She made her way to the front of the bus.
She asked the driver in a shaky voice, “Please open the door. He’s here for me.”
He nodded and sent her a pitying look before opening the door. He probably thought she had stolen from the casino or something equally stupid and had gotten caught.
Khalid stood below her on the ground. His face was in shadows so she couldn’t see his expression, but there was no missing the cold fury that rolled off of him. He was more casually dressed tonight than usual, in black jeans and a leather jacket with thick leather boots. He reached a hand up and waited for her to take it. Closing her eyes briefly, Shania placed her hand in his and stepped to the ground.
She had never noticed their height difference with such clarity as she did now. His extra inches of height and breadth lent to his air of menace. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heart.
Khalid nodded sharply at the bus driver. “Move.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver said, shutting the door quickly and getting the bus under way again.
Shania stared after it with longing.
“Come,” Khalid said, his voice frigid. He tugged her toward the sleek, black Bentley at the side of the road.
He pulled the door open and pressed her down into the lush interior of the passenger side. He slammed the door shut and went around to the other side. Shania sat frozen in her seat as he slid into the car. He glanced at her and then impatiently reached around her to buckle her seatbelt. She jumped and leaned away at the brief contact of his fingers across her breasts.
Noticing, Khalid snorted sardonically.
He turned on the engine, and with a single glance over his shoulder, swiftly maneuvered the car in a U and back onto the road. Shania clutched her seat as she watched the needle on the speedometer climb higher and higher until they were at almost twice the speed limit. The car was so smooth it ate up the road without a single protest.
Her throat was dry. She didn’t know if she should speak or keep silent. He didn’t look like he wanted to talk at the moment, but she had to try and plead her case before they got back to the casino. Before she was once more wholly under his power.
“I’m sorry,” Shania whispered, heart racing, “but I had to go.”
Khalid said nothing for a minute. Shania thought he wasn’t going to say anything, until finally he said menacingly, “No. You didn’t.”
“You don’t understand!” Shania cried. “I can’t stay with you against my will! It’s perverse, it’s barbaric. I’m not some toy you can just dress up and keep. I can’t be what you want me to be Khalid!”
His nose flared and his hand tightened on the gearshift as though straining to keep himself from grabbing her. “We had a deal,” he snarled.
“You had a deal!” she said desperately. “You gave me no choice!”
“I gave you more,” he bit out in rage, “than I’ve given anyone, ever.”
Tears gathered in Shania’s eyes. She was saddened that she couldn’t reach him. That he had led such a lonely existence. That he couldn’t understand the difference between giving himself to a free woman and giving himself to a captive.
“You didn’t give me freedom,” she said sadly.
He laughed bitterly. “Oh, you had freedom, princess,” the endearment a sarcastic sneer. “You will soon realize just how much freedom I was allowing you.”
Oh god! Shania shrank away from him as much as the interior of the car would allow. “What are you going to do?” she asked.
“What I should’ve done with you the first night you walked into my casino.”
The car stopped. Shania looked up in confusion. She had been so locked in their conversation that she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. Khalid had driven them around to the back of the casino. She shrank back into her seat as he rounded the car and yanked her door open. Before she could get out, he reached in, unlatched her seatbelt and yanked her free.
Shania stumbled and, without giving her the opportunity to right herself, he dragged her toward the back door held open by a shadowed bodyguard. Breathlessly, she stumbled into him and jerked back, hitting the doorframe. The ball cap tumbled off her dark head. She whimpered as pain shot through her arm.
He swung her around so she was standing within the cage of his arms. His hand briefly came up to touch the spot where her shoulder had hit the doorframe, checking for damage. Then, suddenly impatient, he dropped his hand and continued dragging her through the darkened back hallways of the hotel casino, careful not to bump her against anything again. The kitchen was closed, so the back part of the casino had been shut down for the night.
