by Imari Jade
“I’ll just be a moment,” Robert said in his defense.
An hour later, she was still alone and nursing her third glass of champagne.
“That man is a fool.”
Charisma looked up. It was Shakir. “What are you doing here? I thought we left you at the palace.”
“Did I neglect to tell you that I live in Cairo?”
“Yes.”
“I own this hotel and go back to the palace every now and then for business or to see the family. I took care of some things, hopped on the jet and came here.” He took her hand and helped her down from the barstool. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I can’t leave. Robert will be back soon.”
Shakir peered into the adjoing room. “No, he won’t. He’s politicking.”
Of course she knew he was right. “Where are we going?”
“Out,” he said. “On a date.”
Charisma looked down at her watch. “But it’s late.”
“You’re making excuses, Chrissy. This is Cairo. It’s always open.”
She reached into her purse for her phone. “Just let me call my aunt. I don’t want her to worry.”
“Just tell her that you’re with me and I’m taking you over to my place to see my snake.”
Charisma blushed. “I can’t tell her that.”
Shakir chuckled. “But it’s the truth.”
* * * *
Shakir slid the gown down Charisma’s perfect form and kissed her on one of her silken thighs.
Charisma trembled. “Dating is so much fun,” she said as he slid the hose from her other leg and removed it.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed as he did the same thing to the other leg. He unsnapped the garter, removed it from around her hips and tossed it on the other side of the room. He pushed her down on the bed and buried his head between her legs.
“We’re going to get caught,” Charisma whispered as Shakir’s tongue moved around the entrance.
Shakir raised his head. “We are aboard my private yacht, docked along the banks of the river with all the lights extinguished. No one is going to come aboard to interrupt us.”
The calming rock of the NileRiver comforted her as he performed oral sex on her. Charisma’s stomach quivered with anticipation whenever his tongue darted deeper inside of her. Her emotions were jumbled. Here she was alone on a boat with a man she had just met, making love and enjoying it, while the man her entire family thought that she was going to marry was probably back at the hotel either wondering where she was or still too busy with campaigning to care. She knew she was wrong, and she knew she should have ended it a long time ago with Robert, but she was selfishly holding on to him to please her aunt and uncle. Hell, it was one of the reasons she left the United States. She thought if she could put enough distance between them the relationship would just die off.
Shakir kissed the inside of her thigh. “What’s on your mind, Chrissy? You’re unbelievably quiet.”
“Nothing. I’m just lying back and enjoying what you’re doing to me.”
“I’d like to do more.”
Charisma lifted her head. “Like what?”
“Like some of the things we talked about that time behind the cactus. Do you remember?”
She blushed. “Yes.” She slid from under him and rolled him over on his back, instantly seizing his manhood between both her warm palms and snuggly manipulating the skin in upward and downward motions. Shakir gasped and grabbed the sides of the bunk mattress. Charisma put the head of his penis between her lips. The taste wasn’t unpleasant as she imagined, just natural and manly. She relaxed her jaws and forced more of the long penis down her throat. She moved back up to the head and ran her tongue along the bulb and the base and then clamped her mouth shut and just sucked. Another agonizing groan escaped Shakir’s lips as she worked him like a professional. She moved down to his heavy and full balls and sucked on the sacks.
“That is so wonderful,” Shakir stated in between grunts.
She continued to work his shaft with her hands, while her mouth and tongue teased other areas. She flicked her tongue against his anus and he nearly sprang from the bed.
“Whew. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Charisma lifted her head. “Was it uncomfortable? Did you not like it?”
He pulled her on him and kissed her lips. “I liked it very much, so much so that I’m about to explode, and I don’t want to waste my seed on my stomach.” He gently pushed her down on her back again. “I’m about to go in,” he warned as he mounted her.
Charisma braced herself. They were about to attempt it unlubricated. The head slipped in and another couple of inches followed without causing pain. The more she had sex, the more she noticed that her natural lube seemed to increase. She wrapped her legs around his waist and rolled her hips slowly until she sucked more of him in. Once or twice she fanaticized about taking all of him in. He had to be ten inches in length, and the head, when erect had a circumference of about the size of a small fist. She knew he worried about splitting her apart, so the fear held him back from really experiencing total fulfillment. Maybe, some other time, when they were in a bigger bed, in a place with no other occupants in the house that could hear her scream.
