The Sheikh's Diamond (Sheikh's Wedding Bet Series Book 1) (5 page)

Masoud watched as Fleur stormed into one of the tents. He had an uneasy feeling as he watched the obviously angry exchange between her and her stepbrother. He couldn’t help but wonder again if something was going on between them. Bruce looked at Fleur the way that Masoud wanted to look at her, but she never returned the look.

Of course, she never returned his look either.

As his men built a fire and began cooking dinner, he followed her into the tent. “I wasn’t aware that you wanted to share my chambers,” he said with a smile.

She was curled up in the corner with what looked like a very old book. She jumped when he spoke and got hastily to her feet. “I didn’t know this was your tent. I asked one of your guys where I should stay, and he pointed at this one.”

Chuckling, Masoud bent down to sit next to her. He offered her a bottle of water, and she drank it quickly. “That’s what they were all instructed to say. You are, of course, welcome to stay here. I promise to be on my best behavior if that is what you wish.”

“That’s fine,” she said as she gave him back the water. “Thank you. For all of this. I’m usually the voice of reason and logic, but it didn’t even occur to me that we’d need camping equipment.”

“I’m sorry, did you just agree to stay in the tent with me?” Masoud asked with a frown. He’d expected a huffy reply, not an immediate agreement.

“Is that a problem? You said you’d be on your best behavior. I need to get some more work done to see if I can narrow down the location a little more, and your tent has the most space. I may need to spread out.”

That was hardly an explanation, but he wasn’t going to call her out on it. If she wanted to spend the night with him, he certainly wasn’t going to tell her no. “You seem angry at Bruce. Should I be concerned about that?”

“He’s upset that I didn’t push harder for us to work together,” Fleur said, but she immediately lowered her eyes. She was a horrible liar, and it wasn’t the first time she had lied to him. Masoud suddenly had an unsettling feeling that she knew they were being followed.

She shouldn’t be trusted.

Lucky for him, he was more than willing to keep an eye on her. “So how are you going to narrow the location down more?” he asked, as he stretched out his legs. He was settling in, and she noticed.

“Without interruption,” she said pointedly.

“Indulge me,” Masoud said with a charming smile. “I’m interested in your process. And we have time to kill before dinner.”

“The truth is that I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m not familiar enough with astronomy to guess about the movement and location of the stars. But I’m hoping that if I track back through the legends, I can get a sense of how much time passed for the people looking for the diamond.”

“They didn’t find the diamond,” he pointed out.

“Exactly. So if I can pinpoint where they’ve explored, hopefully we won’t waste as much time tomorrow. But the translation process isn’t as easy as you might think, so it’s going to take time and concentration. I’ll take my dinner in here, if you don’t mind.”

He got the hint. He was interrupting her process, and she wanted him to leave. For a moment, he wanted to point out that it was his tent she was staying in, but finding the diamond was important to him as well.

“Very well. I’ll instruct my men to leave the rest of the tent gear outside to avoid disturbing you, and I’ll have them bring dinner to you when it’s ready.”

“Rest of the gear?” she asked absently as she looked up.

“My bed, my dear. You didn’t think we were going to sleep on the floor, did you?”

He watched, fascinated, as the blood drained from her face. She clearly hadn’t thought sleeping arrangements through and didn’t realize that they were going to be sharing a bed. With a small smile of victory, he left her to her work. She’d probably stew on that all evening.

Of course, the woman was obsessed with the diamond. She’d probably stew more on the location than she would on sharing his bed. It was almost embarrassing to be constantly pushed aside for a small diamond that, had it not been for the legend, probably wouldn’t even fetch a hundred thousand dollars.

Bruce didn’t look nearly as upset as Fleur did, but the man did look nervous. Straightening his shoulders, Masoud strode over to him. “Fleur is upset.”

Her stepbrother sneered at him. “And that’s your business because?”

“It is my business because I would like my archaeologist to be happy. Her passion and excitement is addicting. More importantly, I believe that the women around me should be happy. That, clearly, is a sentiment that you don’t share.”

“Fleur is not one of your women,” Bruce said as he crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating. “She may be impressed by your wealth and status, but when this is all said and done, she’ll be coming home with me.”

“I don’t think she’s impressed at all with my wealth and status,” Masoud said with a crooked smile. “But she’s certainly impressed by something.” He wanted to make a jab at him about her sleeping with him tonight, but he didn’t want to use her as a prize between him and Bruce. She was more important than that. “If you can’t make her smile, you need to stay away from her during the duration of this expedition. Do you understand me?”

