The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress (2 page)

In college, they slept in a dorm room across the hallway from her and followed her to all her classes. They waited outside the rooms for her to re-emerge, sat at other tables in the library, close but not too close. They tailed her on her dates and made her life safe, but utterly miserable.
She went through college and graduate school, all with perfect grades since none of her friends could convince her to defy her guards and non dared to contradict the men who forced her to study when they thought she was mis-behaving. They tested her on all her classes, pushing her harder than the professors to succeed.

Now, it was all down to this meeting with a man she"d never met and had grown to hate over the years. She had learned to accept her guards, had even grown to understand their position and respect their abilities. But she"d never liked the fact that they were there, always with her, always protecting and pushing her. They were all wonderful men, but she hated the imposition they were putting on her lifestyle. She"d just wanted a normal life and that had been impossible with personal body guards two feet away.

And now that she was ready to enter the workforce, she couldn"t very well go to a job interview with one of them tailing behind her. She"d never get a job. Every employer would be completely intimidated by the fact that she was protected around the clock.

“Electra! I"m over here,” Susan Reyes called out from the small coffee shop, waving her hand.

Electra spied her friend and walked through the tables, a bright smile lighting up her face. “Look at you!” she exclaimed, eyeing her friend"s business suit and name plate that announced she was a lead clerk for the hotel. “I"m so impressed!” she cried out, swallowing the jealousy that surged up. She was genuinely happy for her friend, but also wished for the same kind of opportunities.

Susan laughed. “Don"t worry. You"ll get your chance. You"re going to be wonderfully convincing in your meeting in a little while.” She smiled as she looked across the small, linen covered table at her friend. “And let me just say that your choice of outfits is smashing! The pink color looks wonderful with your skin tone and brings out the green in your eyes.”

Electra glanced down at her suit and smoothed the pink wool covering her lap. “Are you sure it"s okay? I changed about four times, the outfits ranging from defiant jeans to a severe black pant suit.”

Susan nodded her head emphatically and poured Electra some coffee from the decanter already on the table. “It"s perfect. The pink will show him you"re not afraid of your feminine side but the cut of the suit demonstrates that you"re smart and mean business.”

Electra sighed and grimaced slightly. “I"m not sure I wanted to show him my feminine side. That might be a mistake.”

“Nonsense. You look great.” Electra smiled at the encouragement and changed the subject. No matter what she was wearing, it was too late to change now. She was meeting King Abbas in an hour and it had taken her forty five minutes to get here as it was.

Knowing that worrying about her outfit was a futile exercise, she quickly changed the subject. “So tell me about this new boyfriend of yours,” she said, adding cream and sugar to her coffee.

Susan"s eyes closed as if she"d just taken a bite of rich , darkchocolate. “Oh, he"s just wonderful. His name is Barry and he"s an accountant for one of the big firms. We met at last week"s happy hour and I have found over the past seven days that he"s a wonderfully charming man, full of intelligence and humor and makes me feel all giddy inside.”

Electra sighed with longing. “Was that the one at O"Hooligan"s? I didn"t notice you with anyone last week,” she said.

Her friend"s eyes shuttered. “You left early,” Susan replied carefully, knowing this was a touchy subject.

Electra grimaced again. “I had to. Micha was scaring everyone away.” Her comment only made her more resolute to make sure the meeting today worked out the way she planned.

Susan nodded and tried to hide her expression. “He"s a little intimidating.”

Clearing away the irritation over her guards " imposing disposition, she changed the subject back to something more interesting. “How many dates have you been on with this new Mr. Wonderful?”

Susan smiled and her eyes glowed with excitement. “We"ve been out with each other every day and night for the past week,” she enthused. “He meets me for lunch and we talk and laugh about our days,” she explained, closing her eyes as she thought back to her dates with Mr. Wonderful, “then he picks me up after work and we either go out to dinner or we cook at each other"s flats. He"s incredibly romantic.”

Electra"s eyes widened in fascination. “Nights?” she confirmed.

