CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Razim watched Paige run back to the tent. She grasped the opening flap and lunged inside, closing the entrance behind her.
Razim's heart sank. He'd done the honorable thing by telling her the truth. The only thing he could have done under the circumstances.
And she had rejected it.
No. It was much worse than that.
Paige had rejected him. Completely.
A sick feeling flared in his stomach. Was this the truth he had been trying to avoid? That Paige didn't, in fact, love him? He'd given her a chance to understand, a chance to come back to him, and she had refused it.
Not even his own declaration of true love had been enough. There was a truth hidden in her own heart. And she continued to deny it.
Paige did love him. He felt it in the center of his being. He'd sensed it in so many ways.
But, she had turned away from him.
Now what was he to do? He walked over to the fireplace and stood for a while, staring at the dying embers. He folded his arms, feeling a sudden chill in the air. He looked out toward the desert darkness. A new moon was beginning to rise above the horizon. The desert would remain treacherous during the night. It would be too dark to fly safely back to the palace.
That meant one thing. He had until sunrise. In spite of her rejection, he still felt a steely resolve to carry on trying. There was too much at stake for him to even consider giving up.
A sound from the direction of the tent caught his attention. He turned and saw Paige emerging from the tent. She was clutching her bag.
Striding up to Razim, she halted and glared at him.
"Take me back to the palace," she snapped.
"I can't," he replied.
Her brows furrowed and there was instant fury on her face. "Can't? Or won't?" she exclaimed.
Razim felt a feral need ignite within him as he looked at her. She was angry. And she had every right to be, he told himself. Did she even know how beautiful she looked when she was angry?
"I can't," he replied in a confident tone of voice.
She glared at him and threw her bag down onto the sand. It landed with a heavy thud. She closed the distance between them with a few determined strides. Now she was barely inches from him. Up close, like this, he could see the brightness of indignation in her eyes.
"I demand you take me back," she yelled. "Now!"
He shook his head slowly and held his gaze steadily on her. "No, Paige."
Suddenly she raised her hand and swept it in a wide arc toward his face. He grabbed her hand before it made contact and held it firm. Her jaw tightened and her eyes flared even more brightly, this time with frustration. She tried to free her hand, but he refused to let it go.
The contact with her skin triggered a visceral reaction in him. He drew in a deep breath, and felt his nostrils flaring. His heartbeat quickened into a riotous cacophony that filled his hearing with a roaring sound. He felt his pulse throb and his body reacted without thought.
Razim tugged at Paige's arm and she fell forward straight into his arms. He wasted not a second, crashing his lips down upon hers and wrapping his arms around her. He held her tightly, feeling her instinctive attempt to free herself kick in. But he was determined to taste her lips, to embrace her curves, to feel the exquisite sensation of her body against his.
She tried to lean her head back and moaned. He raised a hand to the back of her head, snaking his fingers through her loose hair. He felt her push back against his hand, but he refused to stop kissing her. He needed this too much and he was convinced that she wanted it too.
As if to confirm that, he felt her suddenly soften against him. Her lips opened, inviting his tongue. He probed her with it and heard her groan with obvious pleasure. He drew her body against his, pressing his firmness against her. Again, she reacted, encouraging him.
Hope began to rise in his heart as he continued to kiss her. He felt her breasts pressing hard against his chest. Her nipples pebbled beneath the thin fabric of her dress. That only made his need even more insistent.
Just when he thought he was winning, just when he believed victory had been won in the most inexplicable fashion, she leaned her head back and smiled at him. He smiled right back at her and was about to whisper sweet words to her when he felt a blow on his left cheek. The palm of her hand landed with a loud snap. Pain flared on his cheek and he stared disbelievingly at her.
Before he had a chance to say a word, Paige suddenly shifted herself from his grasp and planted her hands on her hips as she stood glaring at him. "You think you can do that? Kiss me and everything will be okay? Really, Razim? You're still as arrogant as ever."
"Paige. You belong to me. With me," he growled.
She shook her head emphatically and then peered in the direction of the helicopter. "Take me home," she said.
"Home?" he asked. "Where is that, Paige?"
She scoffed. "You know what I mean. Fly me back to the palace in that helicopter of yours. And then I'll get a flight back to the States."
Razim shook his head. "I told you. I can't. It's a new moon tonight. There's no visibility. It isn't safe to fly across the desert in these conditions."
"What!" she exclaimed.
He started to move toward her, but she fixed him with a stern glare. He halted in his tracks. "You're going to have to stay here. Whether you like it or not. At least until dawn."
