Desert Rogues Part 2 (78 page)

He licked her nipple, then sucked it into his mouth. After circling the taut tip, he raised his head slightly and blew on it. The combination of damp and cold and heat made her want to beg. Need filled every cell in her body. She ached, she wanted and she had to make sure he understood he could never, ever stop.

He moved to her other breast, and on the first, replaced his mouth with his hand. She arched her head and savored his caress. Between her legs, her panties grew damp as that most feminine place began to ache.

When he left her breasts, she cried out in protest. “I'm not done,” she told him.

She felt him laugh against her stomach.

“Trust me on this.”

He moved lower, pausing to lick her belly button. The sensation was both ticklish and erotic. A combination she'd never experienced before. Then he reached the edge of her panties.

Eric had never bothered touching her there more than a couple of times and always through clothes. She remembered once when she'd straddled his knee and had rocked against him until he'd pushed her away. Now the aching intensified as she wondered what Rafiq would do there.

But first he tugged on her panties, pulling them down her legs, then tossing them away. She had the sudden thought that she was actually naked before a man—not counting doctors—for the first time in her life. Eek!

She opened her eyes and found him looking at her.

“Lovely,” he said with a smile. “Every part of you. I like this spot.” He touched her ankle. “And this one.” He traced a circle around her knee. “And here.” He slid a single finger between her tightly closed thighs.

She planned to be embarrassed and protest and squirm, but that wily finger slipped between her curls, the folds of skin and found an amazing, responsive bundle of nerves on the very first try.

Her eyes closed, her legs fell open and she didn't care if he looked at her all day, as long as he kept touching her.

“You like that?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Good.”

He continued to rub and circle and explore. She found herself getting lost in the perfect sensations that radiated out from that one spot. Her body burned, her blood seemed to flow faster. She was tense and yet perfectly relaxed.

He moved onto the bed, then nudged her thighs farther apart. She obliged him, even drawing back her knees. She felt his shoulder brush her leg and before she knew what was happening, he claimed her with a kiss.

She knew what he was doing. She'd read about it, seen it in movies, even talked about it. But until that moment, until his tongue brushed over her most sensitive spot with the exact pressure and speed designed to drive her into madness, she hadn't actually understood it.

The sensations were too exquisite, too perfect. She moaned as he licked her, moving a little faster, as if urging her on. Her hips arched in a rhythm she couldn't control. She dug her heels into the bed and pushed toward him, silently begging for more, for all.

Muscles clenched, her body writhed, she tossed her head back and forth as she strained to reach for something she couldn't quite grasp. For some…

He slipped a finger inside and circled it around. The combination was too much, and she felt herself lifted up as her body shattered in a rush of pleasure she'd never experienced before. Hazily she recalled a friend saying that if she had to ask if she'd climaxed, then she hadn't.

Now her release swept through her with the subtlety of a thunderbolt. It was perfect, her muscles contracting and releasing as Rafiq continued to gently touch her. On and on it went until at last it slowly faded and she found herself back where she'd started, only much more satisfied.

“So that's what all the fuss is about,” she sighed when he'd stretched out next to her and pulled her close. “I like it.”

He chuckled. “Good.”

She snuggled close, liking the feel of his arms around her. “We're going to do that again, right?”

“Yes. As often as you'd like. Although not tonight. I don't want you to get sore.”

She was kind of thinking she would endure a little soreness for an experience like that again.

“Is it always that good?” she asked.

“It can be.”

“Huh.” She raised herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. “So how does anyone get any work done? Why don't people just stay in bed and make love all the time?”

“As pleasurable as that sounds, we have responsibilities.”

“I guess. But given the choice…”

He reached between her legs and rubbed her. “I suppose we should consider a second time, just so you have a point of comparison.”

She collapsed back on the bed and gave herself over to the pleasure. “If you insist.”

