The Sheik's Kidnapped Bride (13 page)

She couldn’t imagine the king agreeing to either. “What did
Khalil
pick?”

“This.”
Fatima
touched a small flower near the hem. “
Khalil
said he wanted a symbol of the desert rose.” She smiled. “But he specified that one of the leaves was to be made to look like the paw print of the desert cat. As we have no such creature in our country, I thought it was a most unusual request.”

Dora could feel herself blushing. She remembered their night of lovemaking, when he’d first compared her to a desert rose, then afterward had called her his desert wildcat.

“Very interesting,” she said without meeting
Fatima
’s gaze.

The older woman moved in front of her and kissed her cheek. “Don’t be afraid. I have cast your fortune upon the water, and the future has been revealed to me. You will need to be strong, but if you trust your heart and stay on the true course, you will achieve your soul’s desire.”

Then she secured the sheer white veil across the lower half of Dora’s face and left the room.

Dora stood alone within the protective walls of the harem. She couldn’t believe all that had happened to her in the past month. Her life had changed so dramatically, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Ironically her wedding ceremony today, to
Khalil
, would occur the day after she’d been scheduled to marry Gerald.

She turned slowly so that she could see herself in the large mirror across the room. Instead of a thirty-year-old woman in a traditional wedding gown, she stared into the dark eyes of a stranger. Heavy garments covered her from her shoulders to her toes, and the sheer veil concealed the details of her features. She looked exotic and otherworldly, not at all the timid woman she’d been a month before.

Fatima
had promised that she could achieve her soul’s desire, if she was strong and trusted her heart. Dora squeezed her hennaed fingers so tightly together that her nails dug into her skin. Her soul’s desire was to find her one true love. To be cared for, and to care in return; to have children, to raise those children, and then to grow old next to a wonderful man. Not riches, not titles, not power—just the joy of being part of a warm, loving marriage.

As heart’s desires went, it was fairly standard. Surely she wasn’t asking for too much.

“Are you nervous?”

Dora glanced up and saw a beautiful young woman standing behind her. She hadn’t heard her enter the harem.

She turned and looked at the petite, dark-haired goddess dressed in a shimmering gold-and-white dress that emphasized the incredible shape of her body. Her face was exquisite with perfect features that looked amazingly familiar. Dora stared and tried to remember—then it came back to her. This was the woman
Khalil
had argued with in the clothing store in
New York
.

“We haven’t met,” the young woman said, moving toward Dora, but not holding out her hand in greeting. “My name is Amber. I’m
Khalil’s
fiancée.” She paused, then touched perfectly manicured, long red fingernails to her pouty mouth. “Oh, dear. That was a slip of the tongue. I should say
Khalil’s
former fiancée.”

The heavy silk robes might conceal Dora’s body from view, but she knew that her own pear shape was no competition for the young beauty in front of her. Amber was everything she’d ever wanted to be—everything she’d ever admired. How could
Khalil
have turned his back on this vision to marry her?

“Cat got your tongue?” Amber asked in a low, husky voice.

“No, of course not. I’m just surprised to see you.”

“I can only imagine.” Amber gave her an imperfect smile, then began to walk in a slow circle around her. “My, my, my. You’re not at all what I pictured. I had hoped he might have at least chosen someone more…” She made a fluttering gesture with her right hand.

Amber’s thick, long hair had been piled on top of her head, giving her a few added inches of height. Large diamonds twinkled in the upswept curls. As Dora stared at them, she reached up and touched her own headdress. It was only then that she realized the other woman’s dress resembled a robe, although the fabric of Amber’s gown was thin enough to mold to her body. In fact, everything about Amber’s appearance was either a mockery or an imitation of Dora’s wedding garb. Her heart sank.

“What are you doing here?”

“At the wedding?” Amber asked, deliberately misunderstanding. “I’m the daughter of the prime minister and a close friend of the family. That makes me a very important guest. Of course I’d expected to attend this wedding in a slightly different capacity.” Something flickered in her brown eyes as she continued to circle Dora.

