“Again!” Elsa commanded, with Ellora nodding in agreement. They were both grinning hugely. Harper suspected that their cheeks probably hurt from their joy, but it was their voices that captured everyone’s attention. Even the stable hands stopped to watch, beaming. Word of the silent princesses had obviously reached the stables. It felt as if the whole world was smiling with relief at the sound of that little voice
Unconsciously, Harper reached behind her, squeezing Amit’s hand with delight. She’d known that the girls would speak once they felt safe enough to do so. But for their voices to appear while racing in on a horse hadn’t occurred to her. Animal therapy wasn’t unheard of, but she’d never witnessed such delight!
“They…!” she whispered to Amit as they watched the uncles lifted their small charges from the saddles.
“I know,” he whispered, returning the squeeze.
Even as they watched, Tarin and Gaelen carried the twins off while the stable hands came forward to care for the horses. The twins patted the horses and, as Harper watched, the horses nudged the girls with their noses. It was almost as if the horses were saying to the girls, “You’re cute!”
Except that horses didn’t speak, she thought, still grinning.
“Uncle Amit!” Elsa gasped, then looked warily around, almost as if she wasn’t sure she should be speaking now that her feet were on the ground.
Amit moved forward although Harper lingered behind, allowing the uncles to care for their nieces, amazed at the gentleness shown as they cuddled the twins.
“What’s up, love?” he asked, kneeling in front of Elsa.
Elsa shared a look with Ellora, seemingly having a silent conversation. Fortunately, that conversation must have given both girls permission to speak, because Ellora whispered, “Can we ride again?”
Amit smiled, putting a hand on Ellora’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you what,” he began, then leaned closer, “If you two will talk to Harper behind me for a few minutes, maybe your uncles will take you riding again tomorrow!”
The girls looked at Harper over his shoulder, then at each other. They nodded in unison, and grinned at Amit. “Promise?” Elsa whispered, almost as if she worried that speaking with a louder voice was forbidden.
“Promise!” Amit replied in the same hushed tones.
The girls wiggled down out of their uncles’ arms, and raced over to Harper. They lifted their eyes and took Harper’s hands, drawing her into the group. She glanced at Amit, feeling honored that he had such faith in her skills at this crucial moment in the lives of his nieces. She silently vowed that she wouldn’t let him down.
Chapter 14
Amit paced across the space of his office, wondering what was going on. He’d watched the twins lead Harper away, and he hadn’t heard anything since. All he knew was that they were coloring.
Coloring! Why in the world was she coloring?!
“Any word?” Gaelen demanded, stepping into Amit’s office, followed almost directly by Tarin.
“Nothing,” he grumbled, without missing a step. His brothers sighed heavily, then slumped into the leather chairs on the opposite side of his office.
A moment later, there was a knock on his door, but before he could tell the person to go away, Talia stuck her head into his office. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Amit rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I haven’t heard!” he snapped.
Undeterred, Talia stepped into the room as well, taking up a perch on the edge of his desk. “Soooo…you guys took the twins riding and they laughed? They liked riding so much that they spoke?”
Gaelen and Tarin nodded, Tarin standing up to pour four glasses of scotch, which he distributed around the room. “We weren’t expecting anything,” Tarin explained, taking a long sip of the scotch. “We just…wanted them to smile.”
Talia hid her grin behind the glass as she took a sip. “Yeah, and you rode so fast that you left their fear behind. Interesting technique.”
Gaelen rolled his eyes, then tossed his scotch back in a single gulp, and set the glass on the table. “Maybe we’re expecting too much. Maybe they spoke after the ride but they don’t want to speak anymore. We shouldn’t push them!”
Amit kept pacing. “Harper won’t push them. She knows what she’s doing.”
A soft knock sounded on his door. All four turned expectantly towards the door. “Come in!” he called out.
The door only cracked slightly to reveal Elsa and Ellora standing in the doorway, staring anxiously into the room with Harper just behind them, holding their hands.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Let’s try it out and I’ll prove it to you.”
Amit had no idea what was going on, but he watched as his twin nieces stepped into the room, their eyes huge.
“Would you mind bending down?” Harper asked, kneeling beside the girls.
Amit immediately knelt down, thinking that one of his nieces wanted to whisper a question.
Harper leaned forward, whispering into Elsa’s ear. “Go ahead. Feel his arm.”
His arm? What in the world? Amit looked at Harper, trying to figure out why the girls would want to feel his arm.
“You want to…feel my arm?”
“Your muscles, actually,” Harper explained, as if that would clear up his confusion.
“Here you go,” he said and offered his arm.
“Go ahead,” Harper urged.
Silently, Elsa stepped forward, her small finger at the ready. Slowly, as if she were afraid she might hurt him, she pressed her finger against his shoulder muscle. Her eyes darted up to look into his face, but when he didn’t flinch, she pressed again.
Obviously, Ellora wanted Elsa to go first, but once her sister had broken the ice, Ellora stepped forward as well, touching the muscles in Amit’s arm. “Is it okay?” he asked, not sure why they would want to touch his muscles.
“Want to touch the other one?” Harper asked. “They are both pretty impressive.”
