Page 2 of Out of Office Nights
Dios, even frowning her face was perfect. ‘You heard me.’
‘No,’ she replied coldly. ‘I don’t dance.’
He didn’t bother tempering his mocking laugh. ‘Nonsense. Everyone dances. And I’ve seen you dance with my own eyes.’ Andsí, he’d been more enthralled than he cared to admit.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ she demanded.
‘Right now? Very many things.’ He prowled towards her as he spoke. She stepped back in sync with his movement, initiating the very dance she’d refused. Then her back met the wall, the darkness closing around them.
His eyes swept down her body, fully aware he was using this distraction to allay the turbulent emotions flaying him but unable to stop himself from admiring what he saw. The flawless cut of the gown she’d created for this wedding. The faint notes of purple in honour of his brother and the bride’s chosen theme colour.
Sabeen El-Maleh’s talent was undeniable.
His gaze snapped up to catch the censure in hers. But alongside was another expression. One he’d caught faint tendrilsof in their past interactions. One he’d recognised because he’d also felt the undercurrents of it, there beneath the river of his denial. Heat. Desire.Lust.
‘Right now, though, I can pinpoint one very wrong thing.’ Her breath hitched, pushing a puff of air over his lips. Propelling him closer. ‘Or is it deliciouslyright?’
Her tongue slicked over her lips. ‘I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
He laughed. ‘We both know that’s not true. Question is, can I be bothered to prove you wrong, Sabeen?’
Teo told himself he would’ve behaved himself if she hadn’t let out that barely audible moan. If she hadn’t writhed like a shameless siren against the wall. If—
He captured her mouth before reason could take hold. Reason had failed him spectacularly tonight. It’d tricked him into believing he could remain unaffected by his father’s indifference. That the old king would be mellowed by illness and the reality of staring mortality in the face.
Well, reason could take a flying jump!
Instead he welcomed the illicit pleasure that stole through him as, after a moment’s resistance, she melted in his arms. Her arms wound around his neck, her gorgeous greed mounting as she strained closer, her mouth opening in ravenous need beneath his.
He moulded her supple hips, dragging her closer to his body, her pelvis over his raging need. Tongues duelled in aggressive challenge, their sampling of each other building hunger on top of hunger. She tasted divine, her scent heady, as he’d half feared she would. The addicting, mind-numbing kind he craved. When the need for air forced them apart, he buried his mouth in her neck, licking her warm skin as she moaned.
‘That’s it. This is the only need I’m interested in fulfilling.’
She stiffened, and he cursed inwardly. Then she was pushing at his shoulders, her face a picture of regret and horror. ‘If you think you can have your way with me just because you’ve heard—’
‘Heard what?’
Her lips pursed, her gaze dropping from his. ‘This was a mistake.’
He’d heard the rumours of her affair with a certain photographer and how she’d been jilted. Had listened to uncouth speculation from his own circle about the possibility of another stepping in for a chance to be the recipient of a rebound fling.
Teo hadn’t dwelt on why the notion had riled him then and continued to do so now. Somewhere buried deep, he registered that within his aversion lurked a layer of carnal desire he should repel. If for no other reason than her position within his professional empire.
‘Prince—’
The reminder of his position frayed the temper he’d fought to keep under tight control.Santa cielo, anyone with a lick of sense could see he wanted to be left alone. If they didn’t, then they deserved the lash of his tongue. ‘Save the false outrage, Sabeen. We both know you weren’t unwilling.’
The scorching look of contempt she gave him should’ve been sobering. But all he wanted was to drop to his knees and beg for another kiss…he who never begged.
It was this place. His father. His mother. The whole infernal lot of them. He needed to get away. He suspected not even the love of his brothers could make the trapped scream in his soul remain throttled for long.
‘Whatever you need, the answer isno, Miss El-Maleh. If you’re that unhappy you can end your contract now. Otherwise,we’ll both forget this little…lapse in judgement happened. Agreed?’
He watched her fight for composure and win where he’d failed so miserably. Spike him a look filled with regal attitude. ‘I couldn’t agree more. Goodnight,Prince.’
He turned on his heel and left the terrace, the knots in his gut tighter than ever. And if her scent and taste lingered long after he’d boarded his private jet, discarded his clothes and stepped beneath his shower to angrily take care of the erection that wouldn’t subside, well, no one knew about that offensive loss of control but him. And if he threw himself naked on his bed knowing that the problematic areas of his life had just expanded from his father to include Sabeen, and that he didn’t intend to rest until they were both resolved once and for all, well, the first step of overcoming adversity was acceptance.
Wasn’t it?
