Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [44]
“Good morning, Delaney,” he whispered huskily, close to her ear when he finally released her mouth. He cradled her gently in his arms.
“Good morning, Prince,” she said smiling up at him. Then her dark brow puckered in concern. “Is anything wrong?”
Jamal shifted positions to lean back against the headboard, taking Delaney with him. “I won’t know until I talk to my father. Before I came to this country I had been involved in important negotiations involving several countries that border mine. The usual issues were under discussion, and after three months everyone left satisfied. But according to Asalum, the sheikh of one of those countries is trying to renege on the agreement that was accepted by everyone.”
Delaney nodded. “So in other words, he’s causing problems and being a pain in the butt.”
Jamal chuckled, appreciating the way Delaney put things. “Yes, he is.”
Delaney placed a quick kiss on his lips before slipping out of his arms and getting out of the bed. “Where are you going?” he asked, when she began gathering up her clothes off the floor. Seeing her naked was making his body stir in desire.
She turned and smiled at him. “I’m going to take a shower. I know you have an important call to make and I want to give you complete privacy to do so.”
He grinned, looking her over from head to toe. “And without any distractions?”
She chuckled. “Yeah, and without any distractions.” She gave him a saucy look. “You’re welcome to join me in the shower after you finish your call.” She then left his bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Jamal didn’t finish the call in time to join Delaney in the shower. After talking to his father he discovered the situation was more serious than he had thought and he was needed in Tahran immediately.
He had placed a call to Asalum with instructions to make the necessary arrangements for his return to the Middle East. All his life he had known what was expected of him when duty called, but this was the first time he had something important in his life that meant everything to him.
He hadn’t told Delaney how he felt because the emotions were new to him and he wasn’t sure it changed anything. She was who she was, and he was who he was. Love or no love, they could never have a future together. But could he give her up?
He knew that somehow he had to let her go. She could never be his queen, and he loved her too much to ask her to be his mistress, especially knowing how she felt about the subject. And then there was that other problem his father had conveniently dumped in his lap. The old sheikh of Kadahan wanted Jamal to marry his daughter as soon as it could be arranged. The thought of marrying, which a few weeks ago he would have merely accepted as his duty, now bothered him to no end. He felt angered at the prospect of having any woman in his life other than Delaney. And he did not appreciate the pressure his father was putting on him to return home and consider marriage to Raschida Muhammad, princess of Kadahan, at once, just to make her father happy.
Jamal shook his head. And why the sudden rush for a wedding? Why did Sheikh Muhammad feel the urgency to marry his daughter off? Jamal had posed the question to his father, and the only answer he got was that the old sheikh’s health was failing and he wanted to make sure his daughter, as well as his people, were in good hands should anything happen.
Jamal refused to believe Sheikh Muhammad had serious health problems. He had spent three months with the man while negotiating that contract, and Sheikh Muhammad had still been actively bedding his French mistress when Jamal had left to come to America.
He tightened his fists at his sides, wondering what the hell was going on. He suddenly felt as if he was headed for the gallows and wished there were some other eligible sheikh the princess could marry. For once he did not want to be the sacrificial lamb.
He inhaled a deep breath. There was nothing left to do but