Even while inside she reeled in terror, her mind worked overtime. Think. Think. “And then what? Have you stopped to consider what I will do when we return? Do you really expect to get away with this?” She stopped suddenly, realizing that he couldn’t possibly expect to get away with it, in which case he must believe that she’d never return to her country, never see anyone—never see Xander again. She bit her lip trying to stop them trembling as terror filled her.
“Of course. Because you will be carrying my child—heir to Tawazun. My heir. You would be too shamed to admit what had happened to you. No, we will marry and I will take my rightful place by your side.” He gripped her shoulder. “I know you are scared because you are pure, but you will soon get used to it.”
“I am not scared, because this will not happen!” Tears streamed down her face, betraying her fear.
“Yes, it will.” Without waiting for her to reply, he pressed his lips against hers and lifted her robes.
She screamed and pulled away. “Stop this madness immediately, Abzari!”
“It is not madness! You will be mine! I will be the first and only one to have you.”
“No! You won’t be!”
He gripped her chin, but at least pulled away from the kiss. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that the King of Sharq Havilah and myself have decided to marry.”
“No.”
The one single word hung between them.
“You are pure,” he continued. “No one can appreciate you as I do.”
“I am pure no longer.”
“What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath to tell the lie. “I mean that Xander and I have made love.”
“No. That’s wrong. I do not believe you would dishonor me like that.”
She suddenly realized he was completely crazy. Somewhere in the depths of his twisted mind, he’d always believed they would be together.
She shook her head in disbelief.
“No,” he repeated. “You are still pure. You are merely saying that to try put me off you.” He pushed his fingers through her hair and his fingers gripped her until her eyes watered. “You won’t put me off you, Elaheh. No matter what you say.”
“He’ll be coming here for me. You can’t do this, Abzari.”
He grunted. “You’re bluffing. No one knows we are here. And no one will know. I intend to stay here until you are carrying our baby. Only then will we return to marry.”
The color drained from her face and she felt sick and weak, as she realized that he could carry his plan out. He kicked open the door to the hut and pulled her inside. One glance told her the tumbledown place had been furnished, and was well stocked with supplies for at least a month—long enough for him to carry out his plans.
“Now, get on the bed!”
And in that moment she realized there was nothing she could do. Nothing, except fight—with her body and her mind. And she would go on fighting while she had a breath left in her body.
Xander drovewith his foot slammed flat on the floor, urging the vehicle to go ever faster, willing the increasing wind not to cover over the tire prints of the car which had preceded him. He’d left his lands, and those of Tawazun, behind him now and had entered the vast edges of the red deserts of the Rub’ Al Khali, or the Empty Quarter as the Europeans had so prosaically called it. Thousands of years ago, the caravans of the Frankincense trade were able to cross these lands. But now they were drier and far more inhospitable than they had been before and few tribes inhabited the area. If the sands shifted, covering the tracks, Xander knew he didn’t stand a hope in hell of finding Ela.
He continued on as the sky darkened, but showed no stars—a sign that they were in for bad weather. Then he blinked, and he realized that the tracks had disappeared. He stopped the car and for a moment despair filled him. He stepped outside, pushed up his sunglasses and stared all around at the light which was deepening like a bruise, crushed by the elements, discolored by the oncoming storm.
“Ela!” He called out to the dumb wilderness of orange sands and black clouds. “Ela!” he called again, before pressing his hands to his temples in near despair. He twisted first one way and then another, searching the thickening gloom for signs of life. Behind him he knew his people would be following. But it was in front of him he strained his eyes, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything which would reveal her whereabouts.
It wasn’t until he returned to the car, out of the sand-whipped air, and pulled out a map, that he knew. No one would venture far in this weather. It would be suicide. And he definitely knew that suicide wasn’t the intention of the vizier. His finger moved around the spot he was in until it stopped on a small black dot. And lingered there. It showed a small settlement had once existed there—maybe still was there for all he knew. He got onto the old-fashioned communication device they used in the desert and briefly told his team where he was headed, and that they should follow. But he couldn’t wait for them. Every second counted.
He put his foot down and, holding the compass, headed toward the small point on the map which was his only hope.
“How dareyou speak to me like that?” Elaheh decided fighting with her wits was most likely to be effective. “I am your queen.”