The Desert Prince's Bride (The Sheiks of Altair Book 2)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  “No, I need to…” she stopped because she wasn’t really sure what she needed to do. She didn’t know what time it was but she was fairly sure that it was well past time to be sitting at her desk, getting started with her work day.

  So when he entered the bathroom and turned on the shower, she bit her lip, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. “I need to…”

  “You need to shower,” he told her and lowered her feet to the marble floor. “Relax, Giselle. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  He stood behind her and slid his hands up her sides, cupping her breasts once again. She held her breath, trying not to show her reaction to his touch but he only laughed softly in her ear, nipping it gently. “That won’t work,” he warned.

  She bit her lip again, closing her eyes, but that only increased her sensitivity to what he was doing.

  “I have to get to work,” she told him, but then he nipped at her earlobe again and she sagged against him, unable to pull away. “This is very bad.”

  He laughed as he carried her into the shower, the warm water startling her as it poured across her overly sensitive skin. “I think it’s pretty damn good,” he argued, lowering her feet to the marble floor, then allowing his hands to glide across her back before moving around to her breasts.

  She grabbed his thumbs before he could start that torture again. Her nipples had gotten her into this mess. “Jaffri …Your Highness…”

  He chucked as he lowered his head to nibble along her neck. “Don’t you dare call me by my title, Giselle.”

  She sighed, tilting her head as her hands released his thumbs. “What should I call you?” she asked, moving her head around as his mouth and teeth teased the skin just at the base of her neck.

  “My name is Jaffri,” he told her, that voice sounding very wicked now. “But you can call me lover, if you prefer.”

  She laughed, thinking he was kidding. “I need to get to work.”

  In response, he took her hand and wrapped her fingers around his erection. “Damn, that feels good,” he growled low in her ear.

  Giselle was fascinated and let her fingers slide up and down his erection, exploring. It was so different from anything she’d ever felt before and her fingers wandered, unaware of how she was teasing him. She stepped back slightly, wanting to see what she was touching. She wasn’t aware of his own hands shifting, bracing himself against the wall behind her as she used both hands to tease him. One hand slid lower, cupping his testicles and she heard the sharp intake of breath. Quickly, she pulled her hands away and glanced up.

  “Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

  He groaned and took her hands, putting them right back on him. “You didn’t hurt me at all. It feels incredible. You should do that again.”

  She watched his eyes this time as she continued her explorations. Giselle used the heat in his eyes as a guide. When his eyes closed and his jaw clenched, she figured that she was doing really well. First time, she thought with delight, and she’d hit it right on target.

  Looking down, she watched his erection as her hands moved up and down, tightening and squeezing, then sliding up with loose, teasing fingers. When she bent lower, he didn’t notice since his eyes were still closed. The grunt excited her as her tongue slid around the tip, swirling and tasting. Since she was bent over, Giselle couldn’t see his hands fisting against the wall, but when she took more of him into her mouth, she felt his hands tangle in her dark curls and wanted to smile. Moaning instead, she licked and teased, trying everything she could to push him over the edge, just as he’d done to her earlier.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t give her the chance to finish. Those hands in her hair pulled her away from her goal and Giselle found herself pinned against the shower, protected from the warm fall of water by his broad shoulders. But not protected from him! She heard the foil wrapper tear open only moments before he lifted her up and impaled her on his shaft. She was still tender from their last go around, but it didn’t matter. After tasting him like that, hearing his guttural sounds of pleasure, all that mattered was feeling him inside her, finding that release!

  It didn’t take long before both of them were careening over that cliff to a pleasure even more intense than the last time, leaving Giselle weak and boneless.

  “Damn, woman!” he groaned, his chest pressing against hers as they both tried to catch their breath.

  Giselle tried to reply, but she needed oxygen too much. And she needed to touch him, to continue that connection that they’d just shared. It felt too…wonderful!

  Chapter 5

  Giselle woke the following morning, every muscle in her body aching from overuse but…there was a contentment that she’d never experienced before. She felt…amazing! Happy!

  When she opened her eyes, confusion hit her. She was warm and happy, but…something wasn’t right. This wasn’t her room. Lifting her head, she looked around…this wasn’t her apartment! Where in the world…?

  The heavy arm draped over her waist was her first clue. Then memories came flashing back to her. Last night…no…not just the night…all of yesterday! The sex! Oh, goodness, the things she’d done! The things she’d let him to do to her! Jaffri had been…and she’d been…voracious! That was the only word. Looking at the clock, she realized that it was five o’clock the following morning. Dear heaven, she’d been in bed with the man for almost twenty-four hours. Giselle couldn’t even count the number of times he’d brought her to a screaming climax. Over and over, he’d touched her body, moved inside of her, and made her mind spin further out of control as the pleasure intensified. Every time he’d taken her body, each time she’d climbed onto him in a desperate need to find that release, he’d shown her how to move, how to shift her body so that they were both satisfied. Oh, that was such a tame word for what she’d experienced in this man’s arms. Satisfied was…inadequate.

  But it was morning now. She had to get out of here! She had to leave. She’d missed an entire day of work yesterday and Stephen was going to be furious with her! She hadn’t even thought to call in, tell him she would be out, much less given him a reason for her absence.

