Page 34 of At the Sheikh's Command
He opened the door. “Your bags will be brought here while we dine.”
She followed him into the room but immediately put some distance between them on the pretense of looking around. She didn’t trust herself to be too close to him beside a deliciously comfortable bed adorned in rich silks.
“The bathroom is through there.” He indicated an open door. “And my room is through there.” He pointed to an interconnecting door, which had been the first thing she’d seen. She noticed the key in the lock. She was thankful that tradition demanded separate bedrooms. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked, obviously puzzled by her silence. “Anything missing? If not, we should dine.” She sucked in a deep breath and turned to him, feeling the intense blush on her cheeks, an advance warning of the lie she was about to tell.
“No, I have everything here, thank you. But…”
He raised an eyebrow. “But?”
“But it’s been a long day and I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll turn in.” She pasted a smile on her face, but he didn’t respond in kind.
From the look on his face, this wasn’t what he expected or wanted. He searched her eyes and then his expression changed and, disconcertingly, he nodded, as if he’d found something there. As if he understood what she was doing.
“I see,” he said.
She nipped her tongue to hold back her need to probe further, but she failed. Stifling her thoughts didn’t come naturally to her.
“And what exactly do you see?”
“That you’re avoiding being with me, because you fear your feelings.”
If there was one thing which made her see red, it was someone understanding her too well, especially when she refused to admit the real reason herself.
“You think I’m scared?” She put her hands on her hips, welcoming her anger. It was a better defense than anything else. “Would a scared woman travel over four thousand miles to a country where she wasn’t wanted?”
“Yes, if that woman was ambitious enough.”
“You think I’m too ambitious now, do you? Ambitious, scared? I wonder what other things are wrong with me?”
He shrugged. “You are not perfect, of course, but luckily you are perfect for me.”
Tears sprang into her eyes. “No, no, I’m not perfect. On that point, you are correct.”
He grunted dismissively and stepped closer to her. Her thoughts scattered. “Come, let us dine and then we can retire to bed.”
Just the word ‘bed’ coming from his mouth had her in a panic. She wanted him so much, but she couldn’t have him. If she did, all would be lost.
“You don’t seem to understand! I am tired and not hungry, so I will go to bed.”
He shook his head. “You underestimate my understanding,habibti. But then, you always did.” He came closer to her. “But do as you desire.” He glanced over at the connecting door. “And come to me when you are ready.”
Leonora sat on the vast bed as all the energy drained from her shaking body. She put her head in her hands. What the hell was she going to do? Because the desire he mentioned had nothing to do with sleep. And all to do with him. But surely giving into such temptation while her nerves were so fractured was inviting disaster?
CHAPTER16
Darrius lay awake and alone on the vast bed. It wasn’t exactly how he’d imagined spending the first night at Qasr Jabal. Silence and darkness lay heavily all around in equal measure. Occasionally, both were broken when a stray bird or desert animal sparked the security cameras with a squawk prompting a temporary blaze of light. And then silence followed. He would have preferred no lights, no electricity, just as it had been when he’d visited this place as a child. But it was too valuable to be left undefended. Now, he needed not only the guards but also the state-of-the-art electronic security system to keep this place unplundered and intact, for his country’s future generations to enjoy their illustrious heritage.
But it wasn’t the occasional wildlife or security lights which kept him awake. It was the thought that the woman he desired most in the world was lying through the connecting door and he couldn’t do what he’d have done in any other circumstances—gone to her and taken her. He’d never been in a situation before where the woman he wanted hadn’t been more than willing to oblige. But then he’d never wanted a woman so much as this one.
He must have drifted off to sleep at some point because he woke suddenly, tense and alert, knowing something had awoken him but not sure what. Then he heard the soft sound of footsteps coming toward him and saw a shape approach. When he could hear her breathing, could smell her perfume, he reached out and gripped her arm.
Leonora’s gasp of alarm changed his tension into satisfaction. She’d come. He’d known she would. He’d known that she wouldn’t be able to stay away. What they had was out of the ordinary. He knew it and he knew, deep down, she knew it. She simply wouldn’t acknowledge it in that sharp mind of hers because to do so would be to also acknowledge the emotions she kept hidden from the world. She was as much of a fortress as the palace in which they were staying, a fortress which she believed hid a diamond, just as her fortress hid her heart. She wanted one. He wanted the other. He hoped they’d both be satisfied.
“You’ve come,” he said simply.
She didn’t answer. Instead, she reached out and laid her hand on his chest. She splayed her fingers over his skin, smoothing over his muscles which bunched under her touch. He hardly dared breathe in case she stopped her caress, which stimulated every part of him. Her hand moved lower, down over his stomach. It shook as she knelt on the bed over him.
His hand was still holding her arm, and he slid it higher up and over her body. She wasn’t wearing any clothes. She’d entered his room naked with one intention. She’d made the first move and, the way things were going, he had no intention of taking control. Starlight filtered through the gauzy curtains, creating a glow around her silhouette. The silver light revealed the outline of her dipped head—her hair falling to shade her face—the shape of her breast, and her peaked nipple rising and falling rapidly as she continued to explore his body. At last, her fingernails reached their target.
