"What was that?" Tiny hairs stood up on the back of Ronnie's neck. The air seemed to grow hotter and more oppressive as they stood outside the plane, wondering how to make it more visible now it was coated with a thick layer of dust. They'd cleaned off the call numbers and the windows. Now the atmosphere around them suddenly seemed to throb.
"A helicopter." Zadir spun around. "I can hear it but not see it."
"Oh my gosh," her nerves jangled. "We have to make them spot us!"
"I wish we had a flare but whoever sent us here removed them. We'll have to wave something. Grab an item of clothing."
She pulled up a pair of pale ivory pants they'd laid as part of their circle, and he grabbed a white shirt. They started to jump up and down, waving the items over their heads.
Still no sign of a helicopter. Breathless already in the intense heat, she paused for breath. "Has it gone past us?"
"I can still hear it." He frowned. "I think it's circling around us. It must be hidden by the high dunes."
"Do you think it could be the person who disabled the plane?"
She watched him inhale deeply. "Could be. But they may also be our only way out."
"Not if they shoot us on sight. You need to hide inside the plane."
"I'm not hiding. I'd rather die in the open."
Her instincts recoiled against that fate for him, or for her. "Not me. I'd rather live to bring them to justice."
He scanned the horizon to the south. "I see them. It's a dark helicopter. I don't see any markings."
"What do rescue helicopters look like?"
"The Saudi ones are mostly white, with red stripes."
She peered at the shape growing larger in the distance, rotors thumping. "That's not white." Fear clutched at her chest. "Get inside, Zadir. I mean it. If it's the bad guys they can take me back to civilization and I'll send help for you." She couldn't bear the thought of seeing him get shot, or worse.
He glowered for a moment. "I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger. I'll lay low at least until we can figure out what's going on."
"Get in the shade under the wing." She watched as he crouched in the dark recess. If necessary she'd use her wits to get them both out of here.
Instead of growing closer, the helicopter continued to circle around the crash site. Frustration gathered inside her. "What the heck? Why aren't they coming into land?"
"They're trying to figure out what's going on here. I think you were right to have me hide. They want to be sure you're alone."
"Then they'll leave. They'll know I won't survive out here." The prospect chilled her, even in the burning heat of the morning sun.
The throbbing of the rotors echoed the pounding of her heart. Someone out there wanted Zadir dead, and didn't care if she lived or died. Anger flashed through her and she wanted to yell at the dark copter, but she managed to keep her head, and her tongue.
"There's another helicopter." Zadir's low voice rumbled out from beneath the wing. "I can't see it from down here but I can hear it. Scan the horizon."
She spun and instantly saw a pale helicopter approaching from the North, the opposite direction of the other. "It's white. With a red tail."
"Those are the good guys."
Without a second's hesitation she jumped on the wing, glad of her shoes on the burning metal, and started to jump up and down, waving the ivory pants. "Help! Help me!!" Unlike the dark helicopter, the white one changed course and headed straight for them. "Help! We need help!"
She scanned the horizon for the dark copter, and saw it disappearing off to the South again. "The first one is leaving."
"They don't want to be seen near the scene of the crime," Zadir said grimly.
"Come on out. They're heading right for us."
Zadir jumped up on the wing next to her as the helicopter approached, circled the site, and landed about fifty feet from the plane, kicking up a sandstorm to rival last night's and making them clutch their impromptu flags to their faces to keep the dust out of their eyes and nose.
Men in overalls came running across the sand, calling out in Arabic. Zadir responded and the men helped them down from the wing. She was tempted to go jump directly onto their waiting helicopter, but Zadir reminded her she might want her computer and phone, if not her clothes, so once their vital signs were checked and they'd drunk some water, they retrieved their possessions from the plane and boarded the helicopter.
The propeller was so loud that it drowned out all noise in the Spartan interior. She could probably have told Zadir she loved him and wanted to bear his children and he wouldn't have heard her. Since they were both in good shape the medics agreed to take them to a base in Dammam, near Bahrain, so they could drive to their destination.
"I'm not sure I'll ever get on a plane again," she admitted, as the climbed down onto blissfully hard tarmac.
"Then you'll have to live your life in this part of the world." Zadir grinned. "Designing my palace and city."
"That might be an excellent idea."
They freshened up at the hospital, then kissed all the way to Bahrain in the back of the taxi.
"We'll be there in time to dress for the wedding. It's at sunset," she murmured, when they came up for air.
"And we'll have to tell and retell the story of how we survived a plane crash in the desert."
"Or we could keep it as our little secret." She didn't really want anyone to know she'd been rash enough to get naked with Zadir while their lives hung in the balance. And the whole ordeal was so emotionally and physically exhausting that talking about it seemed an overwhelming prospect.
"That's probably a good idea, since there's someone out there who wants me dead. I suppose it's bound to get out into the media that a small plane crashed."
"No one needs to know that we were on it, though, do they?"
"I suppose not. I'll have to tell my brothers so we can start searching for the culprit. But we'll tell them the full story together when you come with me to Ubar and meet them." His deep blue gaze and warm smile made her heart swell with joy.
"The full story?"
"Maybe we'll keep some of it just between ourselves." Zadir lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, softly at first, then harder, until she didn't know right from wrong, up from down, or the desert from the deep blue sea.
THE END
Read more about Veronica, Zadir and his brothers, and find out who's behind the attempts on their lives, in the rest of the Desert Kings stories:
Desert Kings Short: Veronica – Stranded with the Sheikh – out now
Desert Kings: Book 1: Osman – Rescued by the Sheikh – out now
Desert Kings: Book 2: Zadir – Bought for the Sheikh – out now
Desert Kings short: A Christmas Wedding – out now
Desert Kings Book 3: Gibran – Return of the Rebel Sheikh– out now
Desert Kings: Book 4: Amahd – Captivated by the Sheikh – coming soon
Learn more about the series and sign up for the new release newsletter at www.jenlewis.com
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Desert Kings: Veronica: Stranded with the Sheikh (BWWM)
RomanceDESERT KINGS Three brothers return to claim their thrones in remote and beautiful Ubar after their estranged father dies and divides his kingdom between them. In VERONICA: STRANDED WITH THE SHEIKH, shy architect Veronica Baxter finds herself on a j...
