Sheikh's Unlikely Desire Read online

  For some reason, the thought made her flinch, and she put it away.

  Zayn must have noticed, because he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her snugly against him. “Are you all right? Shall I have the driver turn down the air conditioner?”

  “I'm fine,” she said softly. “Just... I don't know, maybe a little lonely?”

  “Mm, I could understand that, I think.”

  They made the ride in silence, and once they reached the Marseilles, she hesitated. She knew that she should call for her car, but then Zayn turned to her expectantly. She could only pray that he never figured out how convincing those green eyes were when they were soft and warm.

  “Come up for a moment,” he said. “My secretary in Almira faxed me some documents that she thought you should have.”

  “Oh! Yes, I'll come up right away.”

  She didn't know who she was fooling. She wanted to spend just a little more time with him. Leah was all too aware that when tomorrow came, she would be embroiled in the case. He would become her client in truth. Tonight, however, he was something else, and she wanted to hold on to it for as long as she could.

  Moving slowly so she wouldn't trip in her red heels, she got into the elevator with him. For some reason, she caught a slight grin from Azim as they went up. He was a man with a face as hard as granite, and when he smiled, it was as if the rock had cracked and lifesaving water had come out.

  “You are very beautiful,” Zayn said casually, as if he were just passing the time of day.

  Leah laughed a little. “The dress is pretty incredible. I saw it, and I just had to-”

  “I don't think I said anything about the dress,” Zayn said with a grin. “Just the woman wearing it.”

  Leah knew that his words were just a kindness. The most that people could say about her was that she was cute on a good day. On a court day, when she needed to be as sharp as a razor and as mean as a shark, they said other things.

  They were silent until they got back up to the penthouse. Someone had left the lights on, but they were dimmed to a soft amber glow.

  “The papers?”

  “Right here,” Zayn said, presenting her with a tidy manila folder. “She was convinced that you should have them if you are to move forward.”

  “If you give me her number, I can talk with her myself as well,” Leah offered. “Unless you want to be involved in this process, there is no need to have you bothered. After all, really, your job should be to simply sit back and let us do our... jobs...”

  Leah realized she was rambling, and then that Zayn was coming closer to her. She had known that he was a big man, but in the dimness of his penthouse, with the noise of the world shut away behind them, he filled her vision. Sometime during dinner, the top few buttons of his shirt had come undone, revealing a triangle of bronze skin beneath. For a brief and mad moment, Leah had an urge to bring her lips to that skin, to kiss it.

  “I saw you today dealing with that cop,” Zayn said softly. “I saw fire in you, and I knew that if I did not at least tell you, I would regret it for all my born days.”

  “That… might be a very long time,” Leah offered. She had the idea in the back of her head that she should back away, that she should do something to maintain a professional distance. However, right now, she didn't feel much like a professional, and the last thing that she wanted was to keep her distance.

  “To say the least. So right now, I want to tell you that I see that fire in you, and what I want very much, what burns inside me, is the need to possess it for myself.”

  One person can't own another. She wasn't a prize to be won. Those words and others tangled in Leah's mind, but they blew away like so many fall leaves when he came close and touched the tip of his finger to her chin, lifting her face to look at him.

  “Come be mine,” he said.

  With her heart beating hard in her chest, Leah made a soft sound and nodded.

  With an elegance and grace that took her breath away, Zayn dipped his head to hers. The first brush of his lips across her mouth was electric, so gentle she could have moaned. He did it over and over again, just a little gentler than she might have wished, and she barely noticed that those trembles spread throughout her body. He was teasing her, bringing her to a fever pitch, and she didn't know how much longer she could stand it.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “Please stop?”

  “No, please more.”

  His laugh was a dark thing, and then his mouth fell on hers. Where before he had been delicate and teasing, now that finesse was left behind in favor of something far more primal. His arms dragged her flush against his body, and his tongue plunged between her lips. She cried out a little, but she couldn't keep herself from sucking on it, wildly aware of the heat of him, of his heavy arousal pressed against her belly, of the way his hands pulled her so close.

  “Beautiful, beautiful woman,” he whispered. “I could travel the world and not meet another like you.”

  Leah knew that it was just sweet words, but a part of her thrilled to hear it. They were words she had read, words she had heard used about women all around. She was not a native of LA, but she had been there long enough to see the extraordinary beauty produced by generations of wannabe rock stars and movie stars.

  In most of her life, she would have shrugged off those words for the flattery that she knew it to be, but right this moment, she let the words in. She let Zayn in, drinking him down like rain over a parched land. When he lifted her in his arms, her feet in their ridiculous shoes dangling, she purred in pleasure and flung her arms around his neck.

  He carried her to the bedroom, which was dominated by the white expanse of an enormous bed. She had a moment to take in its size before he laid her down on it. Her shoes had come off somewhere between the living room and the bed, but she hardly cared. She watched as Zayn slowly stripped for her, revealing inch by inch a tanned body that made her want to touch it immediately. Instead, she held herself back until he was naked and crawling into bed with her.

