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  ‘I would have thought it was simple enough. I’ve never been with a man,’ she confessed in a hushed voice.

  Niesha was shocked by the naked possessiveness that lit through his eyes. A moment later it was gone, but the searing flame of it remained, heating up her blood as she stared hypnotically at him; as she watched his nostrils slowly flare in a show of frayed control before he sucked in a deep breath.

  ‘You’re twenty-five,’ he breathed. ‘And you’ve never been with a man?’

  Even though she was dying to hide from his all-seeing eyes, Niesha forced herself to maintain eye contact. ‘No, I have not.’

  His breath punched out. A single clench rippled through his jaw before he cupped her elbows. ‘Then you will be mine. Only mine.’

  The ruthless, irrefutable possessiveness in those words flattened her lungs. She was struggling to breathe when he drew her arms decisively away from her body, exposing her to his eyes. Caught in a web of sorcery he wove so effortlessly, Niesha let her arms drop, trembling before him as his eyes settled on her breasts.

  Another rough sound ripped from his throat. ‘You are truly exquisite.’

  She couldn’t have moved if her life depended on it. With his eyes and his words and his commanding stature, he captivated her. She stood trembling as he firmly tugged the gaping dress over her hips.

  It dropped to her ankles. He lifted her effortlessly out of the tangle of silk and lace. She should have felt vulnerable in just her panties and heels but something about the way he looked at her body sent a thrill of power through her. Maybe he wasn’t as unaffected as she’d first thought.

  She had very little idea of what making love with him would fully entail, but for now something about her pleased him enough to remain before her, his eyes tracing over her skin as he leisurely explored her body.

  Abruptly he swung her around to face her away from him, drawing a gasp from her as his fingers circled her waist and pulled her back into the heated column of his hard, toned body.

  They stayed like that for endless seconds before he notched his head into the curve of her neck, his lips tracing over her skin. Slowly, his fingers wove into her bound hair, and began to tug out the diamond pins securing the elaborate knot. One by one he discarded them until her hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. ‘Incredible,’ he breathed again.

  Between her thighs, heat built, powering up into unbearable levels as he sifted his fingers through her hair, indolently, as if he had all the time in the world. Only when he was satisfied did his hand drift over her shoulder to the slope of her chest.

  Without warning he cupped one breast, his hand a warm bold caress as he gently fondled her.

  At her gasp, he grazed her neck with a teasing bite, even as his fingers began to toy with her nipple. Her knees turned liquid but he easily held her up.

  ‘Mine,’ he rasped hotly in her ear.

  Her soft cry gave way to a helpless whimper as he mercilessly teased her nipple, stoking relentless fire in her belly she knew wouldn’t be assuaged until he gave her more, more, more. Fully attuned to her need, his other hand cupped her other breast, torturing both peaks with expert tugs.

  In that moment, Niesha was convinced she would explode. ‘Oh!’

  ‘Does my little hellcat like this?’

  Her head dropped forwards as flames of hunger singed her whole being. ‘Yes,’ she sobbed helplessly.

  He gave a soft laugh as he continued to caress her. Behind her, she heard the rustle of clothes but feared that her senses, already overloaded with new, unbelievable sensations, would send her over the edge if she looked at him.

  So, letting her imagination run wild, she conjured up what Zufar looked like. But even that fevered imagining left her breathless. Hungry.

  The driving need to experience the reality of him brought her head up. But before she could turn, he was touching her again, his fingers sliding beneath the waistband of her panties and firmly pushing them over her hips. Just like her dress, they pooled around her ankles and he lifted her clear of them. Then he turned her around.

  Of course, her imagination had fallen far, far short.

  Magnificent.

  Bronzed from head to toe, there wasn’t an ounce of fat on his sleek, muscled body. He could have been hewn from marble blessed by the gods themselves, he couldn’t have been more perfect. The hard, hairless planes of his chest were woven into a tight six-pack, before arrowing into defined silky hair that framed an impressive manhood that jutted proudly from his body.

