Lyla"You're going to want to sit down, Lyla."I frowned. "What? Why?""Please."His words were garbled with the fat lip and his jaw being as fucked up as it was. I didn't have the heart to argue with him, especially not since it was taking such a great deal of effort to talk to me in the first place. Grabbing one of the chairs over by the doorway, I dragged it over to the foot of his bed and slowly lowered myself into it. Charlie sat up slowly, positioning himself carefully in order to avoid all of the wires hooked around Shane's body."Can I get you anything?" I ran a gentle hand down Shane's cheek."I'm okay, love." My heart ached at seeing them like this. "Shane, whoever did this to you is going to rot in jail. I'm going to hire you the best lawyer so that we can bury this fucker."At my words, Charlie turned to me, his eyes shining slightly with unshed tears. "You mean that, Lyla?"I smiled. "Of course, I do."That seemed
RashidLyla looked as beautiful as ever, standing there in her untied sweats and an oversized t-shirt that showed only the hints of the round belly hidden underneath. She had a jacket thrown over with the front of it unzipped that she'd seemed to have pulled over herself in a hurry. Her long hair had been pulled away from her face, half-tied messily with pieces of it framing her face.Her eyes were wide, staring at me in surprise while her hand rested on the side of the door frame to steady herself. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.My knuckles stung when I flexed my hands in my lap, the cuts have already scabbed over while I'd been sitting in jail. No one had given me anything to clean my hands with, but I suspected that was more out of lack of supplies rather than outright disrespect."He's cheating on you, Lyla."Her face changed at my words, morphing into a complicated expression that I'd never seen before. She looke
LylaA gasp left my mouth without warning when the bulge in Rashid's pants brushed up against my thigh again. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I hadn't been so turned on in… well, forever. Since I'd come back from Dubai. Over the last few months, my body had gone into hibernation. I no longer felt those sexual urges like I once had—too focused on my future and my baby to dedicate any time toward it.But now that Rashid was here, in the flesh, tempting me so badly… I wanted it.I wanted him.Fuck, I missed having a hard cock in me. Stroking my inner walls to the point where I felt like I was going insane. I missed milking him dry and feeling the way he shuddered against me as he lost control of himself. The ever-stoic prince coming undone from my touches and the way I could drive him just as crazy as he had me. My legs parted almost immediately, wanting to feel that hard part of him rubbing against me like we were some horny teenagers scr
LylaI woke up entangled in Rashid's limbs. Having no idea when we'd collapsed and fallen asleep, it was safe to say that the position we had twisted ourselves into had long since grown uncomfortable.Not to mention we were both still crusted over with sweat and cum…Slowly sliding out from under Rashid's arm, I rolled onto my side and pushed myself up slowly. My thighs and back screamed from being compressed into the bed by Rashid relentlessly pounding into me. There was a satisfying burn between my legs as I stood slowly and stretched my arms over my head.Damn. I didn't know how badly I needed those orgasms until now.Heading out of my room, I made my way across the hall and into my bathroom. Shutting the door was hard to do without making any noise, but I managed to do so before flipping on the light and getting a good look at myself in the mirror.Holy… fuck.I looked like a hot mess.Running my fingers through my hair a few times,
Rashid The bed next to me was cold when I ran my hand over it searching for Lyla. My eyes were heavy when they opened, my vision temporarily blinded by the light overhead shining down on me. I rolled onto my back with a groan before sitting up and stretching my body out from the cramped position.The room was empty aside from me. Maybe she'd gotten up to shower or make food. Having no idea what her nightly routine was, I'm sure my interrupting it had offset whatever schedule she had for herself. A part of me felt bad for doing it while the other was deeply satisfied.My back cracked when I stretched my arms over my head, a soft groan escaping me. While I hadn't slept too long, it'd been deep and restful. Much different than the rest I'd been getting since landing in the States.Shuffling to my feet, I noticed that our clothes were still scattered all over the floor—a good sign that she wasn't far. I'm sure if she left, she would've told me.Not
LylaI sat outside on the stoop of Charlie's apartment complex for a long time. Despite my chest feeling like it's been cracked open, the rising sun coming up over the buildings was almost peaceful in a way and brought me some sense of comfort despite the chilling feeling of having disappointed both myself and my ex-lover.Whatever I'd been expecting out of Rashid's mouth when I'd realized he'd been the one calling hadn't been to the confession to wanting me.Of course, I reciprocated it, but admitting to it was more stupid than any decision I could've ever made. I hated how he made me feel, that false hope he instilled in me that just wouldn't quit no matter how hard I tried to stamp it down and ignore it.It wasn't easy pretending that I was okay anymore and it was getting increasingly harder trying to ignore every fiber of my being telling me to throw caution to the wind and tell Rashid everything. But what good would it do? Even if he wanted to ta
