Threats his ass, if Candace wanted to slide a knife between his ribs . . . now was her chance. But he’d bet the castle she didn’t pose a threat to him. All the better to have him sticking to her like glue. But right now, nothing was going to take him away from Candace. He’d been sexually baited to the breaking point, interrupted constantly. He needed satisfaction, and he needed it now, on a couple of levels.
“Diyari . . .”
He turned in time to catch the walkie-talkie Taj threw at his head.
He heard Candace gasp as Taj flipped him off.
As they made their way out of the encampment, two large lizards sunned themselves on the eroded rock formations. The fronds of a lone palm tree swished in the breeze producing a soothing song of the desert. He switched the reins into his other hand as he pointed to the mountains, shimmering in a purple haze like a mirage, in the distance. “Those mountains mark the border of B’Quara.” Candace followed his finger as they galloped further, the horses’ hooves sinking into the dunes of sand.
Finally, they were alone. The limitless desert lay in front of them. Dry, baked, windswept dunes in all directions. The sun, in a blaze of lavender, orange, and blue, began to sink into the horizon. With his arm around her waist, they watched as the last rays of the sun changed the harsh ocean of sand into a flowing, golden sea. “You need to know the desert like the back of your hand if you decide to take a ride. It’s easy to lose your way among the dunes, to become disoriented. Do you know this desert like the back of your hand, Candace?” The tremor that rifled through her gave him his answer. Yes, as a CIA operative she’d been here many times before.
“And if I say yes to that question, where does that leave us?” She remained within his arms but stared straight ahead.
He nuzzled her neck, his hot breath rivaling the heat of the surrounding desert. “I think I deserve an explanation, don’t you?”
Now she spun around, nearly unseating them. “I’m trying to protect your father. That’s my mission. Nothing more.”
“With the CIA. Do I have that correct?” His voice was sterner than he intended.
“Yes.”
“And what about The National Resistance Group? What part do they play in this assassination plot?”
She continued to stare at him. “They want to murder your father and start a revolution to rid the kingdom of the royal family.”
His gaze lingered on her lips, but the intensity of his voice produced a warning within her. “And do you have information about the men in this group?”
“Nothing more than they are led by an American.” Her hushed tone hinted that she wasn’t all that comfortable dispensing this information even to him.
“Anyone either you or the CIA are familiar with?”
Her shoulders slumped as her voice dropped to nearly a whisper, “We don’t know.”
He let out a thundering sigh. “I see. And yet you didn’t trust me enough to inform me of your mission when we first met. Or when we became close. Do you know how that makes me feel? Knowing you don’t trust me? Did you for even a second imagine I would have anything to do with a plot to kill my father?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t know you or your Black Scorpions. I thought maybe you were a threat to the king.” Her gaze searched his face, staring into his eyes. Even now, she was judging him.
The skin across his cheeks tightened. “I’m his son, for god’s sake. Heir to the throne!” he exploded.
“Yes, I know.” Her voice sounded flat. She was in operative mode.
He pulled the stallion up sharply. “And you thought I’d kill my father to gain the throne?” Did she think of him as a cruel and brutal man who could commit such an act? Allah protect him, he loved his father with every cell of his being.
“Like I said, I didn’t know you at first. Now, we know The National Resistance Group is responsible.”
Using both hands, he pushed back and jumped off of the horse. His boots sank deep into the sand as he paced out into the open desert. “Son of a bitch, Candace. You should have come to me!” he shouted, as he swiped a hand over his face.
Remaining seated on the horse, Candace stared at him. “How could I when I’m still accessing information?”
He kicked at the sand, his frustration getting the best of him. “I saw you that night.” He stated, peering out over the sand.
“Which night?”
“The night of my meeting with the Black Scorpions. I saw you scurrying up the vines to your bedroom.”
He heard the shock in her voice. “And you didn’t say anything? Why?”
“At first I couldn’t believe my own eyes. Why in hell would a wedding planner be interested in our meeting?” He shook his head as he sauntered back toward her. “I asked Taj to run a deep background check on you.”
“I see.” She turned away from him. “And what did you find out?” She all but barked at him. She was angry with him, but why? She had her job to do, and he had his.
“Not a damn thing. You came back squeaky clean, and that made me suspicious as hell.”
Candace tilted her head toward him, “I guess we both need to be a little more honest.”
“Damn right we do. Now tell me what you know. From here on out we share everything. Everything, do you hear me?”
He slung himself back up onto the horse.
“Yes, your Royal Highness.”
“Candace,” he growled, “Don’t patronize me. This situation requires both of us working side by side. I’m not going to see my father murdered. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal clear.”
The desire pumping through his veins scared the hell out of him. He was afraid for his father and for Candace. He feared that somehow, she’d be injured or killed chasing down this National Resistance Group. He wasn’t about to let that happen. Not even if he sacrificed himself. Which he would willingly do to keep her and his father safe.
“Your husband . . . was he an operative?” he inquired.
“Yes,” Candace simply answered.
“And he died on a mission . . . in the line of fire?”