“This is a disaster for all of us,” Amber continued. “I blame myself, of course. If I hadn’t fought with
Khalil
while he was in
New York
, none of this would have happened.” She paused and lowered her gaze. “It was a lover’s spat. We were both so silly.
Khalil
insists on dictating my life, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I told him it was over.”

She stared directly at Dora. “He was so furious. So I left. But instead of coming after me, he came to you. Into your virgin bed.”

Dora stiffened. How had Amber known that Dora hadn’t…

“He told me,” Amber said, answering the silent question. “He tells me everything. You can imagine how distraught he was to find out that you were innocent. He is, after all, a most honorable man. How could he turn his back on what he’d done? So he proposed. Of course neither of us thought you would accept.”

Dora’s stomach turned over, and her throat tightened. This fabulous creature in front of her was lying. She had to be lying. It hadn’t happened like that.

“He insisted,” she murmured, forcing the words past suddenly dry lips.

“Did he?” Amber asked languidly. She paused in front of the mirror and patted her perfectly coiffed hair. “He can be most convincing. But how awkward for all of us that you believed him. My father is distraught, as is most of the country. I am a favored daughter while you are…not.”

Dora took a step back. She didn’t know what to think or feel. She could only retreat.

Amber smiled sadly. “Then there is the matter of us still loving each other. I don’t know what to do about that.” Their gazes met in the mirror.

“He doesn’t love you,” Dora said shakily, unable to believe what was happening. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. She was dreaming except that her body was too cold, too bruised for her to be anything but very awake. Dreams never hurt this much.

Amber turned to face her. Compassion added incredible beauty to already perfect features. “Dora, has
Khalil
made love with you once since that first night?”

Dora opened her mouth, but she couldn’t seem to form words. Mutely she shook her head.

“And since you’ve been in my country, has he ever been with you?”

“I’ve been in the harem,” she managed to whisper.

Amber shrugged. “
Khalil
has managed to find his way inside my father’s house, which is halfway across the city and as well-guarded as the palace. If he’d wanted to, don’t you think he could have made his way down the hall?”

Dora could feel her face flushing, then growing cold. Her eyes burned, but she could not give in to the tears. Was Amber speaking the truth? Dora didn’t want to believe her, but the young woman knew too many details. Had
Khalil
discussed this with her? The humiliation made her stomach twist and rise. She had to swallow the taste of bile.

“He’s been with me every night,” Amber said quietly. “We’ve been wild for each other. I suppose some of it is the lure of the forbidden.” She sighed. “He’s so filled with passion that it lingers in his eyes even after we’ve sated ourselves.”

A sob formed in Dora’s throat. She didn’t want to believe anything Amber said, but it was too hard to dispute so many facts. If
Khalil
hadn’t been making his way to Amber’s bed every night, how would she know that he wasn’t with her, Dora? What about the fact that they hadn’t made love since that first night? Dora had been so sure she’d seen passion in his eyes, but had it just been for Amber?

If things had happened differently between herself and
Khalil
, if they’d been spending time together, she might be able to make sense of this, but they hadn’t. Except for dinner with his family, she never saw
Khalil
. It had been two weeks since she’d been alone with him. These were hardly the actions of a man deeply in love with his new wife.

Worse, a part of her had never believed what he told her. She’d always wondered how he could have been so swept away by her. She wasn’t the type to inspire that kind of passion. She was just an ordinary woman…nothing like Amber.

Dora motioned to her wedding garb. “Then why is he doing this? Marrying me, I mean.”

“Does he have a choice?” Amber asked, bitterness sharpening her words. “Did you give him the out he needed? Did you ever once think of anyone but yourself? Of course not. He was married before he had time to consider the alternatives, and you took advantage of him. You’re greedy and selfish.”

Dora took another step back. “It wasn’t like that,” she said softy. “I never—”

Amber dismissed her with a wave of her hand. “You think we don’t know the truth? The very day after your wedding, you went shopping and spent thousands of dollars on clothes. What about that wedding ring and the jewels?”

“There aren’t any jewels,” she protested weakly. “The hair ornament is
Fatima
’s. And I didn’t ask for any clothes.”

