Читать книгу Desert Rogues Part 1 - Сьюзен Мэллери, Susan Mallery - Страница 10

Khalil lay in the darkness. He was tired, but he couldn’t sleep. Not after what had happened.

He turned his head to the left and stared at the woman curled up next to him. He could barely make out the shape of her body, but the scent of her filled his senses and made him want to pull her close so that they could make love again.

Instead he pushed himself into a sitting position and turned until his feet rested on the floor. For the first time in his life, he’d made love with a virgin. He’d heard Gerald’s accusations and had assumed the man was telling the truth, but a part of him had wondered. Dora’s hesitantly eager responses had also hinted at the truth, but until he’d felt his arousal pierce the veil of her innocence, he hadn’t been sure.

The act of deflowering a virgin had been surprisingly satisfying. He enjoyed knowing that no man had spilled his seed inside of her—that she was, in the most primitive way possible, his.

Khalil smiled, but the gesture was more cynical than humorous. He prided himself on being a modern man, forward thinking in his quest to lead his country into the new millennium. Yet here he sat, pleased that he’d finally bedded a virgin. So much for his thin veneer of civility. He was not as far removed from his savage ancestors as he would like to think.

Which didn’t answer his question about the woman. He glanced over his shoulder and watched her sleeping. Could he do this? Was it wrong?

He dismissed the queries as soon as they appeared. He was Khalil Khan, prince of El Bahar. He could do anything he liked. In matters of state, the fate of the country came first. He would not marry Amber and subject himself and his nation to her petty nature. Yet he had to marry and produce sons to carry on for him when he was dead. He was a member of the royal family—he had obligations.

Besides, without him, who was Dora Nelson? A secretary? A nobody who had been badly used by her former employer? With him, she could be so much more. She would, in fact, be honored by his proposal. This was best for all concerned.

That decided, he stretched out on the bed. When the first light of morning crept into the room, he would begin making phone calls. By the time Dora awoke, all would be arranged. He closed his eyes to sleep, but instead of relaxing, he found himself reliving the pleasure he’d found in her arms.

She’d been unskilled, but eager. Her pleasure when he’d touched her most feminine place with his tongue had surprised them both. She’d writhed beneath him like a wildcat. The memory made him smile, then grow hard. He remembered how tight she’d been. How she’d stiffened from the pain when he’d first pushed through her barrier. But she’d relaxed, allowing him to go more deeply. He’d plunged in and out of her, feeling her give herself up to him. How fiercely she’d wrapped her arms around him as she’d urged him to completion. She’d wanted him to take her, to change her, to make her a woman. When he’d climaxed, she’d clung to him, as if she never wanted him to go.

He’d had every intention of returning to his own room, yet somehow he had not. He’d spent the night here, at her side, listening to her soft breathing and waiting for dawn. Even now, when there were only a few hours left until the new day began, he stayed in her bed. Aroused and wanting, he pulled her close and breathed in the scent of her hair. She stirred against him but did not wake. He would sleep another time. For tonight, this was enough.

Dora stirred slightly under the covers, which seemed especially heavy this morning. She turned over and bumped into something…warm.

Her eyes flew open. Khalil lay next to her, his brown eyes alert, his mouth smiling. “Good morning,” he said.

She swallowed hard as memories from the night before crashed into her. Her conversation with Gerald, Khalil’s declaration that he couldn’t keep his hands off her, the way they’d made love. The last thought brought sensual images to mind, of him touching her, kissing her, taking her. She felt a flush of embarrassment crawl up her face, and she had to fight the need to duck under the covers and never come up.

“Ah, so you do remember what happened last night,” Khalil said, his voice as low and gentle as his caresses had been. “I’d hoped you might.” He placed his hand on her bare shoulder, then stroked her arm. “I think we did very well together.” He slipped one leg between her thighs. “So well I had trouble sleeping. All I could think about was wanting to make love with you again.”

She blinked at him but didn’t have a clue as to what to say. What was the correct social response on the morning after? Especially when the night before had not only been unexpected, but had also been her very first time?

“Thank you,” he said, and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or to scream. Here she was, naked, in bed with a handsome prince, who by the way had his bare leg between her bare thighs, and he was thanking her for their close encounter. Had the world gone completely crazy? Or was he looking for a way to let her down gently? Was that what this was about? Did he want to find an easy way to let her know that she would be a fool to have any expectations?

