Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
And especially not now, Harper thought.
Usbue Min Al-Abtal or Heroes’ Week was one of the kingdom’s most important holidays. As Ramilians took pride in their dedication to history, the nation and its people always went all out in celebrating the lives of its heroes, both known and unsung. Her father, having saved the life of a beloved Ramilian general, was one of those heroes, and it was for this reason that one week each year, Harper and her father flew from their tiny, government-provided home in Syracuse, Nebraska to the kingdom of Ramil.
Peeking at Howard’s face, Harper saw her father’s slight grimace, and her lips pressed together in an effort to hold her tongue. Howard might be willing to use his walking stick back at home, but never here.
Not in the one place he could pretend he was what he used to be, and he was still able to do what he loved.
“Stop staring at me like you’re thinking I’m about to keel over.” The words came out in a low, grumbling tone even as Howard’s gaze remained straight ahead.
“You’re wrong,” Harper answered, also without turning in Howard’s direction. “I’m not just thinking it. I’m waiting for it to happen, and it will happen if we don’t at least stop and give your leg a rest.” With that said, she forcibly dragged her father to the closest vacant cocktail table.
Relief flashed in Howard’s eyes as he leaned against the wall and rested his injured leg.
Told you so, Harper thought.
Howard glared at her. “I know what you’re thinking.”
She ignored that, saying, “You need a glass of water.”
“Stop babying me.”
Harper turned around, hoping to catch the eye of one of the roaming servers, but then a hush fell over the vast reception hall, and when everyone actually came to an abrupt standstill –
He’s here, Harper thought dumbly.
A moment later, a palpable wave of excitement stirred the crowd, and her worst fears were confirmed.
Shit.
Tiptoeing and craning her neck, Harper saw Khalil Al-Atassi steadily making his way through the crowd, pausing every so often when some of the guests came up to him to extend their greetings. At thirty-two, he was the kingdom’s youngest Emir Sheikh in history, and in the short time he had been king, he had also been recognized as the kingdom’s most progressive leader.
Even without a crown or the royal headdress, he was every inch a sheikh, the air about him masterful and noble, and his loose, white thobe accentuating the powerful breadth of his shoulders and his commanding height.
Looking at him, Harper still had difficulties believing that the newly appointed king had spent most of his formative years in America and that, once upon a time, he had been a commoner as much as she was.
An extremely wealthy commoner, but still.
Prior to his official inclusion in the royal family, the sheikh had led a fairly quiet – albeit significantly accomplished – life. Straight As in school, a successful business, awards in philanthropy – he had been blessed with a charmed existence, with only one controversy to mar it, and that was the scandal attached to his then-fiancée, Sapphire March, a senator’s daughter who was now married to a famous rockstar.
But that had been five years ago, and by the time Jeremy Raybourne had succeeded to the throne and taken on the royal name of Khalil Al-Atassi, the furor had died down and his slightly colorful past long forgotten. Ramil’s most illustrious families now clamored in presenting their most eligible daughters in hopes of having them as the kingdom’s future queen –
And yet the sheikh remained single, much to everyone’s regrets – and hers.
The sheikh, flanked on each side by his vassals, continued to speak with the guests that approached him, a polite but intent expression on his handsome face as he listened to their words. Whereas most ruling members of other Arab nations kept to themselves, the king and the four other Al-Atassi sheikhs had never acted like they believed their royal blood placed them one station above the rest. Rather, they liked to stay in touch with their subjects and never shied away from a day’s hard work, even if it meant having to literally roll up their sleeves and toil under the harsh desert sun along with their men.
They were, in other words, the kind of princes that fairytales were made of, and every moment the world fell deeper and deeper in love with them.
Ever since Khalil’s ascension three months ago, the press had been writing about them nonstop, with the most viral being the Beasts article. In it, six men of different nationalities had been named in recognition for their “beast-like” performance in bed, as shared by the men’s former lovers.
In the tell-all of the sheikh’s former mistress, Noemi had shared graphic details of her sex life with the sheikh following his public breakup from Sapphire March. Rough sex was his specialty, and he was by far the most dominant lover she had ever had. But he was also a cold bastard, Noemi had shared candidly, with the sheikh never sharing a bed with her or even taking her in his arms after a wild bout of sex.