Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION)

by Schiller, M. J.

  Bashea gazed up at him, searching his eyes. “Will you touch me now, Tahj?” she asked quietly. “I want you to touch me.”

  “Bashea,” he murmured, his voice full of tenderness. He took a step forward and brushed a finger over her lips. She closed her eyes, her faced etched with pain, a single tear sliding down her face. He slid his arms around her and her eyes flickered open. Good. I want her to see how much I love her.

  He slowly lowered his lips to hers. The kiss contained the suppressed longing of every minute they had spent together from the beginning. It started off sweet, but when he pulled her in closer he felt a strange sense of possessiveness overtake him. This was the woman for him, the one he had waited for, and he simply had to have her. He changed the angle on the kiss and his fingers clutched, wove themselves into her lush hair, claiming her.

  Tahj hadn’t meant to let the kiss get out of hand. He knew he had to control himself with Bashea, so as not to scare her, but the fragrance of her skin, the taste of her lips, the desire he saw in her fathomless, dark eyes just before he kissed her—all these worked together to scramble his thoughts, and all he could do was dive in deeper to try to find himself again. He felt Bashea melt against his body, and it was as if he could feel the anger and hurt seep away from her, absorbed into him, somehow, and then it just dissipated. Her mouth was unbelievably sweet and soft, and when a small moan escaped her it rang in him, fueling his want more.

  Tahj felt an animal tear from a cage inside him, incensed and yearning to take, and to take, and to still take more, until it was satisfied, but even as he did he heard a small voice calling the beast back. Reason told him this wasn’t the time or the place to give in to his desires. Wait, it told him, and with each heartbeat it got louder, wait! until it shouted down the animal which growled in him and, with effort, he drew back, still holding her arms.

  “Wait!” he found himself shouting into her face.

  “What?” she asked, looking confused.

  “We can’t!” Tahj released her arms and turned in a tight circle, pacing away from her with hands on his hips. He stopped a few feet away and then made the mistake of raising his eyes to hers. She was breathing rapidly, face flushed, lips full and moist. She looked so beautifully off-balance. And the animal leapt.

  “Dammit!” He took two swift steps forward and grabbed her, tilting her head up to again ravage her mouth. This time Bashea gave as well as she took, her tongue dancing with his and causing a bright shaft of desire to spear to his loins. He felt her quiver and pulled her closer. She allowed her hands to slide up his back as her chest pressed against him.

  She arched and he nibbled on her neck, reveling in the alluring fragrance of her hair and the taste of her milk-honeyed skin. “Tahj,” she murmured feverishly. The sound of her voice caressing his name aroused him to new heights, and he thought he would never tire of this woman; the need for her would never run dry.

  And then, with a sigh, he pulled away and laid his forehead on her shoulder. All that could be heard was their panting and the simultaneous pounding of their hearts. More composed, Tahj raised his head to look at her briefly before they slid into an embrace.

  Clearly overwhelmed with emotions, Bashea laid her head on his chest, and Tahj rested his cheek on her hair, closing his eyes and treasuring her closeness at last.

  After several seconds Bashea’s voice came, muffled, from his chest. “I’m sorry I was being mean earlier.”

  He smiled. “I understand.”

  She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “Why is that?”

  He laughed, kissing her on the forehead. “I just do.” He sighed, unwilling to let her go but knowing he must. “Now, you’d better get out of here before your brothers find out you’re in here and hunt me down.”

  She smiled up at him teasingly. “What, are you afraid of them?”

  “Are you kidding? They could pulverize me.” He trapped her wrists behind her back and pulled her in again, hard. She giggled. “And I think they know I am in love with you. Bagrat’s been giving me the evil eye since I showed up here.” He released her hands but didn’t step away.

  In an uncharacteristic move, Bashea reached up and stroked his face tenderly. “I don’t want to go.”

  “And I don’t want you to go.” He let his lips brush hers again and then sighed. “But you are an unmarried woman.”

