Page 20 of Kismet

Chapter 6

Shaheen jerked open the front door of the house and strode across the threshold. Battered and bruised, he stopped at the fountain in the middle of the courtyard and flung water over his face. The cut on his chin stung from the contact and he released a snarl of pain. Behind him, Jamal snorted with amused disgust.

“If you continue picking fights with men twice your size, you’ll be mending far more than just your pride,” Jamal said.

The fierce glare he sent the middle-aged Bedouin only made his friend laugh as he walked away. Staring after Jamal, he cupped his hand in the fountain again and drank the sweet-tasting water. His friend was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. Any more than he wanted to admit that Allegra Synnford had gotten the best of him. She’d turned the tables on him so deftly that he’d not even known what hit him until it was too late.

When he’d agreed to the wager she’d offered him, he’d understood that she would try to seduce him. But the manner in which she went about it had stunned him. He never would have believed anything as simple as a piece of fruit could be used to make him harder than iron.

God help him, but he’d never witnessed a more erotic gesture in his entire life. All he’d been able to think about since that afternoon in the Agdal Gardens was the thought of her hot mouth taking him deep into her throat and milking him with loving care. It was an image that kept him up at night until he was forced to put his hand where her lovely lips should be—snug around his cock.

He rubbed his jaw gingerly, his fingertips scuffed by his evening shadow. The thing that bothered him the most was that he liked her for beating him. She’d won their bet fair and square, and while he knew she’d been elated at besting him, she’d not gloated. A woman of principle and a good sport. He’d kept waiting for her to do something like Frances would have done, but she didn’t.

With a grunt, he sloshed water over his face again. He needed a bath, and then he’d put his mind to work trying to figure out a way to see Allegra without reneging on their wager. It wouldn’t be easy, but then the prize would be worth the effort.

The sun had set a short time earlier, and the shadows had already filled the corners of the inner courtyard as his senses detected something unseen charging the air around him. He tensed at the sensation, ready for the unexpected. What he didn’t expect was to see Sheikh Khalid Mahmoud’s only daughter emerging from the shadows. As Laila raced toward him, he recognized the almost tangible emotion filling the air—fear. She launched herself into his arms with a sob, her voice muffled against his gambaz.

“Shhh . . . it’s all right,” he said as he smoothed the top of her head with his hand. “What’s wrong? Where’s your father?”

“We must help her, Shaheen. We must.”

“One thing at time. Where’s your father? Khalid said he wouldn’t return to Marrakech for at least two more months.”

“He’s still in Sidi Rahal.” An odd look crossed her face as she took a step away from him, wiping at the tears on her face.

“Then how did you get here?” The brief flash of guilt across her lovely face gave him his answer. “Christ Jesus, do you mean to tell me you traveled from Sidi Rahal to Marrakech by yourself?”

“Of course not! I brought Kasim and Ali with me.” She weathered his roar of fury with an indignant look.

“Kasim and Ali,” he spat out the names. “Those two are only good at finding food and water. What the devil were you thinking?”

“I was thinking how tired I am of father treating me like a child. Hakim is allowed to travel to Marrakech with you,” she said in a defensive tone.

“Exactly. He’s with me. Khalid has spoiled you, and I’ve no doubt he’s half mad with worry. This has to be the most outrageous, thoughtless thing you’ve ever done, Laila.”

“I left a note for father with Halah. She said it was my destiny to come to Marrakech. That I had an important task to perform.”

He snorted in disgust. “That old woman tells everyone that. Coming here by yourself wasn’t destiny. It was reckless.”

“Father will—”

“Understand? Not this time. You’ll be lucky if he lets you out of his sight for the next ten years,” he growled. With a disgusted shake of his head, he glared at her. “I’ll send a message tonight so your father will sleep easier knowing you’re safe.”

“It doesn’t matter what father does to me as long as we save her.”

“Save who?” He frowned as he looked into her guilt-ridden gaze.

“Allegra.”

The single word response made him stiffen. What the hell had happened to Allegra and how did Laila know her?

“Allegra Synnford?” he rasped, an icy chill slithering its way through his blood. Fresh tears slid down the young woman’s cheeks and her bottom lip trembled as she stared up at him.

“Yes. We met in the souq.” Laila hiccupped. “Nassar’s men took her.”

“What do you mean, they took her?” He grasped her shoulders in grip that made her wince.

“Five of them. They kidnapped her,” she exclaimed before rushing on with a description of the events that had transpired in the souq.