The girls nodded, so he shifted his shoulders so that the girls could poke his left arm.
“Rock solid, isn’t it?” Harper asked, smiling at the girls who nodded in agreement. Then they looked over at Gaelen and Tarin, both of whom immediately understood. They moved forward, almost knocking each other over in their effort to get down to the girls’ level, offering their arms for inspection.
“Do I get poked too?” Talia teased.
Elsa and Ellora looked to Harper for permission. When Harper nodded, the girls shifted their pleading gazes to Talia who knelt down as well and offered her arms. Harper noticed that while the princess wasn’t nearly as strong as her brothers, her arms were well defined with muscles.
When the girls finished testing each of the offered arms, they stepped back, leaning against Harper, Harper whispered, “What do you think? Are they strong enough?”
The girls considered that question for a moment and shared a long look. Amit thought of those looks as their “Twin Conversations”. A smile spread over their features, then Elsa whispered, “Yes. I think so!”
Ellora’s grin was just as wide. She walked over to him, placing her hand against Amit’s cheek. “You’re not going to die?”
He was so stunned, he didn’t know what to say. But he swallowed, then covered Ellora’s hand with his own. “No, love. I’m not going to die. I will always be here for you.”
He felt Harper’s breath release and knew that he’d said the right thing.
“Okay.”
The word was barely a whisper, but it was accompanied by a shy, tentative smile that made his heart ache.
“Why don’t you two go with your nanny so that she can get you ready for dinner, okay? Remember, you’re now old enough for drinks with the family before dinner, so why don’t you put on your prettiest dresses?”
The girls nodded, but a moment before they walked out of the room, both girls threw their arms around Harper, who was still kneeling behind them. They squeezed, burying their faces against her neck, the
n pulled back almost in unison before racing out of the room.
There was silence as the girls disappeared from view. Harper walked over to the door and softly closed it before turning to face the four siblings.
After a long moment, Harper folded her hands in front of her, took a deep breath, and began explaining. “The girls stopped talking because the last words your sister said to them was something along the lines of, ‘your chattering is going to kill me’. The next thing they knew, their parents were dead. So they stopped talking in order to save your lives.”
There was a shocked, painful silence as the group absorbed that.
Amit stood very still, his lips pressed together. Tarin and Gaelen muttered several curses under their breath, then crossed their arms over their chests, furious. Talia shook her head, horrified and not sure what to say.
“Their silence was the only way they knew to protect you.”
“Damn it!” Tarin muttered.
Amit glanced at his watch. “Dinner will be in an hour. I suggest that we talk to the girls about this then.”
“Agreed,” they filed out of Amit’s office, each focused on their own thoughts.
When just Harper and Amit remained, he turned to her, his eyes filled with a strange look.
“Thank you!” he whispered, then moved over to kiss her. This was one of those soft, brushing kisses that promised so much more than it delivered at the moment. Harper pulled back, startled by the sweetness of the kiss.
“You’re welcome, but…,”
“No, it was your skills that brought out their words. Don’t diminish what you’ve done here, Harper.”
She smiled, leaning slightly against him. “It isn’t over. They still have a lot of healing to do. They don’t trust their world right now. They need time to talk and work things through. Even I didn’t realize how wounded they were until they told me that story. I just thought they were imitating you with your stoic silence.”
He hugged her, pulling her against him. “And you thought to show them that we were strong enough to take on the world.”
“Well, you’re still only human,” she teased.
He laughed, shaking his head. “Not in their minds, right?”
Harper smiled, relieved that he understood. “No, in their minds, you’re their superhero. So, don’t blow it,” she teased.
“Come on. Let’s get dressed for dinner.”
“Shouldn’t your family dine with the girls alone?”
“No way. They trust you and I want you there. You’re eating with us. Don’t argue.” He pulled her along behind him, then admitted, “By the way, there are some new dresses in your closet. You don’t have to wear them if they make you uncomfortable, but I’d love to see them on you.”
She stood outside of the door to her suite, not sure what he meant by that. He’d bought her clothes? “Um…okay. I’ll look at what’s in there.”
“Good.” He bent and kissed her again. One of those tantalizingly brief kisses that she was learning to hate. “I’ll see you in an hour then.”
A moment later, he was gone, walking briskly down the hallway and she lost sight of him as he rounded a corner.
Stepping into her suite, she sighed as she leaned against the door. Today was a good day, she thought. Good breakthroughs and…she’d ridden a horse! Good grief, she’d actually ridden a horse! And Amit…well, her interactions with him today were a bit more confusing but still…exciting!
She smiled to herself as she made her way to the shower. Goodness, she hadn’t realized how much she smelled like a horse! And with that, she laughed as she stripped off her clothes and flipped on the water. Yes, it had been a great day!
Chapter 15
As soon as she stepped into the salon for pre-dinner drinks, Harper knew that tonight would be different. First of all, she was dressed in a different dress. The black sheath dress she’d worn the previous nights was still hanging in her closet, but next to it had been three new dresses in bright, shimmering colors. She’d hesitated about wearing one tonight, but in the end, she’d had such an adventurous day, she hadn’t wanted to lose that momentum. So here she was, standing in the doorway with six pairs of eyes watching her as she skimmed her hands down over the navy blue silk that hugged her figure and showed more cleavage than she was used to. Back in her suite, she’d thought the dress looked beautiful and feminine. But now, standing here in the doorway, Harper wanted to change back into her high-necked black dress.
