Part 20 (1/2)
Ba.s.sam nodded solemnly. ”They have misused the hospitality of the desert quite horribly. Punishment would not be out of order. The moussem ends tomorrow, it would be a good time to make an example out of them, to show the tribes what it means to defy Sheikh Muhsin ibn Bitar.”
Muhsin was thoughtful. ”Yes, I think you may be right about that. I will start with the captive tonight.”
A wicked gleam lit Ba.s.sam's eyes. ”She can be used to draw the Englishman out and force him to perjure himself. If she is known to be in jeopardy, he may show his hand.”
Something was wrong. Susannah stumbled in the sand, fighting against the strong grip of Ba.s.sam's hand about her wrist. He was angry. This was no polite escort and she could only speculate why.
She had danced tonight for the sheikh, as always, had pleased the audience. It was the last time she'd have to dance in that manner. Tomorrow she'd be free. Alex would make his request tonight as the men sat and talked. Had he already made his request? Was that why Ba.s.sam had come for her without warning?
”You have defiled yourself with an Englishman, without permission. Now, you will pay.” Ba.s.sam jerked her to an abrupt halt outside the sheikh's tent. His face was close to her. She could smell the residue of spices on his breath, the gaminess of the roasted lamb. She fought the urge to cringe. She could not afford to show weakness in front of Ba.s.sam.
He forced himself upon her lips, his mouth demanding she open to him. She struggled against him, twisting her head to avoid contact. She kicked out with her foot, but Ba.s.sam was too swift. He pinioned her against him. ”You're a feisty one, and I find I am less discerning than my brother-in-law. I do not care that I have not had you first, only that I have you next and last. I can still save you. Remember that before you lash out.” He bit at her ear, nothing like the loving nips Alex had showered her with. She stifled a yelp against his harsh methods.
Where was Alex now? She hoped he was safe. Somehow the sheikh knew what they had done. Had Alex made his request yet?
Ba.s.sam pushed her inside the tent and she scanned the interior rapidly. Alex was there, seated across from the s.h.i.+ekh. He was alone. Crispin was not present. Alex sat erect, his body hard and alert. He was aware that the situation had become hostile. But even so, his presence buoyed her hope. She took courage from his cool a.s.surance as he eyed the sheikh unflinchingly. Alex would not fail her.
”Is this how you treat your guests? I have come to barter with you honestly for a lowly slave in your possession,” Alex charged, taking the offensive as she was thrust into the center of the conversation.
She met his eyes with a quick glance, but he s.h.i.+fted his gaze away. Probably a smart choice. Susannah averted her own eyes to the floor, unwilling to give away more emotion than she wanted. Her freedom lay in the balance, dependent now upon the wits of Alex Grayfield. A wrong glance from her, a wrong word, would seal not only her fate but his. They were now irrevocably linked together.
”You have taken her without my permission. You've lain with her and befouled her.”
”And I am willing to do my duty by her,” Alex replied evenly, showing no agitation at the harsh words meant to provoke. ”I will take her from your sight.”
”That is not all.” Muhsin held up a hand. ”She has committed an act of defiance against me. I have it on good authority that she went to you, she sought your bed willingly.” He gave a manly shrug. ”If it had been simply a matter between men, we could have settled it between ourselves,” he said benevolently, although Susannah doubted it would have been as simple as he made it sound. ”But a woman's dishonor combined with a slave's disobedience must be accounted for lest others find me weak and seek to try me in kind.”
The look Muhsin cast her chilled her in spite of the tent's heat. She heard the implicit deal Muhsin was willing to contract with Alex. She would be made to pay most horribly. If Alex confessed she'd come to him, he could pa.s.s unscathed as long as he left.
Alex said nothing, and Susannah breathed more easily. She wanted to trust Alex, but the offer had to be tempting. The sheikh spoke again. ”You have in your possession a horse I admire. Relinquish the horse and that would cover any misunderstanding between us.”
Again the implicit opportunity to deny her, to lay the blame entirely at her feet; she had seduced him and he had not understood the inappropriateness of the seduction. Susannah clenched her hands to keep them from trembling. Surely Alex would not betray her? He'd promised. But what did she know of the man? Was he a man of his word or would he seek to save himself at her expense? Her mind warned that she knew nothing of him, a man who had wandered in from the desert two days ago.
But her heart argued otherwise. The man so concerned with her pleasure, who wors.h.i.+ped her body so reverently, was a man of sincerity and honor. Whatever he did with her afterward, he would not leave her here to face a cruel fate at Ba.s.sam's hands. She knew what awaited her if he denied her-public punishment and the private humiliations Ba.s.sam would heap upon her. She could imagine, too, what awaited Alex if he did not deny her. At the very least there would be trial by fire, the Bedouin tradition for truth-telling, at the worst he would be ruined as a man unless she could intervene.
