hesitated. “That’s sort of hard to say. He’s a desert guide, and he has the most incredible Arabian stallion. I think he and his tribe…oh, yeah, he’s some kind of ruler of this tribe of nomads, and—”
“Wait just one minute.” Amelia kept her eyes shut tight as she tried not to move. “He’s a nomad?”
“Right,” Mauve said, and this time there was the first hint of doubt in her voice. “It’s not exactly like it sounds, Amelia. He’s very smart and well educated and—they’re going to be fine now that the bad guys are in jail and the orbus plant, which Omar and Harad’s family once used to predict the future, has been destroyed. Really, Beth was in danger when her co-workers and some financial backers were trying to use to her to get their hands on that plant.”
“Wait a minute!” Amelia ground her teeth. “Beth was looking for a lost city. At least, that’s what she said.”
“She was. The lost City of Con. Con was a female tribal ruler who had the gift of prophecy. It’s an inherited trait in the Dukhan family. But this plant, the orbus, played a vital role in bringing the dreams on. Omar and Harad’s mother, Aleta, saw that the plant would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands, so she destroyed it. So now Beth is safe and she’ll live happily ever after with Omar. She wanted to hold the wedding until the Corbets could get here, but the full moon of July is the Moon of Con and the wedding had to take place then because of all the ‘mystical stuff’.”
Amelia wondered if she was still dreaming. Nothing Mauve was saying sounded in the least like her practical sister. “My sister is out in the desert somewhere living in a tent with a nomad chieftain and his orbus-taking family, surrounded by sand and camels, and you think it’s okay?” Amelia clipped her words as her head pounded.
“It’s what Beth loves,” Mauve said softly. “You’re different than she is, Amelia. You can’t judge her choices by what you would want.”
“My sister is in line for the top museum job in the Southwest. She would have a staff of two dozen archeologists and anthropologists to help her preserve the Oconowasee Indians, a culture she’s studied for the past ten years. She adores that people. She’s wanted that job since she was twelve years old. You can’t tell me that she’d rather ride across the desert on the back of a camel, playing harem girl to some sheik.”
“Amelia, I think—”
“As soon as I can get up from here, you’re going to take me to Beth.”
“Of course,” Mauve said, and there was a strange tone to her voice. “I think you should know—”
“And once I get my hands on this desert Don Juan, he’s going to rethink his kidnapping ways. My sister is an innocent in the ways of men, but I’m not. Heck, how many wives does this sheik have already?”
“My brother has not yet taken a wife. When he does, he will marry only one woman.” The male voice was smooth, silky and edged with steel. “Perhaps your sister would be better served if you left your cartoon ideas about my country behind you.”
Amelia knew that to open her eyes would bring pain, but she opened them nonetheless. The pounding started right behind her lids, and it wasn’t helped at all by the hot flush of blood that suffused her cheeks. Her words had been rash and angry, and unfair.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” she said, staring at the man who’d helped her in the airport. She’d begun to believe that she might have imagined him, but there he stood, more than six feet tall, broad shoulders and slim hips, all encased in an Armani suit the color of desert sand. It did everything to show off his natural olive complexion and the glint of his dark brown eyes.
“I tried to give you a heads up,” Mauve said smugly, “but you wouldn’t let me get a word in edge-wise.”
“Beth would tell you it’s one of my worst character flaws,” Amelia said. “I’m sorry.” She continued to look at the handsome man, who felt no need to hide his irritation with her. “I owe you an apology also. And your brother. You’re right, I don’t know him.”
Harad Dukhan nodded. A change shifted over his face, seemingly as if he willed his anger to dissipate. He stepped closer to the bed. “I’ve spoken with the doctor. You were deliberately poisoned, Ms. Corbet. The dose was probably not meant to be fatal. For some reason, someone wanted you immobilized in the airport. Can you think why that would be so?”
Amelia watched Harad Dukhan very closely as he spoke. He was trying hard to be casual, but there was a tension to the man that told her he felt otherwise. She wasn’t a scientist, and she hadn’t spent the last ten years studying ancient ruins, but she was a damn good judge of human nature, and Harad Dukhan was hiding something.
“I never carry cash or jewels. I brought one bag with a few clothes.” She started to shake her head, but the motion made her head pound harder. “No one even knew I was coming here,” she finally said. “I left without notifying anyone in my office. I’d hoped to see Beth, make sure she was okay and get on to Paris before anyone even noticed I’d dropped out of sight for a night.”
“Someone noticed,” Harad said.
“Is my sister safe?” Amelia asked.
Harad nodded. “As safe as she can possibly be. My brother would give his life to protect her, and he’s a fierce warrior when it comes to the people and things he loves.”
“I have to see her. As soon as possible,” Amelia said.
“We can discuss it,” Harad said, “when you are fully recovered.”
Chapter Two
Harad wanted only to close his eyes, open them, and find that he was not in a hospital room with the blond, willful and very American Amelia Corbet. Though she was one of the most attractive women he’d ever seen—and he’d made it a point to see a lot of women—she was opinionated, bossy and without the first hint of manners. So many women, when they stepped into the business world, lost their femininity. Amelia Corbet would walk over a man and never even look back to see if her spiked heels had left holes in the body.
Because of his brother, Harad knew Amelia was his responsibility until he could get her out of Egypt and on her way to wherever it was that she did her jet-set business. Which would be as soon as possible. He did not trust her—especially with the secrets of his people.
“How long before the doctor will release you?” he asked, forcing his voice to a level of politeness.
Mauve jumped in with the answer. “The doctor said he would come by before dinner. If Amelia’s health checks out, she can leave right after that,” she said.
Harad glanced down at his wristwatch. Maybe half an hour, but it would be the next day before she could catch a flight out. “I’ll book a room for you in the Abbula Hotel,” he offered. “And for you, Mauve. I know you’ve been at the Crescent, but I’d like you to be near Amelia if you don’t mind. The Abbula is a comfortable blend of my culture and your own, Ms. Corbet. Perhaps you won’t feel so much that you’ve been dropped in the middle of barbarians.”
He saw the flush creep over her cheeks once again and felt a dart of shame at his own conduct. At least Amelia had the upbringing to be ashamed of herself. And she had apologized. Now he had been the one to show rudeness.
“That
