Altair - Marian Tee Page 0,32

please him, and so every time they were together, it almost felt as if he would be committing a sin if he denied himself happiness. With her around, his guilt over his father's demise faded, and he could almost make himself believe that he had done enough to forgive himself. With her around, Altair was able to find respite from the burdens that shackled him. With her around, he was just a man who wanted the woman he promised to marry, and the princess...

She was a woman whose heart he owned, and it was a truth that he had finally forced himself to accept. Altair had always known of the princess' feelings for him, but because he had wanted to merely think of her as a pawn, the sheikh had thought it safer to ignore its existence. Now, however, that was no longer possible. Or honorable for that matter.

Between the two of them, Safiya had always been the one to make the harder decisions: she had chosen to trust him even when he had yet to prove himself, and she had been quick to forgive when he had yet to do anything to atone for the pain he had caused her.

He was a whole decade older than the princess was, but between the two of them, she had been the one with the balls to wear her heart on her sleeve. Safiya, who had spent most of her life in a gilded cage, was innocent and inexperienced...and yet she was always the one with the courage to speak the truth.

I do not want to be a virgin any longer...but I have also figured out why I remain one.

I would never lie to you, alshaykh...because you're my hero.

And even on the very first day they met, she had already been brave, a girl so at ease with who she was under her skin that she had not hesitated to speak the truth from the very start.

I wish to be yours, and I wish for you to be mine.

Safiya might be the daughter of a traitor, but between the two of them, it was the sheikh who had always acted like he had something to hide, and he was tired of it. Fucking tired. That on the day she had practically admitted to obsessively thinking about sex with him—-

That had also been the day Altair decided he was done pretending for good.

He might not still be able to trust her completely, but where his heart was concerned, the sheikh no longer had any uncertainties. He loved her. He loved his princess. He loved his beautiful Safiya, and already he had taken steps to create the perfect occasion for declaring his feelings for her.

But until then...

Altair was in the middle of a video conference call when he heard the door to his office open and his betrothed come walking in. Their gazes met, and the sheikh was both amused and exasperated when he caught a rare flicker of mischief in the princess' dark eyes.

As both the sheikh and Safiya were intensely private, the changes their relationship had undergone remained a secret between the two of them. In the eyes of their people and probably the rest of the world as well, the princess was the epitome of a traditional Ramilian lady while the sheikh remained a noble war hero incapable of any dishonor. And when the king and the other sheikhs noticed how Altair appeared more relaxed in recent times, all they saw was a man simply making the most out of his politically arranged betrothal.

But in reality, politics never even crossed their minds when they were together. These days, their gazes only had to meet, and from there...

The sheikh nearly swore out loud as Safiya, upon reaching the side of his desk, suddenly knelt and swung his swivel seat towards her direction.

"Alshaykh?"

The various faces on his monitor appeared surprised and puzzled at the way he had abruptly turned away from the screen, but with Safiya already pushing his robe up so she could reach for his cock and pull it out of its confines—-

Altair cleared his throat and managed to say in a steady voice, "Maehdina." I'm sorry. "I had—-"

Fuck.

His betrothed now had his erection in her hands, and she was stroking him exactly the way he taught her.

"Alshaykh? Is everything alright?"

"I..."

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

Safiya's gaze lifted up to his as she slowly closed her lips around the head of his cock.

Altair's fists clenched.

The princess started to suck.

"Please carry on without me. There's a blow—-"

The