Desert Sheikh vs American Princess

by Teresa Morgan

  *****

  "Stop the wedding!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

  It only took seconds for Walid's guards to surround her, see she wasn't a physical threat, and forgo pulling their guns in favor of just dragging her away.

  Walid pushed his way through the crowd of stunningly dressed guests, followed by an aggressively pregnant redhead, who stood at his side like she belonged there.

  Damn, he was gorgeous. She thought he looked a little like David Beckham before? Standing there in his three-piece tux, he looked like he was about to walk into a casino and take the house for all it was worth.

  And yet... he also looked like the tux was constricting him. Like he needed to get out of it and loosen up.

  The redhead punched Walid in the arm and mumbled something to him before stepping forward.

  "Stop it," the redhead ordered the guards, in the tone of someone who expected to be obeyed. "Let her go."

  Her captors looked to Walid, then did as they were told.

  "It's not a wedding," the redhead said, looking Noelle over. "It's just an engagement."

  "I know. But who busts in and yells 'Stop the engagement'? Didn't seem right."

  The pregnant woman looked at Noelle like she was the last Balenciaga clutch on the shelf. "Okay, Walid, I don't know who she is, but I already like her better than your ex-bride-to-be. Hi." She offered her hand to Noelle. "I'm Gwendolyn Spenser-Al Kalam. We're going to be friends."

  Now that Noelle got a good look at her, the redhead was familiar. She shook hands, feeling oh so underdressed in her legging jeans and swingy top. And especially with someone else's hat on her head. And her hair an utter mess from sticking it out a limo window, then shoving it into a motorcycle helmet. "We've met. Noelle Oldrich. AIDS fundraiser last year. You hid in a corner most of the time."

  "Oh, I recognize you now. You were dodging paparazzi the whole night. Now, let's get this wedding stopped."

  "What is the meaning of this?" demanded Sheikha Farouk, shoving forward.

  Noelle's stomach turned into a knot made of concrete. Oh, sure, saving Walid from himself had seemed like a good plan when she was on the back of a motorcycle roaring down the highway, but, er, she hadn't, um, actually asked Walid if he wanted to be saved. What if he liked his plan? What if she was just embarrassing herself right now?

  Standing next to Walid in his tux, she looked extra crappy. There hadn't been any way to avoid the dust or the helmet hair. She whipped the stolen hat off her head.

  Kalilah stepped up, joining the merry little circle that was forming. She was still in her white Donna Karan dress, looking every inch a flawless bride.

  Crap. The last time she'd seen Walid, she'd rejected his kiss and his confession of... whatever it was he was going to confess to her. She'd congratulated him on his upcoming engagement and turned her back on him. But she hadn't let him turn what had happened between them into something to be sorry about, and she would never apologize for that.

  He might not have the same opinion.

  The tension in the moment threatened to crack the air. This was it. If he told Noelle to go, that would be the end of everything.

  "We will not take this outrage." Sheikha Farouk lifted her chin in the air. Practicing her Queen Mother act?

  Walid turned to her. Would he reassure her and kick Noelle out?

  "So leave," he said.

  "What?" The older woman's face was a mask of confusion.

  "Allow me to provide you an escort." A nod to the guards was all it took to have the sheikha and Kalilah surrounded. "I thank you for the kind offer of your granddaughter, but I must decline."

  "Noelle," Kalilah called out, as the guards gently guided the two from the room. "We can still make this happen."

  "Bye." Noelle gave a jaunty wave. "I'm sure you'll find an outlet for that talent of yours somewhere."

  "You need my money to build your pipeline," raged Sheikha Farouk.

  For some reason, Walid turned to the man standing next to him. A guy who looked a lot like Walid, except years younger, probably because he didn't have the white at his temples. "Actually--"

  Noelle broke in. "Walid, I know where the Palm of Askar is. That's why I came back."

  Walid stepped to her, closing the gap between them. He grabbed her hands and held them to his heart. Here, in front of everyone watching.

  Oddly, the last little bit of numb tingling faded from her fingers.

