Virgin Seduction

'Ah,' said Cade. 'Yes…thank you.'

'I am happy to be of service, sir.' The waiter bowed and went on his way.

Interesting, Cade thought again. But, since it didn't have anything to do with Tamir or Elena or her new in-laws, it didn't concern him, either.

He winced as a piercing 'Yoo-hoo!' rose above the pleasant chuckle of a nearby fountain. 'Cade-oh, Cade!'

He groaned and glanced around in hope of finding cover. Seeing none, he rolled his eyes and fixed what he hoped was a welcoming smile on his face as, with one last fortifying puff of his cigar, he went forth to greet Elena's other guest, her loud and annoying friend, Kitty.

* * *

Leila was bored. The wedding banquet had been going on for more than three hours, and showed no signs of concluding any time soon. The parade of waiters bearing trays laden with an incredible variety of delicacies seemed endless, even though Leila-and, she was sure, most of the other guests-had already eaten as much as they could possibly hold. The food had been wonderful, of course, befitting a royal Walima-chicken simmered in pomegranate juice and rolled in grape leaves, veal sauteed with eggplant and onions and delicately spiced with tumeric and cardamoms. And for the main course, Leila's favorite-whole lamb stuffed with dried fruits, almonds, pine nuts, cracked wheat and onions, seasoned with ginger and coriander and then baked in hot ashes until it was tender enough to be eaten with the fingers. Leila had eaten until she felt stuffed herself-which was, she supposed, one advantage in being forced to wear the gracefully draped but all-concealing gown that was Tamir's traditional female costume. At least she didn't have to hold her stomach in.

The trays now were offering a variety of fruits, as well as an amazing assortment of sweets-cakes, pastries and candies, even tiny baskets made of chocolate and filled with sugar-glazed flower petals. Ordinarily Leila had an insatiable sweet tooth, but tonight she was too full to do more than nibble at a chocolate-covered strawberry.

She had also drunk much more of her country's traditional mildly fermented wine than she was accustomed to, and as a result was becoming both sleepy and cross. Not to mention frustrated. It was such a beautiful evening- stars were bright in the cloudless spring sky that canopied the palace's Great Courtyard. The Walima was being held outdoors in order to accommodate the great number of guests, as, according to tradition, everyone in the immediate vicinity was invited to a marriage feast, rich and poor alike. Tiled in intricate geometric patterns and flanked on both sides by stone colonnades, the Great Courtyard was a formal rectangle that extended from the palace to the cliffs, where arched portals framed a spectacular view of the sea. Tables draped in linen and set with fine china and crystal had been set up on both sides of a chain of fountains and narrow pools that divided the courtyard down the middle and reflected the stars and hundreds of flickering torches. A light breeze blowing in from the sea was heavy with the scent of night-blooming jasmine and moonflowers. It was a beautiful night. It might also have been-should'have been-a very romantic night.

Except that Leila had been trying all evening without success to catch the eye of the man she would very much have liked to share such an evening with-the man she had noticed that morning in the garden, the Texan in the dove-gray suit and cowboy hat. As luck would have it, he was sitting at a table almost directly across the reflecting pool from hers. Tonight the hat was absent, and, like many of the other male guests present, particularly those from Montebello and America, he wore a white dinner jacket. Though in Leila's opinion, none of the other guests looked so lean and fit and dangerous in theirs, or boasted such broad and powerful shoulders. She could see now that his hair was thick and wavy, a rich dark blond. It gleamed like gold in the flickering light of the torches. She would like to know what color his eyes were, but they were set deep in his rugged face, and masked in shadows.

If only we could dance like Americans do, she thought wistfully as she watched a line of professional performers of the traditional Tamari dances, faces veiled and torsos cleverly concealed, undulating their way down the length of the courtyard, weaving in and out among the tables to the rhythmic keening of native flutes and sitars. Jewels flashed from their ankles, wrists and hair as they performed the intricate hand movements and kept time to the music with tiny finger cymbals. Like most girls in her country, Leila had learned secretly as a child how to dance the traditional dances, though of course it would not have been proper for a princess to actually perform for anyone-except, perhaps, for her husband, in the privacy of their marriage chambers. If I ever have a husband, she thought moodily, as without her realizing it, her body began to move and sway in time to the music.

