Under the Sheik's Protection

by C. J. Miller

  Sarah pulled away from him and crossed the room to the window. She stared out of it. “It’s harder being here than I imagined. I want to be here for you, but I had no idea about the pressure.”

  He almost said, “Being the emir’s wife is hard.” But for the hundredth time, he reminded himself she was not and could not be his wife.

  * * *

  The emir’s country home was opulent and relaxing, almost like visiting a vacation spot. Being there away from the prying eyes of the media took the edge off some of her anxiety. Sarah wanted to answer the media’s questions to stop the rumors, but if she told the truth, that could be spun into a lurid tale. She would stay quiet and do her best to ignore the attention.

  Saafir was in another meeting with his advisors, preparing for a new speech he was giving. Sarah changed channels on the television, reading the translated closed captioning on the news. She was interested in following what was happening with the oil field fires. The reporter on screen was standing close enough to the oil fires to see smoke in the distance.

  An explosion rattled the camera and the reporter ducked as if under fire. As shouting commenced, the screen went black and the news switched scenes to the network’s studio. Sarah’s heart rate escalated. What was happening? The closed captioning wasn’t keeping pace with the images on screen.

  “We’ve received reports of an explosion near the oil fires. We’re trying to get in touch with our contact at the scene to find more details.”

  Sarah knocked on the heavy brown door to Saafir’s office. Saafir might have a meeting going on, but he needed to know about this.

  Frederick opened the door and glared at her. Saafir waved her inside. He had his phone in his hand and the other members of his cabinet watched her.

  “Saafir, the news is reporting—”

  “Land mines.” He swore under his breath. “There are land mines buried in the oil fields.”

  Sarah rushed to him and slipped her arms around his shoulders. This national catastrophe was complicating and it was wearing on Saafir. He seemed to have aged years in the last several days. Stress was exhausting him.

  “You need to pull the engineers fighting the fires out of there,” she said.

  “And leave the oil fields burning unchecked?” Frederick asked.

  Saafir’s advisors looked between her and Frederick, appearing unsure if they should jump into the conversation.

  Sarah’s temper flared. Saafir was doing everything he could to protect everyone else and was being pulled in a hundred directions.

  “Saafir doesn’t want any more injuries. We’ll pull the people from the fields until we can get experts in land mines to secure the area,” Sarah said.

  Frederick scoffed. “Experts in land mines? Who are you to suggest that? You haven’t served any time in the military. Do you know where you can find these so-called experts?”

  The disdain in his voice infuriated her. “The world has an expert for everything,” she said. Somewhere in the world, someone was fascinated by fire, explosions and bombs. Saafir could find them and bring them in to help.

  “Stop. Both of you,” Saafir said sharply. “We are on the same team. I won’t have open and hostile dissent among my advisors.”

  “She is not one your advisors,” Frederick said.

  “She is my guest and her opinions matter to me,” Saafir said.

  Her heart leapt free of some of the confusion that clung to her. When she was with Saafir, even in a country where she was an outsider and everything felt topsy-turvy, he centered her and made her feel important.

  “Sarah’s right. We have to protect the team fighting the fire and make sure whoever is in the field is trained to search for and handle land mines,” Saafir said, rubbing his forehead. “Please, leave us alone.”

  Sarah retreated to the door. If Saafir wanted to be alone with Frederick and his cabinet to talk state secrets, that was fine with her.

  “I mean Sarah. I need to be alone with Sarah.”

  Hiding her surprise, Sarah took a seat next to Saafir. Frederick and the rest of Saafir’s cabinet left the room, a mixture of shock, annoyance and amusement on their faces.

  “How can I help?” Sarah asked.

  Saafir pulled her from her chair into his lap.

  He jammed a hand through his hair. “My sister is married to an American FBI agent. He’s the man I contacted to find out who’d be handling the situation with Khoury. My brother-in-law has some powerful connections. He called me a couple days ago and offered to lend a hand. I was hesitant to involve the Americans in this cleanup since I don’t want to be indebted to them and be forced to make concessions during the trade negotiations.”

  Sarah stroked her hand down the side of his hair. Even lacking sleep, he was still polished and gorgeous. “I am sure if your brother-in-law offered to help, it was a personal offer. Call him and talk to him. Get your sister involved if you have to. Be honest with him about what you need and what you’re willing to do to get it.”

  Saafir was already dialing his phone. “Harris, it’s Saafir. I need a favor.”

  * * *

  Saafir had held off calling his brother-in-law, Harris Truman, because he wanted Qamsar to handle their problems without international interference. But the danger had escalated to the point that he had to alter his thinking to protect his people.

  Sarah was not military and she had no background in dealing with explosives. She had no experience in handling national disasters. But she was logical and Saafir needed someone who had no skin in the game. She didn’t have an agenda, only solutions that were simple enough to work.

  Harris had answered after one ring. Saafir explained he was looking for some resources and Harris paused a few moments before offering help. “I have a friend who runs a consulting company that handles difficult problems,” Harris said. He spoke the words “difficult problems” with emphasis.

  “Tell me about this friend and his company.”

