Pregnant by the Sheikh. Оливия Гейтс

had to make sure of one thing. “If my requests are that important to you, promise you won’t go overboard. Just do enough to set me free, and hopefully set Zafrana back on the road to economic independence. I don’t want any fallout to hit my father or Zafrana. Or Saraya.”

      He inclined his magnificent head, making her again wish he’d release his raven’s-wing silk from its imprisoning band. “I promise I will be surgical. My excisions will leave the whole region healthier. Just for you.”

      Breath left her on a choppy exhalation. “You’re really going to do this.” She shook her head dazedly. “Wow...just give me a second to get my head around all of this.”

      “Take all the time you need.” He did this heart-melting gesture again, reaching for a lock of her hair and rubbing it in utmost enjoyment between his fingers. “But you can start celebrating your restored freedom right now.”

      Moved to the brink of tears, she squeezed her eyes shut. When she finally opened them, they’d filled her eyes, soaked her voice. “I need to apologize.”

      He frowned. “Never apologize, not to me. But what do you think you should apologize for?”

      “For what I thought when I first thought of asking you for this.”

      “What did you think?”

      “That you’d never do anything out of the goodness of your heart. That you don’t have one.”

      A mirthless huff escaped him. “You were right. I don’t have one. Not in any humanly accepted sense.”

      “From where I’m sitting, you have something better. I thought you’d never do anything for anyone without something of equal or more value in it for you, and I was wrong.”

      “Maybe you should withdraw your apology. Since you weren’t wrong. I do want something.”

      Her heart forgot to beat. “You do?”

      “Yes.” He held her gaze in the snare of his. “An heir.”