by The Sheikh
Instead of overhead lights, there were candles everywhere. Candles and rose petals and the scent of promise.
“You planned this,” she said, not sure if she should be upset or not.
“I hoped. There is a difference.”
He came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. At the same time he moved her hair aside, then leaned down and lightly kissed her neck. Instantly her skin puckered and her blood heated. She felt the desire course through her.
Muscles tensed and between her legs, a faint throbbing began.
She decided she needed to keep her wits about her as long as possible. Even if that meant only for the next fifteen seconds.
“So, ah, do you bring women here often?” she asked.
He chuckled as he kissed his way to her spine. “You are my first, but not the first. This villa belongs to the king of El Bahar. It was built nearly five centuries ago as a home for the king’s mistress.”
He whispered the words in her ear, then lightly bit her earlobe.
“Because a harem isn’t enough?” she asked, barely able to speak.
“This offers what the harem does not. Privacy.”
Ah, yes. Something that seemed like a very good idea.
“So you called him early today and said ‘Hey, Your Highness, I have this girl I’d like to impress. Mind if I use the love shack?’ Or words to that effect?”
Jefri turned her in his arms so they stared at each other. “Why do you mock me?”
“Because I’m nervous. Is that against the law?”
He smiled. “Not at all, but I may have to punish you for your impertinence.”
“Really? What does that involve?”
“Let me show you.”
He bent down and kissed her. In the nanosecond before their lips touched, she tensed in anticipation. Then, when he brushed his mouth against hers, she couldn’t help melting against him, letting her body sag against his as he claimed her.
She parted for him, wanting him to deepen the kiss. She wrapped her arms around
his neck and savored his eagerness as he pulled her hard against him.
He was strong, she thought, her mind blurring with need. Hard to her yielding.
Her breasts nestled against the planes of his chest. Her stomach pillowed the hard proof of his desire. When she clamped her lips around his tongue, he pulsed against her, delighting her with the promise of feminine power.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he broke the kiss and pressed his mouth to her jaw. “Does any of this make you nervous?”
She shifted her hands to his face and cupped his cheeks. He straightened and looked at her.
“I’m not afraid,” she told him as she stared into his passion-filled eyes.
“Jefri, I’m not a virgin.” Funny how this was the second time in as many days that she’d made the announcement. Until now, it hadn’t been an issue in years.
“After I’d been attacked, I really withdrew from men and dating,” she continued.
“Then I realized I couldn’t keep doing that, so I deliberately set out to get a boyfriend. We were in Australia for a few months and I met someone there. He was sweet and very gentle. Anyway, we became lovers.”
She remembered being awkward and scared and all the things Jefri feared she would be with him. She had a feeling that Andrew had been as inexperienced as she had been. They’d fumbled through making love several times before she’d left the country.
“My point is, I’ve done this before.”
His dark gaze gave nothing away. “And since that first lover? Have there been many?”
“Um, well, not exactly. But that’s not because I was afraid.”
“Lack of opportunity or lack of interest?” he asked.
“A little of both.”
“I see.”
He spoke the words with a confidence that came from…actually she wasn’t sure what, but it made her shiver in anticipation.
“Thank you for letting me know I do not have to worry about your past,” he said as he took her hand and led her down a short hallway. “Still, it is my nature to take things slowly at first. I hope you will indulge me.”
“Of course.” After all, what did she know about the whole process? Well, the basics, of course, but she had a feeling that Jefri’s lovemaking would be nothing like Andrew’s.
They walked into a large bedroom. Rose petals littered the marble floor. In the corner stood a massive tub filled with rose-scented water. Steam rose toward the painted ceiling. A bed filled the center of the room. Cream-colored linens invited her to touch. A netted canopy offered the illusion of privacy. Here as in the main room of the house, candles provided flickering light.
“For your hair,” Jefri said, handing her several clips.
She saw he’d taken them from a carved dresser by the door.
She twisted her long curls into a coil and pinned it up on her head. When she’d finished, he shrugged out of his jacket and left it on a chair.
“We’re getting in that, aren’t we?” she asked, pointing at the tub.
“If you do not mind.”
“Before or, after, you know.”
He smiled. “Before. You may step behind that screen and undress,” he said and pointed.
She followed his gaze and saw a painted screen concealing a corner. Huh. She’d assumed he was going to be taking her clothes off. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed to be doing it herself.
Still she walked behind the screen where she found a chair and a silk robe waiting. She stepped out of her shoes, then unfastened her dress and carefully hung it up. Her bra and panties followed. When she was naked, she slipped on the robe.
The silk was cool and soft against her heated skin, but even the delicate fabric seemed to tease her tight nipples. The sensation was both pleasurable and frustrating.
When she walked out from behind the screen, she saw Jefri also in a robe, although his was black and hers pale pink. He motioned to the tub.
