Because I’m worth it…
Rasheed fought to keep from frowning at Johari’s words. The woman was not low on confidence by any means. Did she honestly think that the man she would marry, just because of his wealth and position, would indulge her in such a rebellious thing?
He shook his head as he continued to walk beside her. Where in the world did she get such a stubborn streak? He then remembered Jamal from their days together at the private school as teens and his rebellious escapades. But that was then and that had been Jamal. Besides, Jamal was a man and Johari was a woman. He glanced sideways and his gaze swept over her. Yes, she was definitely a woman. A woman determined to be defiant and unruly.
A woman he couldn’t wait to bed.
Besides her belief that she was worth her husband giving in to her unorthodox whims, what made her think for one minute that she could persuade him to do such a thing? And how could she assume that she would learn in ten days all there was to know about pleasuring a man to the point she would become an ace at it? Didn’t she understand all he could do was introduce her to the basics and that the skills would have to be perfected over time? Did she not know the use of sex whenever she wanted anything amounted to nothing more than manipulation? If she thought for one minute that she could learn to control his physical desire to the point where she could use it to have her way then her way of thinking was preposterous.
Rasheed berated himself under his breath for getting worked up over Johari’s foolish notions. That was the main reason women had husbands to keep them safe, protected and, in Johari’s case, out of trouble. He decided to put what he thought of his future wife’s behavior out of his mind for now and shift his thoughts to something else. Specifically, what her role would be to him not once they got married, but beginning tonight.
He gave her a tour of the upstairs quarters, showing her how each room had a view of the ocean. When they had left one of the guest rooms, she glanced around. “It’s seems awfully quiet all of a sudden. Where is everyone?”
He caught her eyes as he led the way to his bedroom. “They are gone.”
Johari’s eyes widened. “Gone?”
“Yes.” Rasheed kept walking.
Johari stopped. “Gone where?”
Rasheed stopped and turned to look at Johari. “I sent Ishaq back to the States and the others to the mainland.”
She stared at him. “Why?”
“So we could be completely alone.”
Johari suddenly felt dizzy and seconds later she felt an intense flutter in the pit of her stomach. Other strange sensations began to claim her, play havoc with her mind, body and senses. Her lips, which seemed to be holding his attention, had begun to throb and there was a deep pounding in her chest.
They were on the island alone. That realization was unfolding a mirage of emotions in addition to the sensations she was feeling. She nervously chewed the underside of her lip as she stared back at Monty. He smiled and the sexiness behind the smile was so blatantly predatory that she had to fight to catch her breath.
“It’s time for another lesson, Jo,” he said quietly.
When she didn’t say anything he leaned back against a wall. “Are you having second thoughts?”
Her brow rose. “What gave you that idea?”
He chuckled. “You’ve been standing in the same spot now for over five minutes.”
Johari swallowed. Yes, she had.
“Come here, Jo.”
Her lips curved into a nervous smile. “You want me over there?”
“Yes. For now. But I’m sure you know I do have other plans for you tonight in my bedroom.”
Her heart rate increased at the thought of what those plans were. Did he have to be so brutally straightforward? She began moving, closing the distance separating them as she pondered that question. By the time she stood directly in front of him, she still didn’t have an answer. He was so tall that she had to tilt her head back to look at him, stare into his dark piercing eyes and become the recipient of his heat.
“I’m here now,” she said, when he just stood there staring at her. She swallowed again. The look in his eyes was so intense, it was beginning to awaken things in her that had been dormant for twenty-four years.
“Monty, I—”
The words were basically lost when he leaned over and swept her into his arms.
Chapter 10
Carrying Johari in his arms, Rasheed crossed over the threshold of his bedroom. He glanced down at her and thought that she looked adorable when she blushed. It was a pleasure to see that his rebellious, unorthodox fiancée did have a shy side.
Rasheed was aware of his own vulnerability as he carried Johari to his bed. He was fascinated with this young wisp of a woman who just wanted to experience life. Unlike what she evidently thought, what was about to take place between them would bind them together forever. One day she would become his wife. She was to be his life.
He continued walking until he placed her on his huge bed and then he took a step back. He saw her glance around. He saw the look of appreciation and admiration in her eyes at the magnificence and splendor of his furniture, the high ceiling in the room, the chandelier and the wood-grained moldings, a decor in rich colors of red and gold. It was a room fit for a king…and his queen, and they represented both.
“This room is simply beautiful, Monty,” she said in whispered enchantment. The splendor of his room mesmerized her and she continued to glance at the furnishings, but his eyes were transfixed on her. He thought that she was beautiful. She was on her knees in the middle of his bed. Her thick shimmering mass of hair fell about her shoulders and the outfit she had on looked simply gorgeous on her. But he was ready to remove it. He wanted to see her naked. He wanted to see those breasts he had tasted earlier. He wanted to see that part of her where his fingers had been. He wanted it all.
