by Nalini Singh
"Yes?" He paused, waiting for her instruction. Eyes wide, she nodded.
He peeled off his underwear with his pants. Jasmine stunned him by reaching out and trailing her finger down the length of his erection. His body was racked with tremors. "Move aside, Mina, or I will be on top of you and this will end."
She shifted with an alacrity that made him feel like the most desired of men.
He lay down on the bed on his back, his arms folded under his head. "I think you have about five more minutes," he warned, his gaze skating possessively over her body. He'd thought he could manage the beast inside him, dictate what he felt for this woman, but all he'd done was starve himself. The weeks of enforced calm disintegrated, and the primitive urge to take Mina ate away at his control.
As he watched, Jasmine straddled his thighs. Her gauzy skirts settled around them like curtains of mist."In that case, I'll get right to the crux of the matter." Without warning, she wrapped her fingers around his erection.
Swamped with ecstasy, Tariq growled low in his throat and pushed into her hands. Her fingers were delicate and feminine around him, her expression utterly fascinated. Seduced by her delight in his body, he surrendered and let his wife have her way with him.
Encouraged by Tariq's unhidden enjoyment, Jasmine in creased the pressure and began to move her hand up and down. Velvet over steel. Burning fire and searing heat. A soft moan escaped her lips. She could feel herself being seduced by his reactions. Tariq's face was a study in raw passion. His cheek bones stood out against his flushed skin and his teeth were gritted against the pleasure. Aching with the need to give him more, to give him everything, she dipped her head and re placed her hands with her mouth.
Tariq's thighs went as hard as rock under her. He jerked up into a sitting position and clenched his hands in her hair. When he shuddered under her inexpert caresses, Jasmine's fear of not pleasing him evaporated. Exhilarated by his hoarse cries, she settled into the task she'd set herself.
Mina's attentive exploration snapped the threads of Tariq's control. "Enough." He pulled her up, his hands rough.
Her heavy-lidded, passion-hot face inflamed him further. With another throaty groan, he hauled her up his body, until she was almost astride him. Then he reached under her skirt and found the lace of her panties. The sound of lace and satin ripping was drowned out by the loud panting of their breaths. Tariq threw aside the torn pieces and touched her with his fingers. Creamy heat welcomed him.
"You're so wet, Mina." His voice shook with the discov ery.
Sensitized beyond bearing by their erotic play, Jasmine moved demandingly against his fingers. "Now. Now!"
Tariq didn't argue, sliding her onto his hard length. He was too slow for her. She gripped his sweat-slick shoulders and pushed down, surprising him. He lodged to the hilt inside her and groaned in satisfaction. She saw the look on his face and knew that this time, her lover would be coming with her on the incandescent final ride. He had, after all, ripped off her clothing. With a smile, she gave in and rode him to surrender.
Tariq drew a line down Jasmine's breastbone with his fin ger. She squirmed under the light caress. Tariq let her capture his hand in her own and place it over her heart. She was almost asleep, apparently exhausted by their wild mating.
"You were aroused just by touching me," he commented.
"Tariq," she murmured, her cheeks red.
"So shy now?"
Opening her eyes, she made a face at him. "Tease." But she wriggled closer and wrapped her arms around him.
He stroked her back, as if petting a cat. "Always?" Under his hand, she was warm and smooth.
"What?" she asked sleepily, burrowing into his chest.
"Are you always aroused by touching me?" he persisted, even as he cuddled her close to him. The need he'd hidden deep within rebelled against being ignored any longer.
Eyes closed and body relaxed almost totally, Jasmine muttered, "I get aroused just by looking at you. It's because I love you. Now go to sleep."
"Mina, when you touch me like that, I could almost believe you." He knew she didn't hear him, because she'd already fallen asleep. Stroking her hair off her face, he wondered if she would remember her declaration tomorrow. It didn't matter, because he would. The fist that had been clenched around his heart loosened. Maybe being unable to control his feelings wasn't the disaster he'd thought. Not if this was the outcome.
