The Sheikh’s Stubborn Bride by Leslie North

5

Stella spent the afternoon stewing about what had happened with Kadir earlier. She’d tried not to take his reaction to her game to heart. After all, not everyone liked the same things. He’d taken one look at that second level and had frozen; something had been very wrong, though she hadn’t worked out just what yet. She spent hours walking through that second level and could find nothing wrong. No glitches, nothing that would elicit such a response. All the testers they’d given the game to had loved the bazaar scene she’d depicted in that level, all the crowds and vendors and colorful wares for sale. Even the ancient, crumbling buildings gave an ambiance of reality, the testers had said. So what was Kadir’s problem with it?

She shook her head and set her computer aside, the beginnings of a tension headache starting behind her temples. After a yawn and a stretch to ease her aching muscles, she walked over to the windows to stare down at the beautiful gardens. The palace was almost overwhelmingly beautiful. Glorious. Someday, after she and Kadir were settled, she’d like to talk to him about maybe setting a game here, too. The rest of the world could only see glimpses of the grandeur and she relished the thought of sharing some of secret splendors of her new home. She could imagine people prowling the halls of this place as cats, perching in that amazing courtyard, lazing beneath those vaulted corridors. Her enthusiasm was quickly dampened, however, when she spotted her new husband pacing in the gardens below, his cell phone to his ear, his expression intense as he talked to whoever was on the other end of the line. There was still so much for her to learn about him and his work, and they were both under a lot of stress with their strange situation. Maybe she was making too much out of nothing. It wasn’t like they both weren’t already dealing with a lot. A new marriage, a new spouse, their new roles as soon-to-be king and queen of Al-Fatha.

Queen!

Each time she thought of it, those nervous butterflies inside her swarmed into a frenzy of equal parts anticipation and apprehension. She’d always dreamed of having a platform to reach people about the issues she cared about—hunger, poverty, education, equality, preservation of the climate and the cultures of the world. But she’d also thought that was what she’d use her games for. She’d never imagined being royalty.

Her knees wobbled again, and she rested a hand on the back of the chair nearby. Thankfully, her nerves didn’t have a chance to get too out of hand, because a knock on the door stalled them in their tracks. One of the servants peeked in to let her know Kadir had requested a limo to take her into Jazid an hour from now. The car would be waiting out front. She was to wear something dressy but not too formal.

Right. Their date. Okay. That she could handle. Maybe.

She thanked the woman, then went to her closet. She hadn’t brought much with her to Al-Fatha in the way of dressy clothes, thinking she’d mainly be working with other tech heads or having the occasional business meeting. The lone little black dress it was then. Maybe, eventually, she’d talk to Kadir and Naziha about increasing her wardrobe. After all, she’d need more than one dress as a queen, right? She had no idea what to buy, though, so she’d definitely need her best friend’s guidance.

As she pulled the black dress out, she noticed her wedding dress hanging in the back of the closet. She ran a hand down the tulle skirt, smiling. It was her childhood dream come to life, and a fresh wave of gratitude washed over her. Yes, she and Kadir had their challenges to face, but they’d get through them together. No couple was perfect, right?

After changing into her dress and wrangling her curls back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck, she slid her feet into a pair of cute black heels, then grabbed her evening bag and hurried downstairs to the waiting limo. The driver opened the back door, and she looked inside expecting to see her husband, but instead only found an empty car seat. She gave the driver an inquiring look.

“He went on ahead into town, ma’am,” the driver said, helping her into the car. “I’ll take you to him now.”

The air smelled of the rich leather from the interior of the car, and cool air blew from the vents above her head. She settled back into the cushy seat as they pulled out of the circular drive in front of the palace and onto the blacktop roadway leading into the capital.

The partition was open between the front of the limo and the back, so she asked the driver, “Any clues as to where I’m going?”

The driver caught her gaze in the rearview mirror and shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am. I’m not at liberty to say.”

With that, the partition closed, leaving her sealed off in her own private world. She stared out the tinted window beside her at the looming skyline of Jazid. She’d spent plenty of time there researching her game during her eighteen months in Al-Fatha, but only in certain areas, and she’d observed the spaces she had been in as a tourist. Now, she would live here as a permanent resident, ruling alongside Kadir. Her stomach flipped, and she placed her hand over it.