  Their audience seemed to melt away, leaving the two of them alone together. Time paused for a moment. They had almost been separated forever. And now, maybe they had a chance.

  "Is that why you returned?" he asked. "For no other reason?"

  "Yes." She let the word hang in the balance for a moment, making him suffer in suspense. She couldn't hold back very long. "Maybe for another reason, too. But, Walid, we can sell it. Er, I mean you can sell it."

  He raised her hands to his lips. But he gave her a little sideways smile. "But Noelle, the jewel is not hidden in the altar of the chapel."

  "I know. Oh, did you think it was? No, you were right about the map all along. Sheikh Osman did have it drawn to hide where the treasure was, but also to tell us exactly where to find it."

  "Please explain, oh lovely one," said Thale, who had apparently decided to join them.

  Gwen hit Thale on the arm. Then she looked at her fist. "Why do I keep doing that? It's the hormones. I hope."

  "I am pleased you have decided to take your aggression out on my brothers at least, instead of myself," said the man who had been standing next to Walid. He shared the same gold-ringed eyes as Walid. Which meant he shared Walid's DNA. "I am getting bruised."

  "The important part about the map," Noelle explained, "was never the drawing. It was the text. Specifically, the part where it says, 'If you know me, you know where the jewel is.'"

  "None of us knew our great-grandfather," stated Walid.

  "And I didn't either. But I know you," she said.

  "So, brother, where would you hide the jewel?"

  Brother. So this guy had to be Ithnan. Not really a surprise. They were practically twins--except for how much hotter Walid was, of course.

  Walid looked down at her. "I like to keep all the things I love close to me. Where I can spend my life with them."

  "You're going to make me cry." In fact, Gwen's eyes were already tearing up. Her royal husband offered her a monogrammed handkerchief, which she used to dab at her running mascara. "Pregnancy hormones."

  "Someplace close," Noelle said.

  *****

  "X marks the spot," Noelle said.

  Walid raised an eyebrow at her. So did Ithnan, but the opposite one. Standing together, they looked like weird mirror images. Same eyes. Same nose. Ithnan just a hair taller, Walid with the white at his temples.

  Gwen had insisted on climbing the stairs, too, so it had taken their little group about twice as long as it should have to get to the top room of Walid's tower. The one his ancestor had been thrown into, the one where the prince in Inaya Al Hurra's legend had been imprisoned. The one where Walid came when he needed to be alone.

  The one with the diamond shape inlaid into the floor in black tiles.

  The eight of them stood around the shape now. Three royal brothers, one princess, Faridah--still in her baby-blue leathers--Kitoko--who had apparently decided that she did not want to be there when her supervisor woke up snarly--and Suzette--Noelle had no idea how Suzette had gotten there, but if she had to guess, she would have said in the back of a speeding limo.

  And Noelle. With everyone looking to her to fix Askar's biggest problem ever.

  Walid had dismissed the partygoers, who had mostly seemed relieved that there wasn't going to be a union between Walid and Kalilah today. Or ever. Several of the men had bowed over Noelle's hand, introduced their wives, and given her business cards. Like she was important. Like they would see her again.

  From the light in Walid's eye when he looked at her, they just might.

>   Ithnan seemed skeptical. "Does this shape not merely point toward the direction of Mecca?"

  "I don't know. But I know it points toward the treasure."

  "And you figured this out because you know Walid so well." Gwen was the only person in the group not staring at the floor tiles. She stared at Noelle like she was a Where's Waldo puzzle. "Hmm. We need to do some serious talking. And I have some things to say to you, too, Walid. What were you thinking getting yourself engaged to that other girl?"

  "And you have not even heard about the pirate princess who lives in her head," Thale piped up.

  "You have a pirate princess in your head?" asked Gwen, while her husband looked at Walid, eyebrow raised even higher.

  "I'm not insane," Noelle felt the need to say at this point.

  "We could use more of that kind of insanity in this family," Gwen assured her.

  "Um." Family. Big leap to a big conclusion there. Time to get on with it. Time to save the kingdom. And more importantly, Walid. "Kitoko, can you get a sledgehammer or something to break the floor?"

