Familiar Oasis. Caroline Burnes

herself, pleading exhaustion from her illness. Mauve and the doctor were deep in conversation. Just as she was turning to go, she winked at Mauve and gave her a thumb’s-up sign.

      She was smiling to herself when she walked across the lobby. She’d left Mauve a clear field. Now it was up to the redhead to play the game.

      HARAD ARRIVED BACK in the lobby of the Abbula just in time to see Amelia in the bar, shaking Dr. Kaffar Mosheen’s hand. Mauve was there, too, staring up at the doctor with obvious interest. Still, jealousy made Harad’s back tighten and his fists clench. The good doctor had wasted no time in moving in on Amelia. Then he remembered that Dr. Mosheen hadn’t known where Amelia was staying. Obviously she had called him.

      Harad stepped behind a column in the lobby to avoid detection. He’d come to tell Amelia that the arrangements for her excursion had been made. Standing in the lobby, watching the beautiful blonde walk past him, Harad knew that his motivation had been to see Amelia again. He could have telephoned the information to her, but telling her in person was a good reason to see her. And no matter how much he tried to deny it to himself, he wanted to see her.

      He waited until she had time to get to her room, then he went to a hotel phone and dialed her number. She answered quickly, and he wondered if it was because she thought the doctor might be asking her to return. Another stab of feeling pricked him. The sensation was disorienting. He’d known a lot of beautiful women in the past, but none had ignited the fiery dagger of jealousy.

      It had to be that Amelia was a challenge. That had to be the factor in his irrational emotions. He settled on that as he told her that he was in the lobby with news and documents for her, then waited. Her answer would tell him a lot about her.

      “I’m not sleepy,” she said. “Why don’t you come up and tell me?”

      He smiled as he hung up the phone and went to the elevator. It would seem Amelia had no interest in returning to the lobby. She’d left Kaffar Mosheen with Mauve. Harad couldn’t be certain of her exact reason, but he knew that it was a good sign as far as her intentions toward the doctor were concerned. He felt as if he’d gained ground in the battle.

      Tapping on her door, he waited until she opened it. She was still dressed in the coral sheath, and she nodded toward a grouping of seats in the sitting room of the suite he’d rented for her.

      “So, you found a guide for me?” she asked.

      He thought he detected some reservation in her voice. Perhaps she was reconsidering.

      “My conscience wouldn’t allow me to abandon you. The desert can be deadly. I gave Omar my word I would make sure you were safe. I’ve found a guide. He’s a trustworthy man, and he has the knowledge and resources to take you to Omar and Beth.”

      Amelia’s face remained emotionless. “Thank you, Harad. It was kind of you to go to that trouble, and to do it so quickly.”

      He nodded. “I still would not advise you to make this trip,” he said. “It’s a difficult journey, and dangerous. Not because of bandits or wild beasts. It is simply the endless sand and sun. A tiny miscalculation, and you could end up wandering for days.” He paused. “Or forever.”

      His words were working on the chink in Amelia’s determination. If he judged it just right, he might be able to let her talk herself out of the entire misadventure.

      “The guide you hired is reliable, though?”

      “Yes, the very best. I was lucky he hadn’t already been engaged. But he is quite expensive. I warn you, you get what you pay for in this business, and it’s always best to purchase the finest. In equipment and personnel.”

      “Yes.” She went to her purse and brought out a checkbook. “I’ll gladly reimburse you.”

      He pulled the bills from his pocket and handed them to her. With a little help from Tep the guide, he’d padded them quite successfully. Once Amelia conceded the trip, he would personally refund all of her money.

      He saw her eyebrows lift at the figure. “Ten thousand dollars?”

      “Yes, he gave me a very good price, don’t you think?”

      “I had no idea. I thought—” She bit off the rest of the sentence.

      It was hard for Harad not to grin. “You will have Tep the guide, and one additional man. This amount will also cover all provisions, tents and camels.”

      “Camels?” Amelia’s head snapped up. “I thought there were horses. Those Arabians. You know, The Black Stallion, King of the Wind, that kind of horse.”

      “Unfortunately, this trip might be too arduous for a horse,” he continued to fib. “The camel has more stamina. More ability to survive if you should become lost. The hump. Perhaps you remember studying camels in some of your science classes.” He found he was having a delightful time, even if his conscience nagged at him. Still, his first priority was to protect his people.

      “There are air searches, should someone become lost, right?”

      “They are seldom successful. The desert is so vast. There are no landmarks. It makes air searches next to impossible. Of course, we would try…” He let his sentence fall away then stood. “Now I must go. The directions are written out for you. Be at that address at dawn.”

      “Dawn?”

      “An early start puts you that much ahead of the blaze of the sun. I believe the hotel shops are still open. If I were you, I’d invest in all the sunblock they have. Your skin is so fair. The sun here is unkind to such skin. After two weeks, you’ll look much older. It should assist you in your professional life. I understand that older women are given more respect.” He went to her, lifted her hand and kissed it gently. “Good luck, Amelia Corbet. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

      He hurried out of the room before he burst into laughter. Maybe for the first time in her life, Amelia Corbet was behind the eight ball instead of aiming it at someone else.

      Chapter Four

      Dawn was just breaking in the eastern sky as Amelia got out of the taxi on the outskirts of Alexandria. Instead of the spices of the city, she caught the scent of horses and leather. The wind tugged gently at her white cotton blouse. To the south was the wide-open vista of the desert. She was at the right place.

      The low, stucco building was the only place to go, and she paid the cabbie and lugged her recently purchased backpack over to the building and leaned it against the wall. Her shopping spree had been hasty and limited to the hotel shops, but she’d managed to find jeans and a few cotton blouses.

      She was hesitating about leaving the backpack with her important papers against the wall, when the whinny of a horse caught her attention. She wished she wasn’t headed across the desert on a camel. She loved horses. In fact, she’d been the top jumper in the stables where she’d taken lessons years ago. That memory made her think of Beth, who also rode, but with a more conservative approach.

      It would be good to see Beth. Far too much time— almost six months—had passed since they’d been together. That was what she had to focus on, not the camels or the hot sun or the desert. She looked again at the vast expanse of rolling waves of sand. The sun had begun to highlight the dunes with pink and gold, and Amelia was captured by the beauty of a place she’d never thought could be beautiful. To her the word desert had always meant thirst, burning heat and death. Untamed was the word that now came to mind. It was a wild beauty that the desert claimed.

      And it was a little intimidating. Well, a lot intimidating. She could admit that, as long as no one was listening to her thoughts.

      She walked into the building and was instantly captured by the beauty of the horses. A low whinny drew her to the first stall. “What a beauty,” she whispered to a gray mare. She was petting the horse’s forehead when she heard footsteps behind her.

      “Ms. Corbet,” the man said, bowing. “I am Tep.” He smiled at her from beneath a white headdress.