Люси Монро – The Desert Sheikh's Innocent Queen: King of the Desert, Captive Bride (страница 3)
A group of robed men emerged from one of the cars and Liv shrank closer to Sheikh Fehr’s side, moving so close she could feel his solid frame and the warmth emanating from his body.
He extended a protective arm, keeping her there at his side. “Do not fear. They are my men and they’re here to make sure we get to the airport safely.”
She nodded but her fear and worry didn’t go away, and wouldn’t until she was back home with Jake and her mom. There was too much here that felt foreign and unfamiliar. She’d wanted the unfamiliar, it’s why she’d traveled to Middle East in the first place, but she hadn’t expected problems, nor danger, not like this.
She’d chosen Egypt and Morocco because they looked unique and picturesque in the travel brochures. She’d poured over the travel brochures, too, lingering over photos of the pyramids in the late afternoon sun, camels setting across the desert at sunset, and treasures and artifacts on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
She’d read and reread the itineraries of the Nile cruises, imagining stopping at each of the different ports with a different temple and excursion for every day. She’d shop in the souks, purchase practical wool rugs, buy kebabs from the street vendors and have the adventure of a lifetime.
She’d never seriously considered the possibility of getting into trouble. But then, she’d never been in trouble before. Liv had always been the good girl, the one that followed all the rules and did everything she was told.
One of Sheikh Fehr’s guards opened the back door of the tinted-windowed sedan, and Liv turned to Sheikh Fehr, her gaze searching the hard, expressionless features. She was putting her life in his hands and she didn’t even know him. “Can I trust you?” she asked, her voice all but inaudible.
His dark eyes bored into hers, his high cheekbones creating shadowed hollows above a firm, unsmiling mouth. “Perhaps I should be the one to ask that question. I’ve put my name, and my reputation, on the line for you. Can I trust you, Olivia Morse?”
Something in his dark, shuttered gaze sent shivers racing through her. She had the distinct feeling she was dealing with an altogether different sort of man than she’d ever dealt with before. The problem was, her experience with men was limited, and the one man she was close to—her brother, Jake—was as uncomplicated as a man could be.
Sheikh Fehr, on the other hand, struck her as quite complicated.
“Yes. Of course you can trust me,” she answered huskily, trying to ignore the sudden rush of butterflies in her middle.
“Then we should go,” he answered, gesturing to the open car door, “because you’re not safe here, and you won’t be safe until we reach my country.”
In the close confines of the car, Liv dipped her head, tucking dirty blond hair back behind her ears. She was filthy, and was certain she smelled even worse. She craved a shower or bath, had never wanted to bathe as much as she did right now.
“I’m sorry,” she said, realizing that the sheikh was watching her as the car sped along the road through the desolate countryside to the capital. “I know I’m in desperate need of a shower….” Her voice drifted off apologetically.
“I was thinking that your brother will be so glad when you call him later.”
“Yes,” Liv agreed, eyes suddenly stinging as intense emotion rushed through her. “I was beginning to lose hope that I’d ever get out of there.”
“You’re lucky,” Khalid answered. “Most don’t.”
“Why don’t they?”
“They don’t have the power.”
“I didn’t have any power,” she said, voice soft.
“No. But I did.”
“You’ve done this before … helped people like me?”
“Yes.”
Her lips parted to ask him more, to find out who he was, and why he’d risk his own safety to help others, but he’d turned his head away to stare out the tinted window and the hard set of his features discouraged further conversation.
Almost everything about him discouraged conversation. Dark, big and powerfully built, she found him incredibly intimidating.
Sheikh Fehr had towered over her when they stood side by side waiting for the car and she had to believe he was at least six feet tall, if not taller. He was also quite broad-shouldered, with an athletic build. His skin was deeply tanned, with strong, rugged features that spoke of sun and wind and hot, stinging sand.
“We’re approaching Hafel, the capital city of Jabal,” Sheikh Fehr said. “Did you see any of the city before your arrest?”