“I had a nice time, too,” she said at last when it became obvious he was waiting for some kind of response. She wished she could put a little space between them, but she didn’t know how to do that without being thought of as rude. She would also like to get up, but she was naked and the only bathrobe nearby was clear across the room in the bathroom. She did not relish the thought of walking around naked in front of Khalil. While his bare body had been sheer perfection, she saw no need to flash her flaws in the light of day.

“I was hoping you would think our lovemaking was more than just nice,” he chided. “How about spectacular? Extraordinary? Even magical?”

He was teasing. She could tell by the tone of his voice. His playfulness gave her a little courage. While she had no illusions about his expectations for any kind of relationship with her, perhaps this wasn’t going to end badly.

“I think I’ll stick with nice,” she said primly, then braced herself for his retaliation.

He didn’t disappoint her. He waited less than two seconds, then lunged toward her, tickling her stomach and her side. She screamed and tried to wiggle away, but he was much stronger. Using only one hand, he pinned her arms above her head, which gave him free access to her naked torso. But instead of continuing to tickle her, he bent down and licked her nipple. She shivered.

He released her and sat up. “We are well-matched,” he said, repeating what he’d told her the previous night. “I was not wrong to choose you.”

His words didn’t make any sense. “What are you talking about?”

He frowned as if he expected her to intuitively understand. “Isn’t that obvious? We are to be married this afternoon. The ceremony will be at five. I’ve already spoken to the manager of the boutique where you got your other clothes. One of their salespeople will be bringing by a selection of dresses at two.”

As he spoke, he rose to his feet and reached for a bathrobe she hadn’t noticed draped across a chair. Her ears heard what he told her, her brain absorbed the information, but it had no meaning. He might as well have been discussing the lack of oxygen on Jupiter, or the number of single-celled animals who lived at the bottom of the ocean.

“Married?” she asked, sure she’d misunderstood.

“Yes. That is what I said.”

She pressed her lips together and stared at him. Married? Married? Them? “You want to marry me?”

“Of course. Why are you surprised?”

How much time did he have to listen to that answer? she wondered grimly. This had to be a joke. A cruel bit of humor that had gone awry. Marriage? To her? Sure. Princes fell in love with their secretaries every day. “We’re not in some movie from the forties,” she said angrily. She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, making sure she remained covered by the sheet and blanket. “I don’t think this is funny.”

“Nor do I,” he said coolly.

Her eyes burned. She realized she was close to crying—probably because there was a part of her that wanted to believe it was all true. She’d never allowed herself the fantasy of imagining Khalil caring about her. It was too ridiculous to stand. But he wasn’t a heartless man; at least she’d never seen proof of that. So why would he act this way now?

“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“It’s perfectly clear,” he insisted. “I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you. You are intelligent, reliable, honorable and healthy. You have all the qualities I require in a wife. Until last night, you were a virgin. I am Prince Khalil Khan and I do not dishonor women.”

This was twisted even for him, she thought, trying to come to grips with what was happening to her. “You can’t mean that. You don’t really want to marry me.”

“Why not?”

There were probably forty-seven thousand reasons. Unfortunately she couldn’t come up with one right now. She shrugged and made a vague movement with her hand. “Because.”

“Ah, that makes it all clear.”

He returned to the bed and settled next to her, then he took one of her hands in his. “What are you afraid of?”

She searched his gaze, wondering if she really dared to speak the truth. But as she couldn’t think of anything else to say, she didn’t have much choice. “That this is all a game to you. If it is, I don’t understand the rules, and I know I’m going to get hurt. I don’t want that.” The truth was she wasn’t sure she would survive more heartache right now, thank you very much. She would prefer to be left alone until she recovered her equilibrium.

He reached toward her and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then touched her face. “I understand,” he told her, even though he couldn’t possibly. “You want to believe me, but you’re afraid. What happened to my lovely desert wildcat?”

“She had another appointment this morning and couldn’t be with us.”

He flashed her a smile. He hadn’t showered or shaved yet, and stubble darkened his jaw. He looked rugged and dangerous and she shivered at the thought of them being intimate again.

“I adore you,” he said and squeezed her fingers. “I know that this has happened very quickly, but that doesn’t make the experience any less valid. Trust me. More importantly, trust yourself, sweet Dora.” He leaned close. “I want you, in my bed and in my world. Marry me. Come back with me to El Bahar. Help me with my work. Help me change the world that is my country. You see, I must go back, but I’m not sure I can if you refuse to accompany me.”

His words fell like rain in the desert. She soaked up every syllable, drank in the sounds, then let them blossom deep inside of her. Oh how she longed to believe him. Could this be happening? Could someone like her really be so very fortunate?