While she slept, Tariq couldn't help but compare the woman he'd seen over the past week to the girl to whom he'd given his heart, only to have it rejected. In his arms, she was fire, unafraid of her sensuality. Yet in the desert, though her persistence had angered him, she hadn't given up probing for the truth of the past. The autocratic part of him that expected instant obedience bristled at her audacity. But there was a bigger part of him that was awed by her feminine strength. This was a woman with whom he could rule.
Since Paris, he'd wanted to take a chance on his wife. Tempted by the promise of the last few days, he found that the urge to let his barriers fall was almost irresistible. He wanted to give her his trust. Except the last time he'd done that, she'd almost destroyed him. Did he dare to try again, even knowing that she still hid something from him?
She had her panther back.
"You will follow my orders. You will not venture into Zulheina today." Tariq slammed the flat of his palm on his desk, the sound as loud as a pistol shot in the quiet study.
Jasmine put her hands on her hips and scowled. "Why not? I ve always been able to do so before."
"I have given an order. I expect it to be obeyed."
She blew out a breath through pursed lips. And she'd wanted this fiery, hot-tempered creature to come back? "I'm not a servant to be given a command!" She lost her temper for the first time. After the powerful intimacy of the last few days, he could act with a tad more consideration. "Give me an explanation that makes sense and I'll stay."
Tariq stalked around his desk and put his hands on her waist. Then he picked her up until they were eye to eye. Her feet dangled off the floor. Jasmine placed her hands on his shoulders and refused to be intimidated.
"Has a terrorist organization infiltrated Zulheina?" she guessed wildly. "No, I've got it. Today is the annual Kill-the-redhead Festival. No, no wait, is it Tariq-is-going-to-act-like-a-dictator Day? Am I right? Come on, am I even close?" She pushed at his shoulders, furious at the way he was demonstrating his greater strength.
His shoulders started to shake. She squinted at his face. "Arrgh! Let me go, you... No, I can't call you an animal because that would insult the animal." Tariq laughed harder, his eyes sparkling. "Stop it you ...you husband!"
"Mina." His smile was blinding. "Mina, you're magnificent."
That made her pause. It had sounded like a compliment. She looked at him suspiciously. "Are you going to tell me?"
"It seems I have been insulted into submission."
"Hah! Your hide is as thick as a rhinoceros's. Anything I say just rolls off," she muttered under her breath. "Put me down." He wrapped his arms even tighter around her and walked through the door, into the corridor.
"Tariq, what are you doing?" She glanced around, hoping against hope that no one else was around. His official study was in the main wing of the palace. "My feet are bare. My slippers fell off when you picked me up."
"Then it is just as well I am carrying you." His reply was insufferably male.
She gave up. Wrapping her arms more firmly around his neck, she hung on, realizing that he was taking them back to their rooms. "Are you planning to lock me in our suite?"
He paused and then resumed his ground-eating stride. "I had not thought of that. It is an excellent idea."
Jasmine shook her head and tipped her head back, but she couldn't catch his eye. "Bad idea. Very bad idea." When he didn't reply, she narrowed her eyes and tried to shake his shoulders. "You wouldn't.. .would you?"
"I must have a way to deal with the bad-tempered hellcat I've married." He pushed through the doorway
to their suite and headed for their bedroom.
"Bad tempered!" She scowled. "Me? I think you've got your wires crossed."
"At least it's not my eyes."
"Eyes? What ...I can't believe it. You made a joke?" She gave a theatrical gasp that turned into a cry of surprise when he dropped her onto the bed. "Be still my heart."
Tactile pleasure shimmered over her when he lowered his body full-length over hers. He started to stroke her with his talented hands. "Is this supposed to be a distraction?" she demanded.
"Would it be successful as one?"
"Oh, yes," she sighed. "But tell me the truth, please?"
"Persistent little creature," he complained, but his tone was affectionate. His eyes were heavy with sensual promise when he looked at her. "Today is the festival..."
