The Sheikh Bear (6 page)

Elle lay there gasping, fighting to catch her breath even as she tried to glance down and find out what had happened.

Eventually, she straightened up against him, felt Malik droop his forehead against her shoulder and his sweat soaked hair clung to her skin.

When she glanced down, she saw long lines of white come over her belly.

“You…pulled it out?” She asked.

“Didn’t… bring a condom.” He replied, just as out of breath as she was.

“Idiot,” she scolded, but was smiling when he glanced at her.

“I’m on the pill.”

Malik returned her smile with one of his own, “One can never be too careful.”

“Well, now,” she paused to swallow back some air. “I’m all sticky.”

“Don’t complain,” Malik retorted.

Elle rolled her eyes before lifting her hands up toward his face. He met her kiss half-way, their lips making echoes of the slaps that had occurred between their bodies just moments prior.

“That was… amazing.” He muttered against her lips.

“Hmm…” Elle hummed, relishing the warmth between them despite the slight discomfort of the lack of air.

It was almost stifling, but she was pulsing and throbbing with so much ecstasy, it was hard to care. Eventually, caring had to come after their bodies recovered.

When Malik pulled away, Elle was forced to think of what they had just done, and what it meant for them in the future.

“Malik…” She spoke and she was pushing herself up to sit against the seat. She winced when she felt the damp between her legs shift weirdly as she moved.

Malik was already pulling out a packet of towlettes from the passenger door, offering it to her without a word. He seemed to be realizing what they had done as well.

Elle kept silent until she had cleaned herself up from the remains of Malik’s come, tossing the soiled tissues into a compartment he had pointed out to her quietly.

It was getting dark and the wind continued to thrash hard against the car. She wasn’t worried though, this was the sort of vehicle that could handle a little storm. What did worry her was Malik’s abrupt silence.

“Can we talk for a second?” She asked after a moment.

“Depends on what you want to say,” he replied.

Elle frowned, the endorphins rushing through her system made her feel light and flighty, but she knew that if they didn’t deal with this now… it would only get worse.

Huh… not running and hiding now are we, little owl?

“Did you mean what you said?” She asked cautiously, as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to do this.

“…Out there?”

Then he turned and looked at her,
really
looked at her and despite having watched each other come apart in throes of passion, Elle felt more exposed under his stare than she had before.

“That I liked you?”

The words made her feel that same embarrassment from before, and she nearly looked away shyly. Elle stamped down the urge instead, meeting his gaze head on.

She nodded, but couldn’t help but fidget and grip to the edge of her leather seat.

Malik moved then, breaching the space between them to cradle her cheeks in his hands. He hardly touched her, but there was intent in his hold and passion hidden within the darkness of his eyes.

“Of all the times I had lied to you…” he trailed off, jaw clenching for a moment.

“And I am sorry for that… for lying to you, tricking you. I have this idiotic tendency to act before I think. But if I can be honest with you, Elle, it’s that when I told you I liked you I wasn’t lying. I honestly liked you the moment you waltzed in and talked back to me, even though you had no idea who I was, you stood your ground. So, yes, Elle. I meant it.”

A small smile leaked passed her lips and she saw him smile back, that same charming smile he had given her when they had been connected and writhing together.

It had just happened between them, but Elle felt her body react at his touch. A shiver began deep within her to spread everywhere else and she took a shuddering breath when his smile wavered slightly to reveal a similar expression.

“Where do we go from here?” Elle muttered quietly.

Malik paused, just inches from kissing her before he pulled away.

The anticipation in her body slowed to a cold stop when Malik sighed slowly and peeled his skin away from her.

“You want my honesty, right, Elle?”

Elle nodded despite feeling a strange sense of foreboding deep in her stomach.

He looked away, dark eyes shadowed by the curls of his hair, “I have too many secrets… too many things that you should stay away from. And while I want nothing more than to take a step in your direction… I don’t know.”

When he looked at her, Elle felt as though someone had placed a thick wall between the two of them.

“I just don’t know.”

Chapter 12

By the time morning came, they came to discover that the car had very little gas at all. If they were lucky it would be enough to take them a few miles closer to the next town. The problem was that they didn’t know how much farther the next town could be.

The tension between the two hadn’t really improved, and since they had collided, it had now become more awkward than before. There was too much unsaid, too much that they didn’t know. They had taken a hasty step into unknown territory and were now paying the price.

Elle couldn’t help but kick herself mentally the entire time she sat back in the car and waited for Malik to say something. Her nerve and courage that came the night before was all snuffed out, leaving her to sit back in her damp clothes and hope this all ended quickly.

She felt insanely torn in so many places. The main reason was because she couldn’t ignore the fact that she had slept with her boss. The next thing that would plague her was the fact that her body wasn’t too keen on forgetting
exactly
how she had slept with her boss, and memories of their bodies rubbing together in hard thrusts left her aching and sore with the remnants of desire.

Another part would then squabble with the other factors, insisting that what could happen to her now that she had broached this forbidden boundary she was doomed to face the consequences.

What consequences? Elle didn’t really know.

All she knew was that she had probably broken nearly all the Rules in one fell swoop.

Except that one.

With a groan, Elle recounted that one particular rule, the one that she must attend to the Sheikh’s every needs. Well technically she did sort of do that, even if it meant she also attended to her needs as well. She just hoped that one little rule would be enough to keep her safe from being hunted down by Arab families.

