Sarah smiled slowly. "Perhaps we'll see each other again. We're both adults now."
Jasmine nodded. She was no longer the naive girl she'd once been, and it seemed her sister respected that. And maybe after marrying Boston blue-blood Harrison Bentley, Sarah had matured and forgotten her spiteful anger toward Tariq.
Jasmine had no premonition of the sheer wrongness of her belief until late that night.
She was in the shower when Tariq returned sometime after eight. When she walked out into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, she found him waiting for her, eyes glittering with what she immediately recognized as unadulterated rage.
"Tariq? What is it?" She froze, suddenly afraid.
He remained on the other side of the room, his big body held tightly in check. "Did you have fun laughing at me, Jasmine?" His quiet voice vibrated with anger. "W-what are you talking about?"
"Such innocence! And to think I'd believed you'd changed."
He raked her body with eyes that were so angry, she didn't want him anywhere near her. At the same time, it hurt that he stayed as far as physically possible from her.
"Unfortunately, your sister gave away your plans."
Her head jerked up. "What plans?"
"Your sister commiserated with me over your desertion. She said I had to understand that you could not bring yourself to marry a man like me."
Shocked, Jasmine just stared. When he ripped something out of his pocket and threw it against her chest, she didn't move to get it.
"You did not tell her I was your husband! What were you planning to do after you left? File for divorce, or just ignore your Zulheil marriage?" The sharp pain in his voice cut her.
Sarah had done this, Jasmine thought dully. But she wouldn't win. Her lie was too enormous, too unbelievable. Surely Tariq would see the truth. He knew Sarah. "I'm not planning on leaving you. She lied."
He looked even more furious. "Do not make this worse with further lies. The plane ticket in your name that Sarah wished me to give you does not lie."
With shaking hands, Jasmine picked up the ticket, barely able to keep the towel around her. The ticket was in her name, and even worse, her passport details were listed. That was odd, but only seemed to damn her further in her husband's eyes.
"No," she cried. "I would never do this. My family had all these details on file."
His mouth twisted in disbelief. "Enough! I was foolish to believe in you despite it all, but Jamar heard you discussing your defection!"
Jamar had obviously not heard her response to Sarah's words. She reached for Tariq, forgetting the towel. "Lis ten -- "
"The truth is clear. I have always known your choices. Your body is not enough to make me a fool again. Though if you wish, I can avail myself of the invitation." His dismissive glance broke her heart. He was so cold, so uninterested.
Unbearably ashamed of her nakedness, she pulled the towel around her with fingers that trembled, and tried to reason with him. "Please, Tariq, listen to me. I love you..." She gave him her heart in a frantic attempt to make him listen.
He laughed. "You must think me a great fool, Jasmine. Your love is worthless."
Brokenhearted at the bald-faced rejection, and no longer able to figure out a way to make him understand that her love and loyalty belonged to him without reservation, Jasmine threw the balled-up ticket in his face. "Yes, that's the truth!" she lied. "I'm going to New Zealand and I'm going to divorce you!"
Tariq didn't speak. His face resembled a mask carved out of stone. The rage driving him had been tempered to cold fury.
"I'll go back and marry someone more suitable. I don't know what I was thinking of, marrying you!" She wanted to break down and cry, but some final piece of pride held her in check. If she gave in to the urge, she might never stop.
"You will not leave Zulheil."
"I'm already out of Zulheil! I won't go back!"
The anger on his face should have scared her, but she was past fear, mercifully numb. "You will return," he declared.
"No!" Her anger crested. "You have no right to make me!"
"Get dressed. We are leaving today." His voice was with out emotion, as if he'd suddenly tripped a switch. "If you try to make it difficult, I will personally make sure that you get to Zulheil."
"You wouldn't make a scene." The room separated them, but it was the distance in his eyes that broke her heart.
His eyes narrowed. "I will do what it takes."
Confronted with the Sheik of Zulheil, she knew that she'd lost this battle. He had the political power to do whatever he wished. "I have nowhere else to go." The wistful words fell from her lips like long-held tears. "I gave up everything for you. Everything. Everything."
