Taken by the Sheikh

‘We have received a warning that a sandstorm is veering this way, far more severe than first expected, so regrettably we cannot remain.’

‘The oasis is lovely,’ Sadie told him listlessly. She had seen how much Vere loved the desert, and his own obvious disappointment made her feel that she should offer some kind of sympathetic response.

‘Indeed—but the desert can be fatally cruel to those who treat her lightly. Did you enjoy last night’s ceremony?’ he asked her.

‘Yes. It’s a heartwarming tradition.’ Sadie tried to sound enthusiastic.

‘We certainly think so,’ Vere replied. ‘Our family had always ruled Dhurahn, of course, but we celebrate the signing of the agreement because it signifies Dhurahn’s new era of peace between what were previously warring warrior tribes. When the agreement was signed, two doves were released as a symbol of peace and hope for the future. Drax and I have always celebrated the occasion at the oasis. As boys, it was something we looked forward to. To those born of the desert there is always that sense of homecoming and completion about living as our forebears did, in harmony with the desert, respecting its power over us. ‘You look unhappy,’ he added suddenly, in a quieter tone, catching Sadie off guard.

She could feel her emotions tightening her throat. She bowed her head, not wanting to shame herself by letting Vere see her tears. But to her surprise Vere leaned forward and took hold of her hand, raising it to his lips. His kiss was kind, but meaningless to her, Sadie admitted wearily. Just as every man’s kiss would be to her from now on. Because he wouldn’t be Drax.

Vere watched Sadie in silence. He could see how upset she was, and he didn’t want to upset her further. A little to his own surprise, Vere had discovered that the more he got to know Sadie, the deeper his feelings with regard to her had become. She would make a perfect royal consort as far as he was concerned. But now it seemed, from his behaviour towards her, that Drax no longer shared that view. It was, he decided, time that he spoke to Drax and found out exactly what was going on. He had held off questioning his twin directly in the hope that Drax would come to him and speak openly, and it saddened and hurt him that Drax hadn’t done so.

Drax frowned as he watched Vere and Sadie. He could feel the now-familiar sensation of unbearable emotional agony ripping into him. He wanted to go to them and physically push his twin aside, then take hold of Sadie so that Vere couldn’t touch her. He knew that Sadie herself didn’t understand what was happening. He could see it in her eyes. But how could he explain to her that Vere was claiming her?

Vere had just left her when some instinct made Sadie turn her head just in time to see Drax disappearing inside his pavilion. Her heart felt as though it was being torn apart. She couldn’t endure any more of this torture. She had to know the truth; she had to know if Drax had ever loved her or if he had simply been cold-bloodedly lying to her. And if so, why? Not because he had hoped to trick her into his bed, obviously! She would go and have it out with him now, before she lost her courage, she decided. And she would demand that he return her passport to her so that she could leave Dhurahn. Her mind made up, Sadie made her way back through the busy bustle of men working to break up the camp and prepare for their return journey.

Already the hot bright glare of the sun had become slightly dimmed, the sky taking on an ominous, sulphurous tinge. But it was the storm inside herself that concerned Sadie more than the sandstorm threatening the oasis as she headed for the black tent she knew to be Drax’s.

The tents had already been erected when they’d arrived, and Sadie had been bemused to discover just how luxurious the drab black structures crouched on the sand were on the inside. Her own was carpeted with beautiful Persian rugs and divided into a bedroom and a sitting area, both of which were furnished with luxurious fabrics, rich silks and velvets strewn over low divans, and a wide, lonely bed in which she had been unable to sleep because of her longing for Drax. She had tortured herself with imagining Drax in his own bed. How she had longed to be sharing the scented darkness of his pavilion and its privacy with Drax. In her mind’s eye she had seen herself going to him, as secretly as though she were a favoured slave girl summoned to her master, crouching at the foot of his bed, waiting his permission to slowly caress and kiss her way up his naked body. But Drax did not want her kisses. He did not want her. He had made that plain enough.

