by Sophia Lynn
He ghosted his fingers along her slit, gently at first and then with increasing pressure. He never pushed or forced; instead, he waited for her natural response to rise up. In a matter of minutes, she was pushing her hips up to his touch, and even the bare graze of his fingers was spreading her open.
“Oh my god,” she murmured, turning her head so that she could rest her cheek against his chest. “You...you can't know what you are doing to me.”
“No,” he agreed, and she was thrilled at the fact that his voice was breathless. He might have been the one in control, but she was far from alone in the pleasure that he was creating. She could hear a faint tremor in his voice, something that told her that sooner or later, he was going to lose all of that hard-won control.
“I have no idea what I am doing to you,” Rakim murmured. “All I know is that I like the reaction.”
She started to ask him what he meant by that, but then she realized. She hadn't been still while he was touching her. She had twisted her hands in his shirt, dug her heels into the ground, and rocked her hips against him. It had all contributed to arousing him even further, and she groaned at the picture she made.
“We're outside,” Anna said in feeble protest, but he only chuckled.
“Do you think I care even a little?” he asked. “I am the sheikh. My ancestors carved a country out of sand and rock. We are not ashamed of what we do, and our lovers, those we have chosen, do not fear anything because they walk beside us.”
Somehow, it made sense to Anna. In her world, there was nothing more powerful than Rakim. He was the beginning and the end, and his word was law. Slowly, her body simply went limp in his grasp. The world was empty except for the two of them and their passion.
“Do you surrender to me?” he asked, his voice warm in her ear. “Do you give yourself over to me, beautiful woman?”
“Yes,” she said, almost mouthing the word instead of saying it.
No matter how softly she said it, however, he heard her. He had been teasing her before, but now he was kissing her in earnest. His clever fingers stroked her clit directly, making her thrash and writhe, and his free hand slid underneath her sweater, cupping her small breast. She had long since given up the idea that they were not enough; every night, he showed her he wanted them and how they were more than enough for him.
“I can't wait,” she groaned. “I need you so much. Please…please give me what I want, Rakim?”
There was a trembling quality to his laugh, and she could tell from that alone that his control was on the brink of snapping.
“And what is that you want, beautiful little one?” he teased. “Can you say it?”
His hand had never stopped moving. She knew what he wanted now. He had taught her to be incredibly blunt about what he could do to her. Anna had stammered and stuttered at first, but now when she knew that the rewards could be so powerful, so wonderful and amazing, she usually didn't hesitate.
This time was somehow different. He had asked her what she wanted, and though she wanted the pleasure that it seemed he alone could give her, there was something else that she wanted as well.
“I want you,” she said, her voice clear and without trembling. “You're what I want, nothing else.”
For a moment, he froze, and she wondered if she had done something wrong. Was that not something she was supposed to say? Had she committed some kind of faux pas that a more sophisticated lover would have avoided?
Anna started to stammer an apology, but then his mouth slammed down over hers, one hand coming up to cradle her face. The kiss took her breath away, and if there was something dark about it, there was also something deeper about it too. She didn't understand, but in some way, it was different from all the other kisses that they had shared.
“You are the most enchanting woman I have met in a long time,” he growled between kisses. “Be careful that I do not simply take you with me, far away from everything you know.”
How could she tell him that that was precisely what she wanted? He obliterated everything else. Next to him, the rest of the world looked dull and empty, but when she was with him, she felt vibrant and alive.
She started to say that, but then his hands were shifting her. With deft motions, he removed her sweater and her bra. She was completely naked on the mountaintop, and she reveled in the exposure, how the wind caressed her skin and the sun warmed it.
He didn't bother to undress himself. Instead, Rakim simply opened the buttons of his fly. When his member pushed out, dark with blood and longing for her, Anna nearly groaned with need.
“I don't want to wait any longer,” she whimpered, and deep inside, she knew the truth of it. His clever fingers had kept her on the edge of arousal for so long that she felt something would snap if she did not gain her relief soon.
“You won't,” Rakim promised.
With no more warning than that, he lifted her onto his hips, her legs draped down on either side of his body. With one sure thrust, he speared the center of her, freezing her with the intense wave of pleasure it brought her. His strong hands on her hips held her still, and all she could do was bear the sensation as it rampaged through her.
“Beautiful woman,” he crooned, and then he started lifting her and lowering her on his cock, making both of them groan with the pleasure it gave them.
For a moment, Anna marveled at his strength, but then the waves of fire carried her away. Her body tensed, her hands clenching his shirt. The fact that he was clothed while she was naked only made her hotter, and sooner than she would have thought possible, she was clenching around him.
“Oh, oh god, Rakim, Rakim, I can't...”
“Yes you can,” he said through ground teeth. “Do it for me, darling. Come for me. Let me see how much you want me, how much you need this thing between us.”
