LITMIR.BIZ

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to the window. The rain had stopped for the afternoon but had returned with the sunset.

      “It’s really exciting,” she said without turning around. “I mean the thought of getting all new clothes and being well dressed in designer stuff.”

      Sadik watched her closely. “You do not appear happy.”

      She shrugged. “I remember the first time I was here with Zara. We were given fabulous dresses to wear to a state dinner. I thought it was a great game, but Zara didn’t agree with me. I guess the difference was that I was going home and she wasn’t. For her the situation was very real.”

      “As it is real for you now?”

      She nodded slowly. “I’m really grateful and everything, it’s just I never planned to be a princess.”

      “You survived your first day. Speaking of which, you never told me what you did to occupy your time. I believe your actual words were that you had ‘the best time.’ Tell me what made it so.”

      Cleo hesitated. She wasn’t sure she wanted to share her new find with Sadik. What if he didn’t think she could do it? Not that his opinion mattered, she reminded herself. She might not be as prepared as she would like, but she was willing to work hard. So much of life’s successes were about showing up and being willing to do the work.

      “I went to the university,” she said, gazing at the floor rather than at Sadik. “The king suggested a tour of the city, and part of that was through the grounds of the university.”

      Her enthusiasm grew as she remembered the tall, old buildings blending with modern structures. There had been treasures everywhere she looked. Small gardens tucked into courtyards, fountains, benches for reading and studying.

      “I walked around and then I went inside. The library is amazing. This very nice man took me on a tour and showed me ancient manuscripts dating back over a thousand years. Sabrina’s really into that stuff, so I guess she would already know about it, but I thought it was amazing. I also—”

      Sadik stood and glared at her. “You drove through the city on your own, then went to the university and spoke with a man who is not a member of this family?”

      There was no mistaking his outrage. Cleo bristled as she put her hands on her hips—what she could feel of them, what with being five months pregnant—and glared right back.

      “First of all, I was not alone on my tour. I was taken around by a driver. Someone the king approves of, so don’t even go there. Second, I spoke with the senior librarian at the university library. I didn’t dance naked through the halls of a prison.”

      “You are my wife,” he announced, as if that explained anything.

      She couldn’t believe it. She’d thought that Sadik might make fun of her for thinking she could get her degree in something, but they couldn’t even get that far in the conversation. He was hung up on the fact that she’d spoken with a strange man.

      “You need to join the rest of the world in this century,” she told her husband of one day. “Here’s a news flash—the time of the harem is over. You can’t keep your women locked up anymore. We have gained the right to move around and—” she placed the back of her hand against her forehead and sighed dramatically “—we can even think for ourselves.”

      He frowned. “Cleo, I do not find this humorous.”

      “I’ll bet you don’t. But here’s another news flash. I don’t care what you think on this subject. Because my touring the library was just the beginning of it. Hang on to your shorts, Your Highness. I might be married to you and having our baby in a few months, but I’m not willing to be tied down to this palace. I plan to go out and do something with my life.”

      Sadik looked as if she’d slapped him with a wet fish. “What exactly are you talking about?”

      Each word was clipped shorter than a buzz cut on a new military recruit.

      “I’m going to start attending classes. I want to get my college degree.” She leaned toward him and set her jaw. “Don’t try to stop me on this, Sadik. I’m more stubborn than you could begin to imagine.”

      She’d obviously caught him completely off guard. He didn’t speak, didn’t do anything but stare at her. Finally he shook his head and turned away.

      “I forbid it.”

      Figures. “The least you could do is not be predictable,” she said to his back. “Forbid away. I’m still going to do it.”

      He spun toward her, his expression outraged. “You are my wife and will be the mother of my son. That is enough for any woman.”

      “It’s not for me. If you’d thought you were marrying some ‘yes woman’ who didn’t have a single opinion in her empty head, you couldn’t be more wrong. You may be my husband, but you’re not my lord and master. I suggest you get over it.”

      Sadik didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t surprised by Cleo’s defiance. She had been difficult from the beginning. What did surprise him was her description of the empty-headed female who didn’t have an opinion in her head. Unfairly, he’d instantly thought about Kamra.

      Sadik stiffened. He would not have such disrespectful thoughts of Kamra. She had been perfection itself—always deferring to him, never questioning his judgment, always seeking his approval.

      A small yet traitorous voice in his head whispered that, with time, Kamra’s devotion might have been tiresome. At least Cleo would always be challenging.

      He clenched his hands into fists. He did not want to be challenged. His late fiancée had been the most perfect of women. Losing her had been the greatest tragedy of his life. He had no right to question that.

      “I will speak to the president of the university,” he told her. “After that you will not be attending any classes.”

      “No, you won’t,” she said softly, despite the fire in her eyes. “Because that would mean admitting you have a problem with your wife, and we both know you don’t want to do that. You’re going to have to control me yourself, Sadik. Which isn’t going to happen, so you’re going to have to get over it.”

      He could feel the heat from her body. Her short blond hair was in its usual spiky disarray. While the style wasn’t traditional, on Cleo it looked delightful. He stared into her dark-blue eyes, then lowered his gaze to her full mouth. Even now, when she defied him, he wanted her. He might have given his heart to Kamra, but he wanted Cleo more than he had ever wanted any woman in his life. With a certainty he did not want to acknowledge, he knew that he would always want her, until his dying breath.

      He reached for her and pulled her close. Before she could protest and pull away, he pressed his mouth to hers in a demanding kiss.

      Surprise was on his side. She instantly softened against him, obviously unable to resist the passion between them. Her arms came around his neck, and her body nestled against his. He felt her full breasts press against his chest and her round belly pushing against him. Her body had changed in the past few weeks. Every day he could see the differences as her pregnancy progressed. He remembered touching her stomach that morning, as he had spoken with their child.

      But instead of remembering the words, or the healthy movements of their son, he was suddenly able to recall the sweet smell of her skin and how soft and smooth she’d been.

      He wanted her.

      Cleo found herself getting lost in the feel of Sadik’s mouth against her own. The man knew how to kiss. He focused all of his amazing laserlike attention on the act of making love, and he loved slowly and with a thoroughness that left her satisfied beyond measure.

      Even the simple act of kissing took on more meaning when it was with him. He explored her lips with his, then licked the seam. Before she could part to admit him—or, more embarrassing, beg him to deepen the kiss—he nibbled on her sensitive lower lip. The tiny love bites made her shiver in anticipation.

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