Promised to a Sheikh

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“Do you have dungeons in Gaspar?” she asked.

“No, but I would build one specifically for people who threatened the safety of what belongs to me, for people who would attempt to harm you.”

Her eyes brightened, and she smiled at him. “While I don’t necessarily approve of the method, I appreciate the sentiment.” Her smile fell away. “Besides, Donny didn’t need a dungeon. He needed help. We learned later that both his parents were severe alcoholics and that Donny had spent the previous two years raising his three younger sisters. He was frantic about his diploma because he was certain without it he wouldn’t be able to get a good job, and he was trying to save up enough money to take his sisters and leave his parents.”

“A sad affair,” he replied. “However, I can understand why you were reluctant to return to the school.”

“Actually, I returned the next day and finished out the school year and thought I was fine.” Again the shadows appeared in her eyes.

“But you weren’t fine.”

She shook her head, dark strands flying on either side of her heart-shaped face. “I think for a couple of days I was kind of in shock, then I started having nightmares about the whole thing. The nightmares don’t come as often anymore, just occasionally. But I made the decision that I didn’t want to go back this year.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m sure the idea of entering that building again must be difficult.”

“That isn’t why I decided not to go back.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Then, why?”

She waited until they had left the pasture and she’d carefully locked the gate behind them before she replied.

“I think that whole incident with Donny made me realize just how short life is, that it can be taken away from you in the snap of a finger. I just decided I wanted to take some time off and enjoy life to the fullest.”

“Ah, so what you seek is a confirmation of life,” he observed.

“Yes, something like that,” she agreed.

He grinned at her teasingly. “They say the best way of doing that is to make love.”

Her cheeks warmed with sweet color. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You have never made love?” he asked incredulously.

She raised her chin. “Well, it certainly hasn’t been from lack of opportunity,” she exclaimed defensively.

“I wouldn’t have dreamed anything to the contrary,” he replied with amusement. “I just assumed in this day and age that you had enjoyed an intimate relationship before.”

They had almost reached the cottage, where his car was parked out front. “I guess I’m more old-fashioned than I pretend. Besides, I simply haven’t met the right man,” she said.

Omar pulled her into his arms once again, enjoying the way her eyes flared in surprise. “You have met him now, Elizabeth. I will be the man who will introduce you to the pleasures of making love.”

“Omar…”

Whatever she was about to say was drowned out by Rashad yelling his name and holding up the phone. Omar frowned, torn between his desire to spend more time with Elizabeth and the duty that called him yet again.

“I must take that,” he said. “Rashad would not have called me if it wasn’t an important call.”

She nodded, and he hurried to where Rashad stood and took the cell phone. The call required Omar to return to his hotel room, where he had the paperwork required to deal with the problem. He hung up the phone and went back to where Elizabeth waited.

“I am so sorry,” he said. “I’m afraid I must return to the hotel room to attend to some business.”

“Of course, I understand,” she said, but he thought he saw a whisper of disappointment in her eyes. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Dine with me tonight?”

“I’d love to,” she replied.

“Good, then I will send the car for you around seven.”

“I’ll be ready.”

How he wanted to gather her back into his arms and taste the sweetness of her lips. But he knew now was not the time or the place.

“She is perfect,” he said to Rashad moments later, when they were driving back to the hotel. “She is perfect, just like I knew she would be. I have made a wise and good choice.”

He stared out the window, thinking of the woman he’d just left, then looked back at Rashad. “She is intelligent and sensitive and has a compassion inside her that will make her valuable not only to me as a man, but to my country as my queen.”

“And it doesn’t hurt that she is not hard to look at,” Rashad said slyly.

Omar grinned at his assistant and friend. “No, that certainly doesn’t hurt.”

He redirected his gaze out the window, his thoughts once again filled with Elizabeth. He liked her even more than he’d thought he would. He’d known from her letters that there were many things he admired, but he hadn’t expected to enjoy her company quite as much as he did.

