The Sheikh's Collection. Оливия Гейтс

want to risk his emotions or his heart. So, he wouldn’t. Just like her, he couldn’t afford to look for love. He’d keep a tight rein on his emotions and have the kind of marriage both he and Elena wanted: one of mutual benefit...and satisfaction.

      Just the thought of being with Elena again sent desire arrowing through him.

      ‘The servant is not even Kadaran,’ Assad said quietly, and Khalil wondered if his friend and right-hand man had guessed the progression of his thoughts.

      ‘Neither is Elena,’ Khalil answered, and Assad smiled faintly. Khalil now knew he had been thinking along the same lines.

      ‘She is a queen, an accepted choice. Marrying her would work in your favour.’

      ‘I know.’ Khalil took a deep breath, let it out slowly. ‘I know.’

      ‘Then...?’

      ‘I’ll go find her.’ And by this time tomorrow, perhaps, he would be married.

      The camp was quiet and dark all around him as Khalil walked towards Elena’s tent. A strange mix of emotions churned within him: resolve, resignation and a little spark of excitement that he tried to suppress.

      Yes, he would enjoy Elena’s body again. But this would be a marriage of convenience. No more play-acting at love. No more pretending. No more feeling.

      The guards stepped aside as he came to the tent and drew the curtain back—and stopped short when he saw Elena curled up on her bed, her face pressed into her pillow, sobbing as if her heart would break.

      Or had already been broken...by him.

      * * *

      ‘Elena...Elena!’

      Elena felt hard hands on her shoulders drawing her up from her damp pillow and then cradling her against an even harder chest.

      Khalil. For a second she let herself enjoy the feel of him. Then she remembered that she’d been bawling her eyes out and twisted out of his embrace.

      ‘You should have knocked,’ she snapped, dashing the tears from her cheeks. She probably looked frightful, her face blotchy, her eyes red and swollen...

      She sniffed. And her nose was running. Perfect.

      ‘Knock?’ Khalil repeated, one eyebrow raised in eloquent scepticism. ‘On the flap of a tent?’

      ‘You know what I mean,’ she retorted. ‘You should have made your presence known.’

      Khalil regarded her quietly for a moment. ‘You’re right,’ he finally said. ‘I should have. I’m sorry.’

      ‘Well.’ She sniffed again, trying desperately for dignity. ‘Thank you.’

      ‘Why were you crying, Elena?’

      She shook her head as if she could deny the overwhelming evidence of her tears. ‘It’s been a couple of very long days,’ she muttered. ‘I was... I’m just tired.’

      ‘You weren’t crying as if you were just tired.’

      ‘Why do you care?’ she demanded. Perhaps going on the offensive was best.

      Khalil opened his mouth, then shut it again. ‘I don’t care,’ he answered. ‘But I want to know.’

      ‘I’ve got a lot going on in my life that has nothing to do with you, Khalil. Maybe I’m crying about that.’ She wasn’t about to admit that she had been crying about him along with everything else that had gone wrong in her life.

      ‘I wasn’t assuming you were crying about me,’ he stated quietly. His voice was calm but he sounded as if he was trying not to grit his teeth.

      ‘Weren’t you?’ Elena retorted. ‘Ever since spending the night together you’ve been completely paranoid that I’m obsessing over you, and I can assure you, I’m not.’

      ‘What a relief.’

      ‘Isn’t it?’

      They glared at each other. Elena folded her arms and tried to stare him down; Khalil’s eyes sparked annoyance and his mouth was compressed.

      ‘Why did you come into my tent, anyway?’ she finally asked, their gazes still clashing. ‘Have you learned something? Some news?’

      ‘Yes, I have.’

      Her stomach rolled and she felt her nails bite into her palms. ‘What have you heard? Has Markos called for a meeting?’

      ‘I haven’t heard any news from Thallia, Elena. I think they still believe you are safely with Aziz.’ Khalil’s mouth was still a hard line but his expression seemed softer somehow, his eyes almost sad. ‘It’s Aziz,’ he said after a pause. ‘He’s married someone else, just like you said he would.’

      ‘He has?’ Her eyes widened as she considered what this meant for Khalil. ‘He did it within the six weeks?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Then he fulfilled...?’

      ‘The terms of my father’s will.’ Khalil nodded. ‘Yes, he did. But you...? You’re not sad?’

      She stared at him in disbelief. ‘About Aziz? I gave up on him a while ago, Khalil.’

      ‘Yes, but...still...he chose someone else. Rather quickly.’

      ‘So did I.’ She gave him a look filled with dark humour. ‘At least Aziz received a positive answer to his proposal.’

      ‘Yes...’ He shook his head, almost as if to clear it. ‘About that proposal...’

      ‘Trust me, you don’t need to remind me how much you don’t want to marry me, Khalil. I got that the first time.’

      ‘I’m sorry if I seemed...negative.’

      She rolled her eyes. ‘That’s an understatement.’ Better to joke than to cry. In any case, she wasn’t sure she had any tears left, just a heavy sense of weariness, a resignation that nothing was going to be easy. That she’d probably lose her crown.

      ‘You surprised me,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t expecting... I’ve never expected...’

      ‘I know.’ She shook her head, exasperated, exhausted and definitely not needing to hash through all this again. ‘Why are we even talking about this, Khalil?’

      ‘Because,’ he answered evenly, ‘I’ve changed my mind.’

      She blinked and then blinked again, the meaning of his words penetrating slowly. ‘You’ve what?’

      ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ he repeated clearly. ‘I want to marry you.’

      Elena opened her mouth, then closed it again. ‘Well,’ she finally managed. ‘That was a charming proposal.’

      ‘Don’t be absurd, Elena. This is about convenience, for both of us.’

      ‘You didn’t seem to think so an hour ago.’

      ‘Aziz’s marriage has made me realise I need to strengthen my position.’

      ‘But if he’s married,’ Elena said slowly, ‘he’s fulfilled the terms of the will. How can you fight that?’

      ‘I can’t. I don’t want to start a war. The only thing I can do is confront him openly—demand he call the referendum. Perhaps I should have done that before, but it seemed too easy for Aziz to refuse. Perhaps it still is.’

      ‘And marrying me will strengthen your position when it comes to a vote.’

      Khalil gazed at her evenly. ‘Yes.’

      ‘That’s quite a sacrifice for you to make,’ she said a bit sharply. ‘Just to look good for a vote.’

      ‘I am the rightful Sheikh, Elena,’ Khalil said, his voice rising with the force of his