Candace’s shoulders raised then slumped as she exhaled a long breath. “Yes, he died in my arms.”
His eyes widened in shock, “That must have been impossible for you to come back from. How did you go back to work after such a tragedy?” His voice slipped into a mournful tone.
“For months I wallowed in sorrow for my lost but at some point I knew I had to start functioning again or I was on the path to self-destruction.”
“And now . . . do you think your strong enough to handle a relationship of this magnitude?”
“You mean for the amount of time we have together? I . . . I don’t know if I can just walk away.”
His finger hiked her chin up so he could look directly into his eyes. “Yet you keep telling people that this is just a fling and you’ll give me up when needed.”
He watched as she swallowed hard. “I know . . . but when the time comes how involved will we be?”
“So, you don’t intend to break this off?” His lips caught the edge of hers and drew her into a fathomless kiss, his composure of the last hour shattered by his hunger for her.
He watched as her chest rose and fell before she answered, “I know it will be hard, but I also will do my duty. To you and to my country. That’s all we can promise each other. Right?”
Above her head, a fleck of motion on the horizon caught his eye. Huge dust devils. Kicked up by what? As he continued to stare, he realized, no, not a dust devil at all. Horses . . . many horses, headed straight for them.
“What’s wrong?” Candace asked.
He pointed and observed as she followed the point beyond the tip of his finger. As they both stared at the horizon, something flashed
in the setting sun. Something metal — something resembling the barrel of a gun.
“It’s an army,” Candace blurted out.
A small flash turned into a lot of flashes as a large party of men crested the dune not a thousand yards from them. He pulled her tighter into him as he grabbed the walkie-talkie hanging from the pommel of his saddle, silently reprimanding himself for not listening to Taj.
He flipped the switch. “Taj!” he shouted. “Taj!” he repeated, waiting for his brother to answer. Unsnapping the scabbard, he withdrew his rifle, cocked it, aiming it at the men as the first bullet missed his head by inches.
“We have to move, to get some cover,” Candace yelled.
“Diyari . . . Diyari!” He heard his brother scream into the walkie-talkie. Glancing around him, he sought anything they could use for protection. About one hundred yards away was a rock formation. It wasn’t the best refuge, but it was all they had. Without it, they had no chance at all. He slid off the horse’s back, then his hands encircled Candace’s waist as he helped her down. He reached for Candace’s hand, but she was already running for cover. Within minutes, breathless, they crouched down behind the rocks.
He yelled into the walkie talkie, “Taj, we’re under fire—about thirty men.”
“Allah be merciful,” blasted Taj’s voice over the air.
“That about sums it up,” he replied, his gaze darting between Candace and the approaching force of men. Her training had apparently paid off because she appeared unruffled in the line of fire, her eyes glued to the approaching men.
His gaze raked over her. “I guess now would be a good time to show me all those skills you developed in the CIA.”
To his utter surprise, she pulled up her robe and withdrew a Beretta strapped to her thigh and took aim at the marauders heading toward them.
“They’re coming straight for us.”
He hunkered down next to Candace. If he needed to, he’d shield her with his body. He’d never let these men take either of them alive. Unzipping his robe, he withdrew his Glock from his shoulder holster and placed it within reach, the rifle he’d taken from his horse remained his first choice of weapon. Silently he cursed himself for removing his bandoliers in the stable. Damn it! He needed that ammunition. What a fool he was for not paying attention to Taj when he told him not to go. He was a fool. And his foolishness had placed both Candace and himself in grave danger.
“I’ve never fought beside a woman before,” he stated, marveling at her composure in this situation.
“Well, get used to it. This is the twenty first century,” she replied, her eyes never leaving the small army.
The men opened fire, the bullets whizzing past their heads and ricocheting off the rocks behind them. They began firing back. When her gun jammed, he watched opened-mouthed as she reached down and in one incredible move, expertly cleared the jam by sliding the gun across her hip.
Without turning his attention away from the band of men, he complimented her. “Nice work. You’re the first person I’ve seen clear a stovepipe jam so quickly.”
She didn’t have time to respond as a bullet ricocheted off the rocks behind them.
Candace raised her head, firing her weapon, the red-orange muzzle fire barking from the barrel. “You have a leak the size of the Nile River in the Black Scorpions.”
“No, no way.” He shook his head, disturbed by the very thought that one of his men could betray him.
Candace blew a puff of breath up through her long bangs. “Yeah, well, you need to face some facts. Who knew we rode out today by ourselves?”
Amazement spread across his face, “Just— damn it —only the Black Scorpions would be privy to that information. They were the only security detail at the camp.”
They ducked as a concentrated barrage of bullets whizz past them. “You’ve got a rat, a rat the size of California, and he’s suppling information to The National Resistance Group. Probably one of the marauders who blew up your oil wells, killing all those people and hoping to force a coup.
“The coup was halted by the Black Scorpions.” Diyari soberly stated, his focus remaining on the men on horseback.
“Well, these men were sent specifically to kill you. With you out of the picture, your father would be an easier target.”
Diyari’s gaze snapped to hers. He punched the boulder in front of him with his fist. “Damn them, and their arrogance!”
