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She shook her head. ‘If you did, then I’ve forgotten. Please don’t stop,’ she whispered back, giving a little yelp of pleasure as he began to move inside her. ‘It feels...’ She closed her eyes and expelled a shuddering breath. ‘Oh, Tariq, it feels...incredible.’
It felt pretty incredible for him, too. Especially when she wrapped her legs around his back with athletic skill. But it was more than that. He’d never done it like this before. Had never felt this free. This powerful. Was that because it was Izzy? A woman who knew him better than any other woman? Didn’t that add an extra piquant layer of desire? Or was it because there was no infernal covering of thin rubber between them? He could feel the soft squash of her buttocks as he cupped them, and the deep molten tightness of her body as it welcomed him. He could hear her soft exclamations of pleasure and astonishment, and that too reminded him of the reality.
She’s never done this with anyone else.
That possessive thought only sharpened his hunger, and he shuddered with pleasure as he drove deeper and deeper inside her. He spoke to her in half-forgotten words of Khayarzahian as they moved in ancient rhythm, until he heard her make a helpless little cry and felt her begin to convulse around him.
She gasped his name and clutched at his shoulders like a woman who was drowning, and then at last he let go. And it was like nothing he’d ever experienced. One sweet and erotic spasm after another racked through him, until he felt as if he’d been wrung out and left to dry. Her head fell against his shoulder and he could feel the quiver of her unsteady breath as she panted against his neck. Her legs slipped down from his waist and he wrapped his arms around hers and held her very close.
He didn’t know how long they stayed like that—just that it seemed like warm and satiated bliss. As if they were in their own private and very erotic bubble. Until he felt himself begin to harden again inside her and knew that he had to move.
Reluctantly he withdrew from her, tilting her face upwards with his hand. Her cheeks were flushed, and some of the Titian corkscrew curls had come loose and were falling untidily around her shoulders. She looked as wanton as any woman could—and light-years away from the woman who had placed a cup of coffee in front of him not long ago.
He felt...dazed. And for the first time in his life slightly bewildered. That had been incredible. And yet slightly perturbing too, for he could never remember being so out of control before.
Pushing away any remaining doubts, he brushed a dancing corkscrew strand away from her lips, recognising that a latent sense of guilt would serve no useful purpose. ‘Well, I don’t remember that being in your job description,’ he murmured.
Isobel took her lead from him. She was obviously supposed to keep it light. Her lips curved into a coquettish smile she’d never used before. ‘And did I perform the task to your satisfaction...sir?’
Softly, he laughed. ‘Well, there’ll need to be a repeat session, of course. I can’t possibly judge after just one performance.’
Performance? The word cut through her heightened senses and Isobel bit her lip, suddenly feeling way out of her depth. ‘And was I...?’
‘You were amazing,’ he reassured her softly. ‘In fact you were more than amazing.’
He stared down into her face as if he was seeing it for the first time—though this was the face that greeted him each day. This was Izzy—who told him the truth when he asked her. And sometimes when he didn’t ask her. Would sex destroy some of the unique rapport which existed between them? he wondered, as even more questions began to flood into his mind.
‘Let’s go and sit down,’ he said abruptly.
Tugging her skirt back over her naked hips, he led her over to one of the low sofas on the far side of the office. Gently, he pushed her down on it, then slid next to her, his black eyes narrowed and questioning.
‘So why?’ he queried softly.
She guessed she could have pretended to misunderstand him, but she knew exactly what he meant. And that was the trouble—she knew Tariq far too well to play games with him. ‘Why am I a virgin, you mean?’
‘Wrong tense,’ he corrected acidly.
Slightly flustered, she looked at him, seeking refuge in flippancy. ‘Because you make me work such long hours that I hardly ever have the opportunity to meet any other men?’
‘Izzy. I’m serious. Why?’
She sighed. ‘Because... Oh, Tariq. Why do you think?’
Because no man had ever come close to the way he’d made her feel. Because it had been impossible not to let him make love to her once they’d started down that path. He’d warned her that there was going to be no long-term or commitment, and she wasn’t holding out for any. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be honest, did it? Just as long as she kept it cool.
‘Because nobody has ever turned me on as much as you do.’
He found himself slightly shocked to hear her talking to him in that way—but that was what he wanted, wasn’t it? The fact that she could see their lovemaking
for what it was and not construct some romantic fantasy about it the way that women always did?
‘It was like that for me too,’ he admitted softly. ‘In fact...’ Hot and erotic memories flooded back. Of skin on skin as she welcomed him into her hot, slick body. He swallowed, acknowledging the potency of what had happened between them. And because of her innocence he felt he owed her the truth. ‘It was the best sex of my life.’
Isobel drew away from him, hating the sudden leap of her heart, angry with herself for wanting to buy into what was clearly a lie. And angry with him for feeling that she needed to be placated with a lie as whopping as that one. ‘Oh, come on, Tariq—with all the lovers you’ve had, you’re honestly expecting me to believe that?’
‘But it is true.’ He stared into her now smoky tawny eyes, wondering how much of the truth she could bear. ‘You see, never before have I made love to a woman without protection. It is a risk that I can never take—for all the obvious reasons. But a virgin who has never known another man cannot be tainted.’ He took her fingers and drifted them over his groin, enjoying seeing her eyes widen as he hardened instantly beneath them. ‘And a virgin who is on the pill cannot give me an unwanted child.’
Isobel snatched her hand away. ‘So you really hit the jackpot with me?’
