Lucy and the Sheikh(16)

He withdrew leisurely, his narrowed eyes never leaving hers, as if assessing her response. “Until later, Lucy…” His thumb dragged lightly across her lips. And then he was gone: lost amidst the lush growth of the gardens.

She opened the door, rushed inside and fell back against the closed door, pressed her eyes shut with her fingers and cursed.

What the hell was she doing? Even if he wasn’t implicated in Maia’s disappearance, Lucy Gee didn’t do relationships, she didn’t do emotional intimacy. She just kept on moving on to the next thing. Always moving. It wasn’t only that it was part of the pact she’d made with Maia to experience everything. It was more than that. Lucy had no wish to repeat the devastation of her first love and its dire consequences. She refused to ever go there again, to risk herself again. And here she was playing with fire because without that fire, she couldn’t find Maia.





CHAPTER FOUR


Lucy thanked the attendant who’d brought her back to Razeen’s private gardens. She pushed the heavy bough of flowers back and walked out to the seating area that overlooked the bay. The unbroken line of the horizon melted into the intensely blue sky. The welcome sea breeze shifted the heavy air and Lucy relaxed within sight and sound of the sea once more. She didn’t think she could live without having the sea close by. It had been a point of difference between Lucy and Maia: she needed the sea and Maia had always sought the crowded cities of Europe. So what the hell was Maia doing miles from anywhere?

If Maia was here, anywhere in Sitra, she’d be in the city. Lucy surveyed the jumble of buildings with their uneven roofs above which heat shimmered, distorting the chaos even further. It was all so physically close, and yet it felt as if it were a different world. Whether it was or not, she’d soon find out. Razeen had promised to show her the city. She turned away from the view, trailing her hand over the heavy blooms, releasing their sweet fragrance and a spray of water that showered her hand and arm in a momentary flash of rainbow colors.

“A rainmaker, hey?” Lucy turned around sharply. Razeen was standing close by looking highly amused. “I should have known. The day you arrived in my country, a storm was forecast—it’s due to arrive in a few days.”

She grinned. “I’ve always thought of myself as powerful, but not quite on the weather-making scale.”

He walked over to her and she turned to face him, instinctively wanting her body to be close to his.

“You mustn’t underestimate yourself. I can quite imagine you wield an influence far beyond your knowing.”

Her smile faded as she looked into his eyes: eyes that had ceased to joke, but held a curious sadness she couldn’t fathom.

“I think I’d prefer not to know the extent of any powers I may have. I may use them for evil. Ignorance is bliss and all that.”

He cast her a quick sidewards glance. “Ignorance is never bliss. And that’s why I asked you here. The afternoon is the best time to see the sights Sitra has to offer.” He smiled, relaxed, once more. “I’d be pleased to show you around.”

She walked over to him. “Won’t you being the King make that a little difficult?”

“I will go incognito.”

“Ah, hence the plain robes.”

“Indeed.”

“And hence only one bodyguard.” She inclined her head toward the powerful-looking guard who was waiting for them at the top of some winding stone steps.

He grinned. “That is low-key for me, believe me.”

“But surely you’re safe in your own city?”

“Of course. Sometimes I think the guard is there to keep me from mixing with the people, rather than the other way round.” Lucy frowned, struck by the wistful tone in his voice. “Let’s go. Most people will be resting in an hour or so. Then, we will have the places we will visit to ourselves. It will be better that way.”

Better for whom, Lucy thought as she followed him down the worn steps that clung precipitously to the outside wall of the palace before emerging out onto the main street of Sitra. Being alone with Razeen wouldn’t help her find Maia. And it might just end in her losing herself.





Out on the street, Lucy was hit by a wall of heat and noise. Stalls selling everything imaginable lined the roadside and there were people everywhere—the women in black, the men in white—surging around the pavement and the street. She recoiled momentarily before forcing herself to continue.

“Anything wrong?” Razeen stopped walking and drew her to him, under the shade of a faded awning.

She was surprised he’d noticed. It seemed he was as aware of her, as she was of him. “It’s just so…”