On her right, Samira nudged her and hissed, 'Leila-stop that. Someone will see you.' Leila rolled her eyes. So what? she wanted to say. It would not be the first time. Many people had seen her dance in Switzerland and England, and the world had not come to an end. When she was in boarding school she had learned to dance the western way, to rock and roll music, and in England she had even-and she was sure her father would have a heart attack if he knew-danced with boys the way westerners did. Touching one another. And nothing terrible had happened then, either. She was still, alas, very much a virgin. And likely to remain one for the foreseeable future.

'I am bored,' she whispered back. 'I have eaten too much and I want to lie down. When is this going to be over?'

'Hush,' Samira scolded. 'This is Hassan and Elena's night. Remember your manners.' 'I wish we could at least mingle with the guests-talk to them,' Leila said, wistfully eyeing the golden-haired man across the reflecting pool. But his head was bowed as he listened, apparently with close attention, to the frizzy-haired woman seated next to him. Leila sighed. And before she could stop it, her mouth opened wide in a blatant, jaw-popping yawn.

'I'm sorry?' Cade politely lowered his head in order to hear what the woman at his side was saying above 2 the discordant wailing these people called music.

Kitty repeated it in a loud, hoarse whisper. 'I said, that girl across the way over there has been tryin' her darndest all evenin' long to catch your eye. I believe she'd like to flirt with you.'

Cade's glance flicked upward reflexively. 'Oh yeah? Which one?' Anything, he thought, to relieve the tedium. He wasn't accustomed to spending three hours over dinner.

'That one-the real pretty one in the aqua blue dress…long black hair with gold thingies in it…looks like something out of The Arabian Nights. See her?'

Cade looked. He'd already noticed the girl, since she was drop-dead gorgeous and he was a man and only human. Now, though, he felt a shiver of silent laughter ripple through him. 'You mean, the one who looks like she's about to swallow herself?'

His amusement blossomed into an unabashed grin as the girl's bright and restless glance collided suddenly with his. Her eyes went wide with horror and she slapped a long, graceful hand over her mouth in a belated and futile attempt to cover up the yawn. Next, he watched, fascinated, as a parade of expressions danced across her face like characters in a play: dismay, chagrin, vexation, arrogance, pride, irony…and finally, to his delight, a dimpled and utterly winsome smile.

Kitty gave a little crow of triumph. 'There, you see? I told you she was flirtin' with you.'

'Kind of young, don't you think?' Cade drawled. 'Not to mention,' he added, as the significance of that circlet of gold medallions on the girl's head sank in, 'if I'm not mistaken, she's a princess.'

'Really?' Kitty gasped before she caught herself, then added with a lofty sniff, 'Well, so what if she is? Hassan's a prince. That didn't stop Elena.' She gave an excited little squeal. 'Oh-I just realized- that would make her Elena's sister-in-law, wouldn't it? I'll bet she could introduce us-uh, you.'

'I wouldn't count on it,' Cade said dryly. 'Looks to me like they keep those princesses pretty tightly under wraps.'

Pretending disinterest, he watched out of the corner of his eye as an older woman flanked by a cadre of female servants suddenly appeared beside the princesses' table across the way. This woman he knew. He'd been presented to Tamir's first lady-Elena's new mother-in-law-along with her husband, Sheik Ahmed, following the wedding ceremony last night. Alima Kamal-who, he'd been told, preferred not to use a royal title-was dressed in the same gracefully draped style of gown as were her daughters, this one deep royal blue liberally trimmed with gold. Like her daughters, she wore a circlet of gold medallions in her still-raven black hair. They glinted in the torchlight as she gracefully inclined her head. Without a word, all the occupants of the princesses' table rose and were