Wanted: A Baby by the Sheikh(52)
And afterwards, with limbs tangled and their breathing returned to normal, as he caressed her stomach tenderly, did he suddenly realize that she was right. Taina was no longer a girl, but a woman—a strong woman.
She twisted in his arms. “What are you thinking about?”
“I need to know who it was. You knew who it was, didn’t you? You knew the man who raped you.”
She hesitated, pressing her lips together, uncertain what to do. But she’d told him things would change. She promised herself no more lies. She nodded.
“And you still won’t tell me?”
“Not yet. I will. After…”
“After the launch?”
“Yes. After the launch I’ll tell you.”
“Because the person is connected to it?”
“Maybe. Please, leave it for now. I promise I will tell you. But you have to promise not to do anything.”
“I can’t promise that,” he said quietly. “But I can promise I’ll always love you.”
She sat astride him and he knew that she was distracting him. And it was working. “Good.” She moved her hands over him, playing with him, teasing him, until he forgot what he was thinking and surrendered to the movement of her hands, and then her body moving on him.
Taina awoke to find the soft throw had been placed over her. She turned with a start. Daidan was dressed and sipping coffee and watching her. She sat up and yawned. “How long have I been asleep?”
“About an hour. Coffee?”
“Thank you.” She sipped the coffee, the throw falling down to her waist, as did his eyes. He grinned. “So… are you going to sit there all day watching my breasts? Might get a tad boring.”
“I’ll never be bored by that. I could do it all day. Such perfect breasts.”
She frowned. “Nothing’s perfect, Daidan.”
He grinned. “True. I think one might be a shade larger than the other.”
She grabbed a cushion and threw it at him but he side-stepped it. “Thank you for considering my comfort but I won’t be staying long.”
She raised her eyebrows as she sipped her coffee. “Why? Where are you going?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He pointed out the window to the gulf. “See the boat out there?”
Taina looked at the launch that appeared to be heading their way. She pulled the throw around her and stood up. “Is someone coming?”
“Our team, Taina. The whole of our team will be arriving in, oh”—he glanced at his watch and looked up at her with a grin—“in approximately eight minutes.”
Taina yelped and her coffee spilled as she ran from the room. “Bastard!”
Daidan smiled to himself as he heard Taina running down the hall to their suite at the far end of the house. He watched the boat approach as he calmly finished his coffee. Taina was wrong about something. He still felt unable to help her, except in this one way. He could protect her from threat. He suspected one of the Russian contingent. They’d been both in Antigua and New York before at the same time she was there. He’d make sure they couldn’t get anywhere near her before he discovered the rapist’s identity and dealt with him. Only then could he and Taina move on with their lives.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Daidan looked around, checking to make sure the discreet security was in place. No one would be able to land on the island unannounced, no one would be able to attack Taina, his home, or his company. He’d made sure of that. He exchanged a few words with his chief of security and then switched off the phone and turned to Taina. He forgot his worries instantly. She’d never looked more beautiful. The burnt orange satin of her evening dress made her look like the setting sun, vibrant and eclipsing all else with her beauty. She turned to him with eyes bright with excitement. She looked like a flower in full sun—giving forth a beauty and inner radiance that he’d never before seen in her.
It made him swear again never to allow anyone to hurt her. She wouldn’t have liked the security measures if she knew how extensive they were, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.
“Daidan! Look over there. Don’t the barges look glorious?”
He followed her gaze out to the gulf which was as calm and blue as a millpond in midsummer. He could almost have believed he was back at home in Ma’in, for the brilliance of the color—except the heat wasn’t as fierce. He’d return there again, soon, with Taina. Turned out he had nothing to prove after all. All he needed was Taina.
“It was inspired. But aren’t you always?”
“Not always,” she said wryly. “But I probably will be in the future. I’m somehow feeling that my inspiration is going to continue for some time to come.”