Читать книгу Modern Romance July 2018 Books 5-8 Collection - Дженнифер Хейворд, Annie West - Страница 15

CHAPTER FIVE

‘WHO ARE YOU?’ Sayid’s voice was rough, every sense on alert.

He’d noticed movement in the shadows beyond the pool and instinct screamed a warning. Instinct that had, in the past, saved him more than once.

He’d swum to the end of the pool, vaulted out and prowled silently through the darkness to circle the silent watcher, approaching not from the lighted pool but the darkened garden.

A soft grunt of expelled air sounded as he hauled the intruder against him. An even softer body collided with his, a face against his chest, one smooth leg slipping against his.

What the—?

Swiftly he checked for weapons. Nothing. Just the extraordinary realisation that his intruder was female.

He peered down, making out the pale oval of an upturned face and a cascade of dark hair. Silky hair that draped over his chest and arm like a seductive blanket.

But it was the body against his that focused his thoughts. A curved, taut female body that seemed in the first instant of surprise to be unclothed. He moved a hand to her hip and found it covered in fabric that clung like a second skin. His fingers curved reflexively.

‘You can let me go.’ The voice, shaken but clear, came from near his collarbone.

Sayid identified that voice instantly. ‘Lina? What are you doing here?’

He’d spent the evening trying to wrench his thoughts from the sight and sound of her, vibrant and beautiful in that clinging dress. Eventually he’d decided to work off his restlessness with exercise, only to find her, impossibly, here, in his private domain.

He breathed deep and felt the press of lush breasts against him. She was no schoolgirl any more. This was a woman, her body seductively ripe.

His body knew it. With her plastered against him and her breath feathering his nakedness, a weighted tension gathered in his loins. A clamouring rush of testosterone quickened his blood.

It had been months since his enjoyable interlude with that Danish actress. Now that seemed far too long ago.

‘I didn’t mean to intrude. I had no idea you were here. I thought the courtyard was deserted.’ Was that panic in her voice? Fear?

Instantly Sayid stepped back, keeping his grip firm.

Air filled the gap between them but the sweet scent of her skin, like the fragrant damask roses his mother used to cultivate, lingered. As did Lina’s warmth.

Desire, rough and urgent, slammed into him.

‘Come into the light.’ He led her towards the pool. Briefly it crossed his mind to clothe himself. But she’d already spied on his nakedness and it wasn’t as if he had anything to hide. He was damned if he’d release his grip before he got an explanation.

There she stood, chin raised and eyes on a point near his shoulder, as he surveyed her in the glow of the underwater lights. It revealed every line and curve. From the sweet swell of her hips to her narrow waist and her high, lovely breasts. She’d been pressed against him and her one-piece swimsuit was wet. Wet enough to make her nipples peak. Which in turn increased the pressure in his groin.

He enjoyed beautiful women but kept a strict rein on his libido. Tonight his search for self-possession seemed futile. She’d filled his thoughts all evening and there was no escape even here, in his private space.

‘Why are you spying on me?’

‘I’m sorry. Truly.’ Her eyes were huge as she met his stare and the crackle of energy between them detonated a silent explosion inside him. Yearning, desire...

She was pure seductress with that lush mouth and the shimmering dark hair falling to her waist. He should be furious at the invasion of privacy yet he wanted to comb his hand through her hair, enjoy the luxury of it against his skin. Not think but feel.

‘I couldn’t sleep and I knew there was a pool here.’ The words tripped quickly from her lips. ‘I thought a swim might help me relax. I had no idea...’ She shook her head and that silky veil of hair slid across his hands where he held her. His flesh tightened. ‘I didn’t realise it was your pool. Then when I saw you—’ she swallowed hard, her gaze slipping from his ‘—I planned to leave. But I got tangled in the bushes.’

‘You didn’t know this was my private wing?’

‘Absolutely not!’

Her smooth brow wrinkled in obvious dismay.

