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That evening Iseult could feel the aches and pains from her fall the day before making themselves known again. She’d been aware of Nadim at a distance all day, but he’d made no attempt to come and talk to her, staying deep in discussion with the group of men who followed him around. She felt a little bereft to think that he undoubtedly regretted bringing her and had no further use for her.
Lina had served Iseult dinner in the tent, and had told her that she and some of the other women were due to perform a traditional Bedouin dance for Sheikh Nadim and his guests that night so she had to get ready. She was leaving now, and a sudden fear gripped Iseult that Nadim would materialise again and send her flimsy control to pieces. On an impulse she asked Lina if she could come and watch her get ready.
Lina hesitated for a moment, and then with sparkling eyes nodded, taking Iseult by the hand and leading her out to another small tent nearby. Once inside, Iseult could see about a dozen women. She smiled shyly at them and watched as Lina took off her burka, revealing a luxurious fall of black hair to her waist and an extraordinarily pretty face.
Lina giggled at Iseult’s reaction and got ready, revealing that under her long abeyya she had been wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Fascinated, Iseult sat down cross-legged in a corner and watched as the girls and women took turns to get each other ready. Lina had disappeared behind a screen, and when she emerged again Iseult was shocked after having seen so little flesh bared up till now. She was dressed in silk and chiffon harem pants with ornate ankle bracelets, and her hair was plaited in a shining rope of black against her back.
A short-sleeved top exposed her belly and hips, and she had gold rings up her arms and a gold chain around her curvaceous waist. A veil was secured at the back of her head, which she pulled across her face above her nose, obscuring her features again.
One of the other girls giggled and said something to Lina, who looked at Iseult with a mischievous expression. Iseult saw her advance and knew that look. She started to protest even as Lina reached down and pulled her up with both hands. Before Iseult knew what was happening she was being administered to by a dozen women, all intent on getting her dressed exactly as they were.
Iseult protested again, but to no avail; they were determined, and as she had no idea what to expect she gave herself up to the experience, telling herself they were just having fun. Soon she was dressed exactly like the others, and Lina was fastening a gold chain around her waist. She felt all at once naked and exhilarated.
Lina stood back and clapped her hands. ‘Miss Iseult, now you’re one of us!’
Iseult smiled weakly, and mentally compared her own milk-bottle-white skin to the glorious olive of the girls around her. She felt completely exposed in the brief silk top. Her breasts were bigger than the other girls’, and she was all but spilling from the low neck line. But there was something decadently sensual about the trousers sitting on her hips and the gold chain around her waist. A long veil was attached to her own hair, which Lina had coiled down her back, and she showed her how to cover her face from view.
For a brief moment she was transported back to the previous evening, when she’d caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. But there was no mirror or Nadim here to break the spell being woven around her as one of the other girls knelt at her feet and fastened ankle bracelets. She’d never experienced this girly camaraderie of dressing up and it was heady.
Thinking that they were just having fun before they went to perform, she was completely unprepared when Lina took her hand again. Suddenly they were all on the move.
‘Wait, where are we going?’ she asked.
Lina looked back. ‘We’re one dancer short… Just stay behind me and copy what I do—you’ll be fine!’
Her cry of, ‘But I’ve never danced in my life!’ got lost as the girls flitted like exotically beautiful ghosts through the inky twilight between the tents. Iseult desperately covered her face with the veil, and sent up a silent prayer that Nadim wouldn’t recognise her. If he did…she shivered inwardly…he’d kill her for sure.
They stood at the back of a huge tent, where lots of men sat on cushions in groups around low tables piled high with food and drinks. Iseult’s heart was thumping when she saw a long line of men at the top, with Nadim right in the centre, looking stern and austere in black robes. They made him look even more dark and gorgeous. And dangerous.
The beat of a drum started nearby—a seductive beat of another world. Iseult watched as the other girls started to move out amongst the tables, lifting their arms high and moving their veils back and forth, alternately revealing and hiding themselves, hips moving in a primal rhythm to the drums.
They went out two by two, and then Lina was moving and taking Iseult with her. Iseult had no choice but to follow, and concentrated desperately on copying Lina’s movements—the small steps she took, the way her hips swayed with such effortless sensuality. She knew she was nowhere near emulating her.
They were dangerously close to the top of the room now, just feet away from Nadim, and Iseult had the veil clutched tight across her face above her nose. She could feel the warm evening air skate over her bared midriff, and knew it would take a miracle for him not to notice her pale skin.
Even so, despite her fear of being caught, Iseult couldn’t help the way the beat of the drums seemed to ignite a fire in her blood, and following Lina was very mesmeric. As if determined to thwart her best efforts, though, she found herself darting a quick glance to the big dark presence just a few feet away.
Nadim sat with one leg propped up and an arm resting on his knee. And he was looking right at her with a dark, blistering gaze that tore strips off her skin. Iseult nearly stumbled, but somehow managed to keep going, ripping her eyes away from Nadim.
To her intense relief Lina was moving towards the back of the room, where the other girls were in a huddle, giggling. Iseult tried to reassure herself that Nadim hadn’t known it was her; he couldn’t really have noticed in the dimly lit tent. The drums were still beating, and with shock at what she’d just done setting in Iseult took a step outside to gulp in big breaths of air. She was shaking all over.
Just then, out of nowhere, came a movement so quick and overpowering it took her completely by surprise. She was being lifted off her feet against a wall of steel, with one arm just below her breasts and a big hand over her mouth. As if she weighed no more than a bag of sugar her captor strode away with her into the shadows.
CHAPTER NINE
ISEULT kicked her legs uselessly into thin air and tried to scream—but of course she couldn’t get a sound out. The most terrifying thing was that she knew exactly who it was, because the wall of steel against her back felt incredibly familiar. She’d felt it that day in the dining room at home in Ireland. And suddenly it wasn’t terror she was feeling but a wild excitement.
Iseult put her hands up to try and claw his hand down from her mouth but he was immovable. She saw that they were approaching a big tent, set apart from the others, with two tall lamps holding burning flames at its entrance. In scant seconds they were through the heavy drapes at the entrance and Iseult was summarily dropped to her feet.
She whirled around to face her captor, breathing harshly. Her heart thumped violently to see Nadim so tall and dark and intimidating. Any angry words she’d articulated in her head disappeared as she realised that she was half naked. Her body felt as if it was on fire under Nadim’s still blistering gaze.
He bit out caustically, ‘Were you born into this world with a mission in life to drive me completely insane?’
Iseult was coping with too many things at once—not least of which was the fact that her heaving breasts felt as if they were about to pop out of her top—so she just said shakily, ‘You took me out of my world and into yours, so if I’m dr
iving you mad you only have yourself to blame.’
He almost flinched, as if she’d hit a nerve. ‘I knew it was a mistake to bring you here.’
