“Yes,” said the Sheikh, looking at Sage and then back at Irene but saying nothing more.
She stayed quiet after that, and in her eyes the Sheikh could see that they would never need to talk about this again. Promises had been made and promises had been kept. The details could remain unspoken. They would remain unspoken.
Irene smiled as if she'd made the same decision, and immediately the mood lightened. She finished cleaning his wound, glanced at Sage, and then smiled up at the Sheikh. “What was that you muttered about making another?” she said, her face going red even under her tanned cheeks.
The Sheikh felt the color rush to his own cheeks. “Nothing. I said nothing. It must have been the wind in the trees.”
“There’s no wind,” said Irene, smiling down at herself as she slapped the Sheikh’s wound playfully, making him wince and flex his tanned biceps. “In fact there’s barely even a breeze. It’s too hot to keep going right now. Let’s wait out the hottest part of the day under those trees. The sun doesn’t set till past nine, and you said we should be there by nightfall, yeah?”
The Sheikh nodded. After buying some food and water, blankets, a tarpaulin, and emergency supplies from a store along the highway, the three of them had headed back into the woods, following the path of the river, which the Sheikh knew would lead them to the cabin he’d purchased years ago, through one of his international subsidiaries based in Canada. It had been four years since he’d been there, but he’d kept it stocked with provisions that wouldn’t spoil for at least that long. The land had been selected because it was self-sustaining, even offering some flats for farming, in case anyone needed to live there for years on end, perhaps forever. The Sheikh never seriously thought he’d need it—it was more of an insurance policy, in case he ever needed to disappear for a while from even those closest to him, perhaps even the CIA. Paranoid, but given his work in the shadows, who knew. And now, lo and behold, he indeed needed to disappear.
But I am taking the people who are closest to me, he thought. And doing it for the other one person who means so much to me. Yes, he thought as he went over what he was doing again. I am doing the right thing for Mala’s safety. It kills me to put her through the grief of losing me for a year, but she is strong and she will survive and get stronger. It is the right thing, is it not, Allah? I am not just doing this because . . .
He didn’t finish the thought, because Irene had walked ahead of him and set Sage down on one of the blankets he’d been wrapped in. She sat next to him, and he curled up against her thighs as she stroked his hair and hummed a tune that sounded familiar to the Sheikh.
“What is that song?” he asked quietly as he stood above the two of them and scanned their surroundings for any dangerous flora or fauna. It seemed clear. Bears were the only real danger in these woods, but they made sure to make enough noise walking through, so as not to surprise a bear or her cubs. So far so good.
“It’s an old cowboy tune,” Irene said, smiling up at him. “My mom used to sing it to me when I was little. I don’t remember the words, but I’ll never forget the tune.”
“I like it,” said the Sheikh as he sat down. He reached out and touched her hair, bringing his head close as he listened. Then he placed his hand gently on Sage’s head and began to hum along with Irene.
For a long time the two of them hummed that lullaby, both of them gently stroking their son’s head, assuring him they were right there, that he was safe with his all-powerful parents, in the loving arms of Mother Nature. The boy was deep asleep when they realized their hands were entwined and their eyes were locked.
This is the essence of life, the Sheikh thought as he felt a lump in his throat at the sight of his sleeping son, his singing woman, the friendly shade of the trees, the delicate gurgle of the stream beside them. Yes, this is the essence of life. And life is for the living, is it not?
Yes, he thought, and without saying a word he leaned in and kissed her full on the lips, hard and heavy like he meant it. By God, he kissed her.
25
She felt his strong hands close on her tender breasts as his tongue pushed into her mouth. He felt warm to her, and she could feel her heat rising in the cool shade of the summer afternoon. Her nipples were already stiff by the time he broke off the kiss and pulled down the top of her gown and snapped off her bra.