Generally, Stella tried to remain positive. She was an optimist by nature. It had gotten her through some of the roughest parts of her life thus far, and she was sure if she just focused on the bright side of the situation, things would improve. She would figure out what she needed to be a good queen. It might take a while, but she would learn. Kadir would help her. His love for his country was obvious, if a bit misguided sometimes when it came to preserving their past. One lesson she’d learned over the years, researching her games set in ancient locations all over the world, was that once those treasures of the past were gone, there was no getting them back. Best to keep them rather than plowing them under. Future generations would thank him.

A short while later, the limo pulled up outside a modern stone and steel structure with an enormous stained-glass dome glowing against the twilight sky. It sat on the outer perimeter of what was considered the city’s newer downtown section. She’d been in the area, but never to this particular spot before. The limo pulled to a stop at the curb, and her door opened to reveal Kadir, grinning wide.

“Welcome to my planetarium, habibi.”

Oh, wow. She knew how much this place meant to him. But she also remembered that an old botanical garden had been razed to make way for it. She took his hand with equal parts joy and sadness and allowed him to help her out of the car. Given their weird encounter this afternoon over her game, it seemed an odd choice for their evening.

She did her best to hide her conflicting emotions behind a polite smile, but her efforts must have failed, given his frown as he tucked her hand through his arm then led her toward the entrance.

“Please, just give it a chance, habibi. Come inside with me and have a look around. Don’t judge too quickly.”

Stella nodded, feeling bad. The building was amazing, with its glittering contemporary steel-and-glass edifice, and if it had been anywhere else and any other time, she would’ve been completely captivated by it. But tonight, she couldn’t seem to shake the images of what the gardens that had occupied this space prior to the planetarium might have been like, wondering how much more beautiful this place might’ve been if only they’d found a way to incorporate the old with the new here, kept part of the old gardens around the new planetarium. The former garden had been a renown botanic laboratory, with a mix of ornamental plants as well as fruits trees and vegetables from around the world. The loss was almost too great for her to contemplate, especially because the past and the future didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

As they made their way inside, she smoothed a hand down the front of her simple black dress, feeling a bit underdressed next to Kadir in his sharp, tailored suit. At least there were lots of other people milling about to draw attention away from them. But then again, Kadir’s imposing presence was hard to ignore.

“Come,” he said, guiding her up a short flight of stairs. “Did you know this building took my architects three times as long to design as your detailed game reconstruction of Al-Fatha? And then it took me another year to get it built.”

She shook her head. “That’s impressive.”

“What’s even more impressive is the fact I was here from start to finish every day.” He smiled. “Which given my regular workload was quite an achievement, trust me. But it was important to me, so I made the time. I was instrumental in making the initial proposal for the project to our city leaders and helped gain the necessary financing. I tried to be involved as much as I could.”

“Wow. I didn’t know you knew that much about construction.” From where she stood near the glass wall on the second floor, Stella could see down the street to an ancient plaza nearby. Her heart lurched at the contrast between the modern lobby of the planetarium, with its breathtaking, hand-painted murals of the universe and large working models of the planets and stars and solar systems, to the bustling, busy bazaar a few blocks away

“I know about many things, habibi,” Kadir said, drawing her out of her thoughts. He kissed her hand, his dark eyes warm and shining and darn if her knees didn’t tingle again. He was more handsome than any man had a right to be and affected her far more than he should. She gave him a tremulous smile, and he straightened, leading her off the balcony and across the room to a small, empty auditorium.

They took seats in the center of the space and listened as a chamber orchestra played a selection of pieces Kadir must have picked out himself after their conversation at breakfast—James Horner from the Avatar soundtrack, and Hans Zimmer from the Inception film score. Soon, Stella forgot all about feeling cornered and out of place, and instead lost herself in the complex, beautiful music. When the concert was over, they gave the musicians a standing ovation.

Afterward, she and Kadir wandered the building some more while one of the violinists for the orchestra set up in the lobby to play.

