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How meaningless she made the gift?
He put all thoughts of anyone but Cassie and him from his mind. In that moment, he owned her body and soul, and that was all that mattered.
He felt her climax and released himself simultaneously, tipping himself into her with a passion that finally settled his anger.
He collapsed beside her, one arm thrown carelessly across her back, his face angled to hers.
Cassie’s eyes were closed. Her cheeks were pink. Her lips were parted in a soft invitation. He kissed them gently, regretting instantly that they’d fought. Why fight when there was such pleasure to be shared?
But Cassie blinked, her heart not so easy to be placated. She didn’t look at him properly. She couldn’t.
His pledge was circling around and around in mind. Briefly, it had been silenced by the passion he inspired in her. Reality was intruding now though and she was incapable of ignoring the way his words had surprised her.
She sat up, moving out from under his touch quickly, as though he was burning her. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall without seeing the intricate patterning of the embossed wallpaper.
He watched her silently.
How, he wondered with a sense of unease, did he know her so well after so short a time? From the way her spine curved defensively, to the way her body was rigid and still, he knew she was holding onto her thoughts with a pressure seal. That her mind was swimming and jumbling with words she dared not say until she understood them better.
As if to prove his point, she shook her head slightly, silencing her mind, before standing swiftly.
He watched as she lifted her jeans from the floor and shook them out.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going,” her voice was stony, but again, he saw beneath the façade to the deep torrent of feeling she was navigating.
“Why?”
She compressed her lips, and he knew she was holding back the explosion of feelings she wasn’t ready to share.
He pushed his advantage. “You came to me, Cassie. You came to my suite this morning because you wanted this.”
“Yes.” She shrugged. “But not this.”
His laugh sent shivers down her spine.
“It’s not funny,” she snapped, her voice uneven. “I told you last weekend what I wanted from you. No-strings sex. No fuss. No hassle. And you were fine with that. You told me you admired my frankness.”
He nodded, his expression unreadable.
“And now you’ve gone the other way. You’re practically engaged, for God’s sake, and yet you’re acting like a possessive boyfriend. Who I have sex with after you, or who I’ve slept with before, is none of your business.”
“Wrong,” he murmured. He was very still, in a pose that might have seem relaxed to some.
“How do you figure that? You told me you wanted the same from me. This is just sex.”
“Wrong,” he repeated, his laugh mocking.
Something dangerous sparked in Cassie’s chest. She put a hand on her hip, and stared down at him pleadingly. “Don’t you see the double standards here? You will be married in a month! Why do you care what I do when you’re gone?”
“Because,” he finally pushed off the bed, so that he could stand in front of her. His body was rigid, his face darkened by his mood. “I do. Okay? It might not be fair, but that’s who I am. I am to be Sheikh Layth Sati, Emir of Takisabad. I have been raised to know that my will is absolute.”
She thrust her other hand onto her hip and glared at him in angry frustration. “You don’t have any say over me, Layth. I am not your servant and I’m not your subject.”
He put his hands behind her back, pulling her abruptly against his body. “Aren’t you?” His black eyes bore into hers, his meaning clear, and Cassie was mortified to admit to herself that he was right. Saying no to a man like Layth was not a question of geography so much as a burden on her soul.
She shook out of his arms, taking refuge in anger. “No. And if you can’t accept that this is casual and light, then I can’t see you again.”