She stared at him as if the truth lay in his handsome features. From the beginning he’d been autocratic and annoying, and he’d worked her hard, but he’d never been cruel. He’d never lied. She’d listened to him while he dealt with both customers and suppliers. He was tough, but honest. He had a moral code. He wasn’t Gerald.

That was what it came down to, she thought. Her fear that like Gerald, he was using her to get something he wanted. Except he was a prince and what on earth could he want that she could give him? She was an unemployed, nearly middle-aged spinster with a few office skills. And he…he was Khalil Khan, prince of El Bahar. In her heart she’d always known that Gerald was much less than she wanted him to be. Something about Khalil made her think he was so much more.

Before she realized what he was doing, he’d taken her in his arms, then stretched her out on the mattress. He reached under the covers and began to stroke her belly.

“Marry me,” he murmured against her neck. “Be my wife. Come home with me. Have my sons. I will make you a princess. My sweet, lovely Dora.”

It was impossible to think while his fingers tickled her ribs, then moved higher to her breasts. He circled the full curves, then teased her nipples. She gasped as pleasure filled her, and her woman’s place dampened in anticipation of his possession.

“Khalil,” she breathed.

“Yes,” he told her. “Want me, need me, as I have wanted and needed you. Believe in me. Life has just offered you a great prize. Don’t be afraid. This once, reach out and grab it with both hands. If you don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of your days.”

Of all the things he’d said to her, the last statement was the one that got through. She knew all about regrets. She’d lived with them all her life. She regretted her unhappy childhood, her initial college experience, her lack of relationships through her twenties, her relationship—if she could call it that—with Gerald. So many regrets. And not one of them was about something she’d done. She didn’t regret her actions, just her inactions.

Were her dreams at last coming true?

“Marry me,” he urged, still kissing her neck and her throat. “Say yes.”

She took a deep breath. Did she want to keep living with regret or did she want to take a chance? She bit her lower lip, then closed her eyes and exhaled a single word.

“Yes.”

Khalil sat up. “I knew I could make you see sense. Good.”

He bounded to his feet, then reached down and pulled her to hers. Before she had a chance to register her nakedness or be embarrassed, he stepped behind her and gave her a gentle push toward the bathroom.

“Go ahead and shower. There’s much to be done before the wedding. I’ll meet you in the dining room in twenty minutes.”

With that, he was gone. Dora stared after him. Somehow that was not the response she’d expected when she’d agreed to marry Khalil. Married? She shook her head. None of this was really happening. Obviously she was caught up in a weird dream or something. Or maybe she’d hit her head in the night. Either way, she might as well shower, if only to get on with the dream and see what would happen next.

The wedding party consisted of Khalil, Dora, a justice of the peace and the two bodyguards who served as witnesses. Dora glanced around the large parlor in the beautiful hotel suite and told herself that the management had worked a miracle in a very short period of time.

White roses and baby’s breath had been woven through a narrow wooden arch. Large, pale pink urns filled with white roses, lilies and orchids sat on squat tables, which formed a makeshift center aisle in the room. She and Khalil stood on a long, white cloth that had been tacked down from the entrance of the room to the edge of the archway, and soft music played over the suite’s sound system.

Dora clutched her bouquet of exotic flowers more firmly in her hands and told herself that considering there had been less than twelve hours to pull it all together, things had gone surprisingly well. Promptly at two the boutique had delivered a half-dozen dresses for her to look at. She’d chosen a simple ivory lace gown that looked like something from the 1920s. She’d managed to pull her shoulder-length hair up into a French twist so that the delicate pearl earrings Khalil had given her at lunch were visible.

She knew she looked pretty good. Khalil was handsome and confident in his dark suit. Under the circumstances, they were doing well. And that was the problem. She wasn’t comfortable with the circumstances, nor could she stop shaking. Even now, with the judge talking about sickness and health, she felt as if she were still in her dream. Or maybe she’d gotten trapped in a made-for-television movie. Or maybe it was mental illness. Or maybe it was really happening.

Dora didn’t know which would be more frightening. Was she really marrying Khalil Khan, prince of El Bahar? She shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts. Maybe it was the wedding that was messing up her brain, she thought frantically, desperate for an excuse. Nothing was the way she thought it would be. With Gerald, their wedding plans had been a little rushed, but they’d had more than two months in which to come up with a plan. There had been guests and a church and a reception at a hall, and she’d had a real wedding dress.

