Awoken by the Sheikh (7 page)

“
You mean there really is charity called
services to sisterhood?
I thought Lynn
had made that up?”

At his
slightly confused expression, she rushed on to explain.

“
Lynn, my friend.
She sent
me on this trip. I did wonder how she could afford it. How does it work then—that
charity I mean?”

Rashid
smiled.

“
Always so curious, my
pretty.
I’m not that familiar with that branch of the resort,
but from what I understand there is a strict selection service, and you have to
be put forward by someone else. If you fit their criteria, they fund your stay
on our island.”

“
I see.” Astrid murmured the words, and Rashid tilted
her head up to make her look at him.

“
So, back to you and me.
I had
all but given up hope of finding you. I should have known the teacher Joachim
was so fond of was you. In fact, he wanted to come tonight, but I had to see
you alone. He described you so well, but I dared not hope…”

Rashid
slid his other hand up her side slowly, cupped her face in both of his slightly
calloused hands, and Astrid forgot to breathe.

“
You daren’t hope what, my lord?” His brilliant smile
made her stomach flip-flop in delicious anticipation, and her voice broke on
the whispered words, “I’ve missed you so much. I thought I would never see you
again and—“

His kiss
stopped her from saying anymore, and she opened to his demanding tongue with a
sigh of contentment as his hands trapped her wrists behind her back. He
tightened his hold and plundered her mouth like it was his God-given right to
do so. When he finally released her with a gentle bite, she would have slid to
the floor had he not been holding her up against the
wall.

“
My pretty, I will never let you go.
 
You’re mine, are you not?”

Astrid
blinked back tears of happiness.

“
Yes, I am, my lord, but can we really make this work?”

Rashid
rested his forehead against hers and exhaled on a sigh.

“
I love you, Astrid.” He grinned at her sharp intake of
breath, and stopped any possible protest she might have made by kissing her. By
the time he let her come up for air, Astrid was feeling quite light headed.

“
And before you say I can’t possibly mean that, and
that I don’t know you well enough, let me tell you this. I lost a woman I loved
once. I let other people convince me that what we had couldn’t last, and it
caused my son endless heartache. I’m not prepared to put him through any more,
and I’m not prepared to lose you.”

Rashid
pulled back slightly, and she couldn’t doubt the sincerity shining out of his
dark eyes. So like his son’s they
pulled her under his
spell. How had she not noticed the resemblance before?

“
Life is short, Astrid, and it can be downright cruel.
I have no fucking clue how we’ll work it out. All I know is that I am willing
to try, and that I can’t let you go. Not again.”

Astrid
swallowed hard and didn’t even attempt to hide the tears spilling from her
eyes. Tears Rashid swiped off her face with his fingertips. Tears that echoed
the suspicious moisture lurking in his eyes and made up her mind for her.

“
I can’t let you go either, my lord.”

“
Well, then,” he said and his grin turned sinful, and
Astrid knew her sensible underwear would be sopping wet with the evidence of
her arousal by now. “I think I better take you home, so we can discuss this
more. I feel the urge to take you up on that promise in your eyes, and bend you
over your desk and fuck you right here. That happens to be another one of my
fantasies, you know … fucking the hot teacher.”

He winked
at her, and Astrid burst out laughing.

“
Well, then, my lord. We’ll have to make sure to give
that fantasy to you … one day.” She ducked under his arms and grinned back at
him over her shoulder.

“
If you’re a very good boy, that is.”

Rashid
narrowed his eyes and laughed, and happiness engulfed Astrid in its cozy
cocoon.

Oh yes,
this would work out just fine.

Epilogue

Six months later

Knees
folded under her, head bowed, Astrid waited patiently for her lord. The soft
luxury carpet meant she could hold this position for hours, and the sweet
scents of the orient filled her nostrils and helped to clear her mind of the
stresses of the day.

The harem
outfit he had chosen for her today was almost identical to the one she had worn
on the island, and she smiled at the thought. Recreating their Bedouin tent in
their playroom had been Rashid’s idea, and Astrid’s heart beat faster when she
heard the soundproof door open and his heavy footsteps approach.

It had
taken longer than usual to get Joachim off to sleep tonight, because he’d
wanted his daddy to stay with him, after Rashid’s latest long business trip.

Rashid’s
booted feet appeared in her vision, and she raised her hands. The slither of
silk against her naked skin sent shivers up her arm, as he bound her wrists
together and pulled her to her feet.

“I missed
you, my lord.”

Rashid’s
tired face lit up with the wicked grin she loved, and he pulled her in for a
kiss.

“And I
you, my pretty, but no more trips for me, at least for a while. Joachim asked
me for a baby brother again tonight.”

Rashid
tipped her chin up, and she lost herself in the tenderness in his warm gaze.

“And what
did you say, my lord?”

His grin
deepened, and her stomach tightened in need when he bent his head and kissed
her wedding ring.

“I said
we’ll work on that.”

The End

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