  She closed her eyes. “I know. I know,” she murmured, her voice a mere whisper. Appearing to draw on some inner strength, she pulled away a little, but still held his hands. “I’ll see you later?”

  “Yes,” he responded confidently. “You’ll see me later.”

  Bashea backed away, a wistful smile on her face, letting his hands drop. Without another word she turned and was gone.

  * * *

  The rest of the day was agonizing. For see her he did. He saw her when she brought water to the fields, but they were not alone. He saw her at the noontide meal, but they were kept separate by the fact that her brothers seemed to be ever-present. And just as they were striding toward each other in camp with relieved smiles on their faces, glad to have finally found each other alone, Kamran strode out of his tent in between them and their faces fell. How infuriating to have finally spoken of their feelings for each other only to never get a chance to be together again.

  Dinner was no better. Radeem had decided to leave in the morning and return to his home, and he demanded all of Tahj’s attention as he planned his cross-dessert journey to Vadeed, anxious now to return to his wife and family.

  “So, if I stick to the foothills here,” Radeem repeated, gesturing with a stick to the crude map they’d scratched into the ground, “I should be able to avoid the most paralyzing heat and reach Vadeed in…about four days, correct?” The pair sat on a log by the fire.

  “Hmmm?” Tahj answered absently, searching again for Bashea in the dimming light.

  Radeem poked him in the foot with the end of his stick.

  “Aooww!”

  “What’s the matter with you? I’ve had to repeat myself, like, four times. I might as well have left already for all the attention you’re paying me.”

  “I’m sorry, my friend.” Tahj turned to face him squarely. “Now, what was it you were saying?”

  “Ugh!” Radeem cried in frustration, jumping to his feet. He jabbed his stick at his makeshift map, dragging the end through the dirt to obliterate it. “What’s the use? I got it figured out without you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tahj said sincerely, also rising. “I’m just…distracted.” Bashea came into view behind his friend, and again Tahj’s eyes strayed to her. “… a bit.”

  “I can see that,” Radeem retorted peevishly. “Just what is it that’s got your mind so occupied, anyway?” When Tahj didn’t answer right away, Radeem followed his line of vision. “Oh! It’s Bashea, isn’t it?” Noting the startled look on his friend’s face, he continued. “So, what was with that little tiff you guys had earlier? She seemed really angry.”

  “Nothing, nothing…who…Bashea?” he added innocently. “We just…we always fight.”

  “Yes. I noticed. You’ve got feelings for each other, don’t you?”

  “What? No!” Tahj responded adamantly, but noting the frown on Radeem’s face he decided to come clean. “Perhaps we do…”

  “I knew it! I knew it,” Radeem boasted.

  Tahj pushed him out of the firelight, slapping a hand over his mouth. “Be quiet, you idiot,” he hissed. “Do you want Bagrat and Jahmeel to hear you?” He glanced over to where the brothers were adding wood to the fire.

  “What? What’s the big deal?” Radeem responded in a whisper when Tahj finally removed his hand. “Don’t they approve of Bashea having a relationship with a crowned prince?”

  “I’m not a crowned prince,” Tahj reminded him. He glanced in the pair’s direction and thought about Bagrat’s visit to his tent earlier. He almost seemed to be granting Tahj permission to pursue Bashea, but… One look at the duo’s frowning faces h
ad him changing his mind. “And, no. They do not approve. I don’t think they would approve of anyone courting Bashea.”

  “Courting?” Radeem said in surprise, loud enough to earn him a smack in the arm. “Courting,” he whispered loudly. “It’s courting now, is it?”

  “Be quiet!” Tahj shouted, drawing more attention to their discussion than Radeem had. He grabbed his captain by the sides of his shirt and dragged him farther out of the firelight. “If you don’t stop now, I swear I’ll kill you in your sleep,” he hissed, dropping his voice belatedly.

  “What’s going on?” Bagrat asked as he ambled over from the other side of the fire. Tahj lowered his head, but Radeem spoke up.

  “You owe me twenty Abbas.”

  “What?” Bagrat’s head swiveled from Radeem to Tahj. “Have you been after my sister?” he growled.

