I relax in my Sheikh’s arms, unable to hold in a sigh of pure bliss.
After everyone left, Kamal picked me up and brought me straight to his quarters. He undressed me, kissed and touched every inch of me. Then he made love to me multiple times, as if the time we’d spent apart had built up his need for me.
He took me to heaven so many times, teaching me, making me delirious, that now I feel lazy but calm, a feeling derived from satisfaction taking over my body.
I lift my head from his chest to look up at him. “Will we keep secrets from each other?”
“What’s the reason for your question, Madeline?”
“You know everything about my past, even how many boyfriends I’ve had, but you’ve never told me about your ex-fiancée, other than the fact that she committed suicide.”
“And cheated on me,” he says, confirming Nawra’s speculation.
“Was that why she killed herself? Because she felt embarrassed? Because she knew you would end things with her?”
“Do you want to talk about this now, on the morning of our engagement?”
“The party is just a validation, my Sheikh—my love for you sealed our commitment—but I would like to know what happened in your past.”
He lays me down on the bed, then sits up, feet planted on the floor, with his back to me. “When they gave me the news of her suicide, I thought that was the reason Hiba took her own life: shame of rejection. I was going to end our engagement. Later, I found out that it wasn’t the reason she took such a drastic step.”
“No? I don’t think I get it.”
“She was pregnant. She wasn’t ashamed because I was leaving her—it wasn’t that that drove Hiba to suicide. It was because she wouldn’t be able to lie, claiming the child was mine.”
I try to hide my shock, but I can’t. “You never . . .”
“No. Our union, for me, was merely an arrangement. I wasn’t attracted to her, nor did I love her. We’d been alone together very few times.”
As much as it makes me a horrible human being, I’m relieved to know that if Kamal doesn’t love me, at least he hasn’t loved another either.
“Never be disloyal to me, Madeline. In my world, there’s no forgiveness for that.”
The tone of his voice is nothing like the passionate lover from moments ago, the man who whispered words in his own language into my ear, which I could guess were affectionate.
He heads to the bathroom. I don’t move, thinking about what Amapola told me: that Kamal had reasons to be distrustful.
Yes, if Kamal was cheated on by his fiancée and his brother, he has every reason to be skeptical about love and loyalty.
However, I love him, and I’m more than willing to change that. I will never give up on us.
Chapter 44
Kamal and Madeline’s engagement party
I step into the main hall of the palace, aware that at least a hundred pairs of eyes are on me—yes, this is their notion of an intimate gathering, “family only”, in the Emirate of Sintarah.
My stomach is tied in knots because, despite having lived my entire existence amidst high society, nothing compares to this.
I truly dread being the center of attention, and knowing that they are scrutinizing whether I am suitable for Kamal or not is making me very nervous.
Only my fiancé by my side, holding my arm, keeps me from stumbling or, even more humiliating, fainting.
God, what am I doing?What was I thinking when I thought I could play the role of a princess, someone who will always be in the spotlight?
Marrying Kamal will attract the press to me, especially when they find out there’s a baby on the way.
Nervously, instead of focusing on the people, I cling to every detail of the luxurious hall with its crystal chandeliers and Persian rugs.
