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Quietly she went to him. Silently he ravished her.
Molly and Malik's story
Bonus Chapter One
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MALIK'S GULFSTREAM Private Airplane
Molly slowly opened her eyes and blinked in the details of the man laying next her into focus; his tanned olive skin, well-groomed black beard that surrounded his straight nose and full lips, and the way his light brown eyes watched her with that familiar lazy intensity that never failed to heat her insides. "Malik," she whispered.
"Yes, my love," he lifted the side of his mouth and went up on his elbow, his thick dark hair falling over his eyebrow and highly defined cheek. "You’ve been missing me my Molly...moaning my name in your sleep."
Heat rushed into her face. "Is that why you forced me here? To massage your bruised ego?" She avoided the playful look in his normally brooding eyes and took in his state of dress. His black fitted suit coat was off, thankfully the snug fitting pants were still on, as was his white buttoned shirt, though the top few buttons were undone as was his red silk tie. She was in the same skirt and long sleeve shirt she'd thrown on yesterday in Costa Rica before frantically coming straight here.
"I did not force you, Habibi." He moved her hair behind her ear.
She went up on her own elbow and shook her blunt cut bangs out of her eyes. "Don't habibi me, I'm not your love. You knew I'd be here in a flash when you took my son." She looked around the very luxurious space marvelling that they were actually on an airplane. The perks of being minor royalty were evident everywhere. Her last flight was the last seat in a densely crammed charter.
"He is our son," Malik did not take his eyes off of her, his body seemingly ready to react should she try to run. "And we both know he is not the only reason why you came to me so fast."
"I didn't come to you," her eyes flashed. "You forced my hand."
He chuckled, the expression bringing light to his dark brown eyes. "You, Habibi—" he raised a hand, palm forward. "Sorry, it is habit for me to call you so—are too stubborn to be forced to do anything you do not want to."
She ignored the teasing look in his eye and took in his manicured finger nails instead. For once she'd love to see him vulnerable again, knocked off his high horse and out of sorts instead of her this time. She stamped down the wild urge to make it so. "Where is he?"
Malik nodded to the sleep cabin door. "Watching TV in the main room. My cousin, Luken is with him."
She inhaled and looked at the sliding door, taking comfort in the deep feeling of reassurance that crept in. "Just because he's fine doesn't give you a pass."
He nodded. "I understand. Though, I am very glad that you decided to come."
"Decided," she scoffed. "Like I had a choice." She studied the way he silently watched her for a long moment, as if she'd disappear if he looked away. She inhaled and asked the question that had been plaguing her for weeks. "Why haven’t you told anyone about that night, about what I did?"
His eyes didn't waver from hers. "Because what happens between you and me is private."
She looked away from the v-shaped patch of hair below his bottom lip. How many times did she stroke that exact place while she held his face and fervently kissed him that night, rode him naked while he sat against his headboard, before she laid back in his bed so he could take her at will. She inhaled a shaky breath. "You could have used it so easily against me. You could have humiliated me at the university, slut shamed me out of my work and PhD studies."
His eyes hardened. "Is that what you think of me? That I would ever betray you that way?"
"You could have gone straight to the judge and told him I broke my own restraining order against you." Which she had by showing up, unannounced at his estate in the middle of the night. "You could have taken custody of our son." She looked away.
He put his finger below her chin and made her look back at him. "You came to me in private, vulnerable and wanting. I would never betray your trust. I destroyed all of the home security surveillance from that night. And I was never interested in taking our son from his mother. I only wanted his mother to come home with me. You know this. Else you never would have gone away and left him in my care."
She exhaled. "Well, you have certainly gotten your way. And I left him in Katie's care, not yours."
He lifted the side of his mouth again. "You have not made it easy." He deliberately stroked the fresh scratches she'd clawed into his neck.
More heat lit up her cheeks, but she couldn't get the necessary apology out. He had after all taken their son, without her permission away to Basque Country while she was gone.
"I took a calculated risk that you truly did trust me."
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It was a big risk."
"For my son and wi—" he paused. "—for my family. I will do anything."
"I should have known turning down your marriage proposal would not be the end of it."
"Did you expect me to take such a rejection laying down?"
She sat up an shrugged. "I don’t know what I expected, but your outrage was..."
"Unacceptable."
"And stunning, to say the least."
"I lost my mind when I thought I'd lost you." He sat up beside her. "It will never happen again."
"No, it won't." She looked over at him for a long minute. "Promise me. Go so far as to make one of your blood vows to me, because you’re taking me to a place where I don’t know anyone, I barely speak the language, and I—" she pursed her lips as her throat constricted, "—will have to completely depend on you."
He kept his eyes on hers as he reached for the knife, his Bedouin knife he was never without, on the side table, before he swiped a long cut across his palm then took her hand and tangled their fingers together. "I will never lose my temper in that way again." He closed his eyes. "I am ashamed everytime I think about my behaviour and endured everything you and your courts asked as humble penance. But now that you are here, and after a month has passed, if you still want to leave, I will not stand in your way. This is my vow to you." He held their hands together more tightly.
"Sir," a knock came to the sleep cabin door. "Our plane has entered Jordanian air space. We are preparing to land. The drivers on the ground have asked to speak with you."
"Thank you." Malik put their hands on his heart before he leaned in and put his nose to hers and inhaled. "Trust me. Say you still trust me."
"I will." She agreed.
He inhaled again then rolled off of the bed.
She looked out the window then watched him tuck in his shirt and do up his top buttons. "Why do you have drivers, plural?"
He shrugged into his coat and straightened his shirt cuffs before he re-knotted his tie. "You and Malik will have your own car and driver while we are here. Because he is my only heir, he and I can never travel together in case there is another assassination attempt." He pulled open the door. "I will be just a minute."
Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she silently stared at the closed door.
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