“Please, Khalid!” she begged him. “It’s too much! I can’t take it, you have to stop!”
Khalid growled and dropped his big, heavy body over her back, shoving her further into the mattress and increasing her helplessness. “I’ll say when it’s enough,” he growled, nipping at the back of her neck and her shoulders. “Come for me, Shania.”
His demand rocketed her over the edge of the most intense orgasm she had ever experienced. It was like a bolt of lightening streaking through her body, lighting her up with such intensity she thought she would die. Dimly, she heard Khalid shout her name, before he shifted slightly against her to get a better grip and start pounding into her tender flesh.
Barely down from her last orgasm she felt herself hurtling toward another. She screamed again, unable to stop the hoarse sound from escaping her throat as her bruised body was forced once more to the heights of ecstasy and thrown over the edge without warning. She felt Khalid’s cock grow bigger and longer in her body before he joined her, his bruising fingers gripping her hips and his huge body heaving against hers.
He collapsed on top of her. Shania had only a brief moment of panic as her body registered that it couldn’t breath before he rolled off her. His hand, still tangled in her messy hair, retained its grip, ensuring she rolled with him if she planned on keeping that section of hair attached to her scalp.
They both lay panting, his hot sweaty body pressed against hers. He gently extricated his fingers from her hair as they came down from the intensity of their lovemaking.
He reached down and tilted her head up so she was forced to look at him. “I knew,” he said, his eyes sweeping her possessively, “from the moment I saw your picture, that it would be like this for us. You were made for me, Shania.”
Shania’s heart stuttered at his words. She believed him. She also knew that he never spoke this way with anyone. He was usually quite reserved, if brutal, in his business dealings. She seemed to be the exception. She wanted to be happy that she was the cherished woman in his life. The exception to everyone else. But the grey cloud of her freedom dampened her feelings and closed her heart off from him.
He watched helplessly as her eyes dimmed and dropped from his. He wanted to demand that she be the passionate woman he just had sex with. The woman that could embrace her own submissiveness and accept him into her body. But she refused to accept that woman outside of his bed.
He sighed. He wanted to give her the world to prove that she was different for him, that she was fast owning his heart. “Let’s go out for dinner tonight,” he said.
She frowned slightly. “In the casino?”
He shook his head. “No, in the city. Let’s go out to a restaurant. We can see what happens. And then maybe…”
“Maybe?” she asked breathlessly, half hopeful.
“Damn it, I don’t know Shania,” he began, extricating himself from the mess of sheets and her limbs. “It’s hard for me. I don’t like the idea of you being in places that I can’t control. Something could happen to you.”
Shocked, Shania lay in the bed, processing his words. She had assumed he wanted her under his protection, in the casino, because he feared she would run away from their arrangement. It had never occurred to her that he was worried about the possibility of her getting hurt. Especially after knowing her for such a short time. Understanding and a little light of hope blossomed in her chest. She could work toward her freedom if she understood the root of his concern with letting her go out into the world. She could prove to him that she wouldn’t get hurt and that she would come back to him.
For the first time, she actually considered having a relationship with Khalid, One that wasn’t based on Aiden’s debt or Khalid’s unreasonable possessiveness. She smiled. “I’d like going into the city for dinner with you. Just let me know what time you want me to be ready.”
CHAPTER TEN
Khalid stared down at the thick envelope on his desk without seeing it. His thoughts were all for the curvy, baffling woman that currently occupied his penthouse. The smile she had given him this morning after he offered to take her into the city for a meal was like a punch in the gut. He had thought just having her would be enough. Now, he wanted her smile too. He wanted to own her happiness and take her heart.
He had no idea how a mobbed up son of a bitch like him was going to get a woman like Shania to fall for him. The task seemed insurmountable. He had learned work ethic from a young age, clawing his way out of the gutters of Kabul and making a name for himself in this section of America. He had fought tooth and nail for the respect of his soldiers. He had embarked on countless successful ventures, both legal and illegal. But he had never wooed a woman. Hadn’t had the time or inclination. He had always fucked his women and then left them behind. He thought that was how he was built, that relationships were for the weak and foolish.
From the moment Aiden had shown him the picture of his wife, Khalid had been lost to her. The shy, innocent smile, the glow of her rich, brown skin, the fullness of her lips, the honesty of her eyes… he had been hers before he had even met the woman.
Like an idiot, he had pined for the untouchable woman from the photograph. He had personally beaten Aiden for presuming to sell such a goddess, taking pleasure in the other man’s suffering. Then, his princess had walked through the door of his casino. Like the villain in the story, he had captured her and kept her locked in a tower. How could she love a man like him?
He was disgusted with himself, but resigned. He couldn't change. He couldn’t become her prince. He knew no other life than the one he had been leading and he was terrified of getting her involved in such filth. She could be too easily hurt by his competitors. He would protect her, including her happiness, at all costs.
Picking up the envelope, he texted Ash. Make sure she’s ready, have the car out front in 15 minutes.
Within seconds, Ash texted back his acknowledgment.