  “I want to take off my clothes,” she stuttered.

  Zayn laughed. “Let me.”

  He shifted her over onto her stomach, finding the zipper at the nape of her neck with ease. She shivered at the rush of cool air that swept over her skin as he opened her dress. She was momentarily grateful that she was wearing a black bra and panties that night. They didn't match, but they were far better than the normal mismatched items she usually wore.

  When her bra was unfastened and her dress was open, she tried to roll over on her back, but he kept her pinned with casual force. He unpinned her bun, sweeping his fingers through her hair until it was ruddy and glowing underneath his hands.

  “So very lovely, and so very rare...”

  She could feel him admiring her hair for a moment before he gently pushed it aside, baring the nape of her neck to his mouth. She shivered at his first kiss, and that was before he swept the sensitive skin there with his tongue. There was something intoxicating about the care and time he was taking. He moved as if he had all the time in the world, and every moment of that time would be bringing them both pleasure.

  Leah whimpered as his mouth trailed down her spine, past the first bumps to the curve right above the swell of her rear. His mouth worked there for a moment as his hands gently swept over her skin, setting her slowly and inexorably on fire. She realized she was squirming into the mattress, but she didn't care.

  Finally, he drew back and lifted her into a sitting position. She had known that he was sleekly muscled, and now he showed her how strong he was. He lifted her dress off of her and pulled off her bra as well. Now she simply sat in her panties, gazing up at him.

  She reached gently for him, hesitating as if he might say no. Instead, his green eyes, glowing in the soft light, only widened when she reached to touch his shoulder, sweeping down to his muscular chest and then back up to his throat. She touched him lightly, running just her fingertips over him until he was trembling.
/>   It came to her that she had power over him in this moment. She could see the way his body shook for her, the naked need in him. Biting her lip, her hands drifted down to his hips, and then against the hard column of his erection. She couldn't stop herself from gasping when she felt his size and the heat of his cock. It was like silk over steel in her hand, and when she slid her finger through the moisture at the tip, he groaned deep in his throat.

  “Is it...”

  “Please, more,” he murmured, his words a deliberate echo of her own from before.

  Biting her lip, she closed her fingers along the length of his shaft, stroking along it until he groaned again. Something about being able to summon this desire from him made a tremor of need run through her. It was as if she could feel his desire and his pleasure like her own. She closed her legs tightly, drawing that pleasure out as she stroked his cock.

  His body trembled, his hands fisted on the sheets, but just when she thought that he had to give in, that he had to orgasm, he surprised her all over again.

  He tipped her away and rolled her onto her back. In the dimness of the room, he rose above her, blocking out all of the light. For a moment, she wondered what it would be like to be a captured girl, taken all unknowing to the sheik's tent.

  “Such a beautiful woman,” he murmured.

  His hands stroked down her sides. When they came to her panties, he hesitated for a moment, and then with a shrug, he simply tore them from her body. They gave way with a rough purring sound, and even that she felt as a special kind of pleasure. Now she was entirely bare. There was nothing between her and this powerful man, and an erotic thrill shot through her.

  “I can smell you,” he murmured thickly, stroking his fingers over her mound. Now that he mentioned it, she could smell herself, too, that thick scent of musk and desire that made her groan. At just the barest pressure from his hands, she parted her legs, letting him see her with more clarity than she had ever allowed anyone else.

  “Ah, look at how ready you are for me,” he whispered. “Look at how your body weeps for me.”

  He stroked his fingers along her entrance, bringing the moisture up to circle her clit. At his first unerring touch, she nearly came off the bed, but then she dug in her heels, gritting her teeth. His slow and insinuating touch drew the fire that lived at the center of her straight up to the surface, creating a need in her that she had never felt or fulfilled before. She needed to follow it. She needed to see where it ended up.

  Before she was nearly ready for him to stop, he pulled his hand away. He laughed when her eyes flew open, shocked and needy.

  “Soon, soon I'll give you what you need, little darling,” he murmured. “Trust me, only trust me a little longer.”

  She swallowed, watching as he reached for the nightstand and withdrew a new box of condoms. She watched, aware of a certain fascination, as he pulled the latex sheathe over his erection. Leah couldn't stop herself. She reached out to touch it with gentle fingers, making him groan with satisfaction.

  “Here, now let me give you what we both want.”

  He knelt between her legs, scooping her hips up so that she was tilted toward him. It was another reminder for her of his immense strength. He could haul her around as if she weighed no more than a doll, but no matter where he touched her, he was only gentle.

  “There we are...”

  She gasped when she felt the blunt tip of his cock against the entrance to her body. For a few moments, he seemed completely uninterested in actually entering her. Instead, it slid against her slick skin, raising her arousal to even greater heights.

  “Please!” She was completely beyond words except for that one. She was only a plea for him to have her, to give her what she needed.

  He nodded, and she caught a glimpse of his white grin again. With the same unerring accuracy and grace of a fencer, he lunged forward, filling her completely in a single stroke.

  “Ah!” Leah's cry was mingled pleasure and pain, and somehow, he could tell.

