Slave to the Sheikh: by Nadia Aidan

believing that I’d pierced his hardened heart, that at some point he would return my love.
                  Bitterness welled up inside of me.  He’d set out to get me pregnant to break some stupid contract.  It was unfathomable and twisted in so many ways.  He needed the wife and child, but only for a short while, and then he could just send us both packing because I had no rights under this honor union.  I knew all about these shitty customs that were mostly obsolete, and how they punished and oppressed women, especially foreign women.  I’d been stupid enough to get knocked up by a native-born man of principle and so I didn’t deserve to have any rights, power, or freedom? Truthfully, I’d always known I was at his mercy, and in so many ways, given that he was the regent of Sharjah, but naively I believed he respected me enough to never violate my trust and faith in him. I cried even harder then.  I didn’t care about me so much.  A gaping wound would forever remain in the place my heart had once been, but I would survive Amir’s betrayal.  What I would never survive was the loss of my baby.  If Amir woke up one day and decided he’d had enough, I would be forced to leave, and without my child, if that’s what he wished.
                  That realization was like ice water to my face.  My tears abruptly stopped, even though the feelings of betrayal still remained, but instead of feeling sorry for myself, I used every ounce of pain and anguish I felt to propel myself into action.
                  “You have to help me get out of here, now .”
                  Khalil look puzzled at first, but when comprehension dawned on him he shook his head.  “Amir will be furious.  He’s not expected to return from Cairo until tomorrow.  If he finds you gone—”
                  “I don’t care.” I narrowed my eyes at him.  “I have no intention of giving that monster the opportunity to take my baby away.  So you can either help me or I will find another way. “
                  He pursed his lips and frowned.  I could tell a war waged within him.  If he helped me and Amir found out, he would never forgive him, but if I took my chances with black market smugglers to get out of Sharjah and something terrible happened to me, not only would Amir never forgive him, Khalil would never forgive himself.
                  “I told you what I did so that you would be armed with knowledge, so that you would have leverage.  Not so that you could run away.  The woman I know is strong, courageous—”
                  “The woman you know also has someone else to think about besides herself—”
                  “You love him, and yet you can so easily give up and walk away.” 
    I knew what he was up to, but I refused to allow Khalil to goad me.  I was refused to allow the disappointment in his eyes to shake my resolve. 
    I regarded him coolly, with a sure confidence that belied my tenuous predicament. “It’s not love, Khalil, not if the person doesn’t love you back.”
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER NINE
    4 months later
    Amir stared at the glass in his hand as if transfixed by the potent amber liquid that at one time had served to numb his pain, but each day it’s affect upon his senses lessened.  One day he knew it would do nothing but cloud his mind and thoughts, but it would no longer have the power to dull his pain. That notion led him to tighten his grip around the glass.  Nothing on this earth could dull his pain, save one person, and she’d lied to him, betrayed him, and then she’d abandoned him as soon as he’d turned his back.
    The bitch.
    The glass gave way to the pressure of his forceful grip.  It was only his lightening quick reflexes that kept his hand from being sliced open by the shards of glass that crumbed to the titled floor.
    One of the employees suddenly appeared out of the