Her breasts hung free in the summer air as he leaned in and gently sucked her pink nipples, first one and then the other, getting her so hot she arched her back out, pushing her boobs into his face as she moaned. For a moment she was horrified to think of Sage waking up and seeing them, but the truth was, it didn’t feel wrong.
“It is not wrong but natural and beautiful,” the Sheikh whispered as if he was thinking the same thing. “Our ancestors made love freely, in the open, without the shame we attach to it these days. They loved like animals in nature, because we are in fact animals in nature.”
“Well, you do kinda look like a bear,” she giggled, pulling at his stubble which had grown thick and unruly over the past three days. “I’m surprised some of the local she-bears didn’t some sniffing around to get some of you.”
The Sheikh grunted as he looked up from between her breasts which were now glistening from his kisses. “Is that an insult or a compliment? I cannot tell.”
She moaned as he pushed her back against a tree and spread her legs wide, pushing up her loose blue skirts. He placed the back of his palm flat against the front of her panties, pressing with his knuckles into just the right spots, like he knew exactly where her swollen clit was, where her turgid nether lips were. Like he remembered. Like he’d never forgotten.
“What did you just say?” she gurgled as she spread her legs and arched her back farther, reveling in the way he was rubbing the insides of her heavy thighs, which were aching from three days of all-day hiking—with Sage in her arms half the time.
“I said . . .” he whispered just as her panties came off and the warm breeze rushed into the damp space between her open legs, making her shiver and sputter. He slowly leaned down and kissed her pubic curls, his tongue teasing a path through her bush, its stiff tip finding her vulva red and awake, alert and in need. “I said . . .” he whispered again, licking her slit in long, even strokes with the flat of his warm tongue. “Careful not to wake our bear-cub when I make you come, hard and wild, like an animal in nature.”
Her eyes went wide as he said it, and then she felt him slide his stiff tongue deep into her, curling it upwards and dragging against the front wall of her vagina with it, zeroing in on that fibrous little bead hidden about two inches in, the sensitive spot that she could rarely find herself when she tried!
“Oh, God, Bilaal,” she moaned as she felt her orgasm dance its way into view like the gay waters of that mountain spring. The climax started light and bouncy, like it would be quick and fun, but as the Sheikh kept thrusting with his strong tongue, he started tapping her clit with his heavy thumb, his other hand gliding up her body, squeezing her belly, kneading her breasts, pinching her nipples, his fingers sliding into her mouth as she gasped. And then the climax hit hard and full, like that bubbly spring had turned into a tidal wave, a tsunami that was still building, higher and higher . . .
Suddenly the Sheikh was inside her with his cock, and she gasped and choked at how quickly he’d pulled his trousers down and replaced his tongue with his throbbing, beast of an erection. The change in girth was too much for her, and she almost burst into tears as she felt herself being stretched wide open, just like she’d been opened up by his entry three years ago.
He was kneeling before her, holding her legs up with her knees bent, knocking her body against the tree trunk as he fucked her with increasing force, his thrusts digging deep into her valley, her vagina responding by flooding his cock with its juice, greasing his path into her depths. She could feel her wetness dripping onto his heavy balls as he placed his hands under her ass and lifted
her each time he rammed his way in.
“This is how they did it in the wild,” he growled against her ear as he pulled back and slammed once again into her, sending a blast of arousal and the best kind of pain shooting through her. “Not giving a damn who was watching. No shame. No self-consciousness. The animals all around. Family and the tribe just going about their day as men took their women whenever and wherever they wanted. Now that was freedom, true freedom.”
He grunted and breathed hard into her hair, licking her forehead, kissing her nose, grabbing a fistful of her messy locks as she moaned and shook with each thrust. She could feel another orgasm coming in, and she clawed at his back, digging her fingernails deep into him as she felt his cock get harder inside her, like he was preparing to explode once again.
“We must make another,” he’d said to her earlier, she remembered now. “We must make another.”
And as that orgasm finally rolled in, she felt the Sheikh seize up inside her, his balls clenching against the bottom of her crack as he began to spurt his seed into her.
