She shifted her head to one side as if understanding the unspoken question and nodded once, an imperceptible movement that registered loudly within him. But still he felt he couldn’t move, couldn’t break the spell of her. It was her lips that found his in a melding of warmth and softness and understanding. The kiss was like nothing before: not yet full of the passion that simmered beneath and not yet given over to the lust of their bodies, but holding more depth of feeling than he’d ever experienced.
It lasted about a minute. But he felt as if the sure ground upon which he’d built his life had shifted and nothing would be the same again. He pulled away and was relieved when she looked up at the stars. He followed her gaze noting distantly that the light of the stars spun out further in all directions than they had before, elongated by the mist that glazed his eyes.
He pulled her against him once more, his arm protectively around her, knowing that he could never let her go.
“I’m so sorry, Anna, for the past. I wish I knew you then and could have protected you. No-one should have gone through the pain of your childhood.”
She smiled into his eyes. “Zahir. You can’t protect everyone. You, yourself, had a childhood that was full of danger and hardship.”
“It was my duty and my gift to my people.”
“You were a boy for God’s sake.”
He shook his head. “You will never understand.”
“You’re wrong. I do understand. I understand our differences—and our similarities—and that’s OK.”
“Come, let’s go to bed.”
Anna lay in the large bed and waited. She could have gone to her own room. But she’d agreed to this marriage and she had never avoided the consequences of her decisions. So she lay there, listening to Zahir moving in the next room. Only the light of the stars illuminated the darkness. She watched his shadow slide into bed next to her. They lay in silence.
She reached out and touched his hand. It curled under hers and gripped hers with a need that she couldn’t reciprocate now. She knew all it would take would be one indication from her, a caress, a movement, a word, a sign. But she couldn’t do it. Why? She closed her eyes to see Abduallah’s face, so clear in her mind. The day was finishing as it had begun with the person who stood between them.
Zahir didn’t believe she understood much of their language, but she knew enough. And she also understood, probably at a deeper level than Zahir, the meaning of the Imam’s words. Honor had been in short supply when she’d been growing up. And in her future—whatever it might bring with Zahir—she was determined to not build her life on a lie. Zahir would know the truth about Abduallah, about Matta and herself, or else their marriage held no future.
She lay awake until late, much later than Zahir whose breathing soon quieted into the rhythm of sleep. She wanted him so much but she couldn’t wish away all that had happened, no matter how much she might want to.
She looked out the window, catching glimpses of the wide sky with each curtain curl and snap. She wanted to see the stars. But clouds had started to roll across the desert sky and what had started off as a clear night had become overcast. There was no light now.
CHAPTER SIX
The week passed in a blur of smiling and dancing and eating and drinking with people Anna didn’t know and doubted she would ever see again. But the family seemed pleased. Fatima was in her element, grinning from ear to ear and stepping in and taking charge of things when Anna either proved too inept or too disinterested.
It was the nights that Anna lived for. The quiet of the desert was beginning to grow on her. So different to New York with its street noise—people, traffic, constant driven stress. Here there was time to think, time to feel. And it was the nights that she saved for these moments. She lay beside Zahir night after night of that first week and still he didn’t make a move towards her.
Slowly the haunting face of Abduallah appeared less often in her dreams as the healing power of tears and talk wrought their magic. But still she felt unable to bridge the physical and emotional gap between her and Zahir because the feeling of being trapped, unable to be free, to be fully herself—whatever that might be—remained strong.
By the end of the week Anna had become accustomed to sleeping with Zahir and awaking alone. But this morning was different. She lay for a few moments and wondered what was different, what the rhythmic patter was that she couldn’t place. She looked at the clock. It was late—7am, much later than her usual 5am—and still dark. No brilliant sunlight beamed into the room, no shrill, strange dawn calls of desert birds to remind her she wasn’t in New York.
She looked around but a heavy silence reigned. Not even broken by a drifting of sound from elsewhere in the palace.
She rose and walked to the window. A heavy mist cloaked the palace and mountain, wreathing its mystery around the solid surfaces as if claiming them for its magic. Ragged tufts of mist drifted across the courtyard garden blown on a wind that was chill. Anna shivered and reached for Zahir’s dressing gown.
Pulling the gown tight around her, she walked out into the courtyard. The paving was slippery and damp beneath her feet. The boughs hung heavy with water and brushed against her face as she walked under them. The water from the fountain seemed less important now, under the watery sky. She leant back against the seat, relishing the chill of fresh water seeping onto her body from the low clouds, and let the damp caress her as if it were moist, cool towel on a hot day.
“Don’t tell me you like this weather?”
She opened her eyes with a start. She hadn’t heard Zahir enter the courtyard.
“I didn’t in the States but here it’s different.” She closed her eyes briefly and inhaled the fragrant, moist air. “I didn’t realize you had actual weather. I thought you only had sun.”
He smiled. “Yes, we have weather. How else would my ancestors have survived without water.”
