Touch the Horizon (15 page)

“Just like James Bond,” Billie said dully. She was starting to shiver. “Who did you wave to? Ladram said there wouldn’t be a chance of your being followed.”

“There wasn’t any need for me to be followed,” David answered. “Danilo, Clancy’s man, was following you and saw Ladram make his play. He was here already. After he made certain there were only Ladram and his Sedikhan stooge, he reported back by mobile phone and settled down to wait. He probably took out the man guarding the trail as soon as I was halfway up the path. He was to wait for my signal before radioing Karim and Clancy to come in by helicopter.”

She felt a faint stirring of indignation. “Why was Clancy’s man following me? You promised I’d be free as a bird.”

“Just a precaution,” he said soothingly. “I was a little afraid something might happen. I wanted you to be protected.”

“I don’t need protection. I can take care of…” Suddenly she realized how dumb she was being. She hadn’t been able to protect herself in this case, and it had almost cost David his life. “I guess I did need it this time.”

“It’s very generous of you to admit it,” David said, a thread of amusement in his voice. “You must have been more frightened than I thought.”

“I was scared to death. I could see him hurting you, killing you. It was terrible.”

“Shhh.” He pulled her closer. “It didn’t happen. We’ll never have to face that threat again. It’s all over.”

She knew intellectually that it was all over, but she didn’t know it emotionally. The menace and fear were still with her. “He was such a terrible man. Did you see his eyes? So icy. It was as if he were frozen inside.” She laughed shakily. “He made me cold too. I still can’t get warm.”

“Can’t you, Billie?” He pushed her away to gaze down at her with worried eyes. The shivering was increasing in intensity, and his lips tightened as he noticed she was even paler than before. “You’ll be warm soon, I promise. Just hold on.” He was unzipping his jacket with one hand, the other still holding the compress. “Where the hell are Clancy and Karim?”

“It hasn’t been that long, has it?” she asked vaguely. It hadn’t seemed very long since he’d waved to that man down below, but perhaps it had. She couldn’t seem to think straight.

“Long enough.” He put the Windbreaker around her shoulders, then drew her back into his arms. “Is that better?”

It wasn’t really, but he sounded so worried, she couldn’t tell him. She nodded. “Much better,” she muttered. She seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness, and everything was becoming a confused jumble in her mind. The knife, Ladram, the half-carved figure of the giraffe on the ground, the guitar. The guitar? How had the guitar gotten here? Oh, yes, she remembered now. “Do you really want me to teach you how to play the guitar?”

She felt him stiffen against her. “What, love?”

“The guitar. Do you really…?” She couldn’t speak. There was only the cold, waiting darkness.

TEN

S
HEIKH
K
ARIM’S FIERCE
features were set in an expression of grudging patience when Billie next opened her eyes. He sat in the ivory-cushioned cane chair, which had been drawn close to her bed; his gaze was fixed intently on her face, as if he were mentally willing her to wake. With a personality as strong as Karim’s, he just might be able to do it, Billie thought sleepily.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Karim growled. “It took you long enough. That idiot doctor told me I wasn’t to disturb you until you woke naturally.” He scowled. “Four hours!”

“Sorry,” Billie said, her lips quirking. He acted as if her unconsciousness were a personal insult. She sat up in bed, flinching a little as she moved her left arm. It was neatly bandaged now. Someone—Yasmin, probably—had removed her pants and shirt, and she wore a nightgown. “You didn’t have to obey him, you know. I don’t know why I blacked out like that.”

“Shock,” Karim said. “The wound itself was nothing. I tried to tell David that at the cave, but he wouldn’t believe me. He was sure you were dying from loss of blood or some kind of poison Ladram had applied to the blade of the knife.” His voice was indignant. “David was raving at Clancy and me for not arriving sooner with the helicopter to get you to a doctor. It was most unlike him.”

“Where is he?” Billie asked.

“The doctor ordered him out of the room after David threatened to break his neck if he let you die.” Karim shook his head. “As I said, most peculiar. He was pacing outside in the hall for hours until I told him I’d order the guards to drag him to his suite if he didn’t leave peaceably.”

“Would you have done it?”

“Yes, of course,” the sheikh said simply. “I never bluff, Miss Callahan.” He stretched his legs out before him. “It wasn’t good for David to be here. He was suffering even more than when he heard you’d been taken.” He paused, frowned, and then said forcefully, “It upsets me exceedingly to see David suffer, Miss Callahan. That’s why I chose to stay and talk to you before I sent word to him that you were awake.”

“I don’t like the idea of David’s suffering either,” she said softly. She sat up straighter, and the sheet dropped to her waist. “I think you know that.”

His dark gaze was fastened in surprise on the front of her faded, high-necked nightshirt. Emblazoned in shamrock green were the words:
Kiss me, I’m Irish.
“What an extraordinary garment. Does David find that particular style erotic?”

