Page 4 of The Forbidden Sheik
She shot a glance at her husband, shifting tactics. With a sweet, sexy smile, she stepped closer and slid both of her hands up his chest, leaning into him lightly. Immediately, Khal’s hands gripped her hips, pulling her even closer. Over her head, he said, “Get out!” to his brothers.
After the door to his office opened and closed, Khal looked down at his wife again. “Where’s Zayn?” he grumbled, his grizzly bear personality peeking out.
“He’s back with his tutors, most likely reading something he shouldn’t be reading,” Tasha replied. “And there is zero chance that we’re starting on his brother or sister right now.” She started to slip out of his embrace, but Khal’s hands tightened on her hips.
Khal groaned. “I agree. No more children. Not after that last miscarriage nearly…!” he stopped, the muscles of his jaw clenching at the memory. Then he lowered his voice as he said, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t practice.”
She laughed and pulled back slightly. “Khal, I have a good vibe about Marianna and Amit. I think there are some strong feelings hidden under Marianna’s anger towards the man.”
Khal started nibbling on his wife’s neck. “That’s ridiculous since the idiot tried to convince me to sell her to him.” His growl was low and menacing as he straightened. “However, I’ll acknowledge that the man is intelligent and fair, plus none of his current policies would indicate that he’s a sexist ass.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I still don’t understand why he suggested such a ridiculous trade all those years ago.”
Tasha agreed. That had been a truly boneheaded suggestion. “Right. But…” she was distracted when Khal’s hands drifted higher. She was wearing a pink, wool dress with a pretty, ruffled collar. Thankfully, the material wasn’t stretchy, so her husband’s roaming hands couldn’t push the wool out of the way. Not that she wanted obstacles in his way. Especially when he did that thing with his thumb like he’d done this morning. But…!
“Khal!” she gasped.
“That’s right,” he groaned in her ear, then nipped the shell before soothing it with his tongue. “Say my name, just like that.”
She giggled, then realized what she was doing and pushed at his shoulders. Marianna was sad and lonely. Tasha needed to concentrate now.
“I’m serious,” she said, then moaned when his thumb slid over her breast, teasing her nipple.
“So am I.”
She knew where this was going and had to talk fast. Tasha knew that she’d have to concentrate before her husband pushed all rational thoughts out of her mind. “Khal, give Marianna time alone with Amit tonight. They need to work this out between themselves.”
Khal lifted his head for barely a second, then nodded. “Fine. They can have dinner together tonight. I’ll talk to him. Later.” Then he pulled his wife into his arms, settling her down on the corner of his desk. “But first…” he smiled, sliding his hands up her outer thighs.
“Did you just set me down on those–”
She couldn’t finish that question because her handsome husband kissed her deeply.
Chapter 4
“I have nothing to say to you,” Marianna announced when the man she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all day entered the room. She sipped her white wine and glared at Amit as he came towards her.
She watched as Amit looked around, noticed that no one else was in the room, then nodded with approval.
“Did you tell your brothers to occupy my afternoon with annoying meetings just to get back at me?” he asked, nodding his appreciation to the waiter who offered him a glass of wine. He took the glass and sipped, mentally approving of the crisp flavors. There was a touch of pear as well as a spicy hint of something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“No,” she lied, trying to hide her smile. “Were the meetings unsuccessful and tediously boring?”
“The opposite, actually,” he replied. “I’ve signed several new trade agreements with Lativa.” He tilted his head slightly. “Any chance that’s because of your advice?”
Marianna shook her head. “Not a chance. I disagree with any sort of trade agreements with Uftar.”
He lifted an eyebrow at that assertion. “I would have thought you, of all people, would recognize the benefits of formal agreements between Lativa and Uftar.”
Marianna froze at his odd phrasing, her wine halfway to her mouth. Carefully, she lifted her gaze to his, swallowed, trying to appear casual. “Why is that?”
He took a step closer and, this time, she didn’t think to back away. “Because you analyze political, cultural, and financial events and write about them on your blog,” he replied, then paused. Waiting. Watching every nuanced emotion flit across her face.
Marianna started to take another sip of her wine, but put couldn’t take a sip. Her throat constricted with panic. Slowly, she lowered the glass, staring up at him and trying to figure out…what did he know? Yes, she had a secret blog but…he couldn’t know about that!
Could he?
The look in his eyes warned her that he did.
He knew about her blog! How? How was that possible? She’d thought she’d hidden her identity pretty well. She’d been so careful not to let anyone know who she was!
