Read Online The Sheik's Command by Loreth Anne White - Free Book Online

Rahm sentinels watching from higher up, and if they saw this military convoy entering their territory, her kids could be doomed. She had to stop Zakir here. She had to convince him to let her go alone from this point.
    “Stop. This is the spot.”
    Zakir rapped on the window behind his driver, motioning for him to halt the convoy. The man radioed the other Humvee. It rolled to a stop.
    “Which is the path to the village?” asked Zakir.
    “I…I need to get out and check,” she said, grasping for the door handle. If there were Berber sentinels out there, Nikki wanted them to see it was her inside this Humvee. But the door was locked. Urgency tore through her.
    “Please, let me out, quick.”
    He frowned. “I’ll tell the driver to take us closer.”
    “No. I need to walk. It’ll help me remember,” she lied. “Things look different from inside a vehicle.”
    He got out himself and came around to open her door, wind whipping his tunic.
    His men were also exiting the other vehicle, positioning strategically, their machine guns and AK-47s at the ready. Tension crackled in the wind around them, hot, restless, shifting, hungry. The tiny crystal beads that fringed the base of Nikki’s veil flicked sharply against her neck.
    “I’m going to take a look,” she called over the wind. Clutching her headscarf about her face, Nikki leaned into the maelstrom. Her long skirt snapped about her ankles as she began to make her way toward the Rock of Swords.
    Zakir stayed right by her side. It made her nervous. If Berber sentinels recognized him, they might mistrust her intentions. She had to make it clear that the king and his Gurkhas could not cross beyond the Rock of Swords.
    As they neared the haunting geological formation, the wind moaned eerily through the cavities, and Nikki’s gauzy veil was suddenly snatched loose by a sharp eddy. It fluttered up, disappearing into the cloud of yellow sand.
    She pulled her headscarf across the side of her face as she huddled back into a protected lee formed by the rocks. She had to tell him, now.
    “I…I need to go into the mountains alone, Zakir.” The wind snatched at her words, tossing them down the Red Valley in a swirl of sand.
    “What did you say?” He came closer, bending his head toward her.
    Determination bit into her. “I said I must go alone to the village,” she yelled over the roar of sand. “Without you or your men!”
    Through the blur of sand, Nikki could see his bodyguards edging closer like wraiths, trying to keep their king in their sights. Zakir waved them back angrily and his fingers dug into her upper arm as he trapped her against the sandstone. “What in hell are you trying to do?”
    “If the Berbers see you approaching with armed soldiersthey’ll think I betrayed them, Zakir. Like you said, they don’t ask questions first. My children could be hurt.”
    “I am their king. I must speak with them.”
    “Zakir, please. Let me go alone first. I will explain why you’re here, pave the way for you. Then you and your men can come in.”
    She sensed the energy of his guards shifting and they began to close in again.
    Furiously staying his guards for a second time, Zakir’s expression darkened. He swore in Arabic, tightening his grip on her arm. “Just get back in the vehicle, Nikki,” he growled, voice low, dangerous.
    Nikki tried to resist, but Zakir’s strength was phenomenal as he brusquely dragged her back toward the Humvee. He swung open the door and manhandled her into the backseat so hard and fast that it shocked her. No man had touched her like this since Sam, and Nikki reacted instinctively—violently—fighting back and kicking at him.
    Which enraged Zakir further.
    He forced her down onto the seat and climbed in after her, slamming the door closed behind him. His guards stood outside, unable to see in.
    He was breathing hard. His body was pressed on top of hers, their hearts beating in angry unison. Sweat dampened her skin and grit stuck to