When her body turned and pressed to him, he blinked, staring beyond her in surprise. His hands moved to hold her to him, the embrace growing tighter by the second. He had no ideas what to say to her. These were not the sort of conversations he was used to having, obviously.<br/><br/>“Worry not, Layla.” He did not consider the possibility of the name stinging her emotions, considering her apparent reaction to her circumstances. “Be at ease…” He rested his chin lightly at her shoulder as she clung to him. He wished he could tell his body to stop taking this as sensually as it seemed to think it was. He was distantly shamed at his inability to be more sensitive, and ignore his own desires. Yet he was simply not wired that way, not raised that way, and not conditioned that way, even if he wanted to be able to pretend at that moment. He tried to keep his arousal from touching her during the embrace, a fruitless gesture though he mitigated it as best he could.<br/><br/>That didn’t mean he’d force a square block into a circular hole though. All he would do was keep her close and as comfortable as he could, and see if the apparent ghosts of her past would permit her to be what he wanted. His selfishness was not a cruel one, but he was royalty, spoiled and groomed for this lifestyle, and even told his social status and future would depend on his ability to keep women and please them.<br/><br/>If she cannot seek me willingly and without tears, is she fit to be  a consort? Will it just be torturing her? Do either of us deserve one another in a perpetual state such as this?<br/><br/>The thoughts were naïve of true human emotion in conditions such as hers, but he was indeed ignorant to both. While he was certainly one of the more caring and empathetic harem masters, he was also not an emotional man when it came to this. Aisha had only reinforced the needlessness of anything else, with her near constant willingness to do his wishes with great zeal.<br/><br/>His hand continued to rub her back, and a hand moved through her tousled hair slowly, his fingertips grazing her scalp.<br/>