The Sheikh Read online

  ‘Yes, I do see that, and I realise that it is partly my fault.’ He looked slightly ashamed. ‘But I still feel responsible…’

  ‘Oh, no, I am not blaming you,’ Chloe said, ‘and I am sorry if you think I am letting you down, but I have to go.’

  ‘You are in love with him,’ Amelia said, looking at her oddly. ‘In that case, I think you should go with him, Chloe. A woman should always follow the dictates of her heart—regardless of whether or not it is wise.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Chloe went to her and kissed her cheek. ‘Thank you for understanding—but I thought you might.’

  Amelia nodded. ‘Be happy and make the most of whatever the gods give you,’ she said. ‘That may be unconventional advice, Chloe, but if you waste your chance it may never come again.’

  ‘I shall write to Daddy and tell him where I am,’ Chloe said. ‘I want to thank you both for a wonderful trip—I’ve seen and experienced so many things I would never have known about if it had not been for you, Charles. And you have made it so much easier for me, Amelia. I am sorry if you were worried about me, but please don’t worry any more. I couldn’t be happier—and Pasha takes great care of me.’

  ‘Yes, I am certain he will,’ Amelia said, surprising Chloe with her positive support. ‘Please write to me sometimes, Chloe. I should like to know how things turn out for you.’

  ‘Yes, of course I shall.’

  The professor had remained silent, and she knew he disapproved of the way she was behaving. No doubt he thought her a foolish girl who had no idea of what she was doing, or the pitfalls that might await her in the future.

  But that was not the case. Chloe was well aware that she was being reckless, that there were vast differences between her beliefs and Pasha’s—and that these could lead to trouble between them in the future.

  Pasha had said nothing of love or of marriage, but how could she expect that when they hardly knew one another? He had asked her to be his guest for a while, and she had accepted his invitation. She did not even know that he cared for her, although the look in his eyes seemed to say that he did; when he kissed her, she was sure of it and of her love for him.

  She was taking a huge leap of faith into the future by accompanying him to his home, but to have turned away now would have left her wondering for the rest of her life. And she suspected it might have broken her heart.

  ‘So, you will stay with Pasha, yes?’ Sashimi looked at her and smiled. ‘I told you when you came here that day that it was written in the stars—and has it not proved so?’

  ‘Yes, you did,’ Chloe agreed. ‘If you and Ahmad had not been so hospitable that day, I should not have written to you and then…’

  ‘You would have died,’ Sashimi agreed. ‘But it was the will of Allah that you should live and there must be a purpose for you. When the time comes it will be revealed.’

  ‘Is that what you believe?’ Chloe asked. ‘It makes life seem so simple when you look at things that way, but if we all thought the same would anything get done? Should we not all sit around and wait for a purpose to be revealed?’

  ‘You do not understand,’ Sashimi said, looking at her rather oddly. ‘But you will. Now, come and see the things Pasha has ordered for you. He said that you must have suitable clothes for your journey, and asked me to buy what I thought would suit you. I hope you will like what I have chosen.’

  Chloe was led into the bedroom provided for her use while they stayed with Pasha’s cousin. She gasped as she saw the various dresses, skirts, blouses and embroidered jackets waiting for her. The bed itself was strewn with filmy underclothes, and all manner of pretty trifles—so much that Chloe thought these things could not all be for her.

  ‘But he couldn’t have meant you to buy all this,’ she said. ‘I thought just a few things. My own suitcases are waiting for me in Cetua.’

  ‘I believe Pasha will think I have not bought as much as he would like,’ Sashimi said and gave a soft husky laugh. ‘My husband’s cousin is a very rich man, Chloe—much richer than we are. He will expect you to wear beautiful things…’ She picked up a wonderful dress in a deep kingfisher blue and held it against Chloe. ‘Yes, I thought this colour would suit you. Try it on.’