A boat passed on the water and rocked their boat. Charisma clung to him tighter, hoping to last long enough for him to come. But he was stroking her so good that try as she might she could not hold it back. Spasm after spasm rolled inside of her as she trembled beneath him. The liquids allowed him to delve deeper inside.
“This has to be the best feeling in the world,” he whispered against her ear.
“What?”
“To feel the orgasm of the woman you’re making love to as she’s experiencing it. Your warm juices washed over my rod as I inched further in.”
“Um,” Charisma said as she tried to recuperate. “I feel all wet down there.”
Shakir pulled out and buried his face between her legs again. He came up moments later with a goofy smile on his face. “You are. It’s enough to drown a horny man.” He tickled her entrance with a finger which sent her squirming to the top of the bed. His penis pointed in her direction, erect like an iron pipe. “I want you on your knees with that glorious butt facing me.”
Charisma turned over, got on her knees and presented her buttocks to him. Shakir moved the head through her butt cheeks, rubbing along her anus until she trembled. “It is so tempting, but it will never work.” He moved down and pushed inside her vagina. Charisma groaned as he buried deeper. His strokes grew more demanding and the sweat fell on her back in huge droplets. “Ooh, ooh,” he uttered incoherently. He used his thighs to spread her legs apart. He inched out and then moved back in. “Urg.” His arm went around her waist as his body collapsed. The warm semen poured inside of her.
“I can feel yours, too. It’s like a gun rapidly firing inside of me.”
Shakir collapsed and rolled off of her. “I love you,” he whispered.
Chapter Six
Where was she? The bartender brought him another martini. Robert removed the olive and polished off the entire drink. He set the empty glass down on the bar, looking at his watch again. It was three in the morning and she still hadn’t returned to her room.
“You look like you can use some company.”
Robert turned around. It was a woman. He squinted. “Don’t I know you?”
She nodded. “We were both at a party given by King Hakeem. My name is Halima Lehmkuhl.”
“Now I remember. You danced with Shakir.” He patted the seat next to him. “Would you like a drink?”
Halima climbed up on the barstool, allowing the slit in her skirt to expose her thigh. “I’ll have the same thing you’re having.”
Robert called the bartender back over and ordered their drinks. He left quickly and returned with their order. “What are you doing in Cairo?”
Halima sipped her drink. “I work here.”
“In town?”
She nodded. �
��At this hotel. I am the manager. My father is half owner in the place.”
“It’s a nice hotel.”
She agreed. “One of the best. There’s hardly a time when it’s empty.” She sipped her drink again. “What are you doing here?”
He put the glass down. “A fund raiser for Khartoum.”
“Hum, Prince Shakir’s pet project.”
Just the mention of the man’s name irritated him. “You know about it?”
“Yes. We’ve discussed it, but I’m afraid I’m not as enthusiastic about it as he is.”
“It is a worthwhile project.”
“So is curing cancer.”
Robert smiled. Halima was really quite pretty if you were into dark, sultry divas…and he was. She was in her mid-twenties, with shoulder-length dark hair that was fashionably styled in a bob.
“So where are the rest of your people?”
“Upstairs asleep. I stayed behind to talk to a couple of people who are interested in Khartoum’s recovery, and the next think I knew it was well after midnight.”
“And your girlfriend?”
Robert hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know. I left her down here and she promised to wait, but I guess I took too long coming back.”
“She’s not interested in what you do?”
Robert shook his head. “Not really. Charisma is still so young. In some ways she’s still a child.”
“A child who has caught the eye of a prince.”
Robert bristled. “So I’ve noticed.” He slipped down from the barstool. “It’s late.”
“Would you like some company? I’m a real good listener.”
Robert looked her over. “Hell, why not?”
Halima slid off the barstool and followed him up to his room.
* * * *
Robert watched a stretch limousine as it pulled up in front of the hotel. Charisma and Prince Shakir exited and ran into the lobby.
Halima peered down at the ground. “I guess that answered your question.”
Robert looked down at his watch. “It’s six o’clock in the morning. What were they doing for the last six hours?”
Halima smiled. “The same thing we just got finished doing.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Charisma is not a whore. She does not sleep around.”
“Are you calling me a whore?”
He gave her the same sarcastic smile she had given him.
