Page 42 of Defenders of Jawhara

There was something completely naughty about making love at thirty thousand feet. When Kale had first suggested a nap, Shira had started to object, as she wasn’t at all tired. Then she had taken one look at his eyes and readily agreed. The banked hunger in them was too much to resist.

Kale escorted her to the back of the plane, and Shira was astounded at the luxury once again. When he wrapped his arms around her from behind, she let her head fall back against his shoulder, turning her head to give him unfettered access when his lips skimmed below her ear.

She wrapped her arms over his, letting her fingertips skim the muscles in his forearms and down to where his fingers were quickly undoing the buttons on her shirt. They parted the material and skimmed back up her stomach, and she guided his hands to her breasts, moaning when they reached their goal.

“You like that, don’t you?” Kale asked, molding her breasts and squeezing gently.

“Yes.” Shira felt Kale turn her around, but she didn’t pay much attention as her eyes were closed, enjoying the feel of his hands on her. Even after spending every night, and most early mornings, wrapped in the sensual spell Kale wove each time he touched her, she was amazed at her response. She had never considered herself a very sexual person, but all Kale had to do was walk into the room and she was ready to go.

“Open your eyes,” Kale commanded softly.

Shira shook her head against his chest, not willing to break the spell by anything her eyes might see. Instead, she was content to let her other senses roam free, basking in the path they led her down.

“Habibti, open your eyes and watch.”

Watch?That got her attention, and she slowly opened her eyes, gasping at the raw carnality of the image before her. Kale had turned them so they were directly in front of the mirror atop the dresser. She watched as Kale touched her body, seeing her chest rise and fall in time with the waves of desire his hands were sending through her.

When one hand abandoned her breasts to begin a slow descent, she watched in delight as he slipped his hand beneath her waistband. When her eyes started to drift shut, he nudged her with his chin. “Open.”

Shira raised her eyelids and met his stare in the mirror, holding his gaze as he did so many lovely things to her body, causing her to writhe back against him, demanding more of the same. She felt as though they were the only two people in the world, lost in this moment in time, and completely attuned to the desires of the other.

When Kale nudged her toward the bed, Shira shook her head. Stepping forward, she placed her hands on the dresser and then looked over her shoulder at him. She gave him a seductive smile. In a flash he was behind her again. Popping the clasp on her pants, he drew the zipper down, then tugged at her pants and panties. Wiggling her hips, she helped him pull her pants to her ankles.

She shivered when she heard the zipper on his own trousers. Then his hands were on her hips, and he was entering her from behind. They both moaned, and he immediately set a rapid pace, both of them chasing their respective orgasms. Kale reached around to her clit, rubbing circles around it before pressing down in time to his thrusts. Shira whimpered, overwhelmed by the beautiful torture, and her knees began to shake.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, Kale held her up as he continued to thrust from behind. With a cry, Shira tensed, her orgasm rolling through her like a wave. Falling forward, her forehead rested against the dresser, while Kale pressed small kisses to her heated skin. Stepping back from her, he helped her step out of her pants and then his own before carrying her to the bed.

Laying her down, he stretched out beside her, and the last thing Shira remembered was hearing him speak quietly to her in Arabic.

They drifted in and out of sleep during the long flight, and when they fully woke once more, it was to make love again.

Later, they shared a light meal of broiled salmon and a vegetable medley, and Kale excused himself to get some work done, leaving Shira to her own devices. The jet had a large selection of movies, and she settled in to watch one of her favorites.

As the movie played, her thoughts began to go through the things that she needed to take care of before she returned to Jawhara in six weeks. Before she did anything, she needed to see her cousin for herself to make sure she was okay. She had tried to reach her before they left, but her call had gone to voicemail. Kale seemed certain that Kamal would be bringing Erin to Jawhara soon, but her cousin was stubborn and not likely to give up her independence so easily.

She would have to arrange for her belongings to be shipped, stored, or sold. Her uncle and aunt would be returning from their world cruise about the time she was due to fly back to Jawhara, and she hoped that they would be supportive of her decision to return with Kale.

They had raised her from the time she was ten, and they were as much her parents as they were Erin’s. They had always told her to follow her heart, and she hoped that they meant it. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint them.

When she heard the captain announce that they were approaching Dulles airport, she shut the movie off and joined Kale on the couch, where he was still immersed in his computer.

Seeing the frown on his face, she asked, “Is everything okay?”

Kale smiled at her before leaning over to kiss her. “Just work. It will wait.”

Shira watched him shut down his laptop and put it away as they readied for landing. His concerned look told her that it was more than work, but she didn’t want to press if he wasn’t prepared to tell her what was going on. The familiar rumble of the landing gear deploying told her they were close, and she sat back as Kale took her hand, giving it a squeeze. She shifted closer to put her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her tight against him.

She closed her eyes and felt the plane touch down and slow before taxiing over to the private hangar. As they stopped, she looked out the window and saw a limo parked on the tarmac, ready to whisk them away. Releasing her seat belt for her, Kale helped her to her feet and together they exited the plane to the waiting customs agent and then their limo.

15

KALE

Kale looked at the beautiful young woman sitting next to him as the limo pulled out of the airport into early evening traffic and tried to push the worry from his mind. He nodded and gave her a smile in response to something she’d said, but he hadn’t really heard. More intelligence reports had come in during their flight that told of a group of dissidents from Sumari who had tried to cross the border into Jawhara with weapons. Luckily, they had been apprehended, but their leader had promised more attempts were on their way.

He hoped Kamal could get an agreement figured out for the return of the refugees, and soon. New threats against the family had been made, and he feared that desperation would make the dissenters act irrationally. That could mean any number of things, but it could also put Shira in danger once they realized he planned to marry her. He had a bad feeling about this situation and only hoped that things would settle down before they became too volatile.

While Kale pulled up Slade’s contact information in his phone, Shira’s own device beeped and chimed with texts and calls she’d missed while overseas and in the air. She excitedly showed him a text from Erin from that same day. “Look! My stubborn cousin finally decided to go to the doctor. I can’t believe she waited so long.”

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