  “No! No!” Tahj answered hurriedly. But then he turned his back to the big man and took a few steps away from him. After a beat he shook his head and whirled around. “All right, yes!” He stepped forward defiantly. “Yes. I’m ‘after’ your sister, as you so tactfully put it.”

  To his surprise, Bagrat smiled and began to chuckle, clapping him on the shoulder. “The god’s blessings then, my brother.”

  “Th-thank you,” Tahj responded in surprise.

  “You’ll need it,” Bagrat added, shaking Tahj’s hand with his free one, his eyebrows raised and his eyes twinkling. “Jahmeel! Come here! The young prince wishes to court our sister, Bashea.”

  “No joking?” Bagrat’s brother answered sarcastically, showing no surprise at all. “It is about time.”

  “You knew?” Tahj asked in shock.

  Several men grunted and snorted in response as they sat around the fire, not even glancing up from their dinners. Bagrat and Jahmeel guffawed over Tahj’s reaction, bending over to slap each other on the back. With a scowl, Tahj turned and tramped away to the sound of Jahmeel trying to get his wheezing laugh under control and Bagrat counting out coins into Radeem’s open palm.

  * * *

  The days passed in a torturous haze for Tahj and Bashea. Time together had to be stolen at odd moments, but, in spite of their overall frustration, they treasured those moments together. With a look, they’d know just when to sneak away from the others and meet up above the upper meadow, or in the woods. They would talk quietly about their pasts, about growing up in a palace, practically alone, and growing up in a tent with people breathing down your back night and day.

  Never before had Bashea felt that smothering closeness so drastically. She wished only to spend her time with Tahj, to be in his arms forever, but they were constantly battling just to be alone. While Bagrat and Jahmeel approved of the relationship, there were certain proprieties to be considered. To be found, even kissing, while unwed, would be scandalous indeed.

  But it wasn’t just this that weighed on her. Lately she had become increasingly aware what they shared together was just a fantasy. As Tahj moved from discussing their pasts to discussing a future together, she’d become more and more uncomfortable with their present. She loved Tahj with her whole heart, but she could not imagine him a sheepherder all his life. Though he said he was content, Bashea still had a nagging feeling she would be robbing him of something if she were to consent to become married to him.

  It was just this she was thinking of, while collecting kindling in the woods, when she heard Tahj’s strained whisper.

  “Bashea!”

  Unbidden, her heart leapt. “Here, Tahj!” She dropped her kindling when she saw a sweep of his robes between the trees and ran to him. He caught her in his arms, and immediately their lips met, creating a blinding heat, which was a constant when they touched.

  “Ummm…” he moaned when they parted briefly. He buried his face in her hair. “I never thought I’d be able to get my hands on you.”

  “I know.” She sighed, heady with his scent and the warmth of his hands on her sides.

  “Lie down with me,” Tahj said, tossing sticks aside to make a nest for them among the cypress needles on the floor of the forest.

  The fragrance of the needles was said to soothe anger and frustration, but it only reminded Bashea of the time they’d spent together, curled up beneath the trees, and made her want Tahj more. When she was stretched out beside him, Tahj sat up on one elbow, turned toward her, and trailed his hand slowly down her side, enticing them both.

  “Bashea,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to hers. “I love you!” He kissed her neck, and she murmured something unintelligible in response. He shifted so his body was on top of hers, pressing her into the soft earth. “I want to be with you.” His breath was warm, his words edged with an intense need as he whispered, his lips brushing her ear. “I need to be with you.”

  “I know!” she cried, even as her body bowed in response to his.

  His mouth covered hers, drowning any further words as his kisses became more frantic. They had only minutes together, and it was just enough time to drive them mad.

  “Let me ask your father for your hand, please, Bashea. Do it for me. You know I love you.”

  Through the fog of her own passion, Bashea heard him, and, as the words sank in, she shoved him to the side and sat up so abruptly her head spun. “No! Tahj! You know how I feel about this. Do we have to go through this all again?”

