The Sheik’s Expecting Bride by Erin Snihur
8
Everything has been a lie!an inner voice screeches at Hasna as she watches Kamran order from the menu. The flustered waiter bows and murmurs something back to the sheik regarding the specials, but Hasna barely hears. All of her energy is focused on the events that brought them here.
I didn’t sleep with Nashat, I slept with Kamran.A thought that she would never have expected to become reality. And that means the baby… Her eyes drift downwards and out of some new maternal instinct, her hand cups her flat stomach. Feeling the warmth there unlike any other she had ever felt, tears begin to blur her vision.
“Hasna, are you all right?”
Hasna glances up, shocked and startled that she had been caught daydreaming and cupping her stomach. Sheik Kamran stares at her in the eye, his face a mixture of confusion and concern as the waiter teeters on both feet.
Clearly nervous at being in the company of royalty, the waiter manages to muster, “Would you like a few more minutes with the menu?”
Embarrassed, Hasna glances down at the embossed menu and stammers nervously back, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
As the waiter begins to take their menus away, Kamran halts him with a raised hand. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You look a little pale. Perhaps you should eat something a bit lighter to bring back the color in your cheeks?”
Flushing once more, Hasna shakes her head resolutely, which causes the waiter to bow and back away from the table, leaving them alone for the first time since they arrived. Once they are alone, Hasna murmurs, “Don’t act like you care about me now that I know the truth.”
Kamran smirks slightly, seeming amused with her attempt at gaining the upper hand and croons, “Darling, I’ve cared about you for quite some time. The fact that you haven’t seen it isn’t my problem.”
Hasna gasps at his use of the word darling and the way it melts over her body like a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day. Lifting her chin stubbornly, Hasna murmurs back, “Perhaps we shouldn’t be eating dinner at all. Perhaps we should just forget anything ever happened between us.”
Kamran leans forward over his place setting and grins. “Never going to happen.”
Sputtering in shock, Hasna seethes, “How can you say that?” Then her eyes flash as she growls, “From what I’ve seen in the newspapers and gossip columns, Kamran, you have had your fair share of darlings.”
Kamran’s eyes squint slightly as he icily murmurs back, “I’m trying to gain your forgiveness, something I should have done that night.”
Hasna snorts and lets out a sarcastic chuckle. “What you should have done that night was tell me the truth. If you had, this would not have ever happened.”
Kamran chuckles then, his expression calming as his smirk grows with every word spoken. “Try and tell me you regret our night together.”
Shocked, Hasna’s gaze slashes around the half-empty restaurant in surprise that he had been able to reserve a section of the building just for them. Inwardly, she is thankful that they are in a private setting, but outwardly, her skin crawls at the thought that anyone could see her talking or arguing with the Sheik of Nilan and report back to her uncle with the cruel truth.
Hasna groans and immediately protests softly, “Kamran, you must see how wrong this is!”
Kamran snorts then and offers her an amused side eye as he too scans the restaurant, “Because it was my brother you truly wanted to spend the night with?”
Hasna’s eyes widen in shock as his words fall on her ears. Her mind races and before she can deny it, her head is nodding slightly and Kamran’s expression turns ashen. Nashat had been the one she had expected and hoped to share this experience with.
You hadn’t planned on having his child, however.
Kamran obviously knows this, much to her shock and dismay. Finally shaking her head more in grief than in denial, Hasna murmurs softly, “That’s not what I meant.”
“Why deny it?” Kamran growls. “Nashat has always been the one everyone seeks for attention. From women to business associates, no matter the scandals he involves himself in that are reported in the media.”
“No,” Hasna gasps as her eyes widen like saucers. Quickly shaking her head, Hasna denies, “That is not true and you know it, Kamran. People want things from you as much as they want from Nashat.”
Cringing at the thoughts racing through her mind, Hasna lowers her voice and reveals, “Kamran, I used to get so angry at the girls in my father’s tribe. Some took one look at you and nearly fainted at the thought of some handsome Nilan Prince marrying them. Some of the girls even begged their fathers to offer them up as brides, but you were too focused on your father’s work to pay any attention to them.”
She shrugs then. “The only reason Nashat and I spent so much time together was because I thought you were not interested in someone like me.” Then Hasna brushes aside a lock of her hair that has fallen into her eyes and murmurs, “The princess of sheep herders.”
Kamran stares at her for a moment and then murmurs softly, “I had to focus on my father’s work, otherwise, I would have been paying too much attention to you and it would have been considered inappropriate.”
Hasna shakes her head in disbelief, shocked at his revelation. “You only say that now because your father was buying our land and citizens from my father for the amalgamation.”
Kamran chuckles and leans back carefully in his chair, eyeing her face with heat boiling in his eyes. “That is not true and you know it. For the first time in my life as a prince with responsibilities and duties, I felt welcomed by you and your family. You showed me your home, a land I had never experienced before.” Kamran smiles charmingly and raises his flute of water in her direction. “For that I will be eternally grateful.”
Inwardly, Hasna’s heart races as she thinks, But for how long will you be grateful?
Hasna flushes with embarrassment as her memories shift to that time during her childhood when everything was good and right in her life. Voice soft and hesitant as she keeps her gaze focused on the place setting of their intimate table, she murmurs, “I always thought you hated having to spend time with me when your family would visit our remote tribe.”
Kamran laughs softly and shoots her a pointed grin of amusement. “I did at first, but then I saw how free you were with your people. I became jealous.” Seeing her shocked face, Kamran shrugs and continues, “It was so different from our city lives where we were kept in the palace and only allowed to attend our boarding school lessons in England or be taught by our tutors at the palace. Can you blame me for being jealous of a young girl who got to explore such a beautiful place in the Jazah mountains every day with her family and people?”