Her only response was the slamming of the door behind him as he left the room.
Slumped outside the hotel door, his control shattered, Tariq could barely think. He knew what Sarah was like, and so, when she'd told him, he hadn't believed her. Even with the evidence of the ticket, he hadn't believed her. Making sure that she knew of his disgust with her for her troublemaking, he'd gone to find Jasmine. He'd wanted to protect her from her sister's maliciousness. Then Jamar had seen him heading to their suite, and had asked if Jasmine had talked to him about leaving for New Zealand. His expression had been dark.
"On their way to the travel agent's, her sister asked Jasmine al eha Sheik when she would like her ticket booked." The bodyguard had started to say something else, but was interrupted when the head of security beeped him. He'd excused himself.
Tariq had felt his heart break with Jamar's words. It was fortunate that the guard had left, because otherwise he would have seen his sheik's composure crack, like fine porcelain un der a heavy boot.
Jamar was a loyal guard, one with no reason to lie, espe cially since he clearly adored Jasmine. Tariq called himself a fool-for accepting Jasmine's explanation for carrying her New Zealand passport. He'd broken his longest held vow and had trusted her when she'd said it was an oversight. Even after what she'd done to him the first time, he'd trusted her. He'd wanted to protect and keep her safe in his arms.
An image thrust into his mind, turning a knife inside him. Of a tiny woman with hair of flame pleading with him to believe her, her shoulders and legs bare. A woman with shame in her eyes when he'd mocked the inherent sensuality that was her nature. Sensuality that he had always treasured, that he'd taken time and care to nurture.
Another knife joined the first.
He forced himself to remember the reason for his anger. There was no reason for him to feel as if he'd broken something beyond value. Except he couldn't think for the anger and pain blinding him. The wounded thing inside him was in agony, but he refused to acknowledge that, refused to examine exactly why this betrayal hurt with the pain of a thousand suns on his naked skin. He'd survived Jasmine once before and he'd do it again.
Even if what he felt for her was a hundred times stronger than before ...and the pain threatened to drive him to madness.
Chapter Thirteen
They landed in Zulheil midmorning. Jasmine couldn't help but remember her first trip through the gleaming white corri dors. Then, she'd believed that if she loved him enough, the man beside her would grow to love her, too.
Now, she knew that if he could convict her on such flimsy evidence, he had to have no trust in her loyalty. And no love in his heart. She'd failed to make him see that she was worth loving, and if Tariq couldn't see that, then the flaws in her had to be fatal. Battered by emotional storms, her defenses crushed, Jasmine couldn't fight those old demons any longer.
Once they reached the palace, she let Tariq haul her through the corridors, humiliating as it was, knowing that if she fought, he was angry enough to do something truly unforgivable. But when, after pulling her into his bedroom, he turned to leave, she stopped him. She wasn't someone he could lock away and forget.
"Where are you going?"
Tariq didn't even look at her. "Abraz."
Speak to me, she wanted to
cry. Give me something to hold on to. Even after his accusations and distrust, her heart refused to give up. She loved him. Needed him. And this time, she would fight for him until there was no hope. "Why?"
He did look at her then, his eyes dark green with pure fury. "I am going to marry my second wife. You no longer amuse me. Perhaps she will have more loyalty than you have shown."
Jasmine's heart turned to ice. "You're taking another wife?"
"I will marry her in Abraz. You would do well to get used to a submissive role."
"How can you do this to me?" She prayed that he was only striking back at her because he was angry at her supposed betrayal. Then she remembered gorgeous Hira. Hira, who'd wanted to marry Tariq...and who lived in Abraz. Hira, the glamourpuss princess that Sarah had taunted her with so long ago. Jasmine's worst nightmare had just come to life.
Tariq's beautiful face was cruel with distaste as his merci less eyes raked her trembling body. "The same way you plotted to betray me."
"No! I didn't. Why don't you believe me?" She reached out to grab the edge of his jacket, but he shrugged her off.
