by Kim Lawrence
Her mother had been right, in her own way. A man would take your love and then set you adrift to pick up the pieces of your shattered life when he was finished with you.
She should be grateful the only pieces she had to pick up were the pieces of her heart.
When she reached the camp, she threw herself into work. Her colleagues were glad to see her, and they’d done much to repair the damage the last few days had wrought. The dig was well under control when Genie finally decided she’d had enough.
Al-Shahar was two hours away by car, and she couldn’t stop looking for Zafir. She kept thinking he would arrive in a convoy of black vehicles, that he would climb out of a stretch Hummer, looking magnificent and exotic in his desert robes, and that he would tell her he’d made a mistake. That he wanted her to come back and be with him—that he loved her.
Any lingering hope she’d harbored that she might see him once more if she were with child was dashed early one morning when she got her period as usual. That was the final matter that settled it for her. She made the call to his private line, left a message—had she really expected Zafir to pick up?—and told her team she was flying home to begin preparations for their next dig.
It would be some weeks before they were ready to fly to Al-Shahar and begin work on the temples. But on the long flight across the Atlantic Genie came to another decision.
She would not be returning to Bah’shar.
CHAPTER TEN
THE weeks that dragged by seemed to last forever, but Zafir knew she would return soon. Genie would not abandon the temples. She might have pushed him from her life easily enough once he’d sent her away, but the temples would lure her back.
And he wanted to see her. Needed to see her. She was still a fire in his blood, no matter that he’d tried to convince himself otherwise. He’d sent her away for her safety, and yet he couldn’t wait until she returned.
He remembered her voice on the message she’d left him. She’d sounded so tough, so businesslike as she’d informed him there was no baby. The words had jarred him, and yet it was the outcome that was the best for them both.
He’d thrown himself into work over the past weeks. The tension in the border region remained higher than he’d like, but it was difficult to eradicate years of mistrust in only a few months. There had been no violence, no raids, and he was pleased with the two Sheikhs’ commitment to peace.
He’d also been looking at the code of law, and he’d made changes there as well. He’d brought new business to the capital by offering trade incentives, and he’d met with local business leaders and politicians to determine what their needs were for growth and stability.
He’d traveled extensively over the last month, expanding Bah’shar’s ties to the world, but no amount of work had been enough to erase Genie Gray from his mind.
Soon she would be in Bah’shar again. And he would go to see her.
He knew precisely when the team of archaeologists arrived for their excavation. He’d kept out of the arrangements with the Ministry of Culture, but that date was something he’d had Yusuf find out for him. He waited two days past their arrival before he ordered a car and went to the temples.
The ruins were a hive of activity that ceased immediately upon his arrival. A plump, graying man in khaki trousers and a dirt-streaked shirt hurried over.
“Your Majesty,” he said, bowing low. “We are honored by your presence.”
“You are happy with the arrangements?” Zafir asked politely.
“Indeed, we couldn’t be more pleased. Everyone has been marvelous.”
Zafir talked with the man who introduced himself as Dr. Dan Walker for a few moments more, scanning the site for any sign of Genie. None of the women he saw could be the feisty redhead he sought.
“Excuse me,” Zafir said, cutting into Dr. Walker’s excited chatter about mosaics and pottery shards, “but where is Dr. Gray?”
The man blinked. “Oh, I’m sorry. Dr. Gray did not accompany us.”
Zafir frowned. “She is coming later, then?”
Dan Walker’s pudgy cheeks glistened with perspiration. “Dr. Gray has opted to teach at university this semester, sir. She will not be a part of this excavation.”
The October air was crisp in Massachusetts, but the trees were absolutely gorgeous, their leaves turning various shades of gold and red that took her breath away. Caldwell University was a prestigious private institution with a long history and a top archaeology program, and Genie had come here as a guest lecturer for the semester. After that she wasn’t certain what she planned to do. There was a dig in China coming up, and she was thinking about signing on for it.
She thought of her teammates in Bah’shar, of the temples and all they would learn. She envied them, and yet she knew she’d made the right decision. If she’d returned to Bah’shar she wouldn’t have been able to give her work the full concentration it deserved.
No, she’d have kept looking toward the palace and daydreaming about a desert king in white robes, riding an Arabian stallion. As if she didn’t do enough of that already. A week in Bah’shar with Zafir had ruined her for another ten years at least. She’d never stopped loving him, and she could never be with him. What would it take to forget him? Death, probably.
The bell rang and her students slapped their books closed and dashed out. As her next class filtered into her room, she made a few notes about the text and what she’d discovered while teaching it.
A group of girls gathered by one of the windows. No doubt the latest, greatest university quarterback was strolling by outside. Tim Robbins? Tom Ribbens? Rob Timmens? She couldn’t remember, and didn’t really care—though a smile lifted one corner of her mouth as she remembered her own days at university.
She’d had a crush on a football player for all of three weeks before Zafir bin Rashid al-Khalifa, the new man on campus, strode into a frat party and rocked her world. Nothing had been the same since.
