Page 25 of The Sheik's Vow

This…this was bliss, she thought.

That’s when she noticed the dark, confused eyes staring at them. Kaia lifted her head and watched, her heart skipping a beat.

“What’s wrong?” Riaz asked, his voice sleepy.

“We…uh…have company.”

With her hand resting on his chest, Kaia felt his muscles tense. Riaz was instantly alert and lifting his head up to figure out who was watching them.

He found two sets of fluffy ears. Then two sets of dark, accusatory eyes.

Dibi and Marta were staring at them from the end of the bed,their furry heads just visible over the mattress.

“How long have they been watching?” he asked, letting his head flop back onto the bed, unconcerned about his dogs watching their sexual antics.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, obviously still watching the dogs. “But it feels wrong somehow. Almost like we’re…corrupting innocents!”

He laughed, then let his hand smooth over her back. “I guarantee that they are not innocent.”

“But….why are they looking at us like we’ve done something horrible?”

He lifted his head again, then snapped his fingers. Immediately, the dogs’ heads disappeared.

“I don’t think that will help,” Kaia blurted out, sitting up and pulling the sheet over her nakedness. “I still know that they are there.” Sure enough, when she peered over the end of the bed, the dogs lifted their heads, eyes looking guilty. “It’s like we’ve just had sex in front of the kids!”

He laughed, stroking her naked back. “If you think that Dibi or Marta are innocents, then you’re not monitoring their activities down at the stables.” He leaned over, kissing her bare shoulder. “Marta is a brazen hussy. She’s been flirting with the stable master’s dog every time he comes to the palace.”

“No!” Kaia gasped. “Not Marta!”

“Yes, Marta,” he argued. “She’s in love with the golden retriever. I daresay that we will have puppies very soon, once Marta goes into heat.”

“She’s not fixed?”

He shook his head as he slipped out of bed, then bent down to pick her up. “No. They are great dogs and I didn’t get them neutered when they were younger because I was hoping to breed them.”

“And did you?”

He chuckled as he set her down next to the large, sunken tub. He pressed a few buttons and a waterfall started pouring into the large space from an overhead “rock wall”. The bathroom looked like a rock grotto.

“No.” He chose a bottle, took off the cap and smelled whatever was inside. He must have liked the scent, because he poured some into the quickly rising water. “Plus, there was the issue of her preferring to be by my side. Every time I introduced her to a male, she refused to leave me.” He chuckled as he pulled Kaia back into his arms. “It was like she was confused as to what to do.”

She smiled and lifted her arms. “I know the feeling.”

“Your confusion to intimacy is due to childhood trauma and the continuous false messages that sexual intimacy for a woman is dirty and wrong.”

“That’s definitely true,” she muttered, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her down the steps into the small pool.

“Why is that?” he asked, gently pulling her onto his lap and kissing her bare shoulder.

“Why is what?”

“Why is sex demonized in your old community?”

She shrugged and leaned into him, one arm around his shoulder. It felt so good to be here, to sit in this massive tub and talk with Riaz as if…as if they hadn’t just done the most lascivious things to each other. Is this what normal felt like? Kaia had never experienced normalcy before. Although she didn’t trust that this moment would last, she savored each second with Riaz. She memorized every feeling, every touch and conversation so that, years from now, she could take those memories out and relive them.

“Anything that might be pleasurable is considered bad. If something feels good, like chocolate, sugar, sleeping, relaxing, sex, or dancing…it’s all thought to be the devil tempting a good person away from the church.”

He looked down at her, his eyes searching hers. “You use the term ‘church’ instead of ‘god’.” He paused, then asked, “Is that deliberate?”

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