RashidMy mind was lost in its own world by the time I got back to my suite at the hotel and buried myself in bed for the rest of the day.With the curtains drawn over the windows and every light switched off, I'd effectively plunged myself into the same pit of darkness that I could feel growing inside of my chest. What hurt the most, out of everything, was that it was clear to me that Lyla was only pushing me away because of my engagement and not because she didn't have feelings for me. I wanted to be angry, but in the end, I understood.As heartbreaking as all of this was, she was justified in her feelings of not wanting to get closer to me any more than she already had. Of course, this wasn't fair to either of us to deny our obvious feelings for one another, but what were the consequences if we continued to give in to them?I had no plan for what I would do if I let my mind follow what my heart was telling me—rip Lyla away from her world and take her to
LylaShockingly, I was able to get up from my couch after Hafsa left without peeing my pants from the residual fear left over from her being inside my house.I was still in shock, of course, but what drove me to eventually be able to peel myself off the couch was that my baby had no care about what was going on outside and only cared deep enough to remind me that I was still hungry.My hands shook slightly as I made myself a sandwich and poured a generous amount of water that I downed before I even got a chance to take a bite. But with something in my system, my head was thankfully clearing out the cobwebs that had been left behind.My only saving grace was that Hafsa still had no idea I was pregnant. Which was a good thing. As long as she took Rashid back to Dubai without finding out, there was nothing she could do to me or the baby until I had him. Hopefully.What could happen after that was anyone's guess.After eating and settling down a littl
RashidThree Months Later…"Rashid! Can you come grab the milk out of the microwave!" Lyla called out through the house.I looked up from the laptop resting in my lap, my eyes readjusting from looking at the screen for too long and watering slightly. "I got it," my sister said, pulling herself up from the floor."Thanks." I stretched my arms over my head, feeling my shoulders crack as I did so. Who knew trying to find accommodations for a former princess was going to be this much of a hassle?Salama and I had been working on finding her a place to live on her own while Lyla and I's house was being built. After her breakup with Javier, my parents had disowned her as well, cutting her off before she had a chance to explain that he'd masterminded an entire campaign into trying to steal my wife away to Spain with him.According to our parents, Salama was just as much of a failure as I was and since she'd gotten back into contact with me and come ov
LylaJavier smiled at me. "I told you that. Remember?"I shook my head at him, trying to move backward but was only met with the hard bodies of the guards surrounding me. In my arms, Nasir began to cry. The sound made my heart ache. It fucking sucks that my newborn child has been put into this situation. It's not fair. "What is going on!" Salama tried to jerk away from the guards surrounding her too. "Javier, what are you doing!"He sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you, but I have to break off our engagement. Don't worry, I won't make it look like you were at fault.""I don't care about that!" she snapped back. "You're not actually taking her back to Spain with you, right?""I am, actually."I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Javier. You know that."He frowned at me. "Lyla, we had a deal. I help you get your baby back and you come with me to Spain. You agreed to that.""I got my own baby back! No thanks to you!" I cried, holding m
RashidI wasn't completely familiar with the palace but I had a general sense of where things were from the copious amount of times my father had gone into great detail about the intricacies of how this palace had been rebuilt after he'd become king.Why my father had been so obsessed with discussing architecture with me was beyond my comprehension at the time, but today I was grateful for it. Thankful even. Maybe I'd send the old bastard a thank you card after this was all said and done.After we'd closed Hafsa inside the nursery, we hurried down the hallway on the opposite side of where we'd come up from the staircase. I remembered there being a door to the outside toward the back of the palace, used for any of the waitstaff that came and went as they needed to.I didn't have any worries getting past them. By the time any of them realized who we were and what we were doing in order to call someone, we'd be long gone in a car to my jet sitting in the hangar w
