Return of the Rebel Sheikh: Gibran by Jennifer Lewis

Author:Jennifer Lewis [Lewis, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Suspense
ISBN: 9781939941091
Publisher: Mangrove
Published: 2015-01-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Aliyah pulled the car to a slightly jerky halt and almost forgot to put it in park before turning off the ignition. She was thrilled to see the grove of cedars still hugging their small valley in a green embrace that stood out from the brown countryside around them.

She stared for so long that Gibran was opening her door before she came to her senses. She hoped he didn’t think she expected him to wait on her, but she accepted his hand as she climbed out.

Then regretted it when a surge of warmth rushed up her arm at his touch. He’d kept his word and not made a single advance, or even a hint of one, during their drives.

Maybe he’d lost interest in her.

No, he hadn’t. Their eyes met and a surge of… something flashed between them. Oh dear. It really was better not to look at Gibran, and certainly better not to touch him. If he wasn’t somehow shocking or angering her, he was stirring her up in other, far more disturbing ways.

She tugged her gaze back to the cedars. “Listen, you can hear them rustle in the wind.”

“There is no wind.”

“Yes, there is.” She walked forward. She could hear the soft whisper of the branches that she remembered from that hot afternoon so many years ago. She and her siblings had rushed under the trees to escape the blazing sun and discovered a strange, dark world in there, with an almost perfectly round pool of water at its center.

Trying to forget about Gibran — which wasn’t easy — she walked toward the trees and into the shadowy grove. The temperature felt at least ten degrees cooler and the whispering grew louder, like djinn murmuring amongst themselves.

Unafraid, she stepped further into the little forest and walked until she saw the water sparkling in the scattered thin rays of sunshine that penetrated the canopy above.

On instinct, she knelt next to the water and peered into it. She wasn’t sure what she expected to see, but her own reflection surprised her. She dipped her fingers into the surface, watching them disappear.

Then she heard Gibran’s footsteps behind her. “Don’t drink that. It might not be safe.”

“I wasn’t going to.” He was probably right. If it were drinkable, there would likely be a settlement built around it whose inhabitants would have felled the trees and turned them into houses or furniture. “It’s beautiful, though, isn’t it?”

“It’s a pond.” He shrugged.

“What kind of Ubarite are you? We almost worship water here, because we have so little of it. Some people pride themselves on being able to smell it for miles.”

“I think we both know I’m not much of an Ubarite.” He crouched down and punched the surface of the water with a fist. “Which is just fine with me.”

This was where she should encourage him to think of Ubar as his home and talk about the relationships he’d forge with his brothers and sisters.

But then she’d have to see him and talk to him and that would be awkward.

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