A group of men were working outside Drax’s pavilion, causing Sadie to hesitate, wary of just walking inside in full view of them, knowing the strict moral conventions Vere and Drax’s subjects followed. There was another, smaller side entrance, though, just as there was in her own tent, and she headed for that

Drax was working on his computer when Vere walked into his tent. He frowned, pushing back his chair and standing up.

‘The storm is getting worse,’ Vere told him.

Drax watched him grimly. Vere hadn’t come here to tell him that.

‘I want to talk to you about Sadie,’ Vere said quietly. ‘You’re in love with her, aren’t you?’

Drax couldn’t make himself deny it. ‘What if I am? It doesn’t affect you.’

‘Of course it does. We’ve always shared everything, Drax.’

Sadie had managed to slip unnoticed into Drax’s tent, but now, as she heard the two brothers’ voices, she panicked and turned to leave. When she tried she discovered that the exit had been blocked by the men working outside, their four-wheel drive now parked close by. What on earth was she to do? She couldn’t leave, but she certainly couldn’t brazenly walk in on the two brothers either. She would just have to stay here until either Vere or both of them left.

She heard Vere saying something, but as always it was Drax’s voice her senses registered more clearly, clinging to it with all the desperation of the lover who was unloved. She was pathetic, she derided herself. But the sound of her own name had Sadie stiffening and creeping closer to the fabric wall separating her from the brothers.

‘So we share her, do we? How? In bed?’ Drax could hear the emotion he couldn’t control cracking his voice. ‘Turn and turn about? Until she’s so dizzy she can’t tell the difference between us?’

Sadie went icy cold with shock, and then hot with fear. Nausea cramped her stomach and rose sourly in her throat.

In the semi-light of the richly furnished tent, Vere waited to let the bitterness and anger spew out of his twin before he spoke. But Sadie could not wait. Driven by revulsion and horror, she stumbled back towards the narrow exit she had used to enter the tent and pushed her way through the workmen, no longer caring how it would look.

She was out of hearing range when Vere stepped towards Drax and placed his hands on his shoulders, ignoring Drax’s attempts to push him off. ‘Why are you saying these things?’ he asked him. ‘I like Sadie, yes. But I do not desire her. When I

think of her, I think of her as the woman you love.’

Outside, the wind had picked up dramatically, making Sadie stagger as she felt its full force. They would soon be returning to the city, but she couldn’t wait that long for her escape or for oblivion.

A Land Rover had pulled up almost in front of her, its driver getting out and leaving the engine running as he hurried to help two other men who were staggering under the weight of what they were carrying. Without giving herself time to rationalise what she was doing, Sadie ran to it, ignoring the grains of sand tearing at her exposed skin and burning her eyes and mouth as she climbed into the vehicle and pulled the door closed after her. In front of her was a barely discernible track. She released the brake and put her foot on the accelerator.

Immediately the powerful off-roader surged forward into the seething storm. Sadie didn’t care that she might be putting herself in danger. What was physical danger to her now, after what she had just heard? Her heart lurched against her ribs. She had thought that the worst pain she would ever have to bear was knowing that Drax didn’t love her. But she had been wrong and naïve. So stupidly naïve. How many other women had been used by Drax and his brother as they had planned to use her? She knew there were those who might boast that they would enjoy such an experience, but she was not one of them. The thought of the two men touching her intimately, using her body for their pleasure, excited by the knowledge that they were sharing her, filled her with disgust and loathing.

Vere held Drax’s bitter gaze as he waited for his twin to respond. The silence seemed to go on for ever, but finally Drax exhaled and said thickly, ‘Vere, you are just saying that for my sake, because you know that I love her too. But you forget that you have already told me that she will make a perfect wife.’

‘Yes,’ Vere agreed. ‘But for you, not for me. I had hoped my words would encourage you to confide in me and confirm what I had already guessed—that despite the fact that you had insisted you were bringing Sadie to Dhurahn for me you had fallen in love with her yourself. Do you really think I am so blind, so insensitive to your feelings, that I wouldn’t know immediately how you felt about her? Although I have to say, after the way you have been treating her these last few days, I wouldn’t blame Sadie for doubting how you feel about her. You’ve practically ignored her, and—’