LylaI instantly wanted to cry.All of my emotions over the past few days that I'd bottled down in favor of trying to remain headstrong were finally coming up to the surface at the mere thought of finally being able to see my child again. Was this it? Was this really it?"Is he…?" Rashid asked from across the room.Before I actually broke down though, I reached over the side of the crib and gently folded my hands under the bundle lying there, lifting him gently until I had him out of the crib and tucked into my chest. He made a small noise as he readjusted himself, pressing his face into my neck and sighing softly against my skin.Oh my god.Finally.My hand came up to curl around the back of his head, my entire body folding around him to protect him from everything. Like I was his own personal human meat shield. My baby. My son.Finally, back in my arms.I rocked him gently, feeling that familiar weight I remembered on my chest
LylaDucking and weaving around corners to remain hidden was more annoying than I thought it would be.With Salama guiding us through the palace, she was constantly grabbing my arm and yanking me into a dark room, the sounds of others passing by or even the remnants of someone moving down a corridor had us both spooked beyond belief.I wasn't sure as to why Salama's parents wanted her back just as badly as they wanted Rashid, but I tried to stop understanding them a long time ago. It was easier to just assume the worst at this point.We wandered around what felt like every single damn hallway we could find. Having no clue as to how we were supposed to get out of here, or where to find Rashid in all of this as well as where Hafsa had run off to. Both of us were slowly growing more frustrated with each hallway we stumbled upon."This place is so horribly mapped," she spat as she dragged me down another corridor. "Who in their right mind would design a palace like
LylaI had no idea how long I sat there on the floor before I remembered I had my phone still tucked into my jeans pocket.Sometimes past-me really had future-me's back. That was for sure. I had no idea who the hell I was going to call, but I had to try someone.Pulling my phone out, I dialed Melanie first. Her groggy voice answered me only a moment later."Mmm… Lyla?"I gasped into the phone. "They have me locked in a room!""What?" There was rustling on the other end. I sobbed into the phone, my entire body shaking as I spoke. "They locked me in a room! They took Salama away too! Javier's going to take me to Spain with him and I'm never going to get to see my baby again!""Hold on, I can't—hold on." There was a groan on the other end from Zayed before Melanie came back on the phone. "Lyla, where are you?""The palace in Abu Dhabi," I choked out. "They… I don't know, had this plan to give me to Javier to take back to Spain. I don't k
LylaI pushed past Salama to get into the room, a gasp leaving me the moment I laid my eyes on the scene in front of me.My heart pounded so wildly in my chest that I was afraid it was going to split my ribcage open and jump out. It felt like a dream to see what was in front of me—to finally lay my eyes on the one person who'd completely ruined my life and the one that had completely changed it too.There was Hafsa, seated in a large round chair with her arms cradling a small bundle. She smiled down at it, rocking slightly as she murmured something softly. The scene was so domestic and sweet looking that for a moment I felt delusional. There was no way that someone looking that content with life could have done all of this.But as soon as I heard a soft cooing sound, my dream-like state crumbled, forcing me back into the reality that was and not the one that my brain wanted me to believe in.I stumbled forward toward her, a hand quickly jerking me back from the
RashidWe followed the attendant to an unmarked room away from the waiting room we'd been kept in for a little over half an hour. I wasn't surprised they were all taking their time. It was normal for officials to draw these kinds of things out, either for their own benefit by starving their clients, or making them too aggravated to think properly.And while normally it had the potential to work, both Javier and I were above falling for such things. We'd been trained in it, after all.Although, I am becoming a little jittering having to wait for so long. Because I know that if all goes well with this meeting, I'll be one step closer to getting my son back and holding him in my arms, and witnessing Lyla be a wonderful mother to him like it's second nature and she was born to do it.We're missing out on so many firsts with our newborn baby all because of that selfish fucking woman. The thought of Hafsa with Nasir caring for him like Lyla and I should be at this t
Lyla Waking up the next day to Rashid's grave face sent me into a small panic attack that I ended up locking myself inside of my bathroom to deal with it while he got the rest of our stuff ready to head out.I didn't want to bother him with more of my head-shit, having seen him stressed way too much about the other things on his plate he had very little control over. It wasn't fair of me to monopolize him with all of my problems when he had his own to sort out too. Dumping everything onto him, especially right before we were going to be heading out, was a shitty thing to do.Finally, after what felt like an hour, I gathered myself and splashed some water on my face before finally leaving the bathroom and heading out to join the rest of our group in the living room. Surprisingly enough, they all looked just as stressed as I felt, even Salama who I'd suspected only came on this trip to supervise her fiance looked like she'd barely slept all night. I didn't know whet