A Marriage of Convenience (Married to a Prince) (9 page)

He dropped to his knees. The last of her clothing fell to the floor. He cupped her buttocks in his palms and inched her forward. His tongue circled her naval.

“Oh, yes.”
She barely recognized the anguished moan as her own voice.

He gazed up at her, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Are you having a problem with your breathing?"

"As a matter of fact... yes.”

His exhale of laughter warmed the flesh of her belly. "Patience is a virtue."

If she wanted to retain her virtue, she wouldn't be here on the verge of begging him to take her.
"When do I get to join in?"

"Soon.”

In contrast to the lingering manner in which he had removed her clothing, he stripped off his own without giving her a moment to catch her breath.

"Hey. You said I would do that," she complained.

“Forgive me.”
He lifted her and carried her to the bed.

Flushed with desire, she
laid her head back into the pillows. Golden strand of hair framed her flushed face. An unexpected surge of possessiveness filled him as he knelt down before her.

Her skin was smooth and hot, her hands eager and impatient.
"Not yet,” he whispered.

First with his hand, then his mouth, he explored her body, tasting, teasing, and from the depth of her sensual cry, even tormenting.

As his lips moved to the soft mound between her thighs, he felt her tense. After the year they’d spent together sharing every intimacy possible, he hadn’t expected her to be afraid. He glanced at her face. Perhaps fear wasn’t the right emotion, but he felt she was trying to hold something back. He wouldn’t allow her to. He wanted to possess her, body and soul, the way she had always possessed him. He continued to arouse her, slowly coaxing her to new heights.

Her fingers clutched the fabric of the bed sheets. She trembled as she opened for him, removing the last barrier of resistance. He caressed her thigh with fluid movements, bringing his fingers higher to part the folds of skin and expose the tiny pink nub at the center.

Again, she tensed.

"Don’t fight it, Honor."

She nodded
her head and arched her hips higher.

Encouraged by her response, he sucked on the pulsing nub.
Although he thought he might explode from his own desire, he couldn't stop now. Her pleasure was his pleasure. Her climax more important than his own.

"Please..." Her plea became lost in a sob.

"Tell me that your mine," he said.

She shook her head.

“Say it, Honor.” He needed to hear her say the words now, when she couldn’t lie about her feelings.

Moisture poured from her, thick and hot.
She clenched reflexively around his probing finger. More than ready, she was in a frenzy of passion.

“Say the words.”

“Please don’t make me say that.”

“I can wait until you are ready.” Damn the woman was stubborn. But she was not so controlled that she could hold out as long as he could.

“I am yours, only yours,” she cried out.

“Thank you, Princess.” Her body shuddered as he entered her. She closed around him, tangling him in a silky web of heat. Her fingers dug into the flesh of his back.

Smiling, he touched his mouth to hers. Silent tears spilled from her glazed eyes. He licked them, savoring the salty taste of her release. Only then, did he allow himself the pleasure of the same, exhilarating climax.

Chapter
Seven

Honor opened her eyes. Despite the heavy black out curtains, the desert sun peaked in from the windows’ edge, letting her know it was way past dawn. Past Joey’s feeding time. She tried to slip from the bed but two strong arms held her tight. Yousef’s habit wrapping her up in a possessive embrace while they slept had once warmed her heart and soul. This morning she felt trapped.

While he
r body ached with the remains of physical satisfaction, her mind ached with confusion and regret. Why has he forced her to declare what he wasn’t willing to admit himself?

Tell me
you’re mine.

He owned her. And he made sure she knew it.

She lifted his arm off her waist. Before he could trap her again she rolled off the far side of the king-size mattress, pulling a sheet around her as her feet hit the floor.

“Where are you going, Princess.”
Did he have to smile like a lion that had just devoured a juicy piece of meat? “You used to like making love in the morning.”

“I have a son who needs to be fed.”

“My mother and sister are on hand for the morning.”

“And I can take over now that I am up.”

He got out of bed, fully naked and as magnificent as ever. She looked away.

“We’re on our honeymoon.”

“That would imply that this is a normal marriage. It’s not.”

She caught a flash of something in his eyes. Surprise? Or perhaps anger. She didn’t wait around to find out. She locked herself in the bathroom. She needed a long, cold shower and time to regroup.
Three hundred and sixty four more days. Would she survive intact or lose everything she fought so hard to achieve?

When she emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, she straightened the covers on the bed. The stereotypical stories of how the families came to inspect the morning sheets brought an uncomfortable flush despite the knowledge that no one would actually check. When she turned to leave the suite she smacked into Yousef.
She gasped. How had he remained so quiet? She thought he had left.

His hands gripped her hips. “Now that you are refreshed, care to explain that last crack?
Honor drew a calming breath. “Do I need to?”

“Evidently, b
ecause when we went to sleep everything was great.”

Heat infused her face. She didn’t need to be reminded of her lack of will power. “I’m sure it was for you.”

“Come on, Honor. I was there and so were you. One hundred percent. “

She expelled a puff of air in frustration. “The sex was great, Yousef. It was never a problem between us.”

“Then what is the problem?”

He still didn’t get it. He was so sure he knew her that he never took the time to know her. “You still won’t let me be my own person. I’m just an extension of you.”

