The Sheikh and the Bought Bride

What on earth was she doing here, in the middle of the desert with a man she didn’t know? What had she been thinking, throwing herself on Kateb’s mercy and offering to take her father’s place? Dean had earned some time in jail. He’d cheated at cards and offered her as payment. She shouldn’t care what happened to him.

Only she hadn’t done it for him, she reminded herself.

She looked at Kateb, wondering what he expected of her. What would he want her to do? Did he really plan to take her to his bed? Fear claimed her, making it difficult not to bolt for freedom. Not that the desert provided much more safety.

“Is one of those tents mine?” she asked.

He pointed to the one in the middle.

“Excuse me,” she said, and walked toward it.

Inside she found a cot with bedding. Her luggage had been piled against the other cloth wall. She supposed by tent standards, it was very nice. There was certainly enough room.

But she didn’t care about any of that. Instead she sank onto the cot, then rolled onto her side and curled up in a ball. The unknown loomed like a circling vulture, ready to pick her bones clean.

She sniffed. Okay, that was a bit melodramatic, but she was scared. Down-to-the-core terrified.

Outside she heard the men talking. A while later, the tent flap opened and one of the cooks told her that dinner was ready.

“Thank you,” she said as she pushed up on her elbow. “I’m not hungry.”

He said something she didn’t understand and backed out of the tent. Seconds later Kateb stalked in.

“What is your problem?” he demanded.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Are you pouting? I will not tolerate an emotional tantrum. You will get up and come and eat.”

His obvious contempt drove her to her feet. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“You don’t get to judge me,” she snapped. “I’m having a really bad day, okay? I’m sorry if that reality upsets you, but you’re going to have to deal with it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do. You think I’m trash. Worse than trash, because you don’t think of me at all. I’m just an…I don’t know what. But from my perspective, I just sold myself to you. I don’t know you from a rock and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I sold myself for a man who doesn’t deserve it and now I’m here with you in the desert. You said I have until we get to the village. What happens there? What are you going to do to me? Are you going to…r-rape me?”

Her voice started to shake and she could feel her eyes burning, but she refused to look away or back down.

Kateb sucked in a breath. “I am Prince Kateb of El Deharia. How dare you accuse me of such things?”

“It’s actually pretty damned easy. You won me in a card game and now you’re dragging me into the desert to be your mistress for six months. What am I supposed to think?” She glared at him. “Don’t you dare tell me not to be upset. I would think, under the circumstances, I get to be a little nervous.”

He grabbed her arm. “Stop.”

A single tear escaped. She wiped it away and was still.

“I will not hurt you,” he said quietly.

“How do I know that?”

Their eyes locked. She wanted to see something on his face, something yielding or gentle. There was only the darkness and the sharp edges of the scar. Kateb turned and left.

She stood alone in the center of her tent, not sure what to think. Exhaustion made her sit on the edge of the cot. Now what?

Before she could figure out what to do next, he returned carrying a plate along with a bottle of water and an odd-shaped black box. It was about the size of a small loaf of bread.

“You must eat,” Kateb told her, handing her the food. “You don’t want to get sick.”

The scent of meat and vegetables made her stomach growl, but she was too afraid to eat.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing at the box.

“A battery-pack converter.” He turned it so she could see the shorter side. When he lifted the flap, there was a plug, just like a regular outlet. “For your curling iron.” He set it on the floor of the tent.

She couldn’t believe it. “Really? I can curl my hair?”

“You seem to find that very essential.”

She was still afraid, but didn’t seem so desperate now. Her stomach growled again, and she thought maybe she could eat. Answers continued to elude her, but for now, that was all right.

Chapter Three

By day three, they had settled into a routine. One Victoria found easy to deal with as it mostly involved Kateb ignoring her. While he was in the camp and occasionally spoke to her, he’d had her ride in a different vehicle and acted as if she were just one of the guys. That allowed her to relax a little and ignore their destination.

The desert had a unique beauty, she thought when they stopped for lunch. She accepted a bowl of stew from the cook and smiled her thanks. The dry air meant good hair days, although she was dying for a shower. At this point she was desperate enough to be willing to give up her favorite leather jacket for fifteen minutes of warm water and a bar of soap.

She sat in her usual place, at the back of the camp. This time there weren’t cliffs behind them, but more of the trucks. While no one walked around with a rifle, she knew that the men were always aware of the surroundings. Kateb more so than any.

He watched the sky, scanned the horizon. She suspected he would be able to tell her if there was a rabbit or fox within five miles. Or something more dangerous.

She liked how he was with the other men. He commanded their respect without being pushy about it. They looked to him because he was naturally their leader.

