The Defiant Princess (29 page)

She watched Khalid unclip the rope around his waist and she tried to make sense of what had happened. Khalid and the other man must've abseiled from the roof and smashed through the window feet first. One of them had shot Mustaf. The man who'd abseiled in with Khalid moved to the door, gun raised and ready to fire.

From the outer room and what must have been other rooms downstairs, she heard men yelling. More gunfire sounded, and there were crashes as though the furniture was being knocked over.

Khalid crouched in front of her.

“You came for me!” The words were barely coherent between her sobs.

“God, Sabihah! Where else would I be?”

She blinked hard to clear her eyes; to see if she was imagining it or whether her hero truly had tears coursing down his cheeks.

“Are you badly hurt?” Fear edged each of his words as his eyes ran over her and he cursed.

All she could do was sob his name.

Very gently, he touched along her cheekbone and she winced.

“I don't think it's broken, my darling,” he told her.

But it felt puffy and bruised from where Mustaf had slapped her.

Khalid's bones stood out in stark relief as he cut through the ropes that bound her and inspected her wrists. He placed kisses on the inside of each one and it was her complete undoing.

She couldn't help herself. At that moment, she didn't care that Khalid didn't love her. He was here and had rescued her and she needed to be in his arms as desperately as she needed to breathe. “Hold me!”

“Sabihah.” There was a wealth of emotion in the way his voice hitched as he said her name. “My love, I was terrified I wouldn't find you. I've never been so afraid.”

As he straightened and extended his arms to her, she threw herself against his chest. The dread and terror she'd damned up broke free, bursting from her throat in a strangled sob as tears flowed freely. She wasn't capable of analysing his words. She was far too emotional for coherent thought, but there was something more in the way he held her—a fierceness in his hold that felt like he never wanted to let her go.

“
Habi
—” His crooned endearment was cut off by the entry of a special forces Turastani soldier.

“Your Highness!”

Khalid turned away from her momentarily and looked at the soldier.

“Your Majesty.” The man bowed low. “We have contained the area. All threat has been removed.”

Her hellish experience was over and her body sagged against him.

“Well done. We'll be down shortly.”

Alone again, Khalid caressed her hair as he held her close. She was overwhelmed by the concern in his eyes and the endearments he murmured. She was like a rag doll with no strength or will to move. Nothing existed for her except for her place in his embrace. Her body was weak beyond belief from stress combined with the morning sickness. Her mind simply wanted to shut down.

“Sabihah, it's over. Are you injured anywhere apart from your cheek?” Khalid repeated his former question.

Unable to speak, she simply shook her head.

“Thank God.” He planted kisses against her hair and forehead. “I love you, Sabihah.”

Arching her neck so she could look up at him, the anxiety in Khalid's eyes registered, but his words made no sense to her. Surely her mind was befuddled and she was merely imagining that he was saying the words she longed to hear

***

Some of the tension drained out of Khalid's body as he held Sabihah close to him. Thankful beyond belief that he'd arrived in time, he held her tight, stepped around Mustaf's body and carried her out of the building and toward the waiting ambulance. Khalid climbed in with her, determined to be the one to place her safely on the stretcher in the back of the vehicle. He never wanted her out of his sight again.

“I'm fine. I don't need to lie on a stretcher!” she protested weakly.

“Straight to the hospital,” he ordered the driver. Placing his hand on her chest to keep her lying down when she wanted to sit up, he all but growled at her. “You may outrank me at present in royal circles, Queen Sabihah, but as my wife, you'll consider my duty to see to your needs and you'll do this without protest.”

Her instant compliance worried him more than it pleased him. God knew what she'd been through and whether or not she had any internal injuries. She was unnaturally pallid, and it had been reported that she'd been struck on the head by debris at the fire site.

Just as the ambulance door was closing, an army officer called out, “Prince Hamil has been killed, Your Highness.”

It was good news, but barely registered against his concern for his wife.

“Sabihah?” Terror gripped him as her eyes rolled back a little and her eyelids fluttered closed. “What's happening?” he demanded of the paramedic who was attending to her.

The paramedic frowned as the fingers of one hand pressed against Sabihah's wrist tofind a pulse and he reached for a stethoscope with the other. Khalid had never felt quite so helpless sitting doing nothing as the paramedic examined Sabihah.

“Her pulse is strong,” the paramedic pronounced at last. “More than likely she's just passed out from the sheer stress of what she's been through. However, apart from the rope burns around her wrists and ankles, she has had a blow to the head. I'll organise a scan as soon as we get to the hospital.”

Khalid closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

She had to be alright.

He'd promised to guard her with his life. Had he been at her side instead of back in Turastan, she would never have fallen into Mustaf's clutches. Once again he'd been responsible for placing someone he loved in danger. The bilious taste of guilt rose to his mouth as he cursed his actions.

Holding her hand, he was struck by how cold it felt.

He couldn't lose her now.

She stirred briefly. “Khalid?”

“I'm here,” he assured, raising her hand to his lips and sending up a prayer of thanks.

A slight nod of her head and she lost consciousness again.

The trip to the hospital seemed to take forever. The wait for the results of the brain scan took even longer. All the while, Sabihah drifted in and out of consciousness, and he watched each minute tick by as he waited for the test results and what he prayed would be good news.

“There is a very small degree of swelling to the back of the brain,” the neurologist pronounced at her hospital bedside an hour later, “but it's nothing to be overly concerned about. There'll be no permanent damage, Prince Khalid. The IV fluids will help hydrate her and with a good rest I suspect she'll be herself again after a few hours.”

Khalid felt his spirits lift. For the first time since he'd left Rhajia for Turastan, he felt some peace. He was where he should be—with Sabihah. With his wife. Nothing else mattered except her recovery.

