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“What?”
He swallowed and looked away. For a moment, Jennifer thought that he wouldn’t speak further and she couldn’t blame him. Clearly he’d said more than he’d meant to. Finally, though, he faced her again, those amber eyes of his seeming to probe into her very soul.
“If I take too much time to think, then I can think about the possibility of things going wrong. One day I’ll be the sole leader of my people. My brother can help and so can my mother, but when I fully become the sheikh, their security and happiness—everything—will depend on me. Most of the time, I try and distract myself with anything I can…anyone I can.”
“So am I a distraction?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. Jennifer knew that after tonight, a simple yes wouldn’t suffice for her. Sheikh or not, Bahan meant more to her than just a quick roll in the hay, as they said back home in Lexington. It would pierce her very heart if he only wanted her as a distraction from his duties. “Is this all we’re doing tonight?”
His response was so fast that he made her head spin as he grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. “No, I swear that’s the last thing we’re doing here. Anything that comes after this, it’s not for one night. I wouldn’t want that…not with you.”
“Why?” she said, breathing in his scent, her nose almost tingling with the spiciness of him. “What makes me different?”
“Because I’ve seen part of your soul tonight, Goldilocks, and there’s so much more to you than you know.”
***
It could all still just be lines.
That was what scared her the most—the thought that she could be giving her heart away again to a man who was weaving the tales that she wanted to hear. Yet, there was something so sincere when she looked into his golden eyes that made her believe him. Bahan had given her a bit of his own truth, shared his fears that one day he wouldn’t be enough for his people. He almost hadn’t, and yet he had.
That kernel of truth had been enough to reassure her, to let her believe this could work. It was why she was back at his hotel suite, hoping that she wouldn’t be carelessly cast aside come morning.
Curling a lip playfully up at him, Jennifer said, “I think we’ve covered the dance. I don’t know if you want me to do a striptease for you.”
“No,” he said, winking back at her. “That’s not my thing.” Bahan continued gliding across the floor. The man was grace incarnate. Reaching down, he started to knead her shoulders, to loosen those muscles that were always tight from her working on a computer or, frankly, from the tension she carried worrying over her family. “I love to have control in everything, Goldilocks. I want to undress you myself.”
He started by unclasping her necklace and then taking the time to set it on one of his chest of drawers. She appreciated that, especially considering the cost. For him, it would have been nothing, a price he probably spent on tissues or eggs or something marginal at a damn palace. But for her, it meant everything—the sign that she was finally successful.
When he was back, Bahan brought his hand to the top of the zipper on her dress. “Is this alright?”
She felt heat in her belly and wetness already pooling between her thighs. Her legs shook and a flush colored her cheeks. She was more than ready.
God, I might explode if you called this off, Bahan.
She didn’t say anything quite that articulate. Instead, she half moaned in response as he unzipped her. The dress fell off her shoulders and she stepped out, revealing her lingerie underneath. It had been something she’d bought once for Dustin, but had never been able to wear. Not after she found out about…
She banished those thoughts away, promising herself that, for tonight, she’d be happy.
It was a black lacy thong and peekaboo lace bra. It had almost as many holes in it as substance, and she wondered if he’d be able to catch glimpses of her nipples through the translucent fabric.
She hoped to God he would.
“You’re a revelation, Goldilocks,” he said, running his hands over her breasts. “I can’t imagine a woman more perfect than you.”
Now that has to be a line. Dustin always hinted about the gym…
No, she wouldn’t do this. This was Bahan, and she had to give him a chance. This was all so new, and maybe he truly did see her as perfect. She thought he’d be crazy if he did, not with her too thick thighs and the swell of her stomach, but maybe there was something about her that he could see.
Lord knew she couldn’t.
Leaning over her, he ran his tongue first over the curve of her chin and then down her throat, stopping at her pulse point until he flicked against the delicate skin there. She moaned again, letting out a noise that was no more than raw animal need as he continued his ministrations.
But Bahan was far from finished. His tongue crept over her chest, swirling patterns over the sensitive flesh there until he found her left breast. At first, he didn’t even slip off the lace, just went to work suckling and nibbling at the sensitive skin underneath the flimsy fabric. She arched her back and mewled at his efforts, loving the way his tongue felt rough and inviting all at the same time. Then he reached up underneath the band of her bra, finding her right nipple and tweaking it deftly. As his tongue teased and tempted her left side, his hand was playing with her right side, stroking everything there until it reached a rigid peak. By now, that flare of heat in her belly was an inferno, and the wetness was building to inestimable levels between her legs.
She groaned and looked down at him, tangling her hands in his hair. “Please, Bahan, I need so much more.”
“Are you ready for me then, Goldilocks? Ready for me to give you pleasure like you’ve never known?” he asked, his voice brimming with the confidence of a well-practiced lover.
That was exactly what she needed tonight, what she craved.