Real or feigned?

The woman who’d returned to Halarq after years in Europe wasn’t the same innocent who’d left. Lina was confident and beautiful, at ease with the adulation of men, as tonight had proved. But he couldn’t quite believe she was like those predatory women who tried so hard to invade his privacy and his bed without invitation.

Yet she looked the picture of guilt. The question was whether it was because of an honest, though unlikely, mistake. Or simply because he’d caught her.

‘You didn’t seek me out?’

She gasped and shook her head, stiffening in his hold.

Once more her eyes met his and fire shot through his veins. He couldn’t remember a more potent, instant response to any woman.

‘Of course not. Why would I?’

Because you feel the throb of attraction between us too.

Because you want, as I do.

It was there in her convulsive swallow. In the fine tremors he felt running through her body. Not fear, he was certain, but arousal.

Sayid didn’t say the words aloud. He retained, just, the sense to realise he was projecting his desires onto her.

Self-disgust smote him. Was he so needy? So desperate for a taste of those lips he, himself, had declared forbidden fruit?

‘We’ll discuss this in the morning.’ Then, surely, he’d be able to think straight.

Stoically he ignored the seductive scent of her filling his nostrils.

Worse was the way she looked at him. Not like an embarrassed girl, but the way a woman looked at a man she desired.

It had to be unintentional. A trick of the light. Lina was, if no longer an innocent, at least not devious. She’d strayed here in error.

Yet now their gazes locked her nerves seemed to have disappeared. If anything she swayed ever so slightly towards him. Her gaze ate him up. Made him wonder exactly how much experience she’d acquired overseas, freed of the scrutiny of her family or any Halarqi supervision.

She was past the age when many women in his country became brides. No doubt there’d been plenty of foreign men ready to teach the little desert flower about love.

The notion brewed a bitter tang on his tongue.

Then Sayid registered the quick rise and fall of her breathing, the implicit invitation as she licked her lips and the faint, unmistakable fragrance of feminine arousal, mingling with her rose perfume.

He swallowed, stunned by the sudden certainty he wasn’t the only one to want. He wasn’t simply projecting his desires.

Yet Lina was his dependant, under his protection.

He was in a position of authority over her, with obligations as host, ruler and, above all, guardian. He couldn’t act on his desire. He’d ensured that when he’d made her his ward.

Lina wasn’t his to do with as he wished. She was no longer his concubine, provided for his pleasure.

But the memory of that night four years ago whispered through him, like a rain-laden wind rushing through a parched gully, promising an end to a long, painful drought. She’d offered herself then, ready to please his every whim.

‘Lina! Don’t look at me like that.’ The words ground from him, harsh and ragged.

Again that quick swipe of her bottom lip, as if her mouth was as dry as his.

‘Like what?’ Still she didn’t move away.

Sayid shook his head, determined to do the right thing as soon as he could unlock his hold on her arms.

Except she breathed deep and her breasts grazed him. A trail of fire rocketed through his ribs and abdomen, straight to his groin.

‘Like you want me to kiss you.’ He heard the rasp in his voice as duty battled desire, but she didn’t respond to that harsh warning.

She blinked up at him, her lips parted and slowly shook her head, her hair caressing him. Then her words, soft as the flutter of a nightingale’s wing, came to him. ‘But I do.’

The night stood still, except for his heart slamming his ribs and the saw of his breath, loud in the silence. Yet, hard as he fought, control was beyond him now.

A moment later his mouth captured hers.

* * *

If she’d had the capacity to think properly Lina might have been astonished at how she’d spoken aloud, admitting her desire so blatantly.

Or by the way she responded to being locked against his hard form.

By the shivers of sensual delight she felt at the riot of new sensations.

This was outrageous, terrifying.

Wonderful.

Hard, callused hands grasped her tight. Sayid’s warm breath feathered her face. His rich, potent scent swirled within her as if she’d absorbed his essence. And above all, the press of his wet, hard body against hers devastated her senses in the most thrilling way.

