Page 10 of The Sheik's Vow

He glanced down, smothering a smile at the way her hands were clenched into fists, her whole body braced for a fight. Damn, she was beautiful.

His lioness!

“You can either allow me into the secrets of your past and let me help you defeat your monsters, Kaia,” he warned her softly, moving closer. “Or I will discover those monsters on my own and will crush them for you.” He shrugged, trying to appear as if her response didn’t matter to him, when in reality, it mattered a great deal.

“You can’t!”

“I can,” he countered. “And I will.” He took her hand, slowly, gently, uncurling her fingers. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed the center of her palm, then nipped at the tip of her thumb. She gasped at the sensation.

Riaz knew that he needed to take this slowly. Scaring her away with the intensity of their attraction wasn’t going to work. But Riaz knew that he was an expert at temptation. He would need something that fascinated his kitten, but nothing too big or his ferocious kitten would dart away, hiding underneath a sofa.

“How about this,” he offered, keeping her hand as he pressed her fingers against his chest again. He enjoyed the sensation of her fingers against him. The way her fingers curled, almost as if she couldn’t stop herself from touching him back, entranced him further. “You need a place to hide. Why don’t you come back to Bidarwith me? I can sneak you onto my plane. No one will know that you are traveling with me, other than your sister, your brother-in-law, and my staff. And my staff are very discreet.”

Those pretty eyes narrowed, shimmering with doubt and wariness. “Why would I go to Bidar?”

“So you can utilize my security team’s resources.”

Her chin lifted suddenly, eyes flashing. “I don’t need your resources. I have my own.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “You will have the entire force of my security department at your disposal. I guarantee that I have certain…items…that will assist you in defeating your monsters, Kaia.”

Riaz knew that he’d dangled the appropriate enticement in front of his lioness’ nose when she bowed her head in a futile effort to hide her smile. As she lifted her head once again, he saw the light of angry determination in her pretty, green eyes. “Yes. I’ll accept your offer, Your…” she paused when he lifted an eyebrow. “Riaz.”

“Excellent!” he replied, then tucked her hand into his elbow. “We’ll leave immediately.”

She pulled back, gesturing towards the door. “Don’t you have that meeting with Zayed? Isn’t that the whole reason for your trip here to Pitra?”

He chuckled. “I signed a treaty with Pitra earlier this morning. I told Zayed about my plans to help you. Both he and your sister are fully on board with my plan.”

Chapter 6

Ethan stared at the image on the laptop. He didn’t allow the members of his congregation access to the internet. He told them it was because he wanted them to focus on their prayers and serving the community. But the truth was, he didn’t want them to have access to the outside world. It was easier to control his congregation if he was their only source of information and news.

So, he kept a computer hidden away in a secret room of his house. It was also the place where he had several other, interesting toys hidden away. Toys that he didn’t want anyone else to know anything about.

He glanced over at the wall with the special whips, chains, restraints, and a plethora of other items.

With a shudder of excitement, he turned his attention back to the computer, promising himself that he’d play a bit later today.

The image on the screen mocked him. The smiling women taunted him. And that reminded him that he hadn’t heard from Elijah in several days. Where the hell had that idiot gone? He was supposed to check in every forty-eight hours. It had been four days now.

Beth Ann and Nora were also missing, but they were only womenfolk. He didn’t check in with them. It was Elijah’s responsibilityto ensure that his women were protected and well disciplined.

Ethan had no doubt that Beth Ann and Nora were obeying his commands. Elijah enjoyed disciplining women just as thoroughly as Ethan did. In fact, most of the men in his congregation enjoyed that aspect of life here in the village. They weren’t supposed to, but Ethan saw the flush on the men’s faces whenever he talked about the rules and how the women needed to be disciplined when they disobeyed those rules.

Ethan ensured that the rules for the women were difficult enough that they required oversight for their misdeeds often. It was the perfect way to keep his men under his control. Giving the men not just permission, but encouragement and protection, for their sadistic tendencies, kept the men well behaved and under Ethan’s control.

In his mind, it was a win-win!

However, the two women beaming in this damn picture really irritated him. Tara…she was out of his reach due to her marriage to the bastard beside her. He didn’t really care about Tara, anyway. Okay, that was a lie. He’d wanted Tara. He’d craved her tender, sweet body. But that had been when she was younger, more malleable. Plus, he’d wanted Kaia more. Tara had been pretty as a child, very desirable. However, the younger sister didn’t have the fire that he enjoyed so much in Kaia.

Now Kaia taunted him again. The woman had been a thorn in his side for too long. It was time that he finished this. It was time that Kaia came home and resumed her place within the community. He couldn’t marry her himself. Nor could he marry her off to any of the other male community members. Kaia had been out in the world for too long. She would have given herself to a man, probably many men, over the years. Therefore, she was dirty, unworthy of marriage.

Still, there were uses for the unworthy in his community. The prostitutes that he’d brought back to the village were good workers. Once they’d learned the ways of the community, once they’d had their negative attitudes resolved with old-fashioned “lessons”,they were excellent workers. And if those women were sometimes blindfolded and brought to this room for his entertainment, well, it was all for the betterment of the community. Every person served a purpose. A role.

Now, it was time to bring Kaia back, so she could fulfill her role in their community.

Chapter 7

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