And just like that, the anger in her belly swirled and vibrated, morphing into something else, something far more tense and distracting, something that robbed her of breath.
His laugh was soft. “See, Sophia? Do not be so concerned by the fact we are not ‘friends’. You want me, even when you hate me. True?”
She glared at him, but her pulse was racing and there was an inferno raging between her legs. Pointedly, his eyes dropped to her breasts, and she felt the sting of her nipples as they hardened against the flimsy linen of her nightgown.
“If I touched you right now, you’d fall apart in my arms. Why do you fight this?”
Anger stoked through the desire. “Because you’re an arrogant piece of work and someone ought to put you in your place.”
He laughed at that, closing the distance between them, his powerful body dwarfing hers. “Tell me you don’t want me,” he said, simply, reaching for her nightgown and lifting it over her head.
She continued to glare at him, her lower lip very close to a pout.
“Say it. Tell me you don’t want me and I will walk out of this tent right now, and leave you to get ready for the day.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but the words died inside of her. Sophia had always been a fighter, but she couldn’t fight this. She didn’t want to fight this. In a world that had left her bereft, that had stripped her of almost everyone she loved, had made her alone and lonely, she had this. She had Malik. And he wasn’t everything she wanted, but this firestorm of need between them was – insanely – enough.
She opened her mouth to say something but could find no words to offer.
Instead, her hips moved from side to side and he laughed, a sound that invigorated her anger – but not enough. Sensual heat was drugging her.
“You cannot fight this, Sophia,” he said quietly, reaching down and lifting her up, pushing her over his shoulder and cu
rving a hand over her naked backside.
And he was right. Neither of them could. This need was as demanding of each of them.
Her stomach was in knots and her heart was squeezing painfully. She felt hot and cold and so desperately driven to this that she would have begged for him over and over and over if he’d asked it of her.
But she didn’t need to.
He dropped her down onto the mattress and followed after, his powerful body so achingly familiar, so intensely right.
“You want to hate me, but you can’t. At least, not all of me.” And he thrust into her, his hard arousal taking fierce possession of her body.
She dug her nails into his back and heard herself groan, as pleasure rolled through her in addictive, insatiable waves, “Oh, go to hell!”
Chapter 11
“WHAT ARE YOU GOING to do?” She asked, sipping her coffee, her huge blue eyes fixing to him with a look of steel. It was hard to believe that twenty minutes ago they’d been wrapped in each other’s arms, the madness of desire saturating them, cleaving them together.
She’d showered and pulled on a pale blue dress, styled her hair into a braid that wrapped around her head like a crown, and applied some gloss to her lips and mascara to lashes that were already so dark and long. She looked very beautiful, and completely untouchable.
And he wanted to touch her.
Though this was far from a conventional marriage, he understood now the tradition of a honeymoon. All he could think about was his wife, in his bed, beneath his body, calling his name into the sky… Perhaps they should have taken a month after the wedding. A month in bed, just her and him, sunshine, and sex on tap. Would that have cured him of this growing infatuation?
“To do?” He prompted, reaching for his own coffee and taking a large gulp. It tasted of cinnamon and darkness. He drank it gratefully.
“The situation here. With Laith and Saliyah?”
His frown was reflexive. “It’s complicated.”
She pursed her lips. “So you’ve said.” She leaned back a little in her chair, cradling her cup in her hands, her huge blue eyes probing his face. “She has to be allowed to go to university.”
His eyes pierced Sophia’s. “Why?”
“Education is a basic human right.”