Beauty and the Sheikh (13 page)

It could not be possible, could it?

Rafiq braced himself up on one arm to look down at Holly and saw the answer as clearly as if it had been written on her face. “You are a virgin?”

Her lashes lowered and pink stained her cheek. “Was a virgin, until about ten seconds ago.” Her eyes closed. “I had hoped you wouldn’t notice.”

“I may not have, had your reaction not given you away.” He stroked a hand over her hip.

A virgin. Her body untouched, save for him, just as she’d told him two years ago—only, he hadn’t believed her. Guilt mingled with the possessiveness sweeping through him.

“Please, don’t stop, Rafiq. I want this so much. And it doesn’t feel uncomfortable anymore. See?”

Rafiq groaned as the muscles of her sex tightened around him. “Sweetness, do you have any idea what you are doing to me?”

She lifted her head enough to press a kiss against his shoulder. “I think I have an idea.”

His vision blurred and he closed his eyes. Later. Later he would think about what Holly’s virginity entailed, but for now nothing else mattered but taking her the way he needed to. Everything primitive and male within him demanded he take her completely and claim her. 

Rafiq lowered himself onto her again, moving slowly in and out of her tightness. Her body welcomed him this time without resistance. Her cries of passion inflamed him and each stroke into her brought him closer to ecstasy. 

And then they were there, toppling into paradise together. Rafiq groaned as he emptied himself inside her.

Only some time later, when Holly lay sleeping, did he allow himself to think about what he’d just done. He sat in bed beside her with his computer on his lap, but very little work was getting done.

Another heavy realization was he’d taken her without protection. Something he’d never, ever been foolish enough to do. But somehow, nothing about this night was normal.

What if Holly became pregnant? It was entirely possible. The idea swirled in his head, causing chaos and unease in its wake. But there was another emotion, something close to excitement and a sense of rightness he dared not acknowledge.

Holly carrying his child could be nothing other than complicated. Not when he should be seeking out a union with an Arabic woman of high breeding.

For centuries, the sheikhs in his family had looked at marriage as a way to gain power; rarely did it have to do with love.

Love? Unease circled in his gut. Where had that thought come from?

Holly moaned softly and curled closer to him. She looked so vulnerable, so innocent as she slept. Her long, slender body curled up next to him. 

Now he knew the reason she’d given off such an impression at times was because she literally was so damn innocent. Holly had given him her virtue moments ago, without him being her husband, with no hint of a ring. The only promise she’d had from him was his promise to seduce her and then discard her.

Perhaps he was the savage bastard Byron had accused him of being.

Rafiq reached out to trail a finger down the softness of her cheek, and she answered with a soft sigh in her sleep. His heart swelled and for a moment he almost gave into the urge to lie down and pull her into his arms.

Everything within him wanted to hold her again, to feel the delicate curve of her body pressed up against his. He wanted to revel in the soft caress of her breath against his shoulder as she slept deeply.

A virgin. 

He couldn’t help but continue to marvel the truth. Something completely male and primitive inside him responded to the realization. His chest rose as he drew in a slow breath.

She is mine
.

The thought flickered through his head, seeming so right and yet disturbing.  

So many men had wanted her—how was it possible she’d taken none to her bed? She was still young, it was true, but the life she’d lived could hardly be called sheltered.

And yet still, she’d wound up here, in his bed, so trusting and dangerously naïve. She was nothing like he’d expected her to be.

Two years ago he’d sent her away, thinking her claim of innocence was a lie. He’d ruined her reputation… Was it possible she had nothing to do with her manager’s plans, as she’d said all along? Could he really have been so completely wrong?

The possibility nearly made him ill.

“Rafiq?”

He stilled as Holly propped herself up and blinked some of the sleep from her eyes.

“What time is it?”

“Nearly midnight. I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

She pushed a strand of hair from her face, and he recognized the uncertainty in her gaze. “You’re working this late? You should be sleeping.”

Rafiq could’ve sworn she held her breath as she waited for him to reply.

But she had no need to worry. Now that she was awake, the urge to hold her overrode any other instinct. Work could wait. It had already taken a backburner to his thoughts for the past hour.

