Wanted: A Baby by the Sheikh(10)
As soon as he’d finished speaking her face relaxed. She had been scared.
“Come,” he continued. “Let’s go into the lounge, I’ll pour you a drink and we can talk about whatever you like. About how we first met, about anything you like.”
She nodded gratefully. “I’d like that.”
He led her into the lounge and she walked to the windows and looked out over the sweep of harbor, dotted with lights. “Champagne?”
“That would be lovely.”
By the time he’d returned, she’d kicked off her shoes and had her feet curled under her, on the sofa. He handed her the glass. “How about a toast?”
“What shall we drink to?”
“To us. And to taking things slowly.” He held her gaze as they clinked glasses and took a sip. “Now.” He placed the glass on the table and sat down beside her. “What shall we talk about?”
“Us. That first night.”
“As I remember, I took you to my hotel and we made love.”
“Is that all you remember?”
“You can’t expect me to remember all our conversations.”
“I guess not.” She grinned. “Just the important bits.”
But he wasn’t smiling now. “They weren’t the important bits. The important bits were that we were just two people. There was no money, no business, no families to come between us. No complications. Just us.”
“Just us. Not for long though, was it?”
“No. We only had a few nights before I discovered you were the boss’s daughter.”
“And then everything changed.” They were silent for a few moments.
“I know you don’t believe me, but when I asked you to marry me the first time, my proposal had nothing to do with your father or the business. All the arrangements we made came later.” He shrugged. “But those arrangements seemed normal to me—such marriages are a part of my culture.”
“But not mine.”
“No. Not yours.”
“And nor is hitting someone flat to the ground who flirts with your girlfriend.”
He bristled. “I was merely protecting you. That’s what a boyfriend, a husband does.”
“It nearly landed you in jail though, didn’t it?”
He nodded briefly.
“You can’t do anything like that ever again. You know that, don’t you? The police warned—”
“I know what they warned. You don’t need to tell me where my hot-headed passions can lead me. I know well enough. That’s why they’re contained. That’s why I didn’t follow you as I should have done.”
She leaned back on the sofa. “I’m sorry. I wanted us to remember the good times. Do you think… that we could turn the clocks back, just for tonight? Just you, just me, just two people, before everything became so complicated?”
“Just two people,” he repeated. “Of course.”
He took her by the hand and they walked into the bedroom, barely aware of their surroundings.
Once inside he closed the door and kissed her. He’d meant it to be a gentle kiss to begin with but the nervousness she’d been showing earlier had now completely disappeared. And she turned the kiss into a totally sensuous experience—of lips upon lips, mouth opening onto mouth and tongue sweeping against tongue. As their kiss deepened he moved his hands over her shoulders, caressing the edges of her backless dress, skimming his thumb down, below the low rise of the dress. His fingers sought out the lacy strap of her underwear and he groaned, pulling her harder to him so she was left in no doubt as to how much he desired her.
He felt her gasp against his mouth and her hands roved under his jacket and then up inside his shirt. The feel of her hands against his bare skin was enough to drive nearly everything out of his mind. Nearly but not quite. Tonight was too important to him to mess it up by taking her as fiercely as he wanted to. He wanted to coax her, he wanted to enjoy her, but more than that he wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her. He wanted to make sure that she never left him again.
Reluctantly he pulled away from her mouth. He smiled as she leaned in to him, wanting more. Instead he brushed her cheek with his lips, pushed her hair back, nibbled her ear before moving lower. He remembered well the places on her body where he could arouse her with a single touch. But he wasn’t leaving it to a single touch tonight.
He kissed the dip above her collar bone and was rewarded with an instinctive arching of her upper body, allowing him greater access, while her hips stayed pressed against his. He smiled to himself as he flicked his tongue into the same dip. She gasped and he kissed it harder, almost suckling the sensitive area. Their bodies just fitted together. Like some kind of elastic memory—their muscles and joints melded together as if they were one. And they would be soon.