  Chloe removed the crumpled skirt and blouse she had been wearing, and slipped on the dress, which was made of a soft, silky material that clung lovingly to her figure, then turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror. Even without doing her hair or adding a pair of the pretty sandals Sashimi had chosen for her, she could see that it would make her look very different from her usual appearance in the conservative greens and sludgy browns she often chose because they were practical.

  ‘I would never have dared to buy something like this,’ she said, smoothing her hands over the long slim waist and twirling so that the calf-length skirt swirled about her legs. It made her look slim and elegant…another woman entirely.

  ‘I did not choose the short skirts I know are fashionable in your country, because we do not think them modest enough,’ Sashimi told her hesitantly. ‘But you could have them shortened if you wish?’

  ‘Oh, no, I like this just as it is,’ Chloe replied. ‘May I wear it now?’

  ‘You may wear whatever you please,’ Sashimi told her. ‘They are all yours. Choose what you want to wear for your journey tomorrow, and the rest will be packed for you. I shall leave you now, and you may join us on the patio when you are ready.’

  Left alone, Chloe held up several of the dresses against herself. There were so many of them, and they were all so much more beautiful than anything she had ever worn before.

  She selected a dress she thought would be suitable for travelling and laid that aside, then she took off the dress she was wearing and slipped on some of the delicate underwear, before putting the dress on again and selecting a pair of pretty gold leather sandals. A comb through her hair, a dab of perfume behind her ears and a pretty scarf wound around her throat, and she was ready.

  She saw the look of pleasure in Pasha’s eyes when she went out to join the others, and smiled at him to show that she was happy and pleased with his gift.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ he told her later when they were alone in the gardens. ‘But then I always knew you would be dressed in the right things.’

  ‘I’ve never been able to buy things like these,’ Chloe said, a faint blush in her cheeks as she saw the burning look in his eyes. ‘I ought not to accept them, but I couldn’t resist. I love them, thank you so much for buying them for me.’

  ‘They are nothing,’ he said. ‘I want to give you much more, Chloe. Believe me, this is merely the beginning.’

  Her heart was beating frantically. Surely he must mean that he loved her? He would not buy her gifts like these if he did not care for her a great deal…would he?

  Chloe was pleasantly surprised when she saw the house in Spain. Set on the hillside looking out over the Mediterranean, it was long and low, and painted white, very much like the houses she had stayed in while she was a guest in Morocco, but it wasn’t huge. There were only three bedrooms, and two reception rooms, besides the bathrooms and kitchen, which were modern and light. The pale grey lacquered furniture had a very Italian look, and the suites were leather, the floors a gleaming pink and grey marble. She had expected a Moorish influence, but it wasn’t like that at all, more like a house she would expect to find on the Riviera in France or Italy.

  Pasha looked amused when she voiced her pleasure and surprise. ‘I have other houses that would probably be more what you imagined,’ he told her. ‘They are where I entertain guests who expect a certain formality, but this is where I relax. I have never brought a guest here before, except Lysette and Mariam…’

  ‘Mariam.’ Chloe wrinkled her brow. ‘Am I right in thinking you once spoke of her as your father’s second wife?’

  ‘Yes, Mariam is my stepmother. She lives in America—has done so since my father was killed.’

  ‘Yes…’ Chloe nodded. ‘And who is Lysette?’ She wa
s shocked to see the colour leave his face and a look so bleak that it frightened her enter his eyes. ‘Oh, I am sorry. I should not have asked…’

  ‘You had the right to ask, I spoke of her,’ Pasha said, and took her hand, leading her out into the gardens where to her delight Chloe discovered that there was a tiled patio and green lawns, and at the far end a path leading down to a tiny cove. She was aware that he was gathering his strength, and that what he was about to say was very important to him. ‘Lysette was Mariam’s daughter. She was very beautiful—a sweet, shy girl, much like you in some ways, but in others very different. Lysette was not as brave as you, Chloe. She had been very protected and sheltered, and perhaps that is why it happened.’

  Chloe wanted to ask what had happened, but the words stuck in her throat. She knew that Pasha would tell her in his own time, and after a pause he turned to her and she saw that there was great sadness in his face.

