All Salari could do was stall. And pray.
“Why now?” she asked. Ten years seemed long enough to forget almost anything. Even though Salari had shown up still nursing her own frothing grudge. “You could have come to France. Why did you wait until now?”
“I don’t have help in France,” Imelda sniffed. “But I do here. And oh, if only you knew how much they’re willing to help me over you. It’s disgusting, how quickly your own subjects will disown you.” Imelda spat.
Salari’s head spun as she tried to digest the information while keeping her distracted. “I just want you to know more about that night,” Salari said, her voice coming out hoarse against a dry throat. Pain seared through her cheek and jaw. She’d have a bruise, if she lived to see tomorrow. “You should know everything.”
That seemed to get her attention. “What else could you possibly tell me that I haven’t already lived with?”
“Listen.” Salari swallowed hard, a half-cocked plan rumbling to life inside her. “I know what it’s like to live a life you never intended. I’ve lived with the same suffering as you. I understand you. I had all of my plans stripped way. My entire life stripped away.”
“But it was worth it to you,” Imelda said, glancing over her shoulder at the lion. “To steal him away from me. To ruin my own life. It was worth it to you because all you’ve ever wanted was to see me fail!”
Salari tried to tamp down her surprise and outrage. This woman was nuts—in a scary way. But now wasn’t the time to express indignation and innocence.
“Nothing was worth having my own life ruined,” Salari said carefully. Except it was a lie. If she could spend the rest of her waking days with Kalif, then the past ten years would fade away in the blink of an eye. She could move on, finding a happier future at Kalif’s side. Where she was supposed to be. Where she’d always been destined to reside.
“So you admit it?” Imelda’s voice pierced the night air, shrill and joyous. “You admit it. Stealing him away from me wasn’t worth it.” She let a haughty laugh. “Well. I didn’t expect you to crack so soon.”
Suddenly, the gun was back between her eyes, and all Salari could do was stare up at Imelda’s crazed face. That alabaster skin gleamed gorgeous but ominous, like a catwalk model who’d stepped into a horror flick.
“Imelda,” she began, but then the gun clicked, and Salari couldn’t keep back the scream that tore through her lungs.
* * *
Kalif followed the second scream toward the lion enclosure, his heart racing like a freight train. All he could hear and see was Salari in his mind’s eye. She was in danger. She might be hurt. She needs me.
At the lion’s enclosure, he slowed down, keeping to the shadows crowding around the edges of the main zoo path. Voices murmured in the distance. And then Sala growled, a low tone that he’d learned from Zatar was intended as a warning to others.
Fuck. Hand on the pistol in his holster, Kalif crept forward, keeping out of sight as he peered inside the enclosure. Salari was there, backed up against a wall, a woman holding a gun to her forehead. In the dim light of the enclosure, he couldn’t make out who it was, but his gut told him this was their bad guy. The actual bad guy. A woman.
Confusion simmered in the back of his mind as he struggled to figure out an approach. He didn’t have much time to work with, but he had to shake this lady off of Salari. Kalif squinted in the darkness, searching out a stone on the zoo path. He picked one up and tossed it into a nearby enclosure, which startled some birds. The sudden squawking caused the attacker to look up.
Distraction. Kalif steadied himself, peering beyond the edge of his hiding spot. The attacker took a few steps toward the gate, keeping her pistol aimed at Salari. Kalif crouched down, using the darkness to his advantage to line up the shot.
He pulled the trigger. A shot tore through the still night air, nicking the attacker in the shoulder. She howled in pain, doubling over as she cradled the injured shoulder, and the gun fell from her hand. He’d made sure to aim for the side she carried the gun on.
Salari leapt into action, scooping up the gun in a flash. His heart soared, and he burst from the shadows, pushing into the enclosure. Footsteps pounded along the path—more guards on the way. Kalif kept his own gun aimed at the attacker, keeping an eye on her as he tried to assess Salari’s state.