That was all it took. One moment she was tense on the precipice, and the next, she was toppling over the edge. Her shriek of pleasure echoed through the mountaintop, and she clenched her hands so hard in his shirt that she heard a ripping sound. The pleasure that tore through her body was as wild as an out-of-control blaze, something she could never hope to control. Instead, all Anna could do was ride it until she was thrown panting and spent down on Rakim's chest, her entire body still shaking.
He found his own pleasure just a few moments after she did. His hands clamped hard on her hips, burying himself deep inside her one more time as he spilled. The liquid heat of him sent a deep pulse of rightness and perfection through her. It was strange, but her communion with this man made it something that she wanted, something that she needed.
Anna found herself looking down into his face as he came to his own peak. Rakim looked as if he was a beautiful marble statue carved from the finest minerals and then given life. Now, though, when he was out of breath and flushed, there was something gorgeously human about him.
When Rakim's breath stilled, she couldn't stop herself from leaning down to kiss him. His mouth was softer than she had ever felt it, and when she felt him smile into her kiss, there was that flutter of excitement in her belly again.
“Did you know that you are an exceptional woman?” he asked, and she laughed.
“I think that you are the exceptional one,” she demurred, but Rakim shook his head.
“No, if you were not exceptional, I would not bring you to the capitol with me.”
Anna laughed.
“Of course, my master,” she teased. “Anything you say.”
He beamed at her, and she blinked.
“Good. Then you can pull your affairs together in say, a day, and we can be there by the day after tomorrow.”
“Wait, what?”
He lifted her to her feet, handing over her clothes. She felt as if she had been pushed to sea. Everything was happening too fast, and she had no idea what was happening at all.
“I think you will like it there,” he said with satisfaction. “It is my true home, a place where science and art and music and industry all come together
to create a city the likes of which the world has never known before.”
“I know about Abu Dhabi,” Anna said, grasping on to anything she could in a world that suddenly seemed to have slipped its axis. “I spent a day there when I first arrived in the country...”
“Believe me when I say that you have never truly seen the city until you have seen it with me,” Rakim said with assurance. “I can take you to see all of my city, all of what it has to offer.”
Rakim continued to talk about the city while she dressed, but when she was fully clothed, she turned to him with dismay.
“I can't go with you to Abu Dhabi!” she exclaimed. “I could never!”
He looked at her, his head slightly tilted and a frown on his face. She started to back away, but he looped his hand around her wrist, holding her still. If it hadn't been for his grip, she might have flown away, rendered lighter than a feather by her shock.
“What are you saying?” he asked in a tone that was frankly baffled. “Why in the world wouldn't you?”
“I couldn't...I'm not...I'm not a woman who goes out in high society!” Anna exclaimed. “Did you somehow forget what I am?”
His gaze darkened dangerously, and he pulled her towards him, not easing until her body was flush with his and she had to look up into his ice-blue gaze.
“You should remember yourself,” he said, his voice pleasant. “I forget nothing, and I know very well what you are. You are my woman. It does not matter whether I found you in a library, in a hole in the ground or in the harem of another man. Right now, you are mine.”
Anna felt panic fall over her, and she wrapped two hands around his larger one. She had to make him understand.
“You have to listen to me,” she said. “I'm not a society girl. I'm a librarian. I can't dance, I hide in the background at large parties, and I can't...I can't be what you think I am.”
She could feel her heart beating faster. Anna suddenly knew how caged birds felt, beating their wings against golden bars. She knew that she was going to start spiraling out of control, but then Rakim pulled her close. His body, large and solid, was comforting. Grateful, she clung to him.
“You'll be fine,” he said firmly. “I promise. You'll be completely fine.”
She smiled at him, but deep down, she wasn't sure.
Chapter Seven
He had seen the flash of fear in Anna's eyes when he talked about taking her to Abu Dhabi, but Rakim was confident that she would fly high in the city. She was a beautiful woman, and when he had had a dressmaker in to pad out her clothing choices, he knew that everyone else in the city would think so as well.
It was unimaginable to him that she would prefer the quiet of the mountains to the excitement of the city, not when she was so clever and so very apt. He knew that though she was nervous, the nerves would ease soon enough, allowing her to enjoy the world he had opened up to her.
Though Rakim wanted to be gone within a few days, the reality proved to be more difficult than that. While his exile was over and his scandal all but forgotten, there were business matters to attend to, things that would make traveling difficult.
With a sigh, Rakim gave up on his schedule, and settled back in for another few days. In the meantime, however, he was able to summon a talented dressmaker who could take care of all of Anna's needs.
The morning when he told her she had an appointment with a dressmaker, however, she had been less than pleased.
“What is wrong with my clothing?” she asked, her eyes large. It gave her the look of a forest animal, something shy and delicate.
“Nothing is wrong with your clothing when you are going to be working in a library in the provinces,” Rakim said. “However, I am expecting you to accompany me to various social functions, and that means that you will need to be dressed well.”
To his surprise, she looked troubled.