 

Fate conspired to keep them apart. Kiley was determined to be brave about the whole thing. After what had happened Friday night she knew she wasn't in a position to complain that Rafiq had a previous engagement over the weekend and then late meetings the following week. Still, now that she understood the possibilities, she wanted to explore them all.

Wednesday afternoon she sat in his office with a pad of paper, a pen and a list.

“It's your sister's birthday in two weeks,” she said. “You need to send a present. I have a list here, if you'd like to choose one.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I'm not qualified to decide. You may send what you like.”

“You always say that. Don't you want to know what they're going to be thanking you for?”

“I have little contact with my half sisters. I'm sure they're delightful young women who know nothing of their half brother and do not consider themselves injured by the lack of contact.”

“You're being cynical.”

“It is one of my best features.”

“Want to take a vote?”

“An impartial panel would agree with me,” he told her.

“Not if it was made up of women.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Is this your subtle way of issuing a complaint?”

“Not at all. I think it would be nice if you picked out your sister's present yourself.”

“And yet I will not.” His dark eyes flickered with something she couldn't read. “Anything else?”

She squirmed in her seat. “I haven't seen you all week.”

“I know. My meetings have gone on later than I would like.” He smiled. “I have missed you.”

Not as much as she'd missed him, she thought. It was like not knowing she'd been starving, then being offered a fabulous meal, only to be told the buffet was now closed.

“Me, too.”

“We will have more time this weekend.”

Not as much as he thought. Her sister had just had a baby and Kiley wanted to go home for a couple of days. “Actually we—”

The phone in her office rang, cutting her off. She rose to answer it just as his phone rang. Later, she thought. She would tell him that she would be leaving town for the weekend.

“This is Kiley,” she said as she picked up the phone.

“Hi, Kiley. My name is Marcy Dumont. We met at the fund-raiser last week. Do you remember?”

Kiley really didn't, but doubted that was the point. “Of course. How can I help you?”

Marcy laughed. “Actually, and this may sound a bit strange, I need you to talk to Rafiq.”

“He's right here. You can speak with him yourself.”

“I know I
could
but I think it would be better if you did. I work with a children's charity here on the Westside. We would very much like Rafiq to sponsor one of our events. I'd like to send you the information to look over. If you like what we're doing, you can talk to him about it.”

It took Kiley a minute to figure out what was going on. “You think there's a better chance he'll say yes if I ask him?”

Marcy laughed again. “Are you kidding? We all saw the way he looked at you. He wouldn't refuse you anything. And it's for sick kids, Kiley. I wouldn't ask otherwise. I'm going to pop the information into the mail. My business card will be there. Check it out, then give me a call.”

“But I—”

“Talk to you soon.” Marcy hung up.

Kiley did the same, then stared at her phone. It wasn't that she minded helping sick children, she thought grimly. It was that she didn't like being manipulated. Her relationship with Rafiq was private. No one had the right to use that to influence either of them. She felt uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. If the cause had been anything else, she would have simply ignored the material. But sick children? She couldn't just turn her back.

“I need the quarterly reports,” Rafiq said from the doorway between their offices.

“I'll get them right away.”

He waited until she'd returned with the files, then took her hand. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

He stared at her. “Was that Eric on the phone?”

“What? No. He hasn't called.”

Rafiq continued to study her. “We have an agreement of fidelity.”

She smiled. “Trust me, I'm not about to forget it. Eric didn't call, hasn't called, isn't going to call. If he did, I wouldn't be interested. I swear.”

He nodded once, as if satisfied, then returned to his office.

“I'
m glad we're finally spending the evening together,” Rafiq said Thursday night as he and Kiley were shown to a corner table in the small Italian restaurant in Santa Monica. He'd chosen to give up the view of the ocean in favor of privacy.

“Me, too,” she answered. “You've been busy.”

“Unexpected meetings and out-of-town associates. Fortunately, they are over now. There shouldn't be any more interruptions.”

She smiled at him and put her napkin in her lap. She was beautiful in her low-cut blue dress. She would have been more beautiful without it, but he was not about to share her charms with the other patrons.