He was aware of the moment she stopped glancing around the room to return her gaze to him. He noticed the slight tremor of her body as his eyes swept over her. He watched the way she nervously licked her lips. For a long moment their gazes locked as heat passed between them. Sexual desire and a fierce, deep need also swirled in the air around them.
At that moment Rasheed knew what he wanted. He wanted to make love to her and not just have sex with her. He didn’t want to teach her any lessons tonight. For their first mating he wanted her to know him, know his body. One day she would discover that he was the only man she would ever intimately know.
“Come here, Jo.”
He held out his hand and watched her stare at it for only a second before scooting across the bed to him. The moment their hands joined, something akin to fire touched him, blazed inside of him. He heard her sharp intake of breath, heard the deep breathing forced through her lungs. Her reaction to him fueled his fire even more. Made his desire for her stronger.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly thickened with sexual tension and he was unable to take his eyes off her. He tightened his hand on hers and gently pulled her closer to him. When she was so close that her chest pressed against his and he could feel the tight buds of her nipples, he studied her lips. They had to be the prettiest pair he had ever seen on a woman. Struck with an intense urge to taste them again, he touched his hand to her cheek, leaned closer and sank his mouth into hers.
Something flared to life within him the moment their lips touched and when he deepened the kiss even more, the primitive male inside of him took over, and he wrapped his arms around her, taking the desire within him to new heights. When she released a deep moan, his mind toyed with the idea of abandoning any foreplay. He could strip her naked, spread her thighs and sink his body into hers with the same intensity he had taken her mouth. But something held him back. He broke off the kiss and leaned slightly away from her. This was her first time with any man, her first time with him. He had a feeling that with this woman, he could develop an insatiable appetite when it came to lovemaking and he didn’t want to frighten her.
But he d
id want to convey to her just how much he wanted her and prepare her for what was to come. “I want you.” He leaned back in and whispered the words against her lips just mere seconds before his mouth covered hers again, lightly at first, using his tongue to do a thorough sweep of her mouth, flickering over certain parts he’d discovered that when touched could make her moan. So he touched them, laved them with the tip of his tongue in a sensuous assault. And when she moaned so deeply in her throat that he could feel the vibration of it in his, he felt his manhood throb in a way it never had before.
He deepened the kiss, unable to do anything but that, communicating with his tongue just where he intended for this kiss to go and that he was ready to take her there. So he continued feasting on her mouth with the intensity of a starved man. And when she returned the kiss, the power of her passion infested his brain and he felt the rumble of desire escalate all through him, nearly driving him out of control.
He pulled his mouth away from hers and she slumped against him, her head falling on his chest while he wrapped his arms around her and silently counted to ten to calm the raging fires within him.
“Why do you keep stopping, Monty?” she lifted her head to ask.
He looked down at her. Stared into the darkness of her eyes and nearly lost control again. He had to maintain his senses to recall just why he had stopped kissing her that time. Something elemental, compelling and powerful was waging a battle within him and he was losing the fight. There was so much that she didn’t know. So much he wanted to introduce her to.
Before he could respond to her question, she reached up and placed her arms around his neck and pressed her hand against the back of his neck, forcing him to bend his head while she leaned up and met his mouth halfway. The moment their lips touched he stopped thinking and began reacting. He responded to the way her tongue immediately latched onto his, kissing him in the same manner, with the same intensity that he had kissed her several times.
Rasheed wasn’t sure just how she had managed to catch on so quickly, but there was nothing subtle in the kiss. It was all fire and passion. The way she was taking control of his mouth was a daring feat. He was beginning to realize his future bride had mastered the ABCs—audacious, bold and courageous—incredibly quickly.
He pulled back a little just so his teeth could nibble passionately on her lips, brand them his, while his tongue lapped at them from corner to corner.
“Monty.”
She said his name in a voice that sent shivers all through him, made his erection seem to expand ten times, made him want to touch her everywhere and then follow the trail of his hand and taste her everywhere, as well. Without stopping what he was doing to her mouth, he reached out and grabbed hold of her skirt, bunched the gauzy material in his hand and slowly raised it past her thighs to her waist.
He knew the moment the cool air touched her skin. She tried to pull her mouth back, but he had an intense lock on it, determined to intoxicate her with as much pleasure as he could. And before she could react, he quickly moved his hand toward her center, slid his fingers beneath the band of her panties and touched her at the same time his mouth slanted deeper over hers.
But that didn’t stop her moan, throatier than the last, from spreading to him, causing an avalanche of desire and passion to consume his mind and every part of his body. And when his fingers tested her wetness, felt it, penetrated the air with her aroma to tease his nostrils, something tore through him, made him burn for her in a way he had never burned for any woman. It was as if his entire body was on fire with a different kind of need.
Unable to prolong the moment, he pulled his mouth away and her protest came out in a whimper that only fueled his hunger. He clenched his teeth, trying with all his might to retain control, but every time he inhaled her scent he was filled with a need that was as primitive as mankind, and the only thing he wanted to do was to make love to her. The thought of being inside her body sent blood surging through his veins. She had no idea what he was going through that very moment. She was young, innocent, and didn’t have a clue that intimately touching her, watching her reaction to his fingers moving inside of her, was strumming his senses. She was totally different from the experienced women who graced his bedroom; lovers, mistresses and courtesans who knew what to do and were proficient in their skills. But this was a difference he enjoyed, a welcome change from any woman before her.