She moved closer, then hesitated, not sure about getting into the deep, hot water in front of him. But he came up behind her and reached around her to unfasten her robe, not giving her a whole lot of choice.
Clenching her teeth against potential embarrassment, she shrugged out of the garment and stepped into the steaming tub. First one foot, then the other.
“You are incredible,” he said, his voice nearly a growl.
Billie looked up only to stare at a reflection of herself. She’d been too focused on the water to notice the mirror behind the tub. She glanced over and met his passionate gaze in the glass. Then he dropped the robe and moved close.
“I must touch you,” he breathed. “For a moment. Please.”
She was unable to move, barely able to breathe. He put his hands on her waist, then moved one up and one down. The fingers on one hand reached her breast at the same movement fingers on the other slipped between her thighs. She was already wet, swollen and ready. The combination of touches with the visual before her made her want to swoon.
“Exquisite,” he murmured before he kissed her neck. “How soft you are. Your skin.” He brushed his thumb against her tight left nipple. “Your secrets.” He slid fingers in deeper.
One brushed against that single point of pleasure and she jumped. He bit her shoulder, then smiled at her in the mirror.
“I want to please you,” he told her. “All of you.”
Who was she to argue? she thought as he stepped back and she sank into the hot water.
She figured he would join her, but he didn’t. Instead he moved behind her so when she stretched out, her head rested against his chest.
A tray sat next to the tub. He picked up the first bottle and opened it.
“What do you think?” he asked, letting her smell the orange-spicy scent.
“It’s nice.”
“I want more of a reaction than that.” He continued to open bottles for her until a musky-floral scent got her attention.
“That
one,” she said.
“Good.”
He poured some lotion onto his hands and rubbed his palms together. She’d expected soap but the liquid didn’t lather. Instead it thickened and glistened like some kind of oil.
This entire experience was so out of her regular world, she didn’t know what to think. But if this was basic prince seduction, then someone had to sign her up for at least a monthly session.
Jefri slipped his hands under the water and moved toward her breasts. When his palms cupped her curves, she realized the lotion was an oil. A slick, warm concoction that didn’t dissolve in water and made her nerve endings even more sensitive than usual.
He circled around her breasts as if discovering every inch of them. Around and around, without touching her tight nipples. She squirmed and ached and shifted in the water, but still he touched only the pale flesh, leaving the tips mournfully alone.
Heat poured through her. Need built. He kissed her neck so lightly when she wanted to beg him to do more. Touch more, bite more, something. Anything!
At last he stroked her nipples and she nearly cried out in relief. He rolled them between his thumb and forefinger, sending ribbons of pleasure directly down her chest, through her stomach and between her legs. She ached there. She ached everywhere. She wanted with a desperation that nearly frightened her.
Arousal poured through her body, making her writhe. At last she couldn’t stay silent.
“More,” she pleaded.
“Yes. Move forward.”
Then his hands were gone. She grasped the sides of the tub and slid toward the other end. At the same time she turned to look in the mirror as Jefri stood and dropped his robe.
He stood there naked and aroused. His need jutted forward proudly, making her want to part her legs and beg him to take her. Instead she waited while he stepped in behind her and sank into the tub.
The two of them fit easily. He pulled her against him so her back settled against his chest. His erection pressed against her back, which wasn’t the least bit satisfying, but she found she didn’t mind so much when he once again slipped a hand between her legs.
She closed her eyes as he began to touch her. He found that one perfect place at once and gently rubbed it. Her breath caught, then she couldn’t breathe at all.
Faster, she thought. No, slower. No, just like that.
She arched into his touch, wanting all of it. Tension filled her body. She clutched the side of the tub and let herself experience the steady build toward—
He put a hand on her breasts. One second he hadn’t been touching her there and the next he was matching his movements and she lost control.
Her orgasm crashed into her with no warning. Suddenly her body convulsed into exquisite pleasure. The waves of her pleasure shuddered through her over and over until at last they slowed.
She returned to consciousness only to find the water in the tub still shifting back and forth. His hand still stroked her between her legs and she was slightly embarrassed to feel herself getting aroused again.
“You should probably, you know, stop,” she said although she didn’t push him away.
“Why?” he asked. “I like touching you.”
“And you’re really good at it.”
“Turn around,” he said.
She did as he requested, only to find herself straddling him. His dark gaze dropped to where her breasts floated in the water.
“You are a fantasy come to life,” he said.
“As are you.”
He pulled her close and they kissed. His arousal rubbed between her legs, exciting her. She wanted to shift just enough for him to slip inside, but before she could, he pushed her back.
“This was only the appetizer,” he said as he stood.
He stood dripping and naked while he collected a towel for her and gently wrapped it around her. Only then did he claim one for himself. He dried every inch of her before escorting her to the bed where he had her stretch out on her back. From a carved nightstand he produced a condom, but he didn’t slip it on.
Instead he knelt between her ankles and gently kissed her instep.