Her gaze returned to the scar. What had happened to him? She wanted to ask, but they weren’t speaking that much and it didn’t seem like a good conversation starter. There was a sort of truce between them she didn’t want to disrupt. Last night he’d brought her a lantern, so she could read if she wished. Not exactly the actions of a savage madman.

So maybe the mistress thing wouldn’t be too horrible. He was intelligent and strong. He joked with the other men. She liked the sound of his laugh, not that he ever laughed with her.

When she finished her lunch, she carried the bowl over to the wash bucket and cleaned it. When she straightened, Kateb stood next to her.

She jumped. “Why do you have to be stealthy?”

“We are close to the village. It’s less than twenty miles by horseback, although nearly fifty in the truck. The trucks require a road. I will be riding the rest of the way. Would you care to join me?”

“Sure. Thanks. Give me ten minutes to change my clothes.” She glanced around. Tents weren’t put up in the middle of the day, which meant privacy was an issue. Maybe she could climb in the back of one of the trucks.

“Why do you need to change your clothes? You’re even wearing sensible boots.”

She glanced down at her authentic cowboy boots. “I know. They’re so cool. I got them on sale. But I have a riding outfit.”

“Do you have different clothes for every event?”

“Of course. It’s a girl thing. Although I was challenged by the whole ‘you’ll be my mistress.’ That was a stumper. They don’t cover it much in the fashion magazines. I think they’re missing a real market.”

He was much taller than she and had to look down to meet her gaze. “You hide your emotions behind humor,” he said.

It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. “Well, duh.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. An actual twitch, which was nearly a smile. She wasn’t sure why making him smile or laugh would make her feel better, but she believed that all the way down to her toes.

“What you are wearing is fine,” he told her.

“But the outfit is really cool.”

“You can show me later.”

“You just don’t want to wait while I dig through all my luggage.”

“There is that, as well. Be ready in five minutes.”

“There aren’t any horses.”

“There will be.”

Kateb walked away. Victoria watched him go, not sure what to make of him. On the one hand, he’d taken her for his mistress for six months and that couldn’t be good. On the other hand, he’d given her electricity for her curling iron and taken care of her, albeit from a distance. Which meant this was the strangest semi-relationship she’d ever had in her life.

Four minutes and thirty seconds later, a man rode up leading two horses. Kateb spoke with him, then brought the horses to her.

“How well do you ride?” he asked.

“Isn’t it a little late to be worrying about that?”

He looked at her.

So much for the lip twitch. “I do okay. I’m not an expert, but I’ve been riding every couple of days for nearly two years.”

One of the men walked over and laced his fingers together to form a step. Victoria glanced back at the trucks holding all her things, including her purse. Was she just going to ride away and leave them all behind? Did she have a choice?

She stepped in the man’s hand, pushed off the ground, then swung into the saddle. After three days of driving, it felt good to be on a horse, out in the fresh air. Kateb got on his horse and moved the animal next to hers.

“We’ll be heading northeast.”

“Do I look like I know what direction that is?”

He pointed out into the wilderness, toward rolling hills dotted with low shrubs and grasses growing out of the sand. Like that would help.

He urged his horse forward. Hers moved into step without her doing anything, which meant it was probably going to be an easy ride. Her favorite kind.

“If you try to escape, I won’t look for you,” he told her. “You’ll wander for days before dying of thirst.”

“Oh, please,” she said, before she could remember he was royalty and sometimes it was better not to say everything she was thinking. “That’s so much crap.”

He didn’t bother looking at her. “You think so?”

“You’re not going to leave me out here to die.”

“Do you want to test your certainty?”

“Probably not.”

He smiled then. A real lip-moving kind of smile. His eyes crinkled at the corners, his expression relaxed. His face was transformed from unreadable and stern to approachable and handsome.

Somewhere deep inside, her stomach tightened, but this time it had nothing to do with fear or apprehension and everything to do with the man. She felt a little tingly and light-headed. Those reactions were quickly followed by a different kind of panic.

No, no, no, she told herself. There was no way she could be attracted to Kateb. None at all. Talk about the danger zone. She knew better than to give her heart to a man. That road led only to ruin. And falling for a sheik who was going to toss her aside in six months was a whole new level of stupid.

She drew in a breath. She had to get a grip. Finding Kateb attractive didn’t mean anything. It was biology. Okay—there’d been a tingle, but a tingle was a long way from love. She was completely safe. All it meant was that when he finally wanted her in his bed, the experience might not be icky. That was a good thing.

“What?” Kateb demanded. “Are you sick?”

“No. Why?”

“You look odd.”

Which was probably prince-speak for “you have a strange look on your face.” At least that was her assumption. Not that she was going to answer the implied question of “what were you thinking?”

Diversion seemed like a good idea. “How long have you lived in the desert?”

“Since I graduated from university.”

“Why the desert?”

