Seduced by the Sheik (The Raminar Family #1)- Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,38

his arm.”

His arm? What in the world? Amit looked at Harper, trying to figure out why the girls would want to feel his arm.

“You want to…feel my arm?”

“Your muscles, actually,” Harper explained, as if that would clear up his confusion.

“Here you go,” he said and offered his arm.

“Go ahead,” Harper urged.

Silently, Elsa stepped forward, her small finger at the ready. Slowly, as if she were afraid she might hurt him, she pressed her finger against his shoulder muscle. Her eyes darted up to look into his face, but when he didn’t flinch, she pressed again.

Obviously, Ellora wanted Elsa to go first, but once her sister had broken the ice, Ellora stepped forward as well, touching the muscles in Amit’s arm. “Is it okay?” he asked, not sure why they would want to touch his muscles.

“Want to touch the other one?” Harper asked. “They are both pretty impressive.”

The girls nodded, so he shifted his shoulders so that the girls could poke his left arm.

“Rock solid, isn’t it?” Harper asked, smiling at the girls who nodded in agreement. Then they looked over at Gaelen and Tarin, both of whom immediately understood. They moved forward, almost knocking each other over in their effort to get down to the girls’ level, offering their arms for inspection.

“Do I get poked too?” Talia teased.

Elsa and Ellora looked to Harper for permission. When Harper nodded, the girls shifted their pleading gazes to Talia who knelt down as well and offered her arms. Harper noticed that while the princess wasn’t nearly as strong as her brothers, her arms were well defined with muscles.

When the girls finished testing each of the offered arms, they stepped back, leaning against Harper, Harper whispered, “What do you think? Are they strong enough?”

The girls considered that question for a moment and shared a long look. Amit thought of those looks as their “Twin Conversations”. A smile spread over their features, then Elsa whispered, “Yes. I think so!”

Ellora’s grin was just as wide. She walked over to him, placing her hand against Amit’s cheek. “You’re not going to die?”

He was so stunned, he didn’t know what to say. But he swallowed, then covered Ellora’s hand with his own. “No, love. I’m not going to die. I will always be here for you.”

He felt Harper’s breath release and knew that he’d said the right thing.

“Okay.”

The word was barely a whisper, but it was accompanied by a shy, tentative smile that made his heart ache.

“Why don’t you two go with your nanny so that she can get you ready for dinner, okay? Remember, you’re now old enough for drinks with the family before dinner, so why don’t you put on your prettiest dresses?”

The girls nodded, but a moment before they walked out of the room, both girls threw their arms around Harper, who was still kneeling behind them. They squeezed, burying their faces against her neck, then pulled back almost in unison before racing out of the room.

There was silence as the girls disappeared from view. Harper walked over to the door and softly closed it before turning to face the four siblings.

After a long moment, Harper folded her hands in front of her, took a deep breath, and began explaining. “The girls stopped talking because the last words your sister said to them was something along the lines of, ‘your chattering is going to kill me’. The next thing they knew, their parents were dead. So they stopped talking in order to save your lives.”

There was a shocked, painful silence as the group absorbed that.

Amit stood very still, his lips pressed together. Tarin and Gaelen muttered several curses under their breath, then crossed their arms over their chests, furious. Talia shook her head, horrified and not sure what to say.

“Their silence was the only way they knew to protect you.”

“Damn it!” Tarin muttered.

Amit glanced at his watch. “Dinner will be in an hour. I suggest that we talk to the girls about this then.”

“Agreed,” they filed out of Amit’s office, each focused on their own thoughts.

When just Harper and Amit remained, he turned to her, his eyes filled with a strange look.

“Thank you!” he whispered, then moved over to kiss her. This was one of those soft, brushing kisses that promised so much more than it delivered at the moment. Harper pulled back, startled by the sweetness of the kiss.

“You’re welcome, but…,”

“No, it was your skills that brought out their words. Don’t diminish what you’ve done here, Harper.”

She smiled, leaning slightly against him. “It isn’t