The Sheik's Unexpected Bride Read online

  Luna slapped a hand over her mouth and looked around. The other guest were laughing politely and it took Luna a great deal of effort to restrain herself from laughing out loud. It was a very corny joke, but she loved it! It was absolutely hilarious!

  “Don’t hurt his feelings!” Tasim hissed into her ear.

  Luna glanced up at him and all amusement dissipated in the face of his anger. “I wasn’t…I thought…”

  “Stop!” he hissed. “Just stop! He’s a kind man. He likes to tell silly jokes and, I’m sorry, but he’s probably going to tell that joke again.” He eyed her sternly. “Don’t hurt his feelings!”

  Luna’s eyes widened for a moment. Their glaring match continued, but without a winner, what was the point?

  Instead, she glanced over at the elderly general, then at his wife, who was stared fixedly down at her plate with embarrassment. Over a joke? How ridiculous!

  “General, thank you so much for lightening the conversation. We were venturing into political territory on this side of the table and your joke was very much appreciated,” she said, smiling warmly at him. The man’s eyes widened, then his cheeks flushed with pleasure.

  Tasim watched the interaction, even noticing that the general’s wife looked relieved. Well done, Princess, he thought. But he didn’t say anything. Although her words sounded sincere, this was Princess Luna after all. She was spoiled rotten and irritatingly self-centered.

  Wasn’t she?

  So, why did he suddenly have the feeling that he’d hurt her feelings with his abrupt warning?

  Since she turned to speak to the man on her other side, Tasim couldn’t see her face. But instinctively, he knew he’d wounded her deeply.

  Guilt wrapped long fingers around his throat. Trying to ignore it, Tasim conversed with the woman on his right, trying to push the guilt aside. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t go away. In fact, when he glanced back at Luna, he glimpsed a flash of her forlorn expression. In that moment, the guilt tightened its fingers.

  Allaena, he didn’t want to feel sorry for her!

  Thankfully, the dinner came to an end and the engaged couple stood up, hand in hand and beamed at the crowd.

  “There is dancing and dessert in the next room, if you all would like to come with me,” Elon announced. There was an almost unanimous surge of excitement as most of the guests followed the couple. Tasim rose as well, even stood back, politely holding the princess’s chair. But he didn’t follow. He kept back, observing the crowd as they made their way into the adjoining ballroom.

  Correction, he watched the princess. Her spine was stiff, her shoulders tight, and she didn’t walk with her normal grace and elegance. There was a jerkiness to her gait that made him feel as if he’d kicked a puppy.

  Muttering under his breath, Tasim tried to shake it off, following the crowd into the next room when all he wanted to do was to grab Luna and drag her off somewhere so that he could talk to her. He wanted a bit of privacy where no one could observe their expressions or overhear their conversation.

  And yet, even that desire didn’t make much sense. Why in the world would he give a damn about her feelings? It was ridiculous!

  Tasim looked around, noticing that the dancing had begun. Immediately, his gaze found Luna. He gritted his teeth as he watched her swirl across the floor in the arms of someone else. Turning away, he stalked down the hallway to the suite of rooms that he’d been assigned. It was only the first day and already he could tell this was going to be a long week!

  Chapter 3

  A knock sounded on her door and Luna turned, wondering who would knock this early in the morning. One darkly handsome face popped into her mind, but she pushed the thought away. There was no way that Tasim would come to her room for any reason.

  “Come in!” she called out.

  A moment later, Ella stuck her head in. “Good morning!”

  Luna grinned and turned around. It was hard to dislike someone that was so joyously sweet.

  “Good morning! How are you doing?”

  “Great!” Ella replied, punching the air triumphantly. She added a little spin, giggling as she watched her skirt flare. “Just a few more days, and I will be marrying the man of my dreams!”

  Luna laughed and sat down on her bed. “How many hours to go?”

  Ella smiled and threw herself onto the bed too. “Don’t tease me. I’m not going to apologize for being happy. And I can’t help it if I get silly when I’m deliriously happy.”

