Читать книгу Modern Romance May 2017 Books 5 – 8 - Bella Frances, Louise Fuller - Страница 15
ОглавлениеALIM HAD ALWAYS been careful.
Always!
Until now.
There was nothing about this night that compared with others, for they made love again and then, instead of sleeping, lay in his bed, talking, thirstily drinking iced sparkling water.
It was refreshing.
Even mistakes were forgiven.
‘Tomorrow I shall arrange for a doctor to see you,’ he told Gabi as they discussed the morning-after pill.
‘I’ll sort it,’ Gabi said, for she was not seeing a doctor here!
‘I apologise,’ he told her.
‘Please don’t.’
She would not change it, or, if she could, Gabi would only have been better prepared and been on the Pill, but nothing could have forewarned her that on this night her dreams would come true.
She had craved Alim from a distance for years. Now he was here and it was better even than she had dreamt.
Gabi might be inexperienced but she knew enough about Alim to be surprised by their ease in conversation afterwards.
She had known that he would be a brilliant lover; the surprise was that afterwards she felt like she was lying with a friend, for they chatted.
And she had never imagined that might happen with Alim.
Yet they spoke about their lack of thought earlier and made plans to remedy it later that day.
‘I will sort it,’ she told him. ‘Believe me, I have no intention of ending up like—’ She halted.
‘Like who?’
‘My mother,’ Gabi said. ‘I don’t mean that I don’t want to be like her, I mean I don’t want to resent...’
Whatever way she said it made it sound wrong.
‘Tell me,’ Alim said, just as he had when they had spoken outside the ballroom, only this time she was wrapped in his arms.
‘I was an accident,’ Gabi explained. ‘One she still pays for to this day.’
‘Surely not,’ Alim said. ‘What about your father?’
‘I don’t know who he is.’ Gabi admitted. ‘It doesn’t matter, I don’t need to know...’
But she did.
Often, the need to know was so acute that she could not bear it, yet she played it down as she always had.
‘My mother had been accepted to study at university but had to give it up to raise me.’
‘It is not your fault that she did not follow her dreams.’
‘It feels like it,’ Gabi admitted. ‘If she hadn’t had me...’
‘Then she would have found another excuse.’
‘That’s harsh,’ Gabi said.
‘Perhaps,’ Alim conceded, and he smiled as she looked at him.
‘Are you always so direct?’
‘Always.’
Now it was Gabi who smiled.
‘So planning weddings is your dream?’ he asked.
Gabi nodded. She told him about when she had been a little girl and the flour and sugar that had driven her mother wild. ‘I would pick flowers at the park for the bouquet and spend the whole day making sure that everything was perfect.’ She thought for a moment. ‘I was so worried about this wedding. It was so incredibly rushed but when I saw James and Mona dance last night I knew that they’d be okay.’
‘How did you know that?’
‘You can tell,’ Gabi said. ‘She was a very difficult bride, but together they seem so happy.’
He liked hearing that, for Alim wanted happiness for his brother.
It was not something he sought for himself.
Alim did not believe in happy marriages. He had been raised with the model that marriage was a business arrangement and a duty, and that happiness was sought elsewhere.
Things were different, of course, for James for he did not have the burden of being his father’s heir.
Yes, he admitted in that moment, at times it felt like a burden.
Night was fading but there was no real thought of sleeping as they lay together chatting, Gabi idly running her fingers in circles on his chest.
And for Alim it was very relaxing, too, as well as a bit of a turn-on. He liked her curiosity about his body and her conversation made him smile as she moaned about Bernadetta, and the hell of getting this wedding sorted. But then Gabi crossed the line.
‘The groom’s mother is paying.’
‘Gabi!’ he scolded.
‘What?’
Alim was considering her for a very senior role, yet she dropped confidential information like a shower of rain.
‘You should not discuss such things.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Gabi said. ‘I’m not down at the bar talking about it, I’m in bed with the boss. And it’s you she’s paying, so you must already know.’ And then she smiled and it was like a rainbow and Alim found himself smiling back.
‘Okay,’ he conceded, and he pulled her in so that she lay with her head on his chest.
‘It is odd, though,’ Gabi said, though she was more thinking out loud, and it was so easy to do so with his hand stroking her hair. ‘Usually it’s the bride’s parents who pay, or half and half...’
Alim shrugged. ‘Perhaps Mona’s parents are not wealthy.’
‘Perhaps.’ Gabi yawned. ‘Though Fleur clearly is. She intrigues me.’
‘Who?’
‘Fleur,’ Gabi said. ‘The mother of the groom.’
Alim said nothing.
‘I can’t work out if she’s divorced or widowed or just single like my mother.’
‘Does it matter?’ Alim asked.
‘Probably not.’
Of course it did, Alim thought. Or it soon would.
He knew how the staff gossiped and very soon Gabi would know his title and it would be clear that the royal guests in residence tonight were related to him.
Or perhaps it would be the wedding photos that would be his undoing when Gabi saw them, for they had made love now and had stared deep into each other’s eyes.
