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Shira had wondered if Jawhara held to the old protocols, and it seemed that they did. She would have to be careful not to offend anyone without knowing it!
“Little Shira, I see the worry on your face, do not concern yourself. My countrymen will love you, just as I do. Come. Let us retire – I have a need to feel you next to me again.”
Shira shivered at the promise in his voice and eagerly followed him into the cabana where paradise awaited and she became well acquainted with passions that knew no bounds.
*****
The next afternoon, Shira returned with Kale from their camel ride, still blushing at the spectacle she must have presented to his people.
“Are you truly alright, habibiti?” Kale asked as they entered the palace gates.
“Everything except my pride. I’m sorry, Kale, I’ve seen pictures of camels before, but I guess I never realized just how big they are. I didn’t mean to scream when it started to rise. It just kind of slipped out.”
Kale started laughing again, trying to quiet himself when he saw the hurt enter her eyes, “Don’t look so sad, Shira. The camel trainers were as upset as you were by the camel’s reaction.”
The camel Shira had chosen appeared to be docile as it chewed its cud and sat quietly in the sand. Kale had encouraged her to try riding it by herself and she had reluctantly agreed. She had climbed aboard the saddle easily enough and been gaining confidence in her ability to stay on top of the animal when the trainer had given a command in Arabic and the large creature had started to rise.
Unprepared for such movement, Shira had screamed in fright, feeling herself slipping sideways in the saddle and had ended up hanging from the saddle, her ankle having become twisted in the ornate decorations which decorated the saddle.
The frightened animal had finished rising and then proceeded to twist and turn its body in an attempt to dislodge the screaming woman hanging from its side. To make matters worse, the animals bowels had chosen that exact moment to discharge and the poor camel trainer had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It had taken three trainers, Kale and his two bodyguards to hold the animal still long enough to untangle her foot and remove her from the animals back. “That poor trainer will probably never let me near his camels again. Not that I have any intention of climbing on the back of another one in the near future!”
“Do not worry, habibiti. Next time, I will get on the camel first and then you can sit in front of me. I will hold onto you and keep you safe.” Kale didn’t want to repeat the afternoon’s catastrophe anytime soon, but riding camels was part of life in Jawhara and if Shira was to become part of his life, she would eventually find herself on the back of another camel.
“We’ll see. Now, I need to call my cousin and then my bosses. Do I have time?”
“Certainly. Dinner is not served for another hour. Make your calls and then freshen up. Your belongings have already been moved into my bedchamber. I have some business to attend to so I will see you at dinner, yes?”
“Yes. Thank you for taking me, even though it was a complete disaster.”
“Thank you for an enjoyable afternoon. I will see you later.”
Shira watched Kale stride away, noticing how he held himself and loving the way he moved his big frame – effortlessly and with a sense of controlled power. She managed to find her way to the small library where her computer had been set up and she called her bosses first and promised to start setting up a field office the very next day.
Next, she placed a call to Erin. They talked for only fifteen minutes as it was still very early back in the states and she had obviously woken Erin up. She promised to write her all about her adventures in an email later that night and Erin promised to read it after she got to work.
Shira took a shower, feeling much more in control by the time she entered the dining room. Putting the camel incident behind her, she was determined to explore her new relationship with Kale and make her bosses proud of her by setting up a stellar field office.
Chapter 11
Twelve days into her stay in Jawhara, and Shira had managed to set up an entire office and hire two local Jawharan’s with advertising/marketing experience to assist her. Rick and Damon had been impressed with her accomplishments and work was underway to obtain the pictures and video footage needed to put together the advertising plan.
Shira spent time each day in the office, learning about the culture of Jawhara from her new co-workers, and then after each lunch, she spent several hours with a language tutor Kale had arranged to teach her Arabic. She might never learn to write the language, but she was pleased that she was beginning to understand single words and phrases.
The only cloud on her horizon had been a disturbing phone call she’d had with her cousin late that afternoon. Erin had sounded horrible and completely rundown. She had excused it away as having caught a stomach bug of some type and promised to get some extra rest and eat better.
Shira overheard Kamal talking with Kale just before dinner and it was obvious that he was upset about something. When her cousin’s name was said, Shira attempted to understand their conversation but the most she could come up with was Erin, stubborn, and sick. Evidently His Majesty, the Sheikh, was none too happy to hear that Erin was ill.
After dinner that evening, Shira decided to broach the subject with Kale, “Why was Kam so upset earlier?”
Kale knew Shira had been able to understand a few of the words and wondered how long it would take her to ask about his brother and her cousin. “Kam is worried about Erin. She is ill and he wanted her to see a doctor. She refused.”
“I spoke with her briefly today. She said it’s just a stomach bug. The doctors wouldn’t do anything for that, so why waste time and money on going to see them?”
“That is not how things are done here. When one of the royal family is ill, for any reason, the doctor is summoned to the palace and everything possible is done to alleviate their suffering.”
“That must be really nice. Sometimes, it can take several days to get a doctor’s appointment back home.”
