Desert Justice

by Valerie Parv

  She was glad to be traveling with Amal and Bibi, relieved not to find herself sharing a car with Markaz’s mother. But Princess Norah was alone in the car directly ahead of them, while the sheikh was in the lead vehicle. With the rest of the household having gone ahead to prepare, they made quite a procession.

  “Karama is very much like Raisa Palace, except for being smaller with no separate women’s quarters, so you must be careful about wearing your veil when you leave your room,” Amal cautioned her.

  Elated at hearing she wouldn’t be shut away in a separate part of the royal lodge, Simone was disappointed at the prospect of being veiled most of the time. At least at Raisa, she could dispense with the abaya within the women’s quarters. Now it looked as if she’d be stuck with it.

  The other women didn’t seem to mind, but they’d grown up with the wretched things. Simone missed the freedom of light clothing and bare feet, and the wind in her hair. Telling herself the inconvenience was a small price to pay for her safety didn’t help as much as it should.

  “Why are we stopping?” she asked, her heart lurching as the limousine pulled up as if responding to her thought.

  “We’ve reached al Faransi, where we have lunch,” Amal answered.

  The driver opened the door for them, the heat making Simone reel as she stepped out into it. They had arrived at a retreat built around an oasis with the beautiful Nazaar Mountains as a backdrop, and the towering dunes of the Lost Quarter—the true desert—visible in the distance. “Is that a zoo?” she asked, disbelief in her tone as she looked beyond the cluster of low, white-painted buildings.

  Amal nodded. “Faransi literally means of France. At one time this was a training center for French foreign legionnaires. They left behind a number of animals that were once mascots. When Sheikh Kemal established this place, he included the animals in a zoo along with many other exhibits. Now it’s a popular tourist attraction.”

  That accounted for the many vehicles and a tourist coach parked near the main building. “Will there be time to look around before we move on?” she asked.

  Amal gracefully adjusted her abaya. “Markaz usually meets with the present owners to discuss their concerns, so we’ll be here for a couple of hours. I hope you don’t mind if I wait inside while you look around. I’ve seen the zoo several times.”

  “I’m not dragging around some boring zoo, either,” Bibi insisted. “I’ll stay inside with you, Amal.”

  Cheered by the prospect of a little solitude, Simone inclined her head in agreement. “I’ll be fine by myself.”

  “You must take a guard with you,” Amal insisted.

  So much for time alone. On the other hand, Yusef, or Omar as he called himself, was also in the party. Maybe he could be persuaded to escort her. “Good idea,” Simone said.

  Their lunch had been set up in a separate pavilion away from the public buildings. As usual, the men dined in one room and the women in another, making Simone wonder how romance ever managed to blossom.

  Somehow it did. Bibi and her Abdl were an example. Perhaps the thrill of the forbidden added to the allure. Simone didn’t like to think how important a glimpse of Markaz had become to her.

  A gauze curtain across an archway separated the rooms. When it billowed aside she saw him talking with a group of men.

  He looked up and caught her watching him. Her heart backflipped. He shouldn’t know her from the other veiled women, but his gaze found her with the precision of a heat-seeking missile.

  The slight curve of his sensuous mouth was enough to send fire pulsing through her. From the desert air, she told herself, although she’d felt cool a second before.

  Lunch included platters of traditional flat bread, mounds of glistening rice and chunks of chicken cooked in a spicy sauce. The usual fresh salads, fruits and pastries completed the meal. Afterward the other women were content to laze on the low, cushioned banquets and talk, but Simone was determined to look around.

  “I need to walk off some of the rich food,” she told Amal.

  Her plan to ask Yusef to be her escort was thwarted when another guard attached himself to her as soon as she stepped outside. “Where would you like to go, Princess?” he asked respectfully in Arabic.

  “The zoo, but I’m fine on my own. It isn’t far away,” she said in kind.

  He didn’t answer but fell into step beside her, making it clear she wouldn’t be going anywhere unescorted.

