Her softness burned through him. He let go instantly and knew he had made a mistake, but he kept silent and led them to the elevator.
Margo laughed and the second the door opened into their penthouse with one central kitchen and views of the ocean on three sides, she said, "I want to go to my room to get my homework done, Pedar."
"Good girl." He expected good grades, even in elementary school. "Show Elle around first."
Then without another word, he marched into the gym and tried to work off frustrated sexual energy.
He took off all his clothes, found gym shorts, and started with the bars to stretch out his limbs. He needed to forget how Elle swayed her hips. How her silk panties felt against his palm.
He’d been there a half hour or so when Elle came in, looked up at him and caught her breath. "Ohh."
She left without another word, but the sight of her made him ache.
Clearly, he'd gone too long without a woman. Perhaps he should call Leila as she fit more in his lifestyle, but the thought cooled him. The craving he had roared at the sight of Elle.
He finished with the bars and moved onto mixed martial arts practice to keep his body in harmony.
Next time he glanced out the window, the sun had set.
Perhaps Elle had gone to bed. He dared leave the gym, but he didn't get far. Wearing a tank top, yoga pants and bare feet, she was in the living room with plates and supplies for the sofreh. She looked up at him and he swore he saw hunger in her eyes too as she said, "I promised Margo I'd set everything here so tomorrow we put everything together. I'm not quite sure this holds her bean sprouts."
The sofreh or traditions didn't matter to him. He tried to walk away, to take a shower, but Elle stood and called out to him. "Did I say something wrong? You've not talked to me in hours."
He turned. "Am I supposed to talk to you?"
She walked up and placed her hand on his arm. "No, but I'd like your company. Navid, I'd like to know more about you."
"Don't tease." He swallowed and stared at her soft hazel eyes. "I want you. Right now."
"I tucked your daughter in bed, and she is sound asleep." A blush pinked her face. "And I want you too."
Her wide-eyed innocent tone—though they both knew she wasn't—was the final straw. He reached out to her waist and tugged her toward him. "If that's true, come to my bedroom and leave your clothes at the door. If you don't want to, then good night. I'm taking a shower."
Then he let her go. He knew he shouldn't, but if she was willing to meet him on those terms, he'd have her.
Navid marched right into the shower and cooled off. As the cold water rushed down his body, he had a little relief.
It was unlikely she'd come. He'd made her no promises or offers, but the fire inside him reminded him of being a teenager.
Finished, he turned off the shower and heard no stirring in his bedroom. She hadn't come.
It was for the best, for both of them.
Elle went to her room and stared at herself in the mirror. The gleam in her eyes gave her desire away. She almost took off her butterfly necklace but stopped. The gift from her mother had come at a time of change and she sensed that if she went to Navid, she'd be different. He'd change something in her. She brushed her hair and heard that he turned off his shower.
It was now or never.
Her heart stampeded in her chest, but she crossed the quiet hall between them and opened his bedroom door.
He wore nothing but a green towel draped low around his hips. She swallowed, as she wasn’t normally this forward and felt her cheeks burning, but slipped her black skirt off and placed it on the chair near his bed. Her blouse. Until she stood before him in her silk underwear and heels.
She lifted her head. "I'm here."
"You're not naked." He sat on the bed and stared at her. "Take off your bra and panties then come here."
No one ordered her to do anything, ever. The thought hit her hard and she pressed her lips together. But in the same breath, she reached behind her back and unclasped her bra.
She dropped the black silk to the carpet, the intake of his breath letting her know that he liked what he saw. She slipped her panties off, standing proud before him. "Is everything good now?"
His towel didn't hide the large erection as he beckoned her closer with his finger. "Come here."
Warm goosebumps grew on her body, but she walked in front of him. He reached for her butt and gently squeezed to pull her closer. His mouth claimed her right breast.
A moan emerged from her throat as he suckled.
