The Jackal Prince

by Rebecca Goings

  Carnal Passions Presents

  The Jackal Prince

  Desert Princes of Jikkar Book V

  By

  Rebecca Goings

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Carnal Passions

  A Division of Champagne Books

  www.carnalpassions.com

  Copyright 2011 by Rebecca Goings

  ISBN 9781926996127

  April 2011

  Cover Art by Amanda Kelsey

  Produced in Canada

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Carnalpassions.com (or the retailer of your choice) and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Other Books By Rebecca Goings

  The Viper Prince

  The Scarab Prince

  The Falcon Prince

  The Spider Prince

  Dedication

  For everyone who fell in love with young Siraj—as I did—while we watched him grow from a boy to a man throughout this series.

  Like a beaming, teary-eyed mother, I’m very proud of the regal prince—and the honorable man—he has become.

  One

  He is here. In Neviann. Run to him. Run!

  Yasmin emerged from her hiding place behind a few water barrels stacked next to a goat merchant’s tent. The merchant’s wife had been nice to her, giving her stale flatbread and some tepid water to ease her hunger over the past few days, but Yasmin couldn’t stay with them forever. She needed a way out of the city. She needed a caravan prince.

  She needed the Jackal.

  Her heart pounded as she ran through the streets, avoiding carts and children. A few people shouted at her to slow down, but she couldn’t stop. She had to reach the Jackal’s caravan before she was caught. His acceptance meant she’d be under a god’s protection, and the ghost that had been chasing her couldn’t touch her.

  But would he remember her? Would he know that she’d been the one to heal his mortal wound all those years ago? She’d been a child then, but she’d told him her name on the dunes before shifting into a falcon and flying away. Perhaps he would remember. She could only hope. If the Jackal denied her safe passage, she would surely die.

  “Please,” Yasmin whispered as she ran. “God of Jackals, have mercy on me. Let him remember!”

  There it was, the Jackal’s long line of caravs and the Sentinels that pulled them, just beyond the tents. She’d heard his horn blast announcing his arrival not too long ago, and now, his servants unloaded his water supply for the people.

  “Jackal,” she cried, stumbling in the sand. “Please, I need to speak to the Jackal Prince!”

  A couple of caravan guards stopped her before she reached the royal carav with the golden jackal emblazoned on the door. Two golden flags flapped in the breeze from the top of his carriage, depicting a black jackal rearing on its hind legs.

  “Who are you?” one of the guards asked.

  “What business do you have here?” the other said.

  “Please,” she said again, her eyes wide. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she shivered. Thankfully, nothing and no one had chased her through the streets. “I need to speak with your prince. He knows me. He will listen to me.”

  “Tell us your business and we will tell the prince.”

  Yasmin looked at the guard on her left, the bigger man in the golden dunla. His thoughts came to her in bits and pieces, but it was easy to read him. He thought she was a threat. He wouldn’t let her see the Jackal. She was hysterical and there was no way he’d let her have an audience with one of the most important men in the desert.

  Yasmin took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “I need the Jackal’s help,” she said in a smooth, steady voice. “He owes me a favor. Please, I need him!”

  “You need some shade and cool water,” the man on the right said. They both chuckled and began hauling her away by her arms. She could easily break their hold and overpower them, but she’d be punished harshly if she did so. And Yasmin already knew firsthand what it was like to be an outcast. She rarely cast her magic now because of it.

  “No, I must see him. I must!”

  The sound of a door opening came to her and she glanced over her shoulder. There was the Jackal, gazing at her with his hands on his hips. He was taller, older. His face had filled out, losing its boyish charm and replacing it with a gorgeous man. He’d grown facial hair since she’d last seen him, a moustache coupled with a thin patch of hair below his lower lip, which widened to a bigger patch on his chin. It wasn’t too thick, but closely clipped.

  It made him look regal and commanding, like the prince he was. Despite his young age, he’d already ruled his oasis for twelve years, inheriting his father’s crown when he’d been fifteen. Everyone knew the story. He’d deposed his father with the help of the Viper, the Scarab, and the Falcon.

  His strength drew her to him. And his courage.

  “Jackal!” she cried, finally twisting free of the men holding her. They tried to catch her, but she was faster, dropping to her knees in the sand next to the steps of his carav. Yasmin bowed her head. She needed his acceptance, more than anything on Jikkar. “Please help me!”

  “What is wrong?” he asked. His deep voice resonated on her skin. She couldn’t stop every hair on her body from standing on end. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  Tears burned behind her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. “I need your protection.”

  “What have you done?”

  Yasmin found it within herself to lift her head, but she didn’t look much higher than his feet. The Jackal had descended the stairs. He stood on the bottom step, his golden robes right in front of her face.

  “I have done nothing,” she said, hearing the hitch in her voice. “I am being pursued, and only the protection of your god can save me.”

