Page 1 of The Sheikh's Desert Captive

CHAPTER ONE

"Are you seriously telling me I can't go home to Qazhar city?" Nicole Summers demanded for the third time since she'd been asked to remain inside the tent. She could hear the sounds of the men outside in the encampment. The entrance flap of the tent was open. Late afternoon sunlight spilled into the comfortable interior of the tent. Maybe she could make a run for it, she thought.

Nicole turned back to the man who stood in front of her; the dark-haired, handsome sheikh who had brought her to this isolated desert encampment.

Correction. The man Nicole had persuaded to bring her out to this god-forsaken place in search of adventure.

Well, it looked as if she certainly had succeeded in finding adventure. Just not the kind she had been hoping for.

Hakim Al Farooq looked down at her. His gaze was even, but the smile, which had previously been kind and alluring, now seemed vaguely menacing. "It's more complicated than that, Nicole," he replied.

Nicole planted a hand on her hip and scowled at him. "How complicated can it be?" she asked. "You brought me here. Now you can take me back."

Hakim ran a hand through his dark hair. "There is some important business to attend to before I can give you an answer to that question."

He wasn't being straight with her. She could see it in his eyes. Those same eyes she had thought were so sexy, so attractive. Not anymore.

When she'd met him she'd thought he was the sexiest sheikh she'd ever met. Well, at least since the last one she'd dated a few weeks before Hakim. Way to go, Nicole, she told herself. You really know how to pick them.

Right now she wanted to grab Hakim by those loose fitting white robes and demand he take her right back home.

"It's not possible for you to return," he said.

Nicole thought that sounded ominous and glared at him. "You do mean today, right?"

Hakim's eyes darkened and he remained tight-lipped for a few moments

Nicole glanced over his shoulder. "And why aren't you letting me see what's going on outside? I've been hearing a whole load of strange noises since you put me in here."

Hakim shrugged. "Things are being prepared," he said in a flat voice.

Once again she felt a hard nervous twist in her middle. She didn't like it when he looked at her like that. He'd done that a few times since they'd arrived in the encampment on horseback a few hours before.

"What things?" she demanded.

"You will see," he replied and smiled.

Hakim came to her and took her gently by the shoulders. Unlike before, when they had been out on the town in Qazhar city, and back at his apartment a few evenings before, his touch made her shiver. She stiffened involuntarily and peered up at him.

"What's going on, Hakim?" she asked softly. She made her gaze as alluring as possible. Maybe the less direct approach would be more persuasive.

His eyes took on a curiously blank expression, obviously unaffected by her pleading gaze. "You told me you wanted to see the real Qazhar, didn't you?"

"Not if it means being cooped up in a tent in the middle of nowhere, and wondering what's going on," she blasted him back, abandoning any attempt at a gentle attitude.

She saw his jaw tighten. He swallowed as if trying to maintain his composure. "Back in Qazhar city, you asked me about our customs."

He was right. But that had been days before, when things had been different between them. She'd asked him what it was like to live the truly wild life in the depths of the desert and, at first he had teased her with vague descriptions. They had only piqued her curiosity even more. When she had insisted he tell her more, he'd finally suggested she come out here with him. Nicole had quickly agreed. The promise of an exotic desert experience had been too much to resist. She hadn't felt suspicious at all.

She should have known better than to trust him. In retrospect, there had been an uneasy quality to his demeanor.

"I'd like to go home, Hakim," she stated firmly. It wasn't the first time she'd demanded he take her back to Qazhar city. To the safety of the embassy where she lived with her mother, the US ambassador, her father and her younger sister, Belle. Nicole felt her heart sink as she realized how worried they would all be about her sudden, unannounced absence.

Hakim shook his head. "That's not possible."

Nicole scowled at him. This didn't make sense, she told herself again. What was Hakim up to? "You're making me feel worried, Hakim."

He came to her and reached out a hand but she pulled away from him. "There's no need to be concerned, Nicole."

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