Desert Rogues Part 1

“Give him what he most desires…you will have all that you most long for in your life,” Dora muttered when Fatima had left her alone on the balcony. “Oh, sure. Words to live by. But what do they mean?”

Although she spoke the question aloud, no answer appeared to her. The silence itself seemed to mock her, and she had to fight against the pressure of more tears. She didn’t want to cry anymore, she thought. She didn’t want to be unhappy. She had to find a way to make her marriage work, or she had to leave. She was tired of her games with Khalil.

But where did she begin? How did she change herself, or get her most stubborn husband to see the truth? Was Fatima correct and could she, Dora, give Khalil his heart’s desire? Did she know his heart well enough to understand what he might want?

Too many questions and no answers. What she needed was to be in her husband’s company. Only his smile, his light touch on her arm, would restore her good humor.

But before she could leave the balcony, a woman appeared out of the shadows. “Ah, Princess Dora, how lovely to see you again.”

Dora froze. The ever-stunning Amber stood in front of her. The young woman had destroyed all of Dora’s illusions, not to mention her wedding day. She didn’t want to hear any more of her hurtful words. What she really wanted was to bolt for cover, but she would be damned if she would let this El Baharian heartbreaker see that she had her running scared.

“Amber. Very nice to see you again.” She gave a regal bow. “Are you enjoying the party?”

“Of course. My father is happy to have his family around him to celebrate this day.” Amber pouted slightly. “He’s been difficult about me being gone so much, but it’s impossible for me to stay long in El Bahar. So painful.”

Dora supposed she should be more sympathetic, but she wasn’t in the mood. Nor did she trust Amber. “I would guess that being around your former fiancé and his new wife would be difficult. How nice that you can afford to travel. It distracts as well as broadens the mind.”

Amber’s delicate eyebrows drew together. “Don’t sound so confident, Your Highness. Things are not as they appear.”

“Aren’t they?” Dora made a great show of glancing at her wedding ring. “And here I thought I was the one he’d married.”

“You might have his name and his ring, but you don’t have his heart. That belongs to me.”

Dora didn’t have a quick response for that one. While she wasn’t sure that Amber knew anything about anyone’s heart, Dora knew that she didn’t have possession of Khalil’s heart, either.

Amber took a step closer. “We’re still lovers. He still visits me when he can.”

Dora wanted to deny the words. Her husband came to her bed more often than not. He was vigorous and passionate, and she didn’t believe for a single moment that he was with another woman. Khalil had many flaws, but deception wasn’t one of them.

Or was it, a little voice in her head whispered. What about the lies he told at the beginning of their relationship? What about his stubborn refusal to admit that he was wrong and that he’d hurt her?

“I don’t know when he’d have the time,” Dora said coolly, refusing to let the other woman know that she was trembling from both fear and pain.

“Of course you wouldn’t know,” Amber scoffed. “You sleep alone in your chamber on the far side of the palace. You have no way of knowing how often I’ve crept into his bed or he into mine.” She took another step closer and clutched Dora’s arm. “He’s already had me this night. You can plan on spending your evening alone.”

Dora jerked free. She refused to believe these stories, she told herself, even as the hurt ripped through her. “You’re lying. I will tell Khalil of your lies, and you will be banished from the palace.”

Amber laughed. “My father is prime minister of El Bahar and the king’s closest friend. My family has been close to the royal family for generations. Don’t think that a few words and a ring are going to come between me and the man I love. Go to him, tell him what I said, if you dare. Find out how little you matter. You are nothing.”

“I am his wife.”

“For now.”

Dora squared her shoulders. “You are a spoiled child, Amber. In time you will learn that being a man’s wife gives a woman more power than it would appear. You may be younger and beautiful, but I will win this battle.”

Amber shrugged. “We’ll see. And if he doesn’t join you in your bed this night, we’ll both know that I’m telling the truth.”

Dora thought about calling the other woman a bitch, but decided it was too childish. Instead she returned to the glittering ballroom with the intent of finding her husband.

But once inside, the agony of her encounter with the younger woman stole her breath and made her legs tremble. She was going to be sick, she thought as she frantically tried to retrace her steps. Only this time it wouldn’t be because of the baby. Oh, dear God, what if Amber was telling the truth?

Dora could feel herself losing control. Tears threatened and with them, agonized sobs. She didn’t want to lose Khalil—not when they’d come so far. She loved him. Perhaps she’d loved him from the very beginning, she wasn’t sure. She only knew that without him, her world would be smaller and meaner than it had ever been in the past.