“Are you hurt?”
Salari shook her head, rocking from side to side as she kept the gun trained on the other woman. “She hit me in the face, but I’m fine otherwise.”
Kalif hurried up to the attacker, towering above her as he looked her over. “Who is this?”
“I am the princess of the Olden Isles!” Her voice was still haughty, even when captive and injured.
“Imelda,” Salari added, uncertain eyes darting between Imelda and Kalif. “She’s got one hell of a grudge.”
Kalif took her arm and dragged her to her feet and outside the enclosure. Sala was already pacing nervously, and she would not take kindly to guards parading through her home and threatening her cubs. A few guards arrived on the pathway and took over restraining Imelda. They got her hands behind her and the cuffs on, though they fumbled more than Kalif liked. Long dark hair hung in waves around her face. Sala roared, as if voicing his own feelings about the woman who’d threatened Salari.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kalif said, eyes on the lioness. “This is too much activity for Sala.”
“She’s probably worried this bitch will steal her cub,” Imelda muttered.
“Hey!” Salari smacked Imelda across the face. “Will you fucking get it through your head? I never took your man!”
Kalif paused, looking between the ladies. “Is that what you’re here for?” To Salari, he said, “You can’t be serious.”
“I was going to be queen,” Imelda insisted. “Until she ruined everything.”
“No, the prince of Asodonia ruined everything by dragging my reputation through the mud,” Salari said. “Besides, he never wanted to be with you. It was just a ploy to get out of the marriage.”
“Get her out of here,” Kalif ordered.
The guards began escorting Imelda away, but she didn’t protest. She walked quietly between them, an odd smile on her face. Kalif wrapped an arm around Salari, something in his gut telling him it wasn’t quite time to stand down yet.
“I’m so happy you’re okay,” he murmured into Salari’s ear. She wrapped her arms around him as they walked, sighing deeply.
“I trust this will be the end of it?” She tilted her head up to look at him, a hopeful smile on her face. Kalif smiled down at her briefly, not willing to take his gaze off the guards leading Imelda away. Still no fight from Imelda. He slowed as they led her out of the zoo, pausing on the path to watch them go.
“What’s wrong?”
The paths were illuminated by soft golden lamps now that darkness had fallen hard. The guards were taking a strange route to the cells at the front of the palace. Kalif’s heart rate picked up.
“Isn’t it odd that she’s going so willingly?” Kalif started walking again, pulling Salari along with him.
“I find it odd that she knew where to take me,” Salari said, “and how to even get into my room in the first place. It was like she had a personally tailored map to the palace.”
“Exactly.” Their footsteps fell quietly as they hurried down the long path to the palace. The guards were leading her off quickly now, and Kalif wanted to keep them in sight without being on top of them.
“Guards!” Kalif shouted when they were just about to hit the fork where they’d take Imelda to the cells. “Take her to the jail. I’ll escort Salari back to her room.”
Both guards nodded. “Yes, sir.” They made an abrupt turn, swinging out to take the lower stone pathway, which would be the most direct route to the jail. Kalif and Salari feigned taking the other path, a covered walkway along the edge of the palace, then doubled back and hurried in the direction they’d taken. He paused at the junction, hid
ing behind the wall.
“What are we doing?” Salari asked, her voice a whisper.
“I want to see where they’re taking her.” He waited a beat and then peeked around the corner. Instead of continuing down the stone path, the guards were drifting back toward the palace, Imelda in tow. Kalif watched as they bounded up to rejoin the covered hallway. “They’re not going to the cells.”
Kalif and Salari scurried down the hallway, pausing at the next corridor to peek around the corner. This time, the guards and Imelda were nowhere to be seen.
“This is wrong,” Kalif said. “They shouldn’t be going this way at all. They were going the right way and then turned off.”
He jerked his head toward the end of the hall, and they hurried toward the next junction. They could just see the trio—two guards and Imelda—around the corner They were racing along now, getting closer to the formal front entrance hall. Kalif and Salari raced across to the next junction.
