Chapter 8

Shania knew that her time was up the moment she saw the bus driver take a call on his cell phone and then swiftly glance back at his passengers. She pulled the ball cap that she'd hidden in her purse down lower over her forehead and slouched further into the seat. She leaned her head against the window and watched the city lights grow closer. So close she could almost touch them.

She wondered what would happen. There were a few other people on the bus. A group of drunk, laughing women bouncing around on the seats behind her and a guy who looked like he was asleep. What if she just started screaming for help?

Shania wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure Khalid's reach was endless within this city, perhaps even further. It didn't matter where she went, he would track her down. Shania glanced sideways out the window in time to see a black blur of vehicle overtake the bus with a roar. She gasped and sat up straight, watching apprehensively as it cut in front of the bus and stopped. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the bus slow and then stop.

Shania stood up on shaking legs. There was no point in drawing this out. She was no coward, and she wouldn't drag innocent people into her business.

She made her way to the front of the bus.

She asked the driver in a shaky voice, "Please open the door. He's here for me."

He nodded and sent her a pitying look before opening the door. He probably thought she had stolen from the casino or something equally stupid and had gotten caught.

Khalid stood below her on the ground. His face was in shadows so she couldn't see his expression, but there was no missing the cold fury that rolled off of him. He was more casually dressed tonight than usual, in black jeans and a leather jacket with thick leather boots. He reached a hand up and waited for her to take it. Closing her eyes briefly, Shania placed her hand in his and stepped to the ground.

She had never noticed their height difference with such clarity as she did now. His extra inches of height and breadth lent to his air of menace. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heart.

Khalid nodded sharply at the bus driver. "Move."

"Yes, sir," the driver said, shutting the door quickly and getting the bus under way again.

Shania stared after it with longing.

"Come," Khalid said, his voice frigid. He tugged her toward the sleek, black Bentley at the side of the road.

He pulled the door open and pressed her down into the lush interior of the passenger side. He slammed the door shut and went around to the other side. Shania sat frozen in her seat as he slid into the car. He glanced at her and then impatiently reached around her to buckle her seatbelt. She jumped and leaned away at the brief contact of his fingers across her breasts.

Noticing, Khalid snorted sardonically.

He turned on the engine, and with a single glance over his shoulder, swiftly maneuvered the car in a U and back onto the road. Shania clutched her seat as she watched the needle on the speedometer climb higher and higher until they were at almost twice the speed limit. The car was so smooth it ate up the road without a single protest.

Her throat was dry. She didn't know if she should speak or keep silent. He didn't look like he wanted to talk at the moment, but she had to try and plead her case before they got back to the casino. Before she was once more wholly under his power.

"I'm sorry," Shania whispered, heart racing, "but I had to go."

Khalid said nothing for a minute. Shania thought he wasn't going to say anything, until finally he said menacingly, "No. You didn't."

"You don't understand!" Shania cried. "I can't stay with you against my will! It's perverse, it's barbaric. I'm not some toy you can just dress up and keep. I can't be what you want me to be Khalid!"

His nose flared and his hand tightened on the gearshift as though straining to keep himself from grabbing her. "We had a deal," he snarled.

"You had a deal!" she said desperately. "You gave me no choice!"

"I gave you more," he bit out in rage, "than I've given anyone, ever."

Tears gathered in Shania's eyes. She was saddened that she couldn't reach him. That he had led such a lonely existence. That he couldn't understand the difference between giving himself to a free woman and giving himself to a captive.

"You didn't give me freedom," she said sadly.

He laughed bitterly. "Oh, you had freedom, princess," the endearment a sarcastic sneer. "You will soon realize just how much freedom I was allowing you."

Oh god! Shania shrank away from him as much as the interior of the car would allow. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"What I should've done with you the first night you walked into my casino."

The car stopped. Shania looked up in confusion. She had been so locked in their conversation that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. Khalid had driven them around to the back of the casino. She shrank back into her seat as he rounded the car and yanked her door open. Before she could get out, he reached in, unlatched her seatbelt and yanked her free.

Shania stumbled and, without giving her the opportunity to right herself, he dragged her toward the back door held open by a shadowed bodyguard. Breathlessly, she stumbled into him and jerked back, hitting the doorframe. The ball cap tumbled off her dark head. She whimpered as pain shot through her arm.

He swung her around so she was standing within the cage of his arms. His hand briefly came up to touch the spot where her shoulder had hit the doorframe, checking for damage. Then, suddenly impatient, he dropped his hand and continued dragging her through the darkened back hallways of the hotel casino, careful not to bump her against anything again. The kitchen was closed, so the back part of the casino had been shut down for the night.

"Khalid, please slow down!" she cried out, one hand clutching him for balance and the other reaching out into the darkness. The glow of the exit signs illuminated their progress, casting his face with an eerie red glow.

Ignoring her plea, he stopped in front of the staff elevator and punched the button. Ash approached from a different hallway as they waited for the elevator. His eyes flickered over Shania for the barest second before landing on his boss.

"Casino is good. The high stakes game finished without incident. And I moved any meetings to tomorrow." Ash stood straight and hard as the day Shania met him. She wished she could tell if he was angry with her. She wanted to apologize for possibly getting him in trouble, but knew she had better keep her mouth shut.

Khalid nodded and then jerked his head. "Go."

Ash hesitated just long enough to earn a scathing glare from his boss. Ash's gaze settled on Shania's terrified face. She knew instantly that he wasn't angry, he was worried for her. Over Khalid's shoulder Shania mouthed 'go' as well, not wanting the big fighter to get himself fired (or worse) over her. Ash turned and left just as the elevator arrived.

Khalid pushed Shania inside and stabbed the button to the fifth floor. Not the penthouse. They ascended in silence. Shania thought of their first elevator ride together. When he had touched her, caressed her neck and made love to her with the barest of touches. God, he was so angry now. She still felt the erotic tension flowing between them, but it was different, twisted. She knew whatever he was planning on doing, it wasn't pretty or romantic.