The harsh lines of strain engraved between Aahil's nose and mouth smoothed out. Natural colour gradually returned to reanimate his dark taut features.

"Noor woke me up to tell that a car carrying a woman had gone off the road and the police and media had gathered around the place. Then he informed me that you were gone -----"

"When I saw the car, I knew nobody could come out of that alive," He continued to stare at me as if he couldn't believe his own eyes.

"We sent a whole lot of men to search the valley for your ---," He ran a hand through his tousled hair and bit his lower lip.

I let out an uneasy breath, "I'm sorry, I was foolish enough to make such a drastic move."

"Dilshad was informed through our sources that someone saw you enter a hotel," His uneven tone cut in harshly.

"I hope you can forgive me for putting you through such stress."

"You're alive. I'm in a forgiving mood," Aahil quipped humourlessly.
The heat of his fingers engulfed my smaller ones and I bent my head.

He had been badly shaken by the sight of the crushed car and the conviction that if I had not been killed then I was at the very least severely injured.

He pushed me to him in a staggeringly sexual embrace and since that was where every inch of me wanted to be I gladly returned the favour.

Meshing a hand through the tumble of hair which had slipped out of my hijab that lay on my shoulders in a messy knot, Aahil held me away from him, his breath coming out in tortured bursts.

A flicker of discretion drew his winged ebony brows together and momentarily he closed his eyes as if he was fighting for control, a muscle pulling taunt at the corner of his sensual mouth.

"Please promise me that you'll care, I do not wish to lose my wife," Aahil delivered with a ragged breath.

His wife, I savoured in a sudden stark surge of possessiveness that engulfed me.

"I promise," I said softly. The tenderness in his steady dark appraisal made my heart sing and I just wished for the moment to be frozen as I was revelling in the awareness that he couldn't take his eyes off me.

_____________

A fortnight later, I stood on the heights of a cave, my bare toes heated by the sun-warmed ground and conceded that Aahil was making real efforts to please me.

He had taken a few days off and we had decided to explore some places.

I realised a lot of my earlier assumptions about Aahil weren't true. For a start, I believed that he switched on his charm around me to deceive people and portray the image of a happy couple. But I was entirely wrong in my calculations, he had a naturally charming personality.

He was far more conservative than I had ever appreciated.

I stared at the huge ancient cave that stood before me and gaped at its beauty.

I felt very hot despite the straw sunhat Aahil insisted I wear. I rubbed at the perspiration beading my face and suddenly realised that I felt pretty sick and giddy.

It had been an incredible climb up to the cave and the trekking up the mountain had taken all my strength. Later, the tour guide had spent so long giving us the tour of the astonishing inscriptions and carvings on the wall of the cave that I had a hard time staying upright.

"Do you think I could get a drink of water?" I whispered.

Aahil stopped midstream in his conversation with a tiny wizened Buddhist priest in his saffron robes, reminding me of yet another unknown facet of his character that had lately been revealed.

He was not the crashing snob that I had once assumed, nor was he a workaholic with nothing on his mind other than his next business deal. He seemed to take pleasure in living his life to the fullest.

"You look terrible," He muttered, pinning a supportive arm to my bowing spine.

"It's the heat ....." I said messaging my temple.

He took me over to the shadows by the wall, "I shouldn't have brought you up here."

"I'll be fine within seconds," I said embarrassed by my own physical frailty.

Until now, I had truly believed that I had the constitution of an ox. But this wasn't the first time in the past few days that I had felt that I had overdone it.

The day before yesterday and the day before that I had similar episodes of wobbly legs and nausea, although on both those occasions I had contrived to conceal my weakness from Aahil.

He was taking charge, fussing over me. Having sat me down on a stone step, he reappeared with a paper fan and proceeded to wield it most efficiently.

He looked in his element, I thought wryly: huge, masterful, stubborn and healthy male reviving the poor weak little woman. He liked to be needed and I laughed out loud.

"What?" He raised his eyebrows and I shook my head.

He took me to a cosy hotel on the island, "We'll relax here for a while before we get back to the car and resume our journey," he decided.

My stomach heaved and I rushed to the washroom as soon as we reached our room. He called my name but I made it to the bathroom ahead of him and frantically pushed the lock on the door. Then I staggered to the bowl and retched until my stomach had nothing more left in it.

I heard Aahil pounding on the door but whatever he was saying was shut out by the ringing in my ears.

My skin felt clammy.

I was frightened that I was going to faint. I sat on the edge of the bath, slumped forward, fighting the dizziness.

There was an almighty knock and I quickly splashed cold water to my face and opened the door.

Aahil sucked in a deep breath and his tone dropped to a shaky note of concern, "Yaa Allah, you look terrible. Why didn't you tell me you are sick?"

I gave a weak smile as I fought to take in a steady breath.

He came and crouched beside me, his dark eyes filled with pained appeal. It totally undermined the control I had left. Hopelessly weak, I thought, as tears welled into my eyes and I couldn't speak.

