CHAPTER NINE

Ardeth sat beside the water and brushed a weary hand through his hair, glancing up when Khalid came and joined him.

"Problems my friend?"

Ardeth shook his head. "Nothing that you can help me with," he answered and stared blankly at the flat surface of the pool.

"Ah. The girl?"

"Yes, the girl." Ardeth sighed.

"She has been disobedient again?" Khalid tried not to smile at the thought of a girl getting the better of his leader.

"Not yet," Ardeth replied, frowning. "I do not think she will try that again any time soon."

"Yes, I noticed how you brought her into camp. I assume her rear is giving her some pain? Was that wise Ardeth? What will your friend O'Connell think?"

"His thoughts do not matter. She was treated appropriately whilst under my protection, and she will be treated in the same manner if she tries to defy me again."

Khalid frowned at his friend. "I do not suppose she feels like you were protecting her when you 'treated her appropriately'. Where is she now?"

"She is in the tent. She bathed and I...I combed her hair for her," Ardeth said, chewing his bottom lip as he thought again of how soft that golden silk had felt under his hands.

"You combed her hair? Is that all?" Khalid asked, a sly smile playing around his mouth.

"Yes, that is all!" Ardeth snapped. "But it was not all I wanted to do and that bothers me!"

Khalid let the smile widen. "She bothers you a lot, it seems. So what is the problem? Have her and get her out of your system!"

"I cannot do that," Ardeth said, the thought tempting.

"Come now, my friend. it would not be the first time," Khalid said, grinning now as he thought of some of their past women.

"This is different. She is different. She is related to O'Connell..."

"And she is pure." Khalid finished for him.

"Yes, she is pure."

Khalid watched as Ardeth's eyes sought out the tent the woman was in and narrowed. "Why not take her as your own woman then?"

Ardeth snapped his gaze back to his friend. "As a wife? No. She is not suited to this desert, she would never survive the harshness out here. If she was not with us now she would already have died."

"True. But then, she did not come out here of her own accord, did she? And I should imagine that she is shocked by all that has happened, including the way you have treated her. You have to think that maybe she would be different under other circumstances." Khalid patted Ardeth's shoulder, seeing the battle he waged with himself. "She was not against you kissing her Ardeth, it was you who made it into something more than it should have been."

"I should not have done it," Ardeth said, wondering how life could get so complicated so fast.

"Perhaps not. It is not a sin to touch a woman, my friend, even a western woman. You know that."

"Yes, but one whose relatives I am friends with? One whose relatives would trust me not to compromise her?" Ardeth shrugged.

Khalid laughed at this. "If they would expect such things, then would they not also expect you to treat her with gentleness, instead of beating her?"

Ardeth felt his cheeks heat uncharacteristically at the comment. "Perhaps," he admitted grudgingly. He stiffened his back as he thought of the way she had spoken to him. "I still believe I am justified. And I would do it again!" He stood up and stretched. "I am going to get some sleep and I would suggest you do the same."

"What tent are you planning on sleeping in?" Khalid asked, standing up next to him.

"My own," Ardeth said, pinning the man with a hard look, almost daring him to say anything else.

Khalid loved dares. "Your own tent? The one with Miss Carnahan in it? Hmm. Not a wise move Ardeth," he said, raising his eyebrow. "Is sleep all that you are planning on doing?"

Ardeth almost growled at Khalid as the sarcasm got the better of him and he turned and stalked away from him, clenching his fists when he heard the other man's laughter floating through the oasis.

He flipped the tent flap back and ducked to go inside, glancing at the slight figure laying asleep on the bedding. There was only one lot of bedding in here, but there were spare blankets. Regardless of what he had said to his friend, he knew he could not sleep in here with her. His men would remember forever and tell everyone in the village. If the news got back to the elders they would verbally flay him alive for not bringing her home and marrying her. His eyes ran over her again, noticing the sheen of pale flesh just underneath the dark material and cursed himself for not putting the outer robes on her.

He pulled a blanket from under her and covered the tempting sight, before taking some spare covers and leaving the tent to sleep under the stars again. In a way the cool air was a blessing, because his body had reacted to the sight of her, and he found it disturbing. He would not touch her, he decided. He would keep her at arms length until he returned her to Cairo and then he would treat her as he would any vague acquaintance. It was for the best.

