“Nope,” she said huskily. “You have me here. And we both want this. So why fight it?”
Because he’d taken away her liberty and forced her into his bed.
“You’re not making me do this, Tamir,” she said sharply, as though she’d read his thoughts. “I want you just as much now as I did in London.”
“I have your body, but never your mind? I have your body, but I’ll never have you?” He repeated her words back to her. It surprised Olivia that they made her feel hollow in her gut.
“Yes,” she said with a confidence she was far from feeling. “Exactly. And you know what else?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “I have your body, and I don’t think anyone will ever have your mind. So we’re even.”
He shook his head slowly, but she was right. Their sexual connection was too strong to ignore, even though it was all they’d ever share.
Besides, he didn’t want more from Olivia than sex… and apparently marriage. He’d had many lovers in the past, and it had never occurred to him to mind if there were limitations on the relationship. So why did he care now?
He intentionally entered her swiftly, removing any tenderness from their coming together. At least, that was his intention. But the way she arched her back with a swan like grace, and a lioness like growl, made him stare at her in total appreciation. He pressed a kiss to her décolletage and traced a line along the protruding bone with his tongue. His hands on her arms were gentle, whispering with his fingertips promises of desire.
He moved inside of her, already so familiar with what made her cry out in a complete haze of enjoyment. She crinkled her nose as he exhaled a long, slow breath against the sensitive flesh at the base of her neck, and her body sprouted a delicate lace of goosebumps.
He tangled his fingers with hers, pulling her arms gently to her sides, as he lifted her body onto a wave of pleasure. They rolled as one, so that she was on top of him, riding him with her eyes closed and her soul commanding his. As her body crested to a height of desire, she lifted his arms, high to his side, and he swore in his native tongue as the needs of his body lusted out of his command. He orgasmed, pushing himself up, so that he could wrap his arms behind her back to form a single, pulsing being.
It was incredible, and incredibly wrong.
Olivia’s breathing slowly returned to normal and her eyes pinched open. The Sultan of Talidar stared back at her, impossible to comprehend and terrifying to behold.
She moved away from him, her heart racing, and her heart closing forever more.
She lay beside him, on her back, staring at the ceiling without seeing it. This was her new reality. A world she had no control over. Where only her body existed in any kind of meaningful truth.
How could she be so pathetic?
She flipped away from Tamir, turning her back to him in every sense. She stared at the embossed wallpaper opposite, her breathing still drawn from her in harsh bursts.
She hated him but in some ways, she’d become insanely dependent upon him.
It was just sex, she reassured herself.
Only it wasn’t. There was something incredibly compelling about the man. Something she could not easily put into words, but that her mind rushed to acknowledge.
And yet he had used her. He’d believed the worst in her, and instead of giving her any credit, instead of allowing her the briefest moment to explain, he’d forced her into a scenario that was both terrifying and terrifyingly permanent. A single tear escaped her eyes, but she dashed it away.
She could not cry.
She would not.
Not in front of Tamir.
Despite her brave determination, he heard her intake of breath and saw the way her back shuddered. She was crying. For the first time in his adult life, Tamir had no idea what to say.
Olivia pushed up from the enormous bed and moved towards her bathroom. She was sore. Muscles that had not been tested for many years were groaning after a day’s systematic exhaustion. She moved gingerly and shut the door behind herself gratefully. The shower was enormous, but the bath tub was beckoning. She began the water running, and placed the plug in. As she sank into the half-filled bath a few moments later, she made a low sound of relief.
“Are you in pain?”
Tamir. Just outside the door stood the man who had done this to her.
Her breath hitched in her throat as she shook her head from side to side. Then, she realised he could not see, and tried to find her voice. “I’m fine.”
“May I … May I come in?”
Olivia reached for the taps and switched off the water. It was fast flowing and had almost filled the bath to the top. The water was topped with fragrant bubbles.