Page 40 of The Sheik's Vow

Kaia stared at the table, then back at Ethan. “Are you threatening to beat me?”

“Of course, my dear. You escaped from my care fourteen years ago. Then you helped your sister escape from her husband’s marriage bed.”

“She was twelve years old!” Kaia yelled, furious at the reminder.

“She was a woman in the eyes of the church.”

“She was a child in the eyes of the law, Ethan! YousoldTara to Elijah. You sold my sister for the price of a house and farmland!”

Ethan sighed heavily, acting like he was speaking to a stupid child. “Hetook controlof the farmland after marriage to Tara. She bequeathed the land to her husband through her marriage vows.”

“Tara was too young to bequeath anything, you freak,” she snapped, disgusted by this farce. “You were going to allow Elijah to rape my sister.”

Ethan shook his head, but his eyes were igniting with anger. “You don’t understand the ways of our church. We are faithful to the word of our lord. You must accept your punishment, then you will be admitted back into our fold as a full member. You will enjoy all of the privileges, although we cannot allow you to marry. You’ve left the protection of our community, and are therefore no longer worthy of marriage.”

“You’re sick, Ethan. Completely twisted!”

The man just chuckled, but his smile quickly disappeared. His eyes turned hard a split second before Ethan smacked the cane down on the table. “Take your punishment!” he bellowed.

“It will be a cold day in hell when I give in to you, Ethan.” Then Kaia stepped back, through the still-open doorway.

Ethan had just opened his mouth, but before he could speak,police officers poured in from the stairway and the basement door. Within moments, there were twenty SWAT team members with big, menacing rifles pointed at Ethan. They were yelling and ordering him down on the ground. Ethan was confused for a long moment, but then he dropped to the ground, his hands pulled mercilessly behind his back and plastic cuffs were attached. But Kaia didn’t see any of it. As the police officers swooped in, Riaz and a group of his bodyguards surrounded Kaia. Riaz lifted her into his arms and carried her from the cellar room.

Riaz didn’t stop until he had her a safe distance away, then he pressed her back against the rough bark of a tree, holding her there with his hips between her legs and his arms crushing her to his chest. “Never again, love! Never will I let you do anything so dangerous ever again!”

Kaia wrapped her arms around his neck just as tightly, holding him close. “I won’t ever put myself in that kind of danger again,” she promised. “The only way I managed to go in there was because I knew you were right outside.” She pulled back, looking into his eyes. “The only way I had the courage to do that was because I knew that you would never let anything happen to me.” And then she kissed him deeply, sealing her promise.

They remained like that for a long time until the noise of Ethan’s protests interrupted them.

“You can’t invade the private sanctuary of a religious building!” Ethan bellowed. “You are all going to prison for violating my constitutional right to practice my faith!”

Kaia looked over Riaz’s shoulder at the insane man. “What’s going to happen to the rest of the community members?” she asked.

“I’ll hire therapists to help deprogram them,” he promised. “From what you told me, every member of this church is going to need intense therapy to work through the brainwashing.”

She sighed, adoring this man even more. “The state should cover the cost of therapy,” she suggested. “I spoke to several law enforcement personnel, who told me that they’d looked into my claims. They came back, claiming that Ethan wasn’t doing anything wrong. They all claimed that the village was just a religious group and they had the right to practice their faith the way they wanted.” She bit her lip, still holding Riaz. “I bet he bought them off.”

“We’ll go through everything. We’ll dig into everyone’s finances to find out who he bribed, love. He has an office and several homes outside of Todras. If there is evidence of anything, I’ll make sure that everyone involved is punished severely.”

Kaia beamed at him, warmth heating her up. “Thank you,” she told him. “I love you. I love you so much!”

“I love you too,” he replied back. “And as soon as we get back to my country, I’m going to drape you in diamonds and make love to you until you can’t speak.”

She laughed, hugging him again. “That sounds delightful!”

Chapter 27

Kaia curled up in Riaz’ arms, unable to move after the explosive pleasure they’d just enjoyed. She hadn’t realized that fingers could create pleasure like that, but Riaz continued to surprise her.

His phone buzzed. She muttered something when he reached over to pick it up, as she snuggled closer, breathing in the male scent of him.

Riaz grunted after reading the text. “We need to turn on the news,” he grumbled.

They watched with fascination as the local news reporter relayed the latest on the investigation.

“Law enforcement conducted a raid on the business offices of Ethan Howell, the charismatic cult leader apprehended two days ago on charges of sexual assault, rape, kidnapping, and sex trafficking connected to his purported church. Reliable sources reveal that authorities unearthed video evidence implicating twenty-five politicians, among them the Todras chief of police, in engaging in illegal financial transactions with Mr. Howell. The police suspect these exchanges involved hush money for numerous compromising videos featuring the politicians.”

“Wow!” Kaia whispered, gripping Riaz’ hand. “He blackmailed them?”

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