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She knew it was absurd, given that she’d already crossed a major professional line, but using his first name felt a thousand kinds of wrong.
‘Daisy,’ he insisted, moving out of bed, his nakedness glorious and distracting and inducing a panic attack because she’d slept with her client—a lot—and now it was daylight and the magic of the night before had evaporated and she had to face the music. ‘Relax. We are two consenting adults who happen to have had sex. This is not something you need to panic about.’
‘You don’t get it. I’m contractually forbidden from doing this,’ she muttered, his amusement only making everything worse. ‘It doesn’t matter that we’re consenting. You’re off-limits to me, or should have been.’
‘It was one night,’ he insisted calmly, coming to fold her in his arms and bring her to his chest. ‘Two nights, if you count tonight. And I am counting tonight, Daisy, because I fully expect you to be here with me.’
‘What if he tells—?’
He held a hand up imperiously, silencing her with the single gesture. ‘If Malik hadn’t interrupted us, would you be feeling like this?’
She bit down on her lip, staring at him, and, finally, shook her head.
‘Good. Then this problem is easily solved. I will order him to forget he saw you and it will be done.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Nice try, but it’s not actually that easy to remove a piece of someone’s memory.’
‘Malik will do as I say. Put him out of your mind. I have.’
She looked up at him, doubts fading in the face of his confidence. ‘I mean it,’ she insisted. ‘Tomorrow, you go back to your kingdom and nothing changes for you, but I need this job. My life has to go on as it did before, Sariq.’ His name—the first time she’d said it—felt like magic. She liked the way it tasted in her mouth, and she especially liked the way he responded, the colour in his eyes deepening in silent recognition.
‘And it will.’ He dropped his head, his mouth claiming hers, so that thought became, momentarily, impossible. His kiss was heaven and his body weight pushed her backwards until she connected with the wall, so she was trapped between the rock hardness of him, and the wall, and her body was aflame with needs she knew she should resist.
But he lifted her, dispensing with the sheet and pressing her to the wall, his arousal nudging the heat of her sex, so she pushed down, welcoming him deep inside her as though it had been days, not hours, since they’d made love. His possession sent shockwaves of heat flaming through her and he hitched his hips forward and backwards, driving himself into her in a way that had her climaxing within a minute. Her nails scored marks down his back and she almost drew blood from her lip with the effort of not screaming, in case he had other members of staff on the other side of the door.
It was the most sublime feeling, and whatever worries she had seemed far away now. He stilled, holding her, his expression taut, his arousal still hard inside her. She rolled her hips but he dug his hands into her flesh, holding her still.
‘What is it?’
‘I’m not wearing a condom.’ He bit the words out, and she gasped.
‘Oh, crap. I didn’t even think...’
‘Nor did I.’ He lifted her from him, easing her to the ground gently, keeping his hands on her waist. ‘Shower with me, habibte.’
Perhaps she should have declined, but she’d hours ago lost her ability to do what she ought and had abandoned herself, apparently, to doing only what she wanted.
‘I suppose it is my job to cater to all your needs,’ she purred, earning a small laugh from him. As she stepped into the shower and got the water going, she saw him remove a small foil square from the bathroom drawer and smiled to herself.
Half an hour later, still smiling, she blinked up at him. ‘Didn’t Malik say the President was waiting?’
Sariq’s eyes narrowed. ‘He can wait.’
‘Your betrothal is all but confirmed.’
Sariq fixed his long-term aide with a cool stare. ‘And so?’
‘The American—’
‘Daisy.’ He couldn’t help the smile that came to him. Her name was so perfect for her, with her pale blonde hair and ready smile. ‘Her name is Daisy.’
‘The timing of this could be very bad, if it were to be in the papers in the RKH.’
‘It won’t be.’
‘You are the Emir now, Sariq. More is expected of you than was a month ago. The affairs you once indulged in must become a part of your past.’ Malik shook his head. ‘Or if you must, allow me to engage suitable women for you, women who are vetted by me, by the palace, who sign confidentiality agreements and are certain not to sell their story to the highest bidder.’
‘Daisy won’t do that,’ he murmured dismissively. ‘And the days of palace concubines are long gone. I have no interest in reinvigorating that habit of my forebears.’
