Chapter 17

Karida Barak cowered in the dark corner of the Riyadh prison cell that she'd been thrown into weeks before ... she couldn't recall exactly how long she'd been there. The whole experience had just turned into some horribly surreal nightmare that she couldn't seem to wake up from...

She was numb for the moment ... her body was no longer suffering the hunger pangs she'd endured after the first week or so when she kept throwing up every time she tried to eat whatever horrid thing they'd tossed at her through the bars. It wasn't so much the food that made her sick ... it was the stench that filled every corner of the prison from the pits in the dirt floors of the cells that passed for toilets and were swimming with human waste.

But she'd gradually grown accustomed to the putrid smell so that she could eat and keep what little strength she had so her mind could continue to function. If she'd allowed herself to lose her mind, she would be dead already ... her "gift" was the only thing keeping her alive.

She'd managed to sneak into Saudi Arabia by acquiring an abaya and hajib through one of her IOPF contacts as well as some false travel documents. But she'd made the mistake of not having a male escort traveling with her and they'd grown suspicious right away and took her in for questioning.

When they realized her Arabic was not so good and she couldn't answer their questions, she'd grown nervous and started trying to influence their minds to think she wasn't doing anything wrong, but it hadn't worked. In their minds, she was a lone female, who'd traveled without a male family member and she couldn't even communicate properly ... she was a stupid, sinful woman...

She'd panicked when they'd dragged her to that prison and when they'd stripped the veil and abaya off of her and gotten a good look at her, her "gift" had kicked into high gear. The guards had ogled her and she could feel the lust radiating from them in waves ... they were going to gang rape her!

Her initial scream of fear when they'd grabbed her was choked off when one of them slapped her hard. She'd closed her eyes, summoned all of her strength and roared like a feral beast inside her head. The resulting mental "blast" of ferocity had so startled the guards that they'd yelped and leapt back from her as if they'd all been electrocuted...

They'd stood staring at her as she cowered in a ball on the floor, and then they'd come at her again, not believing it could have been anything she'd done! So she'd done it again ... and they'd jumped back again ... their fear growing. She'd fed off of that as she stood up and faced them fearlessly and "blasted" them yet again, even stronger than before...

The guards had all turned and fled the cell ... unfortunately the last one had remembered to pull the door closed so that she was locked inside. Karida had dropped to the dirt floor ... her energy sapped from her efforts. She could do that only so many times before she was drained ... thank God the guards had not hung around long enough to figure that out!

And then the reality of where she was and the horrible conditions surrounding her had sunk in and she'd spent that first week or so sick all of the time. Thank God none of them had attempted to come near her during that time, either ... she'd been so weak there was no way she could've fought off even a lone man much less a whole gang of guards!

Someone had come close enough only to toss in some kind of food or a container of water once or twice a day, so they hadn't seen her weakly cowering in the darkest corner. They hadn't attempted to approach her again until she'd been strong enough to feel their fear and had used it against any of them who'd tried to come near her until they'd realized there was something ... frightening about her.

They weren't about to let her go, but they were also afraid not to feed her ... she'd picked up on enough of their fears to understand that they thought she might be able to retaliate somehow if they tried to kill her. She couldn't do that ... unless she could "scare" them to death...

She'd taken to crying herself to sleep every night, wondering how long it would be before anyone realized that something had gone wrong and came looking for her. But the only person who knew where she'd gone was her IOPF contact because she'd sworn her to secrecy. She could only pray her friend would alert her family and the network soon and that they'd be able to find her...

But here she was ... still there another night after weeks of waiting and hoping and her numbness was fading into fear again. The only thing that had helped to keep her fear under control was the dream she'd been having every night since she'd been thrown into this hell on earth. Another pair of aqua blue eyes staring into hers and the greatest sense of comfort she'd ever felt...

But during the past week, the comfort had been accompanied by other emotions as well ... deeper emotions ... almost like ... love. And that morning, she'd woken up with a start when those aqua eyes had conveyed what felt like a wave of passion and desire as well ... It was the first time those feelings had not felt unwelcome to her...

Jonathan North had been staring at the printed out photo of Karida Barak for a week ... she was his soul mate ... there was no doubt in his mind. As soon as he'd seen her eyes he'd known ... she was the other half of his soul. Just like his father had always known when he'd first looked into his mother's eyes ... even when they were kids.

