the day being pleasant to idiots but enough was enough.
‘Hannah is a great pupil. Really talented.’
‘Yes, you mentioned that. Well, thank you for stepping into the breach, but I would like to say happy birthday to my wife—alone. Shall I have someone show you to your room or can you—?’
‘I’ll be fine. Goodnight, all.’
The door closed and Hannah gave a sigh of relief. ‘Thank goodness for that.’
Her reaction sent his antagonism down several levels.
‘You did not enjoy your birthday present?’
‘It was the best birthday present I have ever had! It was fine before he started drinking and then...’ She shook her head. ‘He kept telling the same story over and over and I couldn’t get rid of him. Thank goodness you came when you did. I was ready to hide in the pantry, but at least it stopped me brooding. Dad didn’t call. I hope he’s all right. Some years he is worse than others,’ she admitted, worriedly.
Kamel shook his head. ‘Worse?’
‘Sorry, I was talking as if you knew.’
Kamel struggled to contain his frustration. He had to drag every bit of information out of her. ‘I would like to know.’
‘My mother died when I was born. Well, actually she died a few weeks earlier. She was brain dead but they kept her alive until I was strong enough to be delivered. Dad stayed by her side night and day all that time and when I was born they switched off the life support. It’s hardly any wonder it was months before he could even look at me. If it hadn’t been for me she’d be alive.’
The fist around his heart tightened as she raised her swimming blue eyes to him.
‘Your father doesn’t blame you for your mother’s death.’ No father could do that to an innocent child. It was more likely, knowing Hannah, that she blamed herself. How had he ever thought this woman was selfish and shallow?
‘Well, if he did I guess he’s been trying to make up for it ever since by spoiling me rotten. I wish he’d ring.’
‘Your father will be fine.’
Hannah nodded and stood there noticing the lines of fatigue etched into his face. Presumably he’d had a bad day—the same bad day that was responsible for the air of menace he had been radiating when he’d walked in. He’d made her think of a big panther, all leashed violence and tension.
‘Come here.’
The rough invitation and the glow in his eyes made her tummy flip. ‘Why?’
‘I want to make up for missing your birthday.’ He wanted to make up for every moment of pain in her life.
‘What did you have in min—?’ She let out a shriek as he scooped her up into his arms. ‘What are you doing?’
He kicked open the door and grinned. ‘I am taking you upstairs to give you the rest of your birthday present. It might,’ he added, his eyes darkening as they swept her face, ‘take some time.’
HANNAH KICKED OFF her shoes as she walked into the bedroom. Kamel stood, his shoulders propped against the door jamb, and watched as she sat at the dressing table and struggled with the clasp of the sapphire necklace she wore.
He had never imagined that the nape of a woman’s neck could be erotic, but he had to accept that some of life’s normal rules did not apply where his wife was concerned. When she had walked into the room at his side tonight, making him think of a graceful swan in her slim-fitting white gown, she had been literally shaking with fear but nobody would have guessed as she smiled and charmed everyone present at the formal state dinner.
The fierce pride he had felt as he had watched her across the table, graceful and lovely, had only been matched in the emotional stakes by the rush of protectiveness he had experienced when, during the press-the-flesh session following the formal banquet, when those who were being rewarded for good works got a chance to meet the royals, Hannah’s interest in the diverse range of people who lined up to shake her hand had seemed real—as had the fear in her eyes when she had seen the Quagani colonel. The moment had passed and she had recovered her poise, but Kamel had kept an eye on the man. Diplomatic incident or not, he was poised to throw the guy out personally if he so much as looked at Hannah the wrong way.
In the event he had seemed to behave himself. Even so, Kamel intended to make damned sure that in the future their favourite cuddly colonel had his card marked when it came to entry into this country.
‘Let me.’
She looked at him in the mirror, unable to disguise the shiver of pleasure as his fingers brushed her neck.
‘Thank you,’ she said, looking at him through her lashes with eyes that shone brighter than the gems he was removing.
He paused. She seemed about to say something but then, as if she had changed her mind, she tipped her head in acknowledgement as he dropped the necklace into her hand.
‘You did well tonight.’
The comment smoothed the small groove in Hannah’s brow and she released the sigh she’d felt she had been holding in all night. ‘So I passed?’
He didn’t return her smile. ‘Is that how you saw tonight? As a test?’ The idea troubled him. ‘You’re not being graded, Hannah. No one is judging you.’
Hannah shrugged. She had been here long enough to learn a little of the politics of the place, and she knew that she was resented in certain quarters. More than a few people were just waiting for her to mess up. She would never be Amira, but she was determined to prove them all wrong.
‘Especially not me.’
Whatever trust issues he had with Hannah had long gone. He often watched her—which was not exactly a hardship—and found himself wondering how he had ever even for a second thought she was a cold, spoilt bitch!
He was not a man who looked deep inside himself, maybe because he knew that he wouldn’t have liked what he’d have seen.
He’d once told Hannah to lose the attitude, but now he saw that it was advice he ought to have been directing at himself. He’d seen marriage as a life sentence the moment when the doors slammed shut. He had not faced his resentment of the role that had been thrust on him. Hannah had made him do that.
He’d never for one second thought that marriage might be better than the life he’d had to let go. He’d put so much effort into seeing himself as someone who had missed out on the chance of happiness when he had lost Amira that when it had fallen at his feet he’d not recognised it.
And yet there was a cloud. Hannah welcomed him into her bed but he sensed a new restraint in her. She was holding back. On more than one occasion he had nearly demanded to know what the hell was the matter—but he’d stopped himself. What if she told him and he didn’t like the answer?
His quiet admission that he hadn’t been judging her made her throat ache with unshed tears.
‘I was dreading it,’ she admitted.
‘I know.’
‘It was strange sitting next to the man who once held my fate in his hands.’ Protocol dictated that she was seated next to the daunting Sheikh Malek. ‘He could have signed my death warrant.’
‘No!’
The explosive interjection made her pause and touch his hand. His fingers unclenched under the light pressure. ‘Tonight he was telling me about his rose collection. He invited me to a tour of his rose gardens.’
Kamel let out a silent whistle as he brought his hands up to rest on her shoulders. ‘You’re honoured. I haven’t