  Good grief, she was going to get fired! And there was no way she could tell her boss that she’d spent the night in the prince’s arms! Oh, bad, bad, bad! Talk about a stupid career move! Spending a whole day and night in the man’s arms, in his bed, having sex with him …yeah, that pretty much topped the list.

  Slipping out, she carefully held his hand away as she scooted towards the edge of the bed. As carefully as possible, she grabbed his shirt and slipped it on while she moved around his room gathering up her clothes. When she had everything, including her torn sports bra, she tiptoed into the bathroom. Even looking towards the shower area or the sinks…or the bath tub…goodness, how many times had they had sex?! Everywhere she looked evoked a memory of Jaffri doing wicked, naughty things to her or showing her how to reciprocate!

  But oh, it had been so wonderful!

  Shaking her head, Giselle hurried to pull her clothes on. She didn’t have time to reminisce. She had to get out of here. No way could she face the man now. Not without blushing so painfully that her face might just light on fire.

  Nope, time to get home, shower, and…get to work! She couldn’t even imagine all of the things she’d need to organize after missing a day.

  Turning away from the memories, she ended up facing the wall as she pulled on her leggings and running shirt. There was nothing she could do to fix her sports bra, it was shredded beyond repair. So instead, she pulled on her shirt then also his shirt, tying the ends into a knot at her waist. The thing was huge on her, but at least it disguised the fact that she braless!

  When she was dressed, she slipped out of the bathroom, peered around the corner to ensure that he was still asleep, then tiptoed out of his suite. In the hallway, she smiled awkwardly at the guards on duty but, thankfully, they simply nodded politely as she walked away. When she was around the corner, she walked f
aster, needing to get out of the palace before the rest of the staff started to get things ready for the day.

  Outside of the palace, she looked around, not sure how to get back to her apartment. She couldn’t run because…well, because she wasn’t wearing a bra! If her breasts were smaller, perhaps she could run the two miles to her house, but as it was, she would really hurt herself if she ran the whole way. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself and started walking. It was only two miles, she told herself. Not a long journey at all!

  Feeling self-conscious, she walked off the palace grounds, ignoring the odd looks from the security guards stationed at the gates. She knew them all, spoke to them on a regular basis but there wasn’t any way she could explain how she’d arrived at the palace without her car and the city’s public transportation system hadn’t started for the day.

  Forty minutes later, she finally reached her building and ran up the stairs. Thankfully, her key was still in her shoe and she was able to let herself into her apartment. After showering and changing into her most severe black suit and white silk blouse, she grabbed her tote bag and laptop, then hurried down to her car, walking into her office five minutes before her normal arrival time.

  Fortunately, she was able to settle into her routine and be diligently working before anyone else arrived.

  “You okay?” Stephen asked, popping his head into the doorway. Giselle was trying to think of an explanation for why she’d missed work yesterday when he furnished one for her. “I got the message that you were sick, but you look better today. Everything okay?”

  She nodded her head. “Yes. Thank you so much and I’m sorry for not being here yesterday. It won’t happen again.”

  “You work long hours, Giselle. So, if you need a day off, don’t hesitate to take it. You have to take care of yourself.” With that, he returned to his office, leaving her alone to organize the details for the next event.

  Around mid-morning, a note was delivered by one the guards and she opened it curiously. The familiar bold scrawl made her stomach muscles tighten.

  “Come to my office for lunch.” That was all the note said. Not a “good morning” or any greeting at all. He didn’t even sign the note. And he’d had one of his guards deliver it. The deliveryman was still standing in front of her desk, obviously waiting for a response. She didn’t have one, but she wasn’t going to show up to his office in the middle of a workday simply because he commanded her presence. Instead, she wrote her two letter response on the note, then handed it back to the guard. With a smile of thanks, she turned back to her computer.

  With that interruption taken care of, she forced herself to continue working, trying to put last night – and all of yesterday- out of her mind.

  Easier said than done. For the rest of the afternoon, she jumped every time someone walked down the hallway. Telling Jaffri no didn’t really help one’s concentration. He didn’t seem like the type to take no for an answer. So when the rest of the administrative staff started to file out of their offices, closing down for the night, she hurriedly packed up and turned off her office light. Nervously, she made her way out of the palace, keeping her head down, just in case one of the guards thought to stop her and tell her that Jaffri wanted to see her. It wouldn’t be good for the rest of the staff to know that she was with the man.

  It was with a huge sigh of relief when she pushed her key into her apartment doorway that evening and sighed, thinking to finally relax. She was still sore from the previous night and yesterday. Nothing a good, long run or a hot bath wouldn’t fix. She decided on the bath, thinking that she didn’t want to push her luck at avoiding…

  “Jaffri!” she gasped when she flicked the lights on in her combination kitchen and den. The dark shadow sitting on her sofa stood up and her heart leaped with fear, but she recognized those shoulders, and, her fear turned to excitement.

  “You didn’t come to my office for lunch, my dear,” he observed menacingly. “And you snuck out of my bed this morning.”