But Jonathan had always known he'd have to search for her and he'd find her at a time when her life was in danger ... because it was the only way she'd recognize him instantly.

According to her stepfather, Karida had spent the majority of her life in Israel struggling to figure out with other IOPF members how to bring about peace between Israel and the surrounding Arab world ... while fighting off terrorist attacks. Most Israelis only tolerated her because her stepfather had legally adopted her ... but she was not Jewish.

Her skin tone was more like her Saudi father ... a dark caramel color and her hair was a dark golden brown. The only saving grace that kept people from thinking she was Islamic were her aqua eyes. According to her mother, her Saudi father had deep brownish green eyes, which had evidently blended with her mother's ice blue eyes to give hers the same distinctive shade of aqua as Jonathan's.

Karida's blended ethnicity had enhanced her beauty beyond anything Jonathan had ever seen ... or could have imagined. But her confusion over who or what she was supposed to be had haunted her most of her life and she still tended to distrust most people ... especially men. She'd never been able to trust any man enough to let them love her ... and she was still a virgin at the age of twenty-five.

Or at least Jonathan hoped so ... he'd heard horror stories of what happened to women in Saudi prisons. He closed his eyes for a moment and clenched his jaw and then looked out the passenger window of Nuri's Mercedes as they traveled toward the prison on the outskirts of Riyadh.

An IOPF contact had dug up some information on a woman who'd been incarcerated for about a month for traveling without authority and was under suspicion of being a spy. Jonathan was praying it was her as they pulled up to the main gate of the prison. Nuri spoke to the guard while Jonathan influenced his mind to let them in and to erase the security tape of their vehicle entering the gate...

They drove through the gate and parked directly in front of the main entrance. Every prison official and guard they encountered waved them through ... not even wondering why they weren't questioning who the two men were and what they wanted. By the time Jonathan was through, none of those people would even remember they'd been there or realize that they were missing a prisoner...

Karida's head snapped up from resting on her knees when she heard someone approaching ... no one had ever come to her cell at that time of night. She stood up in the darkened corner and flattened herself against the wall. Two men stopped at her cell door and one of them started to unlock it...

She felt no fear radiating from them ... she felt only a sense of calm ... just like in her dream. She moved forward out of the shadows as the door swung open and stared at the dark outline of the man moving toward her. When she could see him in the dim light, she saw his aqua eyes glittering at her...

Jonathan caught Karida as she started to sink ... hoping she'd fainted from the shock of seeing him and not just from relief or malnourishment! He picked her up in his arms and carried her out of the hellhole she'd managed to survive in for over a month.

Every man they passed just ignored them as Jonathan used every bit of his power to implant his parting command in Arabic ... You did not see anything ... we were never here ... And they didn't have to worry about being caught by security cameras ... there were none. The Saudi government would not want to risk anyone getting their hands on videos of the conditions of their prisons and the inhumane treatment of the prisoners...

Nuri put the key to the cells back on the desk he'd grabbed it from and followed Jonathan out the door to his car. He opened the back door for Jonathan, shutting it after he'd climbed in with Karida on his lap, then he'd jumped in the front seat and they'd taken off. The guard at the gate would not remember them ever having been there and he didn't turn the gate's security camera back on until they were gone...

Karida came to when she felt herself being undressed. She slit her eyes open to see that familiar aqua gaze staring back at her, so she didn't resist ... even when she felt herself being lifted against his naked body and moved into a warm spray of water. She moaned softly at the welcomed feel of warm water rushing over her naked body, and gentle, soapy hands washing away the lingering stench of hell from every part of her body...

She leaned her head back and clung to her savior as he rinsed her matted hair, applying some softening conditioner and gently untangling it with his fingers, and then shampooed it thoroughly and conditioned it again. She had barely enough strength to sit on the side of a tub after he moved them out of the shower and while he dried her and himself with soft, fluffy towels.

She was beginning to feel as if she'd died and gone to heaven when he helped her up and handed her a toothbrush with some toothpaste on it. She slowly scraped every bit of the rancid taste from her mouth, scouring her teeth and tongue until all she could taste was fresh mint. Then she swished with several mouthfuls of a strong, antiseptic mouthwash, hoping her teeth hadn't been ruined from so many weeks of neglect when water was all she had to rinse her mouth.

Then he wrapped her wet hair in a towel, picked her up and carried her out to a bedroom, laid her on a soft bed and pulled the covers over her, telling her to rest as long as she wanted. When he started to back away, she whimpered and pleaded, "Please don't leave me alone!" while reaching for him like a child afraid of the dark.