“You have the spring.”
“Which was good for my father’s ancestors whose palace this was. But my mother and her family were nomads, surviving on what little Allah granted them from these clouds.”
“What can a brief shower do?”
He smiled. “I’ll show you. It’s about time you saw something of my country. Fatima has plans for Matta and his cousins for the next few days so we won’t be missed.”
It wasn’t until the afternoon that they set of, just the two of them in his four-wheel drive. Her face was flushed with excitement as her eyes keenly sought the horizon scanning it for what, he did not know. He doubted even she knew. Her thirst for freedom was one thing he couldn’t satisfy. Because to do so would mean letting her go. But he’d give her a taste of it.
“How far are we going?”
“Not far. It will take only a few hours.”
“And you won’t tell me where?”
“No. It’s a surprise.”
Her grin was as refreshing to his soul as the rain to the land, filling him with hope.
She dipped her head as flirtatiously as a bouncing car over rough terrain would allow. “I love surprises.”
“Good.”
Before long they turned off the main track onto a smaller rutted road that headed toward the mountains. He could feel the change of the air already against his skin and felt himself relax like he hadn’t done in a very long time. He’d spent years camping out in these mountains, hiding, preparing for attack against the people who desired his land and all its riches. Places that had lain hidden to the outside world since biblical times, he and his people knew, and had kept hidden. It was their history, their land, their treasure.
They began winding their way up into the mountains along a wadi that now contained a swift-flowing river. At a point where the river opened up into a small valley Zahir stopped the car and they both jumped out. The usually arid valley was dusted with the fresh green of new growth.
He couldn’t help but smile in response to Isabella’s incredulous expression as she looked around. It was as if the wadi had been
touched by a magic wand. The small amount of rain that had fallen in the night had magically brought spring to the desert. The Acacias and succulents were made a vivid green by the rain. The tracks of small mammals making the most of this sudden feast criss-crossed the surrounding sands and insects hovered and dipped around the bushes.
“It’s amazing.” She walked through the squat thorny caper bushes, her fingers gently brushing the fresh, green shoots while her eyes followed a dragonfly that flittered, iridescent, in the sunlight. “Is it always like this?”
“They’ve adapted over thousands of years to survive on morning dew. Usually the wadi is dry and there is no sign of life, but it’s there, waiting for the rains to come. It takes little to bring life back to the desert. The recent rains are enough.”
A lizard scuttled by. “Enough to sustain life for animals and people.”
“It is why my people care for each other with their hospitality and sense of loyalty and duty. For much of the time there is nothing. And when there is this,” he followed her gaze as she scanned the expanse of vibrant green that now clung to the usually dun-colored bushes. “We praise Allah for we are dependent on things outside of ourselves, things we cannot control.”
“It’s beautiful, like a miracle.”
“Come back to the car, just a little further up into the mountains and we will be at our destination.”
The four-wheel drive climbed higher, twisting and turning through seemingly impassable passes until they could go no further. As the sun lowered in the sky it shone its fiery red glow onto the yellow limestone making it look as if the light were emanating from the rock itself.
Zahir pulled up the vehicle beside a wall of rock.
“Hey, it’s great. We’ve come all this way to look at,” she waved her hand in a mock presentation, “a rock face”.
“You like it?”
“Fabulous. It’s a pale yellow, towering, rock. What more could I want?”
“I don’t know. Let’s see, shall we?”
He jumped out of the vehicle but before he could open her door she was already out and striding towards a narrow gap in the rock that was barely visible amongst the shadows.
“Hey! It’s like a passage…”
He watched her as she passed through and stopped abruptly.
He came up behind her, his hands running down her arms, unable to stop himself from touching her now as they both stood looking at one of nature’s miracles.
“Oh my God, it’s wonderful.” Anna’s voice was soft with awe.
Zahir looked upon the complex of hot pools carved out of the stone above which steam rose. Around them were the ruins of old buildings that must have once seen crowds of people enjoying the natural thermal spa. Encircling the natural amphitheater, magnificent palm and tamarisk trees soared, beneath which the vegetation was lush, verdant, heavy with the moist atmosphere. To one side, above the old buildings, and beyond a small orange grove, a Bedu tent had been erected, its richly woven canopies a decadent contrast to the pale yellow stone that alternated with red brick, still neat and intact.
“This is Ain Sukhna.”
“How come I’ve never heard of this before?”
“Because we prefer to keep such treasures to ourselves.”
“I’m not surprised.”
He watched her walk around the edge of the site, as if too awed to move directly to the main bath that sat centrally, raised above the others. It would have been for the elite and the remains of columns lay at each point of a square around its edge that would originally have supported some form of pergola.
He leant back against the rock face and watched her absorb its beauty. She brushed her hands through the luxuriant foliage of a tree and dabbled her fingers in the less warm water of a long, rectangular pool designed for swimming rather than for soaking.