Once the guards and Imelda broke through to the front hall, they released her from their grip and paused to unlock the handcuffs. When they started again, she walked casually at their side. Kalif’s stomach pitched downward. The small group spoke in low tones.
Kalif pressed himself against the wall, hidden from sight. Salari stood at his side, gnawing on her lip.
“What is it?” she asked.
“They’ve let her go.” Kalif’s hand went to his gun again, making a quick calculation. These guards had been helping her all along. It was the only scenario that made sense. And if members of his own force were actively working to kill a royal family member, then Kalif had to act immediately.
He peered around the corner again. This time, the junior guard had passed his gun to Imelda. Anger coursed through him, white hot and raging. His own guards…betraying their oath to their king. To him. To their country. To Salari.
Kalif rushed forward without thinking, gun drawn, and started firing before the three of them could turn to notice. Imelda’s eyes widened at the first gun shot, but she was his first target. Both of the guards went down after her. Nobody was able to react in time.
Three shots. Three bodies. Zero threat remaining.
It had happened so fast that by the time Kalif came back into normal time, he was standing over their dead bodies, looking down in shock. He holstered his gun. Salari ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
It took a few moments before he noticed that she was crying softly. He ran a hand through her hair, tilting her head back to look up at him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “That you had to see that.”
She shook her head, tears shining in her eyes. “It’s not that. It’s just…relief. I don’t know. It’s heavy, but also…she would have come back to kill me.”
“Exactly. I did what I had to do.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head, his eyes drifting shut as a final, profound sense of peace finally enveloped him. The threats were gone. His Salari was safe. “Protecting you is my only priority. I told you that. I do whatever it takes.”
14
By the time she and Kalif made their way back to the royal bedrooms, Zatar and Alexis were in the hallway, speaking with some of the senior guardsmen. Zatar rushed toward her, pulling her into his arms.
“Sister. Are you safe now? Is this horrible nightmare finally over?”
“I think it is.” She pulled back, smiling up at her brother. “Kalif took care of the root problem, let’s say.”
“Two of the newest guardsmen were found to be aiding and abetting the attacker,” Kalif explained. “I took all three of them out. And I will make sure no others were involved.”
Zatar ran a hand through his hair, looking back at Alexis, whose eyes were wide. “I swear this isn’t normal.” To Kalif, he said, “And what will be the official story?”
Kalif grimaced, looking down at Salari as though he wanted her input. “We won’t be able to hide their wounds. They died heroically, defending the palace from an armed intruder.”
“In the zoo,” Salari quipped. “That’s where she wanted to take me to kill me, after all. Tried to get Sala in the mix.”
Both Zatar and Alexis made a noise a disgust. The two of them were animal lover soul mates if she’d ever see any.
“Then good riddance,” Zatar said. “But we can’t use my Sala in the official story. You figure it out.”
Salari smiled into Kalif’s chest. She wasn’t one to smile over death, but in this particular instance, she was willing to be a little brazen. The attacks had severely disturbed her sense of wellbeing. Looking over her shoulder, wondering if an attack lay right around the corner…that was no way to live.
Just like living separated from the first, and only, love of her life was no way to live either. And all of that would change from here on out.
“Get some rest,” Zatar said, squeezing Salari’s shoulder. “I’ll have dinner sent to your room.”
She and Kalif headed for her bedroom as she laughed to herself. When Kalif asked what was so funny, she said, “Well, I guess we got our quiet night with dinner ordered in after all.”
“Let’s hope this is the last of it,” Kalif said, shutting the door behind him. “I don’t have it in me to watch you almost ripped from my life a second time.”
Salari got quiet as she headed for the nightstand. She was more than ready to shed all her clothes and just snuggle up to her warm lover, wrapping herself around his limbs until the sun came up. But something in Kalif’s tone begged for honesty. Like flicking open the spigot, letting all the truth come spilling out.
