MARRYING HER ENEMY & STOLEN BY THE DESERT KING

by Connelly, Clare

  Kylie wrinkled her nose. “You think my lying on the floor is our biggest problem right now?” The joke made them both smile. “Are you tied up?”

  “No,” Aïna shook her head and then frowned. “Yes.” Her ankle was bound in a similar fashion to Kylie’s, but she was tied to a support beam in the back of the room. Neither of them could easily reach the other. It was an effective way to stop them from joining together to affect an escape.

  Bastards.

  Kylie returned to her own chained ankle and wobbled it between her fingers. Curse words spluttered through her brain.

  “It’s okay,” she said, reassuring them both. “Someone will come for us.”

  Aïna nodded at the same moment the door opened and, instinctively feeling at a disadvantage, Kylie jumped to standing, her expression mutinous.

  Shock tore through her at the sight of Fayez Haddad, looking as handsome as he’d been on their wedding day, and a thousand times more terrifying.

  “You remember me,” he said in halting English that made her hate him all the more. His voice was slimy and evil. She shuddered.

  “Of course I do.”

  “You know, then, that I am the man you should have married.”

  Every bone in Kylie’s body was revolted by the idea but she knew to keep calm. To avoid inflaming an already perilous situation. “I know you and my husband have history. And I’m sorry. But it has very little to do with me.”

  “Do you not think? He used you to get back at me. You are in the very centre of our … dispute.”

  Kylie shook her head. “He couldn’t risk our alliance,” she murmured softly. “Our marriage would have been too powerful. It’s his job, his birthright, to defend his Kingdom…”

  Fayez’s laugh was horrible. “Is this what you think?” He moved closer to Kylie, and when he lifted a hand to cup her cheek she automatically shirked away from the touch. He noticed, and didn’t like it. He pulled her back to him, more roughly, holding her body against his.

  “Do not touch her,” Aïna’s command came from the back of the room but Fayez ignored her.

  “Poor, innocent, naïve Kylie. So beautiful and so stupid.” He shook his head. “All these people telling you lies, all your life. Did you never question anything?”

  His breath smelled of fish. Nausea rose inside of her. She pulled back from him but he seemed to take that as a challenge. No, he seemed to enjoy it. He grinned, a smile that was wolfish, and he brought his mouth close to her ear.

  She felt Aïna tense in the corner – strange that even in that moment, thrumming with emotions, she should be so aware of her servant. “Did you never question why a man like Al Asouri would marry you?”

  She didn’t pull away again, though she desperately wanted him not to be touching her. “I know why he married me,” she said softly. “My family.”

  “No, Kylie Maha Ishan. Your family is the reason I wanted to marry you. He married you for other reasons.”

  “Like what?” She murmured, her eyes skimming the room for something, anything, that could help her. Escape? Incapacitate him? Anything that might prove helpful.

  “He does not like me,” he said simply. “In fact, he hates me. For a long time he has looked for a way to hurt me. And he found it. You were the key. In front of all of my family, my family’s friends, you were stolen.” He brought his mouth closer, so that his warm, fishy breath rushed across her flesh. “And I have stolen you back.”

  “No,” she shook her head, lifting a knee towards his groin on autopilot. But he was too quick. He gripped her limb and yanked it, off-balancing her so that she fell onto the tabletop. She pushed up but his hand stayed on her leg and her heart pounded with horrible, aching fear.

  “Don’t you care that you are nothing more than a pawn to him?”

  “That isn’t true,” she said with a quiet stoicism. Wasn’t it? A voice in her head shouted back.

  “You see, he once loved a woman, and she loved me. He took her away from me too. That is what he does. But she never loved him again after me, and he’s never recovered.”

  I have known love…

  Kylie ignored the pain in her heart. Khalifa’s love life was not her issue in that moment, though she knew she would need to process those thoughts later.

  “The only reason he married you was to hurt me. That is all he wanted you for.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, not sure what she felt but knowing she needed to get control of the situation. Or try to. But she was terrified. The reality of what she’d walked into was swirling around her. “But I am married to him,” she whispered. “It’s done.”