“I don’t think David’s ever seen me in a nightgown,” she said absently. Then, seeing the sudden flicker of amusement in his face, she rushed on. “Yasmin must have thought this old nightshirt was better for an invalid.” She grinned. “She’d never have opted for such an unfeminine garment if she’d had a choice. She’s always chiding me for being unwomanly.”

“David seems to have no complaints on that score.” The sheikh’s lips curved in a little smile. “He has no complaints at all about you.” His smile faded. “Except for your predilection for running away from ghosts. That was most unwise of you, Miss Callahan. David could have been murdered because of you.”

“I know,” Billie whispered, her lips tightening in pain as she remembered Ladram’s face when he was holding that knife to David’s chest. “It was horrible.” Her eyes flew to his. “Where is Ladram?”

“He has been taken care of,” Karim said in a harsh, implacable tone. “He won’t be a problem any longer to anyone.”

Billie shivered at Karim’s ferocity. “I’m glad. David will be safe, at last.”

“You can be sure of that,” the sheikh said, “if your foolishness doesn’t lead him into some other danger.” His expression was stern. “I’ve decided that I can’t permit that.”

“You can’t permit—”

“It’s obvious you care very deeply for David,” Karim interrupted. “From what he told me of what happened with Ladram, you were willing to give your life for him. It is not reasonable you should do that and then make him suffer by refusing to stay with him.”

“And you intend to make sure that I don’t do anything so stupidly unreasonable?” Billie’s eyes were twinkling. “Am I being threatened with the eunuch guards and the harem again?” It was hard to remember how angry she’d been that first day. She was finding it difficult even to take Karim’s threats seriously, knowing it was all done for the love of David. She might be pretty ruthless herself if she thought David’s happiness was at stake.

“I told you I was not so uncivilized,” Karim said. “But you’d be wise to take me more seriously. I have confidence in David’s ability to convince you that your future happiness lies with him.” His lips firmed determinedly. “I just intend to make sure that he has the time and opportunity to do so.”

“Really? You sound very stern,” Billie said demurely. “Would you care to elaborate?”

“I was about to do that,” Karim said. “First, you will not be permitted to leave the Casbah or the city unless David accompanies you. Second, you will be moved from here into David’s suite immediately. Third, I will permit no birth-control devices to be brought into the Casbah. Any that you have will be confiscated and not returned to you until I’m sure this foolishness is out of your head.”

Why, that wily old devil! “Are you sure you don’t want to confiscate all my shoes as well?” she asked solemnly.

“Your shoes?” Karim’s thick brows were knotted in puzzlement.

“I thought it might be in order, since you obviously want to keep me barefoot and pregnant,” she said silkily. “I’m surprised you haven’t considered artificial insemination.”

“I’m not
that
civilized,” Karim said with a reluctant smile. “I believe that David will take care of the matter in an entirely natural and pleasurable manner.”

“I’m sure he will.” Billie said, meeting his eyes steadily. “With no interference on your part.”

“We will see,” Karim said. “Whatever is necessary will be done.” He lifted his brow. “You don’t seem too upset. You will accept your fate with fitting meekness?”

Fitting meekness! Karim had a great deal to learn about modern women and their independence. Well, now she had all the time in the world to teach him.

“I’m going to stay with David, if that’s what you mean,” she said as she threw aside the covers and swung her legs to the floor. “In fact, I think I’ll go see him this minute. Is he in his suite?”

Karim shook his head. “He’s in the greenhouse.”

“Good.” She found she was a little weaker than she’d expected. “Then, I’ll toddle down there with ‘fitting meekness’ to accept my lord’s decrees.”

“I can send for him,” Karim said. “You shouldn’t be out of bed so soon.”

“I want to go to him,” Billie said quietly. “I was the one who ran away. It’s only right that I be the one to walk the return road. It’s a sort of symbol. I think David will like that. He has an appreciation for rituals.”

“I think he will too.” Karim rose to his feet and looked down at her with conflicting emotions on his hard, fierce face. “I’m not one to obey orders.” He touched the garish slogan emblazoned across the nightshirt. “Still, there’s always a first time…Billie.” He bent and placed an awkward kiss on her forehead. “You’ll find you haven’t made a mistake.”

She felt inexpressibly touched, and the tears misted her eyes. No wonder David loved the ferocious old brigand. She cleared her throat and gave him a cheeky grin. “I know I haven’t. However, you may not be so lucky. You may just decide I’m too difficult to live with and shoo David and me back to Marasef.” She strode toward the gauzy curtains at the door of the dressing room. She halted to glance back at him over her shoulder. “I think I should tell you I had made up my mind to stay.” Her violet eyes were dancing. “And that your dire threats didn’t mean a tinker’s damn to me. If I’d wanted to, I’d have found a way to escape from the Casbah. As for the pregnancy threat”—she shrugged—“I love babies. I’d have just slung the baby on my back like an Indian and taken it with me.” She disappeared through the curtain, leaving the sheikh staring after her with an expression that was a curious mixture of outrage and pride.