The waiter hovered until Rafiq requested the wine list, then sent him away. But instead of glancing at the pages of available bottles, he stared at Kiley.

“You have something on your mind,” he said.

She blinked. “Not really.”

“I have felt it for the past day or so.”

She shook her head, denying the charge, but he doubted her. Kiley had been forthcoming in the past, but she wasn't now. Did she worry that the topic would distress him? There was only one reason for that—she missed Eric.

He shouldn't be surprised. A few short weeks ago, she'd wanted to marry the man. She had told him she wanted revenge and he had believed her. Perhaps that had been a mistake. Was a woman's heart truly capable of revenge?

“The food here is excellent,” he told her, knowing he would come back to the subject of her distraction later. “The chef is very popular. Would you like wine with dinner?”

“Yes, thank you. I'm going to let you pick because what I know about wine wouldn't impress anyone.”

“Do you have a preference?”

“Not yucky.”

He smiled. “I'll keep that in mind.”

She opened her menu and studied the options. He did the same, then picked a wine. When they'd ordered, she leaned forward.

“My sister just had a baby. My mom called the night before last to tell me all about it. This is Heather's first. She's my baby sister. She'd always said she wanted complete natural childbirth. She's into organic everything. So when the time came, she refused to let them give her anything for the pain.”

Kiley's mouth twitched slightly. “But Heather isn't very accommodating when she doesn't feel well. Apparently she was screaming so much, the other women in labor came into her room and begged her to take something. She was distracting them. My mom said it was pretty funny. Heather agreed and quieted down, and the baby was born. She had a girl.”

Her expression turned wistful.

“You had planned to have children with Eric,” he said.

“Three or four. He wanted to wait, but I was willing to get started right away. I always thought a big family like mine would be great. Sure it was messy and loud being one of three, but there was so much love.”

“All girls?”

She grinned. “Does that horrify you? No possibility of heirs?”

“It isn't a concern for everyone.”

“That's true. I think my dad likes being the only guy in the house. We all treat him very well.”

“I think you will be a good mother.”

She sighed. “Thank you. I know I'll try. I feel as if I could easily love a couple of dozen kids, but there is the reality of keeping track of everyone.” She offered him the bread basket, then took a roll for herself.

“I keep thinking about how it's going to be,” she said. “I want to have the house where all the neighborhood kids comes to play. I want to make Halloween costumes and bake and decorate for the holidays. I want a Christmas tree filled with ornaments made out of Popsicle sticks and a couple of dogs making trouble. A suburban fantasy.”

“It sounds very nice.”

“Oh, right. So speaks the prince.”

“Do you think I'm not interested in a domestic situation?”

“I don't know. Are you?”

“I will marry and have children.”

“That's right,” she said. “We've discussed your need to find the proper woman at the princess store. How's that working out?”

Before he could tease her back, the waiter appeared with the wine. He opened the bottle, then poured them each a glass. When they were alone, Kiley leaned toward him.

“I have a question,” she said in a low voice, staring at his shirtfront rather than his face.

“Yes?”

“Is it really just business that's kept us apart? Physically, I mean?”

He reached across the table and took her hand. “Are you concerned?”

“A little. Last weekend we, um, made some progress and since then, well, nothing. Did I do something wrong? I've been thinking about it and I wondered if maybe you thought I was being selfish. The whole thing was about me. I feel really bad about that. I just didn't think…” She bit her lower lip. “Pleasing the man in my life isn't something I'm used to.”

Her combination of worry, concern and nervousness charmed him. He squeezed her fingers.

“You are the innocent in the relationship,” he told her. “I don't expect you to be aware of my needs or responsible for them. Had I wished things to go differently, I would have told you.”

“Okay. But it's been a week. Things were really hot and heavy before.” She glanced around, as if making sure no one could hear them. “Are you unhappy with me? Do you want to change your mind about the whole mistress thing?”

If they'd been alone, he would have claimed her right at that moment. He was delighted that she missed their physical contact.

