Chapter 6
After a sleepless Monday night, her body shut down after school on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Wednesday night, she was too nervous to sleep. She kept packing and repacking her bag, changing her mind on what she would need to bring. In the end, she packed a suitcase full of jeans and shorts with simple tee-shirts, sandals and tennis shoes. At the last minute, she packed a few sundresses, not sure what she would use them for but feeling better and more prepared now that they were in her suitcase. She was going to be with the kids. Everything she packed was more practical than flattering. Her sole mission was to help two small children who needed help. Stripping her suitcase free of any flattering outfits made her feel good. At least Dharr would know that she was there for them and didn’t have any feelings for him. Not even the need to please him.
She watched the long, sleek car pull up to the curb and lugged her heavy suitcase down the stairs, not waiting for someone to come up and get it for her. In the back of her mind, she knew it would infuriate Dharr. Five years ago, he’d taught her how to allow others to do things for her. She’d always been uncomfortable with it but had done it to please him. Now, she wasn’t out to please him. She was only here for the kids so his opinion on how to act in front of servants was not her concern.
The driver jumped out of the car and tried to take her suitcase. “No, thank you,” she said, pulling it along behind her. “If you’ll just pop the boot, I’ll store it away.”
The driver was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do for a moment. Finally, he got his wits and raced ahead of her to unlock the boot. He tried to lift her suitcase for her, but Victoria again shook her head. “No need,” she laughed and lifted it into the storage space by herself. “See,” she said, dusting off her hands efficiently. “All done,” she explained.
The driver then tried to rush over to the door but Victoria again ignored him and opened the door before him, letting herself into the limousine.
The hard voice that greeted her startled her. She almost fell onto the seat as Dharr said, “It seems you’ve forgotten all the lessons I taught you five years ago.”
Victoria flushed. She’d thought he was only sending the car. She didn’t realize that he’d be picking her up. Nevertheless, she rallied over her surprise at seeing him again when she wasn’t expecting to. “I never was a good student at silly, pointless lessons. But perhaps the teacher wasn’t very good,” she suggested, raising her eyebrows in challenge.
Dharr’s response to that was to raise one eyebrow. “Perhaps you just need a refresher on everything I taught you,” he suggested, his smile was lethal in its charm and Victoria blushed, knowing he was not referring to how to let the servants help her but about how to please him sexually. Well, while kissing anyway. They’d never gotten to the sex part of things. At least he hadn’t.
Her blush intensified when she remembered that morning and the things she’d let him do to her. Her complete surrender was at his fingertips and he knew it. His deep chuckle indicated that he was thinking the same thing.
Victoria sat back against the plush seats, looking away from him, ignoring him as she watched the London skyline rush by outside the darkened windows. Space, she thought. She just needed to keep her distance from him. Then everything would be okay, she told herself. And she needed to remind herself that she was here for the children. They were what really mattered.
The car bypassed the regular airport entryways and continued on to a restricted area. The car pulled right up to a private plane. Victoria’s jaw dropped when she saw that it wasn’t just a private jet, but a jumbo jet, two stories! Good grief, she thought.
“Are you going to get out?” Dharr asked beside her. “Or are you telling me that my company inside this car is more pleasurable to you?”
Victoria snapped out of her shock and realized that the door had already been opened for her by one of his waiting guards. She slipped out, and waited for him to guide her into the plane. She intended to follow behind him, not wanting to assume anything but he put a hand to her elbow and led her onto the plane. He didn’t stop until they were in the back, then he led her through a closed door, saying something in Arabic to a man standing outside.
There, he waved her to a chair and she strapped herself in, uncomfortably aware that they were in a luxurious bedroom, complete with king sized bed and a desk with a computer on it and comfortable chairs in front of and behind it. This room was bigger than her whole apartment, she realized.
The flight was uneventful as Dharr took several calls, intermingled with telling her about his niece and nephew, about his brother and sister in law and how they died. He also talked about the governess who was in charge of the kids and the woman’s routine for the children. Victoria suspected that the first thing that was wrong was the governess and her strict rules but she bit her tongue wanting to observe before she pronounced anything solid.
The flight took less time than she thought it would and within what seemed like only a few hours, they were touching down in Ashir. Victoria looked out the window, watching the desert country pass by the windows. It was beautiful in its harshness and she was impressed that so many people had been able to create a home for themselves under these conditions. But the houses were large and there was a thriving city in the capitol, she realized as the car passed through the town. There were five other limousines and a police escort as they made their way to the palace.