She glanced at Khalil who listened attentively to the judge. What was he thinking? She wanted to stop the ceremony and talk to him but she didn’t know what words to use. Perhaps he didn’t think this was out of the ordinary. After all, when she’d emerged from her room after her shower, she’d found him already working in his office. He’d given her little more than an absentminded greeting, then he’d thrust a stack of folders at her and had turned his attention back to his computer. She’d spent the morning before her wedding dealing with last-minute business problems. As if nothing between them had changed.

“Dora?”

She looked up and realized both Khalil and the judge were staring at her. “What?”

Khalil smiled. “I believe the response he’s looking for is more along the lines of ‘I do.”’

I do what? she wondered, then it sank in. “Oh. Sure. I mean, I do.” She gave a little cough that did nothing to ease the tightness in her throat.

“The ring please,” the judge said, taking Dora’s flowers from her and setting them on a nearby table.

Khalil reached into his pocket and pulled out a diamond ring. Dora stared, first at the glittering piece of jewelry, then at him. Was that for her?

“Fit for a princess,” he murmured and slid it on the ring finger of her left hand.

She opened her mouth to protest. It was too extraordinary, too lovely, too expensive. Then she remembered she was not only marrying royalty, but into one of the richest families in the world. To Khalil this was probably as significant a purchase as her buying a nice pair of panty hose.

The judge started talking again, but she wasn’t listening. Instead she found herself captivated by the stunning ring that glittered on her hand. The band was wide, nearly reaching to her knuckle, and the entire ring was a circle of diamonds. Square-cut stones nestled together, each diamond as long as the band was wide. She didn’t know how many diamonds it took to make up the ring, but each had to be at least two carats. It wasn’t a piece of jewelry she would have picked for herself, but it was lovely and felt as if it had been made for her hand.

“You may kiss the bride.”

She looked up in time to watch Khalil bend down and press his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet and far too short. Then he squeezed her hand.

“Do you feel any different?” he asked.

“Being married?”

“That, of course, but I was wondering how it felt to be a princess.”

Princess Dora Khan of El Bahar, she thought to herself and had to fight back a burst of hysterical laughter. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” she told him, wondering if it would ever sink in.

“Congratulations, Your Highness,” one of the bodyguards said, as he shook her hand.

Dora smiled automatically, but otherwise her body had gone numb. A princess? Yeah, right, that was her. Who was she trying to kid? Reality was she was a secretary from Los Angeles who had stumbled into a crazy situation. She had to get out before she said or did something stupid. Like throw up…or worse…believe all this was really happening.

Except she didn’t get to make her escape. Before she’d realized what was going on, the judge was gone and the bodyguards had retreated to their rooms. She was alone with her new husband, watching him pour them each a glass of champagne.

Who was this stranger? she thought warily as she moved to the sofa and settled in the corner. What had she done? Her nervousness increased, as did her shaking, and when he handed her the glass of champagne, it was all she could do to keep from spilling the bubbling liquid all over her lace dress. In an effort to keep that from happening, she swallowed a mouthful of champagne, decided the taste was exceptionally nice, then finished her glass. Khalil refilled it without saying a word.

He put the ice bucket on the table in front of her and settled next to her on the sofa. “Are you all right?” he asked.

He sounded kind and sincere, she thought frantically. So normal, as if he did this kind of thing all the time. Except he couldn’t, right? “Isn’t this making you crazy?” she blurted.

He took a sip of his drink. “What? The wedding? I thought things went smoothly.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Clockwork in motion, or whatever.” She paused. The saying was “poetry in motion,” so where did the clocks come from? She rubbed her temple. Her stomach tingled and she thought it might have something to do with the champagne. Just to be sure, she drank a little more. She hadn’t eaten that day, and she was also thirsty. The fizziness tickled her throat. Was it her imagination or did her head suddenly feel heavy?

“I think I should probably eat something,” she mumbled.

“Of course,” Khalil told her. “Dinner is waiting whenever you’re ready.”

“Great.” Except the thought of standing up was suddenly too complex. “Maybe in a minute.”

She looked at him, at his handsome face. The lines of his profile were sharp, like a statue of granite. He was dark and dangerous, like the desert at night. Not that she had any personal experience with the desert at night or during the day.

“I know this is unfamiliar,” he said, lightly touching the back of her hand. “We need to spend a little time getting to know each other. Why don’t we talk about our past? After that, we’ll eat dinner, and then we’ll make love until dawn.”

