Excerpt from “Bound by the Sheik’s Ring”
Release Date: November 16, 2018
The silent mist swirled around her, dew from the grass slowly seeping into her shoes, creating a bit of discomfort. But Sada didn’t care. Maybe another day, she’d worry about her boots, but not today! Not at all! This was the day! For so long, she’d dreamed of this day, of this moment.
Looking through the mist, her eyes narrowed. “Is he there?” she whispered, but the damp, morning air insulated her words, keeping anyone else from hearing them. Her words and the sound of her pounding heart were her exciting secret this morning.
“He has to be there!” she breathed as she picked up her pace. “If he’s not…!”
The hard soles of her riding boots slipped in the dew-wet grass, but she caught herself easily. England was very different from her beloved Altair, but she’d been here at The London School for Girls for several years now and knew how to walk in the more humid area. Unlike the sunny warmth of her beautiful desert country, England was wet and cold most of the time.
Sada didn’t mind the different climate. She endured a lot in order to have the freedoms boarding school allowed her.
Such as this morning, she thought and almost skipped through the grass. She restrained herself, not wanting to give anything away. Not to Manny, the cutest boy in the boarding school down the street. And not to anyone else who might be out and about this morning. This was a secret time. A time for dangerous and nefarious purposes.
Not that anything she was doing at the moment was dangerous or nefarious, but she liked to think that anything was possible.
“Is he there?” she asked, smacking her riding crop against the outside of her leg. “Please be there!”
The mist moved, silently swirling through the trees and…there! Standing in the doorway to the stables was Manny! He’d come!
Sada couldn’t stop the grin that formed on her features as she picked up her pace, heading towards the stables and the waiting Manny.
“Sada!” a deep voice called out.
Sada froze, her mind spinning with the horror of that voice.
“No!” she gasped frozen in place. “Not him! Oh, please don’t let it be him!” Closing her eyes, her shoulders tensing, she slowly turned around, praying that she was wrong, that it wasn’t him. With a glance over her shoulder one way, she spotted Manny. She was now close enough that she could see the confusion on his cute features but...with that other voice so close, she couldn’t call out to Manny.
Panic! She glanced over her other shoulder and…sure enough, Prince Zahir del Sudar, Crown Prince of Ditara and best friends with her older brothers Jaffri and Tavon, was making a direct path towards her. And boy, did he look magnificent! Tall, dark, ruggedly handsome and with that astounding aura of confidence that made her knees weak.
Every time she saw this man, Sada had this same reaction! Her heart pounded, her knees got all wobbly and her whole body tingled with excitement. It was embarrassing! Why could she be cool and calm like she was with the other boys she met?
But Zahir wasn’t a boy. He was a man! A big, huge, powerful man!
She was so tired of being treated like a school girl by the man she…had strong feelings for. Always had, she thought. When she was younger, Sada had wished that Zahir was her older brother because he treated her so much better than Jaffri or Tavon, both of whom loved to tease her and pull her hair, torture her in so many ways that she wanted to just…hurt them. If she had a toy, Sada knew to hide them from her brothers because they loved to do horrible things to her dolls and stuffed animals. Of course, she might have precipitated their actions by being a brat, but that was irrelevant.
Zahir never took the stuffing out of her stuffed toys. He never shaved the heads of her dolls. And he never cut up her doll outfits and drew camouflage patterns over her pretty dolls!
Zahir was always kind. He always brought her presents as well.
Unfortunately, as she’d grown older, her feelings for the man had morphed from brotherly adoration to something more…painful. At eighteen, Sada knew she was too young to feel genuine love. Her friends at school all fell in and out of love with the slightest provocation.
No, her feelings for Zahir were different. The yearning and happiness she felt at just the sight of him made her heart pound, her stomach clench and…all of those other silly reactions that she hated so much. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop her feelings. She couldn’t figure out how to see Zahir as just another person who came to visit her.
Unfortunately, his presence here now was…bad! Really bad! She’d finally decided to move on, to try and see the other boys she met as more than just friends. Hence, her invitation to Manny to meet her at the stables this morning!
Even as she thought the words, she watched Zahir’s eyes move from her to the stable doors. Instantly, he understood what was happening.
And by the almost instant fury that leapt into his eyes, he wasn’t happy about it!
Ho boy! Zahir in a good mood was a force, a powerful personality that overwhelmed anyone around him, especially Sada who fell a little more in…like…with him every time they were together. But Zahir in an angry mood…watch out! As the future ruler of his country, he had been raised to command and get results. No one defied him.