Susan nodded emphatically. “Yes! He"s a great lover. Very generous and sweet.”

“You went home with him that first night?” she asked again, trying to hide her shock. She was fascinated as well, wishing she had that option with men. But her guard would never allow that to happen. She was well protected, to the point that she was now twenty four years old and the closest she got to having sex was reading about it in Greek or Roman mythology. Electra sighed. “I"m so jealous!”
Susan laughed. “Another hour and you"ll be with your guardian to explain the situation. Don"t worry, everything will be fine once you simply tell himthat you"re an adult and can make your own decisions without the interference of your guards.”

Electra looked down at her coffee and sighed heavily. “I hope so. I"d do just about anything to have a real relationship with a man.”

Susan leaned forward, glancing carefully back at the guard sitting several tables away to make sure they couldn"t hear her next question. “Have you ever kissed someone, Electra?”

Electra"s eyes sharpened with frustration and resentment. And not a small amount of embarrassment either. “No. About eight years ago, I almost had the chance with a very cute boy but that"s the day Micha showed up. Ever since then, no man has ever ventured out on a second date with me.” Electra knew that being twenty four and never having experienced a kiss was very, very odd.

Susan shook her head in disgust. “That"s awful, and so unfair! How are you supposed to find a guy when none are willing to get close to you?”

“Exactly. I"d do just about anything at this point.”

“Even marriage?”

Electra reared back in horror. “No way!” she exclaimed, laughing slightly. “I"m not going into a marriage without knowing the man. Look at how many relationships our friends have had, trying to find the man of their dreams?”

Susan didn"t need to be convinced. She was of the group that thought women should live and have fun before settling down with one man for the rest of her life. “Exactly! You don"t really know a guy until you"ve lived with him for a while. You have to sample the product before you can buy,” she teased. “Truths come out with familiarity.”

Electra nodded her head, agreeing completely with her friend"s words. “I don"t want to get married even if I find Mr. Wonderful. I"ve been protected to the point of being stifled. I"d like to live a little before I dive into marriage and responsibility.”

“Is Jasmine still dating Tom?” Susan asked.

They discussed their other friends for the remainder of the time before Susan had to go back on duty. Electra stayed at the table and picked up the newspaper that had been laying on the table next to her. She pulled out the classifieds, skimming the listings to see if there was anything she might qualify for. But just as it had before, her mind wandered, thinking about the meeting that was about to happen in less than twenty minutes.
This meeting today was so important. It was the first time she"d get to actually meet the man who had made her life so miserable. She had to push her resentment away and focus on her arguments. If she didn"t get her emotions under control, she wouldn"t be able to convince the man to ease up the guard that had been assigned to her. She couldn"t go on job interviews because employers and potential boyfriends alike were intimidated with the guards standing behind her. None would stay outside the building or even outside the interview room. She"d given up trying to get a job a year ago, and continued to attend university classes. She now had three undergraduate degrees and a master"s degree in early education. None of them doing her any good since she couldn"t use them. Chapter 2

King Abbas walked out of the ballroom with his normal determined stride. “What is next?” he asked his aide who was following beside him. The conference he"d just left had been tedious but since he"d been the featured speaker, he had to attend. He smoothed his blue tie down over his crisp white shirt and unbuttoned the black jacket. He was impatient to have this day over with so he could move on to more pressing business. Diplomatic travel, although necessary, still felt like an imposition on his time.

“You are meeting next with your ward, Your Highness,” he said, reading efficiently off of the electronic hand held device that maintained Dharr"s daily activities. “She is scheduled to be here in twenty minutes. I have not heard that she has arrived yet.”

Dharr nodded his head. “Fine.” He glanced down at his watch. “See if she can meet me now. Then call the plane and make sure we"ll be able to take off early. I want to be in Paris by dinner,” he said, thinking about his mistress and her soft, full curves. He had meetings in Paris that would last most of the next day but he was looking forward to a relaxing evening with a soft, willing woman. His eyes narrowed slightly when he thought of Dominique. This would have to be his last liaison with her. She was becoming too demanding, wanting more than he was willing to give her. Her soft curves were nice enough, but her temper was not to be allowed. Dharr expected all of his mistresses to be soft and yielding, a place for him to release the stress of his title and obligations. Not to add to them.