Khalid left his office, desperately hoping that this sojourn into the city would tide Shania over for a while. He craved her gorgeous smile and wanted her to gift him more of the same. He was a greedy enough bastard to dangle the hope of more freedom in front of her to gain her sweet affection.
Shania approached him in the lobby with a shy smile on her face. The sight of her in a floor length red satin sheath stunned him. The design was classic and simple, with a halter neckline that hovered over her cleavage, but didn’t look cheap. The gown hugged every mouth-watering curve with a long slit from the floor to the top of her thigh showing off her gorgeously curved leg. She wore black heeled sandals and held a slim black clutch in one hand. Her hair, swept to the side in a large jewelled clip, cascaded over her bare shoulder in a black waterfall of wavy curls.
He very nearly changed his mind about their night out. He wondered if he could even get her into the elevator before hiking the dress to her waist and burying his face between her thighs. He wanted to yank the modest neckline down and make her scream her orgasm for him.
She gave him a heart-stopping grin when he stopped in front of her and placed hesitant fingers against his crimson tie.
“You look amazing,” she said, breathless.
Khalid captured her fingers with his and brought them up to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the pads and flicked his tongue against them. Smiling mischievously down at her, he said, “Let’s go upstairs, princess. We can do dinner another night.”
She knew he wasn’t entirely kidding.
She laughed. “Not on your life! I’m starving, and I can’t wait to get back into the city.”
She tugged his hand down and led him toward the doors to the massive parking lot of the casino. She knew that if Khalid had insisted, she would be back upstairs in his bed. He was allowing her to lead him. She felt a tiny rush of pleasure, understanding that he was working to give her what she wanted, a small sampling of freedom.
Khalid had decided to use the limo for their night out, so he could have easier access to his woman on the ride. Several
light touches and whispered comments along the way once again tested his resolve not to turn back and just finish the night buried deep in her gorgeous body. The pleasure and the promise sparkling in her amber eyes held his impulse in check.
The meal, taken at one of the city’s finest restaurants, was a true test for him. He hated feeling publicly exposed, much preferring to haunt his own establishments, where any potential threat could be swiftly and brutally dealt with. But this night was special. His woman deserved a taste of fine things and freedom.
He watched her, fascinated, as she licked clean a spoon that had been dipped into a crème brûlée dessert. He wanted to capture that tongue and suck it deep into his mouth, tasting the sugary sweetness within, while he sank his fingers into her pussy and made her cry out for him. It nearly killed him to sit and watch silently as she finished her dessert with zero molestation, except for a good eye fucking from him. And half the men in the restaurant, he realized as he glanced darkly around him.
His eyes stopped on a familiar figure. Vladimir Sitnikov. The man owned this city’s underworld. The parts Khalid didn’t own, anyway. While the majority of Khalid’s business interests were legitimate, Sitnikov tended toward the opposite. The majority of the cruel Russian mob bosses business was dirty, with only a few legitimate enterprises to launder money through.
Khalid and Sitnikov maintained an uneasy alliance. Both had strong presences in the city and rarely crossed boundaries. Neither wanted to go to war. It was unnecessary. He caught Sitnikov’s gaze and nodded in acknowledgment. The Russian’s eyes flickered over Shania, interest flaring, before he returned the nod and turned back to his dinner companion.
“Who was that?” Shania asked in her soft voice, letting her spoon rest in the empty dessert dish.
“An acquaintance,” he said shortly, shutting the conversation down.
Sitnikov was dangerous. The less Shania knew about the man, the better.
If Khalid had simply ended their evening there, taken her from the restaurant, made love to her in the back of the limo and again in the penthouse, the evening would have been perfect. Instead, he pulled the envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. She frowned slightly before automatically reaching for it.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Open it.”
Pushing her plate aside, Shania opened the envelope and pulled a bundle of papers from it. She smoothed them out on the table and began reading. Within seconds her ruby lips parted in a gasp. She glanced up at Khalid with shocked disbelief, then back down to keep reading. She flicked through the rest of the papers before turning stunned eyes up to him.
“How did you get these?” She asked in a low, pained voice. “Did Aiden give these to you?”
Khalid shook his head. “No, although he’ll have a similar copy by now.”
“But…” She shook her head in disbelief. “How did you do this? It usually takes months, sometimes even years!”
Khalid reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a pen out. He snapped it open and placed it on the papers in front of her. “Anything can be obtained on short notice with the right connections. Even a divorce. Sign the papers Shania.”
She continued to stare at him, her quick brain clearly racing in thought. Finally, with a small sigh she pushed the papers and the pen away from her. “No.”
Khalid raised a thick brow and asked very carefully, “No?”
Shania could sense the tightening of his body across the table and knew he was incredibly angry with her. Remembering what had happened the night before, after her aborted escape, she shivered at the thought of pissing him off again. But she had to make him understand that he couldn’t continue to make decisions for her, to run her life without regard for her opinions, even if it meant putting herself on the wrong side of his temper.
“No, Khalid, I won’t sign the divorce papers,” she answered as steadily as she could. “I’m not ready yet.”