“What are you talking about?
”

“What do you know about me?
”

“Everything.”

“You sure about that? What is my favorite band, favorite food, favorite color?”

“Red.”

“No. That is the color you like to see me dressed in.”

His jaw clenched. “Do you know how ridiculous you sound?
You don’t know those facts about me either.”

“U-2, Thai Pad Noodles. And red, particularly red lingerie when it was on me.”

He adopted a condescending expression that made her want to scream. “Do you think that maybe you are a bit overwhelmed still.”

“Really? You’re going with that?”
She tossed her hands in the air. He refused to hear what she was saying. “Don’t blame my moods on hormones. Since the day we met, I have only ever asked two things from you.”

“What was that?”

“First, let me finish my education. We saw how that turned out.”

He started to answer but she waved him off.

“And second, I asked you not to make me say that I was yours.”

“It was supposed to be a declaration of commitment
, Honor.”

“No. It was a reminder that I am just another one of your possessions.
From sunset to sunrise for the next year you own me. I made the deal so I can’t complain.”

“Now you really sound
ridiculous.”

“Look around Yousef. There is not one thing in this room, in the palace or in the entire country t
hat is mine. Except my son. I am going to him now.” She turned and exited the room. An empty ache washed over her. She sprinted down one long corridor before she realized she was once again lost. She’d be damned if she would go back to the suite and ask Yousef for help. Learning to depend on herself became her first priority.

* * * *

Yo
usef picked through the paperwork covering his desk. He needed to get back to work, but concentration eluded him. He kept replaying his conversation with Honor the other day. Feminine logic was an oxy-moron. He put one hundred and fifty percent into making their wedding night special and she was further from his than on the day she arrived.

Despite her warning not
to blame her mood swings on hormones, she had been on a roller coaster of emotions for the last ten days. He promised Sean that he would not hurt Honor, but Yousef had no idea how to make her happy. Determined to build a wall, she looked for reasons to keep him at a distance. Except in bed. From sunset to sunrise Honor joined him in the suite. By morning his wife was gone and a stranger replaced her.

He tried to get his mind back on work. If he didn’t resume the negations between the Bedouins and the Oil Companies, he would have an uprising in the desert. One at home was enough.”

The door to his office opened and his mother walked in, holding Joey.

“Where’s Honor?”

“Good morning to you too, my son.”

He stood and joined her. “Forgive me. Have a seat.”

He was curious to know how his mother got Honor to give up Joey for even a few minutes. Brushing his thumb over the baby’s cheek, he received a babble of appreciation. Why couldn’t Honor be so easy to please?

His mother settled in a club chair with the baby in her lap and let him play with her onyx prayer beads. “Not going as you expected, is it?”

“Did she say something to you?” That wasn’t Honor’s style. She kept things bottled up.

“No, but there is a loneliness in her eyes that should not plague a new bride.”

A dagger-like stab pierced his heart. “I am not hurting her for sport, Mother. I can’t reach her. She won’t let me.”

After a long thoughtful pause his mother said, “Maybe you are going about it wrong.”

He loosened the silk tie that choked him. “Then tell me the right way. I am open to suggestions. Because right now, she just avoids me.”

“She is with the Minister of Education and the administrators for the American Schools. I asked
her to sit in on the meeting and give me her impression. She lit up like a Ramadan lantern.”

“And?”

His mother grinned broadly. “I got an afternoon with my grandson.”

Good for her perhaps
, but it didn’t help him.

“I don’t want to be the kind of mother who interferes in her children’s marriages…”

“Interfere with my blessing, Mother.” She couldn’t make things any worse at this point.

“She is out of her element and needs to find her place here
. And as someone more than your wife. If you wanted a princess, pardon the joke, you should have married a Nadiarian woman who found your title and your credit card your most endearing qualities.”

He laughed but felt no humor. “So where do I begin?”

“Try to make her feel at home. She was not prepared for a long stay. Just this morning she asked where the laundry facilities are. And I am ashamed to say, I don’t know. I haven’t washed my own clothes since I married your father.”

Honor had arrived with only one suitcase of clothing
. No wonder she rarely left the suite unless she had to. “I will take her shopping…”

His mother shrugged. “If you think that will please her
.”

Of course it wouldn’t please her. He just had to remember back to their last shopping
expedition.

“If I were in her shoes
I would want my own things around me to ease the transition.”

He recalled Honor
accusation about how she had nothing but her son. No wonder she clung so tightly to the child. “I will figure out something.”

“
And I will let you get back to work. I am going to take Joey to the gardens. He loves the flowers.”

“He seems to love his grandmother too.”

She grinned proudly. “Children adapt much faster than adults. But she will eventually, Yousef, if you are patient. I know that’s not your strongest suit.”

If that had been one of his virtues, he might not be in his current situation with Honor. Instead of getting back
to work, he started to formulate a plan. The Bedouins would wait a little while longer.

* * * *

The board
room in the east wing of the palace had a round teak wood table surrounded by twenty captains’ chairs. Glasses and water pitchers separated each seat. Honor parked herself quietly on the far side end of the table while a heated debated flared among the attendees.