“And if I don’t? She and I are a package deal, remember?”

“If you don’t, you’ll find yourself without a tent, food, or water,” Masoud threatened coldly. “So if I were you, I’d start being more respectful to the hand that’s feeding you.”

He stalked away, leaving Bruce to seethe in silence. His security was already gathering around for dinner, and he made sure a plate went Fleur’s way. “There is someone following us,” he said quietly to one of his men. He didn’t want Bruce to know that he’d seen the mirror light signals.

“We’ve scoured the area, and we can’t find evidence that anyone is following us. We think the light flashes are just kids playing around.”

Masoud frowned, but he didn’t argue. Maybe it was just kids, but he doubted that very seriously. There was too much at stake to believe that anything was a coincidence at this point.

He stayed out with his men until well into the night. It was peaceful out here. Under the blanket of stars, next to the crackling fire, there was no ring of gossip and political maneuvering. His brothers weren’t driving him crazy. His father wasn’t criticizing him. He wanted to be respectful and give Fleur the space that she needed; thankfully, he enjoyed the natural peace that came with the desert night. He also knew that if he was going to exhibit some control tonight sleeping next to Fleur, he was going to need to be bone tired.

Finally, one by one, his men retired to their tents.

Masoud was exhausted, but the image of Fleur danced through his head all night. His body stirred, and desire raged within him. But when he opened the tent, he couldn’t believe what he found.

She’d set up his bed, but rather than sleeping on it, she’d rolled out some of her clothes and was using her bag as a pillow. His gut tightened as he watched her.

The damn woman would rather sleep on the ground than sleep with him.

Still, his pride and his anger couldn’t get in the way of what he knew was right. Bending down, he picked her up gently from the floor. She barely stirred in his arms as he laid her on the air mattress. Crouching next to her, he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. She looked so young and untroubled in her sleep. Pure and innocent.

The women Masoud usually shared his bed with certainly did not look like that.

Stretching out on the poor excuse for a bed that she had made, he closed his eyes. Her scent lingered on the clothes beneath him, and dreams of her wrapped around him lulled him into a fitful sleep.

As the first rays of the sun filtered through the tent, Fleur opened her eyes and frowned. She’d slept way too good to be sleeping on the ground. Moving her hand to push herself up, she felt the cushiony fabric underneath her and gasped.

God. At some point in the night, had she climbed up into Masoud’s bed? But when she sat up, she realized that she was alone. Snoring gently, Masoud was curled up on the makeshift bed she had made for herself. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized he must have carried her to the bed and taken her spot.

She’d taken him for a complete womanizer. It looked like there were some gentlemanly qualities in him after all.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him. He was covered from the waist down by a thin blanket, and he was shirtless. As her eyes slid over his sculpted body, she wanted desperately to run her hands over him.

Was he naked below the waist as well?

She didn’t need to be thinking about that. Silently admonishing herself, she tried to focus on the task at hand. Moving as quietly as possible, she slid off the bed. She hadn’t actually planned on sleeping last night. There was still plenty of research she could have done, but once she’d narrowed the parameters a little, she’d dropped off like a stone. On the cushiony air mattress, she’d slept like the dead.

“Did you enjoy my bed last night?”

Fleur whirled around and nearly shrieked at the husky voice. Masoud looked at her through heavy lids and stretched.

She wanted to say something snarky, but she just couldn’t. “I did. Thank you.” Tucking her hair behind her ear, she looked for something else to say. “You didn’t have to, though. I hadn’t really planned on sleeping much anyway.”

“Fleur, you need sleep. I know you want to find this diamond, but I’m going to be pissed if you pass out in the middle of the desert and force me to carry you back. Even if you are only a slip of a thing. Did you get anywhere with your maps?” he asked as he looked over at the papers she had left lying on the ground.

“I knocked it down about a mile,” she said with a frown. “I had hoped to do more, but the truth is that I’m nervous even taking that much down. What if the explorers before missed something?”

“That’s fine. We’ll send Bruce and his partner through that portion while we look at more prime real estate. Actually, I think I like that idea. I should let you know that security is ordered to make sure that your stepbrother never touches that diamond. I don’t trust him.”

Something unspoken hung in the air, and she stared at him. Was he telling her that he didn’t trust her, too?

Of course, he shouldn’t trust her.