  “He wouldn’t appreciate me telling you about him, but I can tell you his company is top-shelf. He hires the best in the world and he gets jobs done. He has former special ops and ex-military on his payroll. His contacts include spies, secret agents and computer hackers. What are you after specifically?”

  Saafir didn’t dance around about what he needed. He could trust Harris not to run to the media about the problems Qamsar was experiencing. “I need an expert in disabling land mines.”

  Harris made a sound of disgust. “Only cowards set land mines. A memo hit my desk about turbulence in the area. Laila is practically twisting my arm to let her fly back to Qamsar to help.”

  “Keep my sister in the States.” Laila was safer far away from the mess in Qamsar. Harris wouldn’t let any harm come to Laila.

  “She’ll be pleased to know I’m sending experts from Connor’s team. She’s met Connor and she trusts him.”

  His sister’s stamp of approval meant a great deal to him. “I need them here fast,” Saafir said.

  “That’s how Connor’s team works. Fast. Precise. Quietly.”

  It was what Saafir needed to handle the land mines. But what else would the extremists have planned?

  * * *

  Saafir’s security team took Sarah to the local shopping district. She was surrounded by high-end boutiques and she could not afford to purchase one thing inside them. Couture clothing and gold and platinum jewelry weren’t in her budget.

  Since his meeting with Alaina’s father, unspoken tension had been heavy between her and Saafir and she’d needed to get out of the house. They’d had little time alone and when Saafir came to bed at night, he collapsed with exhaustion. She had nudged him and kissed him, but he had only pulled her close to sleep.

  Sarah’s phone rang and she answered, hoping it was Saafir calling to say his meetings were do
ne for the day and he’d meet her for a late dinner. They needed to talk. She felt him slipping away and she wanted clarity.

  It wasn’t Saafir. It was Owen.

  “Alec has gone missing,” Owen said.

  Sarah waited. She didn’t want to get involved in yet another of Alec’s disastrous decisions. “I’m sorry to hear that.” After the stunt he’d pulled at the last wedding she’d planned, she hadn’t forgiven him. “I posted his bail and he ran. Any ideas where he is?” Owen asked.

  “You know I’m not in the country right now. I haven’t seen him,” Sarah said. She was relieved to have the excuse of the distance for why she couldn’t help find him. She didn’t want him found. Let Alec run away and start his life over. Every other do-over option had been exercised and hadn’t worked. Alec had been lucky time and again, but it was very likely the next step would be jail.

  “Has Saafir told you anything about the trade agreement?” Owen asked.

  She had promised Owen she would back-channel information for him, but only because she never thought she’d have any information. “He’s been busy with other things. He hasn’t mentioned the trade agreement.” She wasn’t planning to tell him even if he had.

  Owen paused. “Will he walk away from the deal because of the problems with the oil fields?”

  Sarah had no way to know that. “Putting out the oil fires is a priority.” Saafir’s guards weren’t looking at her, but they spoke English and she knew they were listening to her conversation.

  Owen swore. “He hasn’t been responding to emails. Is he coming back to the negotiations’ table? I can’t get a straight answer from Frederick.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “When are you coming home?” Owen asked.

  “I don’t know that, either.”

  “Is this an open-ended invitation to stay with him?”

  She and Saafir hadn’t talked about it. Sarah had assumed they’d be in Qamsar for a few days to address the problems with the oil fields and then they’d return to America to finish negotiations for the trade agreement. She would step back into her role as event coordinator when they resumed meetings. Saafir hadn’t clued her in on his plans or his thinking. “It’s not something we’ve discussed. He has a life here and I have a life in America. I’m just visiting.”

  The words stuck in her mouth. Every word she spoke to Owen was the truth, but it burned to admit.

  A woman approached. “Excuse me, are you the emir’s lover?”

  The question caught her by surprise. She was wearing traditional Qamsarian clothing and had been trying to blend. How should she answer the question? The woman was young and Sarah didn’t sense malice in the question, just curiosity.

  Saafir’s guards moved closer. They were watching the exchange, but they hadn’t gotten involved. Couldn’t they whisk her away? Saafir had told her to ignore the media. Should she also ignore anyone angling for information?

  “You have me confused with someone else,” Sarah said. “I’ll call you back,” she said into the phone to Owen.

  The woman moved closer. “It is you. I recognize you from your picture on the internet. Tell me what the emir is like. He is so dreamy.”

  The woman called to her friends. Sarah found herself in the middle of a pack of women who were launching questions at her in a mix of Arabic and English. Is the emir a good boyfriend? Does he give you expensive gifts? What about Alaina Faris? Are you upset he is marrying someone else?

  Sarah backed away. “I need to go.”

  She turned and fled and the guards prevented the women from following her. Sarah didn’t stop walking until she was inside the car. Overheated and shaken, Sarah called Molly.

  “Adham told me you went with Saafir to Qamsar,” Molly said.

  “I did. I’m here now shopping in stores where I can’t afford anything while Saafir is in meetings.” Sarah told her friend what had happened in the shopping district.

  “I’ll kill Evelyn. This is her fault,” Molly said.

  Evelyn? What did Alec’s sister have to do with this? “What did Evelyn do?”

