by Kristi Gold
Of course she could do it. She didn’t need his distractions, or at least she didn’t want to need them. He’d already distracted her so much that she’d tossed away all her good sense for an opportunity that could prove to be very risky. But she’d never been afraid of taking chances; no need to begin now.
First, she had to have the man back, and she got her wish when the door opened and Dharr stepped into the room.
“What’s going on?” she asked when she noted his stony expression.
“Nothing momentous,” Dharr said as he closed the door behind him. “Only that we are about to take off again.”
Raina only wanted to take off his clothes, and hers. Dharr seemed intent on preparing for departure when he sat in the designated seat. “Come. We will be leaving in a matter of moments.”
Resigned that she had to do this, she took the seat next him for the familiar routine. She secured her seat belt, he fastened his own then wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her close to his side.
Raina couldn’t deny the thrill of being next to him once more, hoping that after they got the journey underway again, he would be more accommodating. If she survived the takeoff. She despised this part most of all. Dharr knew that well, evident by his soft lips trailing kisses along her jaw as the engines revved up and the plane reversed.
Raina risked a glance out the window to notice the rain still pounding the plastic pane. “Are you sure we should be leaving?” Her tone sounded high and wary.
“It is safe,” Dharr whispered as he smoothed his palm up her bare arm. “You are in good hands.”
Raina couldn’t argue that point since Dharr’s “good hands” breezing up the side of her breast had turned her insides into the consistency of oatmeal. But when the plane shook as they left the runway, even Dharr’s caresses couldn’t prevent the fear weighting her chest.
She buried her face into his neck and muttered, “I hate this. I hate being afraid.”
With gentle fingertips, Dharr tipped her face up. “Look at me,” he said, his tone commanding. “You have nothing to fear with me.”
Oh, but she did. She feared the feelings he stirred within her, the urge to totally let go. She feared giving everything to him. Feared she wouldn’t want to leave him when the time came to go back to her life, but not enough to put a halt to her plans even though he had yet to agree to her proposition.
“Take off your blouse,” he whispered when the plane pitched as it banked to the right.
Her mouth dropped open from utter shock before awareness dawned and she leveled her gaze on his. “You’ve changed your mind.” She posed the words as affirmation, not a question, because she could see surrender in his dark, dark eyes.
“You need distraction and I am going to give that to you.”
Distraction she could definitely use but she hoped it wasn’t temporary. “I’ll take off mine if you take off yours.”
“I see you are bent on bargaining with me for the remainder of this flight.” Fortunately for Raina, he didn’t sound angry. He did sound sexy as hell.
“That depends on how cooperative you’re going to be from here on out.”
He hinted at a smile while he released the buttons on his shirt. “That remains to be seen although I greatly question my wisdom.”
“To heck with wisdom.” Drawing in a deep breath, Raina crossed her arms, clasped the hem and pulled the top over her head. And now here they were, Dharr bare-chested and beautiful and she nude to the waist.
Once more he curled his arm over one shoulder, using his free hand to push her hair away and cup her breast lightly. “You are very tempting,” he said. “Very beautiful.”
Raina could barely draw a breath, much less manage a thank you. And her oxygen level decreased severely when he dipped his head and drew a nipple into the wet warmth of his expert mouth. She slid her hands into his hair and closed her eyes, the turbulent take-off all but forgotten, replaced by a host of sensations provoked by Dharr’s soft suckling.
As he continued to mesmerize her, he traced the silver loop at her navel with a leisurely fingertip, enticing and exciting her into mindlessness. Yet he didn’t make even the slightest move to lower his hand. He simply continued to draw random designs on her belly above where the belt rested low on her lap, laving his tongue across her nipple a final time before working his way up her neck and to her ear.
“When we are cleared to leave these seats, do you know what I wish to do?” He spoke in a low whisper, his warm breath filtering over her neck.
“What?”
He traced the silver loops in her lobe with his tongue. “I am going to take you to the bed.”
“To sleep?”
“To touch you. To learn every inch of you, if that is what you still want from me.”
“Promise?”
“You may count on it.”
Raina counted the seconds until he would make good on his promise. Waited for someone to tell them they could get out of the blasted seats.
When that didn’t immediately happen, Dharr rested his hand on her thigh, rubbing his knuckles back and forth on the inside of her leg. Overcome with her own need to know how affected he might be, Raina slid her palm up his thigh and back down again, moving closer and closer to his groin each time.
“You are entering dangerous territory, Raina.”
She grinned. “What’s wrong with being a little dangerous?”
He brushed a kiss across her lips then pulled her hand back to his chest. “I am entitled to my turn first. Orders from the sheikh.”
He prevented Raina from leveling any kind of come-back when he kissed her again, using his tongue like a feather while he slipped his hand between her thighs, applied a slight pressure there, bringing about a rush of wet heat. Raina was only slightly aware of the rocking plane as she concentrated on Dharr’s distraction. His touch served as her only reality at the moment and one she never wanted to leave, at least not yet. Not until she experienced the limits of Dharr’s skills, although she truly suspected there were no limits to what he would do to make a woman feel good. He was doing it to her now.