Alim knew he was a darker version of James.
Gabi might well see it too.
She was perceptive enough that soon she might work things out.
Alim did not enlighten her now, though.
There would be time for all that tomorrow.
It was more than one night he wanted, yet he was aware that he needed to think things through carefully.
And anyway, for now, Gabi was sleeping.
The more he tried to talk himself out of the plans he was making, the more sense they made. With his father unwell, the months ahead would be trying—that much Alim knew.
He could not put off marriage for ever, but he could certainly delay things.
And what nicer delay than this?
Alim did not expect Gabi to be at his beck and call as he carried on in the usual way; he would be faithful.
A year, perhaps.
It would work for both of them.
Alim’s assessment was based on practicalities. Away from Bernadetta, her career would only flourish, he would see to that. And, during this difficult year, he could come back to Rome and to Gabi. There would be no scandal for the palace to deal with, particularly when he began taking a more prominent role while his father sought treatment.
Alim was arrogant enough to assume that Gabi would have no issues with what he was about to propose; after all, women never said no to him, and he was offering more to Gabi then he had to any woman in his life before.
Aside from his commitment to his country, it was the biggest pledge he had made and Alim made it in the still of the night as she lay sleeping.
The sky was grey and silver as the sun rose on a very cold Rome and he thought of her dress on the floor in another room and the soft warm body he held.
Gabi felt the roam of his hands as she awoke and turned her face for a glimpse of Alim asleep but it was denied to her, for Alim was already awake and looking at her.
He watched her eyes flicker open and her face turn to him. He wondered if he would see a grimace or a startle of panic as she recalled their night, but instead he watched as a smile stretched her lips and her sleepy eyes met his.
‘Best night,’ she said.
It had been.
And those were exactly the words he wanted to hear, for there was no tinge of regret in her smile and no confusion in her eyes.
Only desire.
And Alim still felt the same.
During the hours Gabi had slept, Alim had been thinking.
Yes, he still wanted more than one night.
‘Fleur did not pay for the wedding,’ he said, and watched her frown at the odd choice of topic, wrapped as they were in each other’s arms and a breath away from a deep morning kiss.
She did not get yet that this was the most intimate conversation in the whole of Alim’s life.
‘It was my gift to Mona and James.’
‘Why?’
‘Because James is my half-brother.’
Her frown deepened and she ran a tongue over her lips as she tried to work things out; now that he had said it, she could see that James and Alim were related.
Gabi had started to see that last night as she had watched the couple dance—or rather there had been something in James that had spoken to her.
Now that she knew, Gabi felt almost foolish that she had not seen it more readily.
‘Fleur is my father’s mistress,’ Alim explained.
‘I don’t understand,’ Gabi said.
‘Listen to me.’ Alim’s eyes and his tone told her that what he was saying was very important. ‘Fleur was my father’s lover but his father did not consider her a suitable bride. When she got pregnant with James, my grandfather summoned my father home and arranged his marriage to my mother, even though my father loved Fleur.’
‘Why did he agree to marry a woman if he loved another?’
‘Because he had little choice. His father was the Sultan of Sultans and his word is law; now that title belongs to my father.’
He actually felt the goose-bumps rise on her arm. ‘And so what does that make you?’
‘A sultan, and one day I shall rule.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because my father is here in the hotel and it won’t be long before the staff work out our connection. Soon you would have too.’
‘But why are you telling me now?’ she persisted.
‘Because things back home are changing. My father is unwell, so I am going to have to travel there a lot in the coming months...’ Still she stared at him with a puzzled look in her eyes so he made things a little clearer. ‘I want to spend more time with you when I am here in Rome. Last night I was going to ask you to work for me as the events co-ordinator at the Grande Lucia.’
It was the offer of a lifetime.
Stunning, in fact.
It was the gateway to a shiny future and, Gabi realised, she may well have blown it for one night in his bed.
But still, she thought, she would not change it for anything.
‘Is that offer being reconsidered in the light of certain events?’ Gabi asked.
He smiled. ‘It is being amended.’
And seriously so.
‘What about a one-year contract?’ he said.
‘One year?’
‘That frees you from Bernadetta; you would make many contacts here during that time.’
‘And is sleeping with me a part of that contract?’
‘Gabi.’ Alim heard her indignation but was calm in his response. ‘I think from last night it is clear we are not going to be able to work together and keep things strictly business. Of course, we will be discreet in front of the staff but...’
‘You’ve really got this all worked out, haven’t you?’
‘I’ve given it considerable thought, yes.’
Gabi had walked in here last night without a doubt that it would be over by the morning.
Certain of it.
Reassured by it, in fact.
For Alim was a self-confessed reprobate and her heart could not be dangled on elastic by him, waiting to be hauled to his bedroom one minute, ignored or discarded the next.
She was shaken, seriously so.
‘What happens when someone else comes along?’
She was direct with her questions and he liked that.
‘Alim, I take my career seriously...’
‘And I admire that you do,’ he responded. ‘I shan’t mess with it. And,’ he offered, which for Alim was a great concession, ‘there will be no one else.’
