Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“Really, Mother? Really? Pokemon Go and Diet?”
He started laughing, and Vanna started seeing red. “Wretch!”
Two years ago
The day of Kyria’s high school graduation dawned bright and clear. Allah is good, Malik thought as he followed the rest of his brothers out of the palace and stepped inside the limousine. Their presence at the ceremony was to be a surprise to Kyria, who in her usual modest way had only requested for Vanna to attend her special day.
“What are you smiling about?” Tarif demanded testily of Malik.
“I was thinking of Kyria,” Malik answered calmly, ignoring his cousin’s tone. It was a well-known fact in the palace that Tarif was the only one among the Al-Atassi sheikhs who turned into a growling, snapping beast in the mornings. That the other sheikh had made the effort to attend Kyria’s eight o’ clock ceremony was proof of how much the young woman meant to him as well.
Rayyan rolled his eyes. “When do you ever not think of her?”
“Airafi.” Fuck you. “I was merely thinking how well she’s turned out, considering all the circumstances.”
Altair shook his head in amusement, drawling, “While I commend you for your sentiments, don’t you think it’s time you stop talking about her like you’re her father?”
The others laughed as Malik muttered an ill-used and extremely crude profanity in their native language.
“She’s already eighteen, Malik,” Khalil pointed out.
“I know that.” Malik’s tone was irritated. Contrary to the others’ belief, Malik had far from forgotten the fact that Kyria was indeed eighteen, an age considered legal and a mark of adulthood in most parts of the world.
He knew that nothing should legally stop him now from making a move, but even so he found himself unable to do so. Eighteen still felt too young and too soon to chain a woman to his side for eternity. While his stand on this hadn’t changed, something else had.
Kyria at eighteen had a woman’s body, and it was this knowledge that unleashed something primitive inside of him. These days, her body was all he could think about, and the thought would always mutate into a gnawing physical ache every time he saw her. Even as he despised himself for wanting her, he simply couldn’t stop himself of thinking of the things he wanted to do with her.
He would see her breasts heave under her shirt, and it would lead to thoughts of how beautifully shaped they were – the perfect size for his hands to palm and squeeze. Other times, it would have him jacking off in the shower while he thought of the color of her nipples. If – when – he ever saw them, he could probably feast on her lovely nipples for—-
“We’re here,” Altair said.
His brother’s voice cut through his thoughts, and Malik shifted on his seat in an uncomfortable attempt to repress his erection. Lueta. If he didn’t find a way to control his sexual fantasies about Kyria anytime soon, he might end up sporting a boner in public.
Dressed in ordinary robes and their gazes covered with dark glasses, the sheikhs were able to slip inside the auditorium and walk among the other guests unnoticed. Their anonymity would not last of course, and they knew it. Already, the young women around them were giggling and elbowing each other, their eyes glued to the rather remarkable portrait the five tall, broad-shouldered men presented. But even so, the Al-Atassi sheikhs were determined to make the most out of their reprieve, however brief.
“Found her,” Malik said under his breath.
The other sheikhs smirked. Of course their youngest would be the one to find her first.
“Do you remember when we used to play hide and seek at the palace,” Khalil said musingly. Kyria had just moved into the palace then, and they had all been making an effort to cheer the seven-year-old girl up.
Tarif, having now acclimated to the god-awful hours of morning, grinned at the memories Khalil’s words evoked. “I know exactly what you’re thinking.” Malik had always been the one to find Kyria first back then, too, and every time he did the young Malik’s chest would puff and he would strut around the palace as if he was the king of the world simply because he always knew where to find Kyria.
Malik grimaced when he saw the other sheikhs smirking. “For Allah’s sake, stop that,” he muttered.
But of course his older brothers only ignored him, united as always in their desire to needle him.
“He’d be so proud,” Altair recalled with a chuckle, “and then Kyria would burst into tears, and Malik would be remorseful.”
“He’d promise not to find her again first,” Tarif continued in an amused tone, “But the next time we’d play, he wouldn’t be able to help it.”
“It was as if he couldn’t bear the thought of any of us finding her first,” Rayyan said with a grin.