Once inside the impressive and intimating palace, Victoria was led down several hallways that looked to be lined with gold, they glittered so brightly. She was completely lost by the time Dharr opened a double set of doors to reveal a large, airy school room. Inside, there were two small children sitting at desks. As soon as the doors opened, both children and a stern looking woman stood up and bowed.
Victoria bowed back to them, not sure what the protocol was in this instance. “Stand up,” Dharr said harshly. “They are bowing to me,” he explained.
“Oh,” she said, and a smile appeared on her face. “Sorry.”
Dharr’s black eyes sliced over to her face and showed her his displeasure. But Victoria wasn’t looking. Her attention was focused on the two, terribly sad looking children staring back at her.
Dharr said something in Arabic that she didn’t understand but then reverted to English again. “May I present, Arina and Bajan,” he said and the small girl and boy bowed politely to Victoria. “And their governess, Ms. Mattingly.”
The three previous occupants of the room only stared at Victoria. Two small pairs of eyes watched without emotion and the other with what Victoria would later learn was hostility. Obviously, Dharr hadn’t given the governess any forewarning that Victoria was coming, nor did he tell anyone why she was here.
Without any additional explanation, Dharr nodded curtly to the children and Ms. Mattingly before addressing Victoria. “I shall leave you to your studies, children,” Dharr said formally. “Victoria, report to me daily on your progress,” he said and left the room. “I’ll expect to see you tonight at dinner,” he called out to her as the door closed.
With that, he left, the double doors closed behind him by a waiting servant.
Victoria stood there, wondering what in the world she was supposed to do. He wanted a progress report by tonight? She looked at her watch and figured it was almost lunch time in Ashir.
The quiet in the large schoolroom after Dharr left was eerie. Finally, Ms Mattingly cleared her throat and straightened her already ramrod straight spine. “Well, we should get back to our studies, children,” Ms. Mattingly said. “Take your seats,” she said. “If you will excuse us, Ms. Mason?”
Victoria knew that the governess didn’t want her there but the children didn’t seem to mind. “I think I’ll just stay and listen, if you don’t mind.”
The governess pursed her lips but nodded. “Open your books, children,” she instructed.
Victoria watched as the children struggled with their lessons. Her heart went out to the small children who were sitting so still in their chairs. Victoria had never seen a three year old sit still for hours like this. Arina should be outside, running and playing, screaming and singing songs in order to learn. The memorization Ms. Mattingly preferred just wasn’t as effective as touching and playing and doing, Victoria thought.
Victoria watched without interrupting for the rest of the afternoon but her heart was breaking when she saw that Arina’s eyes looked dead and sad. No more mischief within their deep, brown depths. And Bajan was just as serious as she’d thought from his pictures.
Finally, Ms. Mattingly closed her books and declared it quiet time. Both children stood up and started walking. Victoria stood up and smiled. “Ms. Mattingly, would you mind if I spoke to the children?” she said.
The governess walked over to stand next to the children. “Of course,” she said and waited.
“Alone,” Victoria emphasized when the straight laced woman showed no signs of leaving the children for a moment without her guidance and strict discipline.
That was not the woman’s choice but pursed her lips and left the room.
Victoria looked at the two small beings and their sad, pain-filled eyes. “Well, that was a lot of learning today, wasn’t it?” Victoria asked, sitting down on the floor and hoping the children would do the same. They simply stood next to her, momentarily looking at her like she’d lost her head, but then going back to their dead eyes.
Even a momentary emotion was good, she thought. “Would you like to sit down?” Victoria asked.
The girl thought about it but then rejected the idea but didn’t say a word, just shook her head. The boy didn’t deign to reply. He obviously had a great deal of his uncle in him and sitting on the floor was simply an unacceptable thing to do, according to the disdainful look in his eyes.
Victoria was undeterred. “Well, that’s okay. I was hoping you both could help me to pronounce your names. I’m not very good at your language yet, you know.”
Victoria slaughtered their names but the children just politely explained the correct pronunciation without any sort of change in their features. It took almost an hour of being silly before Victoria finally got a half smile out of Arina. Bajan didn’t even blink at her silliness.
Ms. Mattinglly came back and excused the children, explaining that it was time for the children’s bath time.
Victoria followed along, knowing that she wasn’t wanted but uncaring. At the first sight of the children when she’d walked into their school room, Victoria knew that she was doing this for them, and no longer to protect Scott from Dharr’s retribution.
