Free Love By Accident - An Introduction by Elizabeth Lennox Page A

taller.  She hoped she could be as tall as he was when she got to be seventeen but she knew she had a long way to go before she could match her beloved brother. 
    Well, she loved him today.  That wasn’t always the case.  Sometimes she just wanted to punch him but knew she shouldn’t.  She did on occasion though.  And only when he wasn’t expecting it because Rashid was fast and strong.  The last time she’d done something to him, he’d caught her and tickled her until she was crying, which she didn’t like.  But most of the time, he was pretty nice.  Especially when he helped her with her homework.  He had a lot of patience with her then. 
    “Just trust me,” he said, his deep voice and broad shoulders already more than matching his father’s.  In fact, they were the spitting image, except that Rashid was now slightly taller.  Isla’s brother was extremely protective of his baby sister, especially since she’d transformed from a pink pudgy ball into a little girl he could play tricks on and he could talk to, when he wasn’t talking with his father about everything from politics to economics. 
    “Is it mother?” Isla asked, concerned because she’d gotten so big lately.  “Has the baby come yet?”
    “You’ll have to wait and see,” he said, only slightly disappointed that she’d guessed so accurately.  Most of the time, he enjoyed his sister’s intelligence.  He was glad she wasn’t one of those irritating girls who only thought about shoes and clothes.  Isla was smart and picked up on her lessons quickly.  Otherwise, he would stay away from her as much as possible.  He really disliked women who were brainless and there were enough of them in the world!  Well, there were stupid men too, but he was thinking about the soft, sexy women and the way he liked to kiss them. 
    A horrible thought occurred to him and he stopped in the middle of the hallway.  Isla stopped as well and looked up at him and he was startled to realize that his little sister was going to be a great beauty.  Would some other man do to her the things he thought about doing to other women? 
    The idea of his sweet little sister in the arms of another man suddenly enraged him. 
    “What’s wrong, Rashid?” Isla asked, suddenly worried about the furious expression on his face.  He’d been so excited a moment ago, what had changed? 
    Rashid started to say something, his hand tightening on his arm as he looked down at her innocent expression.  “Don’t ever…” he started off, but stopped himself.  He knew that his sister would eventually marry, but he gritted his teeth with determination.  She wouldn’t marry some jerk!  Or someone like him, who….well, just not someone who would think of doing things to her that he thought of doing to other women.  Things like kissing and touching their breasts, of moving inside….
    No!  She would be protected from that!  She was sweet and innocent.  She shouldn’t even think about having sex, much less doing it.  His mind always seemed to be thinking about sex and women and how lovely they were and how soft and pretty. 
    Dammit!  He had a responsibility towards his little sister, and now there were two of them!  What was a man to do? 
    Father would know, he thought to himself.  Rashid knew he’d have a talk with his father as soon as possible.  He had to protect his sisters now! 
    “Rashid?” Isla prompted when she saw his jaw clench.  She put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him as best she could.  “Are you ill?  Should I call a doctor?”  Her mind frantically went through the possibilities but he didn’t have any of the symptoms she’d read about in the medical books she’d snuck out of the palace library.  She read them in secret, thinking they were the most fascinating things to read.  But none of them helped her right at the moment.  She couldn’t discern any problems with Rashid and that scared her. 
    Just as suddenly