The Sheikh's Miracle Baby Daughters Read online

  Frannie

  Frannie was usually apologetic about the state of her tiny apartment. She had been in London for less than a year, and really the only saving grace of her space was the fact that she didn't have to share it. It was tiny and ungracious, and so she had covered it with scarves and pillows she had purchased from second hand stores all over the city.

  Instead, the moment they entered her apartment and the door closed behind them, Frannie could only think about pulling out her camera, letting Khaliq wander through the place as if she had known him for years.

  “It's small,” he said.

  “Look out the window.”

  There was no need to ask which window. There was only one. She turned on her second hand lamp, throwing a scarf over the shade to give the light a softer glow. She smiled a little when she heard him murmur with surprise.

  There was no way her tiny, terrible apartment could have a skyline view, but somehow, it did. There was just enough space between the two buildings it sat close to to see a sliver of London's skyline, and Khaliq laughed a little.

  “Your stars.”

  “No, but they're close enough.”

  She took a shot of him like that, hands braced on her slender windowsill, half-illuminated by the lamp and a slight smile on his face. It was a good shot, and even if he never gave her permission to use it for anything, she knew she was going to be happy she shot it.

  “That's not digital,” she heard him say with surprise.

  “Nope. I'm a bit of a throwback. I like this better.”

  “I like you.”

  She jumped a little and almost defensively took a picture of Khaliq, one she knew would be imbued with the smoky quality she could not quite name in his eyes.

  “You...don't have to say that.”

  “But I do. Keep shooting.”

  Frannie knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It wasn't because Khaliq was the sheikh of Beian, or even because he was so handsome. No, it was because there was something almost supernaturally fluid about his movements, how he could make the slightest movement into poetry. Somehow, she felt as if she was seeing all of him, deep into him, without his removing a single piece of clothing.

  The only sound in the room was her camera's shutter, and then she became aware of his breathing, how it matched her own, and she had to swallow hard.

  What in the world am I doing?

  She might have wanted to tell herself that she didn't know the answer to that, but somewhere deep down she knew. When Khaliq reached for her, taking her camera from her slightly shaking hands, she knew that he knew too.

  “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

  Frannie couldn't stop herself from laughing at that, even if her laugh was more than a little breathy.

  “That's... I'm not beautiful.”

  “You are. You've never seen yourself when every line in your body is intent on your task, when your passion has taken you over.”

  “My passion...”

  “I want to see more of that passion. Will you let me?”

  There was something weighty about that question, as if there were consequences beyond what she could guess at. However, Frannie knew her heart was beating like a drum, and she couldn't quite get her breath back. There was no answer she could give but the truth.

  “Yes. Yes please.”

  Khaliq made a pleased noise that was somewhere between a growl and a purr, and he set her camera aside to reach for her.

  Something about having spent the last trackless hours taking pictures, engaged in her passion, Khaliq might have said, lent a charged atmosphere to her once-familiar apartment. Suddenly it felt as if her very consciousness was blurred, no, heightened. When Khaliq pulled her into his arms, it felt as if the world snapped into a sharp focus.

  “This feels familiar,” she found herself murmuring, and Khaliq chuckled. She could feel the mirth run through her entire body, and it lit a spark in her that warmed her as nothing else had. Then he kissed her, and Frannie stopped thinking at all.

  Khaliq was gentle at first, merely brushing his lips over hers again and again until her mouth tingled. It was only when she was almost over-sensitive that he deepened the kiss. A shock of pleasure ran through her as his tongue parted her lips, and then she could taste him as well. There was coffee and something salty and something that was uniquely male and uniquely Khaliq. Frannie felt almost drunk on him, and that was before she felt his hands on the hem of her T-shirt, pulling it up a little.

  She was carried away by his kiss, but not so very carried away she was spared a moment of anxiety. God, what was she thinking? He was one of the wealthiest men in the world, an international playboy. He had women who were models and starlets, the best, the most brilliant, the most glamorous. She was none of those things.

  “Sorry...”

  Frannie wasn't sure what she was going to say, but Khaliq lay a finger over her lips.

  “No. Do not be sorry. Believe me, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

  For some reason, his words made her almost tearful, but then he was pulling her T-shirt over her head, pulling her ponytail askew as he did so, and she was far too distracted to be worried any longer.

  “Well, look at you....”

  There was nothing but hunger in Khaliq's tone, and Frannie felt a blush, oddly pleased, on her cheeks. Her clothes were baggy, but that was mostly to account for her curves. She was no model, but her waist was surprisingly small even if her belly was soft and tender.

  “Has anyone ever taken a picture of you like this?”

  “No...no...”

  “That is a very great shame. You are beautiful.”

  And suddenly, sitting on her small bed, still in her jeans and her old bra, she felt beautiful. It made her laugh softly when Khaliq pushed her back on the bed, stripping her entirely with slow and deliberate motions. She felt as if she were being as revealed as she wanted her work to be. There was no anxiety or awkwardness anymore, and when Khaliq started to kiss the flesh he had bared, her belly, her shoulder, the curve of her hip, the muscle of her calf, she could only be grateful that her body allowed her to feel such wonderful things.

