Jurar. 

So he thought she was just going to bow down to his will and marry him.   

With a sigh, she walked into her bedroom and fell onto her bed.  Initially, she wasn’t aware of the tears that seeped out from under her lashes.  All she knew was the desolate feeling inside of her stomach and the aching pain in her chest.  Ciala had suspected she’d eventually have to be married.  And most likely, it would have been a loveless marriage.  She hadn’t ever met a man that sparked much, if any emotions, within her.  Since she was introduced to many men over the years, she was very aware of how rare the chemistry between herself and Jurar really was.  She’d played the lady-diplomat for her brother on many occasions and had met dozens, possibly hundreds of men in that role.  But there was something about Jurar that pulled at her heart.  And definitely other parts of her anatomy! 

That was the problem, she supposed.  She was being thrown into a marriage the first time she’d ever felt anything about a man.  That wasn’t fair.  Her brothers had all been with women over the years.  They knew when they’d found the woman they wanted to be with for the rest of their lives.  They had a basis for comparison. 

She was furious that they were holding her to a different standard.  Well, she was also angry about the manipulation.  Jurar had known she was going to try and sneak into his room last night.  He’d practically taunted her with the information that her research would be in his room. 

Okay, so she really could only lay half the blame for that at his feet.  She could have risen above the taunting.  She could have ignored him and stayed in her room.  And more importantly, she could have been honest with her brothers about her work.  That way, she wouldn’t have had to sneak out of the palace, she wouldn’t have been caught by Jurar and dragged to the police station and she wouldn’t have lost months’ worth of work. 

It was all so absolutely ridiculous!  Every aspect of this was wrong and she was sick to death of the double standards she’d grown up with! 

Why were men allowed sexual freedoms while women had to preserve their innocence?  It wasn’t fair!  She knew that her brothers had been sexual hound dogs before they’d met their wives.  Why weren’t women allowed to have affairs and move on to their next lover? 

Oh, she supposed that women in other parts of the world were allowed.  European women, for instance, didn’t marry their first sexual partner!  American and Canadian women didn’t!  Why was she stuck in an archaic world where women were thought “pure” and shouldn’t be touched except by their husbands?

She sighed and rolled over.  She’d fought against the rules for so long!  She’d hidden her research from her brothers and…Ciala jackknifed up from the bed. 

That jerk still had her research and not a single mention of it had been brought up today!  He’d simply sauntered out after kissing her! 

Flopping back onto the mattress once more, she let the sobs flow out of her body.  It wasn’t fair!  She was stuck in this ancient world and she couldn’t leave it.  She couldn’t fight it.  And deep down inside, she suspected that she believed in most aspects of her world.  She didn’t like the infidelity of the men, but she truly believed that there was one woman for each man.  And her man just happened to be marrying her because she MIGHT be carrying his child and she had been a virgin.  Possibly her royal status had something to do with his decision as well, but right at this moment, she didn’t care!  It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right and she had no idea how to fight it. 

Ramzi walked into the dining room but he didn’t see his wife.  The only others that were in the room were Turk and Rais. 

“Have you seen Joline?” Rais asked as he poured himself a drink. 

Turk scowled at both of them.  “And where’s Raven?  She was supposed to be in our dining room but she isn’t there.  No note either.”

Ramzi rubbed a hand over his features, trying to hide his amusement.  “This is my fault,” he started to explain, almost chuckling when both of his brothers stepped closer, obviously ready to battle. 

“It isn’t what you think!” he told both of them, lifting his hand up, palms out to try and slow them down.  “It’s Ciala.”

“She has her own man problems,” Turk dismissed. 

“Exactly.  And I suspect that our ladies are dining with our sister in solidarity with Ciala’s man-problems.”

Rais and Turk both stopped and looked at their older brother with chagrin.  “But that was all your doing.  Why are our women punishing us?”

Ramzi couldn’t stop the laugher this time.  “I don’t think they are punishing us, well, Mia most likely is, but Joline and Raven are just…well, most likely they are just hanging out with Ciala because they’re women and they do that when one of them is upset.”

“Not happening tonight,” Turk commented.  He wanted his wife with him and he wasn’t going to let Ciala have Raven for the evening.  He didn’t care how upset his wife was about Ramzi’s decision, he wasn’t going to be frozen out.  He looked forward to his evenings with his wife all day long and this simply wasn’t going to happen.

“Where are you going?” Ramzi asked as Turk walked out of the dining room.

“I’m going to get my wife.  You messed up, not me.  I’m not dining alone because of your decision.”

Ramzi didn’t like the sound of that comment.  “You would have done the same thing!” he snapped, scowling again when Rais walked out as well.

Turk nodded his head in agreement. “Of course we would have.  You did the right thing and we applaud you for making the tough call.  But bottom line is, you had to make the call, all the blame is on your shoulders.” 

Rais smacked his older brother on the shoulder as he walked by.  “I agree with you as well, for what it’s worth.  But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell that to Joline.  She’d be furious with me.”  He laughed as he moved on out of the dining room.  “The trials and tribulations of leadership, my brother!  Better you than me.”

Ramzi glared at the two men’s broad backs, eventually following them because there was no way he was going to be without Mia tonight.  He didn’t care how angry she was with him.  “I think it is well past time we had a good workout together,” he called out to his betraying brothers.

A few minutes later, he had to push his way past both of them because they were blocking the entryway to Ciala’s suite.  “Get out of my way,” he mumbled.

But then he too came to a stop because four women were standing in a row with Ciala behind their line. 

“What the hell?” he demanded, glaring at his wife in particular.  “Mia, this is ridiculous,” he snapped. 

