The Sheikh’s Secret Heir(35)

In a matter of minutes, she arrived at his side, claimed the spot beside him and hugged her legs to her chest. “You look rather pensive tonight.”

“I have been reflecting on what you said to me this morning about Yasmin.”

She regretted some of her comments, but others, not so much. “I didn’t mean to intrude, Tarek.”

His thoughts seemed to drift away momentarily before he began to speak again. “She is a very gregarious little girl. She possesses a free spirit and rarely goes anywhere without running.” He paused to smile. “She is also quite the conversationalist. At times, I listen quietly to her only to hear the sound of her voice. She seems unaffected by the hardship that has befallen her.”

The hint of emotion in his voice touched Kira deeply. “Children are resilient. They only want to be loved.”

His expression turned suddenly somber. “Perhaps another family would better serve her needs, one with both a mother and father.”

We could have that family, she wanted to say, but stopped short of spilling her secret. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Tarek. You have inherent compassion and the capacity to love her more than you realize.”

He glanced at her, then reached over and took her hand. “I sincerely appreciate your faith in me, yet I feel as if I am bereft of any true emotion. I am not certain I can change that.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Hearing you talk so fondly about Yasmin leads me to believe you already have. Or maybe those emotions have always been there and you’re simply afraid to feel them. I’m really sorry that someone has hurt you that badly.”

He remained silent as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over her wrist in a soothing rhythm. “It is warm tonight.”

Leave it to him to talk about the weather when she was getting too close for his comfort. “It’s a beautiful night. Just enough breeze to make it totally comfortable.”

Without warning, he leaned back and took her with him. Without words, he kissed her thoroughly. She so needed to ask him to stop so she could tell him about their child. She also needed to protest when he rolled her onto her back and slid his hand beneath her top to cup her silk-covered breasts.

“Tarek, we still need to talk,” she managed when he turned his attention to her neck.

“Later,” he muttered as he brushed his knuckles down her belly.

Later seemed like a banner idea, especially when he released the button below her waist and slid her zipper down. Much later, she decided as he worked the cotton shorts down her hips, taking her panties with them. She didn’t have the strength to utter one protest when he moved over her, gently parted her thighs and kissed his way down her torso.

Now there she was, lying on a bed of sand, completely out in the open with her bottoms down to her ankles and Tarek working his magic with his talented mouth between her legs. The ultimate intimacy could prove to be her emotional and physical undoing. The tempered strokes of his tongue could send her straight to the three-quarter moon above them. The ensuing climax could very well cause her to actually scream from the pleasure.

Fortunately she had enough presence of mind to remain quiet except for a low moan when the orgasm took over. She couldn’t recall ever feeling so grand and so ready for Tarek to complete this sensual journey.

She had to wait for him to shrug out of his white tailored shirt, which he spread out on the ground.

“Lay on this,” he said as he took off his slacks and underwear.

As Kira stretched out on the makeshift blanket, Tarek joined her and guided himself inside her. He kept his gaze locked on hers while he moved lightly at first, as if bent on teasing her into oblivion.

She loved the closeness of his body, the feel of his weight. She loved the sound of his breath at her ear, growing more uneven with each passing second. She loved the power of his thrusts, the crude but sexy words he uttered until he didn’t speak at all. She loved...him. She had no idea when it had happened, or why she would let herself be so vulnerable. She did know that despite his efforts to present himself as a man who wanted no emotional ties, a caring man resided beneath the hardnosed businessman.

After Tarek collapsed against her, Kira stroked his back and relished the feel of his weight. All too soon, he rolled over and draped an arm over his eyes. They lay there for quite some time beneath a host of stars, serenaded by the sound of lapping waves. She could stay here forever, shutting out everything aside from these few special moments. But the secret she held—the one she desperately needed to tell him—continued to play over and over in her mind.

Tarek transferred back to his side, rose above her on one elbow and smiled. “You are a most amazing woman.”