Page 77 of Written By a Woman

I want to climb you like a tree, I almost blurted out. But I gently grabbed his hand and moved it off my forehead before I pasted on a hopefully believable casual smile and replied, “I’m fine. I’m just…”I’m just what? Procrastinating on telling him about the book? Picturing him naked? Wondering what it would be like to earn the affection of a good man like him?

Zaid’s dark eyes glanced down between us, and it took me a moment to understand what he was looking at. It wasn’t until I felt his rough fingers lace through mine that I realized I never let go of his hand. I had simply removed it from my forehead and held my grip.

The feel of his fingers intertwining with mine made my heart skip a beat, and I inhaled a deep breath that, frankly, felt more like a gasp. My blood was rushing in my veins, and I found myself blinking more often as I struggled to understand what was happening. How Zaid stepped a little closer into my space as our hands held each other, his eyes lifting to meet mine.

“You’re just…?” Zaid asked, his voice lowering. It was so intimate, and the tone he used immediately reflected just how alone we both were. How we were in this hotel room, away from the office. It was deceptive. It didn’t feel like I was with Zaid Ansara, Chief Technology Officer. It felt like I was just with Zaid. This wonderful, kind-hearted man I had been insanely attracted to since day one. The man who loved his nephew more than anyone else. The man who opened up to me more and more every day, and dammit if my heart didn’t pitter-patter at the hopeful thought that he was just as worked up as I was.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, sounding much more panicked than I intended to. Probably due to the inability for me to regulate my breathing.

His hand tightened its grip on mine as he replied, “For what?” his brows drew together, his dark eyes desperately trying to meet mine through the frame of those glasses that were driving me crazy, “I’m here. You don’t need to talk—in fact, don’t talk—”

“I didn’t mean to…” I shook my head once as I stepped closer to him, our chests almost touching as I reached up to place a hand on the side of his glasses, pausing as I finally met his eyes and hoping he understood.

He seemed so confused and anxious, before taking his free hand that wasn’t gripping mine, and slowly removing his glasses himself. My other hand landed on his shoulder, and my fingertips gently pressed into the glorious muscle underneath his cotton shirt.

“Signe?” Zaid asked, his dark eyes widening a fraction. It was his body language that did it for me. How after he gently set his glasses on the entertainment center to the side of us, his gaze dropped to my mouth. How his eyes dipped slightly, growing hooded as I quickly wet my lips. How his hand still held mine tight, as if not wanting me to let go. How when my hand on his shoulder gently dragged a path up to the side of his neck, he seemed to lean towards me even more.

He was with me.

Zaid was right here with me.

“I—I—” I tilted my face back just enough for him to tilt towards mine.

“Tu’burni,” Zaid mumbled as his chest expanded just enough to brush against mine. I didn’t have time to ask him what the hell that meant because suddenly he met my lips with his own and nothing else mattered.

ChapterSeventeen

SIGNE

I tookeverything I could get. Within a second, I had both of my hands gripping either side of Zaid’s strong neck, sliding themselves higher to tangle my fingers in his thick hair. Our bodies were flush together, and the feel of his large warm hands on my waist made me sigh in relief as we continued to brush our lips against one another again and again.

It was immediately apparent that this was a man who had done a lot of kissing, and after taking a few seconds to get a feel for each other’s lips, I decided to be greedy by nipping at his bottom one and brushing my tongue against it.

Zaid groaned before he gave me what I was asking for. His hot mouth was over mine, our tongues sliding against each other in slow, painfully sensual passes that made my stomach warm and tighten in anticipation all at the same time.

He separated our mouths just long enough for me to inhale a deep lungful of air. I was getting dizzy, which could have been from the experience of making out with Zaid after months of imagining it, or because he was so talented at making out that I genuinely forgot to breathe. Either way, I wasn’t upset about it.

I felt his hands grip my hips before he quickly turned the two of us and took a couple of steps needed to make it over to the hotel bed. The backs of my legs hit the foot of the mattress, and when I reached up to wrap my arms around his shoulders, Zaid’s hands barely skimmed over my backside to grip the backs of my thighs.

With one swift movement, I was suddenly on my back on the comforter.

This man had just tossed me down on the bed like I was nothing, and the heat in my belly burned hotter from acknowledging that.

My hands were already reaching out for him again when Zaid lowered his large body over mine, our mouths meeting in the hungriest, most desperate kisses I had ever experienced.

“Ya amar,” Zaid murmured against my mouth, his tongue stealing any chance for me to reply. “Ya alby.”

“What?” I finally managed to breathe out in between our lips. I didn’t care, because the reality was that he could be giving me the most unhinged insults in Arabic, and I would still be wet from the sound of his voice against my mouth alone.

Zaid ignored me, which was fine because his arms were supporting his weight so he didn’t crush me, while still managing to roam one hand up and down my sides. Every time he got closer and closer to my ass, I found myself thrusting my hips up against him like the horny woman I was.

Eventually, his hand finally, finally made its way to grip my backside, and the moan I made as I locked my arms around his neck and shoulders was nothing but encouragement.

“Goddamn,” Zaid groaned as his lips left mine, brushing themselves across my jaw and near my earlobe, “Iknewyou’d feel so good.”

“Oh god,” I exhaled as I tilted my head back, giving him all the access he needed to explore my skin with his mouth, “I love finally knowing that you also thought about this.”

Zaid shifted, rolling our bodies so that we lay on our sides facing each other. One arm of his was cradling my head, his fingers in my hair and angling my face so that he could nip and kiss and taste as much of my neck and shoulder as he wanted. His other hand kept exploring my ass and hip and thigh, and when I ground my pelvis against his I gasped when I felt the hardness in his sweatpants.

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