Finally she sat on the edge of the central pool, surrounded by the warm steam and looked back at him, a broad smile across her face.
“Well you’ve certainly surprised me.”
He came up to her, standing before her.
“And you’ve surprised me.”
She raised her eyebrows in query, shaking her head. “How?”
“Before, I wanted you. But now I know you, I want you more.”
Her expression changed instantly, her eyes shone with emotion he could only describe as hope. It was as if his words had touched her somewhere deep, where the hurt of rejection for who she was, for where she came from, still lingered.
She reached over to him and he closed his eyes as he felt her tentative touch on his chest. Warm fingers slid up and spread over the scar over his heart, as if claiming it. Then the source of the heat that shot through his body, centering in his groin, was withdrawn.
“Look, up at the sky.”
He followed her gaze, dragging it away from what he really wanted to focus on, her. The early evening star was just beginning to emerge from its surrounding light, as if sucking in the last of the sun’s rays.
“Venus. According to ancient Bedu legend the evening star is the male child of the moon and the sun.”
He looked down at her and knew that she was thinking of Matta. He drew her to him then, gently, despite his growing need for her. He knew it had to come from her.
“Come, let’s bathe.”
His hand dropped down her arm, relishing every inch of heated skin until he gripped her hand and pulled her over to the tent. “Everything we need is inside. I had it made ready for us earlier.”
She laughed. “Of course you did. You know, Zahir, did anyone ever call you a control freak?”
“No they call me a sheikh.”
“Perhaps it’s the same thing.”
“Perhaps.”
He paused before the tent—its rich, woven geometric designs matched the ancient design of brick and stone that edged the pools and existing arches—and reluctantly let her hand drop. He pulled back the curtain of the tent and stood back for Anna to enter.
It was like an Aladdin’s cave, Anna thought, straight out of a fairy tale. Richly woven rugs with traditional designs covered the floor over which hung a brass, intricately decorated chandelier spiked with thick, white candles. There was nothing else—only a bed that occupied all the space. Anna dragged her eyes from the bed and explored the tent. Another flap revealed a wardrobe and yet another led to a mosaic lined, more modern bathroom. It was perfect.
“A bed. How convenient.”
“I thought it might be useful—later.”
“Umm. I am feeling a little tired.”
“Not too tired for a bathe, I hope?”
She grinned and desire lashed through her body when she saw his answering smile in his eyes that, for once, moved down to his mouth and flickered around his lips. She shook her head, unable to move her gaze from those lips.
“Then you should change.” He tossed her a bikini she’d never seen before.
“That, is never for a grown woman.” She pulled the tiny triangle of material as wide as it would stretch.
“For a grown woman, chosen by a grown man.” He smiled again, a smile of unabashed sensuality. “I will leave you to get changed.”
Anna tweaked the tiny white triangles that covered her breasts down a little, trying to extend the material to cover all her breasts, but didn’t succeed. She gave up, took a deep breath and emerged into the soft light of dusk. Any embarrassment was immediately forgotten when she saw Zahir waiting for her, half naked. Although they’d been sharing a bed, he’d always come to bed and left again in the dark.
His rich skin seemed to shimmer under the reflection of torches that he’d lit around the main pool below them. She licked her lips as her mouth dried instantly at the sight of his muscled body and the tail of hair that disappeared into his shorts, following the two corded muscles down the sides of his hips.
When she dragged her eyes upwards to meet his own gaze she saw that his eyes were focussed solely on her and they were hungry.
“You bough
t this bikini for me didn’t you?”
He nodded. “I don’t shop, Anna. But I did leave instructions for such an item to be bought. I thought it would suit you.”
She felt his gaze down her body as if it were his nails dragging seductively down her skin until she felt her nipples harden in anticipation. She knew that they would easily be seen through the white flimsy material.
“And does it?”
He nodded once, his dark eyes fixed on her. He tore his eyes away and gestured for her to walk with him through the orange grove that led to the baths.
Heat from the ancient stone slabs that lined the path warmed Anna’s bare feet. The thermal activity heated everything from the rocks, the soil, to the water. She ducked her head under a stray branch and came out into the clearing lit by the torches, the bright stars above and a pale yellow sickle moon low in the sky.
They walked up the wide steps into the hot pool and Zahir helped her down. The steps continued around the inner part of the pool, forming deep seats. The pool reflected the light of the stars and Anna sat back, the pool’s heat and tangy mineral smell enveloping her.
“This,” she breathed as she felt her muscles and mind relax, “is heaven.”
When she opened her eyes, Zahir was lying alongside her, his skin so close she could see the water lap and pool over his shoulders, his muscles gleaming under the light of the moon and the torches. His eyes were closed and she studied his face, so strong, like the rest of him, so beautiful when at rest. Gone was the strain of leadership and need. Only his innate strength was visible now.
The Sheikh's Bargain Bride (Desert Kings) Page 7