He picked her up to sit on his lap and his lips left her breasts and roved up her body. "Elle, you're the last person I should want."
"Happy New Year Navid." She dug her fingers through the coarse texture of his hair, ignoring the fact it was the end of winter and almost spring. In Miami those seasonal labels never mattered.
His touch made her yearn as his fingers brushed her apex. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this, for him.
She kissed him back with all the passion she’d kept inside.
His fingers softened her and when his finger entered, all she could do was moan, anticipating pleasure.
It was like all of her was made for him. Her breasts pushed against his chiseled muscles and welcomed him.
Elle she was on his lap, on the edge of his bed, yet he pushed her hand over her head and asked, "Are you sure you want this?"
"Absolutely." Her heart beat so fast, but if he stopped touching her then she'd feel lost again.
She tried to move her hand, but he held them above her head. "Do you want me to let you go?"
"No." She didn’t want him to stop. He flipped her around and before she knew what was happening, the biggest, hardest manhood pushed inside her.
She hadn't known her body could stretch, but each sensation felt sweet.
"You took all of me." His voice was a surprised rumble at the back of her neck. He deepened their connection.
* * *
Elle needed to see his intense blue eyes. She turned over and he pulled out, feeling instantly some loss. Then she relaxed and slid her legs open, he rejoined her, sending her into sweet aching oblivion. This time she saw the awe in his expression as he pushed into her.
No one ever made her feel this full. Their bodies found a rhythm and he stayed hard as she rode him, over and over again. All she could was moan. She couldn't think. All she did was feel utterly complete and whole.
Elle woke up, naked and alone. It was the middle of the night, the moon bright outside the window, and her body had delicious aches. She tugged the sheet higher and then met Navid’s gaze from across the room as he watched her. She sat up. "What are you doing?"
"You fell asleep." He sat further back on his chair. "I've not slept with anyone."
Anyone made no sense. He had a daughter. She shook her head. "Surely your wife."
"She had her own room."
Now that revelation said plenty about him to her. The empty white walls in here also spoke volumes. She said, "Well you used me pretty good. You should be exhausted too. Come sit with me."
His blue eyes didn't blink, but he joined her on the white sheets and white blanket on the bed. "I should have controlled myself. I hired you to watch my daughter, not have sex with me."
"Sex was fun and off the clock, for both of us." She massaged his shoulders and his smooth skin with rough patches of hair made her own skin tingle. "Let me hold you for a while."
He turned, his profile stark in the shadows of night, and stared into her eyes. Something painful was hidden in the depths of his gaze. "If I come beside you, I'll want you again."
She felt the tension in his muscles and tried to work it out with a thumb to ease the knots. "Then I say yes, again. With you, there is no pretense." She laughed low. "I never knew I’d be this easy."
He shook his head. "Or you were hungry and I took advantage of you."
"I skipped breakfast the other day because I was nervous a
nd upset. I wasn't starving." She didn’t want him to feel guilty at all for any of what happened, which was before they’d met. "I needed a job because all of my accounts are frozen. Once my family proves their innocence, we'll get it all back. I've never been poor in my life."
"Lucky you. I grew up hungry." Navid caressed her bare thigh. "My mother raised me on her own, and gave me my father's money when I turned eighteen."
"Oh?" She tried to imagine him as a young man, angry, uncertain.
"She said it was up to me to use the money he left to start a life for myself."
She kissed his back near his neck that was smooth and because she could and he tasted yummy. "You certainly did that and more. From what I understand gaming companies depend on your streaming, so you used your brains and inheritance to amass a fortune."
He tensed again and scooted so their faces were close. "Elle, you are way out of my league. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with someone like you—an American princess. Confident but sweet." He encircled her wrist with his fingers. "I'm afraid I'll break you."
Her heart beat faster. She'd push her luck right now, and hoped that he would agree. "I'm not fragile, though I'll be sad if you don't join me." She patted the mattress.
He froze. "I've killed people with my bare hands, Elle. You don't want to lie beside me."