From there he made his way to her shin, then her knee. He repeated the procedure on her other leg, but this time moving higher and higher still.
She didn’t know what to think, what to say, so she decided only to feel. No one had ever done this to her before. She’d never really understood the combination of vulnerability and amazing pleasure when a man’s mouth pressed an open kiss on the very heart of her.
Her breath caught as her body went up in flames. It was too much. It would never be enough. She ached, she burned, she wanted.
Words spilled out of her, but she had no idea what she said. He licked her everywhere, then settled on that one amazing place. At the same time, he slipped a finger inside of her and caressed her from underneath. The combination nearly made her faint.
This time she was determined to hold back as long as possible, or two minutes, whichever came first.
But there was no denying the sensations flooding her body. Holding back her release was like trying to stop a tornado—foolish and potentially dangerous. She gave herself up to his mouth, his hands and when the first shudder of her orgasm claimed her, she gave in to the need to scream.
It was nearly an out-of-body experience, she thought, barely conscious as every cell in her body gave itself up to the magic of what he did to her. Even when the pleasure eased a little, he continued to move his finger in and out of her, making her come again and again, if not as intensely.
He drew away. She wanted to protest, only she couldn’t speak or move. She was boneless, barely conscious. Then she felt something wonderfully hot and thick probing between her legs. She forced herself to open her eyes and watch as he entered her.
She climaxed again on the first full stroke of penetration. Echoing shudders claimed her as he filled her fully, as he breathed her name and moved in and out. Time ceased to have meaning. She clung to him, wanting him to find pleasure in her and relaxing with contentment as he stiffened and was still.
“Obviously I need to get out more,” Billie said a few minutes later when they’d cleaned up and retreated under the covers. “I’m not sure that many orgasms in a single event is even legal.”
“You are a powerful and sensual woman,” Jefri told her as he brushed a kiss across her mouth. “There is much more for you to discover.”
She appreciated him not making her feel freaky about what had just happened.
Frankly, she could probably live another four hundred years and never feel this good.
“You’re pretty amazing yourself,” she said. “I think a lot of what happened was because of you.”
“I can prove you are wrong,” he said. “You are delightfully responsive. I simply unlocked what is already there.” He smiled. “Shall I show you?”
By ten the next morning Billie knew that she would probably walk funny for the next six weeks, but it had been worth it. Spending the night with Jefri had been beyond description. What made it even better was the slightly glazed look in his eyes whenever he turned in her direction.
“You have destroyed me for other women,” he said as he held her close on the flight back to Bahania.
There was a sentiment she could get behind, she thought happily. “Me, too.
Although not with women.”
“Of course not.”
She sighed with contentment and wondered if her smile was as happily foolish as it felt.
“Doyle’s going to kill me,” she said. “After he has his heart attack.”
“Because you did not go home last night?”
“I’m not sure he’ll care about that, but he’ll be seriously unamused that I missed our morning classes.”
“Shall I explain that it was with my express permission?” Jefri asked.
Billie giggled. “I’m not so sure that’s a really good idea. After all, he’s my brother and when he figures out what we’ve been doing
, he may feel obligated to beat you up.”
“He will not be successful.”
“I suspect you’re right. But it could create an international incident and we don’t want that.”
Jefri kissed the top of her head. “I have some meetings this afternoon, but I would like to see you tonight.”
“Me, too.”
“Dinner in your room?”
“Uh-huh.” Dinner and then…
The plane landed at the private airport where another limo waited to take them back to the palace. Billie tried to get her brother on the cell phone, but he didn’t answer.
“Strange,” she said as she checked her battery. “I can’t figure out why he’s not picking up. He’s not scheduled to fly. Maybe he’s somewhere without cell coverage.” Although she couldn’t imagine where that would be.
“Once we are back at the palace, we will find him,” Jefri told her.
She nodded and slipped into his embrace. He pressed his mouth to hers, deepening the kiss until she wanted to ask the driver to pull over and give them a minute.
Tonight, she promised herself. They would make love tonight.
Their limo pulled up behind another one.
“A visiting dignitary?” she asked as he reached for the door handle.
“I had not heard of one on the schedule.” He stepped out, then turned to assist her.
As Billie walked toward the entrance to the palace, she heard loud voices. Was that—
“Doyle?”
She hurried toward the sound and came to a dead stop when she saw her brother apparently arguing with the king.
“This can’t be good,” she murmured. Had her brother seriously freaked out when she hadn’t come home? “Doyle, what’s going on?”
He spun toward her. “There you are. Where the hell have you been?”
Billie was aware of the crowd of people standing around, including a young woman of about seventeen or eighteen.
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking. How are you?”
Her brother glared at her. “I didn’t ask you how you are.”
“I know but things would be a whole lot better if you did.”
Just then Jefri came up and put his arm around her. “What seems to be the problem?”
Doyle’s gaze narrowed. “Why don’t you ask your father there? Or her?” He pointed accusingly at the young woman.