Hasna’s eyes widen at the thought that Kamran could have been jealous of her meager lifestyle and she quickly shakes her head as she replies, “I was the one jealous of you. You came to our small village in your large cars, wearing expensive suits.” Hasna laughs as well. “I was so jealous of all the places you must have travelled to beyond our mountain and all of the parties you must have attended. The girls in the mountains used to tell fairytale stories about such parties.”
Kamran smirks. “There is not much to see of this world. Once you see one city, all the rest blend together.”
Hasna chortles and shoots him a look of doubt. “Highly unbelievable. Obviously, you need to look at them with new eyes.”
Kamran shakes his head. “There’s too much to do here in Nilan.”
Hasna nods slowly and pushes aside her glass of water with a sigh, her stomach rolling. “Yes, I fear my uncle has a great many plans for what remains of Jazah.”
“What are you talking about?” Kamran murmurs, his amused expression disappearing as he glares at her.
Hasna shrugs and murmurs, “My uncle has decided he will marry me off to Sadi el-Salahuddin, an oil tycoon that has a great many businesses in Nilan and Morocco.”
“Senile old fool.” Kamran chuckles, but his voice is tight and his eyes seem to spark with rage as Hasna shifts on her chair, confused by his change of mood. “He’s older than a grandfather and half the size.”
Hasna sighs and blushes as the waiter arrives with their food and departs as quickly as he can after Kamran waves him off. Waiting a few moments until they are alone once more, Hasna smiles hesitantly. “Yes. Unfortunately, the night that we…”
Then her face warms at the remembrance of their intimate encounter in Musat. Kamran, seeming to sense where her thoughts are headed, smirks and nods along. “Yes, I remember.”
Shaking her head to rid her of these erotic thoughts and focus on her meal, Hasna places her trembling hands on her lap.
“I was supposed to meet Mister el-Salahuddin that night at the ball. Apparently, he has shown a great deal of interest in a marital match.” Inwardly, Hasna seethes, Or more likely an interest in my dowry.
“I would have thought he held more of an interest in your inheritance, or has that been put into your uncle’s guardianship as well?”
Hasna hesitates before shaking her head in denial. “My uncle informed me that any of my inheritance was put into a trust fund that I cannot access until I marry.”
Kamran shakes his head and snorts in derision. “That doesn’t make any sense. Most of the funds my father paid your father for Jazah have been invested in Nilan. Those funds should have been bequeathed to you the moment your parents passed away.”
Hasna shrugs. “That is not what my uncle told me.”
Kamran, seeming suspicious, leans back as the waiter appears and removes his plate. Grateful for the distraction, Hasna glances out the windows of the restaurant. When she sees Mahdi and Kamran’s advisor standing watch by the vehicles, she relaxes somewhat.
With their dinner almost concluded, Hasna realizes quite quickly that she will only have a few free moments to make her escape back to her uncle’s estate without answering too many personal questions.
“Why were you looking for me today?” Kamran suddenly asks deeply, drawing her attention away from the windows.
As she meets his dark gaze once more, Hasna immediately glances away and down at the remainder of her barely touched meal. Her stomach instantly curdles at the sight of the food and the impending situation that their night together will thrust upon them for the rest of their lives.
“I was actually searching for Nashat,” Hasna whispers, and for a brief moment, she swallows her dry throat and eyes Kamran with a pointed glance. “Or at least, I thought I was.”
“My brother is away on business at the moment.”
“Does he know…”
“Yes, I’m afraid he saw you leave the hotel suite that night,” Kamran interrupts with a tilt of his head.
Hasna flushes once more and groans, “I’m so embarrassed.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Hasna,” Kamran murmurs and then offers his hand across the table to pick up one of hers so he can cup it comfortingly. “I’m so sorry I lied to you, Hasna.”
Her body tightens and tingles at the contact of their skin touching. For second, Hasna cannot help but find comfort and warmth in his touch. A touch that she had dreamed about for weeks and continued to dream about, regardless of their present situation.
Not wanting him to see the effect he still holds over her, Hasna pulls her hand away and shakes her head. “Perhaps we should just forget about it and pretend nothing ever happened.”
“I’m so sorry if I upset you,” Kamran murmurs an apology and for a second, Hasna sees a flash of protest behind his gaze before it is smothered into darkness.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth on the balcony?”
Kamran sighs. “It was stupid of me to think I could get away with something like that without thinking of you. I was selfish.”
Shaking his head, Kamran groans and offers her a sheepish glance. “That night, I hadn’t wanted to deal with the conniving mothers and their debutante daughters. So, my brother and I came up with a plan. A plan to give me one night.”
Shocked by his revelation, Hasna’s eyes widen and she leans forward. “I had no idea you were so unhappy.”
Kamran shrugs. “I love my people, but this plan was to give me one night to accept my new lot in life. My people are demanding that I marry. Whereas my heart longs to marry someone with whom I will have a true connection with, I know that it is not possible. In my mind, I know what I must do.”
Hasna whispers the answer, before he can, “An arranged marriage?”
Kamran stares at her for a moment before finally nodding in agreement. “Most likely to some princess or sheikha of high standing.”
Hasna struggles to smooth over her expression, even though, on the inside, her heart is breaking into a million pieces. He will never want a woman of title only like me, regardless if I carry his child.
As if she is watching a scene from a movie playing before her, Hasna watches as Kamran grasps his glass and raises it in a mocking toast.
“To our duties that are out of our own control.”
Inwardly, Hasna decides what she must do. She must never tell Kamran the truth. It will be something she will take to her grave, for she could never be with a man whose only concern is duty over love or a man who lied to her.
She whispers, “To duty.” In the back of her mind, Hasna hums and prays that her child will know love.