It was like a dream. Like those disturbing fantasies that had haunted her the last four years, growing ever bolder and more erotic.

Inevitably, as he bowed his head and possessed her mouth, Lina revelled in the fact this was no dream. She lifted her hands to his wet shoulders, relishing the strong bone, solid muscle and satiny skin beneath her questing hands.

Her daring surprised her, as if she made a habit of embracing men, when instead she’d spent years learning how to be friendly yet not encourage their advances.

Because, despite the stunning audacity of it, her heart, or perhaps her body, had fixed on Sayid Badawi as the only one she wanted. The one who, he’d made clear as he’d gently but firmly bundled her out of his bedroom and his life, was not for her. For of course he demanded sophistication and glamour, women who fitted his world of prestige and power.

This then was magic. A moment’s aberration.

An opportunity not to be missed. For too soon reality would end it.

Lina fell into his embrace. So long she’d imagined his mouth on hers. So long she’d pined for his touch. There was no holding back, no hesitation. And she discovered her imagination was a poor imitation of the real thing.

Being held by Sayid, kissed by him, made her head spin and her heart pound in delight. The taste of him, so rich, so...intimate, made her weak at the knees. Lina would have been completely overwhelmed except that it felt right.

His powerful arms dragged her up so that her breasts were crushed against that imposing naked torso and she exulted in his strength, the urgency she sensed in him.

His lips were softer than she’d expected. But there was nothing tentative about his kiss. His tongue dived in, probing, licking and swirling. It invited hers to curl in a dance of give and take that made her body prickle with a searing heat despite her damp swimsuit.

She’d imagined sweet kisses. Had wondered about the open-mouthed kisses she’d seen in movies. But nothing, neither the excited chatter at school or the women’s talk she’d heard in her old home, had prepared her for this.

If being near Sayid was like being bathed in starlight, this was like being tossed up into the bright Milky Way itself.

She slipped her hands higher, combing them through the drenched hair at the back of his skull, spreading her fingers and cupping his head possessively.

If she could, she’d hold him here for ever. Everyone knew magic was fleeting and she didn’t want this to end.

His hand dragged up her side, almost but not quite touching her breast and she shuddered. A second later that large hand planted itself on her cheek, angling her head higher as he bowed her back across his arm.

That combination of tenderness and mastery undid her.

With a great thump of her heart Lina abandoned any attempt at thought and let herself go, knowing Sayid wouldn’t let her fall. Everything his kiss demanded she gave, glorying not just in the delicious new physical sensations but her tangled, contrary feelings of power and helplessness.

When she pressed closer, sliding her tongue against his, he responded with a growl of pleasure deep in his throat that vibrated from his slick, hot body to hers. It made her quiver in delight.

She’d never felt so connected to another person. So...aroused. It was a heady new experience.

Liquid heat poured through her, pooling low in the centre of her body. Lina squirmed in his hold, trying to assuage the blind eagerness for more, more, more.

Then suddenly, devastatingly, it was over. Sayid’s hands gripped her upper arms, holding her steady as he straightened away from her.

His broad bronzed chest rose and fell like overworked bellows. The furnace heat of his body encompassed her. But though she still tasted him on her tongue, her tingling lips couldn’t reach him and her hands slipped from his head as he put her away from him.

Doubts assailed her. Regrets. Not for the kiss but because she hadn’t wanted it to end.

Hadn’t he enjoyed kissing her?

She was innocent but not that innocent. There’d been no mistaking his hard arousal between them. And that sound of pleasure he’d made, so low it rumbled through her bones—just remembering it made Lina shiver with luxurious pleasure.

Maybe she’d done it wrong. It was her first kiss, except for her cousin’s clumsy attempt years ago. That didn’t count, since his mouth had landed on her chin when she’d shoved him away.