‘Why a year?’
‘Because I will be called home to marry.’
How cruel that he held her as he said that.
‘Gabi.’ He had felt her stiffen. ‘Please, listen to me now. When Fleur fell pregnant my grandfather invoked a pre-marital diktat on my father. It is a harsh law, one intended to bring a reluctant groom to heel. Once invoked there can be no lovers, save for in the desert.’
‘The desert?’ she asked. ‘You mean a harem.’
‘That is what it meant then; they could have worked around it, but Fleur refused to be his desert mistress.’
‘I don’t blame her for that.’
‘By the time James was due to be born my mother was pregnant with me. Fleur gave birth in London; my father could not leave at the time. But later, once he had royal heirs, things were easier for them and my father was more free to travel...’
Gabi didn’t want to hear it. She sat up and clutched the sheet around her ‘This conversation is medieval.’ She did not like what she was hearing—it unnerved her, in fact—but Alim calmly spoke on.
‘Perhaps when you see the doctor this morning you should speak about going on the Pill. I can call and arrange for him to see you here...’
‘I make my own appointments, Alim, and I don’t need to be told what to ask for.’ She shot him a look. ‘I don’t need to go on the Pill because I’m not going to be your mistress...’
‘Lover,’ Alim corrected, for they were two very different roles.
‘I am not going to be your lover for a year until your father summons you home.’
‘I have given it a lot of thought.’
‘Have you, now?’
‘I don’t see the issue.’
‘Your assumption, for a start.’
She got out of bed and headed for the shower.
Gabi was sore from last night and her head was whirling from all she had been told.
And he was wrong about not messing with careers, Gabi thought as she showered.
Wrapping a towel around her, she headed out and told him so.
‘What about Marianna? She’s given the Grande Lucia years of her life and you’d discard her like that.’ She tried to snap wet fingers; it didn’t work.
‘She wants to wind down her hours,’ Alim answered. ‘I would offer her a consulting role.’
She looked at him and for a brief second he seemed not so ruthless but then his hand shot out, stripping off the towel, and she stood naked. He would be ruthless to her heart, she amended.
But her body craved him.
It would be foolish at best not to go on the Pill because all she wanted at this moment was to climb back into bed.
‘I know it’s a lot to take in,’ Alim said. ‘But at least give it some thought.’
He did not understand her anger; most women pleaded for more time with him after all. ‘Would you prefer it to have been just a one-night stand?’
‘Yes.’ She actually laughed—somewhat incredulously. ‘Yes,’ she said again, for this was too much for her to deal with.
‘Liar.’
She caught his eyes and her laughter died. Gabi swallowed, because he actually meant it, she was starting to realise.
No!
‘A year at your bidding?’ she mocked.
‘It works both ways,’ Alim responded. ‘I would be at your bidding too.’
He watched the colour spread up her cheeks and across her chest as she attempted indignation. He watched as she stood to pull on her knickers then sat back down to put on her bra.
He sat up and did it up for her and then kissed the back of her neck.
His tongue was thorough and he moved so he sat naked behind Gabi and kissed her neck harder as his hands played with her breasts.
‘Alim.’
She was hot in the face and unable to stand and he knew it. Now one hand came down and slipped into her knickers. She was sore and swollen from last night, and his fingers were not there with the intent to soothe.
This love would hurt.
And it would be love, it possibly already was, but a year at his beck and call would only cement that fact.
‘Alim...’ She wanted to turn in his arms, to wrap herself around him, but he just upped the beats of pressure and kept bruising her neck with his mouth as she came.
And then he released her.
Somehow Gabi stood.
‘The offer’s there,’ he told her.
And the pleasure might have been hers, but Alim knew it had been worth the restraint from him, for now they ached for each other.
It was the greatest feat of her life to dress and leave, yet she needed the ice of the winter morning just to learn how to breathe again, and somehow think.
But the confusion he’d spun her into was not yet complete.
Alim leant over and opened a drawer to his beside.
The rumours were true, for there, in a small dish, as one might display after-dinner mints, was a collection of diamonds.
They sparkled in the wintry light, they beguiled, and one alone could make the months ahead so much easier for Gabi.
‘Choose one,’ Alim said. ‘And then tomorrow—’
‘I shan’t be your whore.’
‘In my country the tradition is—’
‘We’re in Rome, Alim,’ she interrupted, and her lips pressed together in anger. Gabi shot him a look and then walked into the lounge and straight to her purse.
He made her feel confident. She felt emboldened.
Somehow he gave her permission to be completely herself.
And that self was cross!
‘Here...’ She opened up her purse and emptied the entire contents onto the bed. It wasn’t much—a lot of coins and a few notes—but she tipped them all out and made him the whore now. ‘Treat yourself, baby,’ Gabi said.
As she walked out, to the surprise of both of them, Alim laughed.
He never laughed, and certainly not in the morning, yet here he was doing just that.
And, as the door slammed, Alim knew but one thing.
He wanted her back in his bed.