She went through the rest of the evening with them, ending the day in the children’s dining room where she told silly stories of the animals on the farm she’d grown up on and the antics of her sister as well as her father who had been known to crack a joke or two when the nights were bitterly cold and there was nothing else to do but stay close to the fire after feeding the animals. The children didn’t smile, but at least they paid attention.
Once they were in bed, Victoria was exhausted. All she wanted to do was soak in a tub and go to sleep. But she remembered Dharr’s order that she update him on her progress during dinner. She considered ignoring the order but gave in only because he was their legal guardian and Victoria knew that he had a right to hear what she thought of their predicament.
She asked a servant where to find Dharr, wanting to get her “report” over with for the day. When she was told he would be in a meeting until later that night, Victoria was secretly relieved to have the burden of facing him taken off her, at least for the first day. It was a small reprieve but one she embraced nonetheless.
She was instead led to a suite of rooms where she found her luggage. There were three rooms in total and all of them were huge and beautifully decorated. There was a bedroom, a sitting room and a bathroom, all decorated in soft shades of pink, white and cream. In the bedroom, there was an enormous bed covered in silk sheets and thick, fluffy blankets, stacked high with pillows of all shapes and sizes against the headboard that was also covered in pink silk. Just outside the bedroom was a sunken living room, filled with comfortable looking sofas and chairs, centered around a marble coffee table. A fireplace was along one wall and curtains shielded what she suspected were windows. But the best part of all was the bathroom. Walking in, her eyes were drawn to the huge, sunken bathtub. It was all white marble with pink accents and a shower with several jets right next to the bath.
It seemed as if every bone in her body ached from the stress of the past four days. Ever since Dharr had re-entered her life, nothing had been the same. Even her enjoyment of the last few days of school had been tormented with memories of the times she’d spent with Dharr so long ago.
Hoping for some relief from the tension, Victoria turned on the bathtub and stripped out of her worn jeans and shirt. Adding bath salts and bubbles from an assortment of items on the side, she slipped into the quickly filled tub. The water was perfect and she laid her head down on the cushioned end, closing her eyes and letting the stress soak out of her body.
She was thinking about Dharr and the children and Dharr’s hands, trying desperately to keep her mind from reliving the details of Dharr’s kisses and touch from five years ago. Would it be the same? Would she still react? She wasn’t going to find out, she determined. She would stay away from him and only report to him in a formal sense. All discussions about the children could be conducted in his office, if he even had an office. She frowned, wondering where the man conducted the state business. Perhaps there was some sort of throne room. A shiver went through her. That thought brought home the reality that the man really was royalty. A king! Good grief, what had he ever seen in her? She’d been so naïve and trusting. Maybe that was why he’d considered her ‘unworthy’.
Sighing, she pushed the memories and uncomfortable thoughts from her mind, knowing she’d never have the answers. His opinion of her didn’t matter anymore.
Soothing herself by moving the water around, forcing her mind to think only of the children and not of their incredibly handsome, dynamic, arrogant and domineering uncle, she eventually started to relax.
The door closing in the outer room alerted her that someone had entered. But who on earth would come in? Probably only a maid coming to turn down the bed, she thought. Could they not know that she was already in here? Or had she just imagined the noise? When she didn’t hear anything else, she chalked up the weird sensation to fatigue. She closed her eyes and relaxed, telling herself that no one would dare enter her rooms. Security at the palace was extremely tight so she was safer here than she would be at home.
“Relaxed?” Dharr’s deep voice said from the doorway.
Victoria sat up so quickly the water splashed around, creating waves that sloshed over the side. “What are you doing in here?” she demanded, looking for a towel to cover herself. Fortunately, the bubbles were still thick enough to hide her nakedness from him.
He leaned negligently against the door frame while he watched her in the bathtub. “I told you I wanted a daily report. You missed dinner, so I decided to find you instead.”
“I didn’t miss dinner,” she gasped, pulling the bubbles closer to her breasts. “I asked a servant where to find your office but they said you would be in meetings for the rest of the night. And I can come talk to you later. Please leave,” she said emphatically. She was trying to sound assertive but she knew her voice just sounded breathless.
Instead of obeying her command, Dharr pushed away from the doorway and walked fully into the bathroom. He took one of the marble seats covered in soft, pink silk. “What did you think of the children?” he asked, looking like he was completely relaxed as he asked about his niece and nephew.