“No, but you took them, didn’t you. You refused nothing.”

Amber made her sound so horrible. Dora held on to the last thread of her dignity and refused to cry.
Khalil
had insisted on the clothes. She hadn’t wanted to go shopping at all. Amber could say what she liked about that, but Dora knew what had happened.

“You’re wrong,” she said.

Amber glared at her. “Am I? We’ll just see. You’ve trapped
Khalil
into marriage, but that’s just for now. In time his passion for me will overcome his duty, and he’ll leave you. El
Bahar
has made much progress in the past fifty years, and it’s surprisingly easy for a man to divorce his wife…even a prince. I wouldn’t get too used to living in the palace if I were you.”

“He wouldn’t,” Dora whispered, even as she knew he very well could.

“Don’t count on it. I know
Khalil
. I know him down to his soul. I know that I am in possession of his heart. Can you say the same?”

With that she turned and left as quietly as she’d come. Dora stared after her. Pain swept through her, agonizing waves that left her broken and disillusioned. All she’d wanted, all she’d hoped for, it had all been a lie.
Khalil
didn’t want her—he’d never wanted her. She’d been an impulse and then a mistake. He hadn’t wanted to marry her. Why hadn’t she seen that?

“Princess Dora?”

Dora looked up and saw
Rihana
standing in the doorway to the harem.

The pretty, young servant smiled at her. “Come, it is time for you to be married.”

The old man in front of them spoke ancient words. Around them, dozens of people sat on fat pillows, while candles lit the vastness of the room. But for Dora, the world had been reduced to a sharp pain, a futile quest for forgetfulness, and the death of a dream.

Even as
Khalil
took one of her hands in his and spoke, she couldn’t think about anything but what that woman had said. The lies, dear God, they had to be lies. She couldn’t have been speaking the truth. That wasn’t possible.
Khalil
had said he wasn’t sure he could leave
New York
without her, hadn’t he? She pressed her fingertips to her temple and tried to remember what, exactly, had happened the night they’d made love…and the next morning. Had she misunderstood? Was that possible? Had his proposal been a courtesy, nothing more?

No, she thought frantically. He’d insisted. She’d thought it was all a joke, but he’d pursued her, hadn’t he? Just as he’d really convinced her that he wanted her. She remembered him taking off his clothes so that he could show her the proof of his desire. She hadn’t imagined that—after all, she’d never seen a naked man before. So that part had really happened. Surely he couldn’t have been able to pretend to want her if he hadn’t felt that way. Except she didn’t know enough about men to figure out any of this. Could he have been aroused for other reasons? Had he been thinking about Amber instead? But if he’d been thinking about his fiancée, why had he come to Dora’s bed?

The holy man spoke more words. Incense filled the large hall. The room seemed to tilt and spin, and then
Khalil
removed her veil and pressed his mouth to hers.

The intimate contact caught her off guard. She flinched in surprise, then tried not to feel the familiar heat of his mouth. Despite her pain and confusion, just the lightest brush of his lips against hers sent liquid heat pouring through her body. If he had continued kissing her, or if he’d touched her anywhere else, she would have found herself unable to resist him.

The reality of her need for this man terrified her. They’d only been together once. How could she have changed so much in such a short period of time, and how could she go back to what she’d been before? She didn’t want to be vulnerable to him; she needed to be strong.

When
Khalil
raised his head, the crowd around them cheered. He grinned as he tucked the veil back in place. “Now you are officially my wife, little desert rose. What do you say to that?”

She searched his face, desperate to find a clue, a hint that he was happy and that this was what he wanted. But she didn’t know him well enough to read his expression. She could only guess, and the new questions in her mind made her question everything she found.

“
Khalil
?”

But he was torn from her before he could say anything. A group of men spirited him away, while dozens of women led her in the opposite direction. In a matter of minutes she and
Khalil
had been led across the hall into an even larger room set with dozens of huge tables. They were seated next to each other at the center of the largest banquet table. A feast lay before them, but the thought of eating churned Dora’s stomach.

