Desert Rogues: The Secret Bride
Auteur
Susan Mallery
Lezers
19,8K
Hoofdstukken
16
Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
“Oh, Mommy, look!”
Liana Archer glanced up from the romance novel she’d been reading and stared out the airplane window. She saw a brilliant blue sky, an unforgiving sun and nearly a dozen men on horseback riding toward the plane.
“Don’t worry, Bethany,” she told her daughter absently. “It’s just—”
Liana’s eyes opened wide as she realized what she’d just seen. Men on horseback? When the pilot had announced that the plane would be delayed a few minutes because there was a problem at the gate, Liana had assumed there was a technical difficulty or another plane in their space. She hadn’t thought they were about to be assaulted by a herd of native tribesmen.
Not knowing what else to do, she clutched her nine-year-old daughter to her side. “We’ll be fine,” she said with a calmness she absolutely did not feel.
Someone else noticed the group of men. Conversation raced up and down the length of the plane. Several women began to scream. Liana’s heart jumped into hyper-drive, and her breathing increased until she thought she might pass out. Why was this happening? She’d been promised that El Bahar was the safest country in the Middle East. That the king was a good and honest ruler, much beloved by his people. She’d believed the information—otherwise she never would have subjected herself or her daughter to a move that had brought them halfway around the world. So what had gone wrong?
Before she could figure out an answer, the men reached the plane. They circled around, then she heard the sound of the forward door opening and the low, gruff voices of the tribesmen as they boarded the plane.
Both Liana and Bethany shrank back in their seats. At least they were in the rear of the plane, Liana thought grimly as she looked around for the exit by the tail. Maybe she could figure out a way to open that door, and she and her fellow passengers could sneak out to safety.
“Mommy?” Bethany’s voice was shaky and her face pale as she stared at her mother. “Are we going to die?”
“Of course not.” Liana brushed the blond bangs off her daughter’s forehead, then kissed her cheek. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all this and we’ll—”
Several tall, dark men wearing robes and headdresses entered the main cabin. They seemed to be searching for someone.
“What do you want?” a passenger in a business suit asked, rising to his feet. “There are women and children on this plane. If you want hostages, at least let them go.”
The natives ignored him. About midway down the center aisle, they paused. One of them reached for a young woman and drew her to her feet. There was an exchange of conversation that Liana couldn’t hear, then the woman was led away.
Conversation exploded like gunfire. Several shrieks pierced the cabin, and Liana felt herself starting to shake. Dear God, what was happening? To think that one of the reasons she’d agreed to the job in El Bahar had been her love of sheik romance novels. But danger in the land of the sheik was much more interesting in a book. In real life, it was plain terrifying.
“Silence, please!”
A loud male voice bellowed over the din of hysterical passengers. Liana looked up and saw another of the native men standing at the front of the cabin. He was taller than the rest, and darkly handsome in a remote kind of way. He stood with his feet braced and his robe thrown back to expose the gleaming pistol at his waist. She swallowed, trying to console herself with the thought that if they were to be shot, at least it would be a quick death.
“I apologize for your fears,” the man said. He glanced over his shoulder, then shook his head. “A few of the younger men were a little too involved with their assignment and took the game to heart. My instructions were for you to be informed of what was going on before anything began.”
The man gave a low bow. When he straightened, he smiled. The smile transformed his appearance from remote to more appealing than should be legally allowed. “I am Malik Khan, Crown Prince of El Bahar. Welcome to my country. What you have just seen was not a kidnapping, nor were your lives in any danger. A young American woman employed at the palace had requested that her fiancé ‘rescue’ her from the plane. She thought it would be romantic to be swept away by a man on horseback.”
Prince Malik motioned to the left side of the plane. “As you can observe, she is well pleased with what happened.”
“Can you see?” Bethany whispered, still clinging to her mother.
Liana craned her neck as she looked across the cabin and out the far windows. She could just make out the young woman taken from the plane. She stood in the embrace of one of the tribesmen, and if their passionate kiss was anything to go by, she was plenty happy with what was going on.
“They’re kissing,” Liana assured her daughter. “I guess it’s what the man said. Just a joke that got out of hand.”
Bethany grinned, then touched her hand to her chest. “I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my rib cage.”
