Page 11 of The Sheikh's Desert Captive

Nicole nodded. "Something like that. My sister and the sheikh who found out about this agreed to get married so that they could show everyone what a foolish idea it was to try to drag the country back to the past." Nicole shrugged and smiled. "In the end, they succeeded and the coup failed. And my sister found a gorgeous husband," she added with a cute tilting of her head.

Rashid felt a sudden and surprising rush of emotion when he saw her smile. It was amazing that a woman in her predicament could find the strength of character to find something to laugh about. He wondered if she really understood the seriousness of her situation. Maybe it still hadn't sunk in.

Why had he reacted to her smile like that? It had been so long since he had spent any time with a woman. Of course, there had been times when women had been a major part of his life, but he had deliberately turned his back on that. Solitude had its own pleasures, the kind that the company of women could not compete with.

"That sounds like a very honorable thing that your brother-in-law did," Rashid said. "Perhaps one day I will find out more about him. Even meet him and thank him."

Nicole lifted an eyebrow. "If you get me back safely to the city you can thank him personally," she said with a mischievous tone.

She smiled at him and once again he felt the rush of surprising delight. He smiled back at her. "Surely the people in your embassy will do whatever it takes to get you back," he said.

He saw her face flush slightly and he knew he had touched a raw nerve. "That's where you are wrong," she said. "They don't even know I'm here."

"What? You came here without telling anyone whereyou were going?"

Nicole nodded and now she looked embarrassed. "I know. It was stupid. And I soon found that cell phones don't work out here." She rolled her eyes. "I guess I just didn't think."

Rashid wanted to agree, but realized that might not be the best idea. This woman had spirit. He could tell that she could react wildly to even the most innocent of comments.

Already he was having to be careful about what he said around her. But why did that not bother him? Normally, with a woman like this, he would have already dismissed them as being difficult or unworthy of the effort to talk to. But with this American woman everything seemed so different, so exciting.

When one of his staff had told Rashid about the arrival of the woman in the encampment, he had come expecting to find something entirely different. But he'd had no idea that he would encounter a woman like this. Even in the soft light of the dark tent he could see her beauty, a natural elegance and poise, as well as the fire in her eyes. This was a woman who excited him like no woman had excited him for a very long time.

Rashid heard some noises from outside the tent. Someone had arrived. Probably the tribal elder with his entourage. The decision would be made swiftly.

"I must go," Rashid said to Nicole.

He turned away from her and she made as if to follow him but he held out a hand. She halted and her eyes widened.

"You must wait here," he said. "It is not necessary for the tribal elder to meet you personally before he makes the decision."

"Not necessary? Do you mean he doesn't want to meet me? Surely I have some say in the matter," she said.

Rashid shook his head. "That is the point exactly," he observed. "The decision is made without the presence of the woman concerned."

Nicole groaned. "This is barbaric!"

Rashid wasn't sure whether to be offended by such a remark, or simply amused. "You may be right. I would tend to agree with you."

Nicole looked surprised at his sudden agreement.

"However," Rashid continued, "we must allow the tribal elder to make his decision."

Rashid moved closer to Nicole and gazed into her eyes. He had made his decision already. In fact, he'd made his mind up almost at the instant when he'd first seen her running toward him.

Rashid needed to give her a hint of what was on his mind. He could not tell her straight out, because that would be a betrayal of the tribal protocol. But he had already made his mind up about this woman. He wasn't prepared to allow her to fall into Hakim's clutches. There was one way that he could save her from the fate that Hakim had planned for her.

"I will return for you," Rashid said softly.

Nicole's eyes narrowed and he could see that she was trying to understand what he had meant by that.

"Once the decision has been made," Rashid added quickly. "Be ready," he added simply.

It was very simple really. There was only one way out of this for her.

And that meant that when he returned for her within the next half hour he would take her away and make sure that Hakim would never get the chance to marry her against her will.

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