Of course, his feelings for her would never deepen into anything remotely resembling love. His father, Sheik Abdul Al Abdar, had warned him from an early age that love took away a man’s power, made him look dependent and weak in the eyes of his countrymen.

Love was out of the question—but desire certainly wasn’t, and the thought that Elizabeth had never been with a man before stirred Omar with anticipation.

If he could seduce her tonight, he had a feeling she would easily succumb to his wishes that she marry him.

He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, planning the seduction of the lovely Elizabeth Fiona Carson.

In a jungle in a rain forest in the Central American country of Mezcaya, Luke Callaghan leaned his head back against a tree trunk, closed his eyes and for a moment imagined he was back home in Texas.

The sound of distant gunfire, the buzz of the infernal mosquitoes and the exhausting humidity seemed to fade away as he thought of home.

Luke had grown up on an estate twenty miles north of Mission Creek. Orphaned at seven, he’d been left an amount of money that made him a millionaire many times over, but he’d never cared much about the money.

The military had provided the family Luke had wanted, and now at the age of thirty-four he had achieved his desire. He was a double agent, working for the military in a position so secretive even his best friends didn’t know about it.

He smiled grimly and raked a hand over his jaw as he thought of his buddies back home.

They would all probably think he was off on another party jaunt, wining and dining women all over the world. None of them would believe that he was in a stinking jungle fighting terrorists.

His mouth watered as he thought of a rack of ribs dripping with barbecue sauce. Ribs and a cold beer—that was the first thing he’d order when he got back to Texas.

If he ever got out of this infernal jungle alive.

Four

For the first time in her life, Cara felt just a little bit like Fiona as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The red silk dress she’d borrowed from Fiona’s closet, and now wore, made her feel flirty and sexy and desirable. Or was it Omar who made her feel that way?

She had spent the afternoon after he’d left, playing and replaying in her mind the entire time with him. Each time he’d looked at her with those beautiful dark eyes of his, she had felt a shiver of excitement. For in his eyes she’d seen desire.

When she’d told him about her trouble at school and he’d pulled her into his arms, she’d wanted to remain standing there forever.

His arms surrounding her had made her feel more safe than she ever had, and for just a moment she’d thought she could hear his heartbeat against her own.

A knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts, and she whirled away from the bedroom mirror and hurried to the door, certain it must be the car to drive her to Omar.

She opened the door, surprised to see not Rashad standing on her front stoop, but her father. “Daddy!” she exclaimed in surprise.

“Hi, darlin’. Don’t you look like a picture of prettiness?”

“Thank you,” Cara replied, and smiled affectionately at her father.

Ford Carson was a big man, with broad shoulders, a belly that just overhung the large belt buckles he favored, and hair that had gone a snowy white in the past couple of years. Since Cara had moved into the cottage two years before, Ford often dropped in un-announced just to visit with her.

He stepped into the living room but remained standing. “I guess you’re on your way out,” he said. “Your mama told me Sheik Al Abdar is in town and you’ve been spending time with him. I hope this isn’t anything too serious.”

Cara looked at him in surprise. “You don’t like Omar?”

“Hell, I like him fine, but I’d hate to see my little girl taken off to some foreign country, even if the country is friendly with the United States.”

Cara smiled. “Daddy, I’m not a little girl anymore, and I’m sure I could come home to visit whenever I wanted.”

Ford frowned, his bushy dark eyebrows pulling together in the center of his forehead. “So, this is serious.”

“Oh, I don’t know. But I like him a lot,” she replied honestly.

Ford sighed. “I always figured it would be your sister who’d eventually go off to live in some foreign place. She’s never seemed satisfied in Mission Creek. But you…I just always thought you’d be around.”

With a small laugh, Cara threw her arms around his neck. “I’m not gone yet,” she said. “I’m just enjoying Omar’s company at the moment. Don’t look so worried.”

Ford kissed her soundly on the cheek. “I always worry when it comes to my family.”

Cara stepped back from him. “Well, you know you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not about to do anything foolish or impulsive.”