  She backed away as he approached, not sure she understood his mood. “Yes, well, I didn’t think it would be good to miss another day of work. Gossip, you know.” If he was here, no one would see her leaving the palace in the morning! She wouldn’t have to sneak out, she wouldn’t run into the guards who would recognize her, and she could avoid all of those awkward questions and curious glances.

  Of course, she would still need to deal with the pain of losing him once he moved on to the next woman in his life, but she’d deal with that when the time came. Right now, she was too excited to see him, too thrilled to not have all of the awkward questions that came with staying in his suite.

  He shook his head, completely unaware of her tangled thoughts. “You disobeyed a direct order, Giselle,” he said softly. “Again.” He backed her up to the wall, pressing a hand against the wall on either side of her head.

  “Yes. I did.”

  He tilted his head slightly. “You don’t sound very repentant.”

  She laughed, feeling giddy all of a sudden. Probably not a good thing, since she didn’t know his moods all that well but…well, she couldn’t help it! “Nope. I’m not.” Giselle wasn’t completely sure what she was feeling, but…the sparkling devilment in his eyes probably matched in her own.

  He tsked. “You don’t seem to have any respect for my authority.” With that threat, he lifted her into his arms, pressing her back against the wall. But now, they could look each other in the eye.

  Her hands fluttered for a moment, then settled against the bare skin just above his collar, her fingers tangling in his astonishingly soft hair. Funny how a man as rough and tough as Jaffri would have such soft hair.

  “Oh, I think that I have just enough respect for your authority.” She giggled as his hands slid around her bottom.

  “No,” he replied, shaking his head even as he moved his hand, causing her to giggle harder and try to wiggle away. “In fact, I don’t think you have any respect for my authority.”

  She laughed again. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice breathy as she pressed her hips against his abdomen.

  “I’m here because you disobeyed a direct order from your boss’s boss’s boss,” he explained a moment before he covered her lips with his mouth. He kissed her thoroughly, not relenting until she was fully participating in the kiss and moaning her appreciation for his ‘authority’. “Don’t ever do that again,” he warned.

  She wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck. “I will,” she came right back. “You’re not my boss.”

  He groaned, shaking his head. “Giselle, you have a lot to learn about me.” He turned, carrying her into the bedroom. “And I think that right now is the perfect time to start your lessons.”

  With that, he draped her carefully on the bed, lifting her hands over her head and holding them there as he pressed his large body against hers, spreading her legs to make room for his hips.

  “Am I going to like these lessons?” she asked, licking her lips as she anticipated another kiss. She knew she should tell him to leave, but from the first moment she’d seen him sitting on her sofa, Giselle had known that this was exactly what she’d needed tonight.

  “No, you’re going to hate these lessons,” he explained as he picked up the belt of her robe. But the look in his eyes told her otherwise.

  Even so, she looked up at his hands, trying to pull hers away. “Um…Jaffri, what are you doing?”

  “I want your undivided attention, Giselle. I want you to understand that I am in charge. Are you paying attention?” he asked softly as he wrapped the cotton belt around her wrist and pulled her arm up, tying it to the headboard, chuckling at her sad attempts to escape.

  “Yes. Yes! I’m here, I’m paying attention. There’s no need to tie me up.”

  He chuckled, low and deep. “Ah, my beauty, you don’t really seem to understand. You snuck away from me this morning, not even waking me up to say goodbye. And then you ignored my note.” He grabbed her other ha
nd. With embarrassing ease, he wrapped the belt around her other hand and tied that one as well, far enough apart that she couldn’t untie the belt. Nope, she was well and truly trapped.

  “Ummm…Jaffri, I’m really sorry about…” she couldn’t finish her apology since he was tugging her shoes off, tossing them behind him as he stood at the end of the bed.

  “You’re not sorry,” he said, the light in his eyes making it clear that he was truly enjoying this. “But you will be.” He lifted her foot and teased the arch. Normally, her feet were incredibly ticklish but when he did that, it sent shards of desire right to her stomach. Arching her back, she tried to pull her foot out of his grip but he held on tight.

  “Jaffri!” she gasped, pulling at the knots on her wrists. “I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I won’t ever do it again!”

  He laughed softly. “Relax, Giselle. You’re going to learn this lesson extremely well tonight.” He moved his lips up her calf and her next thought was relief that she’d shaved her legs. But then that thought was obliterated when he nibbled on the back of her thigh and desire flooded her body. It was like he knew exactly where to touch her, where to kiss or tease, to drive her crazy with need.

  She tugged at the belt, but the cotton remained firm, not hurting her but…oh goodness, she shouldn’t like this so much! “This isn’t fair!” But she loved it! She tried to hide her heavy breathing, not wanting him to know that…well, that she loved being at his mercy. He wouldn’t stop, would he? Oh, please, she’d never thought about being tied up like this, but yeah, she loved it. She loved the gentle touch of his fingers against her skin, the vulnerable feeling that enveloped her, but still knowing he wouldn’t hurt her in any way.

  “How so?” he asked and put her feet down. But only so he could tug her slacks off. He carefully folded them and draped them over her dresser, the only other piece of furniture in the room.