“So, what do you think so far?” he asked.

“I think you must have worked hard to get all of this in place after breakfast.”

He smiled widely. “You sound surprised.”

“No.” Stella beamed up at him. “Well, maybe a little. I mean, you are a sheikh, but I wasn’t sure what to expect, to be honest. But this is gorgeous. Really. Such a beautiful space and the music and the atmosphere. I love it. Thank you for bringing me here tonight.”

“My pleasure, habibi.” A spark of heat flared in Kadir’s dark eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. He squeezed her hand and leaned a little closer, the warmth of his body and the subtle hint of his sandalwood cologne surrounding her. “Your happiness delights me. Come, let me introduce you to the musicians.”

Heat prickled her cheeks, not from embarrassment this time but from attraction. She smiled and shook hands with the members of the orchestra, unable to remember any of their names, far too aware of the man beside her and his devastating effect on her senses. Yep. She’d married a hottie all right. And she was discovering Kadir wasn’t just handsome. He was smart and funny and kind and romantic. For the first time since before the wedding, those nervous butterflies inside her settled, and Stella began to think maybe this whole situation might work out okay after all.

They finished their tour, including an impressive virtual reality simulation where you could walk on the surface of Mars, before heading to a five-star restaurant for dinner. The place was lovely, and the food was delicious, and Stella couldn’t seem to stop herself from chattering away about the night while they ate, feeling more comfortable with her new husband by the moment.

“You know, I have to admit I was against tearing down the existing history here to put up a new structure, but I think your choice might have been the right one, now that I’ve seen it. Although I do have to wonder if there might have been a way to keep even part of the gardens alive and well.”

“Hmm. It’s an interesting idea, but one that isn’t always feasible,” Kadir said, leaning back into the plush cushions of the banquette booth in which they sat. The smile he flashed her wasn’t the least bit tense, like before. Only considering and kind. “I’m intrigued by your idea, but I must say my favorite part is where you say I was right. I don’t hear that nearly enough these days.”

Stella laughed, liking this newfound ease between them.

“I imagine not,” she said. “It must be hard leading a country. Trying to please everyone all the time. But I do think putting the modern planetarium right there in the ancient market brings a striking contrast to the more traditional architecture of the older buildings throughout Al-Fatha. I noticed a lot younger people in the area tonight, too. That’s good. Bringing in a new demographic will help them discover the older, traditional neighborhoods and businesses in the area and may even get them to move there permanently.”

To emphasize her point, she pulled her phone from her evening bag and scrolled through pictures she’d taken on scouting expeditions in the area. When she found the ones she wanted, Stella leaned over to show Kadir. “See, all these aren’t just of the planetarium, but they visit the little bazaar stalls clustered around this area, too. Which is great. Keep the Al-Fatha streets from getting too clogged with traffic. They create a slower pace of life you don’t find too often elsewhere. It’s really special.”

Instead of looking happy about her discovery, however, Kadir was scowling and shaking his head.

Stella glanced up at him and frowned. “What?”

“Those stalls are from a bygone era and a serious fire hazard. And as far as keeping cars off the roads, that’s not true at all. The cars are still there, except now they’re horribly snarled in traffic jams caused by those bazaars you like so much.”

“I can’t believe that.” She sat back and set her phone aside. “They’ve been here for centuries—”

“Exactly.” He held up a hand to forestall her response. “Let me tell you a little story about those bazaars. When I was a child, my parents took us—my siblings and me—to just such a place. We were shopping when a huge rat jumped down from one of the awnings right onto a man’s hat. Of course, the man panicked. Who wouldn’t? He threw his hat down, rat and all, and the thing fell right into a woman’s shopping basket. She screamed and tossed the whole basket right into the crowd. Chaos ensued. People scrambled like sand in the wind. It was awful, terrifying.” He threw his hands in the air, more animated than Stella had ever seen him. It was quite a contrast—and quite endearing. So much so, she wanted to smile, but bit that back. He wouldn’t appreciate that at the moment. “And do you know what the worst part was?”

She shook her head, engrossed in his story.