  “Ah, but do you think he’ll still want you after I have done what I want with you?” The hand on her leg crept higher, and she kicked her foot.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  “Oh, I’m going to touch,” he said thickly.

  Kylie trembled with fear and he laughed, a horrible sound that turned her blood cold. “I am going to make you scream my name. You were mine. Mine.” He reached to his hip and Kylie froze, half-terrified he might find a weapon there. Instead, he lifted a flagon. He kept a hand on her as he used his teeth to open the lid, and then he brought it to her mouth.

  She kept her lips sealed, and turned her head away but he brought his body weight down on top of her. “Drink it,” he said through gritted teeth. “You are too uptight. I don’t want to screw a block of ice.”

  Kylie’s eyes locked to Aïna’s, the fear she felt mirrored back to her.

  “Get off her!” Aïna said with all the strength she could muster.

  “Shut up, bitch!”

  And he took advantage of Kylie’s shock to pour the liquid into her mouth. She might have spat it out except he brought his mouth to hers and kissed her until she swallowed the alcohol, needing air and breath.

  The taste of fish and scotch swirled in her gut and she almost wretched from the combination. She could feel his arousal pressing into her stomach and she hated him. Hated him with a strength she hadn’t known possible.

  “Fayez.” The voice at the door was instant relief. Another man stood, his expression holding a clear warning. “Not now.”

  “Yes,” Fayez straightened and his eyes took on a cold hardness. “You are right. There is time for that. You will sit here and think. Think about the situation you find yourself in. And then,” he leaned closer once more, “we will talk.” But before he pulled off her, he poured more of the liquid into her mouth and then, in one last moment of horrible madness, he brought his hand under her skirt, finding the naked flesh at the top of her thighs. “He will no longer want you, Kylie Maha Ishan, after I have had you in my bed.”

  He left the room, slamming the door behind him so that Kylie jumped. She turned to Aïna, whose face was pale. Silence sat around them, shock heavy within it.

  “Your highness,” Aïna spoke eventually, the words quiet, shaking with outrage and apology. “Are you okay?”

  Kylie blinked away tears and nodded, pushing off the table and looking back down at her chain. She chased the loop mentally and then made a small noise of rejoice. “Aïna, look.” Her words were shivering but she didn’t care. She was in shock, that was all. “If I can just lift the table a little, I might be able to unloop the chain. What do you think?”

  Aïna shook her head. “It’s too heavy.”

  “I’m strong.” Kylie gripped her hands around the marble and pushed at it, groaning as the crippling weight of the thing left it resolutely on the floor.

  “Please, madam…”

  “No!” Kylie spoke more harshly than she’d intended. “I am not going to sit here and wait to damn well be rescued. Someone might come, Aïna, but they might not. We could be anywhere. I’m going to at least try to do something. Before that bastard comes back.”

  Aïna stared at the princess as her hands once more pushed at the table and this time succeeded in lifting it an inch or so off the ground. Aïna stood, excitement giving her enthusiasm now. “Yes, yes, you’r
e almost there. Just a little higher.”

  Kylie bit down on her lip, bracing her body as she pushed at the table top once more and it lifted. At the same time, she pulled her ankle and the chain came with her.

  She sobbed with relief, dropping the table back to the ground. It was noisy though and she heard footsteps then voices outside. Fear galvanized her. She ran to Aïna, standing beside her, the chain making a dragging metallic noise against the concrete. “Don’t worry,” she said quietly. “We’re going to get out of here.”

  The door clunked as it opened and Kylie stood there, defiance on her features, strength in her body.

  “Khalifa!” She tore his name through the air, relief almost making her sag. She reached down for Aïna’s hand and squeezed it.

  Khalifa cut the distance easily, and he stood in front of Kylie without touching her. His face was taut, his eyes tormented. “Are you …” he flicked a glance to Aïna. “Are you hurt?”

