Sheikh's Blackmailed Love (8 page)

The woman, a cosmopolitan from Jabal who handled the delicate site setup, shrugged.

“At some point, he will likely find a bride from one of the other emirates or from one of the noble families here in Jabal. Until then, well, he has certainly had affairs, but he is very discreet about them. One imagines that he keeps mistresses like a European aristocrat, secreted away in some lovely apartment that he visits.”

Or in a cave with a surprisingly comfortable air mattress
, she thought wryly, and then she flinched at the idea of him having other women discreetly, making the same deal with them that he had with her. She hung on to the words he had said, about how real they were together and the passion that they shared, but weren’t those the words that every mistress heard?

Most nights found her waiting until dark had fallen. When the murmurs around the fire were dying down, and when people were starting to head back to their sleeping places, she would wave and yawn as if she were making her way to her own trailer. Once she was sure that she was out of sight, she switched on the tiny flashlight that hung on her key chain and made her way up around the excavation site to the cave that she was coming to know so well.

Some nights, he would arrive before she did. There might be a roaring fire to give the cave warmth, a welcoming spread of blankets that were waiting to cover their naked bodies. Dario would be there, smiling and waiting for her with open arms.

If Bailey was honest with herself, though, she would say the nights that she loved the most were the ones where she arrived first. Dario might be held up by serious logistical concerns with the other riders, or with the satellite talks that he had to have with Jabal officials from time to time. She would arrive at the cave, build up a fire, and sit on the ledge outside, staring up at the stars. She wondered if there was something strange about the fact that she liked waiting for him. There was a kind of quiet yearning there that she relished, and it felt good because she knew that he would come. She loved hearing his step on the rocky path, and she knew that when he came to her, his smile would be as brilliant as the sun itself.

They were drawn to each other by something that felt as natural, as powerful, and as unquestionable as gravity. In his arms, she felt more like herself than she had ever felt before.

“I feel so good with you,” she whispered one night. They were naked under the covers, her head was tucked under his chin. “I wonder sometimes, though, what I give to you?”

His laugh was incredulous.

“Do you even have to ask, my little gem? When I am with you, everything feels possible. I am purely myself, and that is a feeling that few people can offer me. With you, I feel like the finest version of myself that I can be.”

She supposed it made sense, but there was always a part of her that felt like there were pieces missing. What they had in the cave was real and true, but she was beginning to feel like two people. One walked in daylight, joked with her friends, and loved the work she was doing, even if she had been coerced at the beginning. The second one crept along the mountain at night, lived by firelight, and gave up her body to a man who could make her feel things she had never imagined before.

As time went on, those two different parts drifted apart farther and farther. Bailey told herself that there was no separation. She was one person. She knew that the split was hurting her, but she did not know how in the world she was going to fix it.

*

Things went on as they were for two weeks, and then the excavation team found the diadem. The shout went up around the camp that something big had been found, and sooner rather than later, most of the crew was at the dig site, watching from a safe distance as a skilled archaeologist worked gently to free the prize.

Bailey stood on tiptoe to watch as the woman painstakingly brushed away the centuries old stone and grit to reveal the shine of gold. This was a terrifying moment, when all of a scientist’s skills might still not be enough to prevent the destruction of an ancient artifact.

Bailey wasn’t sure when she became aware of Dario standing behind her, but suddenly he was there. They did not touch, but in the crowd, it was easy for him to come so close that his chest touched her back. Suddenly she was drinking in the scent of him, somehow able to sense his heat through the thin fabric of her clothes.

I am glad I am seeing this with him
, she thought, and then a cry went up.

The head archaeologist lifted a shining gold object between her gloved hands, holding it up for others to see. From where she stood, Bailey could see that it was a delicate crown of twisted gold wire, intensely intricate and studded with the red gleam of some kind of deep red gem. It was a gorgeous piece, as brilliant as it must have been on the head of some ancient Jabal royalty.

With a flourish, the archaeologist came to offer it to Dario, who took it with reverent hands. Bailey was startled to see his eyes glance toward her, a strange look flickering across his face. Strangely enough, it looked like longing, something that sent a strange pang through her heart.

The cheer went up around them, and Dario smiled. When he raised his voice to speak, he directed his words at the camp.

“This is a great day for the history of Jabal,” he said. “This weekend, we are leaving behind guards, and we will all return to the city. Accommodations will be made for those who choose not to see their families. We will celebrate as only we know how to do, and then we shall return to learn more!”

This response was met with an even greater cheer. As Bailey watched, Dario left with his security team to install the artifact in one of the safes kept for this purpose. All around her, the group dissolved into chatter about what this weekend might bring and the generosity of the sheikh, but she was left feeling oddly desolate.

A few nights in the city after being in the desert for months sounded amazing, but somehow, she already felt at loose ends. She had never been to Jabal, and she knew that with the discovery of a new artifact, Dario would likely have his hands full.

As it turned out, Dario hadn’t intended for her to go to Jabal at all. When he told her the news that night at the cave, he was matter-of-fact.

“There is a small inn not terribly far from where we are. They are people I have known most of my life, good and trustworthy, and you will be safe there. I can send one of the riders to escort you there, and then we can make sure to pick you up on our way back to the dig.”

Bailey blinked at the unfairness of it.

“So… everyone else gets to go see Jabal, and for some reason, you are leaving me in the country?”

“It’s not that simple,” he said. “The truth is that there is still a great deal of bad feeling over the men who came to remove these artifacts. I am… afraid that if it is discovered that you are able to move about freely in the country, the consequences could be dire.”

Bailey narrowed her eyes.

“I don’t believe that,” she said bluntly.

Dario, who she was coming to realize expected his orders to be obeyed without question, looked startled.

“Excuse me?”