  "Perhaps we could accomplish this without destroying a historic site that has existed for a thousand years," Walid suggested. "If you approve."

  For some reason, Walid directed this final statement to Ithnan. Weird. It wasn't like Walid to ask anyone's permission for anything.

  What was that about? asked Bonnie. Never mind. Can we get moving here?

  "Okay, okay." Noelle was just as antsy as Bonnie. "But can you get something, Kitoko? I mean, we could send Gwen, but I think you'll be faster."

  "I like her, Walid." Gwen shot Noelle a laser beam of a smile. "Can we keep her?"

  "I am fond of her as well," Walid agreed. "As for keeping her, I believe that is her choice, not ours."

  "Oh, I don't know." Gwen's tone was all mischief. "There's this awesome tower room here. A sturdy lock on that door..."

  "What is it with you people and kidnappings?" asked Noelle.

  Thale spoke up. "May I point out that I have never felt the need to abduct anyone?"

  "Kidnapping her sounds like an excellent way to ruin more bed linens," said Walid. "Miss Oldrich, might we speak in private while we are waiting for Kitoko to return?"

  She nodded, her stomach clenching inside her.

  "Can I watch?" Thale asked eagerly.

  "Thalatha, please remain here." Even though Ithnan's request had the word "please" in it, it wasn't a request.

  She and Walid stepped out of the room, onto the circular stairs that led up the tower. As soon as they were out of view of others, Walid took her hand.

  He took her hand.

  Trills of excitement traveled up her arm, straight to her core. Holding hands with Walid was thrilling and calming at the same time. The sizzle of the contact and his warm strength made her heart race and her soul relax.

  When she figured they were out of hearing range, she spoke. They probably only had a few minutes before Kitoko came back with the not-sledgehammer. "I'm sorry, Walid. I made the assumption that you would want me to come back and find the Palm. You didn't have to send your fiancée away, though."

  He stopped on the stairs and turned to her. With him on a lower step, she could look straight into those devastating amber-touched eyes. Her future hung on what he did now, what he said. She would be okay, no matter what. She would find some way to get out from her father's control; she would use her pirate princess skills to make a life for herself. But without him, the one person who had seen what she had the potential to become, something would be missing.

  "Yes, I did. And you know I did." Walid took a deep breath. Her heart started to pound even harder. "Noelle--"

  "Walid, Noelle, get up here," Gwen's unmistakable voice called. "Turns out some tiles were loose. There's a box."

  A box. The Palm. But Gwen's timing couldn't be worse. Just when Walid was about to... about to... about to what? It looked like he was about to say something great, but maybe not.

  "I guess we should go."

  Walid nodded. Then did something she'd never seen him do. He ran his fingers through his hair. From her controlled, restrained guy (okay, maybe not hers), the gesture betrayed a frazzled, worn-out energy. A man on the edge.

  Well, she wasn't going to let him fall off that edge. Maybe he'd kidnapped her, but in a strange way, he'd also set her free. When she'd arrived here, she'd felt useless. Now, because he'd challenged her, she knew she could handle whatever came at her.

  She wasn't going to leave Askar without setting him free, too.

  "Come on," she pressed.

  "I will, but first..." His gaze bored into hers with unbearable intensity. "This."

  A tug on her hand and she was overbalanced. She fell into arms waiting to catch her.

  The kiss was all heat and desire, wanting and frenzy. All the fear of loss and relief that the loss didn't happen poured through both of them.

  Their frustrated hands grasped at skin covered by layers of clothes. They pressed into each other as if pressing could make the separation between their bodies go away.

  The kiss might have gone on forever, if Gwen hadn't called Walid's name again.

  They drew away from each other reluctantly, both of them knowing that even though things between them hadn't been said, the words weren't necessary for now.

  Walid drew a worshipful hand down her silken cheek. "Let us go save the kingdom, my pirate princess."

  *****

  He held the box that contained the Palm of Askar in his hands.

  His mismanagement had nearly cost Askar so much. His pride had kept him from solving the problem by going to his brother.

