A Sheik's Spell (12 page)

Satiated, Felicia and Na’im both fell onto her bed, her sweat mingling with his, the scents of culminated lovemaking in their nostrils.

As Na’im stroked her hair, a deep feeling of despair began to build inside her. She knew her body was no longer her own. As long as Na’im wanted her, she would be his.

Morning came too soon. Felicia’s body felt as if she could sleep forever, a natural protection from the mental humiliation that assaulted her once she climbed into consciousness.

Na’im was no longer in the bed. She could hear him, though, in his bedchamber preparing for the day’s activities. It was still early. Felicia knew that she should get up, but she didn’t seem to have the motivation.

The smell of mint tea and pastries played their part in seducing her out of bed. But the thought of Phillip and the others were the real reason she found herself up and running bath water.

From the doorway, Na’im watched as Felicia stepped timidly down into the scented water. “How are you this morning, aros al bher?"

It was hard for Felicia to look Na’im in the face. “As well as could be expected.”

‘ ‘Because of ^ the things that were going through my mind last night...forgive me if I was a little rough with you.”

“It is not my body that hurts, Na’im.”

“I probably will be away from Karib for the majority of the day. The last haul of cotton is being taken to A1 Kharijah and I’m going with the workers. I don’t want any surprises from Hassan.”

“Alright”

Felicia could feel Na’im’s reluctance as he turned and walked away. It was not that she wanted him to feel bad. She really didn’t know what she wanted. All she knew was that she was beginning to feel trapped. She was in love with a man who would never be her husband. That was bad enough, but to know she had an uncontrollable need for his lovemaking was the ultimate degradation. Her body was a traitor to her. She, who had always prided herself in applying the philosophy of ‘mind over matter’. Felicia the intellectual. She felt as if the entire foundation upon which she had built her life was crumbling.

One of the servants appeared at the bathroom door carrying a brown paper package. Impassively, she set it down on the floor beside Felicia and handed her a slip of paper. Without a word, she retreated from the room.

Felicia held the note, assuming it and the package were from Na’im. But when she saw Phillip’s untidy handwriting, an involuntary smile came to her face.

Dear Filly,

Even though I loved your outfit last night, it brought to mind how badly you ’II need these to work in. I hope they ’re not too small I picked them up in Cairo. - ME ’ ’

Felicia tore away the brown paper and pulled out a pair of jeans. Actually, the package held two pairs of jeans and two shirts. Moments after taking her bath, she donned the mint green shirt and a pair of jeans.

Appraising herself in the mirror, Felicia had to admit the jeans clung to her well-formed hips in a way that only

designer
jeans could. This brought up feelings of home, giving her a sense of grounding. Strange how something as simple as a pair of jeans could do that Felicia fixed her braided hair in a ponytail. She’d stop and grab some fruit from the kitchen, and then go straight to the lab.

William Ashley was the first person she saw as she stepped into the kitchen. He wore a t-shirt saying “People who have the most birthdays live the longest” He smiled once he saw Felicia. There was such an eagerness about him as he held the basket that the servant had filled with fruit, almost as if it were hard for him to stand still.

‘ ‘You’re late, Felicia. We’ve been up since sunrise and we finished cleaning the lab. The guys sent me up for some nourishment while they went to get the equipment”

His enthusiasm was contagious, and Felicia was glad when she began to feel it infect her.

"Well, make sure there’s enough for me in there." She grinned.

As they walked across the grounds, Felicia showed William her layout drawings for the lab. She told him about the tables and chairs that were on order, but were expected to arrive no later than tomorrow. They talked of the work that had to be done and the challenge it presented.

Felicia learned from William there was a time frame set for completion of the project Six weeks. Phillip and William were scheduled to be in Australia after that to meet obligations they had committed to long before this project began. Now, because of Felicia’s accident and the loss of the Phase I serum, they would have to work doubly hard to make the deadline. But they had their notes, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to redevelop the serum.

Phillip and George drove up beside them in an anti
quated truck, just as Felicia and William approached the row of houses.

“Good morning, blue jeans. I can tell by the way they fit that they’re just a little bit too small. But that’s the way I like them,” Phillip beamed, his head and arm hanging halfway out of the truck’s window. “Now we’re going to really put that beautiful body of yours to work. We’ve got to unload all this stuff,
mon chere. And, as you know, every man, woman or child has to pull his own weight around here, even if they stay in the big house.”

But today Felicia didn’t mind Phillip’s teasing. In the beginning, they got into heated disagreements over what she called his “sexist attitude”. But as time passed, she realized he really meant no harm. He treated her ideas and input with the same amount of respect as he did her male counterparts. As a matter of fact, she welcomed his teasing. Being a part of a team again would give her something to do and think about other than Na’im.

It didn’t take them long to remove the boxes of test tubes, microscopes, syringes and other necessary tools from the truck bed. Some of the animal cages were awkward, but the heaviest equipment by far was the emergency generator. Little attention was given to organizing the boxes. Once they got all of the furniture in the lab, plenty of time would be spent on taking inventory and making sure the proper devices were close at hand.

Lunch was brought over to the lab about noon. It consisted of lamb and pita bread, pistachio nuts and plenty of fresh fruit. They decided to eat in what they now termed “the dorm”.

After lunch, William decided to ride out to where Na’im’s camels were kept. They’d need no more than two or three for the project, but he wanted to see what was available anyway. At the last minute, George decided to go with him, expressing an interest in seeing more of the grounds.

Phillip kept Felicia amused with his stories of belly dancers in Cairo, and trying to find an Egyptian restaurant that served something a bit more ethnic than bacon and eggs for breakfast. But soon Felicia found herself con
sumed by her own thoughts; thoughts filled with Na’im, Egypt and how much her life had changed since her arrival.

