She needn't worry. His preference at this moment was to please her.
This was insane. Emir was cold, detached-and the sexiest thing on two legs. He was frighteningly distant, but she was lost in an erotic haze of his making. She needed more-more pressure, more contact-more of him. The more aloof he was, the more her body cried out to him. The ache he'd set up inside her was unbearable. She had to have more of his skilful touches-
An excited cry escaped her throat when she felt the insistent thrust of his erection against her belly. She rubbed herself shamelessly against it, sobbing with pleasure as each delicious contraction of her nerve endings gave some small indication of what was to come. Emir's hard, warrior frame was even more powerful than she had imagined, and yet he used his hands so delicately in a way that drove her crazy for him. Lacing her fingers through his thick black hair, she dragged him close. He responded by cupping the back of her head to keep her in place as he dipped down and plundered her mouth. Sweeping the table clear, he lifted her and balanced her on the edge. Moving between her legs, he forced them apart with the width of his body. 'Wrap your legs around me,' he commanded, pushing them wider still.
She had never obeyed a man's instructions in her life, but she rushed to obey these. Resting her hands flat on the table behind her, she arched her spine, thrusting her breasts forward, while Emir reared over her, magnificent and erect.
Like a stallion on the point of servicing a mare?
With far more consideration than that-
Are you sure?
She was sure that any more delay would send her crazy. She was also sure that Emir knew exactly what he was doing.
'Tell me what you want, Britt,' he demanded fiercely.
'You know what I want,' she said.
'But you must tell me,' he said in low, cruel voice.
Her throat dried. The harsher he got, the more arousing she found it. No one had ever pushed her boundaries like this before. And she had thought herself liberal where sex was concerned? She was a novice compared to Emir.
She had also thought herself emotion-free, Britt realised, but knew deep in her heart that something had changed inside her. Even when she plumbed the depths of Emir's cold black eyes she wanted to be the one to draw a response from him-she wanted to learn more about him, and in every way.
'Say it,' he instructed.
Her face blazed red. No one spoke to her like that-no one told her what to do. But her body liked what was happening, and was responding with enthusiasm. 'Yes,' she said. 'Yes, please.' And then she told him exactly what she wanted him to do to her without sparing a single lurid detail.
Now he was pleased. Now she got through to him. Now he almost smiled.
'I think I can manage that,' he said dryly. 'My only concern is that we may not have sufficient time to work our way through your rather extensive wish list.'
On this occasion, she thought. 'Perhaps another time,' she said, matching him for dispassion. But then she glanced at the door. How could she have forgotten that it was still unlocked? Just as she was thinking she must do something about it, Emir touched her in a way that made it impossible for her to move.
'Don't you like the risk?' he said, reading her easily.
She looked at him, and suddenly she loved the risk.
'Hold me,' he said softly. 'Use me-take what you need.'
She hesitated, another first for her. No one had ever given her this freedom. She moved to do as he said and found it took two hands to enclose him.
'I'm waiting,' he said.
With those dangerous eyes watching her, she made a pass. Loving it, she made a second, firmer stroke-
Taking control, Emir caught the tip inside her. She gasped and would have pulled away, but he cupped her buttocks firmly in his strong hands and drew her slowly on to him. 'What are you afraid of?' he said, staring deep into her eyes. 'You know I won't hurt you.'
She didn't know him at all, but for some reason she trusted him. 'I'm just-'
'Hungry,' he said. 'I know.'
A sound of sheer pleasure trembled from her throat. She had played games with boys before, she realised, but Emir was a man, and a man like no other man.
'Am I enough for you?' he mocked.
She lifted her chin. 'What do you think?'
He told her exactly what he thought, and while she was still gasping with shock and lust he kissed her, and before she could recover he thrust inside her deeply to the hilt. For a moment she was incapable of thinking or doing, and even breathing was suspended. This wasn't pleasure, this was an addiction. She could never get enough of this-or of him. The sensation of being completely inhabited while being played by a master was a very short road to release.
'No,' he said sharply, stopping her. 'I'll tell you when. Look at me, Britt,' he said fiercely.
On the promise of pleasure she stared into Emir's molten gaze. She would obey him. She would pay whatever price it took for this to continue.
He was pleased with her. Britt was more responsive than even he had guessed. She was a strong woman who made him want to pleasure her. He loved the challenge that was Britt Skavanga. He loved her fire. He loved her cries of pleasure and the soft little whimpers she made when he thrust repeatedly into her. What had started as a basic function to clear his head had become an exercise in pleasuring Britt.
'Now,' he whispered fiercely.
He held her firmly as she rocked into orgasm with a release so violent he trusted his strength more than the boardroom table and held her close, though he could do nothing about the noise she was making, which would probably travel to the next town, and so he smothered it with a kiss. When he let her go, she gasped and called his name. He held her safe, cushioning her against the hard edge of the table with his hands as he soothed her down. Withdrawing carefully, he steadied Britt on her feet before releasing her. Smoothing the hair back from her flushed, damp brow, he stared into her dazed eyes, waiting until he was sure she had recovered. The one thing he had not expected was to feel an ache of longing in his chest. He had not expected to feel anything.
'Wow,' she whispered, her voice muffled against his naked chest.
He liked the feeling of Britt resting on him and was in no hurry to move away. If she had been anyone else the next move would have been simple. He would have taken her back to Kareshi with him. But she was too much like him. There would be no diamond mine, no town, no Skavanga Mining, without Britt. Just as he belonged in Kareshi, she was tied here. But still he felt a stab of regret that he couldn't have this exciting woman. 'Are you okay?' he murmured as she stirred.
She lifted her chin to look at him, and as she did this she drew herself up and drew her emotions in. As she pulled herself together he could almost see her forcing herself to get over whatever it was she had briefly felt for him.
'There are two bathrooms,' she informed him briskly. 'You can use the one directly off the boardroom. I have my own en suite attached to my office. We will reconvene this meeting in fifteen minutes.'
A smile of incredulity and, yes, admiration curved his lips as he watched her go. She walked across the room with her head held high like a queen. It might have seemed ridiculous had anyone else tried it, but Britt Skavanga could pull it off.
He showered down quickly in the bathroom she had told him about, and was both surprised and pleased by the quality of the amenities until he remembered that Britt had a hand in everything here. There were high-quality towels on heated rails, as well as shampoo, along with all the bits and pieces that contributed to making a freshen-up session pleasurable. Britt hadn't forgotten anything-at which point a bolt of very masculine suspicion punched him in the guts. Had she done this before? And if so, how many times?
And why should he care?
He returned to the boardroom to find Britt had arrived before him. She looked composed. She looked as if nothing had happened between them. She looked as she might have looked at the start of the meeting if she hadn't been forced to change a tyre first. She also looked very alone to him, seated beneath the portraits of her forebears, and once again he got the strongest sense that duty ruled Britt every bit as much as it ruled him.
They both imagined they were privileged and, yes, each was powerful in their own way, but neither of them could choose what they wanted out of life, because the choices had already been made for them.
* * *
She hated herself, hated herself for what she had done. Losing control like that. She hadn't even been able to meet her sex-sated reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had weakened with Emir in a way she must never weaken again. She put it down to a moment of madness before she closed her heart. But as her mind flashed back to what they'd done, and the remembered feeling of being close to him, for however short a time, she desperately wanted more-