“Oh, God,” she groaned as she felt him shudder and groan as he pumped his slick heat into her, his powerful hips thrusting back in for each discharge. She could feel her vagina flooding with his semen, and she was astonished at how much he was delivering to her. Her climax rolled back and forth as he poured his seed into her, her pussy clenching and releasing in rhythm.
What seemed like minutes of ecstasy passed by them as they climaxed together. Incredibly, he was still coming when she started to regain her senses, and she reached down between them and cradled his heavy balls with her palm, slowly massaging them, reveling in how they tightened at her touch, like they were responding to her gentle coaxing to serve up all his seed, every bit of it, every damned drop.
26
“Ya Allah,” he groaned as he felt her warm hands cup his clenched balls, sending a pulse of arousal through his entire core. He could feel the trees swaying in time with their rhythm, and he could sense the bubbling brook watching in awe as he unleashed his river into her valley.
He was somehow still hard as a rock, his orgasm still going as his heavy body flailed and thrashed against her soft and supple breasts, her warm mound. He was growling and grunting, and when Irene held his balls he roared as a fresh burst of his seed pushed its way up his engorged cock and out into her warm cunt.
He felt so damn tight inside her it was intoxicating, and the Sheikh’s eyes had rolled up in his head when he felt his orgasm finally begin to wind down, his massive thrusts easing up as her moans settled down into rhythmic whimpers.
Finally they were both done, and he kissed her neck and her face, locked lips with her and pushed his tongue deep inside to taste her sweetness. She was his, he knew. She’d always been his. It just took some extreme circumstances to get him to realize it.
“Of course you are mine,” he said out loud, smiling as she nodded like she knew exactly what he meant. “You are the mother of my child, and the woman of my—”
But before he could finish the sentence and kiss her again, they heard a giggle from their left, and they turned to see Sage’s bright brown eyes wide awake and watching, all the innocence of a child on full display. His mouth was wide open, the biggest smile in the world on his smooth round face. He was too young to attach human inventions like shame and privacy to what he’d just witnessed, and he was simply reacting to what he felt in the atmosphere.
Love.
The love between a man and a woman. Free and natural. Flesh and spirit. Body and mind.
Love.
And then, as if the gods and devils were working in tandem, came another sound from the bushes behind them, along with the deep stench of unwashed animal, the smell of pure wildness, the musk of fur. And as the Sheikh slowly turned his body, he heard the deep, throaty, rumbling growl of the beast closing in on them.
27
“Do not move,” said the Sheikh, barely moving his jaw as he said it.
Irene could feel Bilaal slowly shift his body to shield her and Sage from the direction of the growl. They couldn’t see the animal yet, but Irene knew it wasn’t any of the wildcats, which meant it was a bear. A big one.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Irene, grabbing Sage and pulling him onto her lap and hugging him hard. “If it’s a grizzly, we’re done. We can’t outrun him, and we can’t outfight him.”
“Then we will out-talk him,” said the Sheikh, slowly rising as the growling got deeper and closer.
“What?” said Irene, trying to grab the Sheikh’s arm before he got them all killed. But the Sheikh was stark naked, his skin wet and glowing from their lovemaking, and he pulled away from her and stood to full height just as the bear emerged from the woods.
It was enormous, a full-grown grizzly with a head the size of a wrecking ball, eyes like red coals, a snout longer than she’d ever seen, yellowed teeth bared, claws out. Irene could feel every hair on her head and neck stand up straight, and she pulled Sage into her breast and wrapped him up in that blanket and hugged him for dear life. This bear would have to go through both the Sheikh and her before it got a chance to even touch Sage. He would survive, she told herself. That’s all that mattered.
“You are an older bear,” the Sheikh said, his voice gentle but deep, almost like he was talking to a child—a very big and dangerous child. “A loner. You have raised a family and your cubs are grown and living lives of their own, in territories of their own. I am just starting my family. My cub is young, and we only stopped on your land to rest. We are only passing through on our way to my land.”