Liana smiled at her, then kissed her soft cheek. “Me, too, kid. There they would have been, flopping around on the floor.” She demonstrated with her hand, making a wiggly back and forth motion.
Bethany giggled.
“So you are recovered then, young lady? You are not afraid to enter El Bahar?”
Liana and Bethany turned as one. The tall prince stood next to their row. Bethany stared up at the man. “I would very much like to see El Bahar, but not if you’re going to cut off our heads.”
The prince winked at the nine-year-old. “I like your head just where it is. You will be safe here, I promise. In fact, if anyone bothers you, you tell him that you personally know the Crown Prince.”
Her blue eyes widened. “You’re a real prince? Like in Cinderella?”
“Exactly like that.”
The man’s gaze drifted over to Liana. She started to offer a polite smile and assure him that she, too, was fine, when their eyes locked.
His irises were the color of midnight. Liana felt the impact of their connection all the way down to her toes. Despite being one of the most sensible women she knew, she felt a jolt of attraction that nearly jerked her out of her seat. She found herself desperate to stand and beg this stranger to touch her and kiss her…right here on the plane if necessary. It was as if she’d been given a near lethal injection of a love drug. She couldn’t speak, could barely breathe.
Fortunately, the prince merely smiled and returned to the front of the plane without saying a word.
“He’s cool,” Bethany said with a smile. “Wow. I’ve met a real live prince. He’s nicer than I would have thought. And tall. Did you think he was handsome, Mommy?”
“Yes, I thought he was handsome,” Liana admitted, willing her heart rate to return to normal. They both watched as the prince and his men disembarked. The door closed, and the plane began to move toward the gate. In a matter of minutes, people were disembarking. Liana collected their carry-on items and stowed away her book. As she did, she glanced at the cover of her novel and told herself that whatever ailed the heroine in this book was apparently contagious. For one brief second she’d found herself attracted to a tall, dark, impossible man.
Just an aberration, she told herself as she and her daughter joined the slow-moving line that would take them to their luggage. Too much traveling or the fear or maybe too much coffee had zapped some switch in her brain. That was the only explanation for her instant and overwhelming attraction to a stranger.
* * *
Forty minutes later Liana and Bethany stood waiting to go through customs. Liana had convinced herself that she’d made too much of her reaction to the El Baharian prince. Her body had still been in shock from the danger. Her instinctive fight-or-flight response to those men boarding the plane had sent a number of chemicals pouring into her system. Any thoughts she’d had about the prince had simply been the result of a fear hangover. Nothing more. Men like him didn’t appeal to women like her.
“Ma’am? If you would please to come this way?”
Liana was jolted from her musings by a slight man bending over to pick up one of her suitcases.
“What are you doing?” she asked sharply. “Don’t touch that.”
The El Baharian customs area was a large open room with plenty of air conditioning and ceiling fans. Although the lines were long, they were moving quickly and seemed efficient. Security people moved through the crowd, and she was about to call for one when the small man bowed apologetically.
“I was sent to bring you to a shorter line,” he said, pressing his hands together in front of his chest. “You have a young child and I was told that you would prefer the process to go more quickly. Just over there,” the man said, motioning to a lone official at the far side of the building.
“Is that one of the customs lines?” Liana asked, wondering why no one else was going that way. She looked up and saw the overhead sign: Official Visitors and Residents.
“As much as I would like it to be otherwise,” she said with a kind smile, “I’m neither an official visitor nor a resident. But thanks for the offer.”
The little man pressed his thin lips together. He had dark eyes and a sparse beard. He wore an exquisitely tailored suit.
“Please, ma’am. You would be most welcome.”
A uniformed security guard appeared at her elbow. “It’s quite all right, ma’am. We’re just trying to speed up the process.”
“If you’re sure,” Liana said doubtfully. She allowed the two men to take possession of her luggage and lead the way over to the customs official.
“You don’t want to be in a faster line?” Bethany asked as she dragged her carry-on bag behind her. “You like waiting in here?”
“Okay, okay, I was just being careful.”
They came to a stop and waited while the uniformed officer began to check their passports. Liana glanced around and was surprised to see that no one else had been directed to this particular line.