Jasmine's giggles caught her completely by surprise. Tariq tried to frown her into submission. When that didn't work, he kissed her until she was boneless.
"As I was saying, it is the festival of the virgins." He kissed the side of her neck. "If you'd arrived a few weeks later, you could have joined it. No, that's a lie. You would not have remained a virgin long enough. I almost took you in the car as it was."
"Stop that," she ordered.
"What?"
What?'
"Making me crazy."
"I like making you crazy." Satisfaction simmered in those green depths when she shivered under his stroking. His lips curved into a grin.
Jasmine didn't know what to do with him in this mood. In the end, she decided that the safest option was to ignore the gleam in his eye and bask in his attention.
"So tell me." She traced a design over his chest with her fingertip, enjoying touching him through the fine linen. Tariq had never once curtailed her sensual explorations after she'd shown him just how much she adored his body.
"It's a day when female virgins of a certain age make a pilgrimage to a sacred place."
"Where?"
He looked chagrined at her question. "No man knows."
Her interest was piqued. "Really?" At his nod she asked, "How old is this festival?"
"As old as Zulheil."
"And why couldn't I go outside?"
Tariq pressed his forehead to hers and spoke against her mouth. "If you would let me finish, Mina, I will tell you."
Jasmine pursed her lips and slanted him an encouraging look. He continued to speak against her mouth, lips on lips, sorely tempting her to open up.
"I do not know what they do and that is probably just as well. No man is allowed on the streets at the time."
Jasmine frowned, the question stuck at the back of her throat. Tariq read her mind.
"Patience, little hellcat. There is no danger because the mar ried women go with them, including the policewomen."
She couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Policewomen? Zulheil allows its women such occupations?" Once more, the way the people of Zulheil guarded their privacy so zealously left her feeling at a loss. She had so much to learn. And a lifetime in which to learn it, she reminded herself, ignoring the dart of fear that threatened to ruin the moment. Tariq would trust her again and wouldn't denounce her when he discovered her illegitimacy. Maybe, her heart whispered, if she wanted his trust, she should begin by giving him hers?
"I have told you our women are cherished. We protect but do not cage." He ran his tongue over the line of her lips in a teasing stroke. The urge to surrender almost overcame her.
"Why couldn't I go then?"
"Because--" Tariq took advantage of her open mouth to sip from her lips "--aside from the virgins, only married women who have borne children or been married for five years can do so." He spread his fingers over her stomach in an unmistakable message. "When you have borne my child, then you may go."
Jasmine swallowed. The thought of bearing Tariq's child was a dream she hadn't dared consider. And still couldn't, so long as she hid the truth of her own birth. She had to tell him. But not now, not when he sounded as if he cared for her. "How do you stop foreigners from disturbing the pilgrim age?"
"Zulheil annually closes its borders the week prior to this journey. Those already inside have visas that expire that same week. Recalcitrant visitors are escorted out."
"You closed your borders after your parents passed away, didn't you?" She'd spoken without thinking, but as soon as the words were out, she braced herself. Tariq had remained staunch in his refusal to talk about his loss.
He kissed her. It was a gentle kiss full of warmth, but with out overt sexual overtones. Jasmine returned the caress, though she didn't understand what was happening.
"Yes," he whispered into her mouth. "For two months, Zulheil was closed to foreigners. Our people needed to come to terms with the grief and I needed time to heal the frac tures."
"Two months? Don't you mean one?" Jasmine stroked his cheek. She wanted to cry with joy. He was trusting her with something important, something that had hurt him to the core. "I came one month afterward, remember?"
Chapter Eleven
Tariq's lips curved in a smile. "You were granted a very special visa."
She stopped breathing. "You knew. You knew all along that I was coming."
He shrugged. "I am the Sheik of Zulheil. I knew. Why did you come then?"
It was the one question that he hadn't asked before, and the one that she couldn't answer without giving away almost everything. Jasmine stroked her fingers into his hair and knew she'd tell him the truth. Four years ago she'd been a coward and it had cost her his love. Perhaps she could win it back with bravery. There would be no more hiding the strongest emotion in her heart because she was afraid of being rejected.