The next morning Charlotte opened her eyes and yawned, stretching to pull the kinks out of her muscles. She groaned as her backside protested movement of any kind and she tentatively ran a hand over her posterior. It felt bruised, she thought, and decided she had to have a look.

A quick glance through the slight crack in the tent's opening told her that people were moving about, but that no-one was anywhere near this tent, so she felt safe having a quick look.

Turning so she was facing the tent doorway, all the better to spot anyone coming in, she hitched her shirt up and undid the ties at the waist of the trousers, loosening them a little to pull them down enough to see her backside. She twisted her head around over her shoulder to look and gasped when she saw the bruising on her pale flesh. It could be clearly seen that a man had smacked her as the bruises feathered out into finger shapes and, although the bruises weren't very livid, she couldn't believe that her skin had darkened so much.

"Miss Carnahan, we must..." Ardeth poked his head into the tent and came to an abrupt halt at the sight that greeted him. He couldn't see too much flesh but where she was holding up the shirt and clutching loosely at the trousers, the skin from her ribs to just below her hipbones was visible and he suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

She was so shocked that he had come in here without any warning that she didn't have the presence of mind to cover herself.

"What are you doing?" Ardeth asked her, trying hard to keep his eyes focused on her face.

"I....er...nothing..." she stuttered, realising her state of undress and moving to pull everything back in place. She was just thinking how lucky it was that her naked posterior hadn't been facing the doorway, when Ardeth grabbed her arm and stopped her from covering herself.

"Let me see," he said softly, pulling her towards him, despite her struggles.

"No! No, you can't..." she began and then it was too late. He turned her around and brushed the shirt out of the way to stare at the damage he had caused, sucking in his breath at his own brutality. He had never imagined that he had slapped her hard enough to mark her, but her skin must be more delicate than he thought. She jerked away from him when she felt the butterfly soft touch of his fingers on her naked skin, her face turning all shades of red before settling on scarlet.

She heard his breath sigh out and then felt him gently pull her trousers up and turn her around to face him, tying them at the front and ignoring her feeble attempts to stop him. He grabbed her hands when he had finished and looked at her downbent head.

"I apologise, Miss Carnahan. It was not my intention to mark you in any way." Ardeth frowned when she continued to keep her head down and bent slightly to get a better look at her. He found the colour of her face amusing, considering how bright it was. Her eyes flicked to his and then away again, embarrassed by the fact that he had just looked at her naked backside.

He held her hands tight as she tried to tug them away. "Look at me," he said, pulling on her hands when she refused to raise her head. "Look at me, Charlotte." It was the sound of her name on his lips for the first time that actually made her look up at him, and then she couldn't look away as his dark eyes burned into hers. Once he had her attention he released one of her hands and cupped her face, stroking his thumb over the bruises that were still marring her beauty. "Had I known how soft your skin was, I would not have been so heavy handed," he said, continuing the stroking.

She was actually enjoying the soft touch to her face, and she very nearly didn't take any notice of what he had said. But then the words penetrated and she stiffened, her eyes glaring at him. "Not so heavy handed. But you still would have beaten me?"

He shrugged. "Of course."

Her mouth dropped open. "Why...you don't care at all that you bruised me you brute!"

His eyes darkened at her words. "I warn you.." he began.

"Don't you dare threaten me again! If you lay another finger on me I'll make you sorry!" Her voice was barely more than a whisper as her temper all but choked her.

Ardeth stared at the fury in front of him and felt his temper starting to ignite. This woman was unbelievable! Even after the pain he had obviously caused her she would risk the same happening again! He lowered his eyebrows and decided to take her up on her challenge, reaching out and pushing one finger firmly into the middle of her chest to see if she would make good on her threat.

She did, and so swiftly that he didn't have a chance to avoid the fist that connected with his stomach, jabbing the air out of his lungs. While he was so incapacitated she hooked her foot around his ankle and brought him down to the ground in a move that, up until now, she had never tried. Evy had written telling her of various tales and advising her on these moves, saying they might come in handy some day. Well, that day was here! She didn't think of what form his retaliation might take, her only thoughts that she had to pay him back for what he had done to her.