“When I was ten, my brothers and I spent the summer in the desert. It is a traditional for the king’s sons to learn the ways of the nomads. I had always found the palace and rules constricting. For me, being in the desert was like coming home. I came back every summer, living with different tribes. One year I lived in the village and knew that was to be my home.”

“You didn’t want to spend all your time visiting Paris and dating supermodels?”

“I have been to Paris. It is a beautiful city. Just not for me.”

“And the supermodels?”

He didn’t bother answering.

The sun was hot, but not oppressive. Victoria adjusted her hat and was grateful she’d used her five minutes to slather on sunscreen.

“What do you do in the village? I can’t see you selling used camels.”

“I am working with the elders and business owners to develop a more stable financial infrastructure. There is plenty of capital flowing through the area, but no one is capturing it and using it effectively.”

“Let me guess,” she said. “You have a degree in finance.”

“Yes.”

“It shows.”

He changed tactics. “How did you come to work for Nadim?”

“He was in Dallas for several weeks. His assistant had a medical emergency and had to fly back to El Deharia. I’d worked with his assistant and apparently got a good review. Nadim asked that I be assigned to him and when he went back, he offered me a job.”

“Was it love at first sight for you?”

While there wasn’t exactly a sneer in the question, there was definite tone.

“I never claimed to love him,” she said primly.

“Does that make it better or worse?”

“I did my job well. Nadim had no complaints about my performance. As to the rest, arranged marriages are still a tradition in this part of the world. I was just trying to arrange my own.”

“So you could be rich.”

He still didn’t get it.

“It’s not about money.”

“So you have said.” He sounded as if he didn’t believe her.

She looked out over the desert. She couldn’t see anything resembling a village, but she wished they would get there quickly. Suddenly riding with Kateb wasn’t that much fun anymore.

Annoyance bubbled inside of her until it spilled out. “You haven’t got a clue,” she told him. “You can’t know. You grew up a prince, in privilege. You never worried about having enough to eat. You don’t know what it’s like to see your mom crying because there’s no food for dinner because your dad took all the money. He would do that—come in and take every cent she had. Sometimes he would sell stuff, like our TV. One time he sold her car and she had to walk to work for nearly a year while she saved enough to get a down payment for a new one.”

Victoria drew in a breath. “I was poor. Dirt poor. My clothes came from the church ladies who brought them by. While I appreciate their intentions, it was humiliating to be given clothes their daughters had already worn at school. To have to walk into class the next day and listen to the laughter and whispers. You’ve never had to stand in a different line at lunch because your food was paid for by the state and everyone knew. You don’t understand what it’s like to be a charity case.”

She hadn’t been paying attention so she hadn’t noticed how big the past had grown until it overwhelmed her. The need to get away made her kick her horse, then lean forward in the saddle as the gelding raced toward the horizon.

Kateb watched her go. She was riding in the correct direction so he didn’t worry about her getting lost. If she gave her horse his head, he would find his way back to the stable.

Victoria moved well in the saddle, although her shoulders were slumped forward, as if weighed down by a heavy burden.

Did she speak the truth? He didn’t know her well enough to trust her word, but the shame in her eyes had been real, as had the pain in her voice. If she had grown up as poor as she said, perhaps he could understand why security was so important to her. It also explained her obsession with clothes and finding things on sale.

She rode up to the slight rise, then reined in her horse. He joined her.

“Is that the village?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes.”

“You have to work on your definitions.”

Victoria had imagined a few tents, a primitive barn, maybe a lean-to. What she saw instead was a thriving rural city, with streets and houses and barns and fields.

“They farm?” she asked.

“Yes. There are several underground rivers that provide irrigation. In the desert, water is life.”

She couldn’t take it all in. “How many people live here?”

“Several thousand.”

“Hardly a village.”

“It has grown.”

The fields were outside the structures, stretching out along the edges of the valley and up the hills in terraces. There were several open-air markets, a larger building that could have been a church or a school. A road wound down into the valley. She could see the trucks slowly moving toward the village. At the far end of the valley, up against the cliffs, a stone structure seemed to dominate the landscape.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing toward it.

“The Winter Palace.”

“Palace for whom?”

“In ancient times, the King of El Deharia would spend a few months here each year. When that stopped, the elders’ council established a leader for the people. He is nominated and serves a twenty-five-year term.”

She remembered hearing about that. Kateb was supposed to be on the short list for that job. “Twenty-five years is a long time. They don’t want to make a mistake.”

“If they do, there are ways to unseat him.”

“And it always has to be a man, right?”

He flashed that killer smile again. “Of course. We are progressive, but we do not yet support the idea of a woman ruling.”

“That is just so typical,” she muttered. “So the leader gets the palace and all that goes with it?”

“Yes. The previous leader, Bahjat, died a few months ago, causing the new search. He graciously allowed me rooms in the palace when I was in residence.”