“While all this mess was going on, my little brother Salah stole a pomegranate!”

It was so unexpected and ludicrous that there was no holding back this time. Stella burst out laughing. From his passionate telling, she’d expected perhaps a riot or a murder, but nope. Stolen fruit. Kadir gave her an incredulous look.

When she realized he hadn’t meant it to be funny, she tried to compose herself.

“I’m sorry,” she said between ragged breaths, swiping a hand across her damp cheeks. “I didn’t mean to make a joke of it, but the way you told it…” She gave a little shrug. “It was hilarious.”

Kadir watched her with a dour expression for a moment before cracking a smile himself. Soon, they were grinning, and the previous tension had lifted, along with his sudden bad mood. Stella was glad. He was so compelling when he was happy, his joy brightened her little corner of the world, too. Strange how that worked. Not the date she’d expected, but a success all the same in her book.

They finished their meal, and Kadir held her hand as they went back out to the waiting limo. His smile shone white in the gathering shadows in the back of the car, and his continued deep chuckles sent a frisson of delicious warmth up her spine. He was so sexy, exactly her type, and not for the first time, she imagined what it would be like when they finally slept together. Was he as serious and determined in bed as he was out of it, or would he be soft and loving, considerate and coaxing? Well, whatever his style between the sheets, Stella hoped they’d be as compatible in that area as they were proving to be in others.

Shoulder to shoulder in the backseat, Kadir pointed out different constellations sparkling in the night sky out the window as they left the city behind and headed for the glimmering palace complex in the distance. Without thinking, she sighed then rested her head on his shoulder, feeling full and content for the first time in recent memory—not just physically, but emotionally, too.

He bent and kissed the top of her head, the heat of his lips causing a shiver to run through her before she could stop it. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight, Stella?”

“I did, thank you.” She raised her head to look at him, not realizing how close he was, and found their mouths just millimeters apart. She couldn’t see his expression in the gathering darkness, but from the way his breath caught, she thought he felt the invisible cord of connection between them tighten as well. Before she could think better of it, she slid her hand around them nape of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

Her lips brushed over his softly, just a hint of a caress, then went back a second time, bolder, her tongue licking out to trace his mouth. She gave a tiny mewl of pleasure, and it seemed to flip some sort of switch inside Kadir. One minute, she was in charge of their kiss, sitting beside him on the seat, and the next, he’d growled low and deep, sliding his arm around her waist and tugging her onto his lap.

Stunned, Stella just sat there a second before her body took over. It was like she was a starving woman and he was the buffet. She couldn’t get enough, arching against him, her dress riding scandalously high on her thighs as she pressed closer against him, wanting more, needing more. Kadir, too, seemed as desperate for her as she was for him, bracing his hands on her hips, keeping her in place, or keeping her steady against him, she wasn’t sure. It was hot and sexy and way more erotic than anything she’d ever done before in her life. Stella wasn’t usually the aggressor when it came to sex, but this right here gave her a whole new perspective on taking charge. She slid her hands down his chest, resting her palms over his thundering heart as Kadir kissed his way down her neck to suckle the pulse point at its base, his teeth and tongue driving her desire to a fever pitch. His body, hard and ready, ground against her, showing her he wanted this as much as she did. She’d expected their first time to be in the suite, in bed, under the covers, but now this was everything, it was…

Over.

As quickly as Kadir had taken charge, he pulled back from her, panting slightly as he rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry, habibi. I shouldn’t have let my desires get the better of me.”

Stella shook her head, still trying to make sense of what was happening, her fingers toying with the soft hair at the base of his neck, making him shudder. “It’s okay…No apologies…I wanted that too…”

The limo veered sideways as they turned into the circular drive leading up to the palace, and Kadir slid her off his lap and back to the seat. The leather felt cold against the heated skin on the back of her thighs, and her nerve endings tingled as if he were still touching her there.

They eased to a stop, and she quickly smoothed her skirt down before the driver opened the door to let them out. She stepped from the car feeling shaky and stunned and sure they’d taken a step forward in their relationship. She had no idea how to continue, though, since her husband had closed himself off to her again, formal and polite as he led her back into their home.