"You mean, whether I like you or not, Razim. After the way you've behaved, I'm not sure I want to trust you."
"Really. Paige? That's what you think?"
She nodded. "What else am I supposed to do? After you deceived me like that."
"I had no choice," he retorted.
"Of course you had a choice," she said and folded her arms. "You could have explained everything to me and let me make my own mind up. But that wasn't acceptable to you, was it, Razim? You had to lie to me. Again. Keep control over me. Just like always."
"I've told you how I feel about you, Paige," Razim said firmly. "That part was true. Absolutely true."
Paige rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. She stared at him for a long moment. Her jaw was tight and her eyes were still bright with undiminished fury. Did she realize she had been temporarily defeated? Of course she did, Razim told himself. She wasn't going anywhere, tonight. He'd made her his prisoner without having to resort to abduction
She was his willing captive.
Paige reached down and lifted her bag. Her gaze rose to Razim. There was a steady look in those eyes, he realized.
Defiant.
"Don't come near me, Razim," she said. "Do you understand?"
He held her gaze, matching her will with his own. Did she want him to admit defeat? Just like that? He wasn't going to give her that pleasure.
But, at the same time, he would tell her she would be safe. In time, before the dawn, she would come to him. He was sure of that. He'd sensed it her response to his kiss. There was a willingness hidden in her. A need she was doing everything she could to hold back. Before dawn, he would win. And, in doing so he would unleash her hidden need for him.
"I'll respect your wishes, Paige. I won't come to you."
She nodded, but eyed him cautiously. She looked suspicious that he'd agreed so quickly. "Really?"
Razim nodded.
She hesitate a long moment. He thought she was going to come back at him with a snarky reply. Instead, she just nodded. "Okay then," she said.
Then she turned and started to stride back toward the tent.
****
Paige threw the tent flap back into place and sighed. She felt relieved to be back in the relative safety of the tent. For now, at least. She went to the sleeping area and tugged the separating tent wall back into place. She dropped her bag and flopped down on the edge of the bed.
How dare he do that to her! He'd as much as admitted that he'd brought her to the oasis with the sole purpose of seducing her. And, if he'd succeeded, then she would have faced an unbelievably complicated problem. An apparently unbreakable marriage under Qazhar law.
What had he expected her to do? Just say yes, and roll over? Well, she wasn't about to do anything like that. Not after the way he'd handled this. He'd treated her with disrespect. And to make matters worse, to complicate things even more, there had been his declaration of love to her.
Paige covered her face with her hands. Could it get any worse? Razim had taken her captive for a night. And he had only one thing on his mind.
Keeping her in Qazhar.
Forever.
She lay back down on the bed and stared up at the tent's canvas roof. The memory of his kiss drifted into her mind. The way he'd held her body. The feel of his desire pressing hard against her.
As she recalled the way he'd touched her, she felt sensations stir in her own body. Treacherous sensations that were at odds with her thoughts. She tried to ignore them, but it was impossible. It was as if her body wanted one thing, while her mind fought with her entire will to deny the truth.
But that was how it always was with Razim. He possessed some strange ability to overcome every one of her mind's objections. In the palace garden last night, he'd done exactly the same thing.
Broken down her barriers. Shattered her resistance.
He'd almost done the same thing out there, she told herself. She'd come perilously close to submitting to the temptations. But, somehow, she'd managed to hold onto her sanity.
But only just.
So, now what was she supposed to do? Sleep here with Razim lying next door on one of the couches? Or would he sleep outside, under the stars, in the cold night? Somehow, in a curious way, she'd believed him when he'd said he wouldn't come anywhere near her during the hours before dawn. In spite of what she'd said to him out there, in spite of the fury she still felt at what she saw as his outrageous deception, she'd known him long enough to be sure that, when it came to keeping a promise, he could, in fact, be trusted.
She understood how much he wanted her. And the lengths he was prepared to go to in order to keep her in his life. Now that her anger was beginning to fade, she asked herself a question. Did she want the same? Her feelings were telling her one thing, even though her mind was trying to convince her to leave as quickly as possible.
Confusing feelings swirled around inside her. Nerves clutched at her middle. Uncertainty and apprehension hovered at the back of her mind.
She glanced at the time on her cell phone. It was almost midnight. She had maybe five hours to get through.
And then what?
She would be free. She would be able to go home and put Qazhar and all its customs well and truly behind her. And she'd be able to begin to forget the sheikh who had once been her husband.