"I do not wish to be late." Throwing her another dismissive glance over her shoulder, he walked out the door.
Jasmine didn't go out to the balcony this time. At that moment, something priceless deep inside her broke with an almost audible snap. But she couldn't allow herself to feel the pain, because if she did, she'd die from the wound. Instead, as a self-defense mechanism, she started to plan her escape. She'd been prepared to put up with Tariq's anger, his distrust, even his rejection of her, but this...
"I will never share him. Never."
Sarah's derisive voice seemed to haunt her, telling her she hadn't been woman enough to hold her husband.
"No!" Sarah had probably only meant to cause a fight, but Tariq's deep-rooted distrust of his wife had given her the greatest of victories. Jasmine refused to give her vindictive sister any more power.
Spinning on her heel, she walked to her room and locked the door. She needed to think. There was no way she was going to get a flight out of Zulheil. Tariq would have alerted his men to watch for any attempt on her part. He wanted her to suffer. He wanted to punish her. Previously, she'd let him, certain that her love would win through.
"Not anymore." He'd gone too far this time.
She couldn't take to the roads. The border guards were well-trained and scrupulous. Aside from that, her red hair was a beacon of recognition among the desert people.
"Water." She stopped, her heart pounding. Zulheil had a narrow seacoast and a thriving port. It would be relatively easy to slip on board one of the foreign ships when it stopped to refuel. Sailors were an independent lot, and the harbor authorities couldn't monitor each and every individual movement. Aside from that, they were more worried with keeping people out of Zulheil than policing those wanting to depart.
She knew she had to leave everything behind, so that no one would guess her plan. That seemed to sum up her fate. She was leaving everything. Her heart. Her dreams. Her hope.
Taking a calming breath, she went to the small safe in the bedroom. After their marriage, Tariq had shown her the safe and told her that it would always hold cash for her use. At the time, she'd been touched by his thoughtfulness, but today, she just felt humiliated. Though she didn't want to take his money, accessing her New Zealand savings accounts would immediately give away her plans. Shouldering aside her pride, she keyed in the combination. There was enough cash to buy her passage and support her for a few weeks.
As she turned away from the safe, a flash of silver on a corner chair caught her eye. She had finished the beautifully beaded blouse with such hope, just before their departure to Australia . Now she could barely bear the sight of it. She folded it up and left it on the bed, with a note for Mumtaz. Her friend might hate her for fleeing, but she was the one for whom Jasmine had chosen the material.
Once she was ready, she walked to her writing desk and picked up a pen. Her fingers threatened to shake under the force of her emotions, but she disciplined them with strength that came from somewhere so deep inside, she'd never known it existed before that instant.
Tariq,
Ever since I came to Zulheil, you've been waiting for me to betray you and leave. Today, I'll live up to your lack of belief in me, but I won't leave in silence like a thief.
I love you so much that every time I breathe, I think of you. From the moment we reunited, I had no thought of ever leaving you. You were my first love, my only love. I thought I'd do anything for you, even bear your punishment over my choice four years ago, but today I've discovered my limits. You're mine and mine alone. How can you ask me to share you?
Your pride will urge you to search for me, but I beg you, if you ever had any feelings for me, please don't. I could never live with a man who I loved but who hated me. It would kill me. I don't know what I'll do, I only know that my heart is broken and I must leave this place. Even if I never see you again, know that you'll always be my beloved.
Jasmine al eha Sheik
Dry-eyed, her pain too great even for tears, she folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope. When she'd begun, she'd thought to pen something hateful, hurting him as much as he'd hurt her, but she couldn't. Picking up her purse and the letter, she walked out to his study, the one place no one would ven ture until his return. She placed the letter in the center of his desk, where he would immediately see it. Her hands stroked the smooth mahogany in a final aching goodbye. In this room, they had come to learn about each other and she'd begun to help him shoulder his burdens.
"But it wasn't enough." Teeth gritted, she almost ran from the room, unable to bear the deluge of memories. Outside, she slipped on her sunglasses while the driver brought the car around. Within two minutes, she was on her way.
