Captive- Veiled Desires (23 page)

“I suppose. I miss the opportunity of being able to strangle him,” she added slowly.

Husna shook her head amusedly. “You are lucky that your husband like you very much. Not all us women are blessed with love like yours.”

Nora raised her brow, observing her with interest. “How did you do it, Husna? How did you marry a man you hardly met? And yet now you talk so lovingly about him.”

“I love him now, yes. Not like before.” The woman nodded as she went about her business. “But you have no choice. In this country, love is a crime. Women and men cannot love each other before they marry. It is thought as great sin. It is sad, yes… but it is culture too.” She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “We have to follow culture.”

Nora watched her keenly. She had been wallowing in her pity all this while, drowning in her sorrow for the circumstances she was caught in when there were women like Husna who didn’t know a life any different from suffering. She perked her lips in thought. She maybe a victim but she was no longer going to play the victimized. She was going to spend the rest of her days in captive, enjoying the most of it if she could help it.

“Husna,” she said, ambling over to the woman organizing her wardrobe.

“Hmmm,” Husna sounded, thoroughly engrossed in her task.

“Let’s go.”

“Where,
khor
?”

“Leave that,” Nora ordered. “Do it later. Let’s go to the orchards. Let’s eat all the apples and peaches we can. And then I want to run through the beautiful fields of yellow rapeseed.”

Husna chuckled when she saw the cheeky glint in her eyes. “You gone… mad,
khor
.”

“Perhaps, I have gone insane. And at this moment, I just don’t care,” she said, already heading towards the door. She was going to claim her freedom- from this place, from this sorrow, from Adam and from the spell he had seemingly trapped her in.

Amy flexed her fingers, studying the little sparkle of light reflecting in her simple wedding band. He had slipped it on her and she had never protested. Did she want this? She bit her lips. There was a sweet ache in her chest and she loved it.

She glanced over at the man sleeping beside her. Undeniably, she had grown fond of him. And she couldn’t think of a life without him in it. Was this love?

She sighed, her eyes drifting over the rest of the sleeping passengers in the plane. The whirring of the engine filled her ears. She couldn’t see much outside her little window. It was dark, and other than the occasional mutterings and the flight attendants on their usual patrol down the aisle, not much else stirred in the aircraft.

Her anxiety knotted in her stomach. This was as peaceful as it would probably get for a long time. Once they would land, she and Jake would not only be pitted against forces to find Nora, they would be fighting to survive as well.

Jake threaded his fingers through hers. “Sleep,” he murmured. “You will need it.” He brought her wedding band to his lips and kissed it. “I’ll buy you a proper ring when we get back home.”

She smiled. Yes, she would love that.

Adam crouched near the banks of the small lake, watching the ripples the wind made over the surface of the water.

He didn’t like the loneliness he had once cherished before Nora marched into his life. He wanted her back, but under the circumstances he couldn’t find one good reason to keep her by his side.  He had been a fool to think he could treat her like any one of his missions. She had captivated him the instant they had locked eyes together at Dal Lake. And when he had seen her in that prison in Paktika, he had floundered between killing Mateen on touching her and counting the incident as a sign of fate bringing them together.

A cloud of dust in the distance caught his attention and he stood up, bracing his gun against him. But then he recognized the army green vehicle driving towards him. It was Basel and his pulse raced to find out how she had been.

He was proud of his achievements in Wardak and a secret part of him wanted her to see that. He hoped this would impress her. He also had wanted more than just success in his mission. He had labored to truly give back to his people and his Wardak farm had managed to accomplish just that. The poor farmers he had employed to manage his farm had learned that there was still hope in building a dream despite the chaos about them.

When the vehicle came to a stop before him, he surprisingly managed to restrain his ego without leaping at the man and asking about her.

“I found out you were here at the lake,” Basel said as he slammed the door behind him. He narrowed his eyes and turned towards the horizon from which he had come.  “That’s a quite a long walk you’ve taken from the compound.”

“I needed to think,” he mumbled, anxious to hear about her. But he was damned if he was going to lead Basel on about it.

“And I suppose the garage didn’t suffice?” Basel asked cheekily.

Fuck it.
“How is she?”

Basel grinned. “When I left her, she had a bright smile on her face as she strolled through your fields of rapeseed.”

“And there were guards watching over her?”

He nodded. “Don’t worry. I gave specific instructions to have her guarded at all times. She should be fine.” And then he screwed his mouth to a side in thought. “But are you?”

Adam pulled in a deep breath, his hands on his hips as he studied the sky.  Could he ignore the question? “If she is fine, then I should be okay.”

Basel looked away, although Adam was sure he wasn’t utterly convinced with his answer.

“Have you heard from the Zawahiris yet?” the man asked instead, trying his best to change the subject.