  The zoo was much larger than it had appeared at first. Simone wouldn’t have time to see more than the closest exhibits. Much of the zoo looked to be open range areas, sheltering herds of antelope, as well as the rare Nazaaran gazelle. She was also fascinated to see the Arabian oryx, a desert animal her father had told her about, with large straight horns and striking black and white markings. The zoo claimed to have the world’s largest desert-based aquarium with sea lions, penguins and fifty species of fish.

  Already feeling light-headed from the heat, she chose the aquarium, unable to resist the appeal of penguins in the desert. Only a few people were around and none were entering the aquarium. Injecting authority into her voice she said, “According to the map, this is the only entrance, so I’ll be fine in here. Wait for me outside.”

  Her escort saluted. “As you wish, Princess.”

  She was getting the hang of this royal business, she decided as she stepped into the dim coolness to find herself among tanks containing sharks, stingrays, tropical fish and jewel-colored corals. With the aquarium to herself, she let her veil dangle to one side, ready to be pulled across her face if anyone came in.

  Breathing freely at last she wandered between the tanks until she found the promised penguin exhibit.

  The contrast between the desert outside and the imitation seashore in front of her made her smile. She leaned against a wall of artificial rock, watching the knee-high creatures at play. Back home in Port Lincoln she’d often seen little penguins fishing along the shore of the Great Australian Bight.

  Suddenly a wave of homesickness swept over her and she gripped the rock wall to steady herself. What on earth was she doing thousands of miles from her birthplace, watching penguins on the fringe of the Nazaari desert? Was the appeal really the prospect of seeing her father’s country, or of being with Markaz? Either way, she was as out of place as these penguins. The sooner she established Yusef’s true identity and headed home, the better.

  Trying to imagine picking up the threads of her life wasn’t as easy as it should have been. Whenever she logged on to her Web site and saw the design she’d chosen as her reward from Markaz, she’d be reminded of him. She stifled a laugh. Who was she kidding? Most of what they’d shared was in her head. He’d kissed her exactly once, and she’d spent only a handful of hours in his company. Some romance.

  Unsettled by her thoughts, she pushed away from the stone wall. Time to rejoin the women. Then she tensed, instinctively reaching for the veil and securing it over her face. But she was too late. Lost in thought, she hadn’t seen the man watching her intently from across the penguin enclosure. As he started toward her she recognized Business Suit.

  She hadn’t seen him since he’d pursued her at Al-Qasr, but his features were etched on her brain. This time there was no Fayed to rescue her, and the guard was outside and out of earshot.

  Business Suit had to cut around the penguin enclosure, giving her a few seconds to slip away between the tanks. A huge electric-blue Napoleon wrasse watched her, its humped head resting against the glass as it waited to be fed from above. That gave her an idea.

  Her frantic search located a narrow metal ladder in the shadows at the back of the tank. Hampered by her clothing, she climbed up to a small metal platform where a bucket of baitfish stood ready for a keeper to distribute among the tank’s occupants. From the way the wrasse and a horde of smaller fish speared toward her, it must have been close to their feeding time.

  Her heart hammered as she looked down and saw Business Suit come into view, his features distorted by the
water and the curving glass. He looked around then pounded a fist against the tank in frustration. The vibrations matched her racing heartbeat.

  When he started around the tank, she picked up the bucket of fish and tipped it into the water. On cue the Napoleon wrasse and the other fish swarmed closer, scooping up the food. Staying carefully in the shadows, she saw Business Suit look up. When all he saw was an aquarium employee at work, he moved swiftly toward the ramp leading to the exit. A flash of sunlight indicated the door opening then closing again.

  Her ragged breathing ruffled her veil. She’d done it, outwitted him a second time. Then she was disturbed by a shout. “Hey, what are you doing? Only employees are allowed up there.”