“I think you’re being paranoid,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I think that, yes, Christensen was a big deal… but that was a month ago. Longer. I also think that unless they are playing me up as the Jezebel that got away, no one cares or remembers who I was, and it’s not like there were any pictures taken of me anyway.”

Dario scowled, and she could imagine there were officials and military men who cowered under that look. In some of their erotic play, that scowl could turn her to water. However, in a real-life context, it only frustrated her.

“You are deliberately defying me…”

“I am pointing out a flaw in your judgment,” she said, keeping her voice as level as she could. “You have given your argument, and now I get to give mine.”

“There is no argument here,” he said, his voice dropping down to a growl.

“There is,” she said, standing up as tall as she could. “Because otherwise, there is a man who is giving me orders without authority, and that means that man is a bully.”

For a moment, Dario stared at her, incensed. She narrowed her eyes, ready to counter whatever he said next, but then he turned away.

“You are a singularly infuriating and foolish woman,” he snarled, and then he stalked into the darkness.

Bailey stared after him, shocked and hurt. She had expected a fight. She had expected him to rage at her. She hadn’t expected this blunt rejection.

When it became clear he wasn’t coming back, she made her way down from the cave, moving carefully and slowly so she didn’t have to think about what was going on. When she was back in the safety of her own trailer, she sat for a while in bed, a book open but unread on her lap.

Is this the real version of us after all?
Bailey wondered.
Are we simply not fit to be together?

The next day was a frenzy in camp. The main convoy leaving for Jabal was departing that afternoon, and there was a great deal to get done. Everyone around her was lively about what their plans were. Some were going to see their families; others had no intention of sleeping at all until they were on the jeeps coming back to the encampment on Sunday night. Word had gotten around that the sheikh had rented out a block of rooms at a luxury hotel for those who didn’t have anywhere else to go, and most people were thrilled.

Bailey tried to be happy for her friends, but she knew that she wouldn’t have any part in it. She might demand and argue, but the truth was that in Jabal, she was Dario’s dependent. When he told her to go somewhere, she went. Dutifully, she packed her bag and went out to the convoy with the others.

She was unsurprised when Majid, one of Dario’s riders, approached her.

“Miss Tyler, you are to come with me,” he said, his voice careful and formal.

“Of course,” she said. She knew that it was not his fault that he had to carry out his sheikh’s orders, but a part of her couldn’t help but be a little resentful.

To her relief, they got into a jeep, rather than heading to the horse corral. It had sounded as if Dario was planning to strand her in the back of beyond.

To her surprise, Majid followed the convoy to Jabal. She watched in shock as the tall skyscrapers of Jabal appeared hazily in the distance and then grew sharp and solid.

“Excuse me, but aren’t you meant to be taking me to an inn or something?”

Majid shrugged.

“I go where Sheikh Nejem tells me to go,” he said gruffly.

“But where is that?”

“Rising Star.”

“What’s that?”

Majid glanced over, shooting her an amused grin. It occurred to her that he must have been at least twenty years her senior, easily old enough to be her father. She must have looked like an impatient teenager to him.

“You will see.”

There was something so gentle about his words, so assured, that she realized something in that moment.

“You… you know about us, don’t you?” she asked softly.

For a moment, she thought he wasn’t going to answer her at all. Then, with a soft sigh, he nodded.

“It is not as bad as you fear,” he said. “It is very hard to hide things from the riders. We go everywhere, and generally, we are not seen unless we want to be. The sheikh is a subtle man, but we take our responsibility to him very seriously.”

For a moment, Bailey was shocked to think that people had known about their trysts, but then she found she was oddly comforted to know that there were men looking after him.

“I am glad you are so careful with him,” she said, leaning back in her seat. “I imagine that he is not an easy man to keep track of.”

Majid chuckled with surprise. When he looked at her again, there was a gleam of respect there that she wasn’t sure she had seen before.

“That is a true thing. Do you know much about the sheikh and his time among the riders?”

Wide-eyed, Bailey shook her head. Somehow, it felt as if she was being offered a rare and generous piece of knowledge, and she knew that she couldn’t let it go by.

“He told me he was put on a horse when he was five years old,” she said, “but beyond that, there was nothing.”

Majid nodded.

“Throughout its long history, Jabal has always been a country that was more warlike than its neighbors. More than Dubai, more than Ziar and the others, it has always been a place where men were meant to take their first steps toward their horses and their swords. Centuries ago, we were expected to die in the saddle.”

He offered her a wry smile.

“Of course, I greatly prefer the peacetime, as does any sensible man, but it cannot be denied that our heritage is a martial one. In all things, the sheikh is meant to lead his men, and so Sheikh Nejem was raised among the horsemen.”

“Was he very brave?” she asked.

Majid laughed.

“Reckless enough to make even his father worried! He was raised on stories of the daring of Jabal sheikhs in war and at play. He has always wanted to be the best, and when it was pointed out that that came with certain risks, he shrugged them off.”

Bailey could imagine Dario as a stubborn boy, proud of his horse, proud of his skills, and reckless enough to make his parents weep tears of worry.

“In peacetime, the riders work mostly with rescue operations and peacekeeping on the borders, as you have seen. One of the first missions that the sheikh ran with us was to find a couple of campers who had gotten lost in the Sinn mountains.”

Bailey shivered. She knew how treacherous they could be, how a trick of the light could make a sudden steep drop look like a gentle slope.

“A woman had fallen to the bottom of a ravine, breaking her leg. We were still discussing the best way to get her out when the sheikh simply anchored a rope on the rock face and rappeled down to her location.”

Bailey laughed because she could imagine Dario doing just that.

“Did he save the day?”

“As a matter of fact, he did. He was able to secure her to a stretcher that we could then use to pull her up, which took far less time than the other solutions. That has set the tone for the rest of his life.”