He slowly pulled his hand away and licked his fingers, tasting her on his tongue. He saw how her eyes darkened as she watched him. “I want to give you a chance to change your mind, Jo,” he said in a deep husky tone. “If you decide this is what you want, I will be your first and I’ll make sure it is an experience you won’t forget. I intend to introduce you to numerous sexual pleasures.”
He saw the frown that crinkled her forehead when she looked at him and said, “But I don’t necessarily want to know how to receive pleasure. I need to know how to give it. I want him, the man I will marry, to only want me and no one else. Please help me make that happen, Monty.”
Her words shook him to the core and he fought back the feelings of guilt that were trying to stir inside of him. Even now she was thinking of him. She had no idea that his pleasure would come from him pleasing her. There was no way he could receive pleasure without giving it, as well. To have a woman moan from his skillful touches, to have her reach an orgasm from his mouth on her breasts—like Johari had done earlier that day—only made him want her more.
For the first time since he could remember, a woman was causing mixed emotions to run through him. How could he agree to something that he knew in the end she would fail at? How could he explain that one woman wasn’t capable of fulfilling all his needs, all of his pleasures, and that although he would always place her above all others—as his queen and his wife—that there would be others? It was a way of life and she needed to accept it.
“Monty?”
He heard the plea in the way she said his name. He saw it in her eyes. “Yes, Jo?”
“Will you help me make that happen?”
At that moment he could not refuse her anything, but he couldn’t totally lie to her either, so he said, “I can’t make you any promises, but I will try.”
He studied her features, literally held his breath, waiting, watching and wondering if his response would be enough. Would it satisfy the part of her that was determined to accomplish an impossible feat? She held his gaze and something, he wasn’t sure just what, tugged at emotions he wasn’t used to encountering. They were emotions he couldn’t even put a name to. And they were so strong he almost took a step back. But then she spoke, and he couldn’t move, not even an inch.
“I know considering everything, Monty, how we met, what little we know about each other and the reason I am here with you now, there is something about being with you that seems right. It’s as if you were meant to be a vital component in this part of my growth as a woman. Yes, you will try and that is all I can ask.”
Something inside Rasheed crumbled. He reached out and ran his palm down the side of Johari’s face then leaned in and, knowing how imperative it was to live up to her expectations, lowered his mouth and captured her lips.
For a woman who hadn’t been kissed by a man before, Johari felt she was making up for lost time each and every time Monty joined his mouth to hers. He was a skillful kisser and she couldn’t help the slow heat that was consuming her body at that very moment. This kiss was deep, drugging, and she could even taste herself on his tongue, which added a bit of daring that tormented her senses.
Giving in to an impulse she didn’t quite understand, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to his, needing the contact of her breasts pressing against his chest again. Pleasure gripped her when his tongue began toying with hers in an intimate play that made the area between her legs feel consumed with heat.
And when he finally pulled his mouth away, but not before nipping gently at the corners of her lips, she could only sigh in contentment
. “Did you like that, Jo?” he asked her in a low, husky voice, as he unbuttoned his shirt.
“Yes, I always like your kisses, Monty. From the first,” she responded, being completely honest with him, although doing such a thing might make her look a little forward.
The smile that touched his lips indicated he was pleased with her words, which had been the truth. She would always remember their first kiss, the one they’d shared right after she had danced for him that first night in his condo.
Once he had unbuttoned his shirt he slowly removed it and she feasted her eyes upon his broad hairy chest and abs that were so tight she figured he had to exercise several times throughout the day to be in such perfect condition. She didn’t see an ounce of flab anywhere on his body.
“Now for your blouse,” he said.
Reaching out, he touched her blouse, and then slowly slid the buttons free. Seconds later he tossed her blouse aside and she could feel the heat of his gaze centered on her bra. “I’ve tasted your breasts before and want to do so again,” he said, reaching behind her and unhooking her bra.
And when he removed her bra, baring her fully to his eyes, she felt the increase in her pulse rate the moment he lowered his head and flicked his tongue over her breasts. “I want you totally naked before I finish devouring them again,” he said, easing her down on the bed to remove her skirt.
It didn’t take Monty long to dispense of her skirt and she watched as he stared at her body, keeping his gaze trained on what was being uncovered with the removal of her skirt. And when she reclined on the bed before him with only a pair of panties covering her body, she knew it wouldn’t be long before those were done away with, as well.
But it seemed Monty had other ideas, because he kicked off his shoes and eased onto the bed with her. She felt her heart slamming mercilessly against her ribs when he leaned back on his haunches and his gaze traveled the length of her body and zeroed in on the area between her legs that her panties shielded from view.
Wrapped In Pleasure Page 26