“Bah. That is the problem with the male species. They can screw anyone they choose, go from one woman to the next in a span of a day without knowing their last names or anything about them, but the moment a woman does it she’s a whore. Well let me tell you something Mr. American President hopeful. I do not sleep around. I would not have approached you if I didn’t find something in you that I admire.”
Robert felt awful for insinuating that Halima slept around. He was just trying to take his frustration out on someone and she was the only one around. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I guess I’m just a little pissed by the whole Shakir-Charisma mess.” He walked away from the balcony. “Why does he want her anyway? He is a prince of Africa and she’s just a college student.”
“The same thing reason you do….because of her big ass.”
Robert smirked, detecting a hint of jealousy in Halima’s tone. “Are you in love with Prince Shakir?”
Halima shook her head. “Not anymore. Our relationship is purely business.”
“Meaning?”
“He and I had a thing once but he cheated on me.”
Robert pulled the voluptuous dark-skinned beauty into his arms. “Am I your sexual revenge?”
“I won’t lie…maybe. I mean, I would love to make him jealous, but I’m a sensible woman. I know he can care less about my feelings.”
“Does he cheat very often?”
“Oh yes. Shakir likes a variety.”
Robert frowned. So not only is he trying to take Charisma away from me, he plans to cheat on her too. He shook Halima from his side and headed back inside the room.
“What are you going to do?”
“Go back to bed and then later I’ll get to the bottom on this.”
* * * *
The plan was working, Halima thought as she lounged around her own hotel suite an hour later. Shakir would be hers again and there was no way she was going to let some little American harlot stop her from marrying a prince. Granted, she had been a little premature in breaking up with Shakir but she was angry at the time and made a rash decision. Using Robert was only a small price to pay to fall back into her father’s good graces. The man was simply livid when he found that she had let Shakir slip away. What kind of idiot would break up with a crowned prince? Of course at the time she thought he had cheated on her and then she discovered it wasn’t true, but it was too late to do anything about it because Shakir cut himself off and only kept a civil working relationship with her. Granted, she had put her father’s partnership with Shakir in the hotel in a precarious position, but so far the hotel didn’t seem to be suffering from it. She planned to get Shakir back before anything did. The partnership would be strong as long as the prince was sharing a bed with his partner’s daughter. There was only one obstacle in the way, Charisma Romaine. The next part of the plan was to either make her jealous enough to leave Shakir or make him jealous enough to leave Charisma either way it was a win-win in her favor.
* * * *
“I saw him leave your room this morning.”
Charisma looked back at Robert. “Who?’
“Shakir.”
“So.”
“You mean you are not going to deny it? You left with him last night after the fund-raiser.”
“I don’t have to lie and I don’t owe you an explanation. You left me sitting in that bar for hours. He showed up and asked me if I wanted to see Cairo and I told him yes.” She walked away, but he grabbed her wrist.
“You’re supposed to be mine, not his. Your uncle promised.”
Charisma snatched her hand away. “Promised what?”
“That he would help me with my political career.”
“What does that have to do with me? Are you telling me that I’m part of a deal?”
Robert shook his head. “No, but I know getting with you can only cinch my political backing.”
“So you’re only interested in me because I can help your career?”
“Yes—no—that’s not what I mean.”
She had figured it out a long time ago but didn’t want to admit it to herself. Them not having sex was a good clue. “Sounds like it to me.”
“This is not about me. He’s just taking advantage of you.”
“He took me on a tour of the town and we talked.”
“What kind of relationship do you expect to have with him? He’s a Nubian prince and you’re a student from Louisiana and barely out of college. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but long distance relationships don’t work.”
She was angry enough to slap his face. She put her hand on her hip and wagged the fingers from the other one in his face. “Neither does relationships arranged for political gain. I need a man I can love and one who loves me. Whether it is here or back in the United States. Shakir makes me feel special. He treats me like a woman. Anyway, I’m here to take photos for my thesis, not be a part of some kinky love triangle.”
Robert took her hand and pulled her to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any of that. You know how I feel about you. I love you, Chrissy. I always have. Just seeing you with him makes me so jealous.” He kissed her. “I’ll be going back to the United States in a couple of days. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks, and when I come back I want my answer.”
“What answer?” Charisma asked.
“Will you marry me?” He released her and walked back into the hotel.
She stood there stunned. Damn. She wasn’t expecting that.
* * * *
“What do you mean Robert proposed to you?” Shakir asked Charisma over the
telephone.