Mia shifted her body into battle stance, which only looked adorable since she was due to give birth any day now.  “I think it is ridiculous to force your sister into a marriage she doesn’t want.”

He sighed.  “Mia, you’ve been married to me long enough to know how these things work.”

Her beautiful, blue eyes narrowed at him in anger.  “No!  Don’t you dare tell me about tradition and the law.  I don’t want to hear any more.  You know it is ridiculous.”

He crossed his arms over his chest.  “I proposed to you after the first time we had sex, if you’ll remember correctly.”

He loved the blush that stole over her cheeks.  “We were different.”

“How so?” he challenged. 

“I wanted to marry you.”

He couldn’t argue with that.  And her words subdued a great deal of his rising temper.  “She’ll learn to like being married to Jurar.  He’s a good man.”  Ramzi heard the grunts of agreement from both of his brothers. 

“Then let her off the hook until she’s ready to marry the man!” she said, exasperated because it seemed like such an obvious answer.

Ramzi reached out and put a hand on Rais and Turk’s shoulders before he said, “She might already be pregnant.” 

Both brothers predictably were ready to tear off and pounce on the other man after those words, but Ramzi held tight.  “Which is the reason why they have to marry quickly.”

“I don’t!” Ciala called out from behind her sisterhood-line.  “It’s stupid and we should wait until there is a reason to panic.”  Tucking her hair behind her ear, she nodded her head for emphasis. 

Turk was furious.  “You’ll marry the man tomorrow, Ciala!  You shouldn’t have slept with the man until things were arranged anyway.”

“There were…reasons!” she called out, and then walked around to the front of the line, not liking that she was hiding.  “And things just…got out of hand.” 

Ciala cringed when the look in all of her brothers’ eyes changed.  Perhaps she’d had a bit too much to drink and shouldn’t have revealed more.  But she was tired of feeling helpless.  First with Jurar taking her research and now with her brothers all ganging up on her and making her get married. 

“I’m not getting married,” she told all of them and felt the women’s nods of agreement behind her.  “I’m not bowing down to a stupid tradition that I never agreed with in the first place.”

Ramzi shrugged his shoulder.  “Tell it to Jurar.”

Ciala smiled through her wine-induced confidence.  “He’s not here.  So you are my only target.”

Ramzi shook his head.  “He’ll be back tomorrow for the wedding which is happening at the end of the week.”  And with that, he walked over to his wife and simply lifted her into his arms.  “As for the rest of you, goodnight.” 

Mia wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed his shoulder, but she called out “Au revoir!” over his shoulder.  “Je ne pense pas que je suis un grand secours.  I don’t think I was much help.” 

A moment later, she and Ramzi disappeared.  Ciala watched with amusement as Turk and Rais looked at each other, then at their wives.  Both women immediately backed up and shook their heads but the men ignored their protests.  They followed their brother’s lead and simply plucked their women up out of the line and carried them off. 

That left Ciala and Shantra standing there with a glass of wine in their hands, leaning against each other because, well, because they couldn’t very well stand up on their own.  Not with the amount of wine they’d imbibed. 

“More chocolate?” Shantra suggested with a hazy smile in her sister’s direction. 

Ciala laughed and threw her arm around her sister which almost knocked both of them to the floor.  “Absolutely!  One of the perks of being a princess,” she said with a nod of her head.  “There are too many downsides.  We need to take advantage of the upsides whenever they present themselves to us.  And chocolate made by one of the finest chefs in the world is one of the perks!”

Both women stumbled over to the couch and fell down, careful to keep their wine in their glasses.  They brought the tray of chocolate treats over to rest between them instead of on the coffee table in front of them.  “Too far away,” Ciala explained. 

“Totally agree,” Shantra murmured as she selected yet another chocolate. 

They both savored another bite of chocolate and several sips of excellent wine before leaning their heads against the back of the sofa.  “So…how was it?” Shantra asked. 

Ciala sighed and turned her head so that she could see her sister.  “It was wonderful while it lasted.”  She smiled as she turned to look back up at the ceiling, not really seeing the elaborate mural someone had painted there centuries ago.  “It was almost magical and,” she shivered, “I never would have thought making love could be so amazing.”  Her smile disappeared as she remembered their argument this morning.  “But then he messed it all up by telling me that we would have to be married.”

Shantra laughed.  “It sounds very romantic.”

Ciala shrugged.  “There wasn’t any romance at all,” she told her sister.  “A man like Jurar doesn’t do romance.  He sees, he takes and he lays down the law.”

Shantra cringed.  “Okay, so I can see how that would be frustrating.  But could there be something nice about the relationship later on?  I mean, Mia, Raven and Jo seem to be pretty happy about how things turned out.”

Ciala knew that, but she wasn’t sure she would be as lucky.  “Mia’s story was a bit crazy, wasn’t it?”  They both smiled, remembering the day that Ramzi brought her back home with Badri, their adorable little boy, in Mia’s arms. 

“I think that the way Turk stole Raven was the best story.”  Ciala slyly looked over at her sister.  “Or maybe it was the way Rais completely bamboozled your friend Jo, and we never suspected a thing.”

“Don’t remind me,” Shantra grumbled.  “She didn’t even tell me about it until…well, until Rais announced they were getting married.” 

“A sly one that Joline,” Ciala commented.  Her eyes were getting heavy and she remembered that she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. 

Shantra yawned and curled her legs up underneath her.  “I wish I could find a man who would be as sweet and caring.  Never thought our brothers would be so gentle with their women.”

Ciala snorted, but it was more of a snuffle because she was so exhausted.  Jurar really knew how to keep a woman awake.