Chapter 2

Khadeem waited impatiently for his slave to arrive. He had been instructed to come to this room to collect her. Saheeb had gone ahead and was collecting the limo that would take them back to Fahmeer. He paced the room, impatient to have Leanna in his sight and possession. He had yet to figure out how he was going to get Leanna to marry him when he remembered the ancient wedding vows. These vows didn't require the consent of the bride. All that was needed was for the groom to get his bride in front of his people and recite the ancient vows, which would bind the two people together forever. Khadeem fervently thanked his ancestors for this method of marriage; for now he could have Leanna as his wife, and he didn't need her consent.

He felt bad for the deceit, but these feelings were new to him, he felt extremely possessive of this woman that he had just a glimpse of, he did not know why, but all his instincts called for him to bind her to his side as best he could. Satisfied with his plan, Khadeem sat and waited for his wife to be.

Leanna was halted by the guard at a door, which she presumed was the location of her master. She shuddered inwardly as the guard opened the door and led her forward.

She gasped as she saw the man who had given her the overcoat. Even though she somehow knew he would be the one to purchase her, Leanna was still taken aback. She hated herself for finding the man attractive; he had just bought her for cripes sake! She looked up and was held captive by his vibrant green eyes. Inwardly she cursed when he took it as an invitation to approach her.

Wide blue eyes hesitantly looked into piercing green ones. She flinched as he put a palm to her cheek.

"Ah, Leanna, you cost me a great sum, but I believe it will be well worth it," her master told her.

Leanna jerked back, displacing his hand from her cheek and snarled.

"No, I won't be well worth it," she spat, "I am no ones slave!"

Khadeem chuckled at the woman's fury.

"Ah, my little tidbit has spirit, I for one love spirit." He told her tongue in cheek.

He watched, amused as her dark blue eyes faintly sparked with indignation.

"Well then," he said to her. "Time to get going."

"Where are we going?" Leanna asked warily.

"To my homeland of Fahmeer," he explained to her. "I'm sure you'll like it there."

"Fat chance," she muttered.

Khadeem chuckled, delighted. Ah, he didn't see himself losing interest in his little tidbit in this lifetime. He could not wait to make her his wife, she was going to be his; now and forever.

As Leanna was led by her master, (he had told her to call him 'Khadeem'), she tried to think of any means of escape. She sighed; it seemed impossible at this moment, his steely grip on her arm indicating he wasn't letting her go anywhere.

She felt naked walking along amidst the people that were celebrating after the auction. Though the overcoat Khadeem had given her reached past her knees, she still felt vulnerable and naked to the hungry eyes that followed her progress. She breathed a sigh of relief as Khadeem stopped. A limo lay in wait for them and Khadeem was quick to usher her inside. She scuttled away when Khadeem sat down, but he just followed her around the plush seats of the limo till sighing, she gave up and sat, her arm slightly brushing his.

Leanna stared out the tinted windows watching as the limo progressed past the city and into more land that was unknown to her. Soon she found herself getting drowsy; she hadn't slept in almost 30 hours. Quite a few times she caught herself leaning into Khadeem and jerked herself back. Soon though the fatigue overtook her and she ended up settling her head onto Khadeem's shoulder as she fell asleep.

Khadeem watched amusedly as Leanna fought her tendency to lean on him when she dozed off. Soon though he saw her lose the fight as exhaustion won and she settled onto his shoulder. He put an arm around her and settled her head more comfortably on his lap. He bit back a curse as she murmured and shifted her head causing a part of him to wake up. After awhile he was able to cool down that part of him that couldn't wait to taste the delights of Leanna's body.

A few hours later the limo arrived in the outskirts of Fahmeer. Khadeem gently shook Leanna.

"Time to wake up love," he murmured to her.

Leanna jerked awake, and was horrified to realize that she had been sleeping on Khadeem. She quickly scooted away from him and blinked, trying to wake herself up.

"Are we there?" she asked him.

"Almost, in a few minutes we should be inside the palace." He replied.

Leanna snorted in derision. A palace? Go figure. She was starting to wonder if she was going crazy. All she had done was go on a vacation that her family insisted she take to 'wind down'. She had just finished college but was working like a fool.

Leanna loved horses, had since she was a little girl and that love had carried over to adulthood. While she was in college she was a freelance trainer, working horses for anyone that requested her to. During her breaks and even on weekends she had been going up and down the east coast showing her own horse and others in some of the biggest jumper shows on the east side of the United States. She had worked herself hard; where once she was a healthy average weight, but fit young woman, she had gotten thin and haggard from pushing herself through college and working crazy hours with her horses.

She never really had much of a social life growing up. Just her horses and other people that frequented the barn she rode at. Her whole family had been worried about her, convinced that her anti-socialness wasn't healthy. Leanna did have to admit that it was a lonely way of life, but she had her horses and had convinced herself that she didn't need others to feel good about herself.

The limo stopped and Leanna was jerked back to the present. She looked out the window and gasped at what she saw. The palace was huge, but it wasn't extravagant like some recent Arabic palaces that had been shown in brochures. This palace looked original and it was like getting thrown back to the ancient days. It was a beautiful structure. Made of stone and what she thought was cement, it had an elegant look to it.

"Welcome to Fahmeer, Leanna. This is your new home." Khadeem stated to her.

She glared at him, which only caused him to chuckle at her expression. She started as he grabbed her arm and leg her out of the limo. She soon was blushing crimson for it seemed the whole city had come to see what their leader had brought home. Clutching the lapels of Khadeem's coat close to her she kept her eyes averted from the curious stares of the people of Fahmeer.