  ‘She died in a car crash a few months ago,’ he said. ‘The doctors told me she was carrying a child—but she had no husband. I believe that she may have been killed to prevent her causing trouble for someone, that the accident was not what it seemed.’

  ‘Oh, no!’ Chloe’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Pasha, that’s terrible! If you are right and she was murdered…’

  ‘Yes, that is what I believe,’ he agreed. He smiled and reached out to touch her cheek. ‘Do you remember when I laughed at you and you chided me for it?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her eyes were wide and serious as she looked at him. ‘You told me that you had not wanted to laugh for a long time.’

  ‘Until I met you, I felt that I might never want to laugh again,’ he said, his eyes intent on her face. The look in them was so full of meaning, of desire, that Chloe swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry as her heart began to pump with excitement. ‘That was because of what happened to Lysette. I loved her. She was my sister and very dear to me, and when I lost her I felt that the light had gone out of my life. You have brought that light back to me, Chloe. You make me feel that there is something worth living for again.’

  ‘Oh, Pasha…’ Chloe leaned towards him, her heart racing wildly. How could she doubt that he loved her now? Her whole being was thrilling to his words, to the look in his eyes and the feeling of being wanted, of being loved. She moved closer to him, her arms going up about his neck as he reached for her, fingers straying into his hair, and caressing the back of his neck, arching into his body as he kissed her. This was so right, so wonderfully right. She knew that she wanted what was about to happen between them, that she had been waiting for this moment since he first kissed her in the desert. ‘Oh, Pasha, I love you. I do love you so much.’

  He bent down to scoop her up as he had the day she had almost fainted, carrying her into the house, to the bedroom she knew instinctively was his own, and laying her down on the bed. She lay gazing up at him as he bent over her and kissed her tenderly, sweetly on the lips, his fingers just grazing her cheek, following the line of her throat to the hollow where he planted a tiny teasing kiss.

  ‘You are sure this is what you want?’ he asked, his voice husky with desire, with his burning need, and yet giving her the chance to withdraw if she wished. ‘You do not want to run away from me?’

  ‘Never,’ she vowed. ‘I want to stay with you always, Pasha. You saved my life, and I belong to you. I want to be yours…in all the ways that a woman can belong to a man, I want to be yours.’

  ‘Be certain, my little one,’ he murmured as he nibbled at her earlobe. ‘Be very certain before you give yourself to me, because once you are mine I would never ever let you go from me.’

  ‘I shall never want to leave you,’ she promised, arching her body to meet his as he lay down and clasped her to him, his hands smoothing down her sides, over her hips and cupping her buttocks as he pressed her against him so that she could feel the hardness of his desire for her pressing into her. ‘Why should I ever leave you when you are all that I want of life?’

  ‘I just wanted you to know,’ he murmured huskily. ‘I would never let you go…I want you, need you so much…’

  Chloe was thrilling to his words, and to the caresses her willing body was receiving. She trembled beneath his stroking hands, quivering as he parted her legs, seeking out that tender secret place between them that no man had ever touched before. He was bringing her tinglingly alive, teaching her the meaning of love, as she had never understood it, raising her to a state of physical awareness that had her writhing with pleasure beneath him.

  His kisses and his tongue played on her as a man might play on the fine strings of a violin, making her moan and gasp as the intense feelings rose to a crescendo of pleasure. Now he was thrusting into her, and briefly there was pain, a sharp pain that made her cry out in protest, but he covered her mouth with his own, and she was drowning in the joy that only he could give her, wanting him to go on.

  She was being carried with him to some high peak that she had never seen, and then she was falling, falling into the exquisite pleasure that his relentless loving caused to wash over her in waves, again and again until she wept for joy. Never, never had she dreamed that anything this wonderful could happen to her, and when it was all over she clung to him as if she would never let him go.

  He stroked her and soothed her, wiping her tears and kissing the tender places of her body until she was laughing and gazing up at him in anticipation.

