Читать книгу Desert Sheikhs Collection: Part 2 - Susan Mallery, Alexandra Sellers - Страница 19

Jasmine undid another button. “Just lie back and enjoy it. I’ll do all the work.”

Silence filled the room, broken only with the sounds of their breathing. Jasmine bit her lip again and stopped herself from pleading.

“I’ll allow you to do this.” His hands settled on her exposed hips, his skin warm against hers.

Jasmine smiled and reached up on tiptoe to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”

He appeared startled by her open enjoyment of the situation, but was willing to do as she wished. She drew back and finished unbuttoning his shirt, then pulled the tails out of his pants to complete the task. His beautiful chest felt as hard as steel under her questing fingers. Delighted by the freedom to explore, she ran her fingernails down the center line of his chest. He sucked in a breath.

“I love your chest.” She threw caution to the winds. “Every time I see you come out of the shower, I want to pull you into bed and kiss you everywhere.” She moved her fingers to his flat male nipples and then ran her nails over both. His groan was music to her ears.

Emboldened by his response, she wrapped her arms around his rigid body and put her hands flat on his back. His skin was so hot it almost burned. Then she flicked her tongue over one of his nipples. His hand moved up her back to clench in her hair. Delighted, she continued to kiss his chest, alternating soft warm kisses with wet openmouthed ones. She kissed her way down to his abdomen until she was kneeling in front of him. When she reached the waistband of his pants, he tugged on her hair with innate gentleness and pulled her back up.

“Mina,” he whispered, against her mouth. “Have you had enough exploring?” His voice was heavy, sensual, encouraging.

She gasped when he sucked her lower lip into his own mouth. He took his time kissing her, bestowing nibbling love bites on her lips before urging her to open. When she did, his tongue swept in and proceeded to taste her with arrogant thoroughness. It was a long, lazy kiss that left her feeling as if she belonged to him. When he released her, she shook her head, breathless and aroused. “I’ve just begun.”

She trailed her fingers down the bare part of his arms. His golden skin strained to contain the pure strength of the muscles beneath. Lifting his hand to her mouth, she sucked one finger into the moist recesses. He released his breath in a forceful hiss. One by one, she sucked each of his fingers and then repeated the hot, sweet caress on his other hand, before moving to undo the buttons on the cuffs.

By the time she finished, Tariq’s vivid green eyes echoed the perfect clarity of shattered emerald shards. “Would you like this off?” He motioned to his shirt.

“Yes.” Walking behind him, she helped tug it off. The skin of his shoulders was hot and smooth. Jasmine molded her hands over them, captivated by the way they tensed.

The shirt fell to the floor. After pushing it aside with one foot, she shucked her slippers. When he would’ve turned, she wrapped her arms around his waist and plastered herself against him. “Stay. I want to touch your back.” The shudder that went through him vibrated against her sensitive nipples and reached deep within. It was as if a part of Tariq was inside her, touching her in the most intimate way.

Pressing her palms against his chest, she drew back just far enough to appreciate the sculpted planes of his back. Muscles moved like liquid steel under his skin when he raised his hands and put them over her own.

“You’re so strong.” She blew a warm breath onto his skin, entranced by the way he groaned and leaned backward. His reaction was the strongest of aphrodisiacs. “So beautiful.”

His chuckle was hoarse. “It is you who are beautiful. I am a man.”

She bit him just under his shoulder blade. “Absolutely, utterly beautiful.”

He squeezed her fingers. “I am pleased you find me beautiful, Mina. However, you are not to tell this to anyone.”

Jasmine laughed at the mock warning and tugged her fingers from his grasp. Once free, she began to trace the defined muscles of his back with slow deliberation. His breathing hitched, then restarted in a shallower rhythm.

“Would it damage your reputation as a tough, macho sheik?” She began to kiss her way down his spine. Her half-exposed breasts pressed against him, exciting her as much as she hoped the contact was stimulating him.

He took a deep breath. “I do not know this word macho.”

She started to undo the remaining buttons of her blouse, while continuing to caress his back, pressing urgent kisses against his slightly salty skin. “Macho means you.” She grazed his ribs with sharp little teeth. “Strong, manly, very masculine.” The blouse came undone. She pulled it off her shoulders and then licked her way back up his spine with her tongue. There was a swish as the blouse fell behind her. Her mind spinning with the extravagant sensuality of the moment, she plastered herself against him once more.

