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Perhaps the desert could burn some of that pain out of him. Make the future a little more bearable.
He made his way back down to the limo and gave instructions to his driver. He'd done this often enough that his driver understood exactly where to go. There was a trading post miles to the north of his parents palace. It lay close to the main highway which cut through the desert. From there he would be able to obtain a horse. And it would be a short ride across familiar terrain until he reached his private encampment. His desert oasis of calm and reflection. The one place where he felt truly solitary. Truly himself.
As he sat back against the seat, watching traffic pass by in theafternoon sunlight, Kadeem sighed and began to think long and hard about what his future might bring.
One thing was for sure, he told himself. It would not be a future he would ever share with the beautiful Princess Eliana of Zahram.
****
Eliana's stomach lurched as her private jet took off from the Zahram palace runway. The sinking sensation in her stomach was nothing compared to the burning ache in her heart at the prospect of losing Kadeem.
Eliana gazed out at the palace far down below. It looked so small now. But the drama which had been played out there this morning was anything but small. She already felt Kadeem's absence in her soul. She wondered what it must have been like for him to have been marched unceremoniously out of the palace. It couldn't have been easy, she told herself. And, of course, Eliana's father had made sure that Kadeem wouldn't even have been able to find her after the fateful confrontation with her father. Azem had slyly sent Eliana to be with her mother while he had engineered Kadeem's departure.
Eliana shook her head and sighed. She thought about her father's explanation for his actions. Was it really understandable that he had merely wanted to spare his daughter the kinds of pain which her mother had suffered? The prospect of forming a union with an outsider had driven Eliana's father to take drastic action to protect her from a similar, difficult fate. If only her father had been honest with them all, then maybe all of this pain might have been avoided.
But, she knew her father. He was a proud man, someone who, once he decided upon a course of action, would not budge until he had won his victory.
The only consolation, as far as Eliana was concerned, was that her father had finally relented. He had seemed shocked at Eliana's confession of her love for Kadeem. Had he thought his daughter had been merely going through the motions? Or had her and Kadeem's pretense at animosity during the start of their courtship been so convincing that her father had just been trying to do what he thought was right?
In the end, it didn't matter, she concluded. All she knew was that she had to find Kadeem and explain to him just how much all of this had been a terrible misunderstanding. And, most important of all, just how much she already missed him.
The plane banked and began to head toward Qazhar. She felt as if she was chasing him. Pursuing her sheikh.
In ancient days, such a pursuit would have taken place on horseback across the hot desert. Now, in the modern age, she pursued him by other, more advanced means. But that didn't change the urgency she felt. It didn't lessen the anxiety which gripped her heart.
Eliana reflected upon the whirlwind which had been Kadeem. She recalled their love-making the previous night. It had been breathtaking. He had been astonishing, taking her to heights of ecstasy she'd never believed possible.
But then, that was what she had come to expect whenever she found herself enslaved to him, possessed by him, claimed by him. Kadeem was like a force of nature, a raging, feral animal when desire was triggered in him.
Even just thinking about his hard body, his powerful muscles, his penetrating gaze, his powerful thrusts, made her core warm with longing. Made her heartbeat quicken. She drew in a deep breath, trying and failing to calm herself.
She could not give that up. Would not give him up. Not without a fight. Not without one last effort to convince him that she belonged by his side. And that he belonged alongside her.
Her Prince.
Her Sheikh.
Her one, true destined love.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Kadeem awoke in the semi-darkness of the tent. He opened his eyes and, for a brief moment, forced himself to remember where he was.
Of course. He was out in the wilderness. In his privately maintained desert encampment.
He'd slept fitfully, dreaming constantly of Eliana. From time to time, into those dreams intruded the figure of her father, repeating the words which had banished Kadeem from Zahram.
Kadeem felt tired. He was facing a long day of solitude. But, it was what he needed.
He got out of bed and wrapped himself in his white desert robe. The air inside the tent was cool. The only light came from the corners of the tent which let in glimmers of the early morning sun.
Kadeem gazed around the tent. It was as large as a bedroom, perhaps thirty meters square. It was spartan, consisting of a large woven rug which covered the entire floor, a long couch and low table. Lamps hung from one of thebeams supporting the tent.
It was basic, but comfortable. Everything he needed in his present state of mind. He had to clear his thoughts of all that had occurred during the last few, crazy weeks.
Kadeem prepared some coffee for himself and ate some figs. He had no appetite, but he knew he'd need some sustenance if he was to pass the coming day. He planned for it to be a day of contemplation and reflection. He had to understand where he'd gone wrong. Mistakes had been made, and he was determined to learn from them.
He sat on the couch, alone. There was no-one else in the camp. A small team of men were responsible for visiting regularly and keeping the encampment supplied and clean. Visits by them also ensured that no strangers took advantage of this place.
