Page 34 of The Sheik's Embrace

Grabbing a washcloth, he cleaned up himself, then rinsed out another cloth with warm water, bringing it back to the bed. He smiled as he watched Tara pull the bed covers up over her nakedness. Did she not realize that he’d seen every part of her? And wanted to do it all over again?

She’d understand that very soon, he thought and kissed the tops of her breasts. “Open your legs,habibi.”

Her startled expression caused him to chuckle. “Open my…why?”

“Because the condom broke. It was an accident, but you might feel a bit sticky soon. I’m going to clean you up.”

She reached for the cloth, shaking her head. “I can do that. You don’t need to bother yourself.”

“Not a bother,” he replied, pulling the rapidly cooling cloth out of her reach. “We won’t have any secrets between us, Tara. Open your legs and be bold. Don’t be ashamed of anything between us.”

She laughed. “Oh, I have a lot of secrets, Zayed,” she told him, and grinned triumphantly when she plucked the cloth out of his fingers. She reached under the sheet and wiped between her legs, but Zayed wasn’t having any kind of shyness between them. He easily pulled the sheet away and he watched as she finished wiping the stickiness away. She dropped the cloth onto the floor beside the bed. “I’ll take care of that later.”

“Much later,” he commented, pulling her into his arms. “How do you feel?”

Tara tilted her head slightly, considering her answer. “I feel good, actually. I remember the women talking about how badly they ached the day after any sort of intercourse. But I feel…!” She took a deep breath, then laughed. “I feel incredible!”

“Good,” he replied, laughing with her as he pulled her onto his chest. “Now perhaps we can explore some variations on the same theme.” He let his hands move over her thighs, his thumbs pausing at the juncture of her thighs. He heard her sharp intake of breath and chuckled as he let his eyes move over her naked body. “You’re absolutely beautiful, Tara. You know that, don’t you?’

“I don’t know any such thing,” she countered, but smiled as she lowered herself to plant a kiss in the middle of his chest.

He was just about to shift her body when a knock sounded on the door.

Tara almost laughed when she saw his irritation. She couldn’t blame him since she was thinking the same thing.

Then she gasped, remembering the man who Zayed had personally invited to the palace for talks. “Sheik Abuzman!” she hissed.

They stared at each other for a stunned moment, then Zayed muttered a series of curses and they both jumped out of bed. “He’s going to be furious with me for forgetting our meeting,” Zayed replied in an amused whisper.

“Surely the guards explained that there was a security threat inside the palace, right?” she asked as she rushed into the bathroom and flipped on the water. Tara didn’t bother to shampoo her hair, but instead washed off the scent of lovemaking and jumped out again, grabbing a towel. She glanced behind her and couldn’t stop from appreciating the impressive physique as Zayed rushed as well to dry off and pull on clean clothes.

But Tara lifted the pink dress up, surveying the damage caused by the dress laying in a pile on the floor for…she wasn’t even sure what time it was.

Zayed came out of a dressing room, quickly buttoning a shirt. He’d already pulled on a pair of slacks and looked magnificent! He must have noticed the wrinkles in the soft, wool dress and smiled. “You should have more clothes in the dressing area of the room you slept in last night.”

“Didn’t sleep,” she grumbled, and pulled the dress on anyway. She’d have to wear something to get to the other suite, even if it was obviously wrinkled.

Zayed paused, one hand on the doorknob. “What was that?”

Tara was busy running her fingers through her hair, searching the floor and the bedclothes for the band so she could pull her hair back into a neat braid. “Nothing,” she replied, wiggling her free hand in the air. “Go! Give your almost-friend a good enough story about why you’d abandoned him.”

Zayed remained, watching Tara for a long moment, then he simply smiled and left the bedroom.

Tara finally found the band and restrained her hair, then pulled the sheets and comforter back to a semblance of tidiness. It wasn’t as neat as the palace staff would do, but it was the best she could accomplish at the moment.

Tara hurried down the hallway, her bodyguards more obvious now, to the other suite. At the doorway, she paused and looked at the three men. “I’ll just be a moment. I need to change my dress and I’ll be back out.”

Tara knew Zayed never explained his activities to his guards. In fact, they were trained to react to anything he might do. But she just couldn’t leave the men standing outside waiting on her. So she gave them a friendly wave, then rushed into the suite. Zayed said that there were outfits in her suite, and she desperately hoped that one of her old dresses was available. She needed clean underwear as well. As sexy and comfortable as the bits of lace were, she always put clean panties on after a shower.

But when she walked into the dressing room, she couldn’t find her old, dull dresses. Instead, there was a complete rainbow of clothing available for her to choose from. The array of clothes was so stunning, so overwhelming, she wasn’t sure what to do. How did one choose a single outfit when presented with so many options?

“Where have you been?” a female voice hissed.

Tara spun around and nearly jumped out of her skin when she spotted Kaia sneaking out from behind her clothes.

“You’re safe!” Tara gasped, rushing over to hug her sister. When she pulled back, Tara looked in her sister’s eyes. “Where do you go? Where did you hide earlier today?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kaia replied, staring into Tara’s eyes. “Elijah is here in the capital city. I’ve seen him three times now.

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