Electricity sizzled between them as skin touched skin.

Tariq’s groan was a rumble deep in his throat. Sensing that her panther was reaching the end of his tether, she moved to stand in front of him. Her lover’s expression was devoid of disguise, his eyes so dark they were almost black, his desire etched in stark lines.

Aroused beyond bearing, Tariq had to touch Mina. He raised one hand and cupped the warm weight of one breast. She gasped and her fingers pressed into his chest.

“No, please.” It was a husky whisper, a sensual plea.

“You will kill me with this exploring, Mina.” He picked her up and put her on the bed, aching to claim her. The disappointment that flickered in her eyes at having her exploration cut short fanned the flames of his passion as nothing else could have done. Keeping his eyes on her body, he kicked off his shoes and unzipped his pants.

“Yes?” He paused, waiting for her instruction.

Eyes wide, she nodded.

He peeled off his underwear with his pants. Jasmine stunned him by reaching out and trailing her finger down the length of his erection. His body was racked with tremors. “Move aside, Mina, or I will be on top of you and this will end.”

She shifted with an alacrity that made him feel like the most desired of men.

He lay down on the bed on his back, his arms folded under his head. “I think you have about five more minutes,” he warned, his gaze skating possessively over her body. He’d thought he could manage the beast inside him, dictate what he felt for this woman, but all he’d done was starve himself. The weeks of enforced calm disintegrated, and the primitive urge to take Mina ate away at his control.

As he watched, Jasmine straddled his thighs. Her gauzy skirts settled around them like curtains of mist.

“In that case, I’ll get right to the crux of the matter.” Without warning, she wrapped her fingers around his erection.

Swamped with ecstasy, Tariq growled low in his throat and pushed into her hands. Her fingers were delicate and feminine around him, her expression utterly fascinated. Seduced by her delight in his body, he surrendered and let his wife have her way with him.

Encouraged by Tariq’s unhidden enjoyment, Jasmine increased the pressure and began to move her hand up and down. Velvet over steel. Burning fire and searing heat. A soft moan escaped her lips. She could feel herself being seduced by his reactions. Tariq’s face was a study in raw passion. His cheekbones stood out against his flushed skin and his teeth were gritted against the pleasure. Aching with the need to give him more, to give him everything, she dipped her head and replaced her hands with her mouth.

Tariq’s thighs went as hard as rock under her. He jerked up into a sitting position and clenched his hands in her hair. When he shuddered under her inexpert caresses, Jasmine’s fear of not pleasing him evaporated. Exhilarated by his hoarse cries, she settled into the task she’d set herself.

Mina’s attentive exploration snapped the threads of Tariq’s control. “Enough.” He pulled her up, his hands rough.

Her heavy-lidded, passion-hot face inflamed him further. With another throaty groan, he hauled her up his body, until she was almost astride him. Then he reached under her skirt and found the lace of her panties. The sound of lace and satin ripping was drowned out by the loud panting of their breaths. Tariq threw aside the torn pieces and touched her with his fingers. Creamy heat welcomed him.

“You’re so wet, Mina.” His voice shook with the discovery.

Sensitized beyond bearing by their erotic play, Jasmine moved demandingly against his fingers. “Now. Now!”

Tariq didn’t argue, sliding her onto his hard length. He was too slow for her. She gripped his sweat-slick shoulders and pushed down, surprising him. He lodged to the hilt inside her and groaned in satisfaction. She saw the look on his face and knew that this time, her lover would be coming with her on the incandescent final ride. He had, after all, ripped off her clothing. With a smile, she gave in and rode him to surrender.

Tariq drew a line down Jasmine’s breastbone with his finger. She squirmed under the light caress. Tariq let her capture his hand in her own and place it over her heart. She was almost asleep, apparently exhausted by their wild mating.

“You were aroused just by touching me,” he commented.

“Tariq,” she murmured, her cheeks red.

“So shy now?”

Opening her eyes, she made a face at him. “Tease.” But she wriggled closer and wrapped her arms around him.

