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She’d quickly realised that Kulal working late into the evening before he came to bed was an evasive tactic. She realised that he preferred her to be waiting and ready for sex—she guessed because that ruled out the need for conversation other than the ‘do you like it when I do that?’ variety. She remembered those far-away days when she’d cleaned his suite in Sardinia when they used to chat about stuff. When once in a while he’d even teased her. Couldn’t they get back to easy conversations like that—and the sort of intimacy which didn’t involve her gasping out her pleasure as he drove into her eager b
ody?
She told herself that the only reason she’d decided to start waiting until Kulal returned to their suite before retiring for the night was so they could chat. But deep down she knew that wasn’t the whole truth. Deep down she realised she had started to care for her husband in a way he had emphatically warned her against. A way which felt frighteningly close to love, even though she told herself that wasn’t possible.
But something had changed.
She wasn’t sure how or when it had happened, because it wasn’t the obvious things which had made her feel so differently about him. Not the muscular body which transported her to heaven and back every night. Or the ruler in all his finery with people bowing before him. It was the man with the occasional flicker of vulnerability in his eyes before the shutters came crashing down—that was the Kulal who had captured Hannah’s imagination and then her heart. Was it so wrong to wonder if she could ever forge a tiny place for herself in his heart?
Her silken robes whispered as she walked over to the desk where she’d left her book open and the dull thud of the outer doors of their suite told her that Kulal had returned. Instantly, she felt her heart begin to thunder.
‘Hannah?’
The sound of his voice was enough to send desire rippling down her spine and Hannah struggled to keep the hungry tremble from her voice. ‘I’m in here!’
He walked into the bedroom, appearing startled to see her sitting at the desk, a halo of golden lamplight surrounding her. ‘You’re not in bed?’ he questioned.
‘As you see,’ she said, with a smile. ‘I thought I’d wait for you and do a spot of reading.’ She put a bookmark in her book and closed it. ‘How did your meeting with the Sultan of Marazad go?’
Kulal felt momentarily disorientated because he hadn’t been expecting to see her waiting up for him. He swallowed. The sight of her alluring body was making him want to ravish her with a hunger which never seemed to wane, no matter how many times he took his fill of her. And it had never happened to him before—not like this. Every night since their wedding had been spent in her arms and not once had he grown bored. Unusually, he’d found himself cancelling trips to Europe and the States—feeling it wasn’t really fair to abandon his pregnant wife in a strange new country, even though no such complaint had come from her. Despite the huge leap of being catapulted from chambermaid to queen, she hadn’t been in the least bit clingy or dependent. She had been...
He swallowed.
She had been irresistible.
Beguiling him little by little—her shy sexual confidence had increased daily until he wondered which of them was the tutor and which the pupil. But it wasn’t just sex she excelled at. It was other stuff, too. She seemed to instantly grasp what was important to him and what was not. She didn’t say unnecessary things or do that glazed-eye thing women did when they were pretending to be interested in your job. Her interest in his work seemed genuine. His gaze distracted by the hard points of her nipples, which were thrusting against her pink gown, he dragged his mind back to the question she’d just asked him. Something about a meeting...
‘It was good,’ he said vaguely, even though this particular meeting had been months in the planning. ‘Malik was unusually compliant.’
‘So you think he’s eager to embrace solar power at last?’
Kulal frowned. He didn’t remember discussing that either, but he supposed he must have done. And why the hell was he getting into a discussion about renewable energy when he’d come here specifically to make love to her? ‘Not nearly as eager as I am to embrace you,’ he murmured, walking over to the desk and switching off the lamp, before pulling her to her feet. ‘You should be in bed.’
Those amazing eyes widened. ‘I’ve been reading.’
‘It’s late.’
‘So what? I’m pregnant, Kulal—and I’m getting plenty of sleep. The doctor says I’m in peak health and right now I feel wide awake.’
‘That’s good. Because so do I.’ He slid his hand down over one undulating hip and instantly heard a long breath escape from her lips.
‘Kulal.’ He heard her swallow. ‘I...I wanted to ask you some more about the solar power initiative and...and...oh!’
Her words faded away as his lips brushed hungrily over her neck. ‘Which is the very last thing I want to talk about, Hannah. I’d rather concentrate on...this...’ He started rucking up the gauzy gown to explore the silken territory of her thighs, his fingers finding her moist heat as he explored further. ‘Wouldn’t you?’ he said unsteadily.
‘Well...’ She tipped her head to one side as if she was giving the question careful consideration, but he saw her eyes become opaque as his finger found her sweet spot and began to drum softly against it.
‘You were saying?’ he prompted softly.
‘I don’t...remember,’ she moaned.
And neither did he. She felt so good and tasted so good that he could wait no longer. With a low groan, he picked her up and carried her over to the bed, ignoring her habitual protestations, because although she was almost six months pregnant with his child, he could still lift her with ease. She was wearing her nightgown, but Kulal was too hungry to care. In fact, he couldn’t even wait to remove his own robes. But silk and satin could be pushed aside enough for him to gain all the access he needed and before too long she was breathlessly urging him to enter her. Kulal needed no second bidding as he filled her with an erection that had never felt quite so hard. Each thrust seemed to take him deeper. He felt as if he wanted to explode. As if nothing else in the world existed outside this room and this bed. He teetered on the brink of pleasure until at last she gave a strangled cry and almost immediately he let go with a harsh and breathless shout of his own.
Kulal didn’t know how long he lay there before withdrawing from her, but her face was flushed and her eyes dark as they gazed at each other in the lamplight. ‘That was a very welcome homecoming,’ he said eventually.
‘I’m glad,’ she said demurely.
‘Where the hell did you learn to be so...responsive?’ He gave a wry smile. ‘Or are you just one of life’s natural seductresses?’