  Niesha’s jaw dropped. He was beyond impressive. So much so her body flamed with a new, intensely searing hunger as her gaze drifted down his powerful thighs to his feet and back again to that place between his legs that she couldn’t pull her fascinated gaze from.

  ‘You like what you see, little one?’ he enquired with more than a touch of male arrogance.

  Even as the question dropped from his lips, his manhood continued to swell. She watched, her breath completely locked in her lungs. There was no way he could fit inside her.

  Accurately deciphering her thoughts, he stepped forwards. ‘You needn’t worry. I’ll take care of you, habibti.’

  He gave her no time to dwell on what was coming. Powerful arms swept her off her feet, laid her down on the bed and he levered himself over her. Then, excruciatingly slowly, he lowered himself until his hard chest brushed against her sensitive nipples.

  At her wild tremor, one corner of his mouth lifted.

  The wildness intensified when he dropped down and sealed another kiss on her lips, while his hands roamed freely, possessively over her body, leaving no part of her skin untouched as he explored her thoroughly.

  Niesha had no idea how much time passed before he began kissing his way down her body.

  Sensual lips trailed from her collarbone to the valley between her breasts, dropping torrid, open-mouthed kisses on her skin before cupping her breasts and fondling her. Hot murmured words she couldn’t decipher dripped from his lips before he captured one tight peak in this mouth.

  A tiny scream tore free from her throat, her back arching off the bed as sensation like she’d never known rippled through her body. He rolled his tongue over her nipple, sucking her deep into his mouth before releasing her, only to start the torture all over again. He repeated the gesture on the twin peak, leaving her delirious and whimpering when he freed her to trail kisses over the skin above her belly button.

  ‘Be calm,’ he ordered thickly. ‘You have my promise we will do this again. For now, I must taste what is mine.’

  When she fully grasped his meaning, Niesha gasped, and attempted to close her legs. Surely he didn’t mean...?

  ‘Yes,’ he insisted gruffly.

  Powerful hands held her easily captive, clamped on her thighs as he slowly, insistently laid her bare.

  His gaze snagged hers for a moment, and then his eyes dropped to her most intimate place. The fiercest, wildest blush she’d ever experienced threatened to swallow her whole as a deep rumble emitted from Zufar’s throat.

  ‘Truly exquisite.’

  Niesha was spinning at the power of those two words when his head dropped and he slicked an expert tongue over her needy flesh. A long moan ripped free. She shuddered wildly, even as every cell in her body clamoured for more. Zufar delivered, leisurely exploring her as if he owned every inch of her.

  Which he did, she thought dazedly.

  At some point, Niesha stopped blushing, the blissful sensation of what he was doing to her overcoming embarrassment as she gave herself over to the magic of his tongue. He teased, nibbled, explored, and then concentrated with single-minded focus on that bundle of nerves at the top of her sex.

  Just when she thought there could be no sensation as thrilling as this, he suckled her with steady pressure that detonated a volcano deep in her pelvis.

  She cried out
, her whole body tightening for one soul-shaking instant before her world erupted in a billion fragments. Convulsions tore through her as bliss blinded her. An eternity passed. Or it might have been one enchanted minute. Niesha had no idea of the passage of time as she was fully engulfed in pure sensation.

  Gradually she became aware that her fingers were curled into Zufar’s hair, holding on tight as the world slowly began to right itself. She was also aware that his breathing was uneven as he trailed kisses against her skin.

  It occurred to her that, far from the tightly controlled man who’d carried her into his bedroom, Zufar’s demeanour had altered. He was just as caught up in the fever as she was.

  And he’d been that way from the moment she’d mentioned her virginity. Or was she reading too much into it?

  She had no time to dwell on it because he was kissing his way back up her body. When they were face to face, he lowered himself onto his elbows, stared deeply into her eyes for a moment before he fused his mouth to hers. The taste of her on his lips should have embarrassed Niesha. But all it produced was a decadent triumph.