Making love, she thought hazily. Now that would be very nice. Maybe they could skip the other parts and get right to doing it. She hiccuped softly, then took another drink. She wanted to do it again and again until she learned everything about it. She wanted to touch Khalil and have him touch her back. She wanted to see him naked, in fact she thought this little chat about their past might be more enjoyable if he took his clothes off right now. She would very much like to see the “it” that made doing it so very enjoyable.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

His question cut through her fantasies and left her confused. Then she remembered that they were getting to know each other. A sensible plan. Khalil was right—once they knew more details about each other’s lives this wouldn’t be such a strange situation.

She finished her glass of champagne and started to set it on the coffee table, but Khalil filled it instead. She thought about refusing, after all, her head was already spinning, but wouldn’t that be rude? It was his wedding, too, and…What had been his question?

“No, I’m an only child.” She leaned back against the sofa. “My mom never said anything, but I think I was a mistake. She and my dad got married about two months before I was born. After that, he was never around much. They divorced when I was seven.”

“I see. I’m the youngest,” he said. “I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be an only child.”

“It’s lonely,” she said bluntly. “Probably not for some kids, but it was for me. My mom worked a lot to support us, and my dad wasn’t one for regular visitation. Plus, I wasn’t really popular at school.” She shrugged, then rolled her head so that she could look at him. “Too smart. I wasn’t pretty enough to get in with the right girls, and I think I scared all the boys away. Plus I was shy, and I never knew what to say to anyone. It was easier to hide out in the library and read.”

She took another sip of champagne. It tasted tartly sweet and slipped down easily. The tingling in her belly had spread to her whole body, and her brain definitely felt thick, but in a nice way. Like she was protected from anything too scary.

“When did you stop being lonely?” he asked.

She angled toward him and pulled her knees up onto the sofa. “Yesterday, I think. I can’t really remember.”

Khalil’s features started to blur together. Had she had too much to drink? Or was it just the soft lighting in the suite? Her eyes fluttered closed, and she felt warm fingers brush against her cheek.

“College wasn’t too bad at first,” she said dreamily, getting lost in the past. “I had a scholarship that paid for most things. I liked being in a place where it was considered a good thing to be smart and to work hard. But living on campus cost more than I thought, and I had to get a job to supplement my expenses.”

She opened her eyes and looked at him. “My mom didn’t have any extra money to spare. I don’t suppose that’s ever been a problem for you.”

“No, it hasn’t.”

“Must be nice.”

“Sometimes, but we’ve had other problems.”

“I guess everyone does. Anyway, I started tutoring. I worked with athletes a lot. Mostly because they paid the most. But they weren’t interested in anything but getting by. They didn’t want to learn. Isn’t that horrible?” She blinked and found that her eyelids were extraordinarily heavy. She swallowed a little more champagne to help her stay awake.

“One day I found my study notes missing. I confronted a couple of the guys, and they wouldn’t admit they’d taken them.” She sighed remembering the hurtful things those boys had said. “I refused to tutor them anymore. About three weeks after that, a bunch of the guys were caught cheating. They were going to be expelled, but they weren’t content to go quietly. They said that they were using a cheating system I’d come up with and had charged them for.”

Her words caught in her throat. That had been so long ago, she would have thought it didn’t have the power to hurt her anymore, but it did. She remembered her time in the dean’s office, when it had been her word against theirs.

“Six of them told the same story. Six,” she repeated quietly. “No one believed me, not about the notes or that I refused to work with them, or that I hadn’t had any part of the cheating. So I was expelled along with them. I went home, got a job and saved my money. A year later I started at my local community college, then I received my associate’s degree.”

She pressed her lips together. “This probably isn’t what you wanted to know, is it?”

“I want to know whatever you want to tell me.”

She tried to smile, but her face felt numb. “I don’t think so. I doubt any part of my life is very interesting.”

“That’s not true.” He stroked her cheek again, and the contact felt lovely. “Why didn’t you go back to college and get your four-year degree?”

She shrugged. At least it felt like she was shrugging on the inside, even if she didn’t feel any movement on the outside. “I was afraid of what might happen. I didn’t want to go through that again. Except for when Gerald left me in that airport in Kansas, it was the most alone I’ve ever felt.”

Khalil leaned close and took her glass from her, which was a good thing. When had her fingers gotten so stiff? She could barely bend them.

“You, my desert rose, tell a very sad story,” he murmured. “But all that is about to change.”

She desperately wanted to believe him. “Do you promise?”

“Yes.” He moved next to her and took her in his arms. “Nothing is going to hurt you ever again.”

“Not even you?”

“Least of all me.”

Then he kissed her. Those wonderful warm, firm lips settled on hers. Her eyes drifted slowly closed as a lethargy filled her body. She was drifting, drifting, drifting…And then there was only darkness.