Clearing her throat, she nodded. “That’s probably a good idea, although I would prefer it if he wasn’t hurt in the process. Do you mind? I need to get dressed.”

He looked over her shorts and tank top and parted his lips slightly. “I don’t know that you do. I like you in that.”

“Within an hour, I would look like a lobster,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Fair skin and all that. I know this is your tent, but I’m kicking you out. I need to put my sunscreen on. If we do find an oasis, I’m going to bathe in it,” she said as she wrinkled her nose. She had no doubt that she stank.

Masoud crossed his arms, looking her up and down. “And how do you intend to get it on the parts you can’t reach?”

Fleur blushed as she fought to find an answer. He spotted the sunscreen sticking out of the top of her bag and reached for it, dangling the cream in front of her. “Where shall I start?” he asked huskily as Fleur blushed. From the look on his face, she knew he was enjoying watching it creep down her chest. 

Giving him a mournful look, she was about to say something when instead, she surprised him by turning her back to him. She lifted her tank top off, held it to her chest with one hand and lifted her hair with the other. Turning her head, she gave him a small smile as she waited.

She knew he was right in that she did need help and from the look on his face, she had made the right decision. He maintained eye contact as he poured some of the sunscreen into his hand. Setting the bottle down, he motioned for her to turn her head back and started with her shoulders.

Closing her eyes, Fleur enjoyed the feel of his powerful hands as he rubbed the sunscreen across her neck and shoulders and worked quickly over her back. She would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she would have liked nothing better than to spend the day with him in this tent. She smiled at the irony of being in a tent in the desert with a sheikh and was grateful that he couldn’t see her face.

When he finished with her back, she stepped forward. “Thank you. I think I can manage the rest from here.”

Surprising her by not saying anything, he merely nodded before quietly leaving the tent. Once he was gone, she hurriedly finished putting on sunscreen before dressing in a loose pair of khakis and a blue long-sleeved shirt. It would be hot as hell, but having a sunburn was miserable.

Sliding on her sunglasses, she took several deep breaths to steady her nerves before grabbing her messenger bag and shoving her maps inside it. As she worked, she could feel something growing inside her. Excitement. Worry.

Today was going to be the day. She just knew it.

The morning sun was already blazing hot, and she pulled her hair back as she stepped out of the tent. Masoud walked by and handed her some breakfast before giving her a wink and entering the tent. A few minutes later, he walked out looking like a million dollars. It almost wasn’t fair.

“Security will break down the tents,” he said as she finished her breakfast. “We can go ahead and get started if you’re ready.”

She nodded eagerly and scanned the group of men. Her heart sank when she didn’t see Bruce. “Do you know where my stepbrother went?”

“I believe he went to relieve himself. Did you need to tell him that we’re leaving?” he asked almost mockingly.

Fleur gave him a weak smile and followed him into the cave dwellings. She hoped Bruce wasn’t collaborating with Anton. This whole thing was going to be a nightmare.

“I thought you’d be more excited to go on an adventure,” Masoud said idly as he found a smooth path through the dwellings. She followed in his footsteps with arms outstretched. She was much more used to the terrain, and her footing was more stable, but she still stepped cautiously as she admonished herself for not bringing her hiking boots. 

“Why would you say that?”

“Most people don’t get that kind of passion from being behind a desk.”

Fleur smiled. “My parents were adventurers. They wanted so badly to prove the existence of mythic ancient civilizations. As a kid, I thought it was romantic. But as an adult, I’m still struggling to get out from under their shadow. Every time someone reads my name, they think of my parents. They were the laughingstock of the academic community. I’ve tried to be as respectable as possible. There is real weight behind the idea of Solomon’s Mines, but of course, everyone associated me chasing it with my parents chasing their crazy theories. I’m excited to be close to something tangible, but this adventure is not what is considered ideal in my field. I’m supposed to be discovering the truth on paper, not out chasing diamonds like Indiana Jones.”

He stopped for a moment and looked back. “Why can’t you do both?”

“It appears that I am doing both.”

“Hmm,” he grunted. “And how does Bruce fit in the picture?”

“My parents divorced. Amicably, actually. I know people thought they were arguing over their ideas at the time, but the truth was that I think they only fell in love because of their ideas, and because they went on a dig together. Something as flimsy as a shared experience is hardly grounds for a lifelong love. They made it work for a while, but it was mostly because they were both busy. When they had a minute to look around, they realized they just weren’t in love. A few years later, my father married Bruce’s mother, and Bruce became family.”

