His Defiant Desert Queen(50)
She hadn’t even realized she was crying.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, turning away to hide her face.
He turned her face back to him and gently swept his thumb across her right cheek, and then her left. His expression was troubled. Brooding. “Do you cry for your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Just your mother? Or, perhaps you are also still hurting from that spineless Englishman who calls himself a model?”
She made a soft, rough sound. “He’s a great model.”
“But a lousy man.”
She smiled despite herself, and then her smile faded. “My sister Logan said he did me a favor. She said it was better that I find out who he is now, before we married, instead of after.”
“Your sister is right.” His thumb slid across her cheekbone, and then down, along her smooth jaw, his attention fixed now on her mouth. He was going to kiss her. She was sure of it, she could tell by the expression in his eyes, and the way the air sparked and crackled around them, tense, and electric.
She felt raw and emotional. Confused. Everything was changing; the energy between them was different. He’d been so harsh and cold in the beginning but he was different now. He seemed as if he might care.
His head dipped. Her tummy flipped. Her pulse raced. His mouth almost touched hers, but didn’t. His breath caressed her lips. “I am sorry that spineless Englishman hurt you. I am also sorry that I add to your pain.”
Her heart squeezed. She struggled to catch her breath, feeling bruised.
“But I will make you happy, laeela. I promise.”
She stared into his eyes, lost, dazzled.
“You will enjoy being my wife.” He stroked her cheek again. “You will have riches beyond compare.”
Jemma exhaled hard, and sat back, the magic gone.
He didn’t understand her. He didn’t understand that what she wanted, needed, had nothing to do with wealth. “Money does not buy happiness. I’ve no desire for riches, or wealth. I’ve had both, and money can buy things, but not what my heart needs.”
“What about your body?”
“My body?”
His dark eyes gleamed. “What about what your body needs?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Who worships your body?”
Without wanting to, she thought of Damien. They’d had a good relationship, and great sex, but she wouldn’t say Damien ever worshipped her body. She’d never had a boyfriend who’d worshipped her body, and had begun to think after conversations with her girlfriends, that few men did. “No man worships a woman’s body.”
“I fully intend to worship your body.”
“This is incredibly uncomfortable. Perhaps it’s time we discussed your body.”
Mikael grinned. Like his laugh earlier, it was the first time she’d really seen him smile, a real smile and his teeth flashed again, and a tiny dimple appeared on the right side of his mouth. It was astonishing. Not just because he’d smiled, but because of what it did to his face. The smile transformed his hard, fierce features. He looked so approachable, so appealing.