Page 17 of At the Sheikh's Command
“No.” He reached out and adjusted a strand of her hair. Her skin prickled with desire despite her fear. He noticed. Again, his lips tweaked into a smile. “I reserve that for you. Just as I don’t invite all my citizens into my bed. And just as I don’t accompany all my citizens on ridiculous tours across my country looking for a diamond.”
It took a few seconds for Leonora to focus on his words, because her mind and body were sending crazy messages to her, and then what he said slammed in to her with all the force of a truck.
“You really mean to do this? To travel with me to the mountains?”
“Yes,” he said. “Of course. I can’t have my lover travel across my country by herself now, can I? We begin with a visit to the museum today because I have a state dinner tonight I cannot avoid, and then tomorrow we will journey into the mountains.”
She suddenly realized the trap she’d walked straight into. Not only had her night with Darrius not done what she’d intended, but he wasn’t going to let her go.
“One, I am not your lover.”
Worryingly, her response didn’t elicit any kind of reaction.
“And two, I don’t need a chaperone.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A chaperone? Is that another word for what I am to you?”
“No…”
Whatever else she’d been about to say fled her mind as he reached out and brushed the back of his knuckles down her cheek. The gesture was tender and completely at odds with the mood of their conversation. As if he, too, was suddenly aware of this contradiction, he suddenly stepped away.
“Good.” He checked his watch. “Our car is ready, so we leave immediately for the museum.” He walked to the window from which he’d come, obviously expecting her to follow. When she didn’t, he glanced back at her.
“Darrius! No, I’ll—”
His eyes flashed. “You’ll what? Stay here for the duration of your stay?”
“No, of course not.”
“Well, that’s the only alternative to coming with me.” His face was grim. “Face it, Leonora, you made a choice last night, and that choice was me. Iwillbe your constant companion—day and night.”
“Why? Why are you doing this to me?”
“Because I can help you get what we both want.”
“And what’s that?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “If you don’t know yet, I can promise you’ll soon find out.”
And then she did the only thing she could do, she followed him outside. Because more than anything, she needed to know what it was she truly wanted.
CHAPTER9
Leonora folded her arms and looked determinedly out of the car window, trying to re-focus her mind away from Darrius. The fact he sat beside her in the back of the chauffeur-driven car and his deep voice filled the small space as he talked to his staff on the phone, didn’t make it easy. He’d been talking to someone or other since the moment they’d gotten into the car. It seemed a king’s work was never done, which was fine by her. The less time he spent looking at her, or talking with her, the more she could regain her composure and be more like her old self. And that old self at the moment was angry. She wasn’t used to being railroaded into doing something. She was accustomed to being in charge, taking control.
But while a part of her seethed at this lack of control, she had to admit that another part of her, deep inside, reacted in a very surprising way. Apparently, there was a bit of her which respected someone who could control her. And it was this she was thinking about when Darrius, at last, finished his call, glanced out of the window and turned to her.
“You look thoughtful,” he said. Then he smiled. “In fact, from the flush on your cheeks, I’m wondering what exactly you’re thinking about.”
She shot him a dark look, hating that he could so easily read her mind.
“My thoughts are my own,” she said coldly. “And yes, thinking is an odd habit of mine. Perhaps you’re not used to women actually thinking.”
He didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, he leaned in to her and she breathed in his scent—clean, fresh and very masculine. Rather than calming her, the breath sent skittering snakes of sensations through her body and alert messages to places which really weren’t appropriate, given the circumstances.
In a flash, she imagined his hand slipping under her abaya and finding that place which suddenly ached for his touch, pushing her onto her back and thrusting inside of her. She released a shuddering breath and felt the telltale flush of desire suffuse her cheeks. His lips quirked at the corner as he correctly interpreted her reaction. She shifted her eyes from them to his darkened gaze. She couldn’t help it.
Regardless of the driver whose eyes were fixed on the road ahead of him, or the security guard who traveled in the front passenger seat, Darrius placed his hand at the top of her thigh and plunged his thumb between her legs, briefly touching her clitoris. She jumped as her desire swept up a notch.