  She’d done something right. He wasn’t pulling away. He didn’t look disappointed.

  If anything, there was an edge to his kiss, an aggression that spoke to a need that matched the one rekindling inside her.

  When the need to replenish their breaths forced them apart, his fevered eyes seized hers. ‘Touch me,’ he commanded gruffly.

  Her hands trembled wildly, from the strength of her release, and from the nerves that were resurfacing. But the need to feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingers overcame the nerves.

  Just as he’d done to her, she drifted her fingers down his neck. Over his Adam’s apple. His tight swallow and groan told her he liked it. Emboldened, she continued to touch him, caressing the hard muscle of his pecs before trailing her hands down his stomach to settle on his hips.

  Zufar’s breathing turned harsh and uneven. With not quite steady hands, he pulled her thighs apart and settled between them. His thick length settled between her folds. Her very wet, very needy folds.

  As another wave of embarrassment hit her cheeks, he smiled down at her. ‘Do not be embarrassed by your eagerness for me,’ he murmured. ‘Spread your legs wider,’ he commanded.

  She complied, her heart pumping like a runaway racehorse. The broad head of his manhood nudged her flesh and Niesha’s breath strangled in her throat.

  ‘Be calm,’ he instructed again.

  She forced herself to breathe even as her fingers bit into the hard muscles of his arms.

  Zufar inhaled sharply then pushed inside her.

  The sharp pain took her completely by surprise. She cried out.

  He kissed her, hard and swift. ‘Hush,’ he soothed gruffly. He withdrew slowly, then pushed inside her again.

  Hot tears welled in her eyes as pain rippled through her again.

  Above her, Zufar’s jaw clenched tight, his breathing ragged as he stared down at her with dark, ferocious eyes. ‘The pain will ease.’ It was a directive, as if he had power over her pain too.

  For some absurd reason, she believed him. And gave a jerky little nod.

  As if that action had triggered something inside him, he gave a rough groan and penetrated her to the hilt. Another shaky cry tore free as tears slid down her temples. And then just as abruptly as it had arrived, the pain disappeared.

  ‘Tell me how you feel,’ he rasped.

  ‘I...I’m fine,’ she replied softly, and then realised she was.

  Above her, he continued to watch her with hawk-like intensity, dark gold eyes scrutinising every expression. After a moment, he drew back, and pushed back in.

  Niesha gasped at the new sensations dancing through her bloodstream. With shallow thrusts, Zufar possessed her, his eyes watching her every move as he joined their bodies.

  Her moans fusing into one litany of need, she shut her eyes when Zufar lowered himself over her. His breath washed over her face as he lengthened his thrusts, drawing even more exquisite pleasure from her body.

  ‘Wrap your legs around me,’ he instructed.

  An instant after she obeyed, she gasped as his next thrust drew a sharper, more intense sensation from her. With a grunt of carnal satisfaction, he fused his mouth to hers in a bold mimic of what was happening below.

  Dear heaven, she’d had no idea it could be this incredible. The thought barely registered before another charge lanced through her, sending her spinning even higher.

  ‘Oh... Zufar...’

  As if his name on her lips had triggered madness inside him, his thrust grew wilder, pushing her relentlessly towards a pinnacle that far surpassed the one she’d crested only minutes ago.

  Her world began to tilt again.

  ‘Niesha, open your eyes,’ he demanded.

  She pried her eyes open to meet with burnished gold ones. Something about that sizzling connection was enough to send her over the edge.

  With a strangled scream, she tumbled from the highest peak of sensation, falling into a never-ending sea of bliss that drew tears to her eyes.

  * * *

  Zufar al Khalia couldn’t believe the woman beneath him was the same person he’d met only this morning; the woman he’d dismissed so carelessly. He’d gone into this believing he had his eyes wide open to every angle. Not for one single moment had he believed enjoyment would come into the undertaking. But here he was, unable to deny the surfeit of pleasure rippling through his body. He’d bedded many women in his life, but none came close to the responsiveness of his new wife.

