A Sheik's Spell Read Online Free

traveling in the merciless sun, but she knew her backside cried for something softer than the hard flesh of Na’im’s camel’s back. At first she’d tried not to lean against him, but as time
    passed and she began to feel weak from the heat, physical need overtook her pride.
    At the beginning of their journey, he’d acknowledged her presence by passing her a galabia top and head wrap saying it would protect her from the sun. Other than that, no other words had passed between them.
    Most of the landscape looked the same to Felicia once they had traveled several miles inland, away from the Nile. They traveled all day across coarse gravel and rock outcroppings, stopping only to eat a small midday meal.
    The sun had begun to sink behind a group of sandy hills in the distance when Na’im finally decided on a place to bed down for the night As Felicia dismounted the camel’s back, Na’im noticed she winced with pain as he held her arm to aid her descent.
    Felicia felt as if she’d been flogged with a cat-o-nine- tails. Her flesh burned from the sun’s pitiless rays, in spite of the layers of clothing she wore, and her bones ached from the relentless movement of the camel’s body.
    Na’im removed all of their gear from the beast of burden so he, too, could rest Looking ^out he decided to pitch the tent in an area that was almost entirely surrounded by gigantic stones. Felicia could tell that over the years many nomads had used this same spot with the same purpose in mind. While Na’im worked, Felicia sat motionless on a flat stone nearby, not caring that she did not offer to help.
    “If you go through the opening in the rocks, you will find a small water hole. It should help soothe some of the pain that you helped to bring upon yourself.”
    Felicia was in no mood or shape to play verbal volleyball with this man, so she followed his suggestion without protest
    The new moon was high in the sky by the time Felicia reached the water hole. She mechanically began to undress in the privacy of an alcove of stones and rocks. The need to shield her was done more by instinct than thought, and she stepped out from her self-made dressing room with little care of being seen by Na’im, or anything or anyone else.
    The water hole had many boulders surrounding it, with scarce vegetation growing where it could between the rocks near the water’s edge.
    Once Felicia entered the water, she found a place where she could sit and be completely covered, except for her head and neck. She took solace in the prickly pain created by the coarse gravel that blanketed the bottom of the pond. At least it took her mind off her sun burnt skin and the other aches and pains bombarding her. But there was one pain it couldn’t take away.
    Despite the strong exterior she’d shown to Na’im during their journey, the hurt of loneliness and alienation was heavy. It wasn’t the first time in her life she’d experienced this. As a matter of fact, to cope with the problems that had inundated her childhood she’d become an expert at dealing with denying her true feelings.
    That’s why it took her by surprise when she felt moisture upon her cheeks. Tears?! She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually cried. Was it when her mother lay balled up on the kitchen floor holding her arm that hung strangely from her shoulder? Or when her brother, Rodney, was accidentally shot by drug dealers wanting to even the score with one of their neighbors? These were the highlights of scarring incidents that had dotted her life.
    The pond’s water on her fingertips mixed with the tears on her face as they began to flow in earnest Maybe
    it was the near-death experience that fueled this outpour of emotion and allowed Felicia to give in to her pain. She cried because of the physical, mental and spiritual desolation she felt. As an adult, she cried the tears that as a child she could find no more of. Now, once again life had thrown her a curve. She had vowed at