Page 44 of The Sheikh's Matchmaker Bride

Shahid reached across and rested his fingers on one edge of her graceful jawline. Her skin felt incredibly soft. Her eyes widened imperceptibly as his head dipped closer. When his lips eased down upon hers, he felt an exquisite shiver of delight. He sensed her head tilting back, offering up her mouth to him. Need flared inside him, and he shifted closer to her, struggling to contain the urge to wrap his arms around her and crush her wonderful softness against him.

He didn't care if anyone saw them. He'd gone past that now. All he wanted to do was kiss this incredible woman, possess her, taste her, feel as close to her as possible. He heard her moan slightly as he probed her mouth with his tongue. Once again their bodies were one, their desire for each other uniting them in a moment of rapture.

Shahid felt her hand on his shoulder, and she drew her nearer to him. He wanted to be closer to her but knew that here, in the corridor of the palace was no place for that. There was only one place where they would have any hope of taking their passion for each other to the next, inevitable level. But would she go with him to his palace? Dare he ask her?

Their lips parted, and he gazed into her eyes, seeing that they were moist with emotion. Those dark pools had a mysterious ability to transform how he felt. If he was brutally honest, they always had been able to bring him to life with just one look. He gazed into her eyes searching for her thoughts, questioning their every slight movement.

"Shahid," she breathed her hand reaching up to his jaw. She ran the back of her fingers across the stubble on his chin. He saw the corner of her mouth crease with an appreciative smile.

"Aliyah. I need to tell you something," he murmured.

She shook her head softly and placed a finger over his lips. "Don't say anything you might regret, Shahid," she said.

He furrowed his brows. "I'll never have any regrets about falling..." he started to say and then stopped as he saw her eyes widen in sudden alarm. She pulled away from him. The sharp separation felt shocking compared to the intimacy of moments before.

Aliyah stood quickly, wringing her hands nervously and pacing in front of him. "Don't say that, Shahid," she ordered sharply. "Not unless you really mean it."

Shahid stood and reached out toward her, but she took a few steps away from him. She stared at him, and he realized the magic of the previous moment had been utterly destroyed by his attempt to utter one simple, life-changing sentence.

"Aliyah, please hear me out," he stated firmly.

She shook her head. "I have to go," she muttered glancing down the length of the corridor.

She started to walk away from him. He caught up with her, but she didn't slow, merely gave him one sharp look, and then continued.

They reached the front door of the palace, and he followed her outside. He saw her car parked near his.

At the foot of the steps, he took her gently by the wrist and held onto her. She halted and whirled around. He took brief encouragement from the fact that she had let him hold onto her arm. The panic he'd seen in her eyes back inside the palace building had dimmed. Now she just looked confused. He hadn't meant to cause her pain. It was the last thing he ever wanted. He only wanted to make her happy.

"Aliyah. You know what I wanted to say to you in there," he stated.

"I do, Shahid." She frowned, and he saw the torment she was going through. Pain lanced through him. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, he told himself. Was it just that he'd never had to declare his love to anyone before? Was it as simple as he didn't even know how to do that?

"Come to my palace. We can have lunch," he suggested knowing full well that what he was proposing was far more than a lunch date at his home. He could see she understood that too.

"Lunch?" she said softly, one brow rising.

He suddenly didn't know what to say. He wanted her, and she knew it. He could see the understanding in that hypnotic, dark, knowing gaze.

She seemed to consider his offer for a moment.

Finally, she shook her head. "Not today, Shahid," she said at last.

Disappointment crushed him like a lead weight. He let her hand go and watched her stride to her car, get inside and close the door with a resounding thud.

The growl of the engine failed to drown out the roaring sound in his ears as he watched her car start to pull away.

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