The beautiful minarets and colorful marketplace outside the windows of the car brought tears to her eyes. Her sense of loss was overwhelming. This place had become home. The exotic scents, the heavy heat, the bright-eyed and laughing people--they were all a part of her and would be forever.
Just like Tariq.
The docks were bustling. The driver parked in front of the popular waterside cafe she'd indicated. "I'm meeting a friend for lunch, so you can go elsewhere if you wish."
"I will wait here." His dark eyes didn't reflect his automatic smile.
She hadn't expected anything else. Tariq had been in a rage. but he'd given orders designed to keep her prisoner.
The minute she stepped outside, people waved and called out. They had accepted her without question, these generous desert people. Yet not even for them could she bear to share Tariq. After greeting her people with forced smiles, she made her way into the restaurant and sought out the hostess.
"Jasmine al eha Sheik, you will take a table?" The woman was beaming.
"Thank you, but I was wondering if you could help me?" Her voice was soft, but didn't waver as she'd half expected.
"Of course." The hostess's smile became impossibly wider.
"Somehow, a foreign news crew has managed to enter Zulheil and they've been tracking me. If you could show me your back entrance, my driver has instructed another driver to pick me up. It's annoying to be hounded like this."
The hostess's eyes lit up. Jasmine knew she should feel guilty about lying to her, but she was too numb to care. The back door opened onto a narrow alley. Though the lane was clean, there was a deserted, quiet air about it. The hostess looked around, a frown wrinkling her face.
"There is no driver here."
"Oh, he's waiting down there. Thank you." Before the woman could protest, Jasmine stepped out and began to stride confidently down the narrow cobbled path. Once out of sight, she changed direction and headed toward the water.
Lady Luck decided to give her a chance. A cruise ship was tethered at the docks, there only for a three-hour stop to refuel. In the crowd of European tourists allowed out to wander the docks, Jasmine no longer stood out. The authorities were vigi
lant about anyone attempting to get out, but nobody noticed a small female merging into the colorful mass of humanity.
Jasmine found that the cruise liner was happy to pick up an extra paying passenger, having lost some due to illness at the last stop. As an almost instinctive precaution, she used the New Zealand passport that had planted suspicions in Tariq's mind. Globe-trotting Kiwis were more likely to be present on the ships in port than the reclusive people of Zulheil. Or perhaps she used it because she couldn't bear to see her married name written there.
An hour later, she watched Zulheil's sparkling sand retreat to the horizon. She stood on the deck, her cheeks whipped by the wind, unable to look away. A part of her believed that if she didn't lose sight of the land, the final threads tying her to Tariq wouldn't be cut. Then night fell, spelling an end to even that impossible dream.
The moon shimmered over the minarets of Zulheina, but Tariq could find no surcease from the gnawing sense of loss that seemed to reach inside his soul and steadily eat away at any hope of happiness.
He'd been halfway to Abraz by the time his sense of betrayal and anger had dissipated, gentled by his homeland. Pulsing hurt had taken its place. He'd given Mina his heart and she'd cut it to pieces for a second time. He hadn't quite known what he would do to survive. No one but Mina would ever be wife to him, but how could he remain with a woman who could betray him so easily?
His mind had kept replaying the most painful image--the naked agony in Mina's eyes when he'd told her that he was taking another wife. That he was rejecting her, just as her family had. He'd felt as if he'd struck her, as if he was the one who needed forgiveness.
Something desperate and primitive in him had kept saying that he'd made a mistake and had to return home. Searching for any hint of hope, he'd finally stopped reacting and had started to listen.
When looked at logically, without the blindness caused by heartbreak, none of it made sense. If Jasmine had wished to leave him, she could have done so without Sarah's help. Dread had crept into Tariq's body when he'd realized that, but it was the memory of Jamar's revelation that had almost stopped his breath. Why would the bodyguard tell him about betrayal in such a casual way--in the hallway of a hotel, where anyone could have overheard?