  “Pursued by whom?” he asked, finally stepping onto the sand.

  “Not who, but what. Please, Jackal, I’m begging you. Save me.”

  “Why should I save you, woman?”

  Biting her bottom lip, Yasmin finally gazed into his eyes. “Because I once saved you, Highness.”

  ~*~

  Siraj Pramtash sucked in his breath at his first glimpse into the woman’s lavender eyes. It was her. It was her! She’d found him, after all these years of thinking about her, wondering about her. She’d found him, just like the Scarab Prince had told him she might.

  Swallowing hard, he tried not to show that his heart pounded against his ribs or that his hands were suddenly sweaty. Ten years ago, she’d stunned him with her exotic looks. But she’d merely been a young girl then. Now, she was every inch a woman, and more glorious than he could have ever dreamed.

  Long raven hair cascaded over her shoulders while thick, dark lashes ringed her extraordinary eyes. Her skin was the color of warm tea, but the robes she wore were ratty and thin. She looked a little thin as well.

  He knelt in the dirt beside her, waving away his men. He didn’t speak until he was sure they were gone.

  “Yasmin?”
/>
  The corners of her mouth lifted in what looked like relief before she cupped her hands over her smile.

  “You remember.”

  “Of course I remember,” he said, raising his brows. “How could I forget the beautiful little girl who appeared out of nowhere then flew away on the wind?”

  She blushed and glanced down, seemingly uncomfortable in his presence. The last thing Siraj wanted to do was scare her away. He’d wanted to find her years ago, but they had both been children. However, the god of Jackals was a patient god, and now he appeared to have handed Yasmin back into Siraj’s hands.

  And she needed his help.

  “Who is pursuing you?” he asked. “Have you broken the law?”

  She shook her head as she gazed at the sand. Siraj fought the urge to cup her cheek and make her to look at him again. He could drown in her lovely gaze.

  “There is no person chasing me, Highness. May I… May I…?”

  “What?”

  Yasmin glanced over her shoulder as if looking for the guards who’d almost hauled her away.

  “My men are gone,” he told her in a soft tone.

  “May I speak with you privately?”

  She blinked many times while looking at him. He had the distinct feeling she had a hard time holding his eye contact. What had happened to this girl in the past decade? The Yasmin he remembered had seemed confident and happy. This woman before him now was cowering and distant. Siraj’s heart broke for her. He’d feared she wouldn’t survive unscathed. He’d once watched her change her shape into a falcon, after she’d healed the sword wound the Cobra Prince had given him right through his belly.

  She knew how to wield the ancient magics, the powers meant only for the gods. Insanity followed those who dabbled in their power. He could only pray it wasn’t too late for her.

  “By all means, come with me,” he said, indicating she step into his carav.

  Yasmin hesitated and looked up at the flags waving in the breeze. With a deep breath, she stood and followed, meekly bowing her head.

  Siraj closed the door and turned to her, but she didn’t look at him. She seemed to be studying his ornate golden carpet.

  With a sweep of his robes, Siraj strode past her and sat on his pedestal throne at the far end of the carav.

  “I’m listening,” he said.

  Yasmin was trembling. Was she afraid of him? Perhaps she was. She didn’t know him. She couldn’t know that he’d searched for her, that he’d thought of her almost every day since she’d left him in the dunes beyond Suridesh.

  She lifted her head and glanced at him, giving him a strange look, as if she’d heard his thoughts.

  “This will sound strange to you, Jackal,” she said. “But I hear voices. I see things, people that aren’t there. And…and I can do things.”

  He gave her a knowing grin. “Yes, I know you can do things. And it doesn’t surprise me that you can do more.”

  “You don’t understand,” she continued. “What I can see and hear is not a benevolent spirit. It haunts me, Highness.”

  Siraj furrowed his brow. “You see ghosts?”

  She took her time, nodding slowly. “I have tried to keep a low profile. I’ve run from it before. But it’s found me in Neviann and I need to move on. I know your god can protect me, and I thought I would beg you to help me.”

  “Because you helped me?”

  She nodded.

  He didn’t know what to make of this woman. She claimed she saw spirits. Perhaps the insanity had already touched her.

  “You must believe me,” she said, this time with less conviction. “If you do not…” Her voice broke off but she squared her shoulders. “If you do not, then I will die.”

  “This ghost, it’ll kill you?” he said skeptically, cocking his head.

  “In some way, yes.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’m not exactly sure what it’ll do to me, Highness. But…I think it's attracted to my magic. I never wanted to study the ancient magics, I was born this way. I just know what to do. I’ve never been taught, and that’s made me unwelcome everywhere I go.”

  The pain behind her words hit Siraj right in the gut. He wanted to go to her, comfort her. But he barely knew this woman, aside from their chance encounter years ago, when he’d been run through by the Cobra.

  “Why were you out there on the dunes that day so long ago, Yasmin?” he asked after a short silence.

