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Didn't she?
Ahmed gazed at her for a very long moment. She could still see the incredulity in those eyes. There were impatient flashes in the dark pools. The moment seemed to stretch forever, but finally he answered her.
"I'll take you back," he said. His voice was heavy and slow. She could almost feel the pain in that voice. The truth was, they were both hurting. But there was no other way. This craziness had swept both of them up and turned both their lives inside out.
She smiled at him. "Thank you," she said and started to move back toward the tent.
"Gemma," he said sharply.
She peered at him and he gazed back at her. "You're sure about this?"
She nodded. "It's for the best, Ahmed. You know it as well as I do."
"But I don't," he replied. "That's the thing."
She shook her head. "I have to get ready," she insisted.
Then she walked away from him, feeling her heart aching, but desperately trying to convince herself that what she had just done had been the best for both of them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The journey back to Qabiyah was a stark contrast with their nighttime trek to his encampment.
As Ahmed held Gemma close to him this time, the mere touch of her body triggered an ache and longing in him.
The whole journey felt utterly different than two nights ago. He did not want her to leave. He'd been shocked at the suddenness of her decision this morning. He still could hardly believe it.
But it was true.
Perhaps this whole sudden attraction had been doomed from the beginning.
He made sure she reached her rental car. He'd offered to arrange for his limo to take her home to Qazhar city, but she'd been firm with him. She wanted to drive back on her own.
He'd watched her get into the car and drive off along the dusty desert track. As he'd watched her go, he'd felt the same burning disappointment he'd felt back at the encampment.
How had this all fallen apart so quickly? Last night, they'd shared a passion that had moved them both. She'd made him feel things he'd never thought possible. And he had been sure she had felt exactly the same way as he did.
But, he'd obviously been wrong. It hadn't been the first time he'd misjudged Gemma.
Would it turn out to be the last?
Once she had left Qabiyah, Ahmed went into the village and found his driver, who had been waiting for him since Ahmed had decided to gamble and pursue Gemma to Qabiyah.
He instructed his driver to take him immediately back to the city.
As Ahmed sat in the back seat of the limo, gazing out the window, the desert landscape no longer seemed so glorious to him. In fact, it seemed positively barren, now that Gemma was gone.
He wondered what she was planning back in the city. Perhaps, once she'd posted an account of her escapade in the desert, everything would return to normal. It would all seem so exotic, so exciting to her hordes of followers.
Ahmed wondered how she would describe her experience. How she would exploit it for her own benefit. Because, he suspected that somehow, she might do that.
There was also the chance that once Rashid had heard about where she had been, he would be eager to take some advantage of it, for himself.
That thought made Ahmed grit his teeth, tighten his jaw and peer darkly out through the limo window.
He would not let that happen. His time with Gemma at the encampment had been too special for it to be made into something trivial, mere entertainment for others.
No.
