Page 28 of The Forbidden Sheik
“Are you sure?” Marianna asked. “You have so many responsibilities. I just…!” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I just feel stuck here in your apartment, but,” she looked nervous, “I’m truly grateful for everything that you’re doing to help me stay hidden.” She tilted her head. “Do you still think your cousin is behind my kidnapping?”
He nodded and moved closer, already missing touching her. “It’s looking that way. I sent him on a trip to a small country in the middle of the Pacific to get him out of the way while we search his house. But we didn’t find anything helpful.” He led her over to the sofa and poured her a glass of chilled white wine.
“So, what’s the next step?” she asked, sitting down and sipping the wine.
He sat down next to her. He enjoyed the way her eyes flared with heat, but didn’t look further down at her breasts, not wanting to know. But he was fairly certain that she was just as turned on as he was. Would it always be like this? This constant, desperate need to touch her, to be inside her and feel her body clench around his?
He hoped not. It was driving him to distraction! Even the scent of her could make his body ache for more.
“The next step is to locate his hidden holdings and search there. We’re pretty sure that we’ll find something.”
“Is there any way I can help?” she offered.
He smiled, tucking a stray wisp of her hair behind her ear so that he could stroke a finger down her cheek. “I don’t think so, but I appreciate the offer.” He felt her lean into his touch and he bent to kiss her. But the servant appeared with a stack of cards and games.
“Thank you,” Amit told the man, who quickly set the stack down on the table and hurried from the room. Smart man, he thought. If the guy had lingered another moment, he might have been fired.
As soon as the door shut behind the servant, Amit turned to Marianna. But before he could lean in for a kiss, she stood up, lacing her fingers together in front of her and bouncing on her toes. “So, can we play?” she asked.
He stood as well, looking down at her curiously. “Is that really what you want?” he asked, noticing that her nipples were just as tight as his own body felt. She felt it. Why was she resisting the pull of desire?
“Yes!” she gasped and spun around on her bare feet, heading towards the table. For a moment, she sorted through the options, then she pulled out two decks of cards and turned back to him. “I think we should play ‘Mad Solitaire’,” she announced. “What do you think?”
Amit watched her for another moment, baffled by the sudden shift in her mood. He knew that she’d found her pleasure during sex. Hell, he’d watched her body writhe against his, felt her inner muscles clenching around his shaft. She’d damn well climaxed! So, why was she pretending that there wasn’t more of a pull for another round? What was holding her back?
However, when she looked at him now, he caught the pleading look in her eyes. Amit immediately relented, thinking that perhaps a game of cards would give him a clue to her mood. Surely there would be time to discuss why she was resisting his touch just now.
Chapter 35
Marianna knew that she was acting odd. But she couldn’t sit so close to Amit right now. Yes, her animosity towards the man was gone. Completely. Her anger and hostility towards the man had been replaced with the most intense need to…make love with him. She didn’t just want him, shecravedhim! When he’d left her this morning to attend his meetings, Marianna had felt…bereft. She’d felt as if he’d left with her heart in his pocket.
Yeah, the sex had been…earth shattering. Phenomenal. Perhaps that was why she’d wanted to jump the man as soon as he’d returned. The minute she’d seen him, Marianna had wanted to start taking her clothes off.
But she was also starting to realize that she needed more from Amit than just his physical touch and his presence. She was starting to have feelings for the man, but were those feelings based only on sex? She’d read so many articles that talked about how a healthy relationship couldn’t be based on sex alone. Two people needed to be compatible outside of the bedroom as well.
Since her feelings for the man were so strong already, Marianna knew that she needed to test this…whatever this…was. She needed to know if they could be friends as well as lovers. How would he react if she beat him at something? Many men would be annoyed, maybe even feel emasculated. She’d read about how some men lashed out at women who were better at something than they were.
Since their time together was limited, Marianna knew that she needed to work fast. She needed to know if her feelings were reciprocated, or if their time together was based only on sexual chemistry.
Because if she left here, Marianna needed to know that she would survive it. After watching him leave the suite this morning, she wasn’t sure if shecouldleave him. Not for a longer period of time. Not without shattering into dust.
“Mari?”
With a sigh, she strengthened her resolve, determined to find out if this was just an intense fling that would fizzle out, or if there was something more to what was happening between them.
She hoped, prayed, that there was more. Because Marianna was terrified that she was in love with the man. Maybe she had been for a long time and had used anger to protect herself from disappointment.
“Yes,” she replied, blinking and looking down at her hands. She was holding two decks of cards, apparently staring blankly at Amit, lost in her own thoughts.
“Cards?” he prompted. “Will you teach me how to play?”
Marianna’s relief was intense and she smiled gratefully up at him. Plus, beating him at cards seemed like an excellent way to determine how the man handled defeat from a woman.
“Right. Do you know how to play solitaire?” she asked, then sat down across from him to teach him how to play.
The game started slowly, and she suggested that they do a practice round. By the time they were playing for real, she couldn’t stop laughing. The man might be new to the game, but Amit picked up the rules as well as the strategy very quickly. It was hilarious trying to get her cards in place before his. She loved hearing him laugh when she beat him, and giggled when he beat her to the snap.
Sandwiches were delivered by silent servants and they ate while she taught him how to play Uno. She beat him several times, but he wasn’t a slouch in that game either.