“I don’t understand,” she said, looking at the small man, then the security guard. “Why me and not them?”
“Because I requested it.”
Liana recognized the deep, resonant voice. Even before she turned to look at the gentleman who had just joined the party, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. She was tired, hungry and had spent the past twenty-four hours traveling halfway around the world with her nine-year-old daughter. She was not in the mood to be played with…even by her own body.
But all the temper in the world couldn’t counteract the feeling of heat that swept through her, or the faint trembling in her arms and legs. She raised her gaze and stared directly into the handsome face of Malik Khan, Crown Prince of El Bahar.
The prince offered a low bow. “We have not been formally introduced. I am Prince Malik and you are…?” He reached for her passport.
“Liana Archer. This is my daughter, Bethany.”
“Hi,” Bethany said, beaming up at him. “Do you really live in a palace?”
“Absolutely. With my two brothers and their wives. Lots of princes and princesses. Oh, and my father, King of El Bahar.”
Bethany’s blue eyes widened. “And you have your own horses and gold, and lots of people bow to you all the time?”
Malik grinned. “Not as much gold as we would like and people don’t bow all that much anymore. It makes it difficult for them to get their work done if they’re bowing all the time.”
Malik motioned to the customs official, who quickly stamped their passports, then ushered them through without so much as a glance at their luggage.
“Welcome to El Bahar,” Malik said.
Liana was still speechless at seeing him again, not to mention the effect of her misplaced physical reaction to his presence. She was too exhausted to figure out what was wrong with her, so she was determined to ignore it. Yes, the prince was tall—probably six foot two or three. She was five foot eight and he towered over her. Or maybe it was his headdress that gave him the illusion of height? She studied him and decided that his clothing might emphasize his power, but it didn’t add anything that wasn’t already there. Nope, Prince Malik was tall, strong and intimidating. But then maybe all princes were. She didn’t travel in royal circles much.
“Why did you do this?” she asked, jerking her head toward the long, slow-moving lines of people still waiting to go through customs.
Malik shrugged. “I wanted to apologize for scaring you and your daughter on the plane. I assure you, that was not our intention.”
His gaze was steady and direct. She tried to ignore the way he seemed to be seeing into her soul by looking at his individual features. Perhaps if she could find fault, he wouldn’t be so intimidating.
Unfortunately for her, Prince Malik was physically quite flawless. He had wide-set eyes and a straight nose. High cheekbones cut through tanned skin. His mouth was firm and a little stern, but there was the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners. He was the kind of man who would look good with his likeness on a stamp…or the side of a mountain.
“So, Liana Archer, why are you in my country?” he asked.
“I’m a new teacher at the American School.” She shifted slightly and saw that the customs official, the little man in the well-fitting suit and the security guard were all still within earshot. None of them were overtly listening to the conversation, but Liana didn’t doubt they were catching every word.
Malik frowned. “You are not.”
“Excuse me?”
“You are not a teacher,” he said folding his arms over his chest. “Women teachers are old and unattractive. So why are you really here, and where is your husband?”
She’d been warned that while El Bahar was more forward thinking than most Middle Eastern countries, the nation still had particular ideas rooted in the past. Obviously this was one of them.
The combination of her lingering attraction, the odd welcome they’d received on the plane and the tiredness she saw in her daughter’s face made Liana speak without thinking.
“Look, Your Highness, I can’t see that it’s any of your business, but for what it’s worth, I’m not married anymore. I can’t do anything about my age, but if you’d like I’ll work on popping out a few warts to make me more unattractive. Would that be sufficient?”
Behind her, she heard a collective gasp from the three men. Belatedly, she thought that sarcasm would probably not be welcomed by the Crown Prince. A vision of years in a desert prison followed by a slow and painful death filled her mind. She took a step closer to Bethany.
But instead of getting angry, the prince simply smiled. “Would the warts be on your nose?”
“Is that where you’d like them?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to consider the matter.” Then he snapped his fingers—literally—and a porter appeared with a cart.
Minutes later, Liana and Bethany were in the back of a cab speeding away from the airport. Prince Malik had let them go without doing anything more than wishing them well.
“Remind me never to try to be witty in front of royalty again,” Liana murmured as she leaned her head back against the seat.