  His virgin Queen.

  He wondered if it was her complete innocence that added to the thrill of the conquest. More than likely, he concluded. He’d never bedded a virgin, never felt inclined to be the first to stake a claim on a woman. To be honest, the thought of tutoring one to please him had been a deterrent rather than a draw.

  But as he thrust into his new wife, Zufar thought of all the ways he could mould her to his liking. How he could teach her to take pleasure in her own body, even as he planted his seed in her womb. They were archaic, primitive thoughts that should have shamed him, but only intensified his pleasure as he let the sounds of her pleasure fill him up. She was his in every way. He stared down at her as her sweet lips parted on another pleasurable gasp, her beautiful eyes glazing over as he crested his own pinnacle.

  With a raw shout, he let the sweet taste of nirvana sweep through his body.

  It was only as he came down from the unparalleled high that the full effect of his thoughts began to settle in.

  Shock ripped through him when he recognised how quickly he’d let temptation sway him from his purpose.

  How quickly, like his father, he’d been prepared to set aside his priorities to succumb to desire.

  How, for a handful of heartbeats, he’d completely lost sight of just how affairs of the flesh had ripped his family apart.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SO THIS WAS what true desire felt like. This endless cyclone of sensation. This exceptional feeling of touching heaven.

  This—

  Niesha’s thoughts ceased abruptly as Zufar wrenched free from the arms she hadn’t even realised were locked around his shoulders, anchoring her to the present.

  The thought that she’d been clinging to him like a limpet doused her with a wave of chagrin. Luckily, he wasn’t looking at her. In fact, his whole body was turned away from her, and he was getting out of bed.

  Heart still racing a little wildly, she watched him walk, gloriously naked and arrogantly assured in his own skin, away from the bed. But there was tension in his broad shoulders and back that chilled her with each step he took away from her. Her heart rate slowed, a little of that magic leaching from her, then fading completely as he firmly shut the bathroom door behind him.

  Okay, what had happened?

>   She hadn’t said anything. Had she done something to provoke that reaction? Minutes ago, he’d seemed...into it. Even now, the animalistic roar of his release echoed in her ears, making her blush anew at the memory. Niesha would have felt ashamed at the throb of feminine power she’d experienced in that moment, if she weren’t overcome by his masculine beauty.

  But that was ten minutes and a lifetime ago. The aftermath was turning out to be a different story.

  Her thoughts ceased abruptly when the door opened and he strode back to the bed. She was so busy searching his expression, she didn’t read his intent until he scooped her up.

  ‘Wh-what are you doing?’ she squeaked.

  His eyes had grown remote, if still a touch darker than usual. They met hers for a split second before he strode, set-faced, towards the bathroom.

  ‘Seeing to your comfort. You must be sore.’ The matter-of-fact tone of his reply killed any softness the words evoked, although his touch, when he set her down in the shower cubicle and began to wash her, was gentle.

  Why?

  The question stayed locked in her throat as her breath shuddered out at his disturbingly intimate cleansing of her body. Niesha withstood his touch even though she wanted to sprint back into the bedroom and draw the covers over her head. It would solve nothing. So she stood there, biting her lip as he took his time to perform his task. Maybe it was no big deal. Maybe he did this for all his—

  No. Not going there, she concluded fiercely.

  Inexorably, her eyes rose to his face. To the tight mask blocking his every expression from her.

  ‘Is...is everything okay?’ She hated herself for seeking the reassurance.

  His expression didn’t change but she saw his shoulders tighten. ‘Everything is fine.’

  Tell that to your clenched jaw, she wanted to blurt. She bit back the words before they spilled free.

  Maybe this was post-coital etiquette? Even as she pondered the question, Niesha knew she was grasping at straws. She wanted to find an excuse for the hollow sensation widening inside her but, really, wasn’t it her own foolish whims leading her astray, again?