The Sheikh's Resisting Lover (The Tazeem Twins Series Book 3) (3 page)

*****

As Tanya joined the others for dinner, she was dismayed to be seated across from James. It was the perfect seat for him because then, he could really look at her and take her in. She looked up and their gazes met.

“This is Tanya,” Rene said to James and gestured towards her.

“We've met,” Tanya said with a hint of displeasure in her voice.

“Oh, have you?”

“Yes, we have,” James said with a smile.

“Oh, okay,” Rene said as Tanya flashed her a smile. “She will be staying with us,” Rene added unsure what else to say as she looked at the two of them. Something clearly happened, but she didn’t know what. Tanya shook her head and picked up her cutlery.

“Good,” said James. “Welcome to the palace,” and
soon to my bed-
he thought to himself. The way she looked at him only fuelled his intrigue. She was clearly not impressed by him and he was going to change that. No woman could resist him, it was impossible.

“How was the office?” Tanya asked Joshua.

“It was fine,” he replied.

“He only went in for an hour today,” Rene stated as she looked at Tanya and grinned. “He doesn't work as much now.”

“That's good to know,” Tanya replied as she smiled at her friend. She knew how lonely it was for Rene when she first got here.  Joshua responded with a grunt before taking a sip of his wine.

“Oh sure, my brother can take more time to spend with you since he delegated much of his workload to me,” James joked. 

“You cannot handle it?” asked Tanya.

“I can handle many things,” replied James with an intense gaze. He could handle her and her feisty attitude.

“Good for you.” Tanya gave him a wry smile. James caught the sarcasm in her voice as he looked at her wondering if she caught his meaning. Suddenly a brown and white stray cat jumped over the low stone wall and slowly approached them.

“This cat!” Rene cried out with her hand on her heart. Joshua started laughing at her.

“Will you jump every time you see it?” he asked.

“I don't understand why there is a stray cat in the palace,” Rene said with a frown. James took some food off his plate and held his hand out to the cat.

“Oh, you are feeding cats now?” Joshua asked. Rene quickly took a picture of him and the cat with her phone.

“What is wrong with that?” James asked.  He crossed his eyes and looked at Rene. “Hey, did you just photograph me?” he asked her. She laughed and put the phone at the edge of the table where he could not reach it.

“I had to,” she said.

“It is a peculiar sight,” Joshua added as James shrugged his shoulders and scratched the cat behind the ears before turning his attention to Tanya.

“Do you like cats?” he asked her.

“Not really.”

“Why not?”

“I prefer dogs to cats.”

“Cats are evil,” Rene said.

“And sly,” Tanya added.

“Cats are elegant animals. Even their walk has poise,” James replied as he continued to pet the cat. Joshua, Rene and Tanya all looked at him oddly. Tanya laughed first before the other two joined her. “What?” asked James.

“That is strange,” Rene said.

“My brother gets that way sometimes.”

“Whatever,” James replied as he smiled and shook his head. When the cat had enough, he strolled off and James resumed eating.

As they all ate their dinner, James took every opportunity to study Tanya' s face. She had gorgeous, dark honey-coloured skin that was sprayed with freckles. She had full tempting lips that made him wonder if they tasted as good as they looked. Big hazel eyes and curly, light-brown hair that she had tucked into a messy bun.

She wasn’t much taller than Rene, but she had a curvy, hourglass figure that begged to be touched. Her voice was low and sultry unlike many of the women he dated, who tended to have higher-pitched voices, which would quickly grate on his ears. Whenever she made eye contact with him, she quickly looked away. James could tell that his gaze made her uncomfortable and he was enjoying her discomfort because that meant that she was at least a little interested in him.

Chapter 4

The next day, Tanya wanted to take a shower but had no idea how to work the damn thing. There were all these buttons that she could not understand. She wandered out of her room in hopes of running into Rene, but then she remembered that she had spent the night in Joshua's bed.

She stood in the doorway and folded her arms over her chest as she saw James walking from Joshua's quarters. He was wearing shorts and a tight tank top that looked sexier on him than the shirt he had on yesterday.

“Hey!” she called to him. He stopped walking and his face lit up when he saw her. He walked towards her and stopped right in front of her. Leaning against the door frame, he looked down at her.

“Hey, freckles,” he said to her. Tanya frowned at him. So he had already given her a nickname.

“Freckles,” she repeated as he smiled at her.

“How are you this morning?” he asked.

“Can you show me how the shower works?” she asked him. He raised his eyebrow.

“Are you inviting me to shower with you?” he asked with a mischievous look on his face. Tanya blushed and shook her head.

“No, I am not!” She turned on her heel, “Follow me,” she said as she walked towards her bedroom. James laughed as he followed her.

“You need to relax,” he said to her.

“What?”

“You are too uptight.”

Tanya did not respond to him. She understood what his motive was with all the flirting. He was rich and a prince. They always did what they wanted with women and she most definitely did not want to be another notch on his headboard.

At this moment, she just needed to shower and did not know how to make it work. When James popped up, he seemed like the easiest solution, but she was regretting asking him for help since he could not seem to stop flirting.