Victoria swallowed hard, searching the bubbles for holes. “Dharr, please, can’t we have this conversation in a few minutes?”
He looked at her in the tub and raised one eyebrow. “Why are you so nervous? Do I make you nervous?” he asked. “Is it that you’d prefer me to climb in there with you?”
“No!” she sat back, eyeing the towels that were sitting right next to him. “Could you just hand me a towel?”
He reached out his arm, extending the towel to her but not getting up to deliver it as she’d hoped. “Happy to oblige,” he said. In order for Victoria to reach the towel, she’d have to get out and walk the ten feet to him. There was no way she would do that in her present, naked, state.
Victoria sat back, glaring at him. If he wasn’t bothered by their situation, then she could at least pretend she wasn’t. She wouldn’t give him power over her. “You’re niece is wonderful but needs to smile more. Your nephew is a piece of work, wrapped in stress and wondering how he can shoulder the awesome responsibility of raising his sister all on his own.”
Dharr blinked at her statement. “But he doesn’t need to do that,” Dharr countered.
She raised her eyebrows at him, showing him her opinion of his perception. “Have you told him that?” she argued.
Dharr looked confused. “No. Why should I? He knows that I’ll take care of him.”
Victoria shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. Children are black and white. Their world only makes sense on their level, not necessarily on ours. So in his mind, his mother and father are gone, that means he’s the man of the house.”
Dharr considered her words carefully and Victoria was surprised when he didn’t contradict her again. “That’s an interesting perspective,” he conceded. “I’ll think about what you said. What will you do tomorrow?”
Victoria sighed, thinking about the governess. “I don’t know. Can I spend some time playing with them alone? Not just a small span of time but for perhaps half the day?”
“Why would you want to do that?”
Victoria looked stunned. “Why not?”
“Don’t you get tired of them?” he asked, curiously.
Victoria smiled, understanding at last. “Ah, you’re one of those.”
“What of what ‘those’,” he challenged.
“One of those people who thinks children should be seen and not heard; and only at appropriate, limited times during the day.”
“Of course,” he replied as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
Victoria eyed him suspiciously but then saw the amusement in his eyes. “No you’re not. You just don’t know any differently, do you?” She refused to laugh, hating that he could still do that to her. He could be a horrible tease, she remembered.
Dharr chuckled and moved closer. “I’ll admit that my parents didn’t play with me much. But I don’t think some commingling of adults and children would be inappropriate. As long as you are there to supervise,” he challenged.
He stood up and walked closer to the bathtub. Victoria wasn’t overly concerned, thinking he was actually leaving and she could get out of the tub. It was becoming uncomfortably hot, what with the warm water and Dharr’s gorgeous body so close and his intense, sexy eyes watching her closely.
But he didn’t stop his momentum towards the tub when she thought he should be turning towards the doorway. “Dharr, what are you doing?” she asked, all the nervousness she’d been holding at bay came rushing back to the forefront now that he was much too close to the bathtub.
“It is time for you to get out of the tub,” he claimed.
“Dharr!” she snapped, watching his hand move to the faucet. “What are you thinking of doing?”
“I’m going to let the water out. You’re here as my guest and I am honor bound to take care of you. I can’t let you become too water-logged,” he explained as if that were the most obvious action in the world.
“Don’t you dare!” she squealed. But he dared. All the time. With a simple press of a button, the drain to the bathtub opened up. “Dharr!” she gasped, frantically searching for a towel or a washcloth, anything that would cover her up.
“There’s a towel beside the bench over there,” he explained, still bending down close to the bathtub. His dark eyes were filled with amusement and mischief and something she didn’t dare define, too afraid it would be desire.
The water drained out of the tub and she watched in horror as Dharr walked patiently over to the stack of thick, pink towels. He unfolded the top one and held it open for her. “You’re going to have to come out sooner or later,” he chuckled.
“You’re a bastard,” she said, glaring at him but still frantically watching the water which was quickly draining away.
“So you’ve mentioned before. Now be a good girl and come out of there. After all, you’re not afraid of me, are you?”
Victoria scooped up as many bubbles as she could, holding them in front of her primly. She didn’t care how silly she looked but rushed over to the open towel. She tried pulling it out of his hands, but his strong, muscular arms only closed around her, thankfully covering her up but now she had a new problem. And this one was more painful than the last.
The towel was closed, covering up her nakedness but Dharr’s hands were holding it there. His chest was pressed against hers and his arms were pulling her close, pressing her hips against his.