The wind picked up, stinging his eyes as he fired and picked off man after man. But there were too many. Too many for just the two of them to handle.
Diyari turned to glance behind him, searching for an escape route. Instead, he caught sight of a cloud of dust moving up fast behind them. The corners of his lips arched into a slight smile. His brother never took no for an answer, and right now he was damn glad he didn’t.
The volley of bullets was deafening, pieces of stone flying all around them. He raised his head, fired, then squished down behind the rocks.
The cloud of dust burst forward, closing the distance between them. Taj. But would Taj and his men make it in time? They were getting low on ammo. He glanced over at Candace. Like a pro, she fired, hit a target, then dropped behind the rocks. He had to acknowledge it—that woman could shoot. After almost ten minutes of constant fire, he heard Candace make a small sound.
He bent his head to check on her, hunched down behind the rocks. “Hey, you okay?” he asked, then raised his gun and took another shot. She didn’t answer. Concern marred his face, his eyebrows knotting together. He repeated, “Candace?” This time she looked up at him, but he spied the stream of red blood blossoming on the front of her robes.
He froze.
“I’m so sorry, Diyari.” Her voice was low, dull, mixed with pain. She pressed her hand against the wound, trying to stop the loss of blood. “Damn it!” he cursed, his heart in his throat. He crawled over to her. Gathering her into his arms, he leaned her forward, checking for an exit wound, but didn’t find one. He tore her robes open to examine where the blood was coming from as another bullet missed her head by inches. He let out a stream of oaths that had Candace cringing. He checked her weapon. The magazine was out. He checked his. Two more bullets.
Tearing the bottom of his robe, he wadded up a huge bundle of cloth and pressed it against her wound. Her side, just above her hipbone, pulsed blood. Damn! He swore again. With the amount of blood she was losing, she’d be beyond saving if he didn’t get help quickly.
He huddled his body around Candace, keeping her warm. The bandage was slowing down the blood flow, thank the stars, but she needed immediate attention. She shivered violently, her body reacting to the blood loss. A hail of bullets slammed into the rocks, and he covered her body with his. Not fifty yards from them now, the marauders continued to advance. This tragic scenario would be over in a matter of minutes. He pulled her closer into the heat of his body as he kissed the top of her head. “It’s going to be all right. I’ll get a helicopter. I’ll have you at a hospital in thirty minutes. Tops.”
“Flying again,” she murmured with a weak smile.
“Yep, I know how much you like it.” He wanted to smile, to reassure her. He couldn’t. The marauders were almost upon them. In fact, he was praying for time, fearing he was going to lose her. Squaring his shoulders, he vowed to fight to save her with every molecule of his body.
Taj and his men arrived just in the nick of time. Taj jumped down beside him as the rest of the Black Scorpions flew past them right into the midst of the other warriors. They collided with war cries, guns blazing and swords flashing in the deepening twilight, followed by screams of the injured. Taj used his satellite phone to call for a helicopter. Raising his eyes to heaven, Diyari thanked Allah for Taj. Another few minutes and he and Candace would have been slaughtered.
In a matter of minutes, Taj’s men had the army subdue
d. Now, Diyari needed to get her to the hospital.
“How’s she doing?” Taj asked, glancing first at him then at Candace. Over the top of her head, Diyari shook his head. Taj bent, his hands working on the make-shift bandage. Diyari saw his eyes widen as he spied the depth of the wound. “Diyari, keep pressure on this while I get some more bandages from my saddlebags.”
Diyari pressed hard on the wound, so hard in fact, Candace gave a little shriek of pain. “I know it hurts, Baby. But I have to slow down the bleeding. Can you bear it a little longer?”
Fear and pain radiated from the watery blue eyes staring up at him. The rosy color in her cheeks had disappeared, her lips were blue tinged, and shivers racked her body. She was slipping into shock. For the first time in his life, fear uncoiled like a venomous snake in his stomach.
“Hang in there, Candace. We’ll have you out of here in a minute.” Taj’s confidence was lost on Candace as Diyari watched her eyes roll back into her head.
Time slowed to a crawl.
She coughed.
Taj shot Diyari a questioning glace.
The sound of the helicopter speeding toward them was the most wonderful sound Diyari ever heard. Within minutes, Candace was loaded into the bay. She fought to sit up, but Diyari pushed her back down. “What are you trying to do?” He questioned, amazed.
She cinched the material of his robes in her fist. “Hey, attacking us in the desert could just be a diversion.”
He pulled back, staring into her face, “I’m all ears. And I trust that CIA gut instinct of yours.”
She winced at the amount of pain pulsing through her but kept talking, pulling him down so she spoke right into his face. “Your father. They may be planning to hit him while all of us are in the desert fending off an attack.” Her voice warped into a strained cadence as she labored to speak. “These people knew Taj would go after you.” She pulled the front of his robe tighter, whispering into his ear. “Tell Taj to order increased security for your father. Do it now. Right now! Before it’s too late. You have to get to him and protect him.”
For the Sheik's Pleasure (Sheiks in Love Book 2) Page 20
