Page 52 of At the Sheikh's Command
Her mouth suddenly dried. “You came.”
“Of course.”
“To say goodbye?”
“Yes. I do not intend to stop you from leaving.”
Her heart sank. “Right. So you want me to go.”
“No, quite the contrary, I want you to stay but, you see, I listened to my brother, and I learned something I didn’t know before.”
“Your brother? And what were his words of wisdom?”
“That I should grovel and buy you something expensive.”
She huffed a laugh. “No wonder his relationships don’t last.” She shrugged. “So where’s the grovel?”
He shook his head. “I will not grovel.”
“And don’t tell me you don’t have the expensive gift?”
He smiled enigmatically.
“So… I’m confused. What exactly did you learn from your brother?”
“My brother will be an excellent ruler for the same reasons I am not.”
“But you are—you were.”
He shrugged. “I certainly tried to do my duty.”
“And you succeeded.”
“Only because I overruled my heart. But now, without the shackles of the throne, I can follow the dictates of my heart. And my heart tells me I love you too much to control you. My heart tells me to set you free.”
A wave of relief and love and tenderness and joy swirled inside of her. He’d done the one thing she hadn’t anticipated. She’d thought his pride might keep him away, or else he might come to her and insist she stay. But he’d done neither. He’d putherneeds first, above his. And, in that instant, she knew that everything was going to be all right. But she had no intention of making it easy for him.
She schooled her features into a straight face and nodded. “I certainly need to feel free.”
His brows dipped in the merest of frowns, before he also nodded. “Of course. And I won’t stand in your way. I only want you to be happy.” He reached out to brush a stray strand of hair from her face. “I can’t keep you here if you’re not happy. I want you to have everything you deserve in life.”
She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch for a moment before taking a step back. “I appreciate that.”
When she didn’t say anything further, a grimace flickered over his features. His control was cracking.
“I hope that in time you will understand why I acted as I did,” he continued.
“Why you allowed me to believe the diamond was somewhere you knew it wasn’t? Why you disrespected me with a lie?” she asked.
“Yes.” He heaved a soul-deep sigh. “Truth is, we were both searching for different treasure. You, the diamond, and me? The only treasure I wanted to find was your heart. Nothing else mattered.”
She swallowed and clenched her hands into fists to stop herself from reaching out and grabbing him and never letting him go. He might not wish to grovel as his brother had suggested, butshewasn’t averse to it.
“And do you think you found it?”
“I did. But, more importantly, so did you.”
She gasped as the truth slammed into her, knocking away the last of her defenses. She nodded, her heart too full to speak.