He was just about to give his aide additional instructions when his eye caught sight of the slender beauty sitting in the hotel"s restaurant. Her long, black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a stream of silk, ending in the middle of her back. She was sitting straight, her back not touching the back of the chair and her profile was startling with high cheekbones and a long, elegant neckline. Her soft, pink suit hid her curves but he suspected that she would be delightfully endowed.

“Hold off on that call,” he said, vaguely aware that his aide immediately shut the cell phone and fell back slightly.

Dharr walked forward, his experienced eyes noting other features in the lovely woman that further piqued his interest. Her soft, green eyes were dreamy, staring off into space and her full, sensuous lips were slightly parted, as if she were thinking of her lover. Within the space of a few moments, Dharr determined that he was going to be that man. His mind was already considering the details of how to insert her into the Paris apartment and move the demanding Dominique out. It never occurred to him that this incredible beauty might resist. Women did not resist. Ever. If a part of him wanted a challenge where women were concerned, he pushed it aside, cynically knowing that women were after his title, or his wealth, or both and none were very concerned about anything else.

The idea passed through his mind quickly but he continued to work on the details as he weaved his way through the tables toward her. His eyes took in her lovely face, her perfect skin and green eyes that looked like soft moss after an early spring rain shower. Yes, she would suit his needs perfectly, he told himself.

“Excuse me, but may I buy you another cup of coffee?” he asked.

Electra looked up and was startled by the appearance of the man in front of her table. But this wasn"t just any man. This Adonis was gorgeous with swarthy, olive skin and almost black eyes that perfectly matched his black hair. His lips were thin but somehow managed to portray a feeling of sensuousness that struck something deep down inside of her. His nose was patrician, hawklike even and she could tell that the man"s lithe body contained muscles underneath the perfectly tailored dark suit.

But it wasn"t his physical attributes that sent all of her nerves to tingling alert. It was something about the man that just shrieked danger. Her mind was screaming run away as fast as possible. But the feminine side of her, the side that craved some sort of male attention that had been denied to her for so long, was crying out for more of this dynamic, dangerous man"s attention. All of the men she"d casually been interested in before paled beside this man"s forceful aura.

When he raised an eyebrow, she realized that she"d been sitting here staring at him for much longer than it was necessary to respond to his query. “I"m sorry,” she gasped. “Coffee,” she repeated, looking down at her now empty cup, then back up into his face. “Yes. That would be lovely,” she sighed and was thrilled when he sat down across from her. It wasn"t that he smiled, but something in his eyes softened slightly.

He introduced himself as Dharr but nothing more so when he took her hand gently in his, she only replied, “Ellie,” too confused to remember her given name when his touch was turning her mind to mush.

“What is a beautiful woman like you doing looking for a job?” he asked, raising a hand to the waiter that instantly appeared at his elbow. He put in an order for a fresh pot of coffee then turned back to Electra.

Flustered, Electra quickly folded the listing of classified ads and shoved it down by her feet. “Oh, you know, always on the lookout for something new,” she replied, hoping she appeared to be a normal person with normal problems like finding a different job. Nervously, she glanced around and noted that Gerard, her guard assigned to her today, had melted back to a table farther away and had his back turned to her. Relieved by this unprecedented action on his part, she smiled more brightly at the man, wondering what it was about him that assured her guard that she could be trusted when all the others had been instantly intimidated by her guard coming closer.

“You"re husband should be ashamed of himself for forcing you to work.” “Oh, I"m not married,” she said and took a sip of her coffee. She held the grimace at the dark liquid, too embarrassed to put cream or sugar into her coffee. She didn"t want to appear silly and childish to the man who drank his black.