  Luna smiled gently at her future sister-in-law. “You make him happy too. I’ve never seen him like this, Ella. So, thank you.”

  Ella rolled onto her back and shot her soon to be sister-in-law a pointed look. “Care to explain what happened between you and my brother last night?”

  Immediately, Luna’s mood dropped and she moved over to her dressing table. Very carefully, she aligned each of the tiny bottles and knickknacks, focusing with all her might on making sure that the comb and brush were set at a perfect angle. “I don’t know what you mean. Your brother is a strong leader. I respect him and–”

  “Don’t even try it,” Ella interrupted with an amused snort, moving over to stand behind Luna. Their eyes met in the mirror and Ella couldn’t stop grinning. “You two were snapping at each other throughout dinner last night. And Tasim couldn’t stop glaring at you during the dancing. So what gives?” she asked, sitting down in one of the chairs by the window.

  “Nothing gives,” Luna replied. “Your brother–”

  “He loves broccoli,” she interrupted. “Is that why he piled so much of it on your plate?”

  Luna stared at Luna for a long, stunned moment, then laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “No. No, he did that because I mentioned that I hated it!”

  Woah! She hadn’t meant to be that vehement. Glancing sideways, she realized that she should have been less…irritated. After all, the incident had been minor and happened over twelve hours ago. “Don’t worry about the broccoli,” Luna said to Ella. “I took care of it.”

  Ella grinned. “Tasim does have a strange sense of humor.”

  Luna rolled her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, Ella, but your brother doesn’t have a sense of humor at all.”

  “Oh, he does,” she argued, standing up and…looked sharply towards the bed. “What’s that?”

  “What’s what?” Luna asked, peering in the direction where Ella pointed.

  “That! There’s something under your…!” She backed away, shaking her head. “Luna, don’t make any sudden moves!”

  Luna caught a hint of movement under her bed.

  Quickly, she pulled Ella behind her. “Stay very still!” she hissed.

  A snake peered out from under the bed. The ladies jumped back, startled by the sudden appearance of the serpent. Their alarm caused the snake to coil up, ready to spring. What happened next…well, everything quickly became a bit chaotic.

  “Get out!” Luna hissed, grabbing her shoe and throwing it at the snake. Given two targets, the snake leapt towards the smaller, more easily obtainable target. “Get out of here Ella! Get out and–”

  Tasim had heard the yelling and his temper flared! He’d just started to soften towards the beautiful princess, thinking that he’d misjudged her, that he’d allowed the rumors of her spoiled nature influence how he perceived her.

  But as he walked by her suite, the yelling, “Get out!” halted his progress. He eyed the door, which stood slightly ajar, and heard, “Get out of here, Ella!”

  What was Luna doing to his sister? She’d gone through too much over the years and he wasn’t going to allow some self-righteous, self-centered brat, regardless of her rank, to hurt his little sister! Granted, he’d piled Luna’s plate with broccoli last night, but that was no excuse to yell at Ella like that!

  Bursting into the room, his eyes scanned the situation, taking it all in quickly. As Tasim watched, he saw Luna pushing his little sister behind her. Luna was protecting Ella? That appeared to be the case but…why was she telling E
lla to get out of the room? Whatever issue Luna had with his sister, he wasn’t going to stand for his baby sister to be insulted.

  Another shoe went flying towards the bed. “Are you seriously having a temper tantrum…?”

  “Get out! Now!” she hissed, slowly inching backwards, her arms spread wide to ensure Ella stayed behind her.

  He was livid at being ignored, but before he could respond, he registered the fear in his sister’s eyes. “Ella, come here!” he snapped, ready to scoop her up and carry her away. He wouldn’t stop in the hallway either. Ella had gone through enough in her life and he wouldn’t let her stay in this palace a moment longer if Luna, her future sister-in-law, was going to insult Ella. Not a chance!

  Unfortunately, before he could get any sort of answer, another shoe went flying. Tasim finally realized that both women were looking down at ground level. The awkwardness of their body language finally clicked. This wasn’t a spoiled brat kicking someone out of her room. Something was wrong! A threat?

