The Sultan's Bride (21 page)

He needed no further
invitation, taking her in his arms, marvelling in the smoothness and warmth of
her skin.  Pushing her back onto the bed he kissed her, his tongue probing
her mouth and finding hers responding with enthusiasm.  His hands roamed
her body touching her breasts, rubbing her nipples again, inciting a moan from
her that excited him again as he felt himself stiffen. 

She stroked his back, running
her hand down to the base of his spine, making him shiver and as he took one
nipple into his mouth and let his tongue play with it his hand reached between
her legs and found the wetness his touch had inspired.

Fingers probing he felt her
moving against his touch, rubbing herself against him until he could smell her
sex.  She shuddered and he pushed fingers into her, thrusting them in and
out while she moved her hips in a rhythm that matched.   The words
the Sultan said rang in his ears and he felt smug all of a sudden knowing that
now he was the one, the only one she would share her passion with now.

Parting her legs further he
moved between then, pushing his cock into her waiting body.  ‘Richard,’
she cried, feeling him fill her up. 

‘My love,’ he said, ‘finally
my love.’  As their hips moved in unison, she rose off the bed to meet
him, her need for him being fulfilled.  Reaching behind she grasped his
buttocks, pulling him into her deeper, revelling in the sensation.

He ran his hands over her
body, barely believing this was happening. 
His own
previous sexual encounters had never been like this but she was different,
uninhibited and wanting more.

Each thrust he filled her,
and he thought of how she was his now, no other man would ever touch her. 
His possession of her was complete.

With a cry he came and she
felt him fill her and then as he rolled off her and took her in his arms
kissing and stroking her, never wanting to stop. 

Then she put her head on his
chest, covering it with little kisses.  ‘Catherine, there’s something else
I want to talk to you about,’ he whispered, his hand stroking her back. 

‘What is it my love?’

He reached under the pillow
and pulled out the phallus
Alena
had given him. 
She stared at it for a moment confused.  ‘I was given this by a friend of
yours to give to you.  I just wondered what you did with it.’ 

He grinned and Catherine
laughed. ‘Here, let me show you my love.’ 

The morning sun streamed
through the gap in the curtains and Richard gazed at his wife sleeping
peacefully beside him.  Events of the previous night were still going
through his mind, he still could not believe she had come to love him the way
he loved her.

There would be children now
and a life he had thought he could only imagine with her.  He grinned at
the thought of
Arif
discovering that Catherine had
chosen him and this life instead of returning to
Ajara
. 
The little brat would be furious but Richard would make her happy, he’d see to
that.

Watching her sleeping made
him feel so warm inside, knowing she was his now. 
Completely
his.
  The thought of her and James returning to the house made him
happier than he ever thought was possible but from tonight the little family
would all be under the same roof.

Catherine stirred and looked
up at her husband, propped up on the pillows gazing at her.  ‘Good morning
Mr Black,’ she said.

‘Good morning Mrs Black,’ he
replied, leaning down to kiss her.  He felt her touch again and responded
in kind.  ‘I love that you are mine,’ he whispered.

‘Always, my love,’ she
replied.

Collecting James from Sarah’s
house the family made their way back across the park, stopping to let James run
around.   ‘Everything is going to be good from now on,’ said Richard,
laughing at the boy chasing the ducks again.

Soon the little house made
way for a bigger house a little closer to Sarah with the pending arrival of a
sibling for James.  Sarah could not have been more proud. ‘I wish your
father was alive to see this,’ she would say, ‘our little girl so settled and
the grandbabies.’

When his daughter was born
Richard was overwhelmed.  He loved being James’ stepfather but his own
little girl was something special.  Catherine fretted over her children’s
safety, thinking of her own kidnapping so long ago that had torn her own
family’s lives apart but Richard would reassure her that little Irina as they
had named her and James would be safe.

He asked no questions when
his wife wanted to invest in property down by the markets as well.  The family
with the little market stand had expanded their business and Catherine was
happy to help them gain more space.

Uneasy at first he accepted
Catherine’s friendship with Abdul after Catherine explained the stall and what
the man was selling.  The parts she didn’t tell him wouldn’t hurt she
thought, but she had also heard his friend’s wives had ceased their visits to
the young man as they started their own families with their husbands.

Sarah kept herself busy with
her grandchildren but Catherine continued to worry about her, it had been her
and Peter for all the years Catherine had been missing and she wondered how her
mother was really coping.

Then
came
the news that a ship was on its way with a supply of goods from
Ajara
. 
Arif
, it seemed had
not forgotten Catherine or their child and it
was
his
way of contributing to James’ future.  The shipment also had an escort who
after his years of service to the former Sultan,
Arif
had decided to let go.  He had only been too pleased to travel when he
heard where the shipment was going.

Omar had never forgotten
Sarah, having long ago given his heart to her and when he stepped off the boat
she saw he was still as handsome as ever.  Catherine smiled and ran to
him, hugging him as an old friend but it was Sarah he had eyes for.

She blushed as he approached
her and Catherine raised an eyebrow at her reaction.  ‘Sarah,’ he
murmured, ‘I had hoped to see you but did not expect you here.  You have
not changed at all.’

‘I find that hard to
believe,’ she said with a laugh.  Catherine could not believe the glow in
her mother’s face, she was radiant. 

‘Omar,’ she said, ‘what are
your plans now you’re here?  Will you return to
Ajara
or stay?’

He smiled. ‘I had thought to
stay. I have enough to settle down and live my life here.  The Sultan was
most generous for my years of service.’ 

Catherine smiled. ‘You are
most welcome to stay with us until you find a place of your own.’