“Khalid, please slow down!” she cried out, one hand clutching him for balance and the other reaching out into the darkness. The glow of the exit signs illuminated their progress, casting his face with an eerie red glow.
Ignoring her plea, he stopped in front of the staff elevator and punched the button. Ash approached from a different hallway as they waited for the elevator. His eyes flickered over Shania for the barest second before landing on his boss.
“Casino is good. The high stakes game finished without incident. And I moved any meetings to tomorrow.” Ash stood straight and hard as the day Shania met him. She wished she could tell if he was angry with her. She wanted to apologize for possibly getting him in trouble, but knew she had better keep her mouth shut.
Khalid nodded and then jerked his head. “Go.”
Ash hesitated just long enough to earn a scathing glare from his boss. Ash’s gaze settled on Shania’s terrified face. She knew instantly that he wasn’t angry, he was worried for her. Over Khalid’s shoulder Shania mouthed ‘go’ as well, not wanting the big fighter to get himself fired (or worse) over her. Ash turned and left just as the elevator arrived.
Khalid pushed Shania inside and stabbed the button to the fifth floor. Not the penthouse. They ascended in silence. Shania thought of their first elevator ride together. When he had touched her, caressed her neck and made love to her with the barest of touches. God, he was so angry now. She still felt the erotic tension flowing between them, but it was different, twisted. She knew whatever he was planning on doing, it wasn’t pretty or romantic.
The hallway on the fifth floor was dimly lit. No sounds came from any of the rooms they passed. “Where are we?” Shania dared to ask.
“Unless we’re overcrowded, this floor is reserved for me and my people.”
Frowning, Shania asked the obvious question. “But you have the penthouse. Why do you need another apartment?”
Khalid unlocked a door and, pushing her inside, turned and locked it again. He took his time answering her question, unzipping his leather coat and pulling it off his broad shoulders. Shania shivered, sharply reminded of his superior size, outlined clearly in a dark T-shirt and jeans.
“I bring people that have annoyed me here, to the fifth floor, so we may… talk… in relative comfort.” Crossing to the bar, he said, “This is also where I bring my women so I can fuck them without having to take them into my home.”
Shania clutched the back of the couch hard, surprised by how much his words hurt her. She hated thinking of that hard body having sex with other women and she hated even more the thought that he brought her here. “And which category do I fall into?” she asked shakily.
Khalid poured himself a shot of tequila and tossed it back without blinking. “Both,” he snarled.
“So what are you going to do to me then?” she asked bravely, standing up straighter. “Beat me or fuck me?”
He took another shot, slammed the glass back down and stalked toward her. “Both.”
Shania stood her ground, glaring up at him as he stopped inches away. He gazed on her with such scorn that she wondered if he was thinking of all the money she had cost him. He probably regretted it now.
“Stop looking at me like that!” she burst out, putting her hands against his chest and shoving. He didn’t move. “Do your worst, I can’t possi
bly hate you more than I do right now!”
“Oh, I think you can,” he answered back, stepping closer to her.
Shania gasped as he reached out, grabbed her by the arm and flung her around so she faced away from him. The tops of her thighs pressed against the back of the couch, the glow of the city twinkled in the distance through the window. He pressed hard against her back, moulding his thighs against hers and his chest to her back. She felt every inch of his hot, heavy body covering hers. His hands gripped her waist, holding her ass firmly in the cradle of his thighs. She felt the heat of his hard penis pressing against her through layers of fabric.
Shania moaned, both in fear and pleasure. He still wanted her as much as he ever did. Her body responded to the insistent hardness of his, pressing her back into his chest. He swept a hand up her side, across her shoulder, into her thick hair and pulled her head back sharply. The small bolt of pain made her blink and then sigh. His other arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her up onto her toes so her head was pressed back into his shoulder, her throat bared to his mouth.
“Khalid!” She gasped as his lips and teeth explored the flesh that was bared to him. Sweet, tight sensations spiralled from her neck, down to her nipples and further.