She tried to concentrate on her surroundings. The beauty of the room, ancient tapestries hanging from an arched ceiling nearly three dozen feet overhead, the open windows and doorways leading to balconies overlooking the sea, the lush displays of tropical flowers filling corners and overflowing the tables, caught her eye if not her attention.

Conversation and laughter filled the room, but she couldn’t participate. The wild desert music made her head pound. She ignored the food
Khalil
set on her plate and barely sipped her wine.

“You are quiet,”
Khalil
said, leaning close to be heard over the crowd. “Did the ceremony disappoint you?”

“Not at all.” She cleared her throat. This wasn’t the time to have a talk about what Amber had said. “I have a slight headache.”

His dark eyes flashed. “I hope it gets better soon. I have missed my desert cat and had hoped I would get to visit her again this night.” He put a hand on her thigh, then slipped it between her legs for a brief, erotic caress. “It’s been too long.”

She stared at him, not sure what to believe. Unfortunately it was impossible to think with his fingers rubbing against that magical center of her being. Shivers rippled through her, and her breasts swelled. She wanted to let her legs fall open so that he could touch her again and again until she found her release. Even as she acknowledged that he could have been lying about everything, she sensed that he would always have sexual power over her. The situation was intolerable…worse, it was inescapable.

She suffered through the rest of the meal, trying to smile and pretend that all was well. When the dessert trays were brought out,
Khalil
leaned close again.

“Everyone will understand if we make our escape now.
Rihana
has packed your bag for the night.”

She blinked. “What bag? For what night?”

He gave her a slow, lazy smile. “You’ve spent two weeks in the harem. Didn’t my grandmother tell you about the traditional wedding night?”

Mutely Dora shook her head.

“Ah, then I suspect you will enjoy the surprise,” he told her. “I know I will enjoy sharing it with you.”

As he rose, the pace of the music changed. The beat increased, as did the volume. Instantly they became the center of attention.

“You sneak away so soon?”
Malik
called from his place at the far end of the table. “But then my little brother was always impatient.”

Khalil
waved him off. “We have far to go. It’s late.”

“You need to go far so she won’t be able to run away in horror,” Jamal,
Khalil’s
middle brother joked. At least Dora assumed it was a joke. Everyone laughed out loud.

Khalil
ignored that comment and the others that followed. He took Dora’s hand and started for the door. But dozens of people stopped them, the men offering congratulations, the women smiling at her with friendliness, or envy. Dora’s numbness crept down to her bones, and she found herself barely able to register what was going on.

Then, just as they were to make their escape, Amber appeared in front of them. If Dora had any doubts, they were dispelled when she felt her husband stiffen as if he’d slammed into a wall. He obviously felt some strong emotion for this woman.

Amber, as beautiful as the most perfect statue ever created by man, stared up mutely. Tears clung to her lower lashes, but did not fall. Her lips trembled. She was a vision of pain.

“
Khalil
,” she breathed softly. “I love you.”

For Dora, the confession was a knife to the heart. She had to force herself to stay silent, to not cry out. Why had this happened? Why had she been a fool for the second time in her life?

Khalil
pushed past Amber without saying a word. In a matter of minutes, Dora found herself in the passenger seat of a four-wheel-drive vehicle, heading away from the palace.

“
Khalil
?”

He drove with easy confidence. “Relax. We aren’t going that far. Tradition states that we ride to our destination, but I didn’t think you’d be up to that.”

“Ride?”

He shot her a grin. “Horses.”

Her brain refused to function. She turned the thought over in her mind a few times until she realized he meant that the usual tradition was for the bride and groom to ride away on horseback. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see. It’s just over the rise.”

Buildings quickly fell away. To the left and right, the city rose around them, but in front was only wilderness.

“This is all royal land,”
Khalil
told her. He pulled off his traditional headdress and tossed it into the back seat. He still wore robes that were only a few shades darker than her own. They emphasized his height and strength, leaving her feeling slightly vulnerable, as well as confused and foolish.

