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He placed his hands against the stone balustrade either side of Star’s, encircling her without yet touching her. The roar of blood in his veins, the pounding beat of his heart in his ears—something primal, elemental was taking over, and as he placed his lips against that stretch of the palest, smoothest skin he offered his first prayer in over three years.
The shudder that travelled through him rippled through her and he couldn’t tell whether it was her legs shaking or his. He pressed his body into hers, leaning them both gently against the balcony, trapping her, holding her still. Her head fell back against his shoulder, her hair streaming over his forearm, offering him access to more of her. Rough stone was replaced by smooth skin as his hands left the balcony and swept around her petite body. He prised his eyes open to see the valley between breasts that were made to be held in his palms. He was torn, wanting to take this slow and wanting to take it all.
‘Please,’ she whispered.
And the leash on his restraint was lifted.
His hands swept over her breasts, palming the weight of them and feeling complete. His thumbs brushed her nipples into stiff peaks, ringing a shuddered moan that tightened Khalif’s arousal. As if feeling it, Star arched back into his groin, pressing against the length of his erection until it was cradled against her bottom. Desire exploded on his tongue and he gently scraped his teeth against the muscle of her neck. She shivered again—and he felt it against his chest, his hands, his thighs and his calf muscles, questioning why they were still standing.
It seemed inconceivable to him that Star was a virgin and, despite feeling all kinds of selfish, he couldn’t bring himself to stop. Unless she wanted him to.
‘Star, you need to know that if you want me to stop—’
‘Don’t stop, please, I—’
He bent his head to hers so that his lips were against her ear. ‘Nothing would make me stop. Not the sun falling from the sky, the desert freezing over, floods, locusts, or a third world war. Nothing would make me stop...but one word from you.’
‘I don’t need—’
‘Star. At any point, do you understand? You can stop me at any point.’
CHAPTER FOUR
NOTHINGWOULDMAKEme stop. Not the sun falling from the sky... Nothing...but one word from you.
Star couldn’t deny that she had been nervous until he’d said those words. Words that had overflowed with the same need, want,yearningthat she felt deep within her, and theonlything she was afraid of was him walking away.
She twisted in his arms, turning to face him, to look up into his eyes so that he knew. So that he believed her when she said, ‘Yes. I understand.’ She searched his face as if she was seeing it for the first time. Emboldened by his declaration, she was ready to stand in the path of his flame.
‘Show me?’ she asked, the weight of her desire making her voice shake.
He pulled his gaze from his observation of her face, her body, and dragged—reluctantly, it seemed—his eyes back to hers. ‘Show you what?’ he asked.
She bit her lip, trying to stop the smile that was ready to burst against her mouth. ‘Just how good you are.’
She watched as the rich brown depths of his eyes were eclipsed by the pitch black of his pupils, his response marked in deep red slashes across his cheekbones. He claimed her then, passionately, possessively, his lips crushed against hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth, tangling with her as deeply and completely as she wanted him.
His hands drew her to him, the soft curves of her chest pressed against the hard ridges of his, but it wasn’t enough. For either of them. He drew her up and she felt herself lifted from her tiptoes, her legs instinctively wrapping around his slender hips until she was above him, his neck bent back to kiss her, her hair streaming down around them, curtaining them within red velvet tendrils.
Her hands braced against his shoulders, revelling in the flex of his muscles beneath her fingertips, the power as he held her there, restrained and raw—and all for her. He looked up at her as if she were the most incredible thing he’d seen and she felt it. For the first time she really felt it.
He walked them back from the balcony and into the living area and a thought snagged at her mind. ‘Is it okay? That we’re here? That we...’ She didn’t quite know how to finish that sentence, but she read the understanding in his eyes.
‘It is. This suite...it’s mine.’
It was the first time she had seen him look worried, as if concerned what her reaction would be, or what questions she might ask. ‘Okay,’ she said simply, her faith and trust in him complete. He looked as if he were about to say something, to qualify or justify. ‘It’s okay,’ she said again, before pressing a kiss to his mouth. Then another. And another. Lips brushed against lips until he opened beneath her and this time it was her tongue that led the dance, and raised a dragon within her. One that breathed fire and clawed skin. He had cast a spell over her and she felt transformed.
She lost herself to the feel of him beneath her, eyes drifting closed to savour the moment, and when they opened there was nothing in his gaze but lust. He turned and walked them through a doorway and into a room that faced the same balcony, the same view. Moonlight poured in through the glass doors, casting a silvery glow on a large bed with pure white sheets. Very slowly he drew her downward, his arms and hands cradling her back, so that she was ready when the back of her thighs hit the surprisingly high mattress. She looked up and saw the net canopy hanging from a hook in the ceiling placed at the centre of the bed and stretching out to the four corners. She felt like a princess and almost said as much, until she caught the look in Kal’s eyes as he took her in, leaning back on her hands.
She watched as Kal pulled his shirt from the waist of his trousers, slowly undoing each button and revealing inch after inch of impeccable bronzed skin. Only once he had removed the shirt could her eyes roam as freely across his body as she’d wished.
He removed his trousers while she was distracted and on her next inhale she saw him standing before her, black briefs hugging his skin, revealing the contours of his body, the dip of his abs, the flare of his hip bones and the length of his arousal.
‘I will stop atanytime, Star.’
‘I know. But thank you for saying it,’ she replied sincerely and, no matter what happened that night, she was thankful. Thankful that she was sharing this with Kal.
He came over her on the bed and covered her with his body. It was only then that she realised she was shaking. But the moment his lips touched her skin that shaking became a shiver, became a well of need rising within her.