“I won’t be going anywhere away from you anytime soon,” she said quietly, leveling her gaze on him.
“Is that a promise?” He toed his shoes off, his dark eyes swirling with something so intense it made her chest tighten.
She smiled as an idea came to her. “I’ll answer that in the bathroom.” She sauntered off, holding him with a playful look as she lured him into the bathroom.
“What about dinner?”
“They’ll leave it at the door.” She disappeared inside, shedding her shawl behind her. “I need you in here first.”
* * *
When Kalif stepped into the bathroom, he found it all dark marble and reflections, Salari’s sultry gaze shining back at him from a hundred different angles. This, if anything, was the stuff of his fantasies: her bent over the clawfoot tub, steamy water pouring from the tap, looking at him with fuck-me eyes.
“This seems like a better idea,” he murmured, immediately loosening his belt, pants dropping to the floor. She laughed throatily, stirring a finger into the filling tub.
“Anything where you’re naked is a better idea,” she said. Kalif finished undressing while the tub filled. Before she could snap the water off, he came up behind her, gathering her in his arms.
“So let’s talk more about you not going anywhere anytime soon,” he said, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair—juniper and silk. He’d seen it in the way she looked at him now, but he wanted to hear her say it. That she was his now. That she wasn’t going back to France, that she’d be here forever with him. In his arms. Where she belonged.
“That’s the plan,” she whispered, shimmying out of her shorts. Kalif ran his hands over the width of her hips, snagging his thumbs on her edge of her panties. She tore her shirt and bra off next, and Kalif buried his face in the newly exposed flesh. He took a small bite of her shoulder. Goose pimples erupted where he’d bitten.
“I think the water’s ready.” She sent him a sultry look, twisting off the spigot. Her breasts hung heavy and round, nipples two tight points. He thumbed the pebbled chocolate bud, his cock twitching as she stepped into the tub with one foot, then another.
Kalif stepped in after her, unable to do anything other than follow in her wake. They eased into the water slowly, facing each other. Salari’s legs formed a natural lock around his waist, his hands cupping the smooth curve of her ass.
“Now this is where I want to be
forever,” he murmured, resting his head against the porcelain curve of the tub. The water lapped gently between them. Her amber eyes shone desirous and honest.
“So you’ll be with me forever?” She arched a perfectly shaped brow.
“If you’ll let me,” he said, running a hand up the curve of her thigh. “That’s the only place I’ve ever wanted to be, Sali. With you.”
She sighed gently, pushing forward until she was wrapped around him, her breasts bunched up against his chest. She hooked her ankles behind him, the hot folds of her pussy settling against his ramrod straight cock.
“I want you inside me again,” she whispered into his ear.
“Mmmm.” He grabbed her by the hips, lining her up so that the swollen tip of his cock dragged along her folds. “And so soon?”
“It feels like it’s been years,” she chided, rubbing her cheek against his, like a kitten looking for a human hand. “Please, Kalif.”
He grunted softly as he flexed his hips, pressing into her, the velvety channel of her pussy welcoming him. A shaky sigh escaped her, her eyes fluttering shut.
She pressed her forehead to his. “I love you, Kalif.”
The tenderness in her voice nearly broke him in half. He squeezed the tops of her hips, grateful for the physical weight of her, the realness of her in his life finally, after so many lost years. The tight embrace of her pussy had his mind spinning, launching him into outer space. It took him a moment to find his voice through the onslaught of emotion.
“I love you too, Sali.”
She moved against him, the water sloshing gently as they started a slow, sensuous rhythm. Kalif felt ready to come within the first minute; something about the restrained friction, the intense buildup of emotions over the past decade that had him constantly quivering on the brink of release. She could push him over the edge with a single look. Her body slid slick and warm as she rocked against him.
The Sheikha’s Unexpected Protector: Desert Sheikhs Book Two Page 9