“I know your salary is generous,” she said, “but I am not sure that I am going to be able to afford the wardrobe that you are proposing. Perhaps I could simply try a few different pieces?”
Rakim shook his head with a brief laugh.
“Are you serious? I am going to purchase your clothes, of course. I would be a poor host if I could not offer you the clothes that you need on a trip that I invited you on.”
She looked like she was going to protest, but then he placed a hand over hers. He still couldn't get over how small she was, how delicate she felt when he pulled her close.
“Who is the master here?” he murmured, looking into her green eyes.
He could see the way his words affected her, feel the way she yielded before his force. She smiled up at him a little bit, shy and oddly nervous.
“You are,” she conceded, and he rewarded her with a gentle kiss.
“Stop worrying,” Rakim said. “I swear to you, I will protect you. I will make sure that you are safe and cared for.”
He had thought that that settled the matter, and indeed she did not bring it up again. However, he couldn't help but wonder if he saw a shadow in her eyes.
***
Anna was grateful that Rakim was busy for the next several days. It allowed her time to take care of her projects in the library, and it also allowed her to get her own emotions under control.
Whenever she looked around at the library that she had come to think of as her own, she felt a pang at leaving it, followed by a feeling of dread. She felt enough like a provincial bumpkin out here in the mountains; what would happen when she ended up in one of the most glittering cities in the world?
She told herself over and over again that Rakim would look after her, but when he wasn't in the room, talking to her or touching her, it became a little harder to believe. Some part of her still didn't quite understand why he wanted to bring her at all; all she knew was that if he left her here alone, she would be heartbroken. Of course the answer was to bring her to the capital, but the thought of actually being there made her head spin.
“I can't do this. I really can't do this,” she found herself muttering more than once.
Unfortunately, the dressmaker that Rakim flew in didn't help at all.
She was a tall and elegant Frenchwoman who entered the palace like a hurricane, her assistants behind her dragging a series of clothing racks. Any protest that Anna could make that she could purchase her own clothing was thrown out the moment she saw the clothes that Madame Artois brought to her. They were elegantly cut and draped, made of pure silk and wool in a dozen different colors. Each garment was meant to be tailored to Anna's measurements, and soon enough, the cost behind the clothes made Anna feel more than a little dizzy.
After a while, Madame Artois stopped asking Anna for her opinion. All Anna was able to say was “I think it looks fine” or “I sure it'll be good,” and throwing her hands up into the air, the dressmaker decided that Anna was going to be subject to her vision.
Realistically, Anna thought, this was likely the best thing that could happen. When she was confronted with the fabrics and the colors and the textures of the clothing that Madame Artois was pushing on her, Anna felt as if her brain was shutting down. It was bad enough when it was just clothes, but when she thought about what those clothes might represent, she felt as if her whole body was going cold.
I can't do this, I can't do this, a small part of her mind chanted, but she did her best to shut it up. She reminded herself sternly that she had felt no different when she first ventured to the UAE. She told herself that it was normal to feel this way about new things and new challenges.
It was easy to put the fear aside when she was with Rakim. When she was with him, it was easy to lose herself in his enthusiasm. The first time she had worn one of Madame Artois's dresses to dinner with him, his eyes had opened wide.
"Well, now," he said, his voice husky with appreciation. "Let me look at you."
She couldn't stop herself from blushing as she stopped and spun in place for his approval. It was a demure dress in a soft olive green. Somehow, it had the effe
ct of making her eyes look darker than they ever had, emphasizing the paleness of her skin. The dress skimmed her shallow curves, draping over her gracefully and giving her a rather Grecian appearance.
"I am glad that you're paying for this," she said with a laugh. "I think I'm wearing six months’ salary on me right now."
"And from how it makes you look, it is worth every penny," Rakim declared. "It's beautiful on you. You will shine like a star in Abu Dhabi."
When he said things like that, when she felt his hands on her, and when she had her own arm linked with his, she felt as if everything would be all right after all.
The last night they would spend in town, Anna found herself in the library after dinner. She still felt her heart open up when she stepped within its walls. The windows were not shuttered against the night yet, and the sky outside bathed the library in a sweet, soft indigo light. She stood at the very center of the library, her arms wrapped around her, taking it all in.
This was where it had all started, and she felt a pang of grief at losing it. When would she next return here?
"You look thoughtful," Rakim observed from the doorway. "Are you feeling well?"
She turned to him with a slight smile.
"I am...I guess I'm just thinking of the first time I saw you here."
Rakim's chuckle was deep and rich as he came to stand behind her. Wrapped in his arms, in one of the most beautiful libraries that she had ever seen, Anna felt complete.
"You were furious at my insolence," he teased. "I had never been so roundly chastised for simply wanting something to read before."
"I would never have scolded you for wanting something to read," Anna said indignantly. "It was because you were...you were dirty, and you were handling the books without knowing how to care for them, and..."
She came to a stop as he bent his head to nibble at her ear. Damn it, how could he be so very good at distracting her?
