He pushed up onto his elbow, his eyes flashing as he stared down at her face. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw derision there. Condemnation.
Something strange flicked inside of her.
“Tamir?”
“I’m afraid we have a problem.”
Her hands were still wrapped around his back. She forced herself to let them drop to her sides now. “What problem?” She asked calmly, though her heart was popping like a firecracker.
“You’re a thief, and a liar, and I cannot let you go anywhere.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“WHAT?” She pushed at his shoulders, but he didn’t move. He was still inside of her, her body was sapped of energy by the pleasure he’d exerted over her, and he was calling her names she just didn’t understand. “What are you talking about?”
“Was this all part of your plan, Olivia?”
His voice was so cold. None of the delicious melting warmth she’d come to expect. It still had the power to send shivers down her spine, but for entirely different reasons.
“Was what part of my plan?”
“Do not keep lying to me.”
“I don’t understand.” Her frown was a nervous flicker. “I really don’t. Start at the beginning. What am I supposed to have stolen? What have I lied about?”
“Not you,” he contracted harshly. “Your friend.”
“Jack?” Her heart turned over with fear. She closed her eyes as the reality of what might have happened sunk in. Her words had a strangled de
sperate quality to them. “Please, Tamir. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Worse than stealing from a man like me is lying about it after the fact.”
Panic made her voice high pitched. “No. Get off me.” She pushed at his shoulders again, but still he didn’t move. Instead, he shifted his weight, sending waves of traitorous pleasure tingling through her.
“At least I know you enjoyed your part in the duplicitous plan.”
“I wasn’t part of any plan,” she whispered, mortified to find her body responding to his. Mortified to feel herself lifting her hips, digging her feet into the mattress and lifting her knees to the ceiling, to take him deeper.
His laugh was soft. Soft and accusing. “There will be time for that. Plenty of time, it turns out.” He pressed his lips against her breast, and this time, he sucked at her pink flesh until he was close to crossing the line between pleasure and pain. He moved his mouth higher just when she could handle no more, and he kissed her neck, hard, tasting and sucking until he left a bright pink cluster of blood just beneath the surface.
“What are you doing?” Olivia demanded fiercely, lifting her hand to her neck.
“Hush, Azeezi. I am marking you as mine. You know it, and I know it, and unless you wear the clothes I give you, everyone in Talidar will know it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s barbaric,” she whispered, digging her fingers into the mark. “God. I haven’t had a lovebite since high school. What’s wrong with you?”
His smile was marred by cruelty. “You do not even know what a serious position you are in, do you?”
“I’m not in any position,” she said with a calmness that she was nowhere near feeling.
“You are in my embassy, and subject to my laws.”
Olivia felt something heavy lodge in her gut. She swore to herself and shook her head. “So?”
“So, when you and your friend came here and decided to steal irreplaceable Talidarian jewels, you enabled me to punish you in accordance with Talidarian laws.”
She closed her eyes again. What had Jack done? She thought of her friend, her confusing bizarre kleptomaniac friend, and groaned. “Jack’s… he’s… sometimes he does this. He does it for fun. He would have returned whatever it is he took. He doesn’t need the money. I’m sorry. I really am, but he’s actually very harmless.”