“No.” Adam rubbed his brow. “It’s not like them to not retaliate. If they are as quiet as this, they’re up to no good.”

“You don’t think they’ve learned their lesson and given up on the opium trade?”

“Saeed Zawahiri has netted a fortune with opium. I doubt he will be ready to give up on such a lucrative business only because I busted up his son’s ego.”

Basel sighed. “I could hope. Anyway, I’ll give instructions for the men to stay on alert until we get a more detailed feedback of their activities.”

“We have women and children to protect, Basel. I would hate for anything to happen to them only because we slackened on our defenses.”

Basel put an assuring arm on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll cover all the grounds with the men.”

The sound of a car horn echoed through the vast desert and the two men immediately stiffened. Whoever was at the wheel was hooting it repeatedly and with an urgency that alerted them at once.

“Did you expect a party?” Basel muttered under his breath.

“It’s Tahir,” Adam said as he began walking towards the vehicle.

The car skidded to an abrupt stop and the driver poked his head out of the window to shout at them. “It’s Mateen. He’s at the property and he’s been asking the women about Nora
khor
.”

Adam’s temples pulse rapidly. His heart pounded heavily, drowning his ears with its anxious beating.

“Adam?” Basel said, his voice shaking him out of his ire-filled daze.

“Get back to the property!” Adam commanded Tahir as he raced towards Basel’s vehicle. “Keys!” he screamed at Basel.

Basel tossed him the keys and hopped into the passenger side.

“What’s going on?” he asked as Adam shifted the vehicle into gear. “Why is Mateen asking after your wife?”

Adam jaw tightened. He had never told them the truth about Nora. As far as they knew, it was the same lie he had told those Pashtun rebels in the desert. “I got her before Mateen did and now he’s pissed.”

“I don’t understand.”

How much should he reveal to the one friend he’d always trusted and relied on?  He narrowed his eyes as he focused on getting back to the property as fast as he could.

“Adam?” Basel pressed on.

“Mateen had kidnapped Nora to rape her. And I married her before he could.”

Basel grew rigid, his jaw clenching with rage. “If he touches Nora, I’m killing the bastard this time, Adam. Don’t you try and stop me.”

Adam was silent. Not if he killed him first.

HAPTER 19

Hayat scuttled up to Adam’s vehicle as it zoomed into the driveway, almost at the risk of being run over by it. He banged on the hood of the car with urgency and raced up to the door.

“You just missed him. He’s gone!” he said, his panic still evident in his voice. “I think he’s heading towards Wardak.”

Adam clasped the wheel of his car tightly, his mind teetering between protecting his wife and protecting the defenseless women and children in his care.

Basel clasped Adam’s arm. “Go and protect your wife. I’ll be here to protect Darul-Ilhaam in case the Zawahiris take this opportunity to attack.”

Adam didn’t need another invitation. “Thanks, Basel.”

The man jumped off the vehicle and banged the hood of the car. “Go now!”

Nora tied a scarf around her head, smiling at Husna as she followed suit.

“You’re ready to do this?” she asked the woman who had gradually nestled into her heart.

“
Khor
, I never pick apples before,” Husna said excitedly. “At least, not this much.” Her eyes widened at the trees laden with fruit. “They are beautiful.”

“They are, aren’t they,” she replied, marveling at the trees herself. “Don’t worry; I’ve never done any fruit picking myself. But today’s a good day to start like no other.”

She picked up a basket and began picking at the fruit closer to the ground.

Husna glanced at her with a slightly worried look on her face. “Maybe, you should put basket down. Not good for baby.”

Nora chuckled. “I give you my word, Husna, I will be fine. And if there was a baby, it would be just as fine too.”

“If
lala
know you working hard outside in sun, he will not like,” Husna grumbled, shaking her head.

“Well, your
lala
did a lot of things
I
did not like at all. And keeping me captive happens to be just one of them.”

“Captive? I not understand.” Husna cocked her head to the side with interest.

Nora arched her eyebrow.  What exactly did Husna know about her? “Did Adam not tell you where I came from?”

“Yes, you come from America. You marry
lala
because you want Pashtun husband and learn Pashtun culture again.”

“Again,” Nora murmured under her breath as she shook her head. “Did Adam tell that story now?”

The hell with Adam. She eyed the mountains in the distance. She was certain she would find someone who could help her if she managed to scramble beyond those fields of rapeseed. But she would need Husna and her guards to trust her to roam free for a while. And as soon as they did that, she could head for those hills and never come back.

But no matter how much she wanted her freedom, her mind kept returning to the days she spent with the man she called her captor. A part of her wished she could have both, Adam and her freedom. However, reality told her that that could never be possible. Adam was a Pashtun now, thoroughly immersed into the culture of the natives here. He was a dominant man who would always want his women subjected to him. And the only instance in which he would ever allow her any control over him would be in their bed. She had learned fast that Adam had enjoyed her taking control of their love making, and the mere memory of her straddling his thighs that fateful night, his cock deeply injected into her pussy, her legs wound around his hips as he would thrust up into her, wet her core.