‘There is no need for that,’
Sarah said, ‘my home is quite empty,
Omar
can stay
with me.’ 

Omar’s brow furrowed. ‘What
would Peter think of that my Sarah?’ 

‘I lost my husband over a
year ago,’ she said.

‘Oh my dear, I’m so sorry,’
he said, ‘I would be only too pleased to keep you company.’ Catherine had noted
his words and raised an eyebrow again at her mother with a look that meant
Sarah knew she would have to explain later.

Contained in the shipment
were fabrics and spices, all the things Peter had originally traded for. 
‘The Sultan heard from Richard how much your family had suffered after his
father took you from your parents,’ Omar told Catherine, ‘he wanted to make up
for it somehow.  He was bitterly disappointed that you were not returning
to
Ajara
but wants to provide for his son.’

‘So he tries to stay in my
life through these gifts,’ she said, ‘my place is here with my husband and our
children now.’  Omar smirked.

Richard walked over with
James in his arms and Omar was taken aback.  ‘This is the little prince?’
he asked, a smile spreading across his face. 

‘Don’t call him that,’
Richard said with a laugh, ‘he runs the house as if he is a prince already.’

Omar laughed. ‘I can
imagine.  It is good to see you Richard, I was sorry we did not meet under
better circumstances but I was so concerned for Catherine’s wellbeing after
falling in love with her mother so many years ago.’

Sarah froze and Catherine
laughed.  ‘Now the cat is well and truly out of the bag dear Mama, I think
we need to have a little talk you and I.’ 

At Catherine’s tone Sarah
relaxed. ‘Perhaps we should.’

‘Let’s go home and talk
properly, it’s crowded down here and it’s time for Irina’s nap.’ 

Omar looked at her surprised.
‘You named your baby Irina?’ 

Catherine smiled. ‘She took
very good care of me.  I wanted to do something in her honour.  This
Irina will live a very different life though, I do not intend for her to be
forced into marriage.’

Omar took the baby from her
arms, she chortled at the new face and he kissed her nose.  ‘Well then
little Irina, let’s get you home for your sleep.’  They took the carriage
home where Omar could rest after being on the ocean for so long and slowly
Sarah came out of her shell and spoke fondly of their time in
Ajara
.

‘I had no idea,’ Catherine
said, ‘I never thought to ask you what you thought of the palace.’

‘Everyone was so kind,’ said
Sarah, ‘Omar was very special and he made it clear he cared about me.’

‘So did you two…?’ Catherine
asked looking at the pair. 

‘No!’ they both exclaimed and
looked at each other smiling, intent on keeping one little secret. 
Despite Catherine’s curiosity they both realised that the truth would hurt her
and neither wanted that.

Sarah felt the familiar ache
looking at Omar and sighed.  ‘We shall go now my love, and get Omar
settled in at home.’  Catherine nodded. 

Omar took Sarah’s hand once
they got out the gate. ‘Now I have found you my Sarah,’ he said, ‘I don’t
intend to let you go again.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ she said
with a grin.

Arriving home she fussed
around, terrified at the thought of intimacy with him after all this
time.  ‘My love, why don’t you sit with me?’ he asked, patting the sofa
beside him.

  ‘After all these years
I am more nervous than I was the day we first made love,’ she said quietly.

‘But why?
  We are still the same people, there is nothing
stopping us now.’ 

She nodded. ‘I know
,
I just never hoped to see you again.  It hurt so much
to part last time.  Peter was such a good husband but you…’ she looked up
into his eyes, the eyes with so much feeling showing in them. ‘You woke
something up in me Omar that I haven’t felt again since and it scared me.’

He smiled. ‘As you woke
something up in me my love, perhaps we can rediscover it together?’  Then
he kissed her, and it was as if the years between their meetings no longer
existed.

After making love that night
he asked her to marry him.  ‘I had hoped to lay eyes on you again, make
sure that you were happy in your life but to find you this way my Sarah, I
would hope that I can make you happy.’ 

She nodded. ‘I would like
that.’

‘So is that a yes?’ he asked
hopefully. 

Sarah laughed. ‘It is a yes
my love, to be with you and not feel guilty about it would be wonderful.’

Catherine was thrilled for
them. Omar had been so good to her in the palace and she resolved to not ask
too many questions about their previous encounter, after all too much
information had nearly destroyed her marriage.

Catherine arrived at her
mother’s house to prepare for Sarah’s marriage to Omar.  She laughed on
finding the pair together in the living room.  ‘Omar, you are not supposed
to see the bride today.’

He stood and put his palm to
her face to stroke her cheek. ‘My dear Catherine, now we are to be family there
is something that I need to tell you, to tell you both.’

She sat beside her mother,
wondering what it was that he could possibly need to tell her.  All she
knew was that he made her mother happy.  Sarah had such a glow about her
these days she was unmistakeably in love.

‘There was a time when Irina
and the Sultan were newly married that she came to realise that he could not
father any children.  At first she thought it just needed time but it did
not take her long to decide to take matters into her own hands.  One night
she approached me and I was flattered by her attentions and when she told me
what she wanted I saw it as a service to him and a way to help her.’

He took a deep breath and
continued. ‘Irina knew if she remained childless she was in danger as the
Sultana, if the next wife he took carried a child then she could be supplanted
so we lay together in the hope that a new life would grow that she could pass
as his own child.’

Catherine gasped. ‘You are
Arif’s
father?’

He nodded. ‘That is true, as
it also turned out the Sultan could not create life with any of his other wives
no matter how hard he tried or how many wives he took.’