“He doesn’t look at you like family,” Masoud muttered. “I don’t trust him.”

Desperate to change the subject, Fleur tried to shrug his comment off. “What about your family? You’d think there’d be more information about the woman who raised three sons.”

Masoud didn’t speak at first. Fleur was concerned that she had stepped over the line, but he finally answered her. “My mother, Nabila, has dementia. She still lives in the palace, but she doesn’t remember anyone anymore.”

Her heart broke. “Masoud, I’m so sorry. That has to be so hard on you and your father.”

“It was hard in the beginning, but my mother acts like a little girl now, and she’s often quite gleeful. Her marriage to my father was arranged. As a child, I thought they were in love, and I suppose that’s what was best for me at the time.”

“Just because they didn’t start out in love doesn’t mean they didn’t fall in love,” she said gently.

“And just because he’s your stepbrother doesn’t mean that I have to trust him,” he snarled back.

Clearly, she’d hit a nerve. Keeping her mouth shut, she focused instead on finding the diamond.

Once they were past the areas marked on her maps, Fleur took a deep breath and closed her eyes. For a moment, she wondered if the legend of the diamond was true. If she were meant to find it, maybe she would feel a pull of power.

“Meditating?”

Scowling, she opened her eyes and pushed past Masoud. “Just listening for water.” Ducking into the first cave, she reached into her bag and pulled out her flashlight. The cave was shallow and empty. She played her light over the scratches in the wall before checking out the second cave. It was the same.

In fact, all the caves she entered were shallow and empty, but she began to see a pattern. As she closed her eyes, she could see the scratches on the wall. “Masoud,” she said softly. Her heart beat wildly in her chest.

“Yes, my dear?”

Her lights played over the wall. “What do you see?”

“Stone,” he said dryly. “And sand.”

“On the stone. What do you see on the stone?”

With a heavy sigh, he leaned over and peered into the light. “You mean these scratch marks?”

Fleur nodded. “They’ve been in all the caves, and they’re too ordered to be random. This isn’t some animal scratching at the wall.”

“They’re not letters or pictures though,” he said with a shrug. “Just some kids playing.”

She shook her head. “Not recently. It would take a great deal of work to put the etchings into the wall of each cave. I think they’re directions.”

He blinked and stared at her. “Excuse me?”

A large smiled played on her face as she reached over and ran her fingers along the wall. “Oh, if only there was a key. Okay, imagine that each line represented a cave.” She closed her eyes and thought back. “The first three caves all had straight up and down lines as the first mark, but this mark leans to the left. So what if that means that we’re supposed to go straight past the first three caves, but take a left after this one?”

“What do the other scratch marks mean?” he asked as he pointed to the others.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure, but they’ve all been the same up until this point. The last three are the same as well. Slash left, slash left, horizontal, slash right. Come on, let’s see what’s left of this cave.”

Bubbling with excitement, she pushed herself off the wall and ran out of the cave. Before she could sprint around it, his hand wrapped around her waist.

“Easy there, Indiana,” Masoud said in her ear. “I know you’re excited, but you still need to be cautious.”

She slowed and nodded. Masoud was right. Not only were there natural dangers out here, but Anton could also be hiding anywhere. With her heart in her throat, she moved more cautiously and peered around the cave.

There was another room within the cave. Shining her light, she walked in and realized this one wasn’t nearly as shallow, and it had two different tunnels. One to the left and one to the right. “Slash left,” she muttered as she turned left. “Come on.”

She didn’t even realize she was reaching out until Masoud grabbed her hand. “Maybe let me go first,” he said grimly as he took the flashlight from her. She nodded, and he pulled her slowly into the first tunnel. It was so narrow that he barely fit, but it opened toward the end and they found themselves in another room.

Two more tunnels.

Closing her eyes, Fleur pictured the marks on the wall. “Slash left,” she said again. He pulled her through the tunnel on the left, and once again, it opened up into a small room.

“Do you hear that?” he asked in a low voice.

She held her breath and listened. “Oh my God. Trickling water,” she whispered.

“Which one do I take next?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. It was horizontal. Does that mean that you could take both? Maybe they loop around?” She bit her bottom lip. If up and down meant straight ahead then horizontal would probably mean the opposite. But that would mean backward, and that didn’t make sense. She turned back to stare at the opening they came through and gasped. “Light. Light,” she said urgently.

Masoud swung the light around, and they saw the huge scratch mark on the wall. It looked like….