Page 23 of The Sheikh's Desert Princess

None.

It wasn't going to happen.

She and Riaz were desert ships that had passed in the night. She giggled slightly at that thought and the horse beneath her turned his head in response to the sound of her laughter.

Maybe some other time, she said to herself as she thrust the water bottle into her pack. Maybe some other place except the desert. Perhaps he might return to civilized life in Qazhar.

She doubted that, now that she'd met him. She could tell he was determined, resolved to reject that life and claim his desert destiny, as he saw it.

Eva knew she had to respect that determination. It wasn't something she'd come across too often in her travels.

Time to move on, she told herself, feeling a soft disappointment curl inside her.

She was just about to start off down the side of the dune when she heard the distant rumble of horse hooves from behind her.

Eva turned in the direction of the sound and saw three men on horseback charging towards her from the east.

She squinted, trying to make out who they could be.

Could it be Riaz with two of his men? Had he decided to come after her?

She squinted her eyes, trying to make out the identities of the men. After a moment, she was certain Riaz wasn't one of the three.

Unease grew in her middle. There was something about the way the riders were coming towards her that made her feel deeply unsure.

Eva knew she had a choice. Wait and talk to the men and find out what they wanted. Out here in the middle of this wilderness might not be the best place for such a confrontation, she told herself.

That was one option. The other one seemed suddenly more attractive.

She should do everything she could to avoid an encounter with strangers.

She opted for the latter. Maybe if she rode fast and steady enough they would leave her alone after a while. There was still enough distance to give her a head start, she realized.

Jerking on the reins, she pulled hard and the horse started down the side of dune.

She tightened her legs against the haunches of the horse as it raced down the dune and onto a narrow, flat plain between the high peaks.

From behind her, she could hear the thudding hooves of the other three horses as they pursued her, but she knew she had to continue as fast as she could.

What did they want with her? Was one of these men the same man who had crept up on her last night? That thought made fear trickle up her spine.

Out here, in the middle of the desert, was no place to stop and have a conversation with complete strangers she was almost sure didn't have good intentions toward her.

She felt the wind sweeping through her hair as the horse raced on. Her muscles tightened as she gripped the reins and leaned forward. She wondered how long she could keep going like this.

A voice whispered to her that all of this was probably futile. That the whole thing was crazy. That perhaps it would be best if she halted and faced the men down. She really wanted to do that, especially after what had happened the previous night.

But her instincts drove her onward.

She could hear her mount's hooves pounding on the flat ground, feel the urgent power of the animal beneath her. Up ahead she saw more dunes, saw a possible pathway through them, and she knew the time had come to make a decision.

There was a gap between dunes to her left so she guided the horse in that direction. And just as the horse started speeding its way through the low valley between the high dunes, something suddenly gave way beneath her, and she felt the horses body begin to sink and stagger as if it completely had lost its footing.

For one brief, horrible moment she knew that the horse was about to collapse beneath her. She cried out and reached forward trying to grab hold of the animal as it began to sink down. Everything happened so fast she could barely register it all.

There was a sudden rush of movement, she heard herself crying out, and then her head crashed heavily into a hard wall of sand.

She felt the horse's body move violently away from her and a brief thought flashed through her mind that at least she wouldn't end up beneath the horses dangerous weight.

---