Slowly Lina lifted her gaze, past the Emir’s heaving pectorals with their fine covering of dark hair, past those hard, broad shoulders that had felt so strong beneath her hands. Even his throat looked powerful and sexy.

Lina blinked, realising she had a whole new appreciation of the meaning of the word. Sexy. That’s what Sayid was. And his kiss sent her into orbit.

Steeling herself, she raised her eyes further. His mouth was a harsh line, set tight. If she couldn’t still taste the rich flavour of him on her tongue, if her lips weren’t swollen from his ardent kiss, she’d believe that mouth incapable of bestowing such bliss.

Lina wobbled, her legs unsteady, and instantly his hands firmed on her.

‘Steady.’ His voice was low, stroking places in her body she’d barely been aware of before now. She loved the differences between them. His size and strength were so much greater than hers. His experience too.

Finally she looked up to meet his blazing eyes. They were so dark they rivalled the black velvet sky behind him.

Whatever the reason for his withdrawal, it wasn’t because he didn’t want her.

An inner voice screamed that the issue wasn’t just whether he wanted her. She had a say too. But that was a given, she acknowledged despairingly. No matter how often Lina told herself she was now an independent woman, she was utterly in thrall to His Royal Highness the Emir of Halarq.

‘Are you all right?’

‘Of course.’ Lina struggled to keep her voice steady when inside all was turmoil. She’d dissolve into something perilously close to putty in those large hands should he kiss her again.

Sayid Badawi held part of her soul. He had from that first night, when she’d come to him, scared yet determined not to show it. Maybe it was gratitude that had turned into a teenage crush she hadn’t grown out of. But whatever the reason, the compulsion she felt was real.

She desired the Emir.

Even now, with his mouth flat with disapproval, Lina wanted to kiss him again. And so much more.

Defiantly, ignoring the warning glitter in his gaze, she hiked her chin up. She wasn’t ashamed of kissing him. He was a grown man, a powerful, experienced man. She hadn’t forced him to kiss her.

‘That was a mistake.’ His low voice ground across her skin like sandpaper rasping tender flesh. ‘It should never have happened.’

Lina opened her mouth to blurt out that it hadn’t felt like a mistake. It had felt as close to perfect as anything she’d experienced in her life.

His expression snapped her mouth closed. She might disagree but clearly he felt differently.

For the first time since he’d kissed her, Lina felt the hot sear of embarrassment. It branded her from her flaming cheeks to the soles of her feet and everywhere in between. Not because she’d responded with abandon, forgetting every lesson about modesty and morals. Not because there’d been nothing but the negligible barrier of her swimsuit between their naked bodies. But because, now he’d come to his senses, his distaste was obvious.

She was an orphaned charity case, a country-bred nobody who’d only just learned her letters. Who was she to think of kissing a prince?

She looked down, away from that haughty, beautiful face. But that gave her a view of the perfect symmetry of his collarbone, his masculine strength and—

‘I’m sorry, Lina. That was my fault.’

Her head jerked up, eyes widening. ‘No! It was mine.’ She’d been the one incapable of hiding her desire. She’d urged him on, admitting she wanted his kiss. A fresh tide of heat engulfed her but Lina held his gaze. ‘I’m sorry.’

It was a lie. She didn’t regret any of it, except the moment he’d pulled away. And the troubled expression he wore now.

The forbidding lines clamping his mouth eased a little and his gaze warmed. ‘Perhaps we could share the blame and agree it won’t happen again.’

Belatedly Lina nodded, knowing it was another lie. One taste of his passion wasn’t enough, but what option did she have but to agree? For a moment longer he regarded her in silence. She wished she knew what he was thinking. But on second thoughts, it was probably better not to know.

Words formed on her lips, a tumble of emotional, desperate words that would only betray her feelings and embarrass him. Resolute, she kept her mouth closed.

‘Wait here.’ He released her and swung away.

Instantly she missed his warmth, his support. She even found herself stumbling a fraction, she who’d inherited her mother’s grace and balance.