“Of course you are right,
habiba
.” He closed his laptop and set it on the polished black bedside table. Reaching out, he turned off the lamp, and darkness immediately swallowed the room.

He sensed her hesitation as he slid beneath the sheets to join her. 

“Are you upset with me?” Her words were still tinged with sleep, but it held enough worry to make his gut twist.

“Not at all.” If there was anyone he was upset with, it was himself. “Come here.”

When he slid an arm beneath her she scooted willingly into his embrace, burrowing her head against his shoulder with a sigh of content.

“Good night, Rafiq.”

“Good night, Holly.”

Only a few minutes passed before she was once again asleep. And though he’d sworn he wasn’t drowsy, his own eyes drifted shut.

Before he drifted into slumber, those words flitted through his head again. More intense and no less disturbing.

She is mine
.

Holly woke early with the sunrise. Apparently she hadn’t closed the curtains to the bedroom window last night and the bright sun was far more effective in waking her than any alarm.

She blinked her eyes open and her gaze landed on Rafiq’s naked, muscled chest. Memories slammed into her, one after another, ousting any lingering sleepiness.

Wow. They’d made love last night. But if she needed any more of a reminder, the slight ache between her thighs was proof enough.

Their bodies were almost melded together. One of his legs was between hers, and a heavy arm draped almost possessively over her waist.

“Are you always such an early riser, Holly?” 

Her gaze darted up to his face and she found his heavy-eyed gaze watching her. A self-conscious flush spread through her as the butterflies in her stomach started their morning acrobats.

“Not always,” she admitted. “The sun woke me.”

“Did it now?” But he didn’t wait for a response, instead lowering his head to cover her lips with his.

Holly sighed as everything inside her went soft and warm. She curled her fingers around his muscular shoulders and opened her mouth to his warm exploration. The increasingly familiar tingles of pleasure slid through her body, and an ache started low in her body. She moaned softly and pressed her tongue against his. Moving her legs restlessly against him, the ache inside her grew.

Rafiq slowed the kiss before lifting his head. He groaned softly and pressed his forehead against hers. “I have a breakfast meeting scheduled shortly,
habiba
.”

Disappointment took over her happiness, but Holly managed a small nod. She didn’t like the idea of him leaving her so soon, but this was a business trip for him. What had she expected?

“Of course. I’m sorry, Rafiq.”

“What on earth are you apologizing for?” His tone held amusement, but then he sighed. “Truthfully, if anyone is owed an apology it is you.”

“Me?” She looked up at him again hesitantly. “Why would you owe me one?”

“I was up for hours last night. Struggling with my conscience.”

Was he about to say he regretted what had happened last night? Her heart did a little twist, but she forced herself to look unaffected. “And what was bothering you?” 

“I believe I’ve misjudged you. Far too many times.” His expression gentled as he pushed back a strand of hair that fell near her eye. 

So he didn’t regret it. The tension in her muscles eased once more.

“All this time, Holly. You kept your virtue.”

She started to laugh but stopped as his brows drew together. “I’m sorry, Rafiq. I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just that virtue is such an old-fashioned word.” She sighed. “And it wasn’t really a conscious effort to not have sex. I just never found a man I wanted to go to bed with.”

He arched a brow. “But that changed with me?”

“Yes, it did.” There was no reason to lie.

“Thank you.” He leaned forward to brush his lips gently over hers again. “It was a gift I am not sure I deserved or am worthy of.” He brushed his thumb over her mouth. His gaze darkened as he murmured. “But make no mistake, I am honored to have received it.”

It was virginity. She bit her tongue to keep from blurting out that most of the girls she’d known had been sleeping with men since they were teenagers. 

She hadn’t ever intended to be a twenty-three-year old virgin, nor had she desired to be cavalier with her affections. Maybe she hadn’t slept with Rafiq as his wife, but she didn’t regret it. If anything, she wanted it to happen again. Wanted to learn and experience so much more than what had happened last night, and she wanted him to be the one to teach her.

