“You’re such a jerk!” she snapped when she felt the sunshine on her back indicating that they had left the palace building.
In response, he simply smacked her bottom. He couldn’t let her get away with calling him a name, he thought with a grin and a wink at the guards he passed by as he left the front entrance.
To their credit, they didn’t blink an eye, but he could see the amusement in their eyes and he had to smother his own laughter at the ruckus his little beauty was making.
When he reached the large, bullet proof SUV his personal guards insisted that he travel in, he set her back on her feet and looked down at her. “Are you going to behave?” he asked ominously.
Isla was so furious that he would do something like this to her she could barely speak. “Behave?” she sputtered, her eyes wide with her anger and humiliation at being carted through the palace, her home, like a sack of potatoes. “You’re asking me if I’m going to behave?” She couldn’t even begin to describe how angry she was to this Neanderthal! She’d never been treated so callously, so heartlessly! And in such a publicly humiliating manner, no less!
He raised one eyebrow as he continued to patiently stare down at her. “That was the question. Repeating it back to me won’t give me an answer.”
Isla took a deep breath and released it, trying to find some measure of dignity while at the same time, calm her raging temper. This man seemed to think he could do things like that to her, but she had to set him straight. She would never be man-handled like that again! “Listen to me you big brute…” she started to say but didn’t get any further.
Hussan wasn’t taking anymore. He couldn’t believe that she would rather rail at him in the palace courtyard rather than simply getting into the SUV with dignity and grace. “Isla, you are an engaged woman now,” he said softly so only the two of them could hear. “You will behave or I will put you over my knee and spank you. Don’t challenge me on this either. Remember, I’m the monster here.”
She glared right back up at him, wishing he weren’t so tall so her neck wouldn’t hurt, but such was not the case so she’d make due with showing him her indignance through her body language instead of intimidation. “So his minions are just as horrible as the great man himself! Wonderful! I have so much to look forward to.”
Hussan considered his options and sighed. He didn’t want to start off their relationship in this way, but he couldn’t have her spouting nonsense like that. Besides, she needed to understand that she wasn’t in charge here. He was and he wasn’t going to take that kind of language from her. “Isla, get in the car or I’ll make you.”
Isla looked inside, saw the driver looking straight ahead and no one else. “Where are the rest of the guards?” she demanded.
He looked down at her with amusement lurking on those sexy lips. “Do I need additional guards to keep you in line?”
She considered the various ways to answer, swallowing painfully but she refused to back down from him or any other man. “Yes. I can guarantee that I will be the most trying prisoner you’ve ever had to deal with.”
He stepped closer and smiled, “I think I’ll enjoy trying to control you. If you don’t get into the car, I’ll start those methods immediately.”
Isla looked around, considered making a dash for it, but he stopped her with the simple words, “Don’t even try it. I’ll have you over my shoulder and tossed into the car before you take two steps.”
She looked back up at him and, despite her anger, she was genuinely intimidated. This man wasn’t one to be crossed and she’d already humiliated herself enough today. She would save herself to fight another day.
In silence, she stepped into the black vehicle and found a seat, glaring at the large man who climbed in and sat down next to her, his huge body crowding her in the normally abundant space but because he was so tall, his left leg was pressed against her right one and his arm had to move behind her to make room for his enormous shoulders.
“Can’t you sit in the front like a good minion?” she asked as she tried to scoot over so she wasn’t touching him. He didn’t take the hint but moved closer himself as the driver drove off, taking her away from everything she’d ever known. She was terrified of what she was facing and bit her lower lip as she stared out the window, trying desperately hard not to cry.
How had this happened? When Rashid had threatened this previously, she’d been quite adamant that she would be against an arrangement with this man. Rashid had even used Hussan El Hamin as a threat when she was getting too irritating. El Hamin was like the boogey man for small kids and marriageable daughters or sisters. And now she was on her way to the man’s palace. She couldn’t believe how cruel life could be, she thought and her stomach churned with the fear of what was to come. She tried to rationalize the situation but it was hard. Rashid said he respected El-Hamin but what did that mean? Reporters weren’t allowed in the country, the borders were basically shut down so how would Rashid know if his sister was being abused?
Thoughts were tumbling through her mind, she worked the details, tried to figure out how she was going to get out of this situation. She couldn’t marry this man! She had to find a way out, to get help and hide away. Surely she could get some sort of communication out to find some help. She didn’t have her blackberry, she didn’t even have additional clothes, she’d acted out and now she didn’t even have her purse with her wallet and identification, much less her credit cards or any money. How was she going to escape?
And what would be the political repercussions if she actually succeeded in an escape? Would Rashid be blamed? Would the people of Tasain be hurt in battles they had nothing to do with? She could imagine El-Hamin crossing over the borders and slaughtering the innocent villagers who were minding their own business and had nothing to do with this union, probably wouldn’t even know that there had been an engagement.
She put her head in her hands, the sobs just under the surface and she tried to control her fear but it was slowly taking over.
Hussan felt the slender woman’s shivering and knew he should try and reassure her. Hell, she didn’t even know that he was her fiancé! He almost laughed when he remembered her calling him hairy and knew that was from the earlier photographs of him out in the field during the civil war. There had been no official portraits since then so people outside of Silaria didn’t know what he looked like anymore. He didn’t have the time to sit around for a photographer nor did he want to waste the peoples’ money on official pictures when there was so much more that needed to be done and better places to spend their tax dollars. Every cent was to be used on repairing the roads, building new schools and educating his people. The civil war had caused a great deal of damage and, although his country was not poor by anyone’s standards, they were troubled by a broken infrastructure that would still take years to build up to former levels of efficiency.