Jonathan's heart beat painfully in his chest. He'd never felt so protective of anyone before in his life, but his desire for her was just as strong. He was torn ... he didn't know if he could trust himself to just hold her and make her feel safe without also showing her how much he wanted her.

He took a deep breath and pushed his desire aside as he slid under the covers with her, letting her snuggle to his side and cling to him. Her trembles faded after a minute or so and he could hear her deep even breaths, signaling that she was asleep.

He watched her for a while ... marveling at the classic beauty of her features. She reminded him of someone else ... except her skin was darker and she was taller by several inches. He drew the towel from her wet hair and noted that it was almost the same golden brown shade. Except for the color of her skin and her eyes, she bore a remarkable likeness to his mother...

Karida awoke pleasantly for the first time in weeks ... even though she'd never woken up next to another warm, naked body before. She lifted up carefully and looked at the handsome man laying next to her ... her rescuer ... her savior. She thought it ironic that the man she'd come to Saudi Arabia to search for, her father, had a name that was fit for this stranger ... only he was no longer a stranger...

"Habib Hassan..." she said quietly as she softly caressed the backs of her fingers over his scruffy cheek. She gasped and jerked her hand back when he opened his eyes and spoke.

"How do you know my name?" Jonathan asked sleepily, blinking his eyes open and noticing her startled expression, wondering how she could've known his assumed Saudi cover identity.

Karida blinked in confusion. "YOUR name?!! I wasn't calling you by name ... I was just musing that the meaning of my real father's name seems to describe you!"

Jonathan smiled sexily. "Well ... I'm flattered that you find me handsome. But beloved? You don't even know me. What makes you think you could trust me enough to love me?"

They stared into each other's eyes as she replied, "But I do know you ... I know everything about you ... just like you know everything about me. I can feel your soul inside me ... and my body is crying out for you to make that connection physical as well!!!" she cried as she dove down to kiss him fiercely.

Jonathan was already hard ... he woke up that way almost every morning. But feeling her naked body against him had kept him hard most of the night ... and aching with need. He almost forgot she was a virgin because she sure as hell wasn't acting like one! He grasped her face and gradually slowed the kiss until he could break it gently.

He caressed his thumbs on her cheeks as he watched her eyes slowly open. "Karida, my love ... I'm assuming your name still describes you as well. You are still 'untouched' ... aren't you?" he asked gently, already knowing the answer, and then sighed heavily as she nodded hesitantly. He released her face and closed his eyes for a moment, and then rolled away from her as he sat up on the side of the bed with his back to her. She deserved to know the truth about him before he could touch her...

He flinched slightly when he felt her hand on his shoulder. Then he turned to stare at her in mild shock as she spoke. "I told you I know everything about you ... Jonathan Christopher North, the third ... undercover operative for the CIA. I know about all those other women ... even the one time with your mother ... you thought she was me."

His eyes were wide. "How could you possibly... ?!!" he started but she cut him off by pressing her fingers to his lips.

"It's all there in your mind, Jonathan. I can hear every thought in your head ... see every memory. I know everything you know ... just like you do with me. Only I don't have anywhere near your ability to influence other people's thoughts, actions and memories and you are the only person whose mind I can read so clearly. But I do have the ability to use other people's fear against them ... it's the only thing that kept me alive for the last month..." she said starkly as her eyes grew distantly haunted for a moment.

Then she stared into his deeply intense aqua gaze. "That ... and seeing your eyes in my dreams every night..." she said softly as she leaned toward him and then kissed him passionately from the images she was seeing in his mind of what he wanted to do to her. But he was holding back...

She drew back suddenly and exclaimed, "Jonathan ... you are not going to make me wait until we're married!!! I've been waiting twenty-five years for you!!! I don't need some fucking piece of paper to tell me that you're my husband! And I know you don't buy that bullshit, either! Stop thinking like your father! And I am NOT your mother ... no matter how much I may look like her! And I am not going to get in the way of your missions ... I've done quite a bit of reconnaissance myself! And yes ... I should've known better ... I just got stupid this time because I had a tip on where I might find my real father and I didn't think things through clearly..."

She stopped and shook her head slightly. "Damn ... do you always have this many questions floating around in your mind?!! I think you need me if for no other reason than to help you figure out how to stop worrying about everything in the world..."