The Sheikh’s Disobedient Bride(37)

Just when Tally didn’t think she could handle another moment of such intimate contact, something took shape on the horizon. It wasn’t cloud or wind. Wasn’t a sandstorm or anything sinister. It was a mountain.



“Is that where we’re going?” Tally asked, turning to look at Tair.



“Just wait,” he answered.



It was a long wait. Another hour or more of riding but the mountain grew larger and little by little Tally could see that the mountain was actually a mammoth rock jutting from the earth.



Tair and his men rode toward the rock, and then around the base of the rock and where there was a narrow ravine, they nudged their horses forward.



“Where are we going?” Tally whispered, awed by the sheer size of the rock soaring above them.



“You’ll see.”



And then she did.



Tally leaned forward on the horse, craning her head to get a better look.



This, she thought awed, was more like it.



This was a secret world Westerners were rarely permitted to see, a fantasy world carved from desert and wind, storm and age.



Tally tried to hide her excitement as the mountain opened up before her eyes. Tair’s home appeared to be carved from rock—right from the mountain itself.



There were rooms marked by windows, shutters and iron grillwork, and then there were terraces, balconies, patios and stairs everywhere. Wooden staircases, ladders, wide stone steps, curving stone staircases. It was a fantasy world that was also home. Incredible. Like Swiss Family Robinson but only better because it was real. And she was here.



She felt Tair’s gaze rest on her, felt his hard, male amusement.



“You like it,” he said.



She shrugged indifferently. “It’s…interesting.”



“You should learn to lie better. Especially if you’re going to lie as often as you do.”



Tally pressed the tip of her tongue to the back of her teeth, pressing hard enough to feel the seam between her teeth and the little ridges high near her gums. “Why hasn’t anyone put a poisonous snake in your bed yet?” she asked sweetly.



“They’ve tried.”



She snorted, part laughter, part exasperation. “Just how many times have people tried to kill you?”



He crossed his arms, half-closed his eyes, counting. “Ten. Fifteen. Something like that.”



“Come on. I’m being serious.”



“You’re right. It’s higher than that. Probably closer to twenty. But I try not to dwell on negative things.”



Tally shot him a look of disbelief before seeing the smile in his eyes. It was amazing how he could do that. His face was rigid—marble-like—and yet his eyes were so fierce and alive. And lately those beautifully alive eyes had been smiling.



“I’m so not surprised,” she teased as gates were opened and men appeared to take the horses.



Tair greeted those who’d come to welcome him and then turned back to Tally. “Are you tired? Do you need to sit?”



“I’ve been sitting for hours.”



“Yes, well, you’re a weak sickly woman—” he broke off with a grunt as Tally’s elbow made contact with his ribs.



“I wasn’t that sickly until I was poisoned.”



“And the asthma?”



“You don’t want another one of these, do you?” she asked, pointing to her elbow.



“Indeed not. It’s a dangerous weapon. One you actually know how to use.” He led her to a wide stone staircase. They took the steps slowly and Tair talked as they climbed.



“This is Bur Juman.” His voice was toneless and yet she heard his pride, as well as possession. “It was my father’s home, and his father’s home before that. For one hundred years my family and our people have lived here.”



“Bur Juman,” he said, pausing at the top of the staircase, “means Pearl on the Other Side.”



Tally immediately got the significance of the name. Pearl on the other side. This beautiful retreat of sun drenched stone patios and terraces was a world away from the dangerous desert they’d left, a world dominated by barbarians much like Tair.



And yet here, this was a world of beauty, of women, of jewelry and ornamentation. The women were all hennaed, draped in gold, gold bracelets, necklaces, earrings, gold everywhere. Even the air around the women smelled sweet, perfumed by some indefinable Arabic scent that she’d caught whiffs of in town but here the fragrance permeated the very air, rivaling even the cloying sweetness of lemon and orange blossoms.



Pearl on the other side. Yes, definitely and Tally felt almost overwhelmed by the sensual beauty of it, ensnared by mystery and that which was new, different, exotic.