”Will you play me for her? She is not one of you. Your codes are not her codes. Whatever she has done, let me at least play for her. I fancy her and, unlike you, I am not repulsed by her sin,” Alex said with cool casualness.
”No cards.” The sheikh laughed, warming to the idea of a compet.i.tion. ”If you're as good as your friend, it is hardly fair.”
”Weapons then. We are all fair hands with knives,” Alex suggested. ”You and Ba.s.sam against Crispin and myself.”
”It is dark.”
”The tent is large. We can set targets at the far end,” Alex countered.
The sheikh glanced at Ba.s.sam. ”What do you say?”
Ba.s.sam grinned. ”Take the challenge. If they win, they may take the girl. If they lose, they will leave camp before sun-up, happy to be alive and praising the sheikh's generosity.”
Susannah fought the urge to seek out Alex's gaze. Her fate balanced literally and metaphorically on the point of a knife, and she, a woman used to taking care of herself, could do nothing about it but watch and wait.
Chapter Nine.
It was to be a private compet.i.tion between the four of them, but it was no less tense for the lack of spectators.
Alex critically watched the targets being prepared by a trusted relative of the sheikh. He resented being unable to go to Susannah, who'd been manhandled roughly to the side to sit under guard.
She'd borne up stoically under the cra.s.s negotiations. She'd kept her eyes modestly downcast throughout the transaction, but he knew she'd heard the unspoken messages as well. As Sutcliffe's daughter she would have been trained to read between the lines. He'd feared at one point she would protest and give herself up out of some misguided effort to save him. Such a sacrifice might have momentarily cleansed the conscience but it would have done little to alter the situation. She'd shown great insight and understanding to know enough to withhold her reaction.
”Is she worth it?” Cris spoke in low tones at his ear, pa.s.sing him a throwing knife. Crispin Ramsden was a saint among men, Alex thought, a tarnished saint to be sure, but a saint all the same. He'd come without question ready to defend Alex's interests. Alex knew no finer gentleman than the rough-edged brother to the powerful Earl of Dursley.
”Yes,” Alex replied. Everything was in that answer. He hazarded a glance at Susannah. He had not imagined himself to be a man open to love at first sight. In that regard, he'd believed himself to be much like Crispin, a cynical lover of women, quick to take pleasure but less hasty to bind himself to one in any permanent fas.h.i.+on. Yet a woman like Susannah demanded more, and he found he was more than willing to give it.
She was beauty personified with her pale gold hair and houri curves. But she was more than beauty. Her blue eyes were windows into mystery and intelligence. Without him realizing it, she had become an essential part of his plans for the future.
”We have to get out of here alive first,” Crispin commented. ”You're already planning your life together. Let's work on the present.”
Alex laughed. ”My apologies for being so transparent.”
”A man in love always is.” Crispin hefted a knife, testing its weight and balance. ”I've seen it before. When my brother fell in love with Tessa, it was fast and deadly.”
”You talk about it as if it's a disease, spreading like cholera.”
”Well?” Crispin challenged.
”We'll find you a woman next.”
Satisfied with their weapons, their talk turned serious in the moments they had left. The targets were nearly set.
”What's the plan if we lose?” Cris inquired, baring his teeth at a glaring Ba.s.sam across the tent.
”The same as if we win. It won't matter to them. They're not letting us go easily.”
”Is this the ride-like-h.e.l.l option you spoke of earlier?”
”Yes. Any chance our horses are close?”
”The black is outside. The sheikh thinks I've brought him to return him. The other two horses are in the rope pen behind the sheikh's tent where we left them when we rode in.”
Alex spoke rapidly. ”Susannah and I will make for the horse pen. You take the black and ride out. Don't wait for us.”
Crispin nodded, understanding the necessity. If he rode out on the prized horse, he could be a successful diversion. ”I'll see you in Algiers then, my friend.”
All was ready. The targets were at thirty paces, a distance that would require a strong arm as well as accurate aim. Additional torches had been brought to the tent to ensure quality lighting. The flames also increased the temperature. Alex could feel sweat beading his brow in response to the additional heat.
The rules were simple. Each of them had four throws. The best combination of throws would determine the victor. Ba.s.sam threw first, two of his knives finding purchase on the second ring of the target, one of them on the outside ring, the final knife successfully finding the ring closest to the center.