He stroked her back, as if petting a cat. “Always?” Under his hand, she was warm and smooth.

“What?” she asked sleepily, burrowing into his chest.

“Are you always aroused by touching me?” he persisted, even as he cuddled her close to him. The need he’d hidden deep within rebelled against being ignored any longer.

Eyes closed and body relaxed almost totally, Jasmine muttered, “I get aroused just by looking at you. It’s because I love you. Now go to sleep.”

“Mina, when you touch me like that, I could almost believe you.” He knew she didn’t hear him, because she’d already fallen asleep. Stroking her hair off her face, he wondered if she would remember her declaration tomorrow. It didn’t matter, because he would. The fist that had been clenched around his heart loosened. Maybe being unable to control his feelings wasn’t the disaster he’d thought. Not if this was the outcome.

While she slept, Tariq couldn’t help but compare the woman he’d seen over the past week to the girl to whom he’d given his heart, only to have it rejected. In his arms, she was fire, unafraid of her sensuality. Yet in the desert, though her persistence had angered him, she hadn’t given up probing for the truth of the past. The autocratic part of him that expected instant obedience bristled at her audacity. But there was a bigger part of him that was awed by her feminine strength. This was a woman with whom he could rule.

Since Paris, he’d wanted to take a chance on his wife. Tempted by the promise of the last few days, he found that the urge to let his barriers fall was almost irresistible. He wanted to give her his trust. Except the last time he’d done that, she’d almost destroyed him. Did he dare to try again, even knowing that she still hid something from him?

She had her panther back.

“You will follow my orders. You will not venture into Zulheina today.” Tariq slammed the flat of his palm on his desk, the sound as loud as a pistol shot in the quiet study.

Jasmine put her hands on her hips and scowled. “Why not? I’ve always been able to do so before.”

“I have given an order. I expect it to be obeyed.”

She blew out a breath through pursed lips. And she’d wanted this fiery, hot-tempered creature to come back? “I’m not a servant to be given a command!” She lost her temper for the first time. After the powerful intimacy of the last few days, he could act with a tad more consideration. “Give me an explanation that makes sense and I’ll stay.”

Tariq stalked around his desk and put his hands on her waist. Then he picked her up until they were eye to eye. Her feet dangled off the floor. Jasmine placed her hands on his shoulders and refused to be intimidated.

“Has a terrorist organization infiltrated Zulheina?” she guessed wildly. “No, I’ve got it. Today is the annual Kill-the-redhead Festival. No, no wait, is it Tariq-is-going-to-act-like-a-dictator Day? Am I right? Come on, am I even close?” She pushed at his shoulders, furious at the way he was demonstrating his greater strength.

His shoulders started to shake. She squinted at his face. “Arrgh! Let me go, you…No, I can’t call you an animal because that would insult the animal.” Tariq laughed harder, his eyes sparkling. “Stop it you…you husband!”

“Mina.” His smile was blinding. “Mina, you’re magnificent.”

That made her pause. It had sounded like a compliment. She looked at him suspiciously. “Are you going to tell me?”

“It seems I have been insulted into submission.”

“Hah! Your hide is as thick as a rhinoceros’s. Anything I say just rolls off,” she muttered under her breath. “Put me down.” He wrapped his arms even tighter around her and walked through the door, into the corridor.

“Tariq, what are you doing?” She glanced around, hoping against hope that no one else was around. His official study was in the main wing of the palace. “My feet are bare. My slippers fell off when you picked me up.”

“Then it is just as well I am carrying you.” His reply was insufferably male.

She gave up. Wrapping her arms more firmly around his neck, she hung on, realizing that he was taking them back to their rooms. “Are you planning to lock me in our suite?”

He paused and then resumed his ground-eating stride. “I had not thought of that. It is an excellent idea.”

Jasmine shook her head and tipped her head back, but she couldn’t catch his eye. “Bad idea. Very bad idea.” When he didn’t reply, she narrowed her eyes and tried to shake his shoulders. “You wouldn’t…would you?”

“I must have a way to deal with the bad-tempered hellcat I’ve married.” He pushed through the doorway to their suite and headed for their bedroom.

“Bad tempered!” She scowled. “Me? I think you’ve got your wires crossed.”