But was it enough to keep her from running away?
I shouldn’t be an idiot. Adam doesn’t love me. And this is not where I belong.
Her lips began to tremble and she bit her lower lip to steady her shivering self. She was reduced from the modern independent career woman she used to be to… this. What was this? When had she settled into being the submissive wife? She barely could recognize herself anymore. In a few more years, she would totally lose her identity.

Nora picked up her basket of apples and began walking towards the farmhouse. Husna had been gone a while, promising to return with some water. But the heat was beginning to bear down on her and when finally she couldn’t take it anymore, she decided to get some water herself.

A sudden commotion caught her attention and she stopped, wondering what it could be. Gunshots rang through the air and she froze. Husna! She dropped her basket to race towards the farm when she found her beloved friend dashing out of the back gates and towards her.

“
Khor,
run!” the woman screamed at her.

Someone chased after her and whammed the butt of his rifle against her back. Husna fell with a cry to the ground. The man kicked her side with his boot and then turned towards her.

Mateen?
Nora’s throat went dry. She stopped in her tracks, half her instincts urging her to stop and help Husna and the other…

“Run,
khor
!
Dzghélem
!” the woman cried again.

Nora swiveled on her heels and darted towards the fields of rapeseed. Her heart pounded inside her.
Rapeseed
? The word couldn’t be more jarring. It wouldn’t be fucking funny if the bastard did rape her in a field of rapeseed.

She let out an anxious cry when she realized the beat of his footsteps against the hard earth was growing closer. She increased her pace, but she was no match for his long legs. He finally clutched a fistful of her long hair and threw her backwards.

She tripped and fell on her back with a painful cry. She didn’t wait and scrambled up to her feet to run again. But he caught her arm and whirled her around to face him.

“Nora,” he rasped with a nasty grin. “Finally.”

She breathed heavily, her adrenaline clouding her brain, her mind darting on finding a way to escape him.

“You don’t know how much I missed you,” he said hoarsely as he clasped her arm to tug her towards him.

But she flailed her hands and struck him against his face. His mouth twisted with rage and he slapped her hard against her face, felling her to the ground.

“So you married Adam,” he minced between his teeth. “Tell me, did you fuck him? Did you spread your legs for him?”

He came down heavily on her and clutched her throat in a tight vice. She gulped for air, thrashing beneath him.

“You were mine!” he gritted between his teeth. “Why did he take you away from me?!” He hit her face again.

She groaned, the pain dashing through her body and numbing her senses. She felt her mouth beginning to swell and blood dripping from above her eye. She pushed against his chest, trying to get him off her. But this only angered him more and he began beating her face.
I can’t… Stop!… I’m gonna die…

“I
will
have you! You can’t stop me. No one can! I will show you what it is like to be fucked by a real man!”

He tugged at her dress, ripping the top to bare her breasts. She grew limp, her mind drifting in and out of her consciousness.
Stop… please, stop... no… no…

She made one last attempt to hold him back, but he merely slapped her wearied hands and captured her breasts with his mouth.

She felt someone drag the bastard off her. The two men dropped closed to her, scuffling- the clenching of their teeth, the pounding of their fists, filling the air.

She groaned, her soul urging her to get up and run, her body though too crippled to move.

She heard Mateen yelp as the other man rained down his fury onto him. She tried to blink her eyes open to see who it was, but her vision was growing blurry, only managing to catch the man hold the fuck against a tree, his huge hands wringing the bastard’s neck.

“I warned you Mateen, to never lay your hands on the women in this tribe! I warned you!” He hammered Mateen’s face repeatedly. “You-dared-touch-my wife! I’ll rip your fucking tongue out of your fucking mouth!”

Adam?

Mateen choked, dropping to his knees. But Adam wasn’t done with him as he kicked his side and then snagged him back up to his feet by the hair.

“Please,
lala!
” another man begged. “Forgive him. Mercy, please!”

“Not today, Parviz! Today, he dies!”

“I beg you,
lala
. He is my cousin. What will I tell his father?”

“Too late for that,” Adam minced as he pulled out his knife and stuck it against his throat.

“He’s got a wife and children! They depend on him,” the man begged.

Adam hesitated, his eyes flickering between rage and sensibility. He let the bastard drop to his feet as he stepped away. “I don’t want him anywhere near Darul-Ilhaam. And if he dares lift his eyes up to look at my wife, that would be his last fucking day of his fucking life!”

The man scrambled to get his battered cousin out of Adam’s course of fury, half-dragging him out of the property.

Adam fell beside Nora, urging her to stay awake.