Aahil didn't wait for my reply. He gathered me in his arms, holding me gently, tenderly, his lips brushing softly against my hair as he carried me into the bed and laid carefully on the pillows.

He tucked the quilt around me and kissed my forehead.

Then he ordered a healthy meal and coaxed me to have it. Watching me in anxious concern as I did my best to eat it.

"Aleena," My name was a murmur as he slid into bed beside me and cuddled me against him as though I were a baby to be comforted and soothingly caressed. I drifted off to sleep in the security of his arms.

Shaken awake after long hours I sat up, closely hugging the sheet to my collarbone.

Fully dressed, Aahil was sitting on the edge of the bed, his face etched with stress.

"What is it?" I muttered around a still sleepy yawn and stretched.

"I have an admission to make," He said grimly as he surveyed me with grave, measured emphasis but a betraying tautness edged his sensual mouth revealing that he didn't find it easy to announce it.

"What is it?" I quipped reaching out to hold his fingers which lay across his lap in a coiled fist. It was a clumsy gesture as I narrowly missed toppling a cup over to the bed as I reached for his hand.

"I've had a fiance before I got married to you."

The sudden declaration paralysed me. I bit my tongue and tasted blood.

He released his breath audibly, "Her name was Safa."

Nausea stirred in my stomach and I wanted to throw up. Aahil wasn't naturally the confessing variety and really didn't know why he chose to speak about her and I desperately wanted him to shut up because right now I did not want to be forced to imagine him in love with another woman.

"We had been friends and I believed that I loved her until she destroyed all that I felt for her," He proffered in a raw offering of deep self-contempt.

"How?" I asked fiercely, withdrawing my hands from his.

"She is Rizwan Farooqui's daughter."

"What?' His confession made my stomach churn and I stared at him with complete surprise. Rizwan Farooqui was my dad's business partner and they shared the company for a few years. It was an equal partnership. But, slowly and steadily he stole all the share's, profits and dealings from the company and left dad bankrupt."

I encouraged him to go on.

"I had just stepped into university at the time and we had barely any money in the house. Consequently, I applied for student loan systems to complete my studies and dad had to start his business all over again," Dark color overlaid his aristocratic cheekbones.

"Nevertheless, my dad was a brilliant chemist and a clever businessman so the business flourished with ease and things were getting prettier with time, but I spoilt all of it," He banged his fist onto the table and winced.

"What did you do?"

"I met Safa during my college days while working on a magazine in the editorial team. Instantly, we turned friends and got along really well. She was kind, innocent and so loving that I couldn't stop myself from falling in love. My family liked her extremely and it was common knowledge that we would get married as soon as I join dad's business."

"Then?"

"Safa was adamant about working and insisted on joining my dad's company, as it would help us be around each other. I was delighted by the idea and I stood my ground until dad agreed to hire her."

I surveyed him in disbelief and waited for him to continue.

"I was so madly in love that I couldn't think straight around her. She worked zealously and even stayed after office hours. My family loved her and mom often invited her to family gatherings. All of us were so charmed by her manners that it took us a whole lot of time to realise that all the files which went missing from the office were stolen by her and she was even passing out important information."

He sighed, "I felt betrayed and useless. She confessed that I was a fool to have believed that such a beautiful girl would fall for a middle-class guy like me. She laughed at my foolishness and admitted that she was in love with someone else."

Aahil looked very pale.

"The view from your side of the fence grows more distressing with every word you say," I said grimly.

"My dad couldn't take in another loss and got severe medical conditions. I blamed myself for the grief I had brought to my family. I vowed that I would never ever believe another woman and marriage was never in my list of priorities. I worked day and night to make the company get back in business and it has taken a lot of sleepless nights and almost seven years to achieve what I have today."

"Your parents are proud of you," I said softly.

"I have all that money could buy but nothing is equivalent to having you beside me. I haven't come across anyone who could be any less interested in materialistic things. I consider myself lucky to have such a wonderful wife. Thank you for understanding me," He added softly.

"You don't need to thank me."

'But I know that I'm a failure as a husband. I'm not really good at relationships. Women require a romantic and charming husband's. I'm bloody useless and not at all worthy to have your love as I could never give you the happiness you deserve."

"No, you are not. She is a fool to have lost you."

"I do not want you to pity me," He said grimly.

"Why would I pity you?" I demanded in a rush of gentleness.

"I do not have the ability to take another heartbreak," He said with a harsh laugh, "Darling, you mean the world to me, that is the reason I order you to be cautious. I just cannot imagine my life without you. Before you came into my life I had no reason to feel alive but now I do."

"Why do you consider me so important?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

I shook my head.

"Because I want you...I need you.....and ------"

"And?"

"Aleena I -----"

Aahil's mobile phone buzzed and he threw his arms in frustration.

"Assalamu alaikum."

There was a dragging silence as Aahil spoke on the phone and I sat there staring at him, my heart pounding wildly.

"Who were you talking to?" I enquired as he slipped his phone into his trouser pocket and slumped onto the spare chair present in the room, burying his head in his hands.

There was a long silence, "Rushda, Isaac's sister has gone missing."