He was surprisingly deft, making her wonder what experience he’d had in unpinning women’s hair. Safiyah had no doubt he’d undressed plenty of women in his time. But, to her shock, she discovered having Karim undo her hair felt almost as intimate in its own way as sex had felt with Abbas.
She blinked, stunned at the idea, and found herself looking into a stare that sent fiery shivers trailing to a point deep inside her. That elusive place where, just once or twice, as Abbas had taken his pleasure with her, there’d been a hint that she too might discover something more—
‘There.’
Did she imagine Karim’s voice was huskier? He lifted the tiara off with one hand, and Safiyah was about to thank him when he ploughed his fingers through her hair, dragging it down to her shoulders.
His eyes held hers in the mirror as he used his hand like a comb, spreading her hair around her shoulders. Each stroke was a slow, delicious assault on her senses.
Safiyah felt the stiffness ease from her neck and spine…detected an urge to lean into that stroking touch. Horrified, she stepped forward—so fast that her hair snagged on the ancient gold ring that had been placed on his finger at his investiture today. Her head was yanked back, but she welcomed the pain because it broke the spell.
‘Sorry.’
He frowned and worked his hand free, during which time she took the tiara from his other hand. Then she moved away, replacing it in the velvet-lined box with the earrings and bangles.
Snapping the lid closed, she spun round. ‘Shall we?’
She didn’t wait for a response but preceded him out of the dressing room and back to the bedroom. She was on her way towards her sitting room when his words stopped her.
‘Here’s fine.’
‘Here?’
She swung around. Karim stood midway between the dressing room door and the bed. There were no seats in the room apart from a long cushioned sofa.
‘We’ll be more comfortable in the sitting room.’
‘Oh, I doubt that, Safiyah.’
That deliberate tone sent a shot of adrenalin through her already tense body.
Suddenly, as if a curtain had been yanked back, Karim’s expression was no longer impenetrable. She read a glitter in those eyes that was shockingly familiar. Safiyah recognised the look of a man with sex on his mind. She almost fancied she saw the flicker of flames in Karim’s dark eyes. The tendons at the base of his neck stood proud, and though he made no move towards her there was a waiting stillness in his tall frame that unnerved her.
Involuntarily, Safiyah backed up a step. To keep him from reaching for her or to stop herself doing something foolish?
In that second of realisation she was torn between dismay and the need to throw herself into Karim’s embrace and let him do whatever he wanted.
Becauseshewanted. She’d been on a knife-edge of frustrated desire since that kiss in Switzerland and she despised herself for it.
‘No!’ She felt her eyes widen as he frowned. ‘We’re not doingthat.’
‘That?’he murmured. ‘How coy you are.’
His mouth curled at the corners as if he were amused. Damn him. As if he knew she didn’t even want to think about sex with him, much less say it out loud. As if he knew how desperately she fought the desire to do more than talk about it.
Safiyah stiffened her spine. She might not have Karim’s no doubt vast experience. But that didn’t make her a fool or a push-over.
Her chin hiked up. ‘You seem to forget this marriage is for political reasons.’
‘So? That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the personal benefits.’
The word ‘personal’ was a rough burr that rubbed across her skin, making the fine hairs on her arms stand erect.
‘Can you honestly tell me you don’t want me?’
His words sucked the air from her lungs as she realised he’d read her secret. Of course he had. He’d had to peel her off him to end that kiss in his hotel suite. The memory mocked her.
Karim crossed his arms over his chest. The gesture emphasised both his powerful frame and that annoying air of arrogance. And, to her consternation, his sheer, unadulterated sex appeal.