He caressed her for several minutes, both of their breathing growing heavier, more urgent. With a groan of frustration he stopped moving, holding her tightly against his body. Even lost in the feeling of his touch, Shania noticed the shift in him from erotic back to angry. She stiffened, knowing that she wasn’t going to be punished with belly melting kisses. She had pissed off a very powerful underworld boss. He didn’t have to say the words, his body spoke to her. Khalid wanted her to pay for her infraction.
She swallowed a scream when he suddenly took a step back from her, grabbed a fistful of the back of her jacket and forced her facedown over the back of the couch. She fought against the vulnerable position, but his strength was far superior to hers. She froze in terror when she felt him open his knife and hold it against her back. He yanked the knife through her jacket and shirt, parting the fabric with appalling ease.
Shania held still, not wanting to get cut. When he finished, he pulled the tattered bits of cloth away from her smooth skin and flung them into the corner as though he was offended by her wearing them. He pressed the knife against the small of her back and, holding her still with one hand, cut the belt she wore. He yanked the denim jeans down her legs and forced her to step out of them, leaving her in only panties and bra.
She turned to plead with him, but stopped cold. His dark, satanic eyes swept every inch of her skin, caressing the expensive white lace panty and bra set he had bought her. It was breathtaking against her dark skin. She held a hand out to him. “Please, Khalid, don’t.”
He laughed bitterly. “Don’t what, Shania? Don’t take what belongs to me? You should have thought of that before you ran from the life I was offering you.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, you were always living on borrowed time. Now we can get down to it, and I can fuck you until I’m tired of your ass and then send it away or sell it to clear up your debt.”
Shania stared at him in shocked silence. The crude brutality of his words cut through her, extinguishing her arousal.
Heedless of the knife he held in his hand, Shania hit him with a closed fist against his jaw so hard that he rocked back on his heels. “You miserable asshole! I always knew you were some lowlife scum. You might pretend you’re better than all this,” she swept her hand around the room, “but I know better! I know exactly who you are!”
He swung his head back around, eyes glowing with wrath. Shania tried to turn and run from him, terrified of his retaliation, but he wrestled her to the floor until she was facedown underneath him. The knife fell beside them and bounced under the couch. She screamed as he unbuckled his belt against her hips. So certain that she was about to be brutally raped, Shania was completely unprepared when she felt the sting of leather rake across her bare shoulder and down her back.
A second after the painful sensation began to fade to a sting and realization set in, another arc of heat scored her back. Shania curled into a ball on the carpet, attempting to protect her front, as Khalid continued to whip her with his belt. She barely noticed when he stopped. The sting from each wound flared with agonizing clarity. Her brain finally registered that the beating had stopped when he pulled her up by an arm.
She cried out as her back stretched and she stumbled against him. Khalid held her tightly. Her accusing, tear-soaked eyes sought his. She thought she glimpsed a moment of regret before his eyes hardened once more and he dragged her with him into the bedroom.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Khalid shoved her toward the bed where she collapsed in a shivering heap. Fear and hate warred within her. She wanted to lash out at him for daring to hurt her, but she feared he could (and would) do much worse if she hit him again. She dropped her gaze and shrank back, turning away from his hulking form at the end of the bed.
Clearly not liking her submissive retreat, he turned and punched a hole in the wall. “Fuck, Shania!” he snarled, rounding on her. “You have me all fucked up! I can’t even beat you properly.”
He paced angrily, like a wrathful tiger along the side of the bed.
“Khalid,” she said, rolling on the mattress to face him, pleading, hoping any regard he had previously had for her might surface, “don’t do this. Please, I can’t take it, you have to let me go.”
Khalid punched another hole in the wall, ignoring the crumbling drywall drifting around him. “I have to finish it, Shania. I can’t let you fuck with my head like this.” He pointed a finger at her. “You won’t win. You’re my fucking slave, nothing else.”
She crawled up the bed, away from him. “No.”