  Now, the tenacity of a beautiful pirate princess had blessed him by putting a legendary jewel into his grasp.

  He would still abdicate to his brother and make whatever life that Noelle would make with him, but he could leave behind him the legacy that Askar deserved.

  A legacy he could be proud of.

  The girl in blue leather, Faridah, had handed him the rough wooden box, lifting it out of the hole in the floor. It was the width and length of a tablet computer, and as deep as a champagne glass. Dust had obscured the rough palm tree design scratched into the wood. Something inside the box rattled when it was passed to him.

  "Open it, Walid," prodded Gwen, one hand balanced on her belly.

  Noelle had taken up an unobtrusive spot in the group, near Suzette.

  "Noelle." He offered her the box. She had made this happen. She should open it.

  She shook her head. "No. It's yours. It's from your family. It's your country. It's your history. I don't even belong here."

  "You belong here." At his side, and nowhere else. He would spend the rest of his life convincing her of that.

  But what Gwen had said about him representing Askar had begun to sink into his consciousness. The Palm was Askar's history. For the time being, until Ithnan could ascend the throne, Walid was Askar's ruler. The ruler should be the one to reclaim Askar's heritage.

  And yet...

  He stepped to Noelle and placed her hand on the box lid. "We will open it together."

  She nodded, and together, they lifted the lid. Together, they looked into the box.

  Silence fell for a long beat.

  "What? What is it? Is it the Palm?" Gwen asked.

  "Perhaps we should go," suggested Thale, for once judging the emotional temperature of the room correctly.

  Walid pulled the box from her hand, keeping his gaze on her and passing the box to whoever happened to be to his left. Whoever that was.

  "Rocks," he heard Ithnan say. "The box contains three rocks. If the Palm was ever in this container, then it was stolen long ago."

  Noelle dropped her chin to her chest. She had been so hopeful. Now, facing one more defeat, she should be crushed.

  "It does not matter, Noelle. We have much to discuss. A future to plan."

  "Nope," she said. "Nope, I'm not going anywhere. X marks the spot. X always marks the spot. I wanted to save you
."

  "And you have," he assured her.

  "No, I--"

  He could not let her go on. He took her smaller hand in his. "Perhaps not in the way you imagined, but you have. As for a treasure, we will simply have to make one together, you and I."

  She let out a long breath. "That sounds kind of nice."

  "I will keep you from giving up on challenges too soon," he pledged. "If you, and your pirate princess--"

  "Really? Wait, wait. You're serious about the pirate princess thing?" Gwen scowled. "And you nearly married someone else? What is wrong with you?"

  Oddly, it was Thale who stepped up. "There are many things wrong with Walid. But perhaps we should let him finish, Your Royal Majesty of the enormous belly."

  "Oh," she said. "Right. Sorry. Hormones again."

  "And if you, and your pirate princess," he continued, "will help me to jump out windows."

  Noelle aimed a melting smile at him. "I think we can manage that. But you may have to begin with swabbing the deck."

  Walid crushed her against his body as if he never wanted to let her go. Because he had no intention of doing so. Then he kissed her as if his family and several servants were not watching each move they made.

  "So long as I am eventually promoted to first mate," he said, after a while. After a long while.

  She gave him a saucy shrug. "I think that can be arranged, but the other pirates will say that it's only because the captain is in love with you."

  "Then we will make them walk the plank," he told her.

  Gwen groaned.

  "Gwendolyn, are you well?" asked her husband. "Is it time?"

  "No." She swatted him. "It was the joke. Terrible."

  "Please excuse me, I may have taken the pirate analogy too far," Walid apologized.

  His brother, obviously not harmed by Gwendolyn's blow, clapped a hand on his shoulder. "My brother, it is good to see you, for once, go overboard."

  "Ithnan, I love you, but that was truly awful. Ten lashes for you, you scurvy swab." Gwendolyn rolled her eyes. "Noelle, you're going to learn that there are some things you have to just tell these guys to do. For example, Walid, that was a really dumb pirate reference, but more importantly, it wasn't what you were supposed to say to her right after she told you she loved you."