  Checking that her veil was secure, she clambered down and apologized in Arabic to the angry keeper whose job she’d usurped. He chastised her verbally as a stupid woman and she didn’t try to defend herself. The tirade would buy her time while Business Suit moved away.

  With a last effusive apology, she headed for the entrance and was thankful to see the guard waiting for her. In response to her questions, he assured her he hadn’t seen anything unusual. Yes, he’d seen a man come out of the aquarium, but assumed that he worked for the zoo. She didn’t try to explain. “Take me to Sheikh Markaz. I have vital information for him that can’t wait.”

  “He gave me orders not to be disturbed.”

  “Then I’ll make my own way.” Keeping a lookout for Business Suit, she marched ahead of the protesting guard back to the pavilion where they’d had lunch. The women were drinking coffee and talking among themselves. Ignoring their startled looks, she pulled aside the gauze curtain separating them from the men.

  Their murmurs told her what a sight she must present, pursued by a guard, bedraggled from climbing around in the aquarium and with the sleeves of her galabia soaked from feeding the fish. Lounging on low banquets, the men were drinking from bell-shaped cups and talking in lowered tones. She ignored their startled reactions and sailed down the room to where Markaz occupied the seat of honor beside his host.

  “Your Highness, we need to talk.”

  Markaz murmured something to his host that she didn’t catch and uncoiled from the low seat to loom over her. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

  Lowering her voice, she said, “Business Suit followed us here. He almost caught me in the aquarium.”

  “Go to my car. I’ll deal with you there.” To Fayed hovering beside him, he said more loudly, “Take her out of here.”

  With her feet barely touching the floor, she was hustled to Markaz’s limousine and thrust unceremoniously into the back. The click of locks engaging, and the privacy panel slamming shut sounded like the closing of prison gates.

  Her face burned as she snatched off her veil, thinking of the cruel and unusual things she would like to do to Markaz. Hadn’t he heard her? She was in danger and that meant so was he. Locking her in his car wasn’t going to help if Business Suit was still out there. Gradually her burn subsided to a simmer. She was also as protected as she could be for now.

  Screened by the tinted windows that Amal had told her earlier were bulletproof, she could only sit back and wait. Accessing the vehicle’s bar, she helped herself to a glass of sparkling water.

  She took a deep swallow of the drink. Wandering around the aquarium on her own ranked near the top of the crazy scale. But this whole situation was making her crazy. She’d come to Nazaar to help her mother, not get involved in a plot against the country’s ruler, far less to fall in…in lust with him.

  Markaz pushed all her female buttons in the worst way. And being caught up in the plot meant she couldn’t get away from him. Nor could she do anything about her feelings. If he’d been anyone else, she could have indulged in a hot and heavy, no-holds-barred fling and gotten him out of her system. The way he affected her, she doubted it would be that simple. In any case a fling with the sheikh of sheikhs was out of the question.

  Frustration made her search the doors for a way out, but the car was securely locked. By barging in on the men, she’d flouted all kinds of protocol. Locking her in the car was probably the least Markaz was expected to do.

  Cradling the drink in both hands, she seethed silently. If he’d only paid attention instead of pulling rank, his men could have gone after Business Suit. While the coffee ritual went on, he was getting away.

  She started as the door opened, but Markaz slid in beside her. The driver closed the door behind him. Moments later she felt a smooth acceleration. The motorcade was under way again.

  The sheikh had seen her reaction, and his features darkened in a scowl. “The time to be frightened was before you went off on your own. The guard told me you ordered him to wait outside the aquarium.”

  Her anger rose to meet his, although some of it was at herself for the way her pulse drummed as he swung to face her. “There’s only one entrance. I thought it was safe enough,” she said.

  He looked set to explode. “What you thought doesn’t matter. Had you let the guard do his job, he might have caught your assailant and this would be over.”

  She tightened her grip on her glass so she wouldn’t throw the contents over him. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Then you’d be rid of me for good.”

  “You think that’s what I want?”

  “The way you spoke to me in front of the men, ordering Fayed to hustle me out to your car, speaks for itself.”