“Yes,” he breathed, stalking around the side of the bed. She lunged to the other side and he grabbed her ankle. He flipped her onto her back, pinning her struggling body underneath his heavier one. “But I can make sure you enjoy it.”
Her eyes went wide with realization and she shook her head frantically, dark curls spilling across the white duvet. “No, Khalid, please don’t. I can’t take it. I’ll hate you!” she gasped breathlessly.
“Maybe,” he said, catching her wrists and holding them down in one hand.
She bucked against him and the bed, but he held her tightly. She arched her neck against the mattress. “I’ll hate myself,” she panted.
“I don’t care. I can make sure you want me, Shania.” He growled, bringing his face to hers and blazing a stinging path of biting kissed down her neck, taking advantage of her inability to push him away.
She hated how good his lips felt against her skin as they forcefully explored every shadowy hollow of her neck and throat. She tossed her head to the side when his exploring mouth got too close to the dainty shell of her ear. But he was relentless, and soon his tongue was tracing a breathtaking path. She moaned and shifted underneath him.
Shania had one brief moment of clarity when his ear drifted too close to her mouth and, with her last sane thought, she latched onto it, closing her sharp teeth with a snap. He froze. For several seconds they were locked against each other in motionless battle. Arousal fought against sanity.
“Let go, Shania.” His deep voice was deadly and quiet. “It won’t make a difference. You can bite it off, I’m still going to fuck you tonight.”
She whimpered and locked her teeth tighter, feeling the tang of blood against her tongue. Her thoughts flew in all directions. She could maim him and then attempt to run from him. She probably wouldn’t get far. He would come after her, and the things he would likely do didn’t bear imagining. He’d hospitalized men that borrowed from him without returning their debt. What would he do to someone that physically hurt him?
Tears gathered in her eyes and she breathed hard against his ear.
He took the decision from her hands. “Enough,” he said softly, swiftly reaching into her panties and pushing a thick finger betw
een her plump labia and into her resisting body. Shania gasped, releasing his ear and froze against the intrusion. Her tight body gradually accepted the thrust of his finger as her hips lifted ever so slightly in supplication.
He pulled his hand from her wet heat and grasped both of her flailing wrists in a vice-like grip before she could do more damage to his body. His ear stung, but the love bite only inflamed him further. He yanked both of her wrists over her head and, slamming them down, pinned her against the mattress with one hand.
His big body covered hers, straddling her hips, his chest to hers. He grasped her jaw in his free hand and applied pressure, forcing her mouth open. She squirmed underneath him, whimpering and bucking, but ultimately unable to move him off of her.
“You bit me, woman,” he breathed heavily, his mouth inches from hers. “Did you like that little taste of me, Shania? Because you’re going to get a whole lot more before I’m finished with you.”
He licked her open mouth, caressing her lips, teeth and tongue with his tongue. She moaned, long and low in her throat. He knew she was wet for him, he could feel the heat from her body, smell her heated arousal, knew her struggle not to give into the feelings. He urged her legs apart with his rough, jean-clad thighs and settled his clothed penis against her, thrusting the zipper into the delicate lace of her panties.
Helpless, Shania’s hips moved back against his, answering him. Khalid let go of her jaw, no longer worried about her snapping teeth, and yanked the white lace of her bra underneath her full breasts. Dusky nipples thrust up against dark brown areoles. He growled and closed his lips over one of her nipples, sucking her into the wet heat of his mouth. She thrust her body into his as hard as she could, encouraging him to suck harder.
Knowing she was under his power completely, he released her hands so he could reach one over his shoulder and yank his T-shirt over his head. He broke contact with her succulent nipple and revelled in her cry of disappointment. He wasn’t surprised by her passion, but he was extremely pleased by her uninhibited response, given the circumstances. She couldn’t help herself. She was ripe for his seduction. Her idiot husband had been clueless, and now Khalid would enjoy what no man would ever again touch.
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