Although, Sada was going to try! Especially in this instance. She’d been on the verge of experiencing her first kiss, an opportunity to try and push Zahir out of her heart and her mind with another man…um…boy. Next to Zahir, every male looked young and more than slightly wimpy. Zahir was just too big and too strong.
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded as he towered over her, looking at Sada, then at Manny again. He stopped right in front of her, his gaze sharpening on her guilty expression. “Sada?” he demanded when she didn’t offer an explanation.
A good offense is a great defense, she reminded herself. “What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to put him on the defensive.
Didn’t work.
Of course!
“Sada, were you heading to the stables for a liaison?” he asked, his voice low and dangerously ominous.
At twenty-six, Zahir was the son of a sheik, a prince in his own right and brilliant at many things. Obviously, being diplomatic to her current boyfriend wasn’t one of them.
Refusing to show how nervous she was, Sada turned to glare at him. “You didn’t answer my questions, Zahir. Why are you here?”
“Sada,” he growled, moving closer.
Unfortunately, Manny decided at that point to gain some gumption and hurried from the stables, trying to step in front of her. Chivalrous, yes. But stupid. Manny was only a couple of inches taller than Sada. But Zahir topped both of them by about a foot!
“Excuse me, sir,” Manny interrupted, only to be stopped when Zahir reached out to grab Manny’s shirt, pulling him in close.
“You were going to kiss Princess Sada?” he growled down to the now-choking Manny.
“Um…!” Manny shook his head. Or tried to. With Zahir’s fist holding him close, there wasn’t much poor Manny could do. “No sir!” he squeaked out.
Horrified and genuinely afraid for Manny’s life, she grabbed hold of Zahir’s hand, trying to break his hold on Manny’s shirt. “Stop it, Zahir!” Sada called out, feeling horrible about Manny, even though he’d just lied about his intentions towards her. “You’re going to hurt him!”
“I’m trying to hurt him!” Zahir hissed right back at her. “He was about to kiss you, Sada!”
Sada would have rolled her eyes if Zahir hadn’t been completely serious.
“Of course he was going to kiss me!” she groaned, her cheeks turning pink. “And you’re not helping!” she whispered, tilting her head towards the young man who was still making choking noises. “If you’d release him, perhaps I could…”
“Release him!” Zahir growled, leaning towards Sada with fury still in his eyes. “I’m going to destroy him for daring to touch you!”
This had just gone from humiliating to horrible because Zahir was big enough and strong enough to follow through on his statement.
Grabbing his arm, Sada desperately held onto him. “Zahir, please! Please don’t hurt him.”
“He was going to…”
Exasperation hit her and she threw her arms in the air, moving away from Zahir for a moment before coming right back. Glaring up at him, she stomped her foot. “Yes! He was! And I wanted that! I’m the only person in the entire school who hasn’t been kissed!” She glared up into his dark eyes furiously.
Manny choked again, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something. Thankfully, Zahir wasn’t holding him tightly enough to actually do any damage. But nor was he releasing the poor guy. Leaning in, Sada implored restraint on Zahir’s part, not wanting Manny to be hurt simply because she’d wanted to see what it was like to be kissed by a boy. Touching his arm, she looked into his dark eyes, “Zahir, please. Manny is a good person. And a kiss is fine. It is innocent and fine.”
“It isn’t fine,” Zahir growled, but thankfully released Manny. The other man fell to the ground, literally. He started to stand, putting his hands out to steady himself, but his wobbly knees and the damp grass hindered his efforts. Needless to say, the terror from almost being pummeled by a man twice Manny’s size had caused his legs to be like jello and wouldn’t hold him up. Manny just…melted into the ground. Thankfully, the boy wasn’t hurt, just terrified.
“Why did you do that?” she demanded, pushing at Zahir’s shoulders now that the danger was over. Of course, the big brute didn’t move. Not even an inch. Not even to let Sada have the meager satisfaction of pushing him off balance to soothe her wounded pride. “You could have really hurt him!”
“You are…” he stopped, unable to finish his statement. He looked down at her, then muttered something under his breath as he walked away. A moment later, he came right back to her, his eyes shooting sparks of fury. “Sada, you cannot want a man such as this to kiss you.” Zahir’s hand gestured to the boy who was still a pile of trembling legs and arms on the dew-covered ground right outside of the stables.
