Heir to a Desert Legacy - By Maisey Yates Page 0,69

picked the handset up again, and punched the number.

“Sayid?” The voice on the other end was deep, the Russian accent thick.

“Vasin,” she said.

“Not Sayid. Sheikha?”

“Yes. And I seem to be missing my husband. You found him once, and I need you to find him again.”

“I can do that.”

* * *

Sayid ran across the desert sand, his entire body burning with anguish, a pain that had no name, and no way of being stopped.

He had run out into the desert countless times, hoping to somehow find a moment of release, a moment of freedom. A moment to himself.

He had only ever found it in Chloe’s arms. Had only ever truly been free when he was bound to her, for her.

And she had not used his weakness against him. She was the only one. The only one who had not taken his emotion and used it to exploit him.

The only one who never would.

And he had told her he didn’t want her. He had told her he didn’t love her.

And she had called him a coward. She was right. He had spent so long hiding in anger. Anger had been safe, anger had sustained him. So much so that he had started to believe it was nothing. That he had ceased to feel it.

He had wanted to scream into the emptiness of the desert so many times. Had wanted to release the pain, the pressure, had wanted to tear out of his body, his prison, and let the man he was inside run free. But pain was not acceptable. Showing pain would expose him.

But it didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Eating him alive as he screamed inside.

Always, always he had been too tightly wrapped in the chains Kalid had put around him to do it.

But the break of losing Chloe had loosened the chains, had put a crack in the defenses. He fought against it, fought against the darkness that threatened to pull him back down.

And he thought of Chloe’s face.

He fell to his knees and let out the roar that had been building inside of him for more than half of his life. He let it all flow through him, the pain of being whipped by Kalid. The indignity, the shame, the overwhelming pain of captivity at the hands of his enemies.

The loss of Sura. The loss she’d endured on his behalf. So great, so profound, it brought tears to his eyes. And he let them fall. Let it all pour from him for the first time. For the first time, he grieved rather than hiding.

And when he was through, he stood. And the walls inside were gone.

* * *

The phone on Sayid’s desk rang, and Chloe answered it. “Hello?”

“Sheikha.” It was Alik.

“Did you find him?”

“I did. But he is so close to you, I think you should simply wait a moment.”

“What? Alik...what do you...?”

“Chloe.”

She looked up and saw Sayid in the doorway. And she hung up the phone. “What are you doing here?”

“Alik contacted me, but I was already on my way back.”

“It’s been a week. Where have you been?”

“The desert,” he said. “I had to...the desert is where I lost myself, I thought perhaps I might find myself there. Last place I left me, and all.”

“And did you?”

He shook his head. “Not as you might think.”

“I needed to find you.”

“Didn’t you already say all that could be said?”

“No. I didn’t. I realized something after you left, Sayid. I realized that I was just doing to you what everyone has done to you all of your life. I was trying to make you right for me, trying to make you fit my expectation while I ignored what you said. What you wanted. I have to respect that even if it isn’t what I want, who you are is valuable. And what you want is valuable. What you feel, or don’t feel, is up to you, and it’s personal. It’s yours. Because you don’t belong to a country, or even to me, you belong to you. No one has ever given you that respect, and I realize that I didn’t either. You deserve better than that. From me. From everyone.”

“Oh, Chloe.” He walked toward her, rounding the desk, pulling her into his arms and tugging her against him. “Do you feel that?” he asked.

“What?”

He took her hand and placed it on his chest, his heart beat raging against her palm. “That. My heart.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Love. I feel it.”

“Oh.” She leaned in and kissed his chest. “Oh, Sayid.” She rested her head