Oh. At least now she understood what held him back, but her mind screamed for more information, and that she should have known more before stripping. "Do you intend to kill me?"
"Never." His hand fell on hers. "I would never hurt you."
She flipped her palm and laced their fingers together. His hand didn't feel dangerous, if anything she sensed his need to protect. "Did you kill anyone in cold blood?"
His hot skin cooled and he stared at the wall. "No, not without a reason. But every last one haunts me in my sleep." He turned his tortured gaze toward her and she shivered at his pain. "I'm not good next to anyone."
He moved to get up, but she held his arm. She had to know. She asked quietly, "Why, then?"
He stilled, and looked at the floor. "I put myself in a situation..." He turned toward her again and she saw so many emotions at war in his blue eyes. "I almost killed Gabe years ago too."
She winced, but cleared her expression. Gabe was always like an extra brother around her house. "How?" Gabe had been in the military, despite his parent’s opinion on the matter, and she wasn't quite sure of allegiances in the Middle East.
Navid grabbed the towel from his earlier shower to cover his nakedness. "I took a job to help protect Maddox and Paul." He closed his eyes as if he relived the moment. "I was sixteen and knew my father left me and my mom to defend for ourselves, but when I saw what was happening out there and how Paul stole and Maddox was deranged, I..." He sounded like he choked on his words. Then he opened his eyes and she saw pain that shone in the moonlight. "I almost let Gabe die—I knew he was my half-brother. I knew who he was and I wanted to hate him."
She reached out and hugged him. It clearly hurt him. He made a scoff sound with his throat. "Your kind and full of regret."
"I don’t deserve your kindness."
"What about the others?" she asked. "You said you killed people, but Gabe is alive and coming over for dinner later. He and Megan are getting married in two weeks. Who were the others?"
He massaged his forehead, as if he could rub away the memories. "I went into a war zone without telling my mother I’d left school. Put myself in situations that were dangerous. Over time, I was seen as a potential threat."
A sigh escaped her lips as she bent her knees toward him. "So you were defending yourself?"
"I did things I shouldn't have, like tonight, with you." He picked up her hand and held it close. "I craved having you the moment we met and thought about nothing else. My daughter's life was threatened and I still wanted you."
Navid held the world on his shoulders. She rested her head on one and hoped he'd let go. "Margo is safe. We moved to keep her safe. Really, the only thing I know for certain about you is that you're a good father. You have a kind heart."
He tugged the sheet over her lap. "Kind is not a word I'd use to describe me."
Seriously? He’d just made sure she was warm. She put her hand on his heart. "Then you don't see your true self. I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed, Navid. Do you want me to leave now that we've been together?"
"No." He held his head higher. "I won't see you homeless because I couldn't control myself."
A huge smile grew on her face, but she kept it hidden. "See, there is that kind streak of yours." She pushed down the sheet and sat completely naked. His eyes widened, and she liked how she felt beneath his appraisal. "Do you still want me or are you done?"
His gaze devoured her and his erection tented the towel draped over his hips. "I could have you every day and never be bored."
"Then take me again." She carefully lifted the towel and tossed it aside.
He climbed onto the bed, straddling her. "I don't want to hurt you."
He wouldn’t. She needed him. No matter what happened in his past, he was here and good and trying to protect them all. Elle reached down and traced his long staff with eager fingers. She'd never thought men were this big, except in whispers. Then she nipped his shoulder. "You make me feel—keep doing that."
"You mean this?" His fingers brushed against her sensitive skin while he positioned himself on top of her. Automatically, her legs went lax and opened. She needed him now.
The moment he entered her, she couldn't think or talk anymore. She tried to speak, but only said, "Mmm."
Her mind went numb as her body reached another high. Navid was everything she’d ever wanted.
