Laura Martin - Governess To The Sheikh

Ameera’s situation wasn’t exactly like hers, but Rachel could empathise with the young girl. She was craving attention from her father, just like Rachel had from her parents, and he didn’t know how to give it to her.

‘Shall we?’ The Sheikh motioned towards the door and Rachel found herself immediately moving that way. He was a man used to being obeyed without question and that was powerful all in itself.

They crossed the courtyard in silence, walking quickly to get out of the blazing sun, then ascended the stairs to Ameera’s room. Rachel knocked on the door, but didn’t wait for an answer before turning the handle and stepping inside.

It was dark in the room compared to the courtyard and Rachel’s eyes took a moment to adjust. She glanced around the room and saw Ameera had pulled her books and her toys from the shelves in anger. For now Rachel would ignore the mess and instead she crossed to the bed where two wide, dark eyes were staring at her mutinously from out of the darkness.

Rachel sat, taking a moment to smooth her skirts and ensure she was comfortable. Ameera was a wilful little madam and they might be here for a while. She was pleased to see the Sheikh had hung back, standing by the door, silent but very much present in the room.

‘Good afternoon, Ameera,’ Rachel said.

The young girl stared back at her, lips firmly pressed together.

‘Have you been having fun in here?’ Rachel asked, looking around as if she genuinely didn’t know that Ameera had been sent to her room for bad behaviour.

Still silence. Already Rachel could see a flicker of triumph in the young girl’s eyes and she had to quash her own smile. The day Rachel was outmanoeuvred by a pupil was the day she gave up being a governess.

The Sheikh shifted his position behind them, but still remained silent.

‘I would like you to apologise, Ameera, to myself and to your father.’

‘No.’

‘Very well.’ Rachel stood and turned to leave. She counted the steps in her head and only got to four before Ameera’s voice burst through the silence.

‘That’s it?’ she asked. ‘You’re not going to force me to apologise?’

Rachel shook her head. ‘I’m not going to force you to apologise, Ameera.’ She continued walking to the door, stopping only when she was level with the Sheikh.

‘It’s a shame,’ she said, ‘but we tried.’

Rachel hoped the Sheikh would catch on and not spoil her little ruse.

‘We tried,’ he repeated, solemnly nodding his head.

Rachel had her hand on the door handle when she heard Ameera standing up.

‘Why is it a shame?’ she asked in a much-less-defiant voice than before.

‘Well, we’ve baked biscuits,’ Rachel said, ‘and your father was telling me how you love sweet things, so we thought we’d come in and give you the chance to apologise and come and join us once the biscuits are out of the oven.’

‘I can’t be bribed,’ the little Princess said in a voice that said she could quite easily be bribed.

‘And then there was the little excursion next week...’ Rachel let her sentence trail off. ‘Hakim will be ever so disappointed, but I can’t take your brothers and leave you here unsupervised.’

‘Excursion?’ Ameera asked.

Rachel nodded. ‘Hakim was so looking forward to it.’

She knew it was important to give Ameera a way to save face. The little girl had declared she would never apologise and now Rachel was asking her to go back on that. She needed a way to justify it to herself.

Ameera fiddled with a strand of hair for a moment, twisting it round her finger. Just as she’d planned, Rachel could smell the first wafts of the scent of biscuits baking.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ameera mumbled.

‘If you are going to apologise, Ameera, you need to do it properly, otherwise there’s no point in doing it at all.’

The little Princess looked up at her and took a deep breath.

‘I’m sorry, Miss Talbot, for being rude.’

Rachel smiled warmly. ‘Thank you for apologising, Ameera, it was very big of you.’

For a moment they stood looking at each other. Then Ameera launched herself across the room, and gave Rachel a quick hug. Rachel stroked the young girl’s hair and felt herself relax. Soon she would be able to start breaking down the walls these children had built to defend themselves from the pain of their mother’s death. Soon she would be able to start to help them heal. She glanced briefly at the Sheikh, who had remained silent throughout. He was watching the interaction between her and his daughter almost wistfully and Rachel wondered if he was the one who needed the most help to heal.

‘Why don’t you choose a book for story time, then go and find your brothers? We will test out the biscuits in ten minutes, I’ll bring them to the table in the courtyard.’

Rachel stepped outside, followed closely by the Sheikh. To her surprise he caught her by the upper arm and gently spun her to face him.

‘You were magnificent,’ he murmured, looking directly into her eyes.

Rachel mumbled something incomprehensible under her breath, not able to string a coherent sentence together with his rich brown eyes locked on hers.

He was still touching her upper arm and Rachel could feel the heat of his skin against hers through the thin cotton of her dress. She felt herself sway towards him ever so slightly and found herself wondering for the first time in her life what it would be like to kiss a man.

Rachel’s eyes flicked to his lips and she knew instantly what it would be like to kiss the Sheikh: sensuous and divine.

With a great effort she rallied. These thoughts were totally inappropriate. Not only was the Sheikh her employer, but she had sworn to herself long ago she would never let herself fall for a man and it would be all too easy to fall for the Sheikh. Sometimes his cool manner and distant demeanour irritated her, but she could already recognise the caring heart that beat under his icy façade.

Rachel stepped back, knowing she needed a little distance. Deep down she knew her attraction to this man was laughable really—he was royalty and she was the neglected daughter of a baron. Their gulf between their social statuses was so large it gaped before them, yet Rachel didn’t feel uneasy when the Sheikh was around. At least as long as he didn’t touch her and make her heart pound in her chest.

She had made her decision to always remain single and free years ago and she would not lose her head over this man who probably noticed her no more than he did his servants. Rachel had seen how love and relationships were more destructive than anything else. Her parents had always been somewhere in the cycle of vicious row or passionate reconciliation and Rachel knew she didn’t want that in her life. She would be quite content to see the world, focus on the children in her care and never fall in love in her life. She would just have to work on maintaining a safe distance from the Sheikh and his seductive eyes, whilst of course getting him more involved in his children’s lives.

‘I would like to take the children on a little excursion out of the palace next week,’ Rachel said, getting back to business.

‘That sounds a wonderful idea. I’m keen for all of them to appreciate this country as a whole and not just the luxurious life they lead behind these walls. I will arrange for an escort to accompany you.’

Rachel took a deep breath before she continued. She knew her next suggestion wasn’t going to help her maintain a safe distance from the Sheikh, but she also knew getting him involved with his children was more important than avoiding him because she felt a little tingle under her skin whenever he looked at her.

‘I think it would be so good for the children if you came with us.’