  “Leah? Leah, are you all right?”

  He went utterly still, something that Leah very much appreciated as she trembled, trying to reconstruct her scattered thoughts. The twinge of pain that had clenched her body upon his entry was already fading, and she could feel muscles made taut by surprise loosening up.

  He started to pull away, but Leah gripped at his hips, wrapping her legs around him beseechingly. “No... No, please, I don't want to stop...”

  “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, licking her lips. Even the small motions he was making inside her rekindled her desire, and the last thing in the world that she wanted just this moment was for him to stop.

  “I am,” she replied. “Just... please... It's only that it has been a little while for me...”

  Whether or not he thought her a pathetic spinster for her admission, she couldn't tell. All she knew was that he drew almost completely out of her before surging forward again. This time, she could feel how fully he was buried in her, but there was no pain, only a delicious pressure that made her moan. When he did it again, she pulled him even closer with her legs.

  “Oh yes,” she whispered, her eyes shut tight. “Please, I want this so much...”

  “Good,” Zayn growled. “So... do... I!”

  His pace was steady, but then in a few minutes, it began to quicken. She could feel the snap in his hips as he pressed into her, and corresponding to the primal rhythm he set, she could feel the pleasure in her quickening as well, like a fire being fed dry bits of tinder. The buildup was slow until all of a sudden, she realized that she could no longer control it. There was no way on earth she could stop the pleasure from building up the way that it did, nothing she could do to prevent herself from moaning as it went higher and higher.

  “Oh... Oh, Zayn, please!”

  This time, she didn't have to articulate what she wanted because it was right there. The moment the words left her mouth, she started to shake, and then the fire was running with lightning speed up and down her body.

  She shouted, she might have screamed. The pleasure struck deep within her, refusing to pull back. Leah was ravaged. Everything in her was thrust toward that pleasure. It consumed her, and she dug her nails into the bed, nearly sobbing with the intensity of it.

  Zayn's breathing quickened. Now she could feel the desperation as he pushed into her body over and over again. There was a deep need, a deep and passionate craving for her, and now he was going to see it fulfilled.

  He roared as he poured himself into her body, dragging her hips flush against him as he did so. He shook, and Leah thought of thunder gods, of gods of the desert who bore down on the world and wreaked their will.

  Then he pulled away from her, lying down next to her with a soft groan, and he was Zayn again.

  For several long minutes, they lay next to each other. In the dimness, she could barely make out his features, but she knew he was smiling. He reached out to touch her face, running his fingertips over her skin as carefully as he would if she were made out of fine porcelain.

  “Are you well?” he asked.

  She chuckled a little bit, but found she was too tired to do very much of that. “Couldn't you tell?” she murmured teasingly. “I was certainly loud enough.”

  He smiled, but he shook her head. “When I first entered you, you were in pain.”

  Something about the blunt way he phrased it made her squirm. She was not a woman who was often vulnerable in front of men. That he was lying in the dark, watching her with those serious eyes and asking her those questions made something inside her feel warm and soft. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

  “I was fine...” she started.

  He shook his head. “Never lie to me.”

  In another man, it might have been a request. From Zayn al-Fasi, it was a command.

  “It hurt a little,” she admitted. “But please, don't worry. It was... it was barely a sting, and I feel just fine now.”

  “Hm. Has it b
een a while since you've been with a man?”

  She made a face. She was about to say that was fairly personal, but then she thought about what they had done and shrugged uncomfortably. “A while,” she said. “Truly. The pain was nothing. Can we please stop talking about that?”

  He looked a little troubled, but he shrugged. “As you like.”

  She thought that he would rise and go to the bathroom to clean himself, but then he surprised her again. With a single gentle motion that reminded her all over again of his strength, he stood and scooped her up in his arms.

  “Come on,” he murmured. “Come and get clean.”

  He carried her into a lavish bathroom done up in black marble and chrome, and he didn't put her down until they were in the shower. She was a little startled to see that there was no standard shower head, and then he turned the knob.

  “Oh!”

  The water sprayed down on them from the grate above, and instead of being a regular shower pattern, it was as if she were standing in a rainstorm, one that was delightfully warm and gentle.

  Zayn smiled at her delight, and then he brought up a soft scrubber that felt like pure heaven when he brushed it over her body. When he poured out a measure of the soap, her nose tickled a little. There was just a bare hint of florals in the soap, but overall, it was a woodsy, musky scent, one that was just light enough to be worn normally.

  “I'm going to smell like you,” she said with a grin.

  “Good. Then people will know who you belong to.”

  Leah laughed at that, but there was something serious about Zayn's words as well. She shook it off. They were simply more lovely words from a truly lovely man, and she would be a fool to think that they were real.

  To her surprise, he dried her off before he dried himself off, and then he led her back to the bed.

  “I... I should perhaps get going,” she temporized, but then she was lying in that enormously soft bed, the length of her body cradled by his.

  “Later,” he said firmly. The tickle of his breath against her ear made her sigh with a happiness that she knew all too well was temporary.