Lina told herself not to but her gaze followed him as he strode around the pool. Completely naked, his back view was one of the most enthralling sights she’d witnessed. Far more fascinating than the glaciers and remorseless mountain peaks that had captivated her in Switzerland. The curve of the spine that ended in the strong, bunching muscles of his glutes. The breadth of his shoulders compared with his narrow hips. The long, strong legs that—

He grabbed a towel and swung round, whipping the fabric around his hips as he turned. Immediately Lina blinked and averted her stare, pretending fascination with the aqua luminescence of the pool.

‘How did you know about the pool?’ It took a second or two to clear her head and focus on the words.

‘Pardon?’

He stood before her now, arms crossed over a chest that was definitely heavier and broader than it had been four and a half years ago. The sight of him sent another judder of appreciation right to her core.

‘The pool, Lina. How did you know where to find it?’

Lina ripped her attention away from his body. Was it always like this when a woman desired a man? She’d had no idea such feelings could addle the brain.

‘I caught a glimpse from my rooms, but I didn’t—’

‘Your rooms?’ He didn’t sound angry. His voice wasn’t much above a whisper, yet she sensed something wrong.

She nodded. Of course her suite was a mistake, too grand for her. It was probably meant for some visiting ambassador and there’d been a horrible mix-up.

But not hers. She’d done nothing wrong. Except throw yourself at the royal ruler of the kingdom.

‘Down there.’ She waved a hand towards the far end of the courtyard. ‘You can just see a patch of water through the plants. I thought this wing was deserted, you see. I’d never noticed any lights but mine.’

‘You’d better show me.’ Again his voice was even and well-modulated. Yet Lina knew he wasn’t happy.

* * *

Sayid followed her along the path. She paused where they’d grappled, bending to retrieve a towel she’d dropped.

His eyes had adjusted to the semi-darkness and nothing could have prevented his gaze following her movement, zeroing in on that peach-perfect backside so lovingly moulded by her swimsuit.

Heat sluiced his body as desire flamed red-hot.

He knew lust of old. Had learned to manage it, giving in to it only for short stints. But this... He shook his head. This was unprecedented.

He’d swear Lina didn’t know how provocative that movement was. Or that the sway of her hips as she walked was pure invitation.

Her supple movements as much as the delicious shape of her body ratcheted up his tension, and his arousal. Too easily he imagined himself entwined with Lina, her legs around him, pulling him to her with the raw enthusiasm she’d exhibited when they kissed. She’d be a passionate lover and he wanted her badly. He actually shook with the effort it took not to give in and haul her against him, under him and—

Lina stopped. Sayid realised she was at the door to the main guest suite.

It wasn’t one of the regular suites. This was reserved for the Emir’s most intimate friends. Part of his private apartments, it was set aside for his lover of the moment.

‘Who let you in here?’

Her forehead crinkled at the bark in his voice but she didn’t shrink back. ‘Your chamberlain. Is there a problem? I thought it a mistake. I didn’t expect to be in such luxurious rooms.’ Her hands tightened on the towel she held. ‘I’ll pack up now and—’

‘No. There’s no need.’

And no point. The damage was done. By now it would be common knowledge to anyone who cared to find out that Lina had spent each night apparently at his beck and call.

It made no difference that nothing had happened between them. Except for that incendiary kiss. What mattered was that Lina had moved into the rooms reserved for his short-term lovers. Moving her out now would achieve nothing but speculation that he’d grown tired of her.

Sayid rubbed a hand over his tight jaw. The very thing he’d sought to protect her from, or at least part of it, had happened despite his good intentions.

Many of his uncle’s staff had been replaced in the last few years, but obviously someone in the palace remembered Lina’s arrival as a personal gift to the Emir. The expectation that she’d become his concubine. They must have informed the chamberlain, who’d assumed Sayid would want his lover near.

What a hellish mess.