The path that led through the greenhouse was as mystically lovely as before, the moonlight lending a crystal purity to the flowering jasmine and shimmering gold Allamanda. It should have reminded her of that first night, but somehow it didn’t. That evening had been all magic and dreams, and tonight was sweet, vibrant life and reality. She could feel the life zinging through her veins and its rhythm springing in her footsteps. Tonight she could almost hear the other rhythms of the earth and nature surrounding her. Perhaps, given time, David would be able to transmit that wondrous empathy to her.

He was kneeling by the bed of pinks and windflowers, as she’d known he would be, the lantern beside him, as it had been on that evening that seemed so long ago. So alike, yet so different. His hands weren’t working busily in the earth; they were jammed tensely into the pockets of his black Windbreaker, and his eyes were staring blindly at the healthy green sprigs in the earth before him.

“They’ve grown quite a bit since you planted them, haven’t they?” she asked in a low voice.

He jerked around to face her, his eyes wide and startled. “Billie! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in bed?”

She crossed the few feet that separated them and dropped to her knees beside him. “You don’t sound very welcoming,” she said with a little smile. “I’m not in bed because I don’t want to be. And I’m here because that’s where you are.” Her eyes twinkled. “Karim told me you were so objectionable, he had to banish you.”

“You wouldn’t wake up,” he said simply. “I didn’t know what to do.” He suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair. “Oh, God, you’re all right! I was so afraid you might die.”

Her arms went around his waist to hold him fiercely to her. She laughed shakily. “From that scratch? No way. I just swooned in a very idiotic and womanly fashion. Yasmin would have been proud of me.”

“But you wouldn’t wake up,” David said stubbornly. “That damn doctor wouldn’t even let me try to wake you.” His arms tightened. “I wanted to
know.
”

“Well, you know now,” she said soothingly, with maternal tenderness. “Could I have walked all this way if I wasn’t fine?”

“I guess not,” he muttered. “You shouldn’t have done it. I told Karim to send for me.”

“That’s what he said, but I wouldn’t let him. I wanted to come to you.” She leaned back in his arms to smile up at him. “My own little ritual.”

“What ritual?”

One hand left his shoulder to reach down and gently stroke one of the green sprigs with a gentle finger. “Love.” She nestled her cheek closer to him while her finger continued to caress the slender green sprig. “They’re standing so much taller than when you first planted them,” she said dreamily. “I had no idea they’d flourish like that.”

“Just give it a chance and love will flourish wherever you plant it,” David said gravely. “But you’ve got to give it a chance. I wasn’t going to let you go, you know. I was coming after you. Those other people who danced in and out of your life may have let you go, but not me. Not ever. If you won’t stay with me, then I’ll trail along behind you like a faithful troubadour, carrying your guitar on my back. I’ll pick grapes with you in the Napa Valley, go pearl diving in Samoa, or weave baskets for the tourists in Nassau.” His sapphire eyes were glowing with an almost incandescent warmth. “We’ll live together, work together, love together. And do you know what? Someday you’ll find you’ve taken root at last, windflower. I’ll be your roots, just as you’ll be mine, and they’ll intertwine and grow stronger through the years.”

She could feel her throat tighten with tears. “But you love it here in Sedikhan. Your home is here, and all the people you love.”

“Not all the people I love,” he said quietly. “The one I love the most is finding it impossible to stay here.” There was a flicker of pain in his eyes. “And that means I can’t stay here either.” His lips tenderly brushed her temple. “Who knows? I might learn to like the life of a gypsy. We’ll have the laughter and the miracles wherever we are.”

“Yes, we’ll still have them.” Her heart was swelling with such a fountain of love that it was almost painful. “It’s a very pretty picture you’re painting, but I’m afraid it’s just not destined to come to pass.”

He frowned, and his lips tightened sternly. “Look, Billie, we both know what the real problem is. You don’t lightly float on the surface of life; you’re running away from it. At least, you’re running away from affection and commitment. So what if some stupid asses in your childhood didn’t have the sense to realize what a treasure you are? That doesn’t mean we’re all like that. I love you, and I intend to love you for the rest of my life.” He drew a deep, shaky breath. “And if there’s an afterlife, even longer than that. Somewhere beyond the sun I’ll still be loving you, Billie.”

Somewhere beyond the sun. Yes, she’d still be loving him then too. As they passed through the exquisite rhythms and cycles of life to other spheres, it would still be with her, warming her, making her all she could be, making her part of him. If it was so with her, she could almost believe it would be that way with him too. And if it turned out it wasn’t, then she’d still consider herself lucky she’d been blessed with a love so very special.