She had to admit though, when he asked her if she was asking him to shower with her, she did take a moment to picture him naked and wet. Granted, the way he wore his clothes left little to the imagination, but wet, he would look better than most of those male models on the calendars.

“Here,” Tanya said as she stopped at the entrance to the shower. James was just about to walk in when she pressed her hands against his chest to stop him from entering the shower.

“What?” he asked and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Do not enter the shower with your shoes on,” she told him. She was suddenly feeling nervous. She did not mean to touch him, but when she did; her hand seemed to sizzle against his chest, which was rock hard. Part of her wanted to rip his shirt off so she could touch his skin. She had always had a thing for muscular men and merely touching him was already doing strange things to her insides.

“Oh, come on,” he replied.

“No, James, take your shoes off.”

“James, huh,” a smirk appeared on his face. “So, we are on a first name basis now?” Tanya was confused as to what he was talking about.

“What else would I call you?” she asked him.

“Your highness or prince James or-” Before he could finish his sentence, Tanya cut him off.

“Or, get your butt in the shower and show me what all these buttons do,” she stated in exasperation. James laughed as he kicked off his shoes and walked into the shower.

“So, you are feisty AND bossy,” he said as he walked in. Tanya shook her head as she followed him. She loved taking showers and this particular one looked amazing. It was big enough to fit seven people and there were spray jets at different heights along the walls and Tanya could not wait to see what it felt like as the water hit her.

The shower enclosure was covered in over-sized tiles of Carrara marble and the floor was laid in small, flat river stones that massaged her feet as she stepped on them. But there was a small black keypad set into the wall with more buttons and settings than on her phone. She had tried randomly pushing buttons, but quickly grew frustrated when nothing happened.

“Feisty and bossy?” Tanya asked him.

“It's a good thing,” he said with a grin on his face.

“I just want to shower,” Tanya cried out. “Why are they all different? Shouldn't they be universal?” she growled. James laughed.

“It's not hard to work. I can't believe you could not figure it out,” he teased. Tanya pushed him playfully.

“Just make it work, James.”

“Yes, ma'am,” he answered, trying hard not to grin.

James started pressing different buttons, as he set her up as a user. As he walked her through the different settings, he showed her how to turn the spray jets on and off and the temperature settings.

“So you just need to press-” James said and before he finished his sentence, Tanya pressed the button and the shower kicked into action.

“Oh no!” Tanya cried out, as the two of them were instantly drenched. James’ white tank top clung to his muscular torso, revealing the beauty that lay beneath. Tanya’s loose t-shirt now clung enticingly to her breasts, as James stared at them. Tanya caught sight of a small twitch in his jaw and quickly turned to leave the shower but James caught her arm.

“What are you doing?” she asked him as she tried to pull free. “We are soaked.” She could not shake him off as he pulled her towards him. Staring at his lips, she suddenly wondered what they tasted like as she found herself leaning against the wall unsure if her legs would hold her up.

He leaned against her, as her already hardened nipples became painful as they pressed against his chest. He placed his arms on either side of her head as he looked down at her. She became acutely aware of him. He gave her a slow smile as he watched her body flush with desire.

Tanya had to force herself to remain standing when the only thing she could think about was the feel of his body against hers. It felt so good and so right as he instantly ignited the desire buried in her.

While she found him incredibly attractive, he was also conceited and she was at war with her body not to give in to whatever it was that she was feeling. James tilted his head and kept moving towards her until their lips almost touched. At the last moment, Tanya’s brain won and she managed to push him away, but could not hide that she was panting with the effort.

“What are you doing?” she asked him. For a few seconds he did not respond. He just stared at her with a mischievous look on his face.

“I was about to kiss you,” he said simply. Tanya was shocked at his boldness.

“Well, don't.”

“As if you do not want me to.”

“I do not.”

“You do.”

Pointing to the exit, “Go!”

“Do you really want me to?” he asked her as he moved closer to her.
No I do not-
said her subconscious.

“Yes, please leave. I would like to take a shower. Without you,” she lied. He had set her body on fire and she could think of nothing other than kissing him.

“Your mouth says one thing but your body says another,” James replied silkily, as she blushed.

“My body and my mouth are in sync. Please leave,” she said.

“Tanya!” They both heard Rene calling.

Waving her hands at him, “Thank you for showing me how to work the shower, but it’s time for you to go,” she said to him.

He gave her half a smile and backed away from her. He had a taunting look on his face, as if he was saying, “you are mine”. They had not done anything but Tanya was feeling like they had as she lightly touched her lips. Usually, no guy would have gotten that close to her that fast. He was lucky she had not slapped him. It had taken every fibre within her not to allow him to kiss her. He was the stuff fantasies are made of, until he opened his mouth to brag.

“Why is James walking out of here wet? Why are you in there with your clothes on?” Rene asked Tanya as she walked into her bathroom.

“He was showing me how to work the shower as I had no idea how to use it,” Tanya replied as she sat down.