“I am?” Zilah asked blankly.
Pandora nodded with authority. “You need a good meal and an early night.” She scowled. “I’ll even brush your hair and help you put on your creams and junk. You wouldn’t want him to see you with all that slippery stuff all over you.”
“I use only a little moisturizer,” Zilah said absently. “And he’s seen me look a lot worse.”
Pandora’s eyes were speculative. “Is he the one you’re sleeping with? You don’t have to worry about my getting in the way. After you’re well again you won’t even know I’m around, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that sex stuff when you’re sick.”
“Thank you,” Zilah said meekly. “But Daniel and I are only friends. You won’t have to use such discretion. He’s probably the one who told Philip I needed a maid.”
“You’re not sleeping with either one of them?” Pandora shook her head. “How peculiar.”
Evidently in Pandora’s experience, good-looking women didn’t sleep alone. It wasn’t surprising with a man like Philip El Kabbar as a mentor. “Not really.” Zilah smothered a smile. “I understand it can be quite restful. I thought I’d try it. Merely as an experiment, you understand.”
“You’re laughing at me,” Pandora accused Zilah with an uncertain frown. “I don’t know if I like that.” Then she grinned mischievously. “Oh, what the hell, it’s no worse than what I was going to do to you.”
“Something worse than a tiger in my bathtub?” Zilah asked warily.
Pandora had turned and was striding swiftly toward the door. “Only if I found it was Philip you were sleeping with,” she said soothingly over her shoulder. “Otherwise I was going to forget all about it.”
“Forget about what?”
Pandora paused as she opened the door, and there was a touch of fierceness beneath the mischief in her eyes. “I was going to wait until you were in the middle of…” She paused delicately, and then came out with an obscene Anglo-Saxon term that caused Zilah’s eyes to widen in shock. “And then I was going to sneak in and drop Androcles on top of both of you.” She smiled with infinite satisfaction. “I’d say that would do the job of spoiling the mood.”
“I think you could count on it,” Zilah said faintly as she watched the door swing shut behind the girl. Throughout this entire weird encounter she had been feeling sympathy for Pandora in her passionate attachment for the sheikh. Now she began to wonder if she shouldn’t feel a bit sorry for Philip El Kabbar.
7
The meadow of wild poppies seemed to stretch into forever and beyond. The silken scarlet of the petals was still trembling beneath the weight of the crystal dew and the breeze of dawn whipped across them like the murmur of a lover.
“It’s beautiful.” Zilah’s voice was as hushed as the world around them. The sun was just rising above the tamarisk trees in the distance, streaking the sky with hazy pink and gold. “I’ve never seen such heavenly colors.” She lifted her face and let the cool breeze touch her cheeks, inundating her with the sheer sensual pleasure of sight, touch, and scent. She breathed in the fragrance of the rich earth blended subtly with the tamarisk and the poppy. It was so intoxicating, it almost made her dizzy. “Why didn’t you bring me here before?”
“I didn’t want to venture outside the pasture,” Daniel said as he swung out of the saddle and flung the reins over the head of the big bay he had been riding. “I wasn’t sure you were strong enough. Even though this meadow is only a little beyond the tamarisks on the far side of the pasture, I’m not a good enough rider to get you out of trouble if you tired. Old Dobbin, here, and I still aren’t sure we trust each other.”
She shook her head. “You’ve done marvelously well for having ridden only a week.” She slipped off her gray mare into his arms, automatically steeling herself for the little sensual shock that always came when he touched her. Friends. Most of the time it was easier to remember the ground rules he had laid down. Today it wasn’t quite so easy in this paradise of sunrise and poppies.
He shook his head. “We both know I’ll never be anything but an adequate rider. The only reason I have as much control as I do over this trusty steed is that I have a pair of powerful legs I can wrap around him to show who’s boss.”
She smiled with an effort. “Actually, I think Pandora intimidated you into being overcareful. I’ve found she has the devotion of a she-wolf when her maternal instincts are aroused. She’s been practically smothering me with attention this past week.”
“I know, she won’t even let me in your room,” Daniel said sourly. “It’s practically thrown Philip into shock. He suspects you of using hypnosis on her.”
“Just kindness,” Zilah said quietly. “He should try it sometime.”
“I think he’s a little afraid to encourage her. Pandora can be overwhelming.” He met her eyes steadily. “Perhaps not encouraging her is his own way of being kind to her. He doesn’t want to hurt her.”
Was there a double meaning in that explanation? Had she been so transparent that he thought she needed a warning? She wasn’t very accomplished at hiding her feelings. “The hurt will come anyway.” She turned away. “And at least she’d have something to remember. A good memory to temper the bad ones.” She glanced over her shoulder to smile at him. “And I want to create a beautiful memory right now. Have you ever run through a field of wild poppies, Daniel?”
He shook his head. A wavering ray of light tangled in his hair, turning it into silken flame. He was dressed in a blue chambray shirt that stretched over his broad shoulders and clung to his trim waist. His worn jeans were tucked into suede boots. It was another memory to hold on to: Daniel with the sunrise in his hair. “I can’t say that I have.”
“Neither have I. Come on. Let’s do it!” She turned and raced into the meadow. The wind was cool and stinging on her cheeks and the colors and scents flowed around her in a blur that shimmered with exquisite radiance. She could hear Daniel’s footsteps behind her, the harsh sound of his breathing. Her own lungs were hurting but she didn’t want to stop. She never wanted to stop.
“Zilah, that’s enough.”
She could hear a note of grimness in Daniel’s voice that shocked her, and her pace faltered slightly.
“If you don’t stop, so help me I’m going to tackle you.”
She halted and turned to face him. “What’s wrong?”
He overtook her in two strides. His hands fell heavily on her shoulders. “What’s wrong is that you’re acting like a crazy woman. You’ve been ill, remember? Now you’re behaving as if you’re training for the Olympic one-hundred-yard dash.” He shook her slightly. “I thought you were trying to make it clear to the other side of the meadow.”
“Well, why didn’t you stop me before? I got a little carried away, but I’m not unreasonable.”
“Because I couldn’t catch you, dammit.” His lips curved ruefully. “I’m built more for endurance than for speed.”
She flung back her head and laughed joyously. “Daniel, there’s no one like you. You always speak the exact truth no matter how it may hurt your ego.” There was a strange look on his face that caused the laughter to fade from hers. “What’s wrong now?”
“I’ve never heard you laugh before,” he said simply. “I like it.”
She felt more breathless than when she had been running. “Then I’ll try to do it more often. I didn’t realize that I was being such a sad sack.” She fell to her knees in the poppies. “Maybe you’re right, my legs do feel a little weak.”
He knelt down beside her and leaned back on his heels. “Mine too.” His eyes were narrowed on her face. “You’re never gloomy. You’re always smiling and serene.” He reached out and touched her cheek with a gentle finger. “And beautiful. Always beautiful, old friend.”