Seduced by a Stranger

by Brenda Jackson

  When he began to move, his senses exploded in a need so strong he had to fight to retain control. But moments later he lost it when her inner muscles began stroking him, pulling him in, taking everything he had to give, increasing his hunger for her that much more.

  His greed was reflected in his deep penetration, his downward thrusts. Her body deserved satisfaction and he was giving it to her in every way he could. And when an orgasm struck, a rumbled groan erupted from his throat the moment he felt himself go up in flames. Profound rapture, as intense as it could get, shot through his system.

  And seemingly spontaneously, she was consumed to the same degree of pleasure. She screamed his name as the lower part of her body held on to him, clenched him tighter within her, gripped his shaft with her inner muscles, holding it hostage until the very last of the semen was drained from him.

  It was only then that he bent his head and captured her lips, licking and nipping at the corners before thrusting his tongue into her mouth, tasting her with a voraciousness that made him pull his mouth back and growl out his pleasure.

  At that moment he knew that she had drawn more out of him than his seed. The feel of her chipping away at his guard, the security net and the safety shield he had kept for thirty-nine years around his heart, nearly broke his control. The very thought that she had accomplished such a thing sent shock waves through him and he felt consumed by her in a way he had never felt consumed before.

  And for the first time in his life more than lust was driving him. And when he stared down at her, held by the depths of her incredible, beautiful, dark eyes, he knew Johari Yasir had done the impossible. She had captured his heart. Totally. Completely. Exclusively.

  He heard his own sharp intake of breath at that admission and didn’t want to think about what that meant and how such an emotion thrown into the mix now drastically changed his plans. He no longer wanted to humiliate her before putting her on a plane bound for Tahran by telling her how he’d intentionally set out to seduce her just to teach her a lesson.

  He forced those thoughts to the back of his mind to deal with them later. Right now the only thing he wanted to concentrate on was the woman beneath him whom he wanted to make love to all over again.

  “More.” That one word flowed from his mouth in a ragged and rough tone, and he watched her gaze darken with renewed desire the same moment she licked across her bottom lip with her tongue.

  Without giving her the chance to drive him any further over the edge, he leaned down and captured her lips at the same time he began moving inside her. The one word that suddenly flared to his mind was mine.

  And he knew at that moment that Johari was truly his.

  CHAPTER 14

  Exactly two weeks after their first meeting Johari stood on the balcony of Monty’s condo in New York and stared down at him. He was standing below on the sidewalk talking to the man who had picked them up from the airport yesterday.

  Ishaq’s appearance was a stark reminder that her time with Monty was up and he would be taking her to the airport. She had called and spoken to her mother and, surprisingly, no questions had been asked. Nor had her mother seemed surprised that she would be flying out of New York and not California. But she could tell by the exuberance in her mother’s voice that she was glad she was coming home. A private plane would arrive at the Kennedy Airport for her around noon today.

  Johari had then placed a call to Cel, who had agreed to bring Copper to the airport so she could cuddle him one last time before she left the States. She didn’t want to think about when and if she would ever see her puppy again.

  The sound of a car horn blasting broke into Johari’s thoughts and she watched as Ishaq walked toward the limo he’d been driving, leaving Monty standing alone. He was extremely handsome and elegantly dressed in a tailored business suit. His attire was another stark reminder that her carefree days had come to an end.

  She left the balcony to return to his bedroom to continue packing. She would not only miss this place but all the other places she had been with Monty. When she had arrived in New York two weeks ago she had figured she would mostly stay in her hotel room and venture out in late evenings in time to enjoy the nightlife as she sought out lively entertainment. She’d had no idea that a handsome stranger would whisk her away to three different islands where she would spend time with him and indulge in fantasies she had only dreamed about. He had given her enough exciting moments to last forever.

  After arriving back here yesterday they had spent most of their time in bed, ordering room service when the need for food had overtaken their need for each other. That hadn’t been often. It was as if they needed to store up all the passion they could, knowing it would never come their way again. At least she doubted it would come her way. There was no doubt in her mind that once she was gone Monty would replace her with someone else. A part of her could not get angry about it, because she’d known he was a sophisticated, experienced and worldly man, a jet-setting playboy. But that knowledge hadn’t kept her from flying off with him. Nor had it stopped her from falling in love with him.

  At the sound of footsteps she turned toward the open door and seconds later Monty walked into the room. His presence caused her heart to begin pounding in her chest and sent a stirring in the pit of her stomach. She would miss him. Oh, how she was going to miss him.

  “I’m almost packed,” she said when she met his gaze and saw intense heat lodged there.

  “No hurry. Ishaq is early. We still have time.” He hesitated for a moment and then said, “Come here, Jo.” He then reached his hand out to her. “I want to hold you for a while.”

  Without any hesitation, Johari crossed the room and placed her hand in his. He swept her into his arms and carried her over to the love seat and sat down with her in his lap.