  His blood went cold at the idea of his sister, or even Luna, being in danger. In the blink of an eye, he shifted from protective older brother into battle mode.

  “Guards!”

  “No! Keep them out!” Luna whispered harshly, her arms still wide as she stood between Ella and whatever was on the floor near their feet. When the guards stepped into the room, quickly followed by Elon, every one of them took in the scene, assessing the situation, and coming to the same conclusion.

  “What’s going on?” Elon demanded with a lethally calm voice, carefully stepping forward. But Tasim put a hand to his chest, stopping his momentum.

  “That’s my sister!” Tasim growled in a low, nasty tone of voice.

  “That’s my future wife!” Elon hissed right back. “Get out of my way!”

  “Both of you stop right where you are!” Luna ordered, and the only reason she got through to her brother, Tasim, and the guards is because she whispered.

  Both women were still staring at the floor near her bed, backing slowly away, inch by measured inch. “Just keep on slowly backing up and get out of the room,” she whispered to everyone, keeping her gaze on the floor.

  “Luna?” Elon prompted.

  “Just…go…now,” she repeated with a voice that seemed calm, but Tasim realized that she was terrified. He could see it in her eyes, sense it in the way she was backing up. And in the way she was protecting Ella.

  “Luna,” Elon said in a smooth, even voice, “I’m going to toss this to you. When you catch it, you’ll only have seconds, but you know what to do.”

  Luna nodded, still backing up, still herding Ella behind her.

  “Now!” Luna whispered.

  Tasim didn’t have a chance to figure out what was going on. A flash passed by his peripheral vision. He was still watching the two women. One moment, Luna’s hands were empty. The next moment, there was a lethal looking knife in her grip. And then it was gone. Flying through the air. A half of a second later, there was a dull thud as the knife landed.

  And then Luna spun around, pulling Ella into her arms as relief surged through them.

  Elon flew across the room, pulling both women into his arms and holding them steady. “I’ve got you both,” Elon assured them softly.

  “I’m okay,” Luna whispered. “Take care of Ella.” She pulled out of Elon’s arms and stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself.

  The guards hurried into the room, seven of them, all looking at the place where the knife had landed.

  Tasim looked as well, moving around the guards to find out what was going on. A snake. A large, sand colored snake with “horns” over the eyes. It had a triangular head, which meant that the snake was venomous. A damn snake! A venomous snake, at that! In the palace? How had that happened?

  Before he could ask, one of the guards collected the knife, snake and all, and took it from the room. Tasim looked over, wanting to ensure that his sister was safe. She was being carried out of the room by her fiancé. It was at that moment that Tasim realized that Ella was completely devoted to Elon. And he reciprocated that devotion. His sister’s face was buried against his neck as he whispered into her ear.

  The doors closed with a soft snick, leaving just Tasim and Luna alone.

  She looked as if she were frozen, unable to move. Then he watched as she reached out, a hand touching the window. Her fingers trembled so badly, he knew that they wouldn’t support her. He rushed across the room, pulling her into his arms just before her knees gave out.

  “You’re okay,” he whispered, reassuring her softly. He tightened his arms when he felt her tremble, trying to give her some of his strength. He felt her bury her face against his neck and something inside of him relaxed.

  “You were protecting Ella,” he whispered roughly, rubbing his cheek against her hair, absently noting the softness. In fact, her whole body was soft and silky and fit against him perfectly.

  “I knew what to do,” she murmured, snuggling against him. “I knew what to do but…dear heaven, I hate snakes!” She shuddered and hid her face more firmly against his shoulder, hiding her face from him. Tasim tightened his arms around her, holding her close as he tried to reassure her. She’d been so damned brave! And what a throw!

  She must have suddenly realized that she was being comforted by “the enemy”, because a moment later, she stiffened and pulled away.

  She put several feet of space between them, rubbing her forehead hard, as if trying to punish herself for accepting comfort from him.