Amit must have noticed her hesitation because he stepped forward, taking her hand before she could get away.
“You look amazing, Harper,” he whispered softly into her ear, his deep voice sending shivers of awareness down her spine.
“Thank you,” she replied back, feeling silly and…yes, beautiful. Especially when he stepped back and let his eyes move appreciatively up and down her figure.
“Come, I’ll get you some wine.”
Yes, wine would be great! Anything to settle her nerves.
“Fabulous dress!” Talia said when Amit led her into the group.
Elsa was grinning at her as she snuggled up against Tarin’s chest. “I like the dress!” She whispered, still not sure she wanted to speak loudly. But the words were progress and Harper knew that the girls needed to test out this new world where they could speak and not have another family member disappear.
“I like it too,” Ellora announced, but her voice was a bit louder. Still, she looked around, almost as if she needed to count her family members, ensuring their safety.
“Thank you ladies,” Harper replied, and accepted a chilled glass of white wine from Amit. When their fingers touched, she felt it. That sizzle was still there! Still powerful.
Conversation floated around her, but Harper wasn’t aware of the topic, or even the words. The sound was more of a soft buzzing that intermingled with the heated gaze Amit slid her way whenever he looked at her, or when he put a hand to the small of her back to lead her into the dining room. He led her to the seat next to his at the table, his hand sliding over her shoulder as she sat down.
Harper knew that food was served and she must have eaten something, but every time she looked at Amit, she felt his gaze and she was very aware of a different kind of tension in the air tonight.
It felt…almost as if he were making love to her without touching her. When that thought popped into her head, she glanced over at him to find his gaze on her cleavage. Instantly, her breasts ached, her body thrumming with the hope of more than just a glance. She needed him tonight! It wasn’t just a hope, it was a desperate, pulsing need!
Slowly, his eyes lifted and Harper almost gasped when their eyes clashed.
He stood and Harper’s fingers clenched around her knife and fork. “If you’ll excuse us, Harper and I have some issues to discuss.” Without waiting for acknowledgement, he came to her chair and took her hand, pulled her gently out of her seat, and led her from the room.
Had she said goodbye? Harper had no idea. She was transfixed by Amit, the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, by the promise of pleasure shining in his eyes. Harper followed, needing fulfillment of that promise!
They walked quickly, hand in hand, down the long hallway. But he turned down a different corridor than the one that led to her suite.
“You know where I’m taking you, correct?” he asked, almost at the same moment that she registered the different hallway. Was he reading her mind?
“Yes,” she replied, glancing up at him.
“And you are okay with this?”
“Yes,” she said, feeling the rightness of her answer in her very bones.
His fingers tightened around hers and she picked up her pace, trying to keep up with his longer stride. Before she realized it, they were at his door and he pulled her into his private apartment.
“I’m not letting you out of here until we’re both satisfied,” he warned as he drew her into his arms and kissed her. For a long time, that’s all he did and Harper’s nervousnes
s slowly eased away, replaced by need. A desperate, clawing need.
Too soon, kissing wasn’t enough and she slid her hands up his chest. His jacket was gone, although she wasn’t sure when. But his dress shirt was in the way now. She wanted skin. She wanted to feel his skin against her hands and explore all of the muscles she’d seen.
He tugged impatiently at his shirt until the material moved out of the way. Amit grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. “Touch me, Harper,” he groaned, pulling her hips against his, giving her more proof of his desire.
“Yes!” she gasped, rising up on her toes to kiss him as her fingers explored that tanned, gloriously male chest. There were so many rippling muscles and she wanted to curl her body into his, to wrap him around herself like a blanket. She felt the zipper on her dress slide down, and stepped out of it as it fell to the floor, leaving it behind.
She was so aware of his touch along her skin, no fabric left to temper the heat. She felt him urge her backwards, but she focused on exploring Amit’s shoulders and chest. His slacks and boxers had vanished, her bra disappeared and they tumbled onto his bed.
Amit sucked her nipple into his mouth and she arched into the sudden heat, her body on fire! “More!” she whimpered, and felt his teeth tease that sensitive tip and shuddered, digging her nails into his skin as the heat became almost overwhelming. Suddenly, her panties were gone and she felt his fingers sliding up her inner thighs. Her legs moved of their own accord, spreading as her hips arched closer to his hand, needing to feel him, needing something to ease the ache between her legs. But when his finger found her heat and slid into her body, she shuddered. The heat only expanded, her need climbing higher and higher until she wanted to scream! She might have screamed already, but his mouth moved to her other breast and she was lost in desire. Harper was only aware of that throbbing, desperate need.
His finger moving in and out of her body had her hips dancing to the same rhythm but it wasn’t enough! Amit was teasing her and she grabbed his head, hauling him up to kiss her. But he pulled his hand away.
Seduced by the Sheik Page 10