  Kylie’s heart was hurting. Her stomach was churning. Her brain was remonstrating with her. But she shook her head. “I… no.”

  “There was a chemical, your highness, that rendered us both unconscious.” Aïna offered.

  Nonetheless, he reached for his wife and scooped her up, holding her against his chest and staring down at her face until colour bloomed back into her cheeks. “I can walk,” she said softly.

  “I know that.” He took a step and the chain dragged along the ground. He paused, as if seeing it for the first time, and a muscle jerked in his cheek. He reached down and caught it in his hands, holding it beside her. “Come, my lanaria.”

  The hallway of the building they had been brought to was deserted and they emerged into the full sunshine of the afternoon. They were somewhere in the desert, though she couldn’t see the palace. Kylie had no concept of where they’d been brought.

  Several black cars were there, police cars, and a helicopter hovered in the distance. Kylie had the satisfaction of seeing her captors in one of the police cars, but she didn’t hold Fayez’s gaze for long. The menacing look and the threat he’d made sat around her like a straightjacket.

  As if sensing the shift of fear in her, Khalifa held her tighter, carrying her away from the house, into the back of a waiting four wheel drive.

  He settled her into a seat first, and then sat beside her, his eyes on her profile. Kylie didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. Her emotions were rioting all over the place. Relief at having been rescued, fear at her captivity, worry, doubt, and anger. Anger at herself. Because Fayez had been right. She had been stupid.

  Unbelievably stupid and naïve; her whole life! Her whole life! Why had she never questioned her parents’ plan for her? Why hadn’t she fought, tooth and nail, to avoid marriage to a man she didn’t know?

  In part, she knew the answer to the last part of that question.

  She’d met Khalifa. She’d met him, and she’d believed him when he’d introduced himself as her fiancé. She’d probably fallen halfway into love with him that night on his yacht. What had loomed before her as a responsibility and an obligation was now something she understood she’d looked forward to. From the minute she’d known Khalifa to be her groom, she’d wanted the marriage.

  She’d wanted it with all her heart.

  But for him?

  She shivered again and Khalifa stiffened beside her. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, and closed it again.

  “How did you find us?” Kylie’s question was cold. Calm. She was in shock, she supposed. Didn’t that happen?

  “My agents tracked you aerially.”

  “Aerially?” She pulled a face. “Like something out of James Bond.”

  He dismissed the joke. “Kylie… did he … what happened?”

  She blinked her eyes shut, confused and exhausted. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Khalifa compressed his lips, staring out of the window with a growing sense of frustration. But Kylie didn’t care. She needed to be on her own. To be away from everyone. To shower. To bathe. To sleep. She felt sick and she felt angry and she felt confused.

  * * *

  “How is she?” Khalifa’s eyes didn’t leave his wife’s body. He watched her where she stood on the balcony, bathed in the fullness of the midday sun, her hair loose down her back, the dress flowing and angelic.

  “She hasn’t slept,” Capha, Aïna’s second mistress, reported. “Nor has she eaten.”

  Khalifa’s gut twisted. His expression was heavy as he studied her, wanting to reach for her, not knowing how to do so. “Leave us. And please ensure we are not disturbed.”

  Capha nodded. As she made to exit Kylie’s suite, Khalifa paused her with one last question. “How is Aïna?”

  “Insisting she is fine. Ready to return to work.”

  Khalifa’s smile was tight. “I want her to rest.” The last thing he needed was anyone who might remind his wife of her trauma.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Capha bowed low and then walked out of the room, clicking the door shut behind her. Khalifa sighed as he moved to the balcony, pulling the door inwards so that his wife blinked in his direction with surprise. As though she hadn’t realized he’d been watching her for the last ten minutes.

  His worries increased.

  “Hello,” the word was thick in his mouth. He cleared it and tried again. “Capha tells me you have not slept?”

  Kylie blinked, then looked back out at the desert. “Haven’t I?”

  “Kylie, we must speak.”

  She met his eyes slowly, a frown pulling at her lips. “What about?”