When Raina made a small sound of need, Dharr balanced on the threshold of madness. Yet he reminded himself that he did intend to take this slowly should they change their mind. And that was about as likely as either of them pursuing the marriage arrangement.
Dharr kissed her breasts again, then went back to her mouth, playing his tongue against hers in meaningful strokes, caressing her through the thin fabric of her pants, indicating what he would do to her body if given the chance to completely make love with her. And though that chance would not come on this plane, he would still give her the greatest pleasure she had ever known, or die trying.
The bell sounded and the fasten seat belt sign went out, causing Raina to tense, effectively interrupting their interlude.
Dharr took her hand into his and studied her flushed face. “Are you certain you want to continue this, Raina?”
She squeezed his hand tightly. “Yes. Unless you don’t.”
“I want it,” he said. “Very unwise, I know, but this need I have for you makes very little sense.”
She smiled. “Maybe we shouldn’t worry about being sensible. After all, what else are we going to do to pass the time?”
The humor in her tone contrasted with Dharr’s lack of mirth, yet he would always remember Raina’s smile, no matter what the future held. “I suppose you are right, although most people would take that time to sleep.”
She reached over and unfastened his seat belt, brushing her fingertips across his increasing erection. “We’re not most people, Dharr.”
Dharr could not argue that point even though the debate in his mind continued over whether he should allow this tryst. Yet when Raina leaned over and whispered, “I believe our bed’s waiting,” all questions and concerns drifted away.
Standing, he held out his hand to her and she took it without hesitation. Once they made it to the bed, Dharr vowed to r
emain in command. Yet he could not resist kissing her without restraint. A long, deep kiss. A prelude to what would come.
Once they parted, Dharr could not discern who was more winded. He locked into Raina’s golden eyes and told her, “We will take this slowly.”
She frowned. “If we go too slowly, I’ll go crazy.”
“I plan for you to do that very thing.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Now lie facedown on the bed.”
She sent him a quizzing look. “May I ask why?”
He brushed her hair back from her breasts and leaned to take another brief taste. “You may ask, but you will have to wait and see. I will only say that if we are going to go forward with this, I intend to do it well.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
He drew a line down her jaw with a fingertip. “Trust me, Raina. I am not going to hurt you in any way. And anything that I do to you that you do not care for, you only need tell me and I will stop.”
Her smile appeared, a bit shaky yet still a smile. “I trust you.”
He wasn’t certain he trusted himself to stop when necessary. “Good. Now on the bed.”
When she reached for the drawstring on her pants, Dharr clasped her wrist. “Not yet. I will take care of that later.”
“Okay, as long as you do.”
While she climbed onto the bed onto her belly, Dharr set about lowering the shades on the windows and turning down all the lights except for the one above the bed that cast Raina in a sensual glow. He then opened one of the built-in cabinets and retrieved a bottle of massage oil.
After squeezing a few drops into his palm, Dharr sat on the edge of the bed, the bottle braced between his knees. He paused a moment to survey the golden lamp peeking from the waistband of Raina’s pants, seriously doubting that the sultan knew his daughter had permanently marked her body, nor did he believe her father would approve. Dharr also recognized that her father would disapprove of what they were about to do.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he told her, “Pull your hair away from your back.” Once she complied, he started the first part of the journey by spreading the oil across her shoulders.
“What is that heavenly smell?” she asked in a languid tone, her words muffled by the pillow where she’d buried her face. Eventually he would request that she watch what he was doing, but not quite yet.
“It is plumeria oil.”
She lifted her head and looked back at him. “Massage oil, huh? And you tried to tell me you’ve never had a woman on board.”
“The past shall be kept in the past, Raina.” He bent and kissed her cheek. “What matters now are the hours we have together. Only us and no one else.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” She laid her cheek back against the pillow. “Now carry on.”
Exactly what Dharr planned to do. With calculated caresses, he worked his way down her back, curling his fingertips around her sides and using his thumbs to track the fine beads of her spine. When he reached the tattoo, he leaned down to kiss the spot before continuing his downward progress.
He slid his hands beneath her belly, tugging the drawstring to loosen the material and to provide access to all of her body. He smiled when she lifted her hips, allowing him to lower the pants slowly, taking her panties with them until he had them pushed to her thighs. The sight of her taut buttocks, the feel of her soft skin beneath his palms, only served to threaten his patience. But he refused to hurry this exploration, for both their sakes. Impatience could prove detrimental to his control. He could not allow that to happen.
Once more he dipped his head to apply a kiss, this time on each buttock then lightly flicked his tongue along the cleft. Raina’s gasp brought his gaze back to her where he found her hands fisted tightly on the pillow.
After he worked the pants completely away and tossed them aside, he bracketed her hips and said, “Turn over.”