  “There is another interpretation.”

  “Sure, that I’m a lowly woman who has to be put in her place because she dares to stick her nose into men’s affairs.”

  A nerve jumped along his jaw and he bunched his dishdasha in clenched fists as if to stop himself lashing out. “Will you be silent?”

  She thrust the glass into the bar, afraid that if she held on to it she would throw it at him. “I won’t be silent. I don’t appreciate being treated like dirt for trying to tell you something that might save our lives. Damn it, I was terrified out of my wits, and all you could do was order me out of your sight.”

  He grabbed her flailing hands, frowning as he felt the trembling she couldn’t control. “I didn’t treat you like dirt. I got you out of there before you said too much.”

  Aware of heat flooding through her from him, she shook her head. “What?”

  “One of the men having coffee with us is a suspected rebel. He could have tipped your Business Suit off that our party intended to stop here on our way to Karama.”

  Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You think this was a trap?”

  “Very possibly. The suspect is distantly related to the owner of al Faransi. Sheikh Aziz was one of my father’s oldest friends, which is why I patronize his establishment. I don’t think he knows what his relative is involved in. Aziz seemed surprised to see him here today.”

  “Like me and Business Suit,” she said, her fingers spasming in his grasp. “When he showed up in the aquarium…”

  “It’s all right,” the sheikh soothed, cutting her off. “You’re safe now.”

  Her control snapped. “It wasn’t my safety I was worried about.”

  She hadn’t meant to tell him that. Surrounded by soldiers and a bodyguard the size of a mountain, Markaz would probably find her concern for him laughable. Instead warmth flashed in his gaze. “Looks like we have more than one problem.”

  She tried to pull her hands away but he held on, so she strived for lightness in her tone. “No problem. I just don’t want anything happening to you.”

  His fingers wove distracting patterns around hers. “Because?”

  “This country needs you and your reform plans.”

  “And you, Sima? What do you need?”

  His soft use of the name she’d adopted in his harem, the same nickname used so lovingly by her parents, increased her tremors. Not with fear, although she wouldn’t name any other cause even in her mind. “I need this to be over.”

  The doubts, the yearnings Markaz heard in her voice were echoed in his thou
ghts. When she’d burst in on the men, he’d wanted to take her in his arms and soothe her fears. Only knowing he could be betraying her to Aziz’s relative had kept his hands at his sides. Watching Fayed hustle her away on his own orders, he’d felt like a monster.

  “The danger will be over soon,” he promised. “Hamal and his men searched the complex without finding Business Suit, but I had Aziz’s relative arrested. He’ll be taken to police headquarters at Raisa, and may lead us to his associates.”

  Her abaya had drifted back over her shoulders. He tucked both of her hands into one of his so he could brush the strands of coppery hair out of her eyes. She made a stunning brunette, but he missed her unique golden beauty.

  She knew, he thought, seeing panic flare in her gaze. She knew because she felt the connection, too. When they were in the same space, and sometimes when they weren’t, it wove between them like an invisible thread. But why the panic? She was safe from the man she called Business Suit for the moment. So something else had provoked her fear. Markaz hoped it wasn’t him.

  He couldn’t help himself. He had to know. Using their joined hands for leverage, he pulled her toward him and locked his mouth on hers, his breath sighing out as he finally, finally let himself taste her. He’d wanted to kiss her again since the first night in the New York suite.

  If she’d shown the slightest resistance he would have pulled back. Although his genes urged him to take and plunder, he disciplined himself to test her response, letting his lips quest lightly over hers.

  When they parted for him, he felt joy leap inside him and deepened the kiss, releasing her hands so he could pull her closer. Her heart pounded against his chest.

  He felt her hands slide around his back, her splayed fingers hot through his clothes. Hotter still the way her mouth shaped itself to his demands. He was glad to see she kept her eyes open as they kissed. Good. He wanted her in no doubt about who was giving her such pleasure.