“Because you’re the king’s son.”

“Partially. We were close. He was like a grandfather to me.”

“Then you must miss him.”

Kateb nodded and started down the side of the mountain.

The trail was easier than it looked. Victoria hung on, letting her horse pick his way. She would guess he was a lot more sure-footed than she would be.

It took nearly an hour to make their way to the valley. They rode past fields and farmhouses, then moved onto a dirt path beside a paved road. She couldn’t believe how big the so-called village was and how many people lived here. There was an interesting combination of old and new. Wa-termills nestled next to generators.

The houses were mostly stone, with big windows and thick walls. Porches provided shade. Nearly every home had a garden and pipes bringing in water.

People waved at Kateb and called out greetings. He waved back. She felt the stares and didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

The relative calm of the journey faded as they approached the end of the trip. Kateb had given her a brief reprieve and it was nearly over. What was going to happen next?

“Will I be at the palace?” she asked. “Or somewhere else?”

“You will have quarters at the palace. They are separate from mine.”

Okay—that was good. She could use her own space.

“Is there a shower?”

He glanced at her. Amusement brightened his eyes. “One that will satisfy even you.”

How nice. But what happened after the shower? What happened that night?

“You will find electricity and many other modern improvements,” he said.

She did her best to ignore the chill brought on by fear. One step at a time, she told herself. They would get to the palace and then she could deal with the rest of her life. For now she should just enjoy the ride.

But the ride was going to be too short, she thought, feeling the first wisps of panic curling through her.

She did her best to distract herself by studying the open-air market they passed. There were plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables for sale, along with a display of the woven gold she liked so much. Later she would come back to shop. That would make her happy. Shopping was—

They turned a corner and the Winter Palace loomed before them.

From what she could see, the palace was made up of several buildings, with the central one being the largest. It was stone, with rising towers and a formidable stone wall surrounding the grounds. The roof was tile and seemed to have an iridescent quality that glimmered in the bright sun. There was a real drawbridge in the center of the stone wall, along with several permanent bridges to the right and left. People walked back and forth through the opening.

“How will the trucks get in?” she asked.

“The road goes around back. There are garages and a delivery entrance.”

Once they rode over the drawbridge, more people called to Kateb. They greeted him warmly, welcoming him back. Although they glanced at her, no one asked why she was here. Victoria didn’t want to know what they were thinking. As there had been no talk of Kateb taking a new bride, they would probably guess the reason for her presence. That she was here to service the prince. It was like standing in the free-lunch line in elementary school all over again.

Kateb reined in his horse and dismounted. She had a wild urge to bolt for freedom, only to remind herself she had no idea which way to go. And as much as she was frightened of that night, it was better than a slow, dry death in the desert.

She got off her horse. It took a second for her legs to remember what it was like to walk rather than ride, then she followed Kateb into the palace.

The entryway soared up several stories. The stone walls were smooth, the windows stained glass. Sunlight created colors on the floor and people passing through the entry. Large tapestries told the history of the desert.

Victoria wanted to move closer and study them. She’d found El Deharian history fascinating and was sure it would be just as interesting to study this place.

“Is there a library?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Can I use it?”

“Of course. Come this way.”

She followed Kateb down several long corridors. While there were still people everywhere, she ignored them as she took in the paintings and statues that dotted the palace. There were treasures everywhere she looked. Marble and gold. A portrait that looked eerily like a da Vinci. Not that she was much of an art expert. But wouldn’t it be fun to search for the signature?

She was so caught up in the beauty of the palace that she nearly forgot why she was here. It wasn’t until Kateb stopped in front of a single carved door that she remembered to be afraid.

“You will be staying here,” he said as he pulled open the door. “I trust you will find your quarters comfortable.”

It wasn’t a question, she thought, her heart pounding hard and fast.

Beautiful rugs in a rainbow of colors muffled the sounds of their steps. She had a brief impression of oval couches and overstuffed chairs, inlaid tables and hanging lanterns.

There were many rooms, all flowing from one to the other. Everything about the space spoke of time and past lives, as if they were in the oldest part of the palace.

Kateb kept walking until they reached a walled garden. Lush plants grew everywhere. Jasmine scented the air. She saw a flash of movement as a parrot flew by.

Victoria turned in a slow circle. Her brain resisted the information but it was hard to ignore. Many rooms. Walled gardens. Parrots.

The rooms would be required for all the residents who had once lived here. The walled gardens kept the women in and the men out. And the parrots concealed the sounds of their voices, for no one else could hear their words or their laughter. It was forbidden.

She stopped in front of Kateb, put her hands on her hips and wished she had something to throw at him.

“You brought me to the harem?”

“It seemed appropriate,” he said, with the hint of a smile, then left.

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