darkathwa
- Reads 967
- Votes 65
- Parts 30
She was never meant to be free.
She was meant to be his.
"You do," Laith said quietly. "Because this world does not look at you the way I do."
His hand reached out then-but slowly, deliberately-fingers barely brushing her wrist, as if asking permission even while claiming ownership. His grip was firm but careful, like she was something fragile and priceless all at once.
"I won't let anything touch you," he continued, voice low. "Not words. Not intentions. Not people who think they're allowed to breathe the same air as you."
Safa's heart raced. "Laith... that sounds like-"
"Obsession?" he finished for her, eyes never leaving hers. "Yes."
He adjusted her sleeve where it had slipped, the gesture so gentle it almost contradicted the weight of his words.
"But understand this," he said, leaning closer-not threatening, not forceful-just there. "My control is not to cage you. It's to keep you safe. And my care?" A brief pause. "That is the one thing I will never restrain."
His thumb brushed her knuckles once, grounding, steady.
"You are Safa Al-Noori," he said. "And until the day your name changes-if it ever does-no one touches what is under my watch."
She was promised to him before she was born.
What began as a claim became an obsession.
And by the time Safa Al-Noori meets Laith Al-Ansari, she is no longer just fate-
she is his.