'Who are you? What's happened to the others? He had two servants and there's an Englishman with him as well. They brought another girl... who are you? Uh, my legs feel like jelly, I can't stand!' Zoe found herself stumbling then she sank to her knees.
'Basil, I'm going to see if Vanessa is okay. Finish securing the Major to the bench then help Miss Farquerson upstairs.'
'You know my name! You have come to rescue me! Oh thank heavens!' Zoe felt tears of relief prick her eyes and a surge of joy well up inside her. At last, her nightmare was over! She watched as the young man finished securing the leather cuffs around the Major's outstretched arms and legs.
'Okay Miss, can I help you or can you walk?'
'I can walk,' Zoe smiled gratefully and hauled herself to her feet. She stared down with unconcealed loathing at the Major of the secret police who had made her last few days such a misery. She wondered what had happened to Sir Rodney. Perhaps, he'd been shot, maybe killed. She wondered fleetingly about the two young Arabs. She imagined them firing away madly at the man in black, his body armour absorbing all their fire. Had he gunned them down? Whoever the British Secret Service had sent to rescue her they had chosen someone obviously equipped for the task.
'Let's go then.'
'I'll follow you up, I just want a few moments first with the Major.'
The youth looked at the man tied spread-eagled over the cross-shaped bench.
'Sure thing, I'll wait for you upstairs.'
He grinned at Zoe who smiled back then waited until he'd left and she was alone with the Major. She went across to the table of accessories and scanned them. She could feel the Major's gaze on her back. He had this coming to him, she told herself, picking up the items that she wanted.
'Listen, Miss Farquerson, let me make a deal with you...'
'Be quiet, there's a good boy.'
'You won't get out of this country unless... no... nuhh...'
She felt him shaking his head defiantly but he couldn't stop her from forcing the smooth metal rods of the gag into his mouth. She adjusted the tension of the rods, increasing it until slender shiny metal was forcing his jaws widely apart.
She watched him shaking his head in objection, his arms pulling aggressively but ineffectually against the leather cuffs around his wrists. Zoe took a deep breath to settle herself and she looked down at the man who was helpless before her. She unhurriedly unbuttoned his trousers and drew them and his pants half way down his thighs. His cock was thickening as she watched.
'Feeling excited are we, Major?' she smiled down at him, watching, not even having to touch him as his cock became more and more engorged with blood, swelling and hardening until she could see the veins standing out down its length and the head becoming a rich purple colour.
'Now, I wonder if you can guess what happens next?'
'Leave him. It's time to go!'
Zoe swung around, glowering at the man who had silently descended the stairs and stood watching her. He had discarded the visored helmet and she found herself meeting the stern gaze of an Arab. There was something about his bearing that was compulsively commanding. Zoe guessed that he must have noble blood, his manner suggested he had been born and bred to giving orders and commanding men.
'I want my revenge on him!' Zoe pointed to the man spread-eagled on the bench.
'You sound like the immature daughter of some petty tribesman. Perhaps you have already forgotten who you are?'
'I know perfectly well who I am! What about if you tell me who you are?' Zoe demanded indignantly.
'I haven't time to stand here her engaging in idle chatter with some ungrateful girl. Follow me.'
'I'm not ungrateful. But before we leave, can't you give me ten minutes with this bastard, now...'
'I won't tell you again Miss Farquerson, follow me, before I lose my patience.'
Swearing under her breath Zoe left the cellar, hauling herself with arching arms on wobbly legs up the stairs. The door to the tower stood open and the cool night air spilt into the hallway. The stonework was scarred by bullet holes and on the wall at the foot of the spiral stairs leading upwards there was a smear of blood that made Zoe shudder.
'I'm sorry; I don't know your name, but thank you for rescuing me. I presume the British Government sent you?'
'My name is Sheikh Auda bin Yasel. You are right in your assumption, I am being paid by the British Secret Service to recover you.'
'But, he would have come to rescue me anyway,' came a girl's voice from around the curve of the spiral stairs.
The blonde girl that she'd seen earlier came into view. She grinned with pleasure as she saw the man named Auda and gave Zoe only a cursory glance.
'You have no idea what I've been through since arriving in your beastly country!'
Zoe watched as the blonde girl jumped eagerly down the last steps into the arms of the Sheikh. She had on a pair of cut-off jeans, which Zoe guessed she must have appropriated from one of the Arab youths but otherwise she was naked.
'So how are you feeling after your little ordeal?' she turned to Zoe and smiled sweetly, eyeing her up and down critically, while pressing her own body up against the man's. 'So who is she Auda? Surely you didn't really come here to rescue her?'
'She's a British spy who got herself caught by the El-Saram secret police. Mind you, the Major of the secret police who abducted both of you is more interested in furthering his own aims than serving his masters.'
'And what were his aims?' the girl asked.
'He would have sold you to one of the desert chieftains as a slave for his harem. First he would have broken your will and through relentless discipline made you submit willingly to whatever was demanded of you.'
'What's happened to Stonefield?' Zoe asked.
'The Englishman? He's alive.'
'He should be taken to Britain to face charges,' Zoe announced.
The Sheikh gave a derisory laugh, shaking his head.
'He's none of my concern. I'm leaving him here. Without transport he faces a long walk to find help and in the meantime I'll let the rebel movement know about who they might find in this tower if they pay it a visit.'
'So what happens now Auda?' the girl asked expectantly.
'The British have paid me to rescue her. I suppose I should now deliver her, as expected.'
The young blonde girl looked thoughtfully at Zoe then slowly licked her lips before reaching forward and whispering in the man's ear. Zoe felt a knot of apprehension tighten in her stomach. The man gave the merest conspiratorial nod then announced that they needed to make swift preparations to leave the tower.
Zoe wondered how long it would be before she would be back in civilisation as she was ushered quickly out of the tower to a waiting jeep. She found the desert at night was bitterly cold and she was unbelievably grateful when the young girl appeared and tossed her a handful of clothes.
'I found these in the tower. I guess they belonged to some of his earlier victims.'
'Thanks,' Zoe smiled at the young girl, who was now wearing a T-shirt and some low boots as well as the cut-off jeans.
'I hope these fit,' said Zoe pulling on a short red skirt that she'd been given.
'These boots are a bit big for me,' the other girl admitted, 'but at least they're better than nothing. There was an old chest full of clothes. I wonder how many girls that bastard had abducted?'
'You were lucky your friend arrived so soon. I couldn't have taken much more of the treatment I'd been given,' Zoe confessed, wriggling to get into the skirt then pulling on the T-shirt she'd been given. The top was too small and dug under her armpits and squashed her breasts. She tugged on the red Lycra but it barely stretched half way down her stomach. Whoever the girl had been who had originally owned it must have been really skinny, she thought. She glanced at the girl sitting on the jeep bonnet, wondering about what had bought her out to El-Saram and what her relationship was with the man named Auda. Smoothing the tight skirt down over her hips she watched the two men leaving the tower. And seeing the younger man jam something into the hinge of the open door.