Pregnant by the Sheikh(24)

As for having a baby, she’d always thought she’d one day have one. But since she’d given up on marriage, and no one had tempted her to have sex with him, she’d thought she’d seek out a donor. But after Numair, that didn’t feel like an option anymore. Now that she knew he existed, that she could want a man that much, that he wanted her as fiercely, how could she contemplate having a child not born of this perfection, as he’d said?

To have a child with this wonder would be incredible. And once she got pregnant, if they married as he’d insisted, he’d certainly never be a needy, clingy, exploitative partner, like her ex had been, so she had nothing to worry about in that arena. He’d also promised he’d never smother her. Realistically speaking, with a man like him, who was so preoccupied with burdens the magnitude of which she probably couldn’t imagine, the opposite would probably be true. He’d probably have little time for her, giving her all the space she needed and then some.

His ardor would probably cool off gradually, too. And hers as well, no doubt, especially with a child changing the essence of her existence. Once things settled, she’d end up having everything she had now, plus a child and the best possible partner in raising it.

Though Numair felt as if he was missing human components, she had a feeling he would make a good father. That protector vibe told her he would. She knew in her bones she’d be safe with him, and so would a child.

In fact, the more she thought of it, the more it sounded too good to be true. She couldn’t even imagine why all this was happening to her, of all women. It sounded like too much of a coincidence, too much the answer to her every fantasy. Everything about him, everything he’d said and done, was the best thing she could have hoped for. So was it what it appeared to be? Or was there somehow more to it?

She had a thousand questions. And worries. This man was the most unfathomable quantity she’d ever met. She knew there was far more to him than even she could imagine. And for some reason she couldn’t even begin to explain, she felt there was far more to this whole thing...

The bell rang right at her back. She jumped as if at a close-range gunshot, blasted out of her reverie.

Her eyes tore to the clock on the wall. It was 7:00 p.m. This had to be Numair’s right-hand man.

Heart hammering, she squared her shoulders. She would go to Numair. To ask him to have a long, rational talk.

She’d ask her questions, demand her terms—her safeguards, more like. Once he’d given her satisfactory answers and they had a roadmap of sorts, she’d tear his clothes off and demand he show her no mercy.

Inhaling a bolstering breath, she opened the door with the smile she’d patented for strangers. The next second her lungs almost burst in shock.

Numair. On her doorstep.

Before she could draw another breath, she was swept up as if she was made of cotton candy, in arms that defined power, looking up into a face that was mastery incarnate.

Kicking the door closed behind him, he looked down at her with a voracity that turned her body from solid to molten. And that was before his deep, devouring words hit her.

“I realized I’ve been remiss. I spoke of the untold pleasure I have in store for you if you say yes, but gave you no true sample of my claims. I’m here to rectify my oversight.”




Five

A high-pitched alarm kept clanging in the distance.

Jen vaguely recognized it was logic, reminding her that she hadn’t asked her questions, stated her terms or obtained her safeguards.

She let it clamor, then tuned it out. Everything it was yelling about suddenly felt irrelevant. Anything would be when you were drowning. As she was. In Numair.

And he hadn’t yet done anything but sweep her up in his arms and claim her lips. If she felt taken, possessed, devoured already, what would she feel like when he fully made love to her?

For the first time in her life, self-preservation wasn’t her foremost consideration. She wanted him more than she wanted to be safe. It was insanity and she knew it. She never knowingly did insane stuff. But for him, she’d do anything. With him, she wanted everything.

Suddenly the world gave way beneath her, and she felt she was plummeting. He’d only put her back on her feet. The only reason she didn’t heap to the ground at his feet was because he kept one muscled arm around her waist. It tightened, pulling her against him fully, her toes barely touching the ground. She was totally in his power, loving it and delighting in every hard inch of him that was imprinting her trembling flesh. She moaned when his other hand rose to cup her cheek.

“I spent all night and all day in agony. Tell me you did, too.” She could only nod, but her muteness seemed to satisfy him. “And as I suffered, I planned everything I’d do to you, all the ways I’d assuage the hunger, slowly, thoroughly.”