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CHAPTER FIVE
THEREWASAbrief twilight zone when Maggie awoke.
A moment where she lay, rested by sleep, but while unaware of her surroundings.
It didn’t last.
Maggie was fully awake now, aware of her predicament but less fearful.
Clearly she wouldn’t be allowed to die of thirst in the desert!
He had taken certain care and that was reassuring to know.
She also had the truth on her side.
Maggie lay there listening to the screaming winds and stared at the tented wall that did not move. She wondered how it could be so still when clearly they were deep in the simoom.
She could hear the sounds and sizzles from a Berber kitchen and, far from lasting three weeks, Maggie doubted she could last three minutes more without food, for she was suddenly ravenous.
She pulled back the sheets and sat up, noticing that a robe had been put out for her. The fabric was a very pale willow-green crushed velvet. As soon as Maggie put on the robe she knew that she had never worn real velvet before. It felt like warm silk and though modest it clung a little to her. There were pretty slippers too that were crusted with jewels.
Her hair was damp and knotted and she ran her fingers through it more from habit than to lookpresentable.
The air was fragrant with spices as she headed out and she really was terribly hungry but determined not to show it.
He was seated on the floor at a low table and one of the maidens that Maggie had shooed away previously gave her a nice smile.
A little shy and embarrassed at how she had treated her, Maggie returned it.
Ilyas gestured for her to take a seat while trying not to notice just how amazing she looked. The sleep had served her well. There was colour in her cheeks and her eyes were less wary. Certainly he did his best not to notice how stunning her figure looked in the robe, or that it was a similar shade to the bikini she had worn in the photos.
Ilyas wanted her, and he was more than used to having his wants met. He had to remember that there were more important issues than that now.
And he was not one to sleep with the enemy.
‘How did you sleep?’ he enquired.
‘Terribly,’ Maggie lied.
‘You appeared unconscious when the maids checked on you.’
‘I was just resting my eyes,’ Maggie said, then she smiled, though not at him, because there was a flash of a long-ago memory of her mother saying that when Maggie would catch her dozing.
Here, in the desert, she felt as if her mother was close.
‘What time is it?’ she asked.
‘Seven,’ he said, and then nodded to the maid to remove the lids from various tajines.
The dishes all looked delectable.
‘I have been thinking about what you said,’ Ilyas told her once the maiden had left. ‘If your drink was indeed tampered with then I understand your concerns about the food and refreshments—however, you cannot go without either.’
‘It’s fine.’ Maggie sighed and tried to sound wearily magnanimous. ‘I really don’t have much choice but to eat.’
‘Quite.’
‘So Ishallhave breakfast.’