Huffing slightly, she turned away from her brothers’ friend, determined to help her almost-boyfriend and ignore the tall, powerful man who continued to treat her as if she were a child. “Go away, Zahir.”
Bending down, she reached out to touch Manny’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. But Manny jerked sideways, his eyes darting to the hugely powerful man behind her, his eyes wide with horror.
“I’m taking you out to breakfast,” Zahir announced from behind her.
Sada turned back, letting her eyes move up and down his tall, muscular body while ignoring the small zing that sparked through her own. She was eighteen. He was ten years older than her and future ruler of Ditara. Already, Zahir shouldered enormous responsibilities for his country. He took his responsibilities seriously and she admired that about him. He wasn’t one of those pampered princes that partied and jetted across the world, looking for his next thrill. Zahir had the money, the resources and the incredibly handsome looks that drew women to him, so the life of an indolent prince was entirely within his grasp.
Oh, she knew that he had plenty of women in his bed. Probably a different one every night. She’d seen him at social events and knew that women fought for his attention. Their desire to hold onto him, even for one night, wasn’t just because he was disgustingly wealthy. No, the man was tall and strong, with dark eyes that told of intensity and intelligence – catnip for most women, Sada thought.
Not for her, though! Nope! Despite all of the childhood fantasies she’d had with this man as the star, Sada refused to fall for a man like Zahir. He was a good friend to her older brothers, Tavon and Jaffri. Zahir and Tavon had gone to school together, fought together, trained together. She’d seen the two of them in the sparring room and it was a scary event when those two men battled. They trained hard and fought hard. When her oldest brother, Jaffri, entered into the fray, bodies slammed against the matt so hard, their grunts could be heard down the hallway. And yet, the three of them loved it! They might come out of that room drenched in sweat and bruised by their efforts, but they were always laughing!
Insanity, she thought with a shake of her head.
“Sada?”
She blinked, realizing that he’d said something. Feeling her cheeks warm, she pulled her eyes away, banishing the fantasy of….well, lots of fantasies and none of them were good.
“Breakfast. Right.” She sighed. Ignoring Manny for a moment, especially since he was still cringing away from her, she turned and focused all of her attention on Zahir, needing him to leave so that…okay, Manny just stood up and sprinted towards the trees, obviously heading for safety. So much for chivalry, she thought with increasing disgust.
She watched him go, then stared at the foot prints left in the grass, stunned that he would abandon her in such a cowardly manner. Zahir would never run away if she were in trouble. He would fight to the death for her. Not that she’d allow him to, but it was a nice thought to know that he wouldn’t leave her.
Swinging around, she turned to glare up at the man who never seemed to be far from her mind lately. And that irritated her!
“Why do you show up here to take me out for meals so often, Zahir?” she asked, and for a moment, there was a flash of heat in his eyes. It disappeared so quickly, she dismissed it, thinking she’d been ridiculous for her to even think that Zahir might be interested in her as something more than just the baby sister to his friend.
Unfortunately for her tender heart, he moved closer, towering over her as he looked down into her eyes. With a charming glint to his eyes, he lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her fingers. “I enjoy our meals together, Sada. Our conversations are always stimulating and very entertaining. And I consider you to be a very good…friend. I owe it to your brothers to ensure that you are safe and well cared for when away from your home.”
That hurt! She’d been hoping he’d say something more. Something along the lines of, “I enjoy our meals together because I’m falling in love with you.” But that was ridiculous! Sada suspected that Zahir didn’t have a heart. She read the news. She understood that he was feared in the business world. He controlled the family empire and maneuvered their vast financial resources with brilliance. He’d more than doubled his family assets since taking over. Some of the news reports said he was fair. Others described his brilliance at business. But most said he was the kind of man that business leaders feared.
He couldn’t have a heart with that kind of a reputation.
Besides, the man was in his mid-twenties and there had never been any female name connected to his romantically, although she knew that many women had tried to entice him into a relationship that lasted more than a fling. Most men at his age would have fallen in love at least once. Maybe several times! But not Zahir. He was hard and strong and merciless.
And heartless.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently, his strong hand coming up to touch her cheek.
Sada blinked, realizing that she’d once again gone off into her own world. That happened often when she was with him. Or when he accidentally touched her. Or after their meals together. After any sort of interaction with this man. Or even when she read a news article about him. When it came to Zahir, Sada’s mind had a will of its own and wove silly, unrealistic romantic fantasies inside her head.