A shadow fell over her. She looked up and saw her husband standing in front of her. “You look ill,” Khalil said. “Do you not feel well?”

She opened her mouth to explain, then closed it. What was there to say? Did she dare repeat Amber’s lies? Except there was a small chance that they weren’t lies. And if that woman spoke the truth then she, Dora, would be lost forever.

“I think I’m just tired,” Dora said weakly. “I need to go to my room.”

Khalil wrapped a sheltering arm around her and led her away. When they’d entered her chamber, he turned on the lights, then gently helped her undress. Finally he eased her into bed.

“I’ll make your excuses to the king,” he said, his voice kind, his expression concerned. “Sleep and feel better in the morning. I won’t disturb you this evening.”

She told herself he was just being considerate; she told herself it had everything to do with his perception of her being sick and nothing to do with Amber…but she wasn’t sure.

“I don’t feel that ill,” she murmured. “Perhaps after the party…”

He shook his head. “You often accuse me of being insensitive, so I won’t give you ammunition. If you’re not well, I refuse to insist.” He gave her a sad smile. “It is not in you to be won over this night, sweet Dora.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then left her alone.

She stared after him, willing him to return to her. This wasn’t happening, she told herself, listening to the silence and wondering if that emptiness was going to fill her world for the rest of her life. Amber couldn’t be correct, could she?

Dora sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. Had she come so far only to lose it all in the end, or had the prize never been hers?

She’d been a fool. Khalil had once accused her of being a nobody, and he was correct. She was just a glorified secretary who had happened to snag the attention of a wealthy prince. Not because she was beautiful, or witty, or smart, but because she was available. A virgin with childbearing hips. Talk about a claim to fame.

The first tears fell slowly, then faster and faster. Great sobs robbed her of breath. She clutched her knees, pulling them close to her chest as if she could hold in the last drops of happiness that had been hers. But there was no more happiness…just pain and suffering. If only things had been different.

She cried for what felt like hours, then she brushed her face and told herself to figure out a way to let it all go. The relationship was over, she thought as her heart broke. All her dreams, her plans for the future. Khalil didn’t love her, didn’t even want her. She didn’t know if he’d really been making love with Amber or not, but Dora knew that the young woman in question was determined to win Khalil. Dora had no way to stop her. And if not this stunning creature, then surely another would claim Khalil. He was a prize, the kind of man any woman would desire.

Give him what he most desires.

Fatima’s words returned to her, echoing inside her head. She listened, then turned them over, but they didn’t make any more sense now than they had before. What could she possibly give Khalil? He was a handsome, rich prince, and she was a nobody.

Frustrated, Dora threw back the covers and pushed to her feet. She stormed across the room, heading for the balcony. The great emptiness inside of her grew until it threatened to swallow her. She was trapped in a sham of a marriage. She had no way out, no hope, no—

A slip of movement caught her attention, and she spun toward the shadow. There was little light in the bedroom, but Khalil had left on a floor lamp in the parlor. As she stared into the darkness, Dora realized that what had caught her eye was merely her own reflection in the mirror at her dresser. Her pale gown had shimmered slightly.

She paused to stare at herself, then reached up to brush her cheek. How different she looked, she thought with some surprise. Her time in El Bahar had changed her appearance, or maybe it was just her new life that affected her. Gone were the shyly lowered eyes, the deferential tilt of her head. Instead she stood tall, with an air of confidence about her. She’d slimmed down, and while she would never be fashionably thin, her top and bottom were now the same size. Her longer hair flattered her face, softening her features and making her look more approachable.

Sometime in the past few months, the small mouse had been transformed into a more self-sufficient creature. She didn’t see herself as the desert wildcat Khalil liked to call her, but she’d made definite improvements.

She walked over to her desk, to the stacks of folders there. Sometimes she worked in the evenings. There was so much to do, and it all took time. Meetings filled her schedule, and when she wasn’t busy with that, there were speeches to write, phone calls to make, not to mention her time with Khalil. She’d come a long way from the lonely virgin who ached to belong to someone.

Dora glanced around the spacious room, then clicked on the desk lamp so she could see more clearly. The luxurious furnishings no longer intimidated her. In fact, very little intimidated her. Even Amber’s harsh assessments of her life and her relationship with Khalil had wounded, but not destroyed. She was no longer Dora Nelson, doormat, she was Dora Khan, princess of El Bahar.

In a blinding flash of insight she could neither explain nor describe, she understood what Fatima had been talking about. She understood the one thing she could give to Khalil that he most desired. Her love.