  For a long moment neither of them said anything. In essence there was nothing left to say. In a few hours it would be time to part ways. Since she wasn’t sure whether or not Jamal would be on the plane sent to get her, she had asked Monty not to be seen with her once they arrived at the airport. She needed to walk in alone. He had reluctantly agreed.

  She lifted a smiling face up to him. “I talked to Cel and she will have Copper at the airport so I can give him one final hug before I leave the States,” she said to break the silence.

  “That is kind of her to do so.”

  “Yes, it is,” she agreed, aware of the sexual tension building between them. She then added, “I’m sure Copper will be well cared for.”

  “I’m sure that he will be.”

  She nodded. “I wonder if he will miss me.”

  “Yes, he will miss you. I will miss you.”

  She felt his hands tightening around her waist and felt the huge, hard bulge beneath her bottom. They had made love that morning, a number of times. Greed and a need for memories seemed to have overtaken their senses.

  She twisted around in his arms, needing to see him, to feel his heat one last time, to fuse to her mind his perfect features. Beautiful and flawless as anything she’d ever seen. When he darted his tongue out to lick the corner of her mouth, she became breathless, had to force herself to take a deep intake of air.

  “Last night you proved just how resourceful you are in putting all your new knowledge to use.”

  A blush crept across her face with his mention of what she had done last night. In a surprise move she had pushed him onto his back and, before he could stop her, she had gone down on him, taken him into her mouth and made love to him that way. She had known from his groans and the tight hold on her hair that his enjoyment was just as deep as hers. And when she finally released him and lifted her head to smile up at him, the satisfied pleasure she’d seen in his eyes touched her in a way that made her pulse race.

  “I had a great teacher. Thank you,” she said, trying to get her breathing under control at the feel of his hand reaching out to cup a breast through her blouse. The pad of his thumb then stroked the nipples that were pressed hard against
the silk material.

  “It was my pleasure.”

  And then he leaned in, sank his mouth onto hers and, on her breathless sigh, his tongue entered her mouth, claimed possession and stirred a magnitude of erotic sensations all through her body.

  Moments later he pulled his mouth away and gazed deeply into her eyes. “Do you want to share pleasure with me once more? Before you leave?” he asked huskily.

  “Yes,” she responded, not once thinking of turning him down and not caring how little time they might have.

  He stood with her in his arms and she knew at that moment that no matter what the future held for her back in Tahran, Monty had given her memories to last a lifetime.

  * * *

  “Drive around the airport for a while, Ishaq, and pick me up back here in around twenty minutes.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Getting out of his car, Rasheed watched from a distance as Johari was first greeted by her friend Cel, who was holding a cute little puppy. He saw the joy on Johari’s face when she took the puppy into her arms. Her happiness at seeing the animal touched his heart. He continued to watch as the two women chatted endlessly and entered the airport terminal. He and Johari had said their goodbyes in the car since he had promised her that he would let her walk into the terminal alone. But he had not promised her that he would not follow at a safe distance to watch her finally leave the country to return home.

  He felt a tightening around his heart upon thinking of how bad things were going to look when the truth was revealed to her. He had thought about speaking to her a few times yesterday and this morning but each time he’d tried he had not been able to get the words past his lips. The thought of her despising him for playing her for a fool was something he would not have been able to handle.

  And then he was burdened with the thought that he had placed himself in the precarious situation of having to compete against himself for his future wife’s affections. But it was a situation he intended to work out and would do everything in his power to convince her that, whether he was Monty or Rasheed, he was the same man whose heart she had captured.

  He paused when a uniformed guard approached her and then she and Cel were led through a long corridor for private international flights. This was a section of the airport he knew well. He continued following at a discreet distance and flashed a uniformed officer his special credentials when he was approached.

  He had made it to the glass window when she returned the puppy to Cel and then gave them both a final hug before watching them walk away. And then as if she’d known there was no way on this earth he would have let her get this far away from him, she scanned the terminal until she saw him.

  Rasheed drew in a sharp intake of breath and it took every ounce of his control to not cross the floor to her. He knew he was in enough trouble as it was. So he stood there and stared at her.

  For a long, silent moment across the wide expanse of space they continued to stare at each other. Suddenly she made a move in his direction. Seemingly out of the blue, a man appeared at her side, touched her shoulder and claimed her attention.

  * * *

  “Jamal!” Johari threw herself into her brother’s arms, glad to see him. And when she glanced back to where Monty had been standing just moments ago, he was gone. She glanced around the terminal but didn’t see him anywhere. At that moment she couldn’t stop the tears gathering in her eyes. She was choosing duty over love.

  “Johari, are you all right?”

  She glanced up into her brother’s concerned face and forced a smile to her lips. “Yes. I’m fine and I’m ready to go home now, Jamal. Please take me home.”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Come on. Delaney is waiting for us in the jet. As soon as they finish refueling, we’ll be ready to go.”