***

It was late afternoon when Sabrina finally stirred. The smell of antiseptic and the beeping of a monitor by her bed made her realise she was in hospital before she managed to prise her heavy eyelids apart.

Blinking awake, her eyes met Khalid's and her heart flipped as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and smoothed back the hair from her face. He was still drop-dead gorgeous despite the strain etched into his features.

“You rescued me,” she croaked, as she struggled to sit up against the pillows.

“Take it easy. Just move slowly.” He moved one arm around her shoulders and held her firmly under her other arm so he could help her into a more comfortable position. Then he reached for a glass of water. “Here, drink this.”

As she sipped through the straw he'd placed at her lips, the cool liquid soothed her parched mouth and throat. Each swallow loosened the constricted muscles.

“You're safe now. Mustaf and his son are dead.”

She shuddered, replaying the scene with Mustaf in her mind. She didn't feel well, and her memories were a little sketchy and surreal. “I shouldn't be pleased about death, but I am. Mustaf was going to kill me, but not until he'd disfigured and tortured me.”

Khalid cursed. “He was a madman and his son was sadistic to the core.”

“I don't want to talk about them anymore. I don't want to think about them.” But she wanted to know where she stood with her husband. “I was shocked that you came to rescue me. How did you find me?”

“I received information about Mustaf's whereabouts while I was in Turastan, and I'd returned to Rhajia with a crack team from the Turastani Special Forces to hunt him down. He'd been moving between five locations so it was a matter of investigating each address. The place where you were being kept was the closest to the fire so we checked that location first.” He sat on the edge of the bed and took the empty glass from her fingers. “Would you like more water?”

She shook her head and it throbbed. Sinking back against the pillows, she sifted through what he'd said. “You'd returned to capture Mustaf.” He hadn't come back because she'd been abducted or because he'd wanted to right the wrongs in their marriage. He'd left his lover only so he could find Mustaf. “And Inaya?”

“She's still at the palace in Turastan, under my father's protection for now.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“I'm sorry I left you,” he told her, as though he sensed her thoughts.

But not so sorry that he didn't still have Inaya ensconced at the Turastani royal palace!
Was he really thinking he could keep her as his mistress, or was their marriage over? Nothing made sense. She thought she remembered him telling her he loved her. Obviously she'd been delusional.

“I hope she is worth it.”

He frowned.

“I saw the newspaper, Khalid.” Part of her was angry, but a larger part of her was defeated. “I know you'd had Inaya brought to the palace in Turastan to spend the night with her.

He looked aghast and his body drew back away from her. “You think I took Inaya to my bed?”

“No. I think you stayed up together playing Scrabble all night!”

“Sabihah, you're wrong.” Each word was furious denial.

She arched an eyebrow and sent him a false, saccharine-sweet smile. “Apologies. I forgot how little I know you. Is it Naked Twister you prefer?”

Damn him to hell. She was exhausted and felt incredibly weepy, but she would not let him see how upset she was—how bitterly betrayed and jealous.

“I didn't have Inaya brought to the palace. She came because she had information about Mustaf,” he told her forcefully. “Mustaf held her brother prisoner in Rhajia on a trumped-up charge to force Inaya to spy on me. He threatened to kill her brother if she didn't cooperate.”

Sabrina felt her jaw drop.

Khalid shook his head as though he was still trying to come to terms with it. “She gave me a wristwatch containing a listening device. That was how Mustaf knew about you, how you were put in danger.” He stood and paced the room while she remained speechless. “You have every right to have her thrown in prison for her betrayal but ultimately the information she gave me saved your life. I organised for Inaya and her brother to stay at the palace for their own safety until I knew that Mustaf and Hamil had been captured.”

Sabrina looked closely at him as he championed Inaya. Just how much did he care for her?

“She should've come to me immediately,” he continued, “but she was scared for her brother. Since you ordered the arrests of all citizens to be investigated, her brother's charges were found to be false and he was released. That was only yesterday. Both Inaya and her brother came to the palace to give me all the information they had.”

Sabrina chose her words carefully. “In that case, I will not have her thrown in prison for I may well have done the same thing if I'd had a brother.”

“I hope not. I hope you'll always come to me with whatever problems you have.” Part of his words sounded like a warning. He raised a hand and rubbed it along the back of his neck.

“I don't understand where we're at. Do we still have a marriage, Khalid?”

His regret was palpable. “I've been a fool about a lot of things, Sabihah. I've also been a coward.”

There were a lot of words she could use to describe Khalid.
Coward
wasn't one of them. “Hardly. Although you've never talked to me about your time in the Turastani army, I've heard from the Rhajian house staff of some of your deeds of bravery.” He started to protest but she continued. “Today you were in full commando attack, bursting through that window and coming to my rescue.”

“It's never been a problem to put my body on the line.” He grimaced. “Maybe, due to the arrogance you've accused me of, I've always considered myself invincible.” He inhaled an audible breath and took both her hands in his. “My true cowardice has been in not having the courage to put my heart on the line.”

She swallowed hard and felt teary again as this strong, warrior of the desert admitted to a weakness. That he trusted her enough to make this confession was a great beginning. Her heart swelled with hope and she hung on his every word. Maybe, just maybe they could bridge the emotional chasm between them.

“What you said was true,” he told her. “I was running away from my feelings for you, but now we've been apart I know that I adore you and can't imagine living life without you. I ignored what I really felt, tried to rationalise it and ignore it. I kept telling myself that if I ever lost my heart it would be my downfall.”

“Why, Khalid? What were you afraid of?” she asked gently. “I'd like to understand what's happened to make you feel this way.”

The column of his throat worked up and down. Amazed, she noted the faint glisten of moisture in his eyes. “I've been running for a long time. I thought love made people vulnerable to hurt, and I didn't want to experience that hurt again.”