When it was time to begin class, the girls were still at the window, their chatter low and excited.
“Take your seats, ladies,” Genie said. “We have a lot to cover today.”
“There’s the most amazing sight out here, Dr. Gray.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s true, but please, let’s get to work.” Genie used her best stern teacher voice, which seemed to do the trick.
The girls sat down and Genie stood up to begin her lecture. Movement outside caught her eye, and she glided toward the window as casually as possible while beginning to explain the complexities of identifying human bones and the importance of cataloguing them properly.
A long car sat against the curb, and four men in dark suits with radio transmitters flanked it. There was a police car in front and back, and both had their flashing lights on. She could see a cop talking on the radio in the first car.
Perhaps the Governor was visiting the school. Or Senator Hall. His daughter attended Caldwell.
Genie made the trip back to the whiteboard and picked up the marker. She was just beginning to write a few notes on the board when the door swung open. A man who bore the distinct mark of a bodyguard walked into the room, and then another followed. They flanked the door and Genie turned to her students, wondering if Senator Hall’s daughter was in her class and she’d somehow forgotten it.
She turned back just as a tall, dark man in an expensive suit walked in. He was handsome and regal and he fixed her with a hawk-like stare. Her heart skidded to a stop in her chest before beginning to beat double time. There was a collective intake of breath from her classroom. The girls, no doubt.
“What are you doing here?” Genie blurted.
Zafir’s sensual mouth turned down in a frown. “I have come a long way to speak with you, Dr. Gray. I had hoped your welcome would be more…appropriate.”
Appropriate? What on earth was he talking about? If a Martian had walked off his spaceship and into her classroom she couldn’t have been more surprised than she was right now.
She looked at her students, wonde
ring if perhaps she was hallucinating. Surely their confused expressions would confirm she was crazy.
But the girls were staring at Zafir in open-mouthed admiration; the young men were looking at him with curiosity.
“Class,” she said, trying to salvage the session and her dignity at the same time, “this is His Majesty King Zafir bin Rashid al-Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bah’shar. We are honored to have you, Your Majesty.”
Zafir inclined his head, as if he’d fully expected to be welcomed like a visiting potentate. “May I speak with you privately, Dr. Gray?” he said, never missing a beat.
“As you can see, class has just begun. You’ll have to come back later.”
“Ah—please excuse the interruption. But if you don’t mind,” he said, his polite smile turning devilish, “I would like to listen.”
His arrogance made her waspish. What was he doing here? How could she ever put him behind her if he kept popping up when she least expected it? “I’m afraid we don’t have a throne available for you to sit on.”
He shrugged. “There is a chair behind your desk. I will sit there.”
Genie fumed. She didn’t know why he was here and it irritated her. He’d dismissed her from his life so easily, so coldly, and now he was here, in her classroom, larger than life. Why?
No matter how she tried to ignore it, little bubbles of joy were popping in her veins like champagne fizz. She didn’t trust the feeling, however.
She didn’t trust him.
“By all means. Make yourself at home.”
Zafir crossed to the desk and took a seat, and Genie turned back to the board. She soldiered on with the lecture for the next forty-five minutes, though she deliberately did not look at Zafir again. She could feel his eyes burning into her, and she kept hoping he would get bored and leave.
But he stayed until the class was over. Several of the girls lingered over their desks, laboriously putting their books and laptops away. Once they were gone, she turned to him.
“What is this all about?” she demanded, hands on hips, frustration and confusion zipping around inside her.
Zafir stood, his easy demeanor gone. He looked mildly angry. “The Temples of Al-Shahar. I wanted you to lead the team, but you did not come.”
She looked away. “I thought better of it.”
“We made a deal, Genie.”
“No, you made a deal. As I recall, I didn’t have much choice.”
“I wanted you,” he repeated.
“Dr. Walker is fully qualified. Hell, he’s more qualified than I am, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Zafir took a step toward her. “I wanted you.”
“We don’t always get what we want, Zafir.”
He closed the distance between them. “I wanted you.”
He stood so close, the heat of his body reaching out to envelop her. He smelled exotic, spicy, and she remembered running her tongue along his skin. She gave herself a mental shake. “I get it, Zafir. You wanted me to lead the dig, and now you’re angry because you didn’t get your way.”
“No,” he cut in, “I wanted you. You, Genie Gray.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” she cried. She whirled away from him, intending to put distance between them.
But he caught her, pulled her against his hard body. “Genie,” he said in her ear, “I want you.”
And then she understood. He loosened his grip and she turned in his arms, pulling away when he didn’t try to keep her.
“You came all this way for sex?”
His laugh was unexpected. “I came for you. Come to Bah’shar with me, Genie.”
Her heart was thundering in her ears. “Why would I want to do that?” she whispered.
“Because you love me.”
She closed her eyes. Swallowed. “I do love you,” she said. “But it’s not enough, Zafir.”
“And what if I said I loved you too?”
“I can’t come with you, Zafir,” she said, shaking her head. “I can never settle for being second best in your life. I can’t believe you would ask me this again—”
“I want you to be my queen,” he cut in.