  CHAPTER 15

  One week later

  Johari had wondered how long it would take for her father and brother to finally summon her to meet with them. Everyone had avoided asking her any questions and she hadn’t offered them any information. There was nothing that needed to be said.

  Evidently after a week they now felt differently. As far as she was concerned she wouldn’t provide any more information today than she would have last week. She might regret causing them undue worry, but there was no way she would regret meeting and subsequently falling in love with Monty.

  Monty.

  She missed him so much she actually ached. And each night she dreamed he was there with her, holding her in his arms while she slept, only to wake up in the light of day to find herself alone. But she had stored up plenty of memories of the time they had spent together and all the things they had shared. These memories would sustain her.

  And…there was a possibility she carried his child. She wouldn’t know for another week or so, but that was the reason she had not brought up any discussion regarding moving ahead with her wedding plans. Luckily, that was one subject her mother hadn’t broached either.

  The guard standing outside her father’s door nodded and then opened the door wide to announce her. “King Yasir, Prince Jamal. Princess Johari has arrived.”

  She slowly walked into the room and glanced around, trying to recall how infrequently she visited this room where her father conducted most of his business matters regarding the sheikhdom. It was a huge room and one she used to like to play in when she was younger.

  She approached her father, who sat in a chair behind a huge desk. Jamal was sitting in a chair at his right. “Yes, Father,” she said quietly. “You sent for me.”

  Her father stared at her for a moment and said, “It’s been a week, Johari, and now it is time to address your act of disobedience. Not only did you cause me and your mother undue worry, but Saud was taken to task for failing to keep you under his watchful care.”

  “But it wasn’t his fault. I—”

  “Outsmarted him. We know, so he was not held at fault,” her father said, shaking his head. “Playing hide-and-seek from your bodyguards was all for fun and games when you were younger, Johari, but your actions are unacceptable now. You are twenty-four, a woman promised to a man who will be king of a very important country.”

  “I didn’t hurt anyone by having some fun,” she said, lifting her chin and meeting her father’s direct gaze.

  “Whether you hurt someone is a matter of opinion, one we will let your future husband decide,” her brother spoke up to say.

  She turned her head to where her brother sat. “What are you talking about, Jamal?”

  “What Jamal is talking about is the fact that once you became missing it was imperative to notify Sheikh Valdemon immediately,” her father responded in a rather tired voice.

  She frowned. “Why? It didn’t concern him. I only prolonged my time in the States. A big deal should not have been made of it.”

  Now it was her father’s turn to frown, and the one masking his face was considerably fiercer than the one on hers. “How can you say such a thing, Johari?” he asked in an angry voice. “You were missing for two weeks without a proper chaperone and bodyguard. The man who will be your husband had a right to know. And based on your actions, it would have been within Sheikh Valdemon’s rights to cancel the marriage contract between the two of you. If he had taken that option, it would have brought much shame on this sheikhdom, and all in the name of you wanting to have fun.”

  Johari couldn’t do anything but lower her head. It hadn’t been too often in her life that her father had been upset with her. Now, not only was he upset but, she could tell by the tone of his voice, he was disappointed, as well.

  There was no need to tell him or Jamal how she had needed that time to herself before marrying a man who would not love her. A man known for his numerous mistresses. How could she explain that she didn’t want to endure a loveless marriage and that she wanted to be loved and cherished the same way her father loved and cherished her mother? The way Jamal loved and cherished Delaney. And the way Prince Shudoya cherished and loved
Arielle.

  And…there was no need to tell him that if it was determined she was pregnant there would not be a wedding and she would accept her banishment to another continent if that was to be her punishment. She was not worried about being shipped off somewhere to live away from her family just as long as her child…Monty’s child…was with her.

  “He will be here tomorrow to meet with you,” her father said.

  Johari snatched her head up. “Who will?”

  “Sheikh Valdemon.” Now it was Jamal who was speaking. “I spoke to him this morning and he wants the marriage to take place as soon as possible, so there will be a private ceremony here tomorrow night. A wedding celebration will be planned at a later date.”

  Johari was taken aback by her brother’s statement. She was certain the color completely drained from her face. “Marry? Tomorrow night? But that’s not possible.”

  “It is possible, Johari, and if that is what the sheikh wants then we can and will accommodate him, considering your willful behavior,” her father stated adamantly.

  “I need to speak with the sheikh privately before I will agree to marry him,” she said.

  Her father’s frown deepened even more. “Agree? There is nothing to agree to, Johari. Need I remind you it is your duty? There will be a private ceremony here tomorrow night. Unless, however, you can show just cause why there shouldn’t be.”

  Yes, there is just cause, she wanted to scream. I could be pregnant with another man’s child and I won’t marry him until I am sure that is not the case. So there is no way I can marry him tomorrow. She could easily recall when Jamal was destined to marry Princess Raschida and how he had discovered the princess’s devious plot to hide her pregnancy by another man from him, trying to pass off the child as Jamal’s. Johari would not do such a thing to Sheikh Valdemon.