LITMIR.BIZ

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smile. “Yes, we were.”

      “Mother was everything that you could want in your queen.” With nothing in her background for the media to feast on.

      Not like Aaliyah, who not only came from the masses but whose mother had not been married to her father. Sayed did not care, but some would and she could be hurt deeply by the viciousness the media was capable of.

      “Yes, she was and is.”

      “I barely know Aaliyah,” Sayed claimed, though he wasn’t sure he spoke the truth.

      He felt like he already knew the important parts of her too well to forget easily.

      “You knew Tahira your entire life.”

      Sayed wasn’t sure what point his father was trying to make. “And I had no idea she was having an affair.”

      “You cannot be sure she was.”

      “She ran off with him.”

      “For love, if her note to her father is to be believed. I raised you better than to simply assume the worst on the basis of circumstantial evidence.”

      “Yes, you did.”

      “And I raised you better than to hurt someone the way you did Miss Amari arguing with your mother about spending time with her.” His father frowned. “Didn’t you tell me you promised to show her the country of her mother’s birth?”

      “It was a foolish promise to make.”

      “But a commitment nonetheless.” The implacability of his father’s tone and expression said this was not an argument Sayed had a hope of winning.

      Especially when it meant fighting his own deepest desires.

      As he went to leave his mother’s receiving room, his father’s voice stayed him at the door. “It may help to remember a salient truth, Sayed.”

      “Yes?”

      “Both your mother and I have already committed to accepting and helping Aaliyah succeed in her role should she be pregnant.”

      “And if she’s not.”

      “You know us well enough to answer that.”

      Sayed wasn’t so sure. He’d only come to realize very recently how mistaken he’d been about himself. He’d thought he would have been content to marry Tahira and only now realized how miserable he would have been.

      He thought he might even owe her a thank-you for the elopement.

      * * *

      Standing on the balcony overlooking the harem gardens, Liyah ignored the second knock on her door in less than hour.

      Hopefully, if she didn’t answer, whoever it was would take the hint and go away.

      The sound of a door opening and soft footfalls across the carpet told her she had not been so lucky.

      “I was an ass.”

      “Yes.” She wasn’t going to deny the obvious.

      Nevertheless, Liyah did not react outwardly to Sayed’s presence or his surprising admission, though her heart started beating faster.

      Honestly, if she could ignore him completely right now, she’d prefer it.

      But Sayed was a guy who took responsibility and apparently his mother believed he had some sort of obligation toward Liyah. Queen Durrah had apparently convinced her son of it, too.

      So, here he was. To apologize? To invite Liyah on an outing?

      Whatever it was, she wanted it over and him gone. Her defenses were always at her lowest around this man and she did not want him to see the tears tightening her throat.

      He stepped up behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders. “I hurt you.”

      She shrugged, unwilling to lie and equally loath to admit to her weakness. It was too close to admitting why she was so susceptible to him.

      Love hurt. There was no other name for the conflagration of emotion he sparked in her. She loved him.

      She was pretty sure she always would, too. That one-true-love stuff she’d always thought a ridiculous fairy tale? She was living it. Only the happily ever after? It was still in the realm of fantasy and always would be.

      “I am very sorry. It was not intentional.” His right hand slipped down and around to press against her stomach, guiding her body back toward his.

      “I never thought it was.” She was just a one-night stand that wouldn’t go away and his apology didn’t change that, but she’d still liked hearing it. “Please let go of me.”

      She couldn’t blame him for not wanting to spend time with her, but his touch brought her emotions too close to the surface. And that was something she couldn’t deal with.

      His lips brushed against her temple. “I want nothing more than to spend the afternoon with you.”

      “Right.”

      He gently but firmly turned her to face him. If she could believe the evidence of her eyes, his expression showed turmoil equal to Liyah’s. And this time, he was doing nothing to hide it.

      It shouldn’t matter, but it did. Forcing her gaze straight ahead, she opened her mouth to demand again he let her go, but she could not make the words come out.

      She wanted this closeness.

      He sighed, his hands rubbing in circles on Liyah’s back. “I have spent the past two days putting out fires Tahira’s elopement sparked. We have two border countries offering a similar alliance, accepting either one of which would lead to a dangerous political imbalance and almost certain aggression on the part of the other.”

      Did he even realize he was still touching Liyah?

      “Tahira’s country should be offering reparations along with the previously agreed-upon treaty, but her uncle’s current strategy is to lay blame for her defection at my door.”

      Liyah had stubbornly kept her gaze on his chest, but she had to see what he was feeling about that. She raised her head, their gazes clashing immediately.

      A volatile mix of emotions poured through her, needing the smallest spark to send them burning sky-high.

      Longing. Love. Desire. Need. Pain. And worry.

      Because he had major stress lines around his beautiful brown eyes.

      Of its own volition, her hand lifted to smooth away those lines. “Sounds tense.”

      “That’s one word for it. I have others that aren’t acceptable in mixed company.”

      “Is it going to be okay?” Was he going to be all right?

      “Yes, because there is no other option.”

      “Are you going to marry someone from those other two countries?”

      “No.”

      “What about Tahira’s country. Maybe she’s got a sister? A cousin?”

      He shook his head. “Right now the idea of a politically motivated match is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.”

      “That makes sense.” Liyah did her best to ignore her heart’s leap at his pronouncement.

      “So, with all of this to occupy my thoughts, you’d think there was no room for anything else.”

      “You don’t have to make excuses for not seeing me. Your mother is kind, but she’s wrong. You don’t owe me anything.” Maybe if Liyah kept saying it, he’d realize she believed it.

      No matter how much the truth hurt.

      “I wasn’t trying to excuse myself. I was admitting that even with everything else on my mind right now, I cannot stop thinking about you, craving

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