dawn, then he shook his head. ‘Your Council—’
‘You told me I didn’t need a husband to stand up to my Council, and I don’t. I’m stronger now, Khalil. You’ve made me strong.’ Another step, and she was touching him, her hand curling around his arm. ‘But I need a husband to be my helpmate and equal. Someone I can love and support, who will love and support me. Standing side by side with me.’
Khalil closed his eyes briefly. ‘I feel as if everything I’ve ever known, everything I’ve counted on, has been ripped away from me. Destroyed.’
‘I haven’t,’ Elena said softly. ‘I’m still here.’
He reached for her hand. ‘After so many years of anger, I don’t know what to feel now. My father had a right to banish me.’
‘Did he? He could have treated you far more kindly than he did.’
‘And my mother...’
‘You don’t know what her situation was, Khalil. How unhappy she was, or what drove her to it.’
He nodded slowly. Elena knew it would take a long time for him to find peace with these revelations,, but she wanted to help him
He turned to her, his eyes wide and bleak, his voice raw. ‘I love you, Elena. I didn’t think I even knew what love was, but you’ve showed me in so many ways. You’ve believed in me, trusted me even when I didn’t deserve to have that trust. I still don’t know if I do. I don’t know what the future can look like,’ he told her, a confession. ‘I don’t know how to be.’
‘We’ll figure it out together.’ She stood in front of him, letting all her hope and love shine in her eyes. ‘I love you, Khalil. And you love me. That’s all that matters.’
His face crumpled for a second and then he pulled her into his arms. ‘Oh, Elena,’ he said, and he buried his face in her hair. ‘Elena. I love you so much. I’m sorry for being a fool. For being afraid.’
‘You think this doesn’t scare me?’ Elena answered with a wobbly laugh, and she felt Khalil’s smile against her hair.
‘Then maybe we’ll be scared together.’
‘That sounds good to me.’
Khalil’s arms tightened around her. ‘I don’t deserve you.’
‘I could say the same thing.’
He kissed her then, softly, and it was a kiss that held so much tenderness and love that her heart swelled. ‘I still don’t know what will happen. What—what the future looks like. I’ll have to talk to Aziz, renounce my claim...’
‘I know.’
‘You’re right. I can still help Kadar. I want to.’
‘They need you, Khalil. I need you.’
He pressed his forehead against hers, his hands framing her face. ‘I love you.’
She smiled against his palm. ‘You told me that before, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing it.’
‘Me neither.’
‘I love you, Khalil.’
He closed his eyes. ‘I never thought I’d ever hear anyone say that to me.’
‘I’ll say it. I’ll keep saying it.’
He kissed her again, pulling her even closer to him. ‘Don’t ever stop saying it, Elena. And I won’t either. No matter what happens.’
‘No matter what happens,’ she promised.
Neither of them knew just what the future held. Khalil would need to grieve; they both needed to grow. And their love, Elena knew, would keep them strong.
* * * * *
Sheikh’s Defiant Wife
Defiant in the Desert
Sharon Kendrick
In Defiance of Duty
Caitlin Crews
To Defy a Sheikh
Maisey Yates
SHARON KENDRICK once won a national writing competition by describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring often stubborn but always to die for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life…
To Peter O’ Brien—the intrepid Irishman—who taught me some of the mysteries and miracles of desert life.
‘THERE’S A MAN downstairs in Reception who says he wants to see you.’
‘Who is it?’ questioned Sara, not bothering to lift her head from the drawing which was currently engrossing her.
‘He wouldn’t say.’
At this Sara did look up to find Alice, the office runner, staring at her with an odd sort of expression. Alice was young and very enthusiastic, but right now she looked almost transported. Her face was tight with excitement and disbelief—as if Santa Claus himself had arrived early with a full contingent of reindeer.
‘It’s Christmas Eve afternoon,’ said Sara, glancing out of the window at the dark grey sky and wincing. No snow, unfortunately. Only a few heavy raindrops spattering against the glass. Pity. Snow might have helped boost her mood—to help shift off the inevitable feeling of not quite fitting in which always descended on her at this time of year. She never found it easy to enjoy Christmas—which was one of the main reasons why she tended to ignore the festival until it had gone away.
She pushed a smile to the corners of her mouth, trying to pick up on Alice’s happy pre-holiday mood. ‘And very soon I’m going to be packing up and going home. If it’s a salesman, I’m not interested and if it’s anyone else, then tell them to go away and make an appointment to see me in the