  ‘No, no, my darling,’ he said and laughed at her. ‘Not again so soon. I am merely a man—not a god. You must wait for a while, my angel, until I have recovered my strength. You have taken it all, and I must eat and relax with you in the sunshine.’

  Pasha took her hand, and when she would have reached for her clothes he shook his head, pulling her with him out into the sun. Then, laughing wickedly, he picked her up and ran with her down the little pathway to the cove. She laughingly screamed and struggled but he held her, wading out into the sea and then dropping her into the cool salty water, plunging in after her.

  Chloe spluttered indignantly as they came up. She wriggled away from him, splashing water into his face.

  ‘How did you know I could swim?’ she demanded. ‘I might have drowned.’

  ‘Not while I am near,’ he said and grabbed her, intending to duck her under the water again. She gave a little shout and wriggled away, going under the water to swim to a large, protruding rock to avoid him, then she hauled herself out and shook the water from her eyes. She crossed her arms over her breasts, feeling a little shy. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Don’t cover yourself. I like to see you like that.’

  ‘Someone might come,’ she said, blushing as she realised that his eyes were upon her. ‘I’ve never been swimming in the nude before.’

  ‘No one will come,’ he said and came out of the water to join her. His body was hard and lean, rippling with health and strength, his skin a light olive shade that was very attractive in a man of his stature. He might claim to be merely a man, but he had the form and beauty of the ancient Greek gods. She knew that to touch him and have him touch her was something that would always give her pleasure. ‘You are beautiful, Chloe. Do you believe me now when I tell you that?’

  She nodded shyly. ‘I believe that you think I am—and that is all I want.’ She reached out to stroke his arm, feeling the smoothness of his skin and the faint prickle of the light covering of hair.

  His eyes went over her as she shivered. ‘I don’t want you to turn cold, but you should be proud of your body, my Chloe. You have lovely breasts and a waist many women would die for.’

  ‘No one ever told me that before.’

  ‘I hope no one has ever seen you this way before.’ He pretended to glare at her, but she knew he was only teasing her. The fire in his eyes crackled and burned, making her gasp and tremble inside. He must know that he had been her first and only lover. ‘I should kill anyone who had—or tried to in the future.’

  Chloe laughed. ‘Oh, don’t be silly, Pasha. Of course you wouldn’t…’ She tu
rned away, but he caught her, his fingers digging into her flesh as he pulled her back to him. She saw that his expression was no longer teasing, but deadly serious. ‘What…why are you looking at me like that?’

  ‘Don’t take my words lightly,’ he warned. ‘I say what I mean, Chloe. You are mine—mine alone. No other man will ever touch you. Do you hear me?’

  A shiver ran down her spine as she gazed into his eyes—eyes that were suddenly cold and menacing. Why was he saying these things? Surely he must know it wasn’t necessary?

  ‘But I wouldn’t betray you with another man,’ she said. ‘You must know that, Pasha? You must know that I have never given myself to another man?’

  ‘I know there was no one before me,’ he grated harshly. ‘I am merely telling you that there must never be anyone else after me.’

  ‘You did not need to tell me,’ she said and pulled away from him, feeling a little hurt. Why should he imagine that she was so light or false in her affections?

  She dived into the sea and swam swiftly back to shore, running up the pathway to the gardens and then into the house, pulling on a warm towelling robe she found hanging near the door to dry herself, then went in search of the kitchen to look for food.

  She had been surprised to discover that there was a refrigerator, but she ought not to have been. Pasha seemed to have everything he wanted, nothing was barred to him. She imagined that his money could buy him anything he required. That thought rankled a little—did he imagine he had bought her?

  That scene on the rock had cast a little shadow over the day, she thought, as she opened the cupboards and took out bread and tomatoes, and a soft goat’s cheese from the refrigerator.

  She turned to him as he entered behind her. ‘I am not sure…is this all right for you? I don’t know quite what you are allowed to eat. I think Muslims have something about not drinking wine…’

  ‘What makes you imagine that I am a Muslim?’