His Pregnant Prisoner

Part 21

Karim's mind raced like the sand that flew from dune to dune shifting the very landscape of the harsh desert.

His anxiety about Nakayla had lasted two minutes after he had entered the chief's tent.

Shame had his fingers tighten over the steering wheel as he remembered the chief's disbelief at Narif's accusations."Your father and you have forgotten tradition, our roots, the very fabric that makes the Bedouin life."

Every word, spoken in a soft yet steely tone, was true.

To assume that they would have harmed a hair on Nakayla, on any woman, pregnant or otherwise, had been pure ignorance and blind prejudice.

The tribes were known for their hospitality, their generosity to even an enemy requesting shelter, legendary.

"We give our women protection, a respectable place in life. Not keep them as prisoners or mistresses."

That statement lashed against his sense of honor.

Knowing the route to the oasis like the back of his hand, he chanced a glance at Nakayla. Her head tilted back against the seat, and her eyes closed, he saw the resolute tilt of her chin, the long line of her throat, her fingers laced tightly in her lap.

Still, there was a knot in his chest, a leftover from his fear for her and the baby.

"This woman carrying your child is brave, kind, strong..." the chief had said. "Marry her, Karim. Make her your sheikha and we will end this enmity between the tribes and the state. We will forget what your father did to one of our daughters."

Bringing the tribes back into the fold would be the advantage he needed. Not even the High Council could fault his power, or his reign then. For he would be fixing a fracture in the very fabric of their nation.

Tahiti would be strong and one again, after three decades of being torn apart by his father's selfish and scandalous pursuit of a young, innocent woman from the tribes.

All he had to do was marry the woman carrying his child, the woman that set fire to his blood, the woman who...

Might hate to be used as a pawn in his game for power, his conscience piped up.

It is a gift, Karim, some devil inside his head said. It's the one gift you have received in your hard, betrayed, duty-bound, cursed life, it whispered.

Nakayla and this child and the ability to finally unite Tahiti and rule it, it was all a gift.

She had always wanted his commitment, a definition to their relationship, hadn't she?

Here it was. The biggest commitment he had ever made, except to Tahiti.

He couldn't squander this gift.

Not if it would bring legitimacy to his child and his power.