  Tahj sat up, too, pulling his knees up so he was sitting flatfooted. “Uuuhhh!” he growled. “You are being so unreasonable!” He turned toward her. “Why can’t you see this is what I need? This! Here…with you. I don’t need anything else.”

  “You say that now, Tahj,” she retorted, scrambling to her feet. “But someday you will regret it.”

  Angered, he came to his feet as well. “So you know my heart now. You think you can choose what is right for me?”

  “Yes!” she spat back. “Yes. Because my head is not clouded by…by…” She waved her hands, frustrated the words were not coming to her. She knew that, as a man, Tahj was blinded by lust. He wished to have her body, but it was too high a price for him to pay.

  “My head is not clouded, Bashea,” he threw back. “I can see clearly what I want.” He reached for her again, desperate to make her understand, but it was the wrong move. He didn’t know he was only reaffirming her own conclusion that what he desired most was to have her in bed.

  “No!” she shrieked, moving away from him. She turned and braced herself against a tree trunk with one outstretched hand, shaking her head.They had argued the point over and over again. She had hoped he would come to understand, but now she saw that he would never change his mind. He would stay here with her until he grew to resent everything he had missed out on, and then he would hate her. A prince didn’t marry a sheepherder. And suddenly she knew what she must do. Her whole body had gone cold and quivery. Her hands trembled against the bark as she drew in a shaky breath, steadying herself. She turned back and her face was set “This cannot go on.”

  “Wh-what are you saying?”

  She wrapped one arm around her stomach, where it felt as if a huge hole had ripped open, a coldness rushing inside to stagger her. “You have to leave. You have to go back to your people.”

  “What are you saying?” he repeated more forcefully. “I have no people. My place is here, with you and your family.”

  “No. You are wrong, Tahj. You don’t belong here.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  She retreated. “But I do.”

  He straightened, his jaw clenched. “Bashea, don’t do this!”

  I already have! her head screamed. Can’t you see the hole? Drawing upon her last ounce of inner strength, she made her voice even. “You need to leave here before the fortnight is over, or sooner.” She forced herself to turn and bend to pick up sticks.

  He stared at her as she performed the everyday task. “You’re throwing me out?” When she didn’t answer he took a step forward. “You don’t mean that.”

  She hesitated, squeezing her eyes shut for a fe
w seconds before turning back to him. “If you don’t leave, I’ll have Bagrat and Jahmeel escort you.” She knew it was a low blow.

  He stared at her in shock for several seconds, and then, without another word, stormed off.

  Bashea stood stone still for a full ten seconds before she began to shake uncontrollably. With a sob that tore through her throat, she collapsed to the ground, bent in half, rocking back and forth as she cried. It would kill her, but she had to do it. It was what was best for him, whether he could see it or not.

  * * *

  The next several days, Tahj did so much thinking his brain hurt, but it was like he was stuck in some eternal loop; every thought circled around to where it had begun. He needed to prove to Bashea they belonged together, but how?

  And to top it off, Bashea looked as miserable as he felt. Her smiles, as she talked to her fellow tribesmen and women, were feeble and lifeless, her eyes shadowed. She seemed to do everything she could to avoid him, instead sticking close to Bagrat and Jahmeel.

  Until the night they arose and approached Tahj, who stood, staring into the fire wordlessly. Hearing their lumbering footsteps, Tahj looked up. Bashea appeared to be watching nervously from across the ring.

  When he reached Tahj, Bagrat opened without any of the usual preliminary pleasantries, asking bluntly, “Did you and Bashea have a fight?”

  “What do you mean?” Jahmeel jumped in. “They’re always fighting.”

  “Not like this, you fool!” Bagrat growled. “I mean, just look at her.” All three turned to peer at Bashea, who looked away, lowering her head. “She hasn’t got any fight left in her,” he finished sadly. He looked accusatorily at Tahj and then stepped up so only a sheepskin’s worth of space lay between them. “I told you once not to hurt her.”

  “I didn’t! I swear!” Tahj shot back. “At least I don’t think I did.” He sat back down on his log despondently.