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“You’re sleeping in my arms tonight, and that’s that.” Pulling the covers over her, he eased from the bed and hurried to put the dishes back on the cart and push it back out in the hallway. Stopping in the bathroom, he splashed some cold water on his face. By the time he’d returned to the bed, she was still awake, but she looked more comfortable.
Like she intended to stay.
Sliding under the covers, he reached out for her. When she curled around his body, he couldn’t help but feel triumphant.
He could keep telling her that it was just tonight. Moment by moment. That’s what would keep her from bolting, but he already knew the truth. She belonged to him, and he was playing for keeps.
9
Maria shrieked.
“What?” Jarik bolted up from the bed and stared. “What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t answer him. With one hand still on the curtains, she could only stare at the scene that greeted her outside. “This is not happening,” she breathed. “Please tell me that this isn’t happening.”
Jarik joined her at the window and wrapped his hands around her waist. It warmed and comforted her, but it still didn’t change the sight outside. “How is that even possible?” she whispered.
“It does occasionally snow here,” he murmured as he pressed his lips to her neck. “I imagine they get a lot more of it in New York.”
“Yes, we do. Which is fine if I don’t need to fly anywhere. The airport called. All flights are grounded because this is just the beginning. It’s going to snow all day. All day,” she moaned. “We’re not going to be able to leave. You should have taken another flight yesterday. I should have ignored Sebastian. I don’t even understand why he shipped the crates here. Why didn’t he ship them to Syria? Why can’t I reach him?”
“Habibti.” He forced her to turn around and kissed her. Just like that, she melted into him. He had this amazing ability to make all her troubles seem far, far away. “Just breathe. You still have time to get there on time. Tessa can take care of everything until then.”
Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead on his chest. “I’m worried about my brother,” she whispered.
“I know.” His arms wrapped around her, and he tightened his hold on her. “But you have to believe that if something had happened to him, someone would have called you by now.”
That made sense, but it didn’t do anything to ease the feeling that something was wrong. The problems just kept piling up, and it looked like fate was working against her.
“At this rate, Christmas is not going to happen this year,” she said with a heavy heart. She was only one person, and it looked like she wasn’t going to be enough.
Jarik put his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his. His eyes searched her, and he finally leaned down and kissed her again. His lips were soft and comforting. “I’m sorry. If I could, I’d do the very thing that you hate and throw all my money at the problem to make it go away.”
Maria couldn’t help but chuckle. “Unfortunately, I don’t think the snow has any use for your riches. But, and I can’t believe that I’m about to say this, I do appreciate your willingness to help.”
“What I can buy is breakfast. Want to go out or order in?”
“My stomach is in knots. I don’t think that I could eat. I just want a cup of coffee and to head out to the hangar before the snow gets too bad to at least make sure that the new crates are accounted for.”
“Okay. Why don’t you get us that coffee while I finish getting dressed. I’ll call for a taxi.”
Stepping out of his arms took more strength than she wanted to admit. It was hard enough to resist him when he was trying to seduce her, but this sweet side of him?
It may be her undoing.
Grabbing her wallet, she practically ran from their hotel room. She didn’t have the energy or the time to deal with the likes of Jarik Shadid. She needed to focus on Christmas Crates and forget all about the sexy sheikh who had made her scream in ecstasy last night.
He hadn’t even taken his own pleasure. It was overwhelming. And if what she’d felt last night was any indication of how she’d feel when he buried himself in her, she knew without a doubt that it would be the best sex of her life.
Hot sex. Steamy sex. Dirty sex.
Distracting sex.
“Coffee,” she muttered. “You’ll feel more in control after coffee.”
There was a cafe and bakery in the lobby. She paid for two large black coffees and grabbed a muffin for Jarik. She couldn’t help but feel all the employees staring at her as she made her way back to the elevator. She knew what they were thinking.
Black cargo pants. A simple green sweater. No make-up. Boots. She hardly fit the profile of the standard guests that stayed here. Her whole outfit was probably cheaper than a single meal here.
