‘Rashid?’
‘Shh,’ he whispered against the tightened nub, and licked it as luxuriously as he would a lollipop.
And while he suckled her he began taking off her lace panties, very, very slowly, sliding them indolently down over her knees.
‘Rashid!’ she moaned, for the panties were off and she was as naked as he was, and now he was drifting his fingertips up inside her leg to find the silky flesh of her inner thigh.
‘Shh,’ he said again, only now his fingertip was no longer on her leg, but touching her very intimately indeed, teasing and moving against the moist skin in a way which was making it impossible for her not to move her hips in a silent yet agonised plea for she knew not what.
‘Rashid,’ she whispered in mystification. ‘What is this?’
He tiptoed the finger with precision against her honeyed flesh and felt her shudder helplessly in response. ‘Mmmmm?’
The powerful sensation which was creeping inexorably through her veins made her forget the question she had been asking, and she opened her eyes distractedly to find him watching her. And still he touched her, only now the movement had quickened, and he was bending his head to kiss her…and she felt as though she was going to die…to die or to…
It came upon her with the shock and force of a thunderbolt, her back arching and her legs splaying indolently as wave upon wave of pleasure rocked through her and she moaned against his mouth.
And only when she was completely still did he stop kissing her and raise his head to look down at her, a slow smile lifting his mouth as he saw her look of dreamy contentment, the flush of roses to her cheeks.
She smiled back at him. ‘I liked that,’ she said shyly.
He laughed with pleasure. ‘Yes, I know you did. But that was only the very beginning, my sweet Jenna. There are many, many variations on the act of love, and I intend to explore each and every one with you.’
Just for a moment she felt her heart sink as she thought of all the other women he had known, but ruthlessly she pushed the thought away.
He was her Sheikh and her husband and she was here in his bed—far better to seize the moment and enjoy it than to sadden herself with regrets and hopeless longings for words of love.
He stroked away a damp strand of hair from where it had been glued to her cheek. ‘Shall I make you pregnant, Jenna? Would you like that?’
Her heart thudded with disappointment against her ribcage. Was that all part of the deal—a son and heir just as soon as possible? ‘W-would you?’
He shook his head. ‘Pregnancy changes a woman’s whole life. It is not for the man to decide.’
‘Well, then—I would like to wait for a while,’ she ventured. ‘To give ourselves a chance to know one another.’
‘Mmmm.’ He leaned over and pulled a packet of condoms from a secret drawer in the inlaid locker, then slanted her a lazy smile. ‘Starting tonight.’
It wasn’t what she had meant, but her doubts were soon forgotten because Rashid had begun to make love to her, and who on earth could think at a time like that?
CHAPTER NINE
‘RASHID?’
Rashid paused in the act of tying his sash and looked over at where Jenna lay, her naked body so golden against the snow-white of the sheet. It wasn’t easy being married to her—he never wanted to get out of bed in the mornings!
He raised his dark brows quizzically. ‘Yes, my sweet?’
She squinted at her watch. ‘You are up very early. Are you…are you going away?’ She nearly said again, but she bit the vulnerable word back.
He nodded his gleaming dark head and glanced at the time. ‘I am afraid so, Jenna. I must travel to the eastern region with haste.’
‘Why?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, nothing that need concern you, my sweet.’
No, of course not. Politics was not the business of a wife. It was always the same. Her heart lurched. ‘And will you be away for long, my Sheikh?’
‘For as long as it takes, Jenna—no longer.’