  “Your body is a delight,” Khaliq murmured, coming to lie down beside her on the bed. There was barely enough space, and so they were forced closer together, her naked body to his clothed one. She relished the difference, how it felt drawing her bare leg along the rough fabric of his jeans, but the anticipation for his bare skin against hers was nearly overwhelming. Frannie found herself tugging at his sleeve.

  “Will you take this off?”

  “I will,” he said with something that could only be called a smirk on his face. “Soon.”

  She started to ask what he wanted to do in the meantime, but the response was obviously touch her.

  She gasped when he started to kiss her again, but this time, it did not end with her mouth. He traced kisses to her neck and then down her throat even as his hands ran tenderly over her waist and hips. The bed creaked as he pulled lower, coming down to lay his mouth against the curve of her breasts.

  Frannie had never thought her breasts were that sensitive, but now she was proved wrong as his skilled mouth and the tips of his fingers found tender spots she wasn't even sure she had. When he ran just the bare edge of his teeth over the tightness of her nipple, she gasped, grabbing hard at his hair. She let go almost immediately, but Khaliq only laughed.

  “That's good. Show me how much you want me.”

  Fascinated, Frannie ran her fingers through his hair, marveling at the silky, slippery quality of his hair, how it was just long enough for her to grab and tug. The pleased noise he made when she pulled encouraged her even further, and it was as if her body had a dozen ways to welcome him.

  She found herself clinging to him as he explored her, and when he eased one hand between her strong thighs, she found herself opening for him as she had never opened for any man.

  Khaliq rewarded her welcome with gentleness, running ca
reful fingers along her lower lips before sliding just a fingertip along her opening. In another place, with another partner, Frannie might have been embarrassed by how wet she was, by the salty, earthy scent of her rising up from her arousal, but there was no space here for anything but arousal, for the sensations that Khaliq was raising up inside her.

  “Oh...oh please...”

  “Yes...”

  She felt him moisten his fingertips on her arousal before dragging his touch up to the very center of her, the place that seemed to crave his touch. When he passed his fingertip over that knot of sensation, she writhed, her hands digging into his shoulders, his back, anything she could reach.

  There was nothing impatient or hurried about his motions, but he was drawing a thunderous need from her. Frannie found her hips moving with his motions, as if she were being tossed on some kind of invisible tide. All she could do was cling to him as her pleasure rose and rose. She knew she was whispering his name, that she was whimpering and crying out, and that the pleasure inside her was coming up to a completely unbearable peak...

  Then he stopped.

  “Khaliq...!”

  Shocked, she looked up into his face, and she saw a hunger there that matched her own. The depth of it should have frightened her, but instead it took her breath away. There was a kind of beauty she had never seen before in it, and it made her feel almost wild with need.

  “Not without me. You wanted my clothes off earlier...now take them off of me.”

  That commanding tone again, and she shuddered at how it felt, like a shower of pleasure running over her. Another woman might have protested, might have felt her pleasure dim, but Frannie only felt the need in her swell and surge at the power in his tone.

  He stood up from the bed, and something very ancient and very womanly in Frannie was pleased to see that he was not as steady as his voice was. She rose up with him, and she didn't bother to hide the tremor in her hands as she started to unbutton his shirt. Despite the need that coursed through them both, she took her time with it, button by button before she pulled both it and the white shirt underneath it from over his head. She reached down to undo his jeans as well, but she was startled by his hand on her shoulder.

  “Down. On your knees.”

  There was a wildness in Khaliq's tone, and Frannie responded to it in a way she didn't understand but certainly was not going to question right now. She dropped to her knees as if her strings had been cut, and her fingers flew to the buttons of his jeans. She eased them down as if there was nothing more important in the world, and her heart beat faster when she realized that Khaliq was wearing no underwear at all. Instead, her questing fingers found his erection, silky against her fingertips, and with a motion that dragged a groan from Khaliq's lips, she pulled it out.

  “Frannie...”

  Perhaps there was something almost warning in Khaliq's tone, but she could no more help herself now than she could stop herself from falling on her knees at his command.

  She measured his cock with her fingers, sliding her palm along its length before wrapping her hand around it to measure its girth. The size of him made her heart beat faster, and she could feel his pulse along the length.

  How beautiful he is, every part of him.

  It seemed like the most natural thing in the world when she brushed her lips against the head of his cock, tasting the bead of liquid arousal there. Khaliq's groan of pleasure encouraged her, and she drew her lips along the shaft, let her tongue dance over the head, before she tried to take his cock in her mouth fully.

  She had done this before, but she knew she had never enjoyed it even half as much, when every caress of her mouth and tug of her hand brought a longing groan from Khaliq. She was growing drunk with how good she could make him feel, and it seemed to only enhance the arousal that simmered in her own body.

  Frannie was unprepared for Khaliq to grab her by her shoulders and drag her up again before throwing her down on the bed. She swallowed hard, watching him with wide eyes as he stripped off the remainder of his clothing, still graceful even if there was a kind of desperation in his motions that made her breath catch.

