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She could be offended. She ought to be offended. But she knew Tair better. “I brought you something,” she said, reaching into her bra and pulling out the warm and very extravagant necklace.
Tair took the glittering emerald and diamond necklace from her. “You came all this way to return jewelry?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong with the postal service?”
Outside Tair’s tent the men had begun to lay the fire for dinner and the little three-legged dog came hopping along. Tally looked at the licks of red and gold flames, the flea-bitten dog and Tair’s dark, fierce scowling face.
“I wanted to be sure it’d reach you,” she answered.
He made a rough inarticulate sound. “I take it you’re not fond of emeralds?”
“It’s a beautiful necklace but I’m not going to accept a gift like that. It’s absurd. You send me away—reject me, break my heart—and then give me a necklace worth a quarter of a million dollars?”
The corner of his mouth curved. “How do you know its value?”
“I had it appraised.” She stared him down. “And no, courier companies won’t accept a $250,000 necklace, not if the address happens to be in the middle of the Sahara.”
She snorted. “Can you imagine me trying to give directions? Tell your driver it’s four hours east of El Saroush by horseback, or six if traveling by camel. Somewhere you’ll encounter a riverbed and then you take a left at the wadi. Another hour later, you’ll pass a cluster of palm trees. That’s where you take a right. And then sometime in the next hour—or hour and a half depending on how fast you’re traveling—you’ll veer north and hope to find the rock fortress.”
He smiled. “Your distances are off but the landmarks are good.”
She hardened herself to his wretched barbarian charm. His smile wouldn’t work on her this time, nor his offhand compliment. She knew him too well. Knew exactly how he operated. Bluster, power, intimidation, and sex appeal. A deadly combination if she’d ever heard one.
“The point is,Tair, you can’t sendex-wives gifts like that and not expect them to fly off the handle.”
“You do seem angry.”
“I’m furious.”
“But you’re always furious.”
“Because you’re always trying to pull a fast one on me!”
“And how did I do that this time?”
“The necklace. You’re trying to buy me. You were using emeralds to ease your guilt. You send me a necklace, tell me to have a good life, and you think I’m going to go—ooh! A lovely necklace. That’s wonderful. My husband doesn’t want me, and he won’t love me, but he’s sent me some really pretty jewels!”
Tair shifted on his haunches. “Are you telling me it didn’t work?”
“I’m telling you—” She broke off, stared at him, shook her head in disbelief. “You’re such a liar and manipulator and—” Tally didn’t even try to finish the sentence. Instead she crept forward, clasped Tair’s face in her hands and kissed him deeply.
It was a long time before she ended the kiss. His mouth on hers was too electric and she’d missed him too much. But finally she had to get some control, finish making her point, and reluctantly she sat back to study him again. “You love me.”
“I don’t.”
“You do.” She hesitated, hating the whispers of insecurity.“Tair.”
“What?” he asked innocently.
But before she could answer he reached out and gently plucked a hair from her eyes, and then another from her cheek. He smoothed the thick strands back from her face, his hand infinitely gentle as he touched her. “I do.”
Tally sat very still, the air bottled in her lungs. She couldn’t look away from his dark eyes and hard jaw and the strange expression on his face. It was torment. Agony. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything.”
“But I’m here, Tair.”
“Yes, I know, and I can’t handle it, Tally. I can’t bear it if anything should happen to you. I can lose my arms, my legs, my life—but I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.”
“I could.”
“Tair, I’m stronger than I look. I haven’t had an asthma attack since the day we met.”
His jaw gentled. He nearly smiled but then the darkness returned to his eyes and his pain was there, in his face. “I’m afraid for you. Afraid for you every single day you’re here.”
