Page 7 of The Sheikh's Willing Captive

He shrugged. "Why should we wait."

Paige tugged at her coat. "I haven't exactly come prepared," she explained.

"Have you forgotten?"

"What?"

He walked across and opened the door to a cabinet. Inside it were hanging some of her clothes. Some of the ones she'd left behind when she'd left. Back at the palace there were whole closets of her things.

Paige stood and came to the cabinet. "You brought these?" she asked running her hand across the dresses.

"I thought you might want a change of outfit."

She frowned. "There's something wrong with the way I look now?"

Razim let his gaze drift slowly down the length of her body. He shook his head. "You look perfect," he murmured. "Absolutely beautiful."

He was pleased when he saw the effect of his words. Her cheeks blushed red and her mouth opened slightly. Temptingly, she bit her lower lip. Now he knew for certain that he had gotten through to her with his words.

"I'm fine wearing these," she stated.

He closed the cabinet. "Get comfortable while I tell the pilot we're going back to Qazhar."

She peeled off her coat and hung it in the closet. Razim felt his heart pounding as he took in the sight of her full body. For a moment, he saw her eyes narrow, examining him, as if sensing the intensity of his interest in her. Then she walked back to her seat, giving Razim a delicious view of her from the back.

As he started to make his way toward the front of the plane, he told himself this was going to be quite a flight back to his homeland. Even if it was with the sole purpose of ending his relationship with his wife.

CHAPTER THREE

Paige opened her eyes to find herself in the dark. Everything shifted around her. She reached out grabbing onto something soft and she realized she was lying on a bed. A strange bed.

There was more sudden movement, a high-pitched whining sound, and then recollection flooded back into her mind.

Paige sat up, leaned against the headboard, and clutched the bedspread around her shoulders. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was in the bedroom at the back of the plane. The sound of the jet's engines settled to a steady, low rumble which merely served to make her feel even more disoriented. The plane moved gently from side to side, as if it was making a course alteration.

Of course. She remembered now. Awareness filtered back into her mind.

She and Razim had shared a meal earlier, soon after takeoff. It had been served by a young female who Paige recognized as one of the servants from her time at the palace.

It had been an awkward meal. There was no doubt about that. As she and Razim had eaten, there had been long, difficult silences during which she hadn't known what she could say to him. For his part, Razim had tried to be courteous and pleasant. But it was clear to Paige that their recent time apart had taken its toll on their friendship. Their communication was strained and difficult, almost like that of two strangers.

She sighed in the dark at that strange way of thinking about her husband. They were more than friends. She knew that was the truth, but she wasn't about to admit it to Razim. If she did, then he'd get the wrong idea. It might even encourage him to do something they would both regret.

During the meal, Paige had tried to ask Razim about the details of the divorce papers. At one point, Paige had even tried to take them and read for herself what they contained. But Razim had tugged them right out of her hands. That had prompted one of their familiar fierce exchanges, but he had held firm, denying her the chance to read the papers. He promised she could do so once they were in Qazhar.

After that, all she'd wanted to do was get away from him. In the confines of the jet, there was nowhere else for her to retreat to except the tiny bedroom at the back of the plane. At least the door could be locked from the inside. And she had made sure she'd done just that after she'd murmured her tired goodnight to Razim.

Paige wondered how long she'd been sleeping. She realized she'd come on board the jet with nothing except the clothes on her back. It would be a short visit to Qazhar. They'd arrive early in the morning after the overnight flight. The papers would be signed on Qazhar soil, just as Razim wanted. Then she would head back to the US with the deed done.

It would mean the end of something. And the beginning of her new life without Razim.

Paige wondered why that thought didn't immediately fill her with a sense of satisfaction. Surely she should be glad that this whole crazy arrangement was finally coming to an end.

But, the truth was she had mixed feelings about the whole thing. She had done since she'd been back in New York. Of course there had been her business, and with that to keep her occupied, she had been able to pretend that Razim didn't exist. That her life back in Qazhar was already over.

But, even as she'd told herself that, she'd known it wasn't true. Razim wasn't the kind of man a woman could forget in a hurry. He wasn't the kind of man she could banish from her mind.

She'd seen the way he'd looked at her tonight. There had been a familiar hunger in that gaze. A desire with which she was all too familiar. And, for her part, just seeing him look at her like that had triggered an awakening of something she desperately didn't want to admit. Her body had reacted to Razim's attention, even if her mind had tried resolutely to ignore him.

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