you sure about this?’
Beneath the folds of her gown, she crossed her fingers and pushed down the overwhelming panic and despair. ‘Yes, I’m sure,’ she said in as firm a voice as she could muster.
Her brother stared at her for another brooding minute, then nodded. ‘Then you have my blessing. And Grandfather’s too.’
Allegra glanced at Bianca, who’d joined them, then back at Alessandro. ‘You weren’t just in the area, were you?’
He shook his head. ‘No. The old man sent me.’
Despite her clogged throat, Allegra summoned a smile. ‘Thank you.’
With another nod, her brother stepped back into his place in the crowd.
The end of the walkway loomed and the chanting stopped. Yasmina, the head of her wedding entourage, turned and gestured to her feet.
Wordlessly, Allegra took off the golden slippers. Yasmina picked them up and stepped to the side.
‘You make the journey alone from here.’
Heart in her throat, Allegra glanced down the endless flight of steps.
On the beach, wearing a blue and gold abaya and matching keffiyeh held in place by silk rope, stood Rahim. His eyes were trained on her, his frame tall and proud, his demeanour set in stone.
A shift registered deep in her soul, pressing home that there was no turning back. Whether she wanted it or not, Rahim was her destiny.
On bare feet, she glided down the stairs and paused at the edge of the carpet.
At the instruction of the three elders officiating the ceremony, Rahim strode forward. Stopping in front of her, he removed his own jewelled slippers and stepped barefoot on the carpet next to her.
Wordlessly, he held out his hand and she placed hers within it. Warm and strong, his hand gripped hers, setting off fresh nerves, and a horde of new butterflies.
She glanced up at him, and darkened hazel eyes bore implacably into hers.
‘We do this part together.’
Shakily she nodded and stepped off the carpet onto the warm, coarse sand with Rahim.
The elder moved forward and uttered words she didn’t understand. Opening an ancient book, he extracted a long, braided rope and nodded at Rahim. He spoke his vows in Dar-Amanian, his voice firm and deep. Then Allegra repeated the words she’d learned in the language of the kingdom she was about to dedicate her life to.
Rahim held her steady and the rope was bound around their clasped hands from her wrist to his.
‘Now in English, so there is no misunderstanding,’ Rahim commanded.
Allegra swallowed. ‘In the presence of the sand, sea and sky, I pledge myself to you. My honour, my body, my soul.’
Rahim’s gaze pinned hers. ‘In the presence of the sand, sea and sky, I pledge myself to you. My honour, my body, my kingdom.’
And with those handful of words, they were married.
* * *
‘Where are we going?’ Allegra asked, although she half suspected the answer.
Behind the wheel of the sturdy Jeep, Rahim navigated another shadowy sand dune, one of many they’d encountered since their journey from the palace straight after the wedding feast.
‘Dar-Amanian wedding custom dictates that a bride spend a secluded night in a Bedouin tent with her groom,’ he replied, his eyes on the road before them.
He’d barely spoken to her, except to introduce her to their most distinguished guests during the wedding reception. All through the ceremony, he’d conversed with his ministers, then their guests. But to her, he remained polite and courteous, but distant. And she hadn’t had much to contribute in the way of conversation, consumed as she was by what the future held. And the very vivid, unacceptable subject of his harem.
Her stomach roiled as she struggled to answer. ‘Yes, I know that from the giant book I had to study in twenty-four hours. Same way I know that the royal bride has a two-week grace period before her coronation for the night to happen.’ She certainly wasn’t in a hurry to grace Rahim’s bed, not when the thought of him choosing another bed in the near future stabbed like a hot knife between her ribs.
‘That grace period was to accommodate monthly issues that no longer apply to you since you’re already carrying my child. I did not see the need to wait,’ he stated.
Allegra’s head snapped round to him as she caught the thick pulse of lust in his voice. She was fiercely glad the interior of the Jeep was dark and he couldn’t see her unguarded reaction to that lust. Or the need for it to be solely hers. ‘I didn’t think...we didn’t discuss anything about the physical part of our marriage.’
‘What is there to discuss?’ he demanded.
She gave a shocked laugh. ‘A lot, I should imagine. Or did you think I would accept the status quo without question?’
He directed a frown at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Why did you not take my call this afternoon, before the wedding?’ she slammed back, the hurt she’d tried her best to gloss over gaping wider.
‘I was busy,’ he replied.
‘Too busy to make time for your fiancée?’ She shut her eyes for a second, as if it would block out the need she could hear in her own voice.
A tense silence greeted her, his face a stark profile. ‘I assumed it was pre-wedding jitters prompting the call. Since we are now married, I’m inclined to think we’re past those reasons.’
‘You assumed wrong. We’re most certainly not.’ Her hands tightened in her lap, a new and sharper pain lancing her when she considered what she’d do if he refused what she was about to request. Sadly, her response, should he refuse, would be definitive.
‘I’m listening, habibi.’
She sucked in a steadying breath. ‘I need you to close the east wing.’
‘What?’ The puzzlement in his voice squeezed at her heart.
‘Shut down your harem, or we won’t be consummating this wedding.’
‘My...? Where did you get the idea that I had a harem?’ he bit out.
‘Please, Rahim...don’t toy with me. This isn’t something I intend to live with. I don’t care if you threaten me with jail. Promiscuity isn’t part of this marriage deal.’
‘Allegra, be quiet for a second,’ he inserted harshly after navigating another steep dune and bringing the Jeep to a stop.
Silence broken only by the exotic sound of desert creatures drenched them. Her hands squeezed tighter, her whole body vibrating as she waited for him to continue.
‘I don’t know