“Much of the city sits on land that is owned by the royal family, although it is granted to the government in hundred-year blocks, and we don’t require any rent. But this section is kept private and undeveloped.”

Dora glanced around and tried to take an interest in her surroundings. There was a wild sort of beauty to the untamed vastness that was the desert. In less than ten minutes they’d left the city and palace behind, and now it seemed they were the only two people around for miles.

They reached the peak of the hill. Below lay a shallow valley with an oasis in the center. Dora had never seen such a thing before, except perhaps in books or movies, but she recognized the startlingly green island of life in the middle of brown emptiness. Slender palms formed a half circle around a deep blue pool. Lush plants and bushes grew everywhere. On the far side of the pool, animal tracks littered the muddy banks, and to the left stood a large beige tent.

“Your palace for the night, milady,”
Khalil
said, his voice teasing.

Dora could only stare. One of the flaps had been tied open, inviting them inside. As
Khalil
drew closer, she could see several Jeeps already parked behind the tent, and armed men patrolling the area.

“Who are they?” she asked stiffly.

“They are the unfortunate reminder of reality. Tradition dictates that we spend our first night as man and wife out in the desert. It’s something my family has been doing for generations. However, times have changed, and it’s no longer a simple matter for a prince to take his bride away for the night. So we have a few guards with us.” He gave her a reassuring pat on the hand. “Don’t worry. They’ll stay well back—we’ll have our privacy.”

A tent, the desert, guards? Where would this madness end? What had she been thinking when she’d accepted his proposal? Or perhaps she hadn’t been thinking. Maybe that was her problem. She’d wanted to believe so very much that she’d ignored the obvious…that a man like him could never want a woman like her.

Khalil
parked next to the tent, then walked around and opened her door. She stepped out because she couldn’t think of anything to say, and for now it was easier to go with him.

One of the guards moved close as they approached and held open the loose tent flap. His expression was closed and forbidding, and when they entered, he secured the flap behind them.

“Don’t they make you nervous?” Dora asked.

“On the contrary. They make me feel very safe.”

She supposed that he was right—better to be protected than not. Then she turned and faced the interior of the tent and thankfully, she didn’t have to think about anything at all for a few minutes. It was far better to lose herself in the magic that had been created at the edge of a small oasis.

A smaller inner tent filled the larger one. Dora stepped into a cream-and-gold wonderland of thick rugs and wall hangings, dozens and dozens of deep red pillows. A bed stood in the corner on a dais, the covers pulled back, the soft white linens offering welcome.

To the right sat a table laden with covered dishes.
Champagne
—for the Khan family was not Muslim—chilled in an ice bucket. The rugs deceived her feet and the tapestries deceived her eyes. Had she not seen the tent for herself, she would have thought she were in some luxurious home in an exotic town.

“It’s lovely,” she told
Khalil
.

“We know how to travel in style,” he said lightly. “Something we learned more than a thousand years ago.”

He came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She told herself not to react, or at the very least, not to overreact. But it was impossible. Before she could stop herself, she flinched violently, then tore herself away and spun to face him.

“Don’t!” she ordered. “Don’t touch me.”

Khalil
stepped back in surprise. “What’s wrong?” He stared at her, his dark eyes searching her face. “This is more than wedding nerves, isn’t it? Something has happened.”

“How perceptive,” she said sarcastically. “What was your first clue?”

He frowned. “What is it, Dora? Why are you acting like this? It’s not in your nature to be a petty female. You are usually so reasonable. Tell me?”

She stared at him, at this man to whom she had been bound in separate ceremonies nearly half a world apart. “You don’t know me at all,” she said softly. “But that’s only fair, because I don’t know you, either.”

He gestured impatiently. In his traditional robes, he looked very much the part of the prince of a desert kingdom. A prince who would never have willingly chosen her for his wife.

“You haven’t answered the question,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“Amber came to see me,” she told him. “Today, just before the ceremony.”

His expression didn’t change at all. She might as well have told him about the weather for all he seemed to care. “She is not to be trusted,” he said. “Ignore everything she said.”

“It’s not that easy. Don’t you want to know what she said to me?”