  “I want to help you. But I can’t until I understand…”

  “Understand what?” She turned away from him again and he fought the impulse to drag her face to his. To make her meet his eyes. Anything other than complete patience and gentleness would not get through to her.

  “What happened to you?”

  “You know what happened.” The words were so quiet, so soft, that he almost didn’t catch them.

  “I know that his men abducted you and drove you to the desert. That you were chained to the furniture like a dog.” Disgust churned his insides at the very idea. “I know that he is a man capable of treating women like objects in the worst kind of way.”

  She nodded. She knew that too. “But isn’t that what you do too?”

  The question lumbered between them like a dark rock of coal. Khalifa stared at her, uncharacteristically quiet in the face of her observation. “You mean...”

  “I mean,” she continued, “the real reason you married me.”

  Khalifa scanned his wife’s face, his mind not quite fast enough in that moment to fully comprehend her meaning. In fact, the past was yawning before him, loaded with confusion and wonder, with beliefs and uncertainties. What he had thought at what time, and when he’d started to think otherwise.

  He decided to play it safe. “Meaning?”

  She arched a brow, and the simple gesture, so scathing, was so refreshingly like Kylie that he felt a twinge of a smile. Totally inappropriate and in no way an indication of amusement so much as a natural response to relief.

  “You didn’t marry me because you were worried about a political threat, did you?”

  He’d told her that. And now, he wished more than anything, that he hadn’t lied. That he hadn’t manipulated her. That he hadn’t paid money to pressure her into marrying him.

  “Your family was once powerful. You know the history.”

  “Yes, yes. Ancient history. Since coming to Argenon I’ve seen how respected you are as a leader. How certain your position. And still, I never really questioned why you would have married me.”

  Bloody Fayez. Khalifa thought of the man with a rushing sense of fury. “I couldn’t let you marry him. He is a disgusting human.”

  “Yes. He is. And I’m glad you saved me from that fate. But you could have done that without marrying me. This had nothing to do with me. If you didn’t hate Fayez, if you hadn’t wanted to avenge th
e past, you would have left me to my fate. Wouldn’t you?”

  The idea now was anaethema to Khalifa. Kylie, married to Fayez? He shuddered at the thought.

  “All the while you made me feel like I should be so grateful to you for saving me from that life… and you were using me. Worse, you were putting me in the path of danger. He would never have kidnapped me if you hadn’t taken me from him.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” he pointed out. “If I had not married you, then you would have been his wife, and there would have been no need to kidnap you.”

  “Shut up,” she snapped. “I don’t mean that. You could have ended our engagement without making me your wife. The only reason to seduce me in Sydney and marry me was because you wanted to throw it in his face. Am I right?”

  Khalifa’s breath was uneven. He stared at his wife, her face pinched, her eyes clouded, and frustration gnawed a hold in his heart. “Initially, yes,” he said after a long pause. “Yes, okay? I wanted to hurt him.”

  “And he took from you a woman you loved, and you thought the only way to repay him was to take his fiancé? On his wedding day, in front of everyone he knows? You wanted to hurt him and humiliate him and you used me to do it.”

  A muscle jerked in Khalifa’s cheek as he looked towards the mountains. The memory of the perfect night they’d spent at the foot of the range was awkward in his mind, because it was such a contradiction to the darkness he now felt.

  “Yes.” How could he lie to her again? Her summation was truthful, after all.

  “I can’t believe… God! He was right. I’m such an idiot. A gullible, weak, stupid fool.” She spun away from him and paced to the other side of the balcony. Nausea bit through her. She gripped the railing and dipped her head forward, refusing to give into its sickening control. Needing not to vomit. To have some control over her body.

  “You are none of those things.”

  “Of course I am! I actually thought I was in love with you! Probably from the first moment we met, when I opened the door and saw you standing there and everything I’d ever known or felt zapped away and left only you. And then when we slept together, my God! Khalifa! That’s all this is! Sex! You were right! And stupid, idiotic fool that I am, I thought we were in love.”