Read Online The Sheikh & the Princess Bride by Susan Mallery - Free Book Online Page B

least try to resist, but she knew she was wrong.
    “Go north,” he said. “About thirty miles.”
    She checked the compass and turned the plane to the correct heading. Below them several roads cut through the desert. She searched for signs of nomadic tribes but saw none. No doubt they preferred to stay farther away from the city.
    A few minutes later Jefri had her turn east. Up ahead she saw a small oasis and what looked like a very rudimentary runway.
    “She will do the work for you,” he said. “Let her down easily.”
    Billie dropped lower and lower, aiming the nose toward the runway. At the last minute, she pulled up slightly so the plane landed on the rear wheels first. A cloud of dust rose up as they slowed, then finally stopped.
    “Welcome to my private paradise,” he said.
    She took off her goggles. “Is it really yours?”
    “I claimed it when I first flew here at age twelve. No one has disputed my ownership, so yes, it is mine.”
    Must be nice, she thought as she collected her shoes and stepped out of the cockpit.
    “Wait,” Jefri said as he jumped down first.
    He stood just below her and held out his arms. Ah, the hardships her career forced upon her, she thought cheerfully as she surrendered to gravity and allowed Jefri to catch her against his hard body.
    He held her a fraction of a second longer than necessary, not that she minded, before assisting her with her shoes. They left their jackets, helmets and goggles in the plane and walked toward the clusters of plants and trees at the edge of the water.
    “Are there underground springs?” she asked.
    “Hundreds. My brother, Reyhan , has a house in the middle of the desert that sits on top of a spring. He and his wife live there now. The fabled City of Thieves is said to exist at the edge of an underground river.”
    Billie frowned. “I remember reading about the City of Thieves when I was doing research on your country. It is supposed to be hidden somehow. The way the buildings blend in with the land or something. One account I read said there was a medieval castle there.”
    “How interesting,” Jefri said in a carefully neutral tone.
    “Is it real? The city?”
    He drew her close and brought her hand up to rest on his arm. “ Bahania is a land of much beauty and many mysteries. Perhaps you should give yourself time to discover them all.”
    “Hardly an answer,” she grumbled but without much energy. When faced with the beauty of the oasis, what did a mythical city matter?
    He pointed out different types of trees and shrubs. She bent down to feel the softness of the grass that grew right to the edge of the large pond in the center of the oasis. The water lapped against the bank, as if driven by a tidal force.
    “Why does it move like that?” she asked.
    “The pressure of the feeding spring.”
    “Okay, so if the pond is being constantly fed with fresh water, why doesn’t it overflow? It’s not evaporating that quickly and I don’t see any kind of drainage.”
    He smiled. “Yet another mystery to be solved. Things are more complex than they first appear.”
    He led her around a grove of palm trees where she saw two lounge chairs set up with a small table between. A cooler sat on the ground with a basket of fruit on top.
    “You’re kidding,” she said with a laugh. “You planned this?”
    “Down to the last detail. We’ll be having lunch later.”
    “I know it’s not in our plane, so did you have someone specially bring all this here?”
    “Of course.”
    He spoke so casually, she thought as he led her to one of the lounge chairs.
    Talk about the thrill of royalty. She was lucky if she could convince one of her brothers to bring her back gum from the convenience store.
    She settled down while he popped open the cooler. There were an assortment of cold sodas, juices and bottled waters. She liked that he wasn’t going to drink while they still had to fly back.
    When they were stretched out on their chairs and sipping their