Annie West - Sheikh's Royal Baby Revelation

The words sounded matter-of-fact. Like a news report of some distant, almost unreal incident. But the sound of those guns had been brutal reality for Tori for too long. She strove to absorb Ash’s news but couldn’t prevent a tremor of reaction.

‘I thought you were dead. I—’ She searched his face, even now finding it hard to believe he was there and whole. ‘What are you doing here? It’s an incredible coincidence.’

‘No coincidence, Tori. I’ve been looking for you.’ His voice was deep and assured.

‘You have?’

Ash sat straighter. ‘Of course! Did you imagine I’d forget about you? That I’d leave you to the mercy of people-smugglers?’

‘But it’s been fifteen months!’

His dark eyes flashed. ‘I’m not in the habit of forgetting my friends.’

Was that what they’d been? Friends? Allies, for sure. Lovers too. And now...?

‘I regret it took so long. I’d imagined...’

He shook his head, as if his imaginings weren’t important, but the grim set of his mouth told its own story. If she’d been tormented by the thought of him dead, he’d had the burden of thinking her at the mercy of men like those who’d kidnapped her.

Tori closed her hand over his fist where it rested on his thigh. ‘I’m not blaming you, Ash. That wasn’t a rebuke. I’m just...surprised.’ Make that astounded. She’d never in her wildest dreams believed she’d see him again. ‘How did you locate me?’

He shrugged. ‘A team of top investigators, persistence and in the end one lucky break.’

Investigators working for fifteen months? That must have cost a fortune.

Tori’s gaze skittered across that beautifully made suit. Ash wasn’t ostentatiously dressed but he projected an aura of authority and wealth, like a man used to wielding power. A little like her father, except in Ash it seemed innate, less cultivated for public consumption. Her father revelled in the importance his position gave him. Ash, on the other hand, wasn’t showy or obvious.

‘You’re a determined man.’

If there’d been an easy trail to follow he’d have found her ages ago. The fact that he’d persevered all this time spoke of a doggedness she could only admire. If she’d still been at the mercy of people-smugglers she was sure he’d have found a way to free her. The knowledge made her heart lurch.

‘How did you get away? Month after month my people scoured Za’daq and the border territory for you. They found nothing.’

My people. He made it sound as if he had his own personal army.

Belatedly Tori realised she still held his hand. She forced her fingers open and sat back, folding her hands together and telling herself the throb of heat she felt had nothing to do with touching Ash.

But hearing he’d made it his quest to find her unravelled something she’d kept locked up tight since the horror of the kidnap. And looking into those dark eyes was messing with her head. She squeezed her eyes closed and drew a breath.

This was so complicated. So profoundly difficult. What on earth was she going to do?

‘Tori?’

She snapped her eyes open. ‘Sorry. I’m still a little stunned.’

The implications of Ash being here were only just seeping into her whirling brain. There was so much to consider. So many variables and, yes, worries. Her skin prickled with anxiety and it wasn’t from reliving the past.

But for now she owed him her story.

‘Three of us rode away from the camp. Me, the guard you knocked down and a boy—barely a teenager. When we heard the gunshots the older man was happy. He thought you were dead.’ Tori snatched a fortifying breath, remembering the sour tang of fear and horror she’d felt at his gleeful triumph. ‘But after the first couple of shots he said something to the boy and then headed back the way we’d come.’

‘Probably realised there was too much gunfire for an execution.’

Slowly Tori nodded. She hadn’t considered that. She’d thought the firing squad had been overly enthusiastic, or perhaps celebrating.

‘The pair of us kept riding, but the boy wasn’t happy. He began to look scared. Maybe he understood some English, because I told him what would happen to him when he was caught. I might have exaggerated...’

‘Good for you!’ Ash looked admiring and Tori was amazed at how good that felt.

‘What did I have to lose? Besides, I was upset.’

An understatement for the raw rage and fear that had consumed her as they’d trekked through the wilderness. Hearing that gunfire and believing Ash dead had been a living nightmare. Even remembering that moment—

‘Go on.’

Tori spread her hands. ‘It wasn’t really hard to get away. I realised later he let me escape.’

Ash nodded. ‘He must have realised something had gone wrong and he’d be in trouble if he was found with you.’

‘I ran away during a rest stop. The rope was a little loose and I eventually got it undone. I was terrified he’d come after me but I never saw him again.’

Tori flexed her hands, remembering the burn of dust against red raw flesh.

‘Hours later I stumbled into the path of a four-wheel drive. A couple of foreigners were returning to their private yacht after a trip inland.’

Foreigners who had been sympathetic but, for reasons of their own, avoiding the authorities. She’d wondered if they were smuggling contraband.

‘They were on their way to the Maldives and took me with them. Once there I made contact with the Australian authorities.’

‘You crossed the border from Za’daq into Assara,’ Ash said. ‘We made enquiries in neighbouring countries, but using official channels it was a slow process with no leads. It was only recently that a witness came forward. A driver passing through on his way to a family wedding. Recently he returned to visit his village again and heard about the search for you. He remembered three foreigners boarding a yacht in a deserted cove.’

Tori digested that. ‘And from something so vague you located me?’ It was remarkable! She could barely imagine the resources, or sheer luck, required to find her.

‘Eventually. Fortunately the yacht was distinctive, so it could be tracked. Your trail was easy from the Maldives, after I knew you’d escaped and where you were headed.’ His mouth twisted ruefully. ‘If we’d exchanged full names and addresses it would have saved time.’

Heat tickled Tori’s throat. Despite their physical intimacy they’d never got past first names. It seemed strange now.

‘Well, you found me. I’m glad.’ She smiled up at him. Despite the complications she’d now have to face, it was wonderful to know he’d survived. ‘It’s good to see you alive.’

‘And you, Tori.’

His look seared her and she shifted in her seat. It wasn’t just relief she felt. Her emotions were complex and she found herself growing nervous all over again.

The longer she sat with him, the more she realised how little she knew about Ash, despite the way her body hummed with awareness. He seemed light-years away from the stoic man with whom she’d shared intimacies in the desert.

She couldn’t imagine—

No, that was wrong. She could imagine all too easily the urge to be with him again. The realisation sent heat spiralling through her middle and surging up her throat to scald her cheeks.

Yet it wasn’t sexual awareness stretching her nerves tight. It was apprehension. For she knew next to nothing about him. His life, hopes, expectations. How he’d react when faced with what she had to tell him.

For a craven moment she wondered if she could avoid that. It would be taking a giant step into the unknown. But it had to be done.

She moistened her lips, ready to speak, but he was too fast for her.