She realised suddenly, when he got quickly to his feet and glared at her, that she was in serious trouble, and she tried to get out of the tent before the living volcano in front of her erupted. But she was nowhere near fast enough and she was caught around the middle and lifted off the ground, her legs frantically kicking to make him release her.

He carried her kicking, struggling body to the bedding and dropped her down on it, coming quickly down on top of her when she would have escaped and pinning her there, one big hand holding both her wrists above her head.

"Do the men in your country have no idea how to make you behave? Underneath the fine clothes you are little more than a savage!" Ardeth said, his eyes spitting angrily at her.

"I'm not the savage, you are!" She was incredibly scared as to what he would do and yet she couldn't make her tongue behave.

"Would you like to know how us savages deal with someone who dares attack the Med-jai chieftain?" Ardeth hissed at her, watching with satisfaction the fear that filled her eyes. "There are two things we would do to a woman in such a circumstance. One is to stone her, the other is beat the soles of the feet with a whip made of reeds. A very painful punishment, or so I am told. Which would you prefer?"

"You can't mean to...that's barbaric...I won't let you!" she stammered, horrified at the fury she had unleashed by her own foolish temper.

"Do you really think you will be able to stop me?" His voice was cold and hard, his eyes equally so and she shivered. "Choose your punishment."

Her eyes widened and she stared at him through sudden, terrified tears. "No..." she whispered, starting to shake underneath the press of his body. She was wondering who would have been less terrifying. The Med-jai or her previous captors.

"Then perhaps you would like me to choose for you?" Ardeth asked, raising one eyebrow in a way she was beginning to hate.

"No, please..." she whispered, her voice very nearly incomprehensible.

"I think the reeds for you as it is the lesser of the two punishments. Shall I call my men to cut the reeds and prepare them?" He watched as his words sank in and saw the moment that she came to the conclusion that he was fully intending to carry this threat out. Her lower lip started trembling and one tear fell from her eye to roll down into her hair, followed in quick succession by another and another.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice broken. "I'm sorry, please don't..."

Ardeth rolled over and pulled her on top of him, smoothing his hands up her back and then cradling her head against his chest as she cried. "I am not going to beat you," he said, cuddling her shaking body against him. "But I want you to realise what could happen to you if you do not behave in the presence of my people."

"I want to go home," she sobbed, tired of being scared and of not knowing how to act, tired of being treated like this. Her arms clutched at his robes and she buried her head into the warmth of his neck. The fact that this man was the cause of her current torment didn't bother her at the moment, she so desperately needed to be held for a while.

Ardeth held her tighter, aware of her need for this closeness and also aware of how unreasonable his own temper could make him. She didn't need threats or taunts, not after what she had been through. But the way she had acted made his temper explode and he had keenly itched to give her another beating. As it turned out, the mere threat of a harsher punishment had broken her down, and he was satisfied that she would behave now. He doubted she would ever talk to him again, but she would behave.

He sat up, taking her with him and then stood, holding her in front of him and continuing the cuddle until she calmed and moved away from him, breathing unsteadily. He bent and picked up the robes he had given her and drew her toward him, noting that she didn't resist him as he pulled the material around her and showed her how to fasten them, pulling them tight at her waist.

"They are a little long," he remarked when he saw how they pooled around her feet. "But they will protect you from the sun. Get ready now, we are leaving. I will return in a minute and I want you to be ready." He left the tent and she hurried to pick all her stuff up, bundling it up under her arm and then moving outside the tent to wait. She felt incredibly subdued now and she was definitely not going to cause any more of his awe inspiring anger.

As soon as she exited the tent, two men came up, nodded politely and then dismantled the structure with such speed that she was left blinking at the space where it had been. The sound of someone approaching her made her turn around again and she came face to face with Ardeth once more.

"You are ready? Good. Come," he motioned her to follow him and they walked over to his horse. He mounted before her and stuck his foot and hand out as he had before to help her mount up in front of him. She managed to keep the grimace from her face when she sat in the saddle and kept still and silent as they began their journey