  Tasim watched, impressed at how quickly Luna rallied. With a sigh, she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. With her hands clasped tightly in front of her, she bowed a fraction of an inch. “I apologize. I was just...” she didn’t finish the statement. Instead, she moved over to the chair and sank into it. She took in a slow, deep breath, then let it out through numb lips. A moment later, she looked up at him, trying to appear calm and composed. “What were you saying?”

  Tasim walked over and knelt down in front of her, looking into her chocolate eyes. He smelled her feminine scent once again, remembering last night when her perfume had irritated him. But today, he knew that her scents were just a part of her. A very sweet, wonderful part of her. She smelled of strawberries today instead of lily of the valley. He liked both.

  Which was a problem if he was going to continue disliking this woman.

  He stood and surprised both of them when he lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest as he sat down in the chair, his arm strong against her back as he settled her in his lap and pulled her close.

  “Where did you learn to throw a knife like that?” he asked, feeling her begin to relax ever so slightly.

  Luna shifted in his arms and he looked down into her eyes.

  She seemed…startled…when she realized he was holding her like this. But she didn’t move away. Instead, she shifted slightly, getting more comfortable. A moment later, she pretty much collapsed against him, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

  After a long silence, he heard her sigh. “Summer camp.”

  It took him several beats before he remembered what he’d asked her.

  “You learned to throw a knife in summer camp? Was that a normal activity?”

  She smiled gently, pulling out of his arms and sliding off his lap so that she was sitting primly in the chair next to him. Luna smiled up at him, but her expression was tremulous, as if she were trying to figure out what had just happened. Being in his arms was definitely off-putting. For both of them.

  “No. It wasn’t part of the curriculum. I just–” Luna stopped, her gaze returning to the spot where the snake had slithered out from underneath the bed. For a long moment, she trembled, her arms wrapping around her body as if she could somehow protect herself from the now-gone threat.

  He touched her arm, encouraging her. “What happened?”

  She shrugged, wrapping her arms around her waist. Again, her gaze returned to the spot where the snake had died.
/>
  “I was about twelve years old and there was a boy, well, actually, a group of boys.” She smiled faintly, shaking her head. “I should probably back up a bit. There was a bonfire one night. I’d gotten into an argument with my cabin mates about who had to clean up the bathroom that day. I’d done it the day before, but one of the girls, a truly mean girl, claimed that I didn’t have to clean toilets at home, so I should have to do it more often at camp. She claimed it would make me more human, more approachable.”

  “Sounds like a real prize,” he grumbled. “What happened?”

  Luna sighed and looked out the window, hiding her expression.

  “I didn’t agree with her. But she was one of those mean girls who…well, she ruled the camp. If you wanted friends, you had to be friends with her or she’d ostracize you. I knew she’d do it too, because I’d seen her do it to some of the other girls.”

  “So, you remained friends with her? Got angry about cleaning the toilets and learned to throw a knife at her?” he teased, relieved when she smiled. “Tell me you pinned all of her underwear to the cabin walls the following summer.”

  Luna laughed. “I wish I’d been that creative. But no. I walked out of the cabin. I’d done my share of the work and cleaned up my assigned part of the bathroom. But when the rest of my cabin mates arrived for dinner that night, that girl, the mean one, wouldn’t let me sit at our normal table. So I sat alone.” She sighed. “At the bonfire that night, I didn’t feel like being ostracized further, so I went down to the lake and sat on the dock, looking at the stars.” She stared out at the courtyard, silent for a long moment. “A group of boys came down. I don’t think they knew I was there, at first. At least, I was pretty sure that they hadn’t followed me.” She looked back at him, grimacing slightly. “I think I was more of an opportunity rather than a planned ‘conquest’.”

  Tasim’s body tightened as he realized where this story was going. “Tell me they didn’t…!”

  She gave an odd sort of half laugh. “No, they came down onto the docks, laughing and joking. But when they spotted me, alone, they started getting some really vicious ideas.”