In Too Deep_ Husband Material & the Sheikh's Bargained Bride - Brenda Jackson [36]
But he brought her in front of him as he turned to the speaker, his arms gathering her tight, linking over her belly.
She blinked through the crimson haze of arousal at a tall, dark, handsome man standing a dozen feet away, his hands deep in the pockets of his ultra-chic pants. He looked highly entertained.
“And hello to you, too, Seb.” Adham’s voice above her ear had more moist heat surging between her thighs. She struggled not to rub them together, to ameliorate the pounding there. “It’s great that you came, ya sudeeki, so I can have the pleasure—” his hands brushed her belly with insistent caresses, his hardness jerking against the small of her back “—of introducing to you the love of my life, my bride, Sabrina Aal Ferjani.” Sabrina didn’t know how she remained upright after such a declaration. “Ameerati, let me introduce Sebastian Hughes, my friend and associate. He runs the Bridgehampton Polo Club in his father’s stead.”
She extended a trembling hand to Sebastian, overwhelmed at Adham calling her “my princess” on top of everything else.
Sebastian placed a gallant kiss on her hand. “It’s an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Sabrina.” He raised green eyes full of mischief, before he straightened to a height a couple of inches shy of Adham’s six foot five. “And a shock. I never thought the day would come when Adham entered matrimony’s gilded cage willingly.”
“I never thought it would, either.” Adham looked down, his gaze singeing her. “Until I met Sabrina. And then nothing could have kept me out of it. Not that anywhere she is could be called a cage, gilded or otherwise, but a haven.”
Sebastian barked a laugh. “Oh, man. You’re spouting poetry! You must have potent magic, Sabrina. I can call you Sabrina, right?” Before she could blurt out an affirmation, Sebastian turned his teasing eyes to Adham. “You won’t make me call her Princess Aal Ferjani, will you, Adham?”
Adham’s smile flashed, riddling her vision in spots. “He’s having a field day teasing me, since just before I met you, I told him that he’d never see me married. But then I can say the same about him. While we were falling in love, the world’s foremost confirmed bachelor had a change of heart, too. It took his assistant almost leaving him to make him realize he can’t live without her.”
Sebastian nodded whimsically. “Yeah. One thing for sure, Sabrina, Adham and I are both lucky dogs. And you and Julia must be saints for not only putting up with us, but for forgiving our trespasses and loving us nevertheless.”
“Why do you think Adham had any trespasses to forgive?” The question was out of her mouth before she could think.
Sebastian’s lips twisted whimsically. “Because as an inveterate lone wolf, he must have committed some in his struggles not to succumb to his fate and his feelings for you. I know I did.”
Suddenly it felt like floodlights went on inside her head.
Could that be what the past weeks were about? Adham trying to adjust to being married, after a lifetime of thinking he’d never tie his life to another?
“So what brings you here, Seb?” Adham asked, interrupting her musings. “I was just coming to the farm myself.”
“I thought you wouldn’t make it out on Sabrina’s first day here, so I came to meet your bride and welcome her to our neck of the woods.”
“And now you have.” Adham turned his eyes to her. “And now that you’re here, would you like to accompany me, ya ameerati? I’d love to give you a tour of the Seven Oaks Farm, where the polo club’s tournaments take place.”
She almost jumped in his arms. “Oh, yes, please.”
Sebastian laughed. “And in case things get too hot for you during the tour, you can borrow my personal quarters at the farm to…cool off.”
Adham shook his head. “Suffering in utmost discomfort doesn’t matter, when one’s waiting for the time to be finally right.”
She twisted to gaze into his eyes,