  Molly groaned. “You haven’t seen the news? Someone connected you to Evelyn and she told a reporter that you spent the night with Saafir on her boat.”

  Not a lie. Why would Evelyn not keep her secret? “That happened. She said she would stay quiet about the incident. We were looking for a safe place to stay.”

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me. You’re an adult. You can do what you want. But Sarah? You know better about Evelyn. All you need to get a secret out of her is a ten-dollar bottle of rum.”

  Sarah hated hearing Evelyn cast in a bad light. Though they had been through a lot, she felt protective of Evelyn, whom she considered family. “What can I do about what everyone is saying about me?”

  “What do you mean? You know what you need to do. When Alec made a scene in your neighborhood and embarrassed you in front of your neighbors, did you hide inside? Nope. You walked around, smiling like you had the world on a string.”

  “This is different. This isn’t a neighborhood. This is a country of people. A hostile country of people. As far as I can tell, at least half of the people here hate me.”

  Molly let go a curse she rarely spoke. “You’ve done nothing wrong. Head high. Get back to those stores and you shop like you’ve got an orchard of money trees growing in your yard.”

  “I can’t afford to do that,” Sarah said.

  “Charge it to Saafir.”

  An idea formed. She wouldn’t pretend she had money to burn, but she could maybe do something to help. “You gave me a good idea. I’ll text you later.”

  “Sarah? Don’t let them see you sweat.”

  Sarah said goodbye to her friend and then texted Saafir for permission to spend some money. He didn’t question why or what she planned to buy. She received an unequivocal “yes” from him.

  * * *

  Saafir arrived in his compound at eleven that night. He expected to find a sleeping Sarah in his bed. She wasn’t in his bedroom and she wasn’t in the guest bedroom.

  He called her, worried. His guards would have alerted him if there had been a problem.

  Relief passed over him when Sarah answered.

  “Hey.” Sarah sounded out of breath. Was she at the gym?

  “Where are you? Are you okay?” Saafir asked. The last he had heard, she had asked him for permission to charge to his family accounts. He’d been pleased she had asked. Shopping might make her feel better.

  “I’m fine. I was shopping, but that went awry, so I’m at the emergency response center. I’m helping get things organized. Saafir, I’m helping and I’m good at this.”

  Pride and happiness burst across his chest at the enthusiasm and spirit in her voice. It was the most upbeat she’d sounded since arriving in Qamsar. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I’m good at organizing events and they’re shorthanded. Volunteers have been coming from various places around the world, so it’s been easy to blend. No one knows of my connection to you.”

  Saafir heard something between her words. Her connection to him was upsetting. The magazines, the clothes and the media questions bothered her more than he’d thought. He’d grown up with people prying into his life and it no longer upset him. But it was new to Sarah. Saafir should have anticipated it and taken steps to make her feel more comfortable.

  “You are amazing, do you know that?” he asked.

  Sarah laughed. “I’m doing what I can. Are your meetings finished for the day?”

  “Yes. I was hoping we could have dinner.” He was aching to see her. He was determined to at least have a conversation with her before falling asleep.

  “Let me finish what I’m working on, and I’ll be home. I mean, to your place.”

  H
e knew what she’d meant, but calling it their home didn’t feel as strange as he would have thought. After saying their goodbyes, he looked around his sparse bedroom.

  When he had taken over this part of the compound from Mikhail, he had done some redecorating, primarily getting rid of the ornate items that Mikhail loved. Saafir preferred his inner sanctum to be clutter-free. It helped him to clear his mind at the end of the day.

  He took a shower and asked for a dinner to be delivered. Sarah arrived about an hour later. Though her hair was tied in a messy knot on top of her head and she wasn’t wearing jewelry, she captivated him. His entire body responded to the sight of her. The last several nights, they hadn’t made love and he was suddenly starving for her.

  “How did you decide to spend the day at the emergency response center?” he asked. Some of the tension that had built between them seemed to thin.

  Sarah shrugged. “I needed something to do. When your boyfriend runs a country, that leaves a girl with a lot of free time.”

  “You didn’t miss me?” Saafir asked, reaching for her. He couldn’t be in the same room with her for another minute without touching her.

  She brought her hand to her mouth and pretended to think about it. “I suppose I did. A little. Maybe you need to remind me what I was missing.”

  Unfolding the shawl from around her shoulders, he let it drop to the floor. When every article of clothing was on the floor, Saafir pulled her to the rug with him. Her giggles turned to moans in record time and Saafir showed her how much he appreciated and had missed her.

  * * *

  Sarah woke to the smell of Saafir—clean and spicy. He was fresh from a shower and was knotting his tie around his neck in the mirror. She watched for several long moments before he noticed she was awake.

  “How did you sleep?” he asked.

  Sarah stretched out on the cool sheets. “Great. Where are you off to this morning?”

  “I have a meeting with my defense secretary. He has news about Rabah Wasam’s movements.”

  Sarah shivered. She wanted Rabah Wasam caught, but she knew a man with power and influence and a mob of followers could evade the law. “Please be careful. He won’t react well to you coming after him.” Wasam’s means had been violent and aggressive. Would he up the ante when Saafir went on the offensive?