"I came because I heard about your loss and I thought that maybe you might need me." Tariq's body tensed against hers. She understood his silent rejection of the thought of needing her. He wasn't ready to make himself that vulnerable. Perhaps he never would be, his pride having been savaged too badly the first time. She swallowed the feelings of hopelessness and continued. "But more than that, I needed you. I'd already decided to come long before. I'd laid the groundwork."
"Why, Mina?" His eyes were dark and impenetrable. His fingers dug into the soft skin of her upper arms hard enough to leave bruises, but she was heartened. If he cared enough to lose control over his strength, then she had to have a chance.
She felt tears rise in her eyes. "Because I couldn't live without you anymore. I just couldn't bear it. I woke up each day thinking of you and fell asleep with your name on my lips. I love you so much, Tariq, you can't even imagine."
He didn't answer in words. His kiss was tender and almost forgiving. She didn't force the issue. It would take time to heal the wounds of the past, but she hoped her bravery would buy her that time.
Tariq rolled onto his back and fitted her to his side. "I miss them"
Jasmine took a deep breath and just let him speak.
"I was brought up with knowledge of the responsibilities that awaited me, but my parents made sure I had a childhood and a relatively free young adulthood." He cuddled her closer, as if needing her warmth. "I traveled and I learned. I was given a chance to grow into a man without being shaped by my role. For that, I'll always be in debt to my parents. Any child of ours will have the same chance."
"They sound like they were wonderful people," she dared to murmur, though not wanting to break this fragile rapport.
"They were." He paused, as if debating whether to con tinue. His next words shocked her to the core. "My mother was dying and she did not tell me."
Jasmine sucked in a breath. "Dying?"
"Cancer." His voice was harsh. "They were on their way back from a treatment when the crash occurred."
Unable to imagine the depth of his suffering, she blinked back tears and asked, "Do you blame her for their deaths?"
He shook his head. "I blame her for not trusting me, for stealing my chance to try to help her. And to say goodbye."
"She was protecting her son." Jasmine understood his mo
ther's actions instinctively, but she could also understand her warrior's pain. His mother's secrecy had rendered him helpless and he would hate that feeling. "It wasn't about trust. It was about a mother's love."
"I have almost come to accept that, but part of me remains angry with her for making the choice for me. Perhaps there was something I could have done. Now I will never know." His voice was haunted. "When they died, I was ready to as sume my duties, but not to lose my parents. I felt adrift, lost emotionally. You have to understand, I was an only child, and despite close friendships, no one except my parents understood the demands of our position in this land.
"We are the rulers and guardians of our people. It's an honor and the gravest of responsibilities. For my people I had to be strong, but I felt as if I was enclosed in a cave of ice, unable to feel, until..."
"Until?" She held her breath, waiting for words that she knew might never come, but couldn't help hoping for.
"Nothing." Quick as lightning, he changed their positions, so that she was pressed under him.
She didn't protest. He'd given her far more than she'd expected. His mother's secret explained so much. It hurt Jasmine to think what damage it would have done to the proud and loyal man she'd married, to know that his mother had not trusted him with the truth of her health. Her reasons had been born out of love, but they'd wounded her son. Jasmine bit her lip, unable to escape the inevitable conclusion. What would her cowardice in keeping her secret cost him?
It was her last thought before Tariq pulled her into the heat of his passion.
Tariq held Mina in his arms after their loving, deeply af fected by her confession of need. The raw honesty of it was undeniable, but it was hard to trust her completely. While he'd begun to let down his shields, his wife kept secrets that turned her blue eyes dark without warning. Though he'd vowed to have nothing but honesty between them, he wouldn't beg her for this secret. He wouldn't humble his pride for her. Not again. Never again.
He'd thought that she'd fallen asleep, but suddenly, she spoke, "I...have to tell you something."