Elle woke up when sunlight beamed into the room. She placed her hands on the sheet next to her and they felt cold, but the pillow still had an indention and the sheets were rumpled. Navid had been there but he was gone. She stood and heard Margo outside in the hall, laughing.
The last place Margo needed to see her was her father's bed.
She dressed in last night’s skirt and blouse though she carried her heels in her hand and slipped the door open.
Margo's laugh was louder now, but then she heard Navid's answering rumble. She let out a breath she hadn't known she held. He was fine. Grinning, satiated, she walked into her room and found her suitcases, which she hadn’t unpacked. They weren't going out today so she chose shorts and a blue fitted t-shirt and placed them on the bed. After quickly showering in her private bathroom, she dressed and put her hair in a ponytail. Done, she went out and followed the laughter to the kitchen.
Navid was near the stove and flipping an egg in the frying pan like he was a top chef and Margo giggled as she sat on a stool near the counter. Elle asked, "What's going on?"
"Elle, you look like a teenager," Navid said. Was that a faint blush along his cheekbones?
She massaged Margo's shoulders and tried not to stare at Navid's cotton pants, but it was hard. They clung to his perfectly shaped body. The simple black t-shirt couldn’t hide all those muscles. "I figured it was a casual, stay at home day."
Navid fixed a plate of food in front of his daughter. "Elle, can you go to the refrigerator and check the ice cream that was delivered? We have to make sure our lunch treat is up to your standards."
She brushed past him, and opened the freezer. But then his hand quickly squeezed her butt and she felt a warm tingle everywhere. He was still interested in her, at least physically, and she felt a huge bubble inside her release—she wasn’t done with Navid, and couldn’t imagine not being near him. She checked out the ice cream—vanilla, chocolate and strawberry—and closed the door. Whipped cream in the fridge, sprinkles and syrups on the counter. "This looks great."
He pushed a plate of eggs and toast next to Margo at the kitchen counter, so Elle sat. A minute later he put a plate out for himself on the other side. "Ladies, after I finish breakfast, I'll be in my office/gym for most of the day. Elle, I'm hoping you can help M
argo with her school work, and then you two can play. We'll figure lunch out later."
Margo held her head high and stopped eating. "Don't forget we're setting up the sofreh for Norooz today."
"Right." Navid shrugged and it was clear that he wasn't into the holiday. "Well, you and Elle can do that, after you finish your school work."
Margo complained about her teacher, and a boy she didn’t like in class as Navid finished his breakfast. Elle ate her last bite of eggs when the doorbell rang. Navid met her gaze and she asked, "Are you expecting anyone?"
He shook his head no. "Can you tell whoever it is that we're not interested and to come back later? I’ve got to catch up on some emails. Nobody can come up without permission."
"Sure." She stood and answered the buzzer. "Who’s calling?"
The security officer said, "Leila Rezi is here to meet with Navid Hawke, ma'am."
He had said he wasn't able to talk to anyone. "Navid can't..."
Navid interrupted, "Tell her to come up and meet me in my office." He stacked the empty plates in the kitchen sink. "I should talk to her privately for a few minutes."
Something struck Elle as odd and her hair stood on end. "Please send her up."
Navid told Margo, "You rinse the dishes."
"Yes, Pedar." Margo answered and jumped off her stool.
Navid brushed Elle’s arm as he walked past her and headed toward his office. Her insides quaked with desire, but she quelled her thirst.
The moment his office door closed, she could breathe, but then the doorbell rang. She went to the door and opened it. A beautiful brown-haired, brown-eyed woman dressed in an elegant gray dress and designer heels said, "I'm here to see Navid. Who are you?"
"I'm Elle Bentley, the nanny." Her stomach turned. "Navid is in his office."
"A criminal's daughter as the nanny? I recognize you. I had no idea Navid was that desperate." Leila strode stiffly across the room and into the office, clearly having been here before.
Elle walked into the kitchen where Margo was on the second dish and picked up the first to dry. "Who is Leila?"
Tempting Navid Page 4