“You can let go of me,” she said breathlessly, worriedly looking up into his face.
“I don’t think I want to,” he said, his eyes were staring at her lips.
“Don’t,” she said, knowing where his thoughts were going and hoping she could dissuade him somehow. But even to her own ears her voice lacked conviction.
“Why not?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you don’t wonder if it would be like it used to be between us,” he said softly. “You remember, don’t you? At the first touch of our lips, the heat would fire and you’d be in my arms, begging me to touch you, needing the next step, but terrified of what that next step would be.” His eyes were watching the flush steal into her cheeks and her mouth open slowly as she tried to form a response. “You know what that next step would be now, don’t you? And you want it, from me.”
“I don’t,” she claimed.
He took one hand from her back and put it against the pulse beating on her throat. “You’re lying,” he said. “I wonder why. Why would you be so afraid of what we can share between each other?”
“Because I don’t like you.”
He smiled at her adamant reply, knowing she was nervous about what he could make her body feel. “Well, that’s the funny thing about chemistry,” he soothed, the hand touching her throat moved upwards, to rest against her cheek, stroking her full, lower lip sensuously. “It doesn’t really take our ‘likes’ into account when revealing it’s ugly head, does it?”
Victoria was starting to realize he was right. She fought it, she really did. But then his hand moved down from her back where it was holding the towel, he pushed the terry cloth away and rested against her skin instead, rubbing her skin and starting a fire wherever he touched. At the first contact, Victoria gasped and tried to arch away, but his other hand moved from her mouth, down to cover her breast, his thumb rubbing against the nipple through the thick terry cloth.
Every sensation was coiling inside her, pooling in her stomach, then sending liquid heat between her legs. “You feel it, don’t you, Victoria?” he said softly.
Before she knew what was happening, the towel was gone and she was leaning against him, her naked flesh revealed to his fully clothed body. She felt his erection against her stomach and a part of her was terrified, but she wanted him. She accepted that she’d never wanted any other man. It was crazy but she couldn’t deny it.
“You want me, don’t you,” he said, whispering in her ear before nibbling on her earlobe. “You’re not thinking about anyone else, are you?”
Victoria stopped cold with his words while all the frustrations of the past five years came rushing back to her. Why on earth would he want to know if she was thinking about someone else? Then it came to her, his words earlier that she was sleeping with Scott and he must think there had been others. He thought she was promiscuous!
She pushed away from him with all her strength and thankfully caught him off-guard. “Don’t do that!” she cried and picked up the towel, throwing it around her and then rushing from the room.
She ran into the bedroom and stood there, shaking and waiting for him to come out. When he did, her body started shaking even more. He walked towards her, his stride determined and the look in his eyes telling her that he was furious.
She held one hand out in front of her while the other held the towel firmly in place. “Don’t come near me, Dharr. We’ve had this conversation before and I won’t let you do that to me again!” she said, holding her hand out like a shield.
But he just took her hand in his and pulled her against him. “You’re fooling yourself if you think you can ignore what is going on between us, Victoria. I allowed you room before but that was my mistake. I learned from that adventure into hell. Believe me, I won’t let us travel down that road again.” He started to walk out of the room and then stopped. Turning back to her, he glared at her. “Was he the first?”
She was shivering so violently she could barely hold the towel. His words didn’t make sense to her sexually frustrated and terrified mind. “What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded. “Was who the first?”
The idea that he’d been fooled all along had eaten into his psyche for the past five years. And now he had to know. He’d suspected it for so long, suspected that she’d only been stringing him along hoping for more. But it hadn’t made sense. She hadn’t taken anything from him, even to the point of cooking him meals in an effort to maintain her side of the relationship. Good grief, she fought against even take a cell phone from him. But he had to know if she really had been a virgin when he’d initially met her. Had all her innocence and resistance to his position and wealth been a lie? Was she really that good of an actress?
“Was that night the first time” he demanded, “or were there others before him?”
“You’re insane!” she claimed, still not understanding what he was accusing her of.
A cruel smile twisted his mouth in response. “You’re probably right but that still doesn’t answer my question,” he stated emphatically. “Were there others?”
“I’m not answering that. It is none of your business. It never was,” she said, lifting her chin and glaring right back at him, refusing to give in to his intimidation tactics.
The fact that she wouldn’t tell him answered for her. She condemned herself with her silence and that only infuriated him further. She would prefer to share her body with others rather than become his wife and the mother of his children. Turning on his heel, he left her, slamming the door in his wake.