Yet as he thought it, part of him, the ruthless part ready to snatch what he wanted and hold it by force if necessary, revelled in having her so conveniently close.

All he had to do was reach out and take her.

Anticipation skated over his skin as he looked down at her ripe lips. Her kiss had been delightfully enthusiastic.

‘Sir? Is there a problem?’

It was the Sir that stopped him. The reminder that far from being equals, all the power rested with him. She deferred to him, obeyed him.

Who knew what she’d do out of obedience?

Bile rose in his throat. He’d never forced a woman in his life.

Guilt spiralled through his belly, rising to clog his chest. It was one thing to invite a sophisticated foreign woman to become his short-term lover. It was another to seduce his own ward! The woman he’d gone to such lengths to protect. The woman who, even with the gloss of recent foreign experience, was indebted to him and who, he knew, took debts of honour seriously. Look at the way she’d held back on accepting the education she so desired, till he’d found a way for her to pay him back.

It was unthinkable that Lina Rahman should give him lessons in honour. And yet...

Sayid remembered his youthful disdain for his uncle’s sybaritic lifestyle. For the unbridled self-indulgence and licentiousness. Yet when Sayid had scoffed about him being a roué, his father had opened his eyes to Sayid’s own weaknesses.

There was a strong streak of sensuality and self-indulgence in the family, he’d said. Down the generations they had a reputation for being passionate and hot-blooded, overstepping the bounds. That made them formidable warriors, greedy for victory and its spoils. But there was a constant need to rein in that tendency. The blood flowing through Sayid’s uncle flowed in their veins too. And the potential to wallow in selfish pleasure. It was Sayid’s duty, he’d said, to be strong and honourable. To put responsibility above pleasure and resist corruption.

‘No. There’s no problem.’ Sayid made himself step back from the door. ‘It’s late. You should turn in. It’s been a long evening.’ He swung away from the door then stopped.

Slowly he turned back, reading tension in her slim form. See? He’d done right, putting her away from him.

Yet still he lingered.

‘Don’t call me sir.’ Logic told him he was mad, smashing that barrier of formality. Yet he felt sick when Lina used his title. As if she’d kissed him because of his position, his authority over her. The idea was untenable.

‘But I...’ Her eyes rounded. ‘You’re the Emir.’

As if he could forget. If he weren’t, if he were simply a man who’d met a beautiful young woman, it would be so much easier to deal with the feelings Lina stirred.

‘I think we’ve got beyond that, don’t you?’ It was hard to tell in the shadows but he’d swear she blushed. ‘As my ward—’ he bit back a grimace on the word ‘—you have the right to call me by name.’

He didn’t have a clue what the protocol was. Yet he knew a sudden, fierce urge to have this from Lina at least, since honour dictated he could have no more. The sound of his name on her tongue.

‘And I would prefer it.’

Her chin hiked higher, her eyes meeting his with that same unabashed stare he’d noticed the day she’d returned to Halarq. An electric charge sparked in the air between them.

‘As you wish—’ she paused so long he found himself leaning towards her in anticipation ‘—Sayid.’

Her voice was like a sighing night breeze, wafting the scent of spices and sweetness. It was a voice that would haunt him through the long sleepless hours of the night.

Abruptly he nodded, then turned and stalked away down the path to his suite. He didn’t look back. It was only wishful thinking that tried to convince him Lina stood, watching every step.

Four years ago she’d sorely tested his willpower as he battled the urge to claim her. Incredibly he faced the same problem again. The urge to reach out and simply grab what he wanted. With Lina he had no off switch.

Sayid breathed in the garden’s honeysuckle perfume. Yet another scent lingered, teasing, in his nostrils. The scent of roses and female flesh.

He set his jaw, ignoring the memory of that sexy body flush against his.

It was going to be a long night. But he vowed by the end of it he’d have a solution to the taunting, seductive problem that was Lina, distracting him from his work, and the dictates of honour.