Though she wasn’t foolish enough to hope he’d develop feelings for her. 

Or aren’t you?

No. She had to stay realistic. Practical. How many women had Rafiq taken to his bed over the years? She couldn’t begin to allow herself to think she was special.  

Which was so much easier said than done.

Chapter 11

“Holly?” 

Rafiq’s soft use of her name brought Holly out of her turbulent thoughts. “Yes?”

“Tell me again what happened that day.”

“Which day?” But she already had a clue.

“The day I walked in on you and your manager. You tried to tell me once before, but I failed to listen.”

Holly shifted in his arms, trying to push aside her unease. He wanted to hear her side of the story again? Would he believe her this time? “I never went to Raljahar with the intention to seduce you. I realized the chances of getting you to agree to our request were slim, but that didn’t matter to me.” She hesitated. “Especially after I met you.”

She swallowed hard and dropped her eyes from his searching gaze. It was easier to recount the event while staring at the black swirls of hair on his chest. Harder, though, not to reach out and toy with them.

“When my manager realized we’d…grown close, she approached me with the idea of trying to seduce you as a way to secure your approval of us being there. I was utterly horrified at her behavior, Rafiq, that she would assume I would ever consider such an idea, and the way she referred to you.” 

She did reach out now, longing to touch his solid warmth and feel the beating of his heart beneath her fingertips. “I know how it must’ve looked. How terrible it sounded when you overheard us. I probably would’ve jumped to conclusions myself—”

“I should have trusted you more,” he rasped and caught her wrist, stilling her fingers in their exploration. He lifted her hand toward his lips and brushed a kiss against the pulse fluttering wildly in her wrist. “Especially after the time we spent together. It was wrong of me, Holly. Quite wrong. And I’m sorry. I don’t…” He hesitated and then shook his head. “I’m not one who trusts easily.”  

It was an apology two years after the fact, but it was a balm against painful wounds that had never healed. 

She knew the confession hadn’t been easy for him. A tiny cloud of bleakness that had lingered around Holly’s heart lifted. Never before had she allowed herself to admit how devastating his reaction to her had been, how much his judgment had hurt. “Why don’t you trust easily, Rafiq?” 

He didn’t pull away physically, but she sensed the immediate mental withdrawal. His gaze became unreadable as he offered a dismissive shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”

And then he did pull away as he slid out of bed.

Why couldn’t he confide in her? The frustration that threatened faded as she watched him cross the room naked. Her breath caught as she drank in all the corded muscles and defined lines of his body. 

Beneath his traditional robes one could see Rafiq was powerfully built, but to see him without clothes…he was beautiful. 

Her heart stumbled over a beat and she forced herself to look away, swallowing hard.

“I must get ready for the day. Are you hungry, Holly?” 

She sat up in bed, holding the sheet against her breasts. “I’m…I suppose I could eat something.”

“You should eat,
habiba
.” He shrugged into a hotel robe and cast a disapproving look her way. “You’ve grown thinner since when I first met you.”  

She’d grown thinner? She bit back a soft laugh. That was ridiculous. She’d actually gained weight since she’d stopped modeling. Nearly ten pounds, last she’d checked. “I promise, I haven’t been starving myself in the least. Would it reassure you if I called down and ordered room service?”

“No, you are not to lift a finger for anything today.” He crossed the room and then reached for the phone on the desk. “I want you to relax and spend your morning recovering.”

“Recovering?” She laughed softly. “Rafiq, I’m not coming out of major surgery here. For goodness sake, we had sex.”

He stilled. “Sex.” The way he said the word made it sound like she’d insulted him, but then he shrugged. “Of course you are right, but I would feel better knowing you are having a peaceful morning.” He returned his attention to the phone call as he placed their order.

Would he come back to bed while they waited for the food? Her pulse quickened at the possibility he might want to make love to her again.

Even though she’d absently referred to it as sex, what had happened last night had been nothing but making love. Just…without the love part. At least, on Rafiq’s end. She needed to be so very careful, because each day she spent with Rafiq made her realize how easily her heart could become a casualty in this unplanned affair.