Khalid’s fist came down on the table causing her to jump. With a glance up, Shania caught sight of the dark, sinister man watching their exchange with some interest. Her eyes widened at the man’s perusal. He was almost as elementally frightening as Khalid. His dinner companion, a petite woman with chicly died black and blue hair, chatted animatedly, unaware that his attention had strayed elsewhere.
“You still love him,” Khalid growled, drawing her focus back to him.
For a moment, she didn’t know who he was talking about, before she realized he must mean Aiden. Of course he would jump to that conclusion. He had no faith in her. Because he kept her locked up in his penthouse and didn’t give her a chance to prove that she was capable of loving him too.
“I don’t love Aiden,” she denied. “Not anymore.”
Khalid stared at her, anger smouldering in his dark eyes. “Then sign the fucking papers Shania.”
“I won’t,” she whispered.
“Why?”
She shivered. His demanding voice gave no quarter. He wasn’t willing to listen to her.
She tried anyway. “I want to have the choice, Khalid. Divorce is a big deal. I’m not a quitter and I hate the idea of a failed marriage. I won’t be rushed into a decision like this, not without seeing Aiden and talking to him, making sure that we’re both on the same page.”
“You will never see that fucked up lowlife again!” he snarled with such vehemence that she instantly believed him.
The breath caught in her throat at the look on Khalid’s face. She thought that if they had been alone in the room he would have grabbed and shaken her and then forced her to put pen to paper and dissolve her marriage to another man.
“We’re leaving,” he snapped.
She didn’t want to go with him, not in this mood. But she didn’t have a choice. Nodding, she stood up and allowed him to escort her to the front of the restaurant where he collected their coats. Without pause, he led her outside and pushed her into the waiting limo.
In a chilling move, he pressed the button that enabled the security screen between them and the driver. She watched desperately as the screen went up, leaving her completely alone with the furious man. He tossed their coats, the divorce papers and the pen onto the seat between them.
Khalid reached up and loosened his tie, yanking it off. He unbuttoned a few of the buttons on his crisp white shirt. “You keep disappointing me, Shania.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
His words sounded so sinister. She doubted anyone in his life disappointed him, or at least they weren’t allowed to disappoint him for long. She wondered how much longer she could go up against him before he lost his cool and denied her freedom completely or kicked her out of his life. She didn’t know which she feared more.
“You keep taking my choices from me!” she said, pressing back against the seat to escape his scorching eyes in the dim light of the limo.
“Get used to it!” he snarled, reaching across the distance of the back seat and taking her arm in a punishing grip. “You belong to me, Shania, and I’ll be damned if my woman is going to stay married to another man.”
She gasped when he jerked her off the plush seat and onto the floor in front of him. She put her hands up, onto his thighs to steady herself, her red dress swirling seductively around her body. He took advantage and yanked her in closer between his spread legs. He watched, lust and anger sparking in his eyes. Her breasts heaved against the neckline of her dress, her lips parting to take gasping breaths.
“I fucking hate that your name is tied to that fuck up Aiden Galveston.” His hand tightened in her hair as he dragged her closer. “And you won’t do a goddamn thing about separating yourself from him!”
He licked the bared top of her breast and then bit down, hard enough to punish, but not hard enough to hurt her. He had meant what he’d said that morning. He wouldn’t cross that line with her again.
“Khalid!” she gasped, shuddering as his tongue and teeth explored her cleavage and throat.
He reached between them an
d unzipped his black suit trousers. With a tug, he freed his erection. Her eyes widened at the sudden sight of his massive cock pressing up against her. Steady pressure on the back of her head told her what Khalid wanted her to do.
Licking her lips, Shania nervously pressed back, but he held her tightly. He didn’t force her down, but she knew with little effort he could if he wanted to. She realized he was giving her the choice to choose giving him a blowjob. Which really wasn’t a choice, because he also wasn’t allowing her to retreat either. They both knew how this would end. She wanted to laugh hysterically at his high-handed way of letting her make a choice.
Impatience prompted him to press harder, the tip of his satiny penis brushing against her full lips. She decided it was a good thing she wanted to taste him or she might have chosen this opportunity to show him just how annoyed she was that he’d ended their dinner date so badly. She opened her mouth and flicked her tongue out, laving the top of him with an experimental swipe.
Khalid moaned and strained his head back against the cushions. His arms trembled with the effort not to grab her head and force his dick far back into her mouth and throat. He sensed they stood on a ledge together and that it would be a mistake to push her off rather than let her decide to jump.
She opened her mouth to him and sucked him gently into the warm, velvety depth. His eyes rolled into the back of his head at the feel of his perfect Shania taking him into her mouth. She continued to lick and suck his cock with growing enthusiasm until Khalid had to let go of her head and grip the back of the seats behind him to keep from grabbing her forcefully.
“Fuck!” he growled to the ceiling of the limo.
“Ummm.” She caressed him, making satisfied humming noises.
He realized she was enjoying herself. Which was too much for his control. He reached out and gripping the back of her head pulled her off his raging dick. She moaned in disappointment, which snapped his control completely. He picked her up and threw her down on the seat, dropping down on top of her.
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