“He wasn’t mad,” Bethany said confidently, snuggling up to her mother. “Prince Malik liked you. I could tell.”
“How nice,” Liana said automatically, even though that wasn’t what she felt. She was not the least bit interested in the prince’s affections, thank you very much. She liked her life too much to mess it up with wishful thinking. She had plans and goals, and they did not include a dalliance with royalty—despite her body’s reaction to the man.
When the cab began to circle around toward the clearly marked exit, Liana realized she hadn’t told the driver where they were going.
“Do you know the American School?” she asked him. “That’s where we need to go. I understand there is a main office by the housing complex?”
The dark-skinned man met her gaze in the mirror and gave her a friendly nod. “Yes, ma’am. I know the place well.”
“Good. Although I have directions, if you need them.”
“No. I go there many times a week. Most of the teachers there don’t have cars.”
Liana had been told the same thing. Many of the teachers there were, like her, expatriates on two-or three-year contracts. While the generous salary meant that purchasing a car wouldn’t be a problem, most teachers didn’t bother. Apparently public transportation was reliable and inexpensive, and it saved the trouble of buying at the beginning of the stay, then selling at the end.
“So what do you think of El Bahar?” she asked her daughter as the clean, air-conditioned cab moved onto the main highway.
The city was stretched out in front of them, with the Arabian Sea to the left. It was a darker blue than the sky—nearly the color of cobalt. Lush plants came right down to the edge of the highway, although in the distance she could see the barren land that was the beginning of the desert.
“I like it,” Bethany announced. She sniffed. “The air smells sweet, like flowers or perfume. Do you know what it is?”
“No.” Liana inhaled the scent. “A flower of some kind, I would guess. We’ll look it up on the computer.”
Along with a furnished two-bedroom condo, her contract had stipulated that she would be given a laptop computer, with Internet access, for use at home as well as in the classroom. All utilities, except for the phone, were included. The American School had made her a very generous offer, and Liana was pleased to be in El Bahar at last.
“Just think,” she told her daughter. “You can tell all your classmates that you’ve already met the Crown Prince.”
Bethany grinned. “You think they’ll believe me?”
“If they don’t, I’ll be a witness.”
The cab moved past a group of high-rise buildings between the highway and the sea. Liana remembered her research on the country and suspected this was the financial district. El Bahar had a stable economy that encouraged outside investors.
Up ahead the highway split and the driver took the road leading into the city. In a matter of minutes they were driving through a unique world that was equal parts modern buildings and ancient stone structures. Up ahead stood the last remnants of the wall that had once guarded the city, and beyond that a white glittering building jutted out toward the sea.
“It’s the palace,” Bethany said, pointing toward the large building. “I recognize it from the pictures.”
“Lovely,” Liana agreed. “I wonder if our condo is close to it? I remember reading that there are tours of the gardens. We’ll want to do that right away.”
Bethany glanced at her. “Maybe we’ll see Prince Malik again.”
“Sure,” Liana agreed, even though she doubted the truth of that statement. Would a Crown Prince bother with a tour group on his grounds? There was no way he would have time. No, their lone encounter with royalty was over and, for her, it had been more than enough.
The driver wove through streets that narrowed, then drove through impressive open gates. A long curved driveway circled through trees and blooming plants she couldn’t identify.
Liana straightened and glanced around. Okay, so maybe the condo used by the staff of the American School had really impressive grounds. Or maybe this was part of the school itself. Or maybe a park. That was it. They were driving through a park and…
They rounded a curve in the drive. In front of them was the white building they’d admired just a few minutes before. Up close it was even more impressive, with several stories and wide balconies. A dozen or so guards stood at attention by a huge double door.
“Mommy? Where are we?” Bethany asked.
Liana didn’t have an answer. Either the condo was much nicer than anything she was used to, or their driver had just brought them to the royal palace.
She looked at the man behind the wheel. “There’s been a mistake.”
He shook his head and grinned. “No mistake. His Highness said to bring you home, so here you are. Welcome to the royal palace of El Bahar.”
Before Liana could decide what to do next, a tall man in a gray suit strode out to the cab and opened the door.
“Good,” Prince Malik said. “You’re here. Come, we’ll get you settled.”