“At least it’s not my eyes.”

“Eyes? What…I can’t believe it. You made a joke?” She gave a theatrical gasp that turned into a cry of surprise when he dropped her onto the bed. “Be still my heart.”

Tactile pleasure shimmered over her when he lowered his body full-length over hers. He started to stroke her with his talented hands. “Is this supposed to be a distraction?” she demanded.

“Would it be successful as one?”

“Oh, yes,” she sighed. “But tell me the truth, please?”

“Persistent little creature,” he complained, but his tone was affectionate. His eyes were heavy with sensual promise when he looked at her. “Today is the festival…”

Jasmine’s giggles caught her completely by surprise. Tariq tried to frown her into submission. When that didn’t work, he kissed her until she was boneless.

“As I was saying, it is the festival of the virgins.” He kissed the side of her neck. “If you’d arrived a few weeks later, you could have joined it. No, that’s a lie. You would not have remained a virgin long enough. I almost took you in the car as it was.”

“Stop that,” she ordered.

“What?”

“Making me crazy.”

“I like making you crazy.” Satisfaction simmered in those green depths when she shivered under his stroking. His lips curved into a grin.

Jasmine didn’t know what to do with him in this mood. In the end, she decided that the safest option was to ignore the gleam in his eye and bask in his attention.

“So tell me.” She traced a design over his chest with her fingertip, enjoying touching him through the fine linen. Tariq had never once curtailed her sensual explorations after she’d shown him just how much she adored his body.

“It’s a day when female virgins of a certain age make a pilgrimage to a sacred place.”

“Where?”

He looked chagrined at her question. “No man knows.”

Her interest was piqued. “Really?” At his nod she asked, “How old is this festival?”

“As old as Zulheil.”

“And why couldn’t I go outside?”

Tariq pressed his forehead to hers and spoke against her mouth. “If you would let me finish, Mina, I will tell you.”

Jasmine pursed her lips and slanted him an encouraging look. He continued to speak against her mouth, lips on lips, sorely tempting her to open up.

“I do not know what they do and that is probably just as well. No man is allowed on the streets at the time.”

Jasmine frowned, the question stuck at the back of her throat. Tariq read her mind.

“Patience, little hellcat. There is no danger because the married women go with them, including the policewomen.”

She couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Policewomen? Zulheil allows its women such occupations?” Once more, the way the people of Zulheil guarded their privacy so zealously left her feeling at a loss. She had so much to learn. And a lifetime in which to learn it, she reminded herself, ignoring the dart of fear that threatened to ruin the moment. Tariq would trust her again and wouldn’t denounce her when he discovered her illegitimacy. Maybe, her heart whispered, if she wanted his trust, she should begin by giving him hers?

“I have told you our women are cherished. We protect but do not cage.” He ran his tongue over the line of her lips in a teasing stroke. The urge to surrender almost overcame her.

“Why couldn’t I go then?”

“Because—” Tariq took advantage of her open mouth to sip from her lips “—aside from the virgins, only married women who have borne children or been married for five years can do so.” He spread his fingers over her stomach in an unmistakable message. “When you have borne my child, then you may go.”

Jasmine swallowed. The thought of bearing Tariq’s child was a dream she hadn’t dared consider. And still couldn’t, so long as she hid the truth of her own birth. She had to tell him. But not now, not when he sounded as if he cared for her. “How do you stop foreigners from disturbing the pilgrimage?”

“Zulheil annually closes its borders the week prior to this journey. Those already inside have visas that expire that same week. Recalcitrant visitors are escorted out.”

“You closed your borders after your parents passed away, didn’t you?” She’d spoken without thinking, but as soon as the words were out, she braced herself. Tariq had remained staunch in his refusal to talk about his loss.

He kissed her. It was a gentle kiss full of warmth, but without overt sexual overtones. Jasmine returned the caress, though she didn’t understand what was happening.

“Yes,” he whispered into her mouth. “For two months, Zulheil was closed to foreigners. Our people needed to come to terms with the grief and I needed time to heal the fractures.”

“Two months? Don’t you mean one?” Jasmine stroked his cheek. She wanted to cry with joy. He was trusting her with something important, something that had hurt him to the core. “I came one month afterward, remember?”