  She stared at the floor and swallowed. “I can become a bird, as you know. I heard the Falcon Prince’s call in my head. That was the second time it had happened. The first had been a couple of years before, when I was only ten years old.”

  “You can hear the Falcon Prince call to his birds?”

  She nodded. “The first time, I ignored the call. I was young, it scared me.” Siraj nodded and gestured for her to continue. “The second time, I was curious. So I shifted my body and flew into the sky. I found the Falcon easily enough, and followed the other birds to look for the Spider’s princess. But I… found you. My keen eyes saw your wound and I couldn’t let you die.”

  “How did you know I was the Jackal Prince?”

  Yasmin finally lifted her eyes to him and smiled. Siraj’s heart skipped a beat, but he returned her soft grin. “You were wearing gold, Highness. I knew the Jackal’s color was gold. And I also knew you were a boy. Your robes were too fine to merely be a member of your caravan, and your jackal sword gave you away.”

  “You saw all of that when you healed me?”

  “No,” she replied. “I saw all of that from the sky.”

  His eyes widened. “I never got to thank you properly.”

  “I didn’t want your friends to see me.”

  “Why not?”

  She played with her hair, twirling it in circles around her fingers. Siraj suddenly had the insane urge to delve his own fingers into her tresses.

  Yasmin shrugged and looked away. “I was naked.”

  That got Siraj’s attention. “If I remember correctly, you were surrounded by a sparkling glow of light.”

  “Well, I did not wish for you to…see me. But if the others had seen me, I wasn’t sure I could hold onto my concentration. I wasn’t very powerful.”

  He stood from his throne and took a few steps toward her. “I still wear the mark of the Cobra’s sword.”

  She took a few steps back. “I heard what happened to the Cobra. Seems he got what he deserved.”

  “Did you know I look at this mark every day when I dress and think of you?”

  Yasmin’s sharp inhalation of breath echoed off the walls. “It has been years, Highness.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I was in such pain, you were an angel to me out there in the sand. I have always wondered where you were, what you were doing. Who you were with. What you looked like all grown up.”

  “Now you know.”

  He nodded. “Now I know.”

  A long, uncomfortable silence descended upon them the moment he stepped in front of her. There was nowhere for her to go, she was up against the wall, pressing against the fine, golden silk draped across it.

  “If I give you my protection,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, “then you will ride my caravan. You will leave this place and travel the desert with me. Is this what you wish?”

  He hadn’t meant for his words to sound intimate, but by her raised brows, he could only assume what she was now thinking. He didn’t correct her thoughts. He’d been dreaming about her lovely eyes for far too long not to wonder what it would be like to be with her. And if she stayed with him for the long ride back to his oasis, he wasn’t sure if he could keep his hands to himself.

  “I wish it, Jackal.”

  Damn, but her soft acceptance sounded too much like a wedding vow.

  “Then consider my hospitality my belated thanks for saving my life. You will be an honored guest in my caravan, and you may call me Siraj from now on.”

  She gasped again. “I couldn’t
possibly say your name!”

  He held up his hand. “Further,” he said, continuing as if she hadn’t said a word. “I will give you some new robes to wear.” He looked her up and down. “And some food. How long has it been since you’ve eaten a decent meal?”

  She shied away from him. “I…I can’t remember.”

  Siraj grasped her elbow, and he couldn’t deny the zing of awareness that shot straight to his cock. “Yasmin, why didn’t you find me sooner?”

  She looked at him through misty eyes. “I did not wish to use you and take advantage of your hospitality, Jackal. I could always find something to eat here or there. But I could no longer…ignore what the voices were saying. What they wanted of me. I-I’m so scared. I didn’t know where to turn. When I heard your horn over Neviann, something told me to run to you.”

  “One of your ghosts, perhaps?”

  Yasmin shook her head. “No, Highness. More like a feeling. A…a need.”

  Gods. Right about now, Siraj knew all about need. But he couldn’t find it within himself to let her go. He was touching her, after all these years. She was before him. She was going to ride his caravan across the dunes.

  He sent up a silent prayer of thanks to the god of Jackals. For surely it had been him who’d prompted her to come to him.

  If Siraj had his way, she would never leave.

  He gave her a slow grin. “My god brought you to me.”

  Yasmin swallowed hard and nodded. “I think he did, Highness.”

  “Siraj.”

  She looked away without saying his name. He’d get her to say it. One way or another.

  Two

  Yasmin couldn’t believe the whirlwind that suddenly surrounded her. She could finally breathe again. The Jackal had given her his protection, and with it, the protection of his god. But the servants who scurried here and there were almost laughable.

  Siraj had insisted she take a seat among his pillows while he gave her a goblet of water to drink. The goblet was made of fine glass, surrounded on the stem by a howling jackal. Yasmin had tried hard not to gulp the water and moan. It was cool and clean, the best water she’d ever had.