Liv shook her head and, glancing down at her lap, she glimpsed the inside of her wrist where yellow and blue bruises remained. She also had more bruises high on her arms, but her robe covered those. “I never got as far as Hafel.”
“Where were you arrested?”
“On the main road between the border and Hafel.” She made a faint sound, part misery, part disbelief. “One moment I was on the bus, and the next I was on my way to Ozr.”
When the sheikh didn’t answer Liv looked up at him. “Are we stopping in Hafel now?”
“No,” Khalid answered as the capital city, a city thousands of years old, appeared before them. The city boasted relatively new modern office buildings that rose over and between crumbling Roman ruins. “Although it’s a fascinating city, a city most of the Western world knows nothing about.”
“Have you spent much time here?” she asked.
“Once upon a time.”
“What changed?”
“Everything.” He hesitated. “When I was a boy my father had a close friendship with the Jabal king, but the king was overthrown twenty years ago and the country is ruled by someone far different now.” His lips twisted cynically. “This is the first time I’ve been here in four years and until last night, I wasn’t even sure they’d allow me in.”
“Why not?”
“I get people out of prison, whisking them off to safer places. The government here doesn’t like it.” He shrugged. “They don’t like me.”
Liv’s stomach did a peculiar somersault. “So why did they let you in?”
He briefly glanced out the window, his shoulders shifting carelessly before glancing back at her. “I paid off several high-up officials.”
Drawing a quick breath she felt her stomach fall again and wondered if she’d ever feel safe again. “You
“Didn’t have much of a choice.” He dark eyes rested on her face, his expression grim. “It was either that, or allow you to go before the Ozr Prison judge in two days’ time, and believe me, you wouldn’t have survived the sentence.”
Liv bit her lip and looked away, out the window. They were approaching the city center, which was far more cramped than the modern neighborhoods. Smoke rose from food stands on the street corners. “It would have been harsh,” she said.
“It would have been deadly,” he agreed.
“And I just wanted to have an adventure,” she said, her voice low. “I never imagined this nightmare.”
The driver slowed, then braked to a complete stop. The sheikh’s wireless phone suddenly rang and he answered it, his eyes on the line of police cars ahead.
“The nightmare,” he said, echoing her words as he hung up the phone, “isn’t over yet.”
Liv leaned forward to get a look at the police officers ahead. “What’s happening?”
“We’re to be questioned,” he answered shortly, his features hardening. Turning his head, he looked at her, a close, ruthless inspection that was as thorough as it was critical.
“Pull your headscarf forward,” he directed. “Hide all your hair and wrap the fabric across your mouth and nose so that as much of your face is covered as possible.” He retrieved the sunglasses from the seat and handed them to her. “And keep these on. Don’t take them off unless I tell you to.” Then he opened the car door and stepped out, slamming it shut behind him.
CHAPTER TWO
Sheikh Fehr’s words rang in her ears as he walked from the car. The driver had locked the car doors the moment the sheikh left the vehicle and she watched Sheikh Fehr now, heart in her throat, as a group of uniformed officers approached him.
From inside the car she could hear their muffled voices outside. The officers practically surrounded the sheikh, but he appeared unruffled.
They were speaking Arabic and she understood nothing of what they were saying other than there seemed to be a problem, and from the way the officers kept gesturing to the car, their voices growing louder, she had a sick feeling that the conversation had something to do with her.
Several long minutes passed and then Sheikh Fehr turned to the car and opened the back door. Liv ducked her head as the officers crowded around to get a look inside. Terrified, she kept her head down, her eyes closed behind the oversized pair of sunglasses.
After what seemed like eternity the car door slammed shut and shortly after the sheikh climbed back in the car. The chauffeur immediately started the ignition and pulled away.
Liv nervously laced and unlaced her fingers. “Is everything okay?” she asked, as they left the narrower, old city streets behind for the wide boulevard that ran along the North Africa coast.
“Yes.”
When it became clear he didn’t intend to say more she added, “What did they want?”
“They wanted to know if I’d legally entered their country and if I’d done anything illegal while here.”