Woman in a Sheikh's World(22)

'Can you take it?'

'Can you?'

And it was a question she was to ask herself over and over again as he  used all his skill and knowledge to drive her wild. She didn't believe  in love. She didn't believe in happy ever after. But she believed in  this and wondered how she'd survived so long without his touch and then  realised that she barely had. That every day since they'd parted she'd  been starving for him.

He was hard, hot and hers, and being with him again felt crazily good.  So good that she was clumsy as she moved against him and of course he  took instant advantage of that, rolling and pinning her beneath him.                       
       
           



       

'I missed you.' He groaned the words against her neck and she closed her eyes because hearing him say it choked her up so badly.

'No, you didn't.'

'Yes, I did. And you missed me too.'

'No, I didn't.'

'Yes, you did. Say those words back to me, Avery. Be honest.' His hand cupped her face. 'It doesn't make you weak to admit it.'

No, but it made her vulnerable. 'I missed having someone to argue with,  that's true.' She made the mistake of opening her eyes at that moment  and met the heat in his. His mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile of  complete understanding.

'Of course, you missed the arguments and that is all. You didn't miss  this-' eyes half shut, he stroked a hand down her body and she gasped  '-or this-' he moved his hand lower still and this time she moaned '-and  you definitely didn't miss this.'

This had her writhing under him but he denied her the satisfaction she  craved, easing away slightly when she arched her hips against him.

'Do you realise that the only time you show your feelings is when we're  in bed together?' His voice was husky and he pinned her arms above her  head, holding her captive. 'Apart from the scorpion sting, the only time  I've ever seen you vulnerable is when you're in my bed.'

'It wasn't always your bed. Sometimes it was my bed.' Her heart was  thumping because of course she was vulnerable. Terrifyingly so, naked in  every way. All of her exposed to this man who saw so much and yet still  insisted on more.

'Are you going to tell me why you're so afraid?'

'Afraid?' She tugged gently at his hands but he held her firmly. 'I'm not afraid.'

'If you're not afraid then stop trying to free yourself.' His mouth  trailed over her shoulder, his tongue slow and explicit as he traced her  skin. 'If you're not afraid then you should just trust me not to hurt  you. It shouldn't be hard.'

It was the hardest thing in the world, to put her safety in the hands of  another person. To trust her heart to the one person in the world who  could break it. It was too much to ask. He wanted her to surrender  something she couldn't surrender. To submit to something that terrified  her because she knew that whatever he gave, he could also take away.

His mouth moved lower, his tongue flicked her nipple and a low moan of pleasure escaped her.

'Mal-'

'Trust me not to hurt you.' He murmured the words against her skin,  against her body, already damp from his tongue and shivering with an  excitement so intense it was impossible to keep still. She squirmed and  her breath caught at the feel of him, the rough hardness of his thigh  and the thickness of his penis as his powerful body brushed against  hers. The extent of his arousal mirrored hers and she tried to wrap her  arms around him and urge him on but he held her hands fast so that she  had no choice but to submit to his will.

Struggling to stay in control, to stay in charge, Avery closed her eyes  and blocked out the sensual gleam in those dark eyes. As always, he  drove her to the edge. Even with her eyes closed she felt restraint  slip. She couldn't remember actually why she was trying to prevent this  happening. Excitement engulfed her in great waves until she was drowning  in sensation, the feelings of her body colliding with her fears.

His tongue flicked over the sensitive tips of her breasts, his touch so  skilled that she felt the sensation deep inside her. She squirmed, her  hips shifting against the luxurious sheets, but he showed her no mercy. A  moan escaped her lips but his response to that was to slide his hand  between her legs, to apply his expertise to that part of her that now  ached for his touch. And touch her he did, those long, strong fingers  shamelessly knowing as he drove her wild, controlling her response and  easing back as he felt the first ripple of her body.

'No. Not yet.'

Denied the completion she craved, she moaned against his mouth. 'Not fair.'

'I want you. All of you.' He murmured the words against her mouth and  she parted her lips and tried to steal a kiss but with her hands held  and her body trapped beneath the powerful strength of male muscle, she  wasn't the one in control. He kept his mouth just out of reach of hers,  close enough to drive her crazy and make her desperate for his kiss, not  close enough for her to take control.

'Mal-'

'I want you to trust me.' He spoke softly but there was no mistaking the  command in his voice and had they been in a different position she  would have smiled because he just couldn't help himself. Even now, in  this position of extreme intimacy, he had to be in control.                       
       
           



       

'I don't trust anyone but myself.'

'Up until now that might have been true-' His fingers, placed  tantalizingly close to that delicate part of her, traced her so gently,  so skilfully that the exquisite pleasure swelled to something close to  pain. Her body throbbed with her need for him and he knew it. She knew  he knew it because she felt his smile against her mouth as he finally  lowered his head to hers and gave her what she'd craved. His tongue slid  over hers, bold, demanding and unashamedly sensual while all the time  his fingers worked magic. And still he held her hands. Still he held her  trapped and the ease with which he did it confirmed that physically he  was the stronger, but she couldn't allow herself to surrender in the way  he wanted her to surrender.

'Let go of me. I want to touch you.'

'No. For now, I'm the one in charge. The sooner you acknowledge that,  the sooner I let you go.' His hand pushed her thighs wider and with a  single smooth movement he was inside her. Deep, sure but achingly slow  and gentle and that control on his part tore at the last straining  threads of hers.

She moaned and he withdrew slightly and then moved again, deeper this  time, his hand on her hip, controlling her movements. The look in his  eyes made it hard to catch her breath and she wanted to close hers, to  block him out, but something in her wouldn't allow it so the connection  continued, deepening an experience that was already terrifying.

It had never been like this before. The sex had always been amazing and  each time had been different but never, ever had it felt like this.  Never this close. Never this-personal.

He'd never demanded this much from her and she'd never given this much.

She felt the strength of him, the power of him stretching her,  possessing her and she wrapped her legs around him, always active, never  passive and he smiled against her lips because he recognised that need  in her. He knew her so well. He knew all of her and she tried again to  block him out because the level of intimacy was terrifying. She was  bound, not by the fact that he held her hands, but by the fact that he  held her heart. If she begged him, he'd let her hands go. Physically,  she'd be free. Emotionally, she knew she'd never be free. He was the  only man she wanted. He was the only man she'd ever wanted and those  feelings bound her to him as securely as if she'd been handcuffed.

'Stop fighting it-' he kissed her slowly '-stop fighting me and pushing me away.'

'I'm not pushing you. Thanks to you, I can't move.'

'I'm not talking about physically and you know it.' His mouth was still  on hers. Gentle and yet demanding at the same time. 'I'm talking about  everything else.'

'What else is there?'

'You know.'

Yes, she knew and this time she managed to close her eyes, moaning a low denial. 'You are asking too much.'

'I'm asking a lot. But not too much.'

'You don't know.'

'If there are things I don't know then it's because you've never trusted me enough to tell me. I won't hurt you.'

And she knew he wasn't talking about the physical side of their  relationship. He wasn't talking about sex or anything that they were  doing right now in this bed. That wouldn't have scared her. What scared  her was the fact that he would hurt her. Maybe not now, or even tomorrow  but at some point in their relationship, perhaps even when she'd  started to rely on having him in her life.

He'd hurt her before  …

Panic washed over her. 'Mal-'

'I want it all, Avery. Everything you've never given before. I want that  from you.' His free hand locked in her hair. 'I won't be satisfied with  less than everything.'