LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER TWELVE

      HANNAH KICKED OFF her shoes as she walked into the bedroom. Kamel stood, his shoulders propped against the door jamb, and watched as she sat at the dressing table and struggled with the clasp of the sapphire necklace she wore.

      He had never imagined that the nape of a woman’s neck could be erotic, but he had to accept that some of life’s normal rules did not apply where his wife was concerned. When she had walked into the room at his side tonight, making him think of a graceful swan in her slim-fitting white gown, she had been literally shaking with fear but nobody would have guessed as she smiled and charmed everyone present at the formal state dinner.

      The fierce pride he had felt as he had watched her across the table, graceful and lovely, had only been matched in the emotional stakes by the rush of protectiveness he had experienced when, during the press-the-flesh session following the formal banquet, when those who were being rewarded for good works got a chance to meet the royals, Hannah’s interest in the diverse range of people who lined up to shake her hand had seemed real—as had the fear in her eyes when she had seen the Quagani colonel. The moment had passed and she had recovered her poise, but Kamel had kept an eye on the man. Diplomatic incident or not, he was poised to throw the guy out personally if he so much as looked at Hannah the wrong way.

      In the event he had seemed to behave himself. Even so, Kamel intended to make damned sure that in the future their favourite cuddly colonel had his card marked when it came to entry into this country.

      ‘Let me.’

      She looked at him in the mirror, unable to disguise the shiver of pleasure as his fingers brushed her neck.

      ‘Thank you,’ she said, looking at him through her lashes with eyes that shone brighter than the gems he was removing.

      He paused. She seemed about to say something but then, as if she had changed her mind, she tipped her head in acknowledgement as he dropped the necklace into her hand.

      ‘You did well tonight.’

      The comment smoothed the small groove in Hannah’s brow and she released the sigh she’d felt she had been holding in all night. ‘So I passed?’

      He didn’t return her smile. ‘Is that how you saw tonight? As a test?’ The idea troubled him. ‘You’re not being graded, Hannah. No one is judging you.’

      Hannah shrugged. She had been here long enough to learn a little of the politics of the place, and she knew that she was resented in certain quarters. More than a few people were just waiting for her to mess up. She would never be Amira, but she was determined to prove them all wrong.

      ‘Especially not me.’

      Whatever trust issues he had with Hannah had long gone. He often watched her—which was not exactly a hardship—and found himself wondering how he had ever even for a second thought she was a cold, spoilt bitch!

      He was not a man who looked deep inside himself, maybe because he knew that he wouldn’t have liked what he’d have seen.

      He’d once told Hannah to lose the attitude, but now he saw that it was advice he ought to have been directing at himself. He’d seen marriage as a life sentence the moment when the doors slammed shut. He had not faced his resentment of the role that had been thrust on him. Hannah had made him do that.

      He’d never for one second thought that marriage might be better than the life he’d had to let go. He’d put so much effort into seeing himself as someone who had missed out on the chance of happiness when he had lost Amira that when it had fallen at his feet he’d not recognised it.

      And yet there was a cloud. Hannah welcomed him into her bed but he sensed a new restraint in her. She was holding back. On more than one occasion he had nearly demanded to know what the hell was the matter—but he’d stopped himself. What if she told him and he didn’t like the answer?

      His quiet admission that he hadn’t been judging her made her throat ache with unshed tears.

      ‘I was dreading it,’ she admitted.

      ‘I know.’

      ‘It was strange sitting next to the man who once held my fate in his hands.’ Protocol dictated that she was seated next to the daunting Sheikh Malek. ‘He could have signed my death warrant.’

      ‘No!’

      The explosive interjection made her pause and touch his hand. His fingers unclenched under the light pressure. ‘Tonight he was telling me about his rose collection. He invited me to a tour of his rose gardens.’

      Kamel let out a silent whistle as he brought his hands up to rest on her shoulders. ‘You’re honoured. I haven’t

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