Awoken by the Sheikh Read online

  “My pretty, I will never let you go. You’re mine, are you not?”

  Astrid blinked back tears of happiness.

  “Yes, I am, my lord, but can we really make this work?”

  Rashid rested his forehead against hers and exhaled on a sigh.

  “I love you, Astrid.” He grinned at her sharp intake of breath, and stopped any possible protest she might have made by kissing her. By the time he let her come up for air, Astrid was feeling quite light headed.

  “And before you say I can’t possibly mean that, and that I don’t know you well enough, let me tell you this. I lost a woman I loved once. I let other people convince me that what we had couldn’t last, and it caused my son endless heartache. I’m not prepared to put him through any more, and I’m not prepared to lose you.”

  Rashid pulled back slightly, and she couldn’t doubt the sincerity shining out of his dark eyes. So like his son’s they pulled her under his spell. How had she not noticed the resemblance before?

  “Life is short, Astrid, and it can be downright cruel. I have no fucking clue how we’ll work it out. All I know is that I am willing to try, and that I can’t let you go. Not again.”

  Astrid swallowed hard and didn’t even attempt to hide the tears spilling from her eyes. Tears Rashid swiped off her face with his fingertips. Tears that echoed the suspicious moisture lurking in his eyes and made up her mind for her.

  “I can’t let you go either, my lord.”

  “Well, then,” he said and his grin turned sinful, and Astrid knew her sensible underwear would be sopping wet with the evidence of her arousal by now. “I think I better take you home, so we can discuss this more. I feel the urge to take you up on that promise in your eyes, and bend you over your desk and fuck you right here. That happens to be another one of my fantasies, you know … fucking the hot teacher.”

  He winked at her, and Astrid burst out laughing.

  “Well, then, my lord. We’ll have to make sure to give that fantasy to you … one day.” She ducked under his arms and grinned back at him over her shoulder.

  “If you’re a very good boy, that is.”

  Rashid narrowed his eyes and laughed, and happiness engulfed Astrid in its cozy cocoon.

  Oh yes, this would work out just fine.

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  Knees folded under her, head bowed, Astrid waited patiently for her lord. The soft luxury carpet meant she could hold this position for hours, and the sweet scents of the orient filled her nostrils and helped to clear her mind of the stresses of the day.

  The harem outfit he had chosen for her today was almost identical to the one she had worn on the island, and she smiled at the thought. Recreating their Bedouin tent in their playroom had been Rashid’s idea, and Astrid’s heart beat faster when she heard the soundproof door open and his heavy footsteps approach.

  It had taken longer than usual to get Joachim off to sleep tonight, because he’d wanted his daddy to stay with him, after Rashid’s latest long business trip.

  Rashid’s booted feet appeared in her vision, and she raised her hands. The slither of silk against her naked skin sent shivers up her arm, as he bound her wrists together and pulled her to her feet.

  “I missed you, my lord.”

  Rashid’s tired face lit up with the wicked grin she loved, and he pulled her in for a kiss.

  “And I you, my pretty, but no more trips for me, at least for a while. Joachim asked me for a baby brother again tonight.”

  Rashid tipped her chin up, and she lost herself in the tenderness in his warm gaze.

  “And what did you say, my lord?”

  His grin deepened, and her stomach tightened in need when he bent his head and kissed her wedding ring.

  “I said we’ll work on that.”

  The End

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  Other Books by Doris O'Connor:

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