  “Khaliq?”

  “Another time, I may let you finish. Right now...I only want you too much.”

  His words made her whimper, but then he was on her, his powerful body arching over hers, and she couldn't think any longer. He came down on her bed, one knee planted between hers, and he captured her lips with his. It felt as if the desire in his body was telegraphed to hers, as if there was nothing in the world that could put out this fire.

  Frannie gasped when one strong hand came up to cup her face, cradling it and forcing her to look up at him.

  “Tell me you want me.”

  She started to say she did, and then she felt the head of his cock teasing at her opening, sending tremors of pleasure through her. All she could do was gasp, but Khaliq was relentless.

  “Tell me...tell me or I'll stop, Frannie.”

  The threat of Khaliq stopping made her want to cry out, and somehow, she found the words then.

  “Oh...oh please don't stop! Khaliq, please, please don't stop, I want you, I want you so much!”

  With a deep and satisfied growl, Khaliq plunged into her, making her shout with startled pleasure. For a moment, she was simply in awe of how they fit together, how he filled her, how her body grasped his, and then he was moving.

  With every smooth stroke, he pushed her pleasure higher and higher, making her writhe underneath him. Frannie's hands came up to grasp at Khaliq's shoulders, and she didn't care how hard her nails were digging into his muscular frame. All that mattered was how he was making her feel and how good she could make him feel.

  The fire inside her was spiraling higher and higher, and suddenly Frannie was afraid. Surely her body could not take this kind of pleasure. Surely she could not bear this pleasure, not when it crashed down on her. She almost opened her mouth to protest, but then the pleasure caught her up and tilted her over the edge.

  Frannie acted on pure instinct. She turned her head and buried her teeth in Khaliq's bicep, driving her teeth in hard as the pleasure tore through her. She was whimpering and moaning and overwhelmed by her own pleasure.

  She was only distantly aware of Khaliq's shout of pleasure as he followed her soon after. She felt his climax flood through her, and all she could think of was how good it felt and how perfect it was.

  Her climax seemed to last for years, the trembling in her limbs only dying down slowly in stages. She became aware that Khaliq's body was resting on hers, and she relished the weight of him as stunned by the pleasure between them as she was. She must have made a noise because he kissed her ear.

  “Am I too heavy?”

  “No...not at all. Don't move.”

  Of course he had to eventually, and she sighed a little as he went to her bathroom and she heard the water running. How could she still feel so good when it was over? Her body continued to hum with pleasure, and when Khaliq returned with a soft damp towel, she smiled at him.

  “Do you feel good?” she found herself asking, and Khaliq smiled at her.

  “Immensely so. And you?”

  “What you said. Immensely so.”

  At the back of her head, she could hear all of her doubts start up again, because sex, even amazing sex with an amazing man, couldn't quell them long. She was still a poor photographer's assistant, barely getting by in London, and she was not the type of woman who went for one night stands.

  Well, who knows. Maybe I am now. Or maybe Khaliq is just one amazing exception.

  She gasped slightly when Khaliq gently opened her legs again, washing her carefully. The towel was warm, and she relaxed into his soothing touch, only half-hearing the tender words of praise he was laying upon her.

  One amazing exception.

  ***

  Khaliq

  The sky outside Frannie's single window was beginning to turn from black to blue, and still Khaliq could not quite force himself to
rise and dress again. Instead, he lingered over her lush body, stroking her sleeping curves with a pleasure that was strangely possessive for him.

  He’d had her twice more before she’d finally fallen into a deep and satisfied sleep. His body could still remember hers, how good it had felt to have her in his arms, how amazing she could make him feel with the slightest touch or sigh.

  “There is something addictive about you, beautiful girl,” he whispered, and he smiled when she didn't even stir at his voice.

  Khaliq knew it was foolish, but he couldn't resist the urge to stay. Just a few hours ago, he had been saying that he was ready to be home, but this one encounter had done more to keep him in London than all the pleasures of the city could.

  Or better still, I could bring her to Beian.

  That thought startled him. He had hardly been a saint since he and Amina had ended things, but he had never wanted to bring any of the women that had filled his bed back to his home. They were satisfied with the man he was when he was abroad, the international playboy. They would have little interest in the statesman and leader he had to be at home, and until now, that had been fine with him.

  For some reason, however, he wondered if Frannie would be different. He suddenly wanted to bring her to the very top of Allulai, to show her the stars that were so close it felt as if he could reach up and touch them.

  Foolishness.

  He knew it was. He knew that for them, one amazing night was all they could have. She didn't fit in his world, and he was ready to be gone from hers. Still, he couldn't stop himself from touching her cheek and laying a gentle kiss there.

  On impulse, Khaliq reached for her camera. He’d had a class in college more than ten years ago, and he hadn't forgotten anything. There was something almost achingly beautiful and vulnerable about her, her brown hair scattered like wheat, her curves and the drape of her sheet covering her and revealing her sweet, bare body at the same time.

  He focused and took a careful shot before laying the camera aside. He ignored the voice that told him to stay, just for a little longer, and rose to dress.

  He was ready to be home.