‘ ‘I know you have never been interested in me, but this is ridiculous,” Phillip said, as he waved one hand in front of Felicia’s blank features.

Brought back from her daydreams, Felicia assured him the problem was her, and had nothing to do with him.

“Phillip, you can’t imagine some of the things I’ve been through since I almost drowned and Na’im saved my life. Just thinking about it, I can’t believe some of it actually happened. It’s like a movie or something.

“Well, I gotta tell you. Filly. I could feel a lot of stuff going on last night during dinner. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I knew a lot of it had to do with that Na’im.”

Felicia looked down at her hands in her lap and let out a long sigh. “Na’im Raoul Rahman,” she repeated his name more for her own benefit than Phillip’s. “I think I’m in a worse fix this time than I was with Alvin.
At least when I found out the truth about his being married, I had the strength to let him go. But I’m afraid I can’t find it when it comes to Na’im.”

“Maybe you don’t want to find it. You ever thought about that? Obviously the guy likes you, or he wouldn’t have made it so plain to all of us last night. His tactics may have been a little different, but we surely got the point.”

‘ ‘That’s part of the problem, Phillip. I know he wants me. But it’s not a good feeling knowing you’re dispensable.”

‘ ‘Oh, Filly, every woman feels dispensable until a man sticks a ring on her left hand. You’re paranoid, that’s all.’ ’

‘ ‘What I'm feeling is not just paranoia. Didn’t you ever wonder about the dark-haired beauty who was constantly making eyes at Na’im, then rolling them in my direction?’ ’ “Don’t tell me that was his wife. My God, does the fella have any respect?”

“She’s not his wife, Phillip. But she might as well be. Na’im’s father has chosen her to be his wife. You know, arranged marriages. Ancient customs and all that stuff.” “Look. I know I don’t know this guy, but he didn’t seem like the kind of fella that could be told what to do. His vibes just didn’t say that. Filly.”

“This has nothing to do with vibes. And even if it weren’t Waheedah, it wouldn’t be me. I don’t come from the right family line.”

“It all boils down to karma. Filly. Now you’ve known me long enough to know I’m a scientific man. But because of all the logical searching I’ve done and all the illogical things I’ve found, I had to conclude one thing: there’s one law that permeates everything. It’s the law of cause and effect. Maybe in a previous lifetime you were a ‘husbandizer,’ the kind of woman who disregarded whether a man was married or not. Evidently it didn’t mean a hill of beans to you. So now, it’s like the big payback. You’re reaping what you’ve sown. Filly. Who knows, maybe a true apology to the man above will wipe your record clean. Or a few thousand 'Nam-myo-renge-kyo’s.’”

“Goodness, thanks a lot, Phillip. You sure know how to make a girl feel better.”

“At least I’m giving you some explanation as to why you always tend to fall for the wrong men. Of course, if you were smart, you would have taken me up on my offer.” “Well, I didn’t.
And if you don’t stop picking on me. I’m going to tell your scientific colleagues that you’re

really
an undercover guru and they’re wasting all of their scientific knowledge in dealing with you.”

“That’s what I’ve always said about women. They’ll find out all the data they can about you and use it whenever they find it beneficial. And please don’t let her be a scientist.”

Chapter Eighteen

“I just don’t understand what’s wrong with him, that’s all.” George threw up his hands in a sweeping motion. “She didn’t do anything wrong that I could see.”

Felicia and Phillip were deep into discussing the notes from Phase I when George and William returned.

‘ ‘It’s something we have to be careful about over here, not knowing the customs and all that,” William replied.

“Well, obviously, she didn’t think there was any kind of problem.”

‘ ‘Who didn’t think what?’ ’ Phillip interrupted, his head turning from George to William like a pendulum in a grandfather’s clock

George picked up the last piece of fruit, took a bite out of it, and started to explain.

"The young woman, Fatimah. She didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. You see, as we strolled down the road near the main house, we spotted Fatimah. Naturally we stopped and spoke to her, telling her how we’d enjoyed dinner last night and what we were about to do. She asked us if we knew where the camels were kept. We told her we had a good idea, having seen them earlier, but we’d appreciate having her come along, which she did.”

“She rode all the way in the back of the truck, while George and I sat up front,’ ’ William added. ‘ ‘And she was quite a help with the herders, interpreting for us. Everything was going quite well until we ran into that other guy who had dinner with us.”

“You mean Ilyas?’ ’ Felicia asked, looking up from her papers.

“Yes, Ilyas. He was standing out in the front of the house when we got back. And boy, did he look furious when he saw us. I had decided to ride back on the track bed with Fatimah. William and I both thought it would be the gentlemanly thing to do. Evidently we were wrong. I jumped down and attempted to assist her in getting off the truck. Suddenly I felt a hand placed, if I should use such a gentle term, on my arm. The next thing I knew, this Ilyas fellow had almost snatched the poor girl, and started pulling her back toward the house. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, but it was plain he was chewing her out”

Phillip cut his eyes in Felicia’s direction. “One thing is obvious. These Egyptian men are serious when it comes to their women.”

“Is Fatimah his wife?” George asked, looking at Felicia.

“No, she’s not. But he’s made his intentions plain to her family. It seems that arranged marriages have become a thing of the past.”

Felicia placed her hands on her hips and turned toward Phillip, who’d just emitted a scoffing sound.

“Except in some cases where the families have rank, and the heads of the family want to make sure their heirs marry worthy of their positions.”

‘ ‘Well, I think he could have handled it a little better,’ ’ George insisted.

“Look George, I saw the way you were eyeing her last night. But we’re in Egypt, not Canada, though I think you Canadians are a little stiff compared to we native French
men.”