Page 27 of At the Sheikh's Bidding
“No! I mean, Idowant you. I don’t want you to stop. I want you, too,” she added to make sure he’d got the message. And he had. Because, before she’d finished speaking, he strode across the room, and tore off a dust sheet from the central bed, revealing a glimmering coverlet of gold, silver and white. He turned to look at her.
“A bed fit for a Queen,” he said, looking her up and down. “There’s only one thing wrong.”
Panic filled her for a moment. She couldn’t stop now. She didn’t want to stop now. “What is it?”
His smile reassured her. “You’re wearing far too many clothes. Come here.”
But she didn’t want to do as he said, as an idea entered her mind. She wanted to tease him, to take back control. She shook her head, and he frowned. She stood in front of him, aware of the sunlight which beamed down on her, and slowly, very slowly, undid her buttons. His eyes dropped to each one until she pushed it aside, revealing her lacy bra. She tossed the shirt to one side.
“Better,” he said, leaning against the four-poster. “But still not enough.”
She bit her lip, trying not to smile. She reached around and pulled down the zipper on her trousers. The fine linen dropped to her ankles, and she stepped out of them.
“Still not nearly naked enough.”
“Ah,” she said, “the shoes you mean,” knowing full well it wasn’t. She slid her feet out of them. “Enough yet?”
He shook his head and walked up to her. “Turn around.” There was no way she could do anything else. It seemed she could only take the power back so much. She turned around, and he pulled out the slide holding her bun in place and buried his face in her long hair. Then he pushed it to one side and unhooked her bra. He reached around and took her breasts in both his hands. Her stomach jumped as he tweaked her nipples. She pushed back against his erection, and he slid his thumbs under the side of her knickers, dragging them down her thighs. She stepped out of them and turned to him.
He looked her up and down. “You are so beautiful, Janey,” he breathed, kissing her deeply on the lips while his hands explored her naked body. “I’d thought I remembered everything about our night together, but time has dimmed my memory of the beauty of your body,” he murmured against her lips.
“It’s your turn to undress.”
“With pleasure.”
She started to undress him, but he got impatient and he ripped apart his shirt. While he did that she undid his zipper and in a moment his trousers had been kicked aside and his shirt lay where it fell.
He lifted her into his arms and carried her across to the bed, her legs hooked around his body. Still, it wasn’t close enough.
He lay her down gently on the bed. She didn’t think she’d ever felt so sexy in her life. She pushed the palms of her hands down over her stomach and her legs, touching herself where she wanted him to be.
He cursed under his breath and was upon her immediately. Gone was the considerate man and in his place was the man she remembered in Australia, when he’d caught her in his arms and taken her to the hut she was renting and her bikini had become entangled, half-on, half-off, while they made love with his trousers around his ankles. They’d had no time to undress. The needs of their bodies had been too demanding. It was the same now.
She opened her legs wide to accommodate him, wrapping them around him at the same time as he thrust inside of her with a grunt. She closed her eyes against the reality of him deep inside of her. He grabbed her hands and stretched them out each side as he pulled out of her and then thrust inside again. With each thrust, it took her up a notch, closer to that place she wanted to be. Then, with one last thrust, she cried out as the release came. At the same time, he pulsed his seed deep inside of her and she knew, in that moment, that it was all that she wanted. And she also knew that it was all that she could not have. That way lay madness. That way lay turning back the clock to when she was younger, and controlled completely by her father. If she had to choose between this controlling man and herself, there was no contest. Shehadto come first. She was the only person who would look after herself. She’d learned that the hard way.
He dipped his head and kissed her. But she didn’t kiss him back, and he pulled away with a frown.
“Is something wrong,habibti?”
She bit her lip and gave her head one brief shake. It was a lie, but a silent one. Because how could she tell him she suspected she’d just made one of the biggest mistakes of her life?
“I’m sorry, it’s just…” She rolled her head to one side so she wouldn’t see the look of puzzlement and hurt on his face. She realized in that moment that he must have opened up to her in a way he rarely did with people.
It seemed she didn’t need to spell it out. He could read her like a book. He pulled out of her and rose above her, placing his hands firmly on either side of her head, effectively trapping her. His gaze was stern.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on in that mind of yours, but if you think what we’ve just done is a mistake, you’re out of that mind.”
“No, I’m not. You don’t understand.”
“You’ve got something right at least,” he said standing up. He grabbed his shirt and buttoned it while she reached out for her clothes. She pulled them on, suddenly disliking feeling so naked and vulnerable—both physically and emotionally. It had been okay when the needs and instincts of her body controlled her. But now? Now, she wanted to hide her emotions, hide her secrets. He wouldn’t understand, and she didn’t want him to understand because there was nothing to be done.
“I have to go,” she said, hurriedly, dragging on her trousers and incorrectly doing up her blouse, not bothering to put on her bra, but tossing it into her bag instead. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
He caught her wrist tightly and wouldn’t let it go until she looked up into his eyes.
“You regret what we just did?” He looked at her through hard and angry eyes, further confirming her thoughts. She gave a brief nod.
“Then you’re more messed up than I imagined.”
