No Price Too High by Jo Ann Ferguson Page B

word had any value.”
    His arm around her waist tugged her back to him. “You were a fool, Melisande, to believe this alliance had any value. I needed your cooperation in my efforts to stop Abd al Qadir from preying on the villages that seek my protection. Offering you what you wanted might have gotten me what I wanted, but this attempt to force the beast from his lair failed.” His gaze slipped along her. “Mayhap Abd al Qadir was not as fascinated with you as I had suspected.”
    â€œYou need not insult me more. Release me. We are no longer allies.”
    A smile uncurled along his lips. “We never were allies. You are my captive.”
    â€œI am not your captive.” She tried to break his hold on her, but his arm tightened, pressing her to the breadth of his chest. “I will heed no more of your lies.”
    His hand cupped her chin, tilting her face back so she could not escape the ebony intensity of his eyes. “I am not lying, Melisande. You are now, as you have been from the moment you woke in my tent, my prisoner.”

FIVE
    Gabriel listened in silence. His men were furious that Abd al Qadir had eluded them again. They had been so certain that, this time, the hill bandit would pay for his crimes with his life. Instead, Abd al Qadir was still alive and free.
    Standing, he walked away from the fire that offered a bit of heat against the thickening darkness. He did not slow until he was beyond its light, so only the cool river of moonlight outlined the crags of a nearby cliff. Pushing his way into the tent, he saw the old woman was asleep in one corner. He tiptoed past her as he crossed to where Melisande also was asleep.
    Her face was contorted in the dim light, and her arm flung out. Her fingers were closed in a fist. Squatting beside her, he could not halt his own fingers from gathering up some strands of her soft hair, which was such an incredible color. She mumbled in her sleep. Her brother’s name.
    His jaw clenched. Melisande’s brother would have been avenged today if all had gone as planned. As he had planned. Sending her into Abd al Qadir’s village with this glorious hair visible in a braid falling along her back had been guaranteed to create an uproar. Then he finally would have seen an end to the hill bandits’ attacks on unarmed villages and discovered who was providing Abd al Qadir with men and weapons.
    Everything had gone as he had hoped … until he realized Melisande’s captor was not taking her to Abd al Qadir. Instead of continuing to fight, Gabriel had gone to keep the bandit from raping her. Needlessly, for she had saved herself, and the leader of the hill bandits had escaped.
    He released her hair and stood. Walking out of the tent, he saw Shakir watching him. He did not need to see the reproach on his friend’s face. He heard every accusation in his head. A red-haired temptress had kept him from fulfilling his oath to protect those of these hills.
    It would never happen again. That was an oath he would not break.
    The sun burned Melisande’s eyes as she stepped out of the tent. The stench of smoke hung in the air, but she did not look down at the plain. Gabriel’s men had burned the buildings after the women had taken out their few possessions. Now the hill bandits must seek another lair.
    She held her head high as Gabriel walked toward her, his white robes flowing like the clouds overhead. Behind him, his men were tying cases to the back of horses. She guessed they contained what Abd al Qadir had stolen. Now Gabriel had taken it from him. What would Gabriel do with it?
    No hint of a smile eased his stern expression as he said, “We leave.”
    â€œWhere are we going?”
    He lifted one of her braids, which was as wide as her wrist, and rubbed it between his fingers. Slowly his hand moved up the thick strands to reach her ear, which he caressed with the same slow stroke. “We are going to where we are