Hidden in the Sheikh's Harem: Christmas at the Castello(13)

Restraining her once more, he leaned in close. 'You would have done  better if you'd used that agile little body against me for pleasure,  Farah, rather than trying to fight me,' he goaded.

Cocoa-brown eyes rounded, sparking with a mixture of fear and anger.  And something else. Hunger? Need? He drew in a sharp breath. What would  she do if he just said to hell with it and kissed her until she was  moaning in submission as he'd wanted to do earlier in the harem, moaning  for him to take her and pleasure her as no man ever had before?                       
       
           



       

'I would rather boil myself in oil than try and entice you,' she spat.

Normally Zach had no trouble controlling his libido-his emotions-but  this woman could incite a monk to forget his vows. 'Liar,' he said  against her skin. He wanted to turn her so that he could feel her curved  into him and before he could think of all the reasons why that wasn't a  good idea he had her in his arms and his mouth slanted over hers.

He kissed her hard and mercilessly and he didn't stop when she hissed a  noise against his lips and thumped his shoulders. He didn't stop as she  squirmed to get away from him and he didn't stop when the voice of  reason rang out a warning inside his head.

This thing between them had started the minute she'd put those slender  fingers in his mouth, maybe even before, and he was uncaring that this  was something he would normally never do-uncaring about anything but  having her surrender to him. Of having her wind those long legs around  his hips so he could satisfy the primal need that owned him and made him  want to own her.

When she moaned as if he was hurting her, it penetrated the fog of  surging testosterone and he raised his head to look down at her. Her  cheeks were flushed bright pink and strands of her silky hair clung to  her neck. Her eyes looked too large for her face and her lips were moist  and swollen from where he had ravished them. She looked wild and wanton  and with every panting breath she took her breasts rose temptingly  against his chest.

Shaken by the strength of his reaction to her, Zach thought about  releasing her right up until the moment her pink tongue stole out of her  mouth and swiped his taste from her lips. It was then he realised she  was no longer struggling against him and that her eyes were trained on  his mouth in a way that said she wanted more. And, by Allah, so did he.

With a pained groan he lowered his head and once more touched his lips  to hers, only gently this time. He wanted to take his time to savour her  lips, to feel their texture and taste their unique flavour. He wanted  to feel her meet him halfway and he made a guttural sound deep in his  chest when she tentatively rose against him in an innocent quest for  more. Zach couldn't remember a kiss ever feeling so intimate, so good,  and he fell against her, pressing her back into the door.

Thick lashes came down to shield her eyes as if the sensation was too  much to bear, as if she could only focus on one thing at a time. He felt  her lips give beneath his own, opening wider as he took the kiss  deeper, the sensations shaking him to his core. Without even knowing it,  he released her hands and wound his through her lush hair, cradling the  back of her skull as he positioned her to take his tongue.

He growled as she melted against him, her tongue gliding shyly against  his, and his world shrank to encompass only this. Only her. He pulled  her in tighter, hitching her higher. She gave a soft, feminine whimper,  her fingers clenching at his shoulders as she quivered against him. Zach  cursed the amount of clothing between them, unable to stop himself from  grinding his erection against the juncture of her thighs. He swallowed  the catch in her breath and chased her tongue into her mouth, his hands  restless in her hair, restless on her body, as he sought to pull the  blasted abaya up and over her head so he could get to her body.

Dimly he became aware that they weren't alone. A couple of his senior  officers had gathered at the entrance to the alleyway to ensure his  safety and were at this moment watching him make love to his little  prisoner. It wasn't the best behaviour he'd ever modelled and it took  every ounce of willpower he had to let her go and step back from her.

When he did she slumped against the doorway, her eyes wide, her lips  swollen and wet. She looked beautiful. Wild and untamed and just as  shocked as he was.

It was the shock that finally brought him to his senses. 'What the hell was that?'

A surfeit of emotions charged across her face, wounded pride being one  of them. 'That was you being a bully,' she accused hotly.

