Page 54 of Kismet

Chapter 15

Allegra leaned over him and brushed her mouth against his in a gentle kiss. As she pulled away, his eyes opened. There was just a hint of indecision in Shaheen's dark gaze before he narrowed his eyes to study her with an assessing look.

“How long have you been awake, ma chérie?” The gruff question pulled a smile to her lips.

“Since you took off your clothes,” she murmured as she cleaned his stomach with a soft bit of fabric she kept near her pallet.

Her answer clearly stunned him as he stared at her in disbelief. Finished attending to his immediate needs, she rolled over onto her stomach and rested her head on her folded arms as she met his gaze with an inquisitive look.

“Didn’t you enjoy yourself?”

“Of course, I—”

“Then does it matter how long I was awake?”

“I would have enjoyed giving you pleasure in return,” he said in a husky voice as he came up on one elbow and stroked her cheek with his hand.

“But you did please me. I found it quite pleasurable watching you, knowing that I was the reason you were so hard.” She smiled with mischief. “It was me you were hard for wasn’t it?”

“You know damn well it was.”

He brushed a short curl off the edge of her brow. It was a tender touch, and it frightened her. Charles had been tender with her, but his touch had never clutched at her heart the way this man’s caresses did. She studied his face with an experienced eye. There was something different about him tonight. He was on edge. She could see it in the faint lines of tension pulling at his sensual mouth. Instinctively she stroked his bare shoulder in a soothing manner to divert his attention from whatever was troubling him.

“I like your Sheikh Mahmoud. Have you been friends for a long time?” Her question hung in the air for a moment before he shrugged.

“A little more than fifteen years.” The taciturn response made her sigh, and she lifted her head to study his closed-off expression more easily.

“Trusting one’s lover is part of the contract we made today, Shaheen. Our mutual pleasure is based on trust, and that means trusting me not to betray your secrets as well.”

“Exactly what it is it you want to know about me, Allegra?” There was a mocking note in his voice as he studied her with an unreadable expression.

The cynical gleam in his dark eyes aroused frustration and understanding all at the same time. Somewhere in his past, whoever had hurt him, had hurt him deeply. Experience had taught her that in most instances a woman was often the cause of the pain. Whatever this particular woman had done, it was seared into him like a brand.

“I’m not her,” she said quietly.

“What the—who have you been talking to? Jamal?” His voice tight with fury.

“Jamal hasn’t said anything to me, nor has anyone else.” She met his gaze steadily. “It was an educated guess. An accurate one if I judge your reaction correctly.”

“You expect me to believe that?” he exclaimed, his mouth a hard line of anger.

“Yes. It was nothing more than simple observation. It’s a part of who I am, what I do. I offer a man more than sexual pleasure, Shaheen. I’m companion, confidante, and friend. I anticipate my lover’s needs, both physical and emotional. The men I choose find I’m a sanctuary where they can freely be themselves. They’ve no need of masks when they’re with me.”

She waited for him to say something, but he remained silent, a guarded expression on his face. When he didn’t speak, she frowned. This wasn’t going quite the way she’d envisioned it when she’d awoken and watched him masturbating beside her. She pressed one cheek back into her arms, but kept her eyes focused on his unreadable features.

“I’m not her, Shaheen. And I won’t pay for her sins, whatever they were.”

“No. You’re not her.” His soft words startled her, and the determination that flashed in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. “And I’m not like any of your other lovers. I want what you’ve never given any man before. I want your mask stripped away.”

“I’m not sure what you’re asking of me.” It was a lie, and she knew it. The chill tickling her spine raced across her skin until she was ice-cold. “You asked me to choose you, and I’ve done so willingly.”

“But you’re still hiding behind that courtesan façade you’ve created for yourself. I want the woman you keep hidden away from every man you meet. The woman who’s afraid to experience true passion for fear of losing control.”

The dangerous glint in his penetrating gaze alarmed her. She’d known he wanted the passion she’d never offered to any of her past lovers, but this was something different. Swallowing the knot of trepidation in her throat, she trembled as his fingers trailed with a lazy finesse across her shoulder and down her back. He wanted her to open herself up to him completely and without inhibition. It meant giving up control. It meant complete and utter surrender. He asked the impossible. Desperate, she tried to turn the tables on him.

“Are you willing to do the same?”

His fingers grew still against her skin, coming to rest at the small of her back. The heat of his touch thawed the chilled spot at the base of her spine, but the tension in him radiated its way into the muscles beneath his fingers.