“Are you insane?” Irene muttered as she stared incredulously at this buck naked king, his muscular buttocks facing her, naked and bronze. “You cannot negotiate with a goddamn grizzly!”
The Sheikh ignored her and kept talking in that gentle but firm tone. The bear was still growling, but it had not advanced yet, and Irene finally had the courage to look at the beast, even though she was careful not to look it in the eye.
Now she understood what the Sheikh was trying to do. Of course the bear couldn’t understand what he was saying. But the tone of voice was having an impact. All animals respond to a gentle, soothing voice, she remembered reading in a book by a famous animal trapper who would capture dangerous animals for zoos. Gentle and soothing tone, she thought again as she watched the Sheikh stand his ground even though she knew his natural instinct would be to run.
Gentle and soothing, came the thought for a third time, and now Irene plucked up her courage and took a breath to calm herself down. She slowly unwrapped the blanket from Sage, cradling her bear-cub in her arms. And then she began to hum that tune, that old western lullaby.
She saw the Sheikh’s body tense up, his fists clenching as he tried his best not to make any sudden moves. Then, just like he’d done with her when they rocked their cub to sleep, he began to hum along with her.
Sage wasn’t crying, even though by all rights he should be terrified. Perhaps he felt safe in Mama’s arms, with Dada standing guard in front of them. Who knew. All Irene knew is that right then, right there, she was singing for her life, for her child’s life, for her man’s life.
For her family’s life.
The surreal scene continued for what seemed like an eternity, and Irene wasn’t sure how long she could maintain this calmness before she broke and allowed the panic to take over. The Sheikh still stood in front of them, naked and tall, facing the bear with his cock hanging out. Perhaps she would have found it funny if she weren’t acutely aware of the danger.
She could feel her resolve weaken as the bear stood its ground, its teeth still bared, its eyes fixed on the Sheikh. Then she sensed movement in the animal, and she realized it had turned its head to gaze at her and Sage. Somehow she kept humming in that calm, gentle, soothing tone, even though she could feel a trembling build up in her. She wanted to burst into tears, but
she knew they’d all be torn to shreds if she broke.
I won’t break, she told herself. And he won’t break. We’re protecting our child, and we won’t break.
Now a smile broke on her face as she hummed, and she could feel the Sheikh’s deep baritone carry her sweet soprano over the bubbling waters of the stream, mixing with the rustling of the trees, the chirping of the birds, the calling of the insects. It was like an orchestra now, all of nature joining in this divine song, all the flora and fauna of the woods singing together, reminding her that they were all part of nature, all born from the same heavenly womb.
Two plump tears rolled down her quivering cheeks, and for a moment Irene wondered if the exhilaration she felt meant she had lost her mind from the stress. But she could hear herself still humming, the Sheikh along with her, the birds still chirping, the insects still merrily cricking and crooning. Sage was smiling up at her, and through her tears she realized she herself was still smiling.
And as that surreal song of theirs played its magical tune, the bear took a step back. Its raised lips slowly lowered. Yellow teeth getting smaller, finally disappearing beneath its snout. Another step back. And another. Then it turned and stomped away through the woods.
The Sheikh stood rigid for a moment, his head pointed in the direction the bear had taken. After several minutes, Irene saw him relax. Then he turned to her, and she saw the strain on his face mixed with traces of that same feeling of joy she’d experienced. He came to her, going down on his knees as he embraced her and their son.
Finally the relief came pouring in, and as the tension broke, Irene let the tears break. Soon she was sobbing into his chest, Sage pleasantly squished between Mama and Papa, the Sheikh crying along with them, all of them moved by something inexplicable, something magical, something wonderful.
Shelter for the Sheikh: A Royal Billionaire Romance Novel (Curves for Sheikhs Series Book 9) Page 9