He looked lost, uncertain, and her heart contracted with pain and love.
“You can’t mean that,” she said. “It’s impossible.”
“Why? Because of your career?”
Was he that obtuse? Did he have to make her say it? “No, because of you. It’s Bah’sharan law—”
“Not any longer,” he said fiercely.
Genie blinked, dumbfounded. “You changed the law?”
“It was an old law, and it made no sense. The people agreed.”
“You had a vote?”
“Yes.”
Her heart was beginning to believe, but her head couldn’t quite accept it. “But how do you know you really love me? That it’s not just attraction and—?”
Zafir groaned. “My God, woman, do you think that I couldn’t find a willing female to have sex with in Bah’shar if that was my only problem? That I’ve flown halfway around the world to get down on my knees and beg, if that is what it takes, for you to come to Bah’shar with me simply because I have an uncontrollable erection?”
In spite of the seriousness of the situation she wanted to laugh suddenly. Somehow she managed not to. “When you put it like that…”
He looked offended. “Exactly.”
“Then why did you send me away after you were stabbed?” It still hurt that he had done so, and she wanted to understand. “I was so scared for you, and you dismissed me as if it meant nothing.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. But there had been threats against my life, and when I was attacked I realized that I had put you in danger too. I couldn’t live with that. Your safety is the most important thing in the world to me.” He blew out a breath. “But now you aren’t there, and I still think of you constantly. I need you, Genie. Without you, I’m only half the king I should be.”
“I’m not afraid of a little danger,” she said a touch unsteadily. The conversation seemed so unreal that she was having a hard time processing all the implications. “Being an archaeologist can be dangerous at times.”
“I know, but this danger was different. And though there may always be some degree of danger when one lives such a public life, I am confident the people of Bah’shar will love you as I do.”
“I don’t want to give up archaeology entirely,” she said. “I love what I do.”
“I understand this,” he replied. “Just as I want to build things, you want to dig in the dirt. But there is much to excavate in Bah’shar. And if you need to go elsewhere on your digs, we will work it out.”
She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. The man she loved was standing here, offering her everything she’d ever wanted, and she was scared. Scared she was missing something, or that there was a catch somewhere. Could she really be Queen of Bah’shar?
“I’m not sure I’m cut out for this, Zafir.”
He didn’t need to ask what she meant. “I wasn’t supposed to be a king,” he said, “but I’m learning. You will learn too.”
Genie’s heart was swelling, daring to hope, daring to believe.
How could she not take the leap? She had to. Had to. She loved this man with all her heart and she didn’t want to let him go ever again. She’d be queen of anything if that was what it took.
“You’re sure you really love me?”
He put his hands on her shoulders, bent to look her in the eye. “Dr. Geneva Gray, I love you. Only you. Forever you. Come to the desert with me. Be my wife, bear my children, grow old with me.”
A tremor passed through her. It was real. He was real.
“Kiss me, Zafir,” she said.
“Gladly.”
The kiss was everything she’d hoped. It was the kiss of a man who loved her. Happiness flooded her soul with sunshine, breaking through all the pain and emptiness of the last few weeks.
“I love you, Zafir. This time you can’
t get rid of me.”
“Exactly as I’d hoped,” he said, before kissing her again.
EPILOGUE
One year later…
KING ZAFIR BIN RASHID AL-KHALIFA was in a hurry. He strode through the palace corridors at a pace that had the staff scurrying out of his way. Finally he burst into the royal apartments and kept going until he found his wife in the bathroom, removing her soiled clothing.
Genie looked up when he came in, her face creasing in a smile that did odd things to his heart. Dirt and mud streaked her fair skin. Her hair, spiked with drying sweat, stood at odd angles from her head.
Zafir thought she’d never looked more beautiful. “You are home early, habiba,” he said.
She continued to remove clothing, dropping it in a pile at her feet. The more of her luscious body that was revealed, the more his own body responded. Oh, yes, he was definitely going to have her.
In the shower. On the bed. Perhaps even the floor if he couldn’t make it to the bed first.
“I was feeling a bit tired,” she said.
Zafir frowned. “But you went to bed early last night. I remember this quite well. Did you awaken?”
“No, I slept straight through.” The last of her clothing fell in a poof of dust. She reached for the taps and turned on the shower. Zafir worked hard to make his brain function. Her gorgeous pink nipples were ripe for his touch. He needed to touch them. Needed to taste them.
Marrying Genie was the best decision he’d ever made. Not just because he needed her with a fierceness that hadn’t abated in the last twelve months, but also because she made him whole. She filled his life and took away every ounce of loneliness he’d ever felt.
She was the other half to his soul.
“I have sent for the doctor,” she continued, and Zafir’s heart dropped to his toes. She was his greatest treasure, his reason for being. She could not be ill.
“Doctor?”
“Don’t look so worried,” she said, coming over and giving him a quick squeeze while trying not to soil his clothing at the same time. “It’s nothing serious.”