She did as he asked, her breasts rising and falling in anticipation of what would come next. And what he planned for her would also prevent normal respiration, as soon as she was ready.
On that thought, Dharr propped two pillows beneath her shoulders then took the oil and placed a few more drops in his palm. He applied the liquid to her slender neck before working his way to the rise of her breasts.
“Watch, Raina,” he whispered as he circled her nipples with his fingertips. The oil had created a fine satin sheen over her skin; his fondling had created a glaze in her eyes.
“That feels so good,” she murmured, her voice low as if speaking took great effort.
Dharr paused to ply her lips with soft teasing kisses, pleased when each time they parted, Raina raised her head to seek his mouth once more.
“Do you wish to feel better?” he asked after pulling away from her lips, suffering from the loss yet knowing he would eventually return there.
“By all means.”
“Then you shall.”
He skimmed his hands down her abdomen, spreading more of the floral oil in his wake before he paused to play with the silver ring in her navel. He found that jewelry quite intriguing. He found every inch of her intriguing, from her thick silky hair to her pink painted toenails.
Only then did he allow himself to study the shading between her thighs, knowing that in doing so, he would become excruciatingly hard at the sight, and he did. Yet his own needs would not take precedence over hers.
After applying more oil to his palm then setting the bottle on the floor, he bent her legs toward her hips. He sent his hand over her knee, down her well-toned calf and to her delicate ankle then did the same to her other leg. He moved almost to the end of the bed and nudged her thighs apart, leaving her open to his eyes.
When Raina laid her hand on her abdomen, for a fleeting moment he believed she might try to cover herself. Yet she didn’t. She did continue to stare at him, expectancy in her expression, heat in her eyes.
He now faced a certain dilemma—would he use his hands or his mouth to give her pleasure? He would like nothing better than to test her with his tongue, an act that would be deemed one of the most intimate between a man and a woman. Perhaps he should avoid that level of intimacy. He had to remember that after they left the privacy of this plane, nothing else would come of this liaison.
He moved onto his knees between her legs and with both hands, pressed downward strokes from her navel toward her pubis, stimulating the blood flow to heighten her orgasm, as he had learned long ago. Lower and lower he traveled, through the shading of hair until he parted the soft pleats to reveal his ultimate goal. He swirled a fingertip round and round her swollen flesh, watching her face grow slack with every caress.
When Raina lifted her hips, encouraging him toward his mark, he quickened his pace, applied more pressure, knowing that she was coming closer to a climax. He guided one finger inside her to experience the waves of spasms, imagining her surrounding him yet knowing he must settle for only this.
A soft moan hissed out of her mouth and she bit her lower lip as he continued to touch her again and again, intent on giving her another release. But she grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward atop her before he could continue.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, his voice hoarse from his current position between her legs. He would only have to lower his fly and shove down his briefs to thrust inside her.
“Do I look like I’m in pain?”
She looked beautiful in the aftermath of her fulfillment, but he was definitely in pain. “I want to touch you again.”
“No.” She worked her way from beneath him and nudged him aside. “Now it’s my turn, Dharr.”
As much as Dharr wanted her hands on him, he still feared a total loss of restraint, something he could not afford. Right now he was bordering on throwing caution to the wind to bury himself inside her. If she touched him, he would have to rely on solid sense to remind him why they could not end this interlude with true consummation. “That is not necessary. This time we have le
ft I promised to dedicate solely to your pleasure.”
Without regard to his words, she rolled onto her side to face him and reached for his fly to lower his zipper. “Yes, it is necessary. For me. Now take off your clothes so we’ll be even, or I’ll be glad to do it for you.”
As far as Dharr was concerned, the odds were stacked against him, even more so when she stroked him through his briefs. Caution be damned, he would allow her to touch him, at least for a time. He would endeavor to hold back although that prospect seemed challenging. But he would face that when the time came.
Leaving the bed and her intoxicating touch, he removed his pants and briefs then stood before her, allowing her to see exactly how she had affected him. The increasing pressure between his legs only grew worse as her gaze traveled over his body.
She smiled and tapped one finger against her chin. “Well, you are certainly happy to see me.”
He moved a step closer to the bed at his own peril. “Do you find everything to your liking?”
She continued to study him with a total lack of inhibition. “I would say you’re definitely a ten.”
A sudden surge of jealousy hurled through Dharr. “In comparison to whom?”
She rose to her knees before him and flattened her palms against his chest. “I’m not comparing you to anyone, Dharr. Remember, the past is in the past.”
He did not appreciate having his words thrown back at him even though he admitted she was right. Still, the thought of another man making love to her only fueled his determination to prove himself. If he could not be her first, he would most certainly be her best.
Nudging Raina back onto the bed, Dharr stretched out to face her and gently rolled her taut nipple between his forefinger and thumb. “What would you have me do now? I am open to any request. Or perhaps you would wish me to choose.”
She ran both hands down his chest, following the stream of hair before pausing at his abdomen. “I expect you to let me have my turn.”