That was another thing. What if their actions caused some kind of terrible situation between the two countries?

When Elle had done her own research, she had basically discovered that Sheikh Zayn Abd al Malik was practically a prince from his country. Did she just have mind shattering, world spinning sex with a Prince?

He probably had diplomatic immunity, but she sure as hell didn’t!

What would this mean for her?

A knock on the glass of her window nearly spooked Elle from her seat and just then she realized that she had been busy gnawing at her thumbnail anxiously.

Glancing up, she saw Malik, standing outside and offering her a water bottle that he must have gotten from the trunk.

Swallowing thickly, she recognized the little truce offering and opened her door. Malik stepped back for her to stand up, and there was a silence between them that was almost as deafening as the sound of insects and forest life in the woods around them.

“Here.” Malik sighed.

Elle took the water bottle wordlessly. They shifted awkwardly for a moment until Elle couldn’t take it any longer.

“Look, I need to know…” She began and when he looked at her, she nearly faltered.

“I want to make sure that what we did… that wasn’t a mistake… was it?”

He crossed his arms, shifting his weight against his heels.

“Do you regret it?”

Elle opened her mouth to speak, but the air caught in her throat. There was too much. Far too much she didn’t know.

When she glanced away, Malik let out a slow sigh.

“Would you hate me if I told you I didn’t?”

Elle snapped back toward him, green eyes wide.

“Why? Aren’t you worried…? I mean, what do we do? Should I be worried about my job? Should I be worried if someone finds out? You probably have safety but I don’t. In the end, I’m still a nobody from Issaquah, and you’re a
Sheikh
from Dubai.”

Malik took a step forward, his jaw tight with mild self-restraint, “See, that’s what I don’t care about. Do you know how many people in my life constantly remind me and use me for my title? My status? Everyone, Elle. Everyone I’ve ever met has only been interested in me because I have what I have… But you…? You and Avani…” he broke off, thick brows furrowing together.

Avani…?

And then Elle remembered. She knew Malik had been hurting, she knew the pain he was feeling, because she recognized it intimately.

She remembered how Avani had a baby the day Elle had arrived for her first day, remembered Malik’s biting comment on the event instead of appearing happy for the woman. And it all clicked into place.

“You love her, don’t you?”

Malik turned a rueful smile up at her, and he let out a soft laugh.

“She’s not unlike you, you know. She was headstrong, always kept me in check. But she fell in love with some other bloke, and I was too late to tell her how I felt. That day when you walked in, I had been counting down the hours, hoping that she wouldn’t show up—that she would stay far away because all she could ever talk about was how happy she was for having this baby, and I could only hate myself for hating it.”

Suddenly he let out a short laugh.

“Then you walk in, wearing this awful two piece get-up and all I can think to myself is, my god there is no rest for me at all is there? You just waltzed in… and I liked you instantly.”

Elle shook her head slowly, not making a certain connection, “Hold on… then why didn’t you…?”

He filled in the words for her.

“Tell you that I was your boss? That I was the bloody Sheikh of Dubai? Because when you saw me you had
no clue
who I was and I couldn’t remember the last time someone talked to me like a normal person. So yes, I lied to you, I tricked you…”

He stopped for a moment, and she could feel a twinge of something begin in her heart that she hadn’t felt since before Alex left her.

“But that was because I didn’t want you to lie and trick me.”

Elle stared at him, stunned speechless as her mind traced his words and focused on the earnest gleam of his eyes.

In the pale sunlight of this dreary day, he still looked radiant, despite the wrinkled clothes and the bit of stubble growing over his jaw. How could someone so powerful look so vulnerable?

Slowly, Elle took a step closer, before nodding softly at him. Gingerly, she reached a hand out to catch his between her fingers.

It was odd, because she wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing, but she could feel his pulse against her fingertips and it was racing just as hard as hers was. Linking their fingers, Elle blinked back up at Malik before giving him a shaky smile.

“No more lies and tricks?”

She asked meekly and Malik returned her smile just as he took another step closer. Pressing his forehead against hers, Malik sighed and Elle could feel a bit of relief ease the tension burrowing in her shoulders.

“No more lies and tricks.”

Chapter 13

It had taken the rest of the day to wait for someone to come help them. After finally reaching Alliana, the woman had asked them to turn on the GPS function in the car and use what little gas they had left to emit a signal—which was ridiculous to Elle, but she just went with it.

Hours later and several conversations later between Elle and Malik that allowed them to share more about one another, a team of Malik’s guard arrived.

To Elle’s dismay, Malik resumed his guise as the Sheikh, keeping firmly away from her and even addressing her formally in front of the caravan. The performance nearly broke at Elle’s heart but one single glance of sincere apology from Malik managed to convince her to stay strong.

They rode off and made their way back to their city, where for the large remainder of the drive was spent with Malik making many phone calls to apologize for his absence during their client’s meeting. Elle almost felt sorry for him, but when he glanced at her and she gave him a little smirk, he could only smirk back before continuing his slew of apologies.

They managed to stop at a motel in order to wash up and dress in clean clothes before continuing their journey back.

The entire ride back, Elle couldn’t help but worry about what else would come.

Would she be pursuing a secret relationship with the Sheikh? Would that even work out?

There was still so much she didn’t know, but she was willing to see how far they could be able to go—so long as they were together, and Elle supposed that wasn’t so bad.