Zach felt as if he'd been slapped. His father had been a bully; he  wasn't, and as for forcing her, her body had been primed for his kiss  from the moment they met. 'You wanted everything you just got,' he  snarled. 'And if you try to tell me otherwise I'll strip you naked and  prove you wrong.'

'Oh!'

Zach placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her to precede him. 'Consider yourself warned.'

* * *

Oh? Oh? That was all she could come up with after he'd kissed her into a stupor and then insulted her?

Oh?

By Allah, she could come up with a hundred responses now and if he were here she'd give him every last one of them.                       
       
           



       

Pacing the lavish harem she'd been locked back up in, with two guards  posted inside the room, she spun around when she heard the lock turning  in the door.

She eyed Prince Zachim with open hostility as he stood in the doorway,  flanked on either side by the two maids she'd sent away earlier.

'I see your arm is still attached to your body,' she said, still  feeling a little guilty at having hurt him, even though he had  completely deserved it. 'What a pity.'

'Yes. No thanks to you.' He stepped into the room, his two lackeys  shuffling to keep up. 'I believe I left specific instructions for you to  dress.'

She felt her body tense as she took in his wide-legged stance. He was  no longer wearing the black robes that had made him look like a menacing  pirate earlier, but now wore a regal white one, the colour emphasising  his swarthy skin and the deep amber tones of his eyes.

By all that was holy, she still couldn't believe the way she had  responded to his kisses back in the alley, and her fingers curled into  her palms in an attempt to stave off the memory.

She'd never been kissed like that before. Certainly Amir had never  tried to kiss her. In fact she'd only ever been kissed once before, by a  youth from a neighbouring country who hadn't had the sense to be afraid  of her father. It had been rushed and impossibly chaste compared to the  Prince of Bakaan's kisses, which she was not going to think about any  more.

'I am dressed,' she said, knowing that he was referring to the purple  silk gown that had been brought to her earlier and which she hadn't  touched.

His lips quirked. 'So you are. Unfortunately your current outfit will not work for my brother's wedding.'

'What do I care about your brother's wedding?'

'Nothing. Obviously. But I find myself uncomfortable with the notion of leaving you alone again.'

Farah crossed her arms over chest. 'Am I supposed to feel sorry about that?'

'No, my bloodthirsty little heathen, but given your recent behaviour I  have no wish to be sitting at my brother's wedding, wondering what plans  you're hatching down here in my absence.'

Farah tried not to be pleased at causing him some measure of  discomfort. 'Just leave me with your guards. I'm sure we can find some  way to occupy ourselves.'

'No doubt,' he murmured. 'But I have no wish to have to discipline any more of my men.'

'Am I really so dangerous, Prince Zachim?'

His mouth kicked up into that crooked grin that made her heart trip just a little. 'More like troublesome.'

'My father won't take the bait, you know,' she asserted, hoping that it was true.

'We'll see.'

Farah gnashed her teeth together at his cavalier attitude. He was so  cool as to appear almost bored, but why wouldn't he be? It wasn't his  life hanging in the balance.

'In the meantime, Isla and Carine are here to prepare you to be my guest at the wedding.'

Farah's eyes cut to both the women and for the first time she noticed  that they were carrying towels and drawstring bags that held goodness  knew what.

'And you will cooperate this time.'

The prince's insolent drawl brought her eyes back to his. He looked  hard and unyielding, as if she had no choice in the matter. 'There is  no-'

'Way you're going to attend?' He flicked his hand in her direction as  if she were an irritating insect. 'Yes, I know.' He walked towards her  and raised his hand to stay the women, who immediately obeyed. Farah's  eyes narrowed and she forced herself to remain rigid as he took the last  two steps into her personal space. 'But you will. And you will behave.'

As she was about to tell him to go to hell, he shook his head slowly.  'I can of course just lock you in a cell. Or perhaps it would be better  to chain you to your bed. I'd hate you to be uncomfortable.'