“You are the one I desire,” he said, staring into her eyes. “Only you.”

Her mouth parted, but she didn't speak. He felt her pulse quicken and heard her breathing increase.

“Wow,” she whispered at last. “That's good.”

“It's true.”

“So you really have been busy? It's just that?”

“Mostly. Also, I thought we were moving a little quickly. I wanted to give you time to get used to our intimacy.”

“Now? You take me to the pleasure planet, then pull back? It hardly seems fair.”

He smiled. “Then we can change things. You only have to let me know. Or better yet, show me.”

Her eyes widened. “As in, seduce you? I'm not sure I know how.”

His body clenched at the thought. “You would figure it out.” In truth, it wouldn't take much, but she didn't need to know that. Just sitting here with her, talking about making love, was enough to get him hard.

“Really?” She pulled free of his touch, clapped her hands together and shimmied in her seat. “I like that. I like the thought of bringing a big, powerful prince to his knees. Figuratively, of course.”

“Of course. Maybe this weekend we can—”

“Hello, Kiley.”

Rafiq glanced to his left and saw Eric standing next to their table. Annoyance destroyed his good mood.

Kiley jumped. “Eric! What are you doing here?”

Her surprise seemed genuine. As much as Rafiq wanted to grab the smaller man by the shirt and pummel him, he deliberately decided to wait and see what happened. If Kiley needed his help, he would step in—otherwise it would be better if she took care of Eric herself.

“I have to talk to you,” Eric said, ignoring Rafiq. “Come outside.”

“I'm not going anywhere with you. Go away.”

Not the words of a woman mourning a relationship, Rafiq thought with relief.

“You're making a fool of yourself,” Eric said, glaring at her. “Can't you see that?”

“The only fool here is you,” she told him. “You didn't realize what you could lose. It's gone now and there's no getting it back. I'm sorry if that hurts, but…” She frowned. “
No.
I'm not sorry. I'm glad it hurts you. I hope it hurts a lot. You treated me terribly. I'm not interested in you or our past or anything you could say to me. My biggest regret is that I wasted three years of my life waiting to marry you. The bright spot is I found out the truth before the wedding.”

Eric turned on Rafiq. “This is your fault. You seduced her. How long were you screwing her before all this happened?”

Rafiq started to rise, but Kiley put her hand over his. “I appreciate it,” she said, “but I can handle this.”

He nodded and sank back in his chair. He would let her be in charge…for now.

“Rafiq has nothing to do with it,” she told Eric. “The only one who was unfaithful in our relationship is you. Of course, given how much you cheated, it makes sense that you would assume the worst about everyone else. But I'm not like that. I take my commitments seriously.”

“So this just happened?” Eric asked, sounding incredulous. “I find that tough to believe.”

She shrugged. “I don't care what you think. Your opinion doesn't matter to me. Not anymore. It's over between us and I'm relieved. I think it's sad I'm not in more pain. It makes me think I haven't loved you for a long time.”

Eric pointed at Rafiq. “You replaced me with him? You're an idiot if you think it's going to last. You're caught up in his money and title, but that's not going anywhere. He'll never marry you. You're from different worlds. He thinks this is fun now, but he'll get tired of you and then toss you aside.”

“Maybe,” Kiley said calmly. “The difference is when Rafiq wants to end the relationship, he'll say it to my face. He'll be honorable. He won't cheat on me behind my back.”

Eric reached for her. Rafiq grabbed his arm. “I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

Eric jerked free and retreated a step. Rafiq let him.

“I'm not the only one who sneaks around, Kiley,” Eric said. “What about you? Do your parents know about him? Do they know what you're doing? It's not as if you're willing to take him home this weekend to see Heather's new baby.”

Kiley had been mad before, but now she was furious. She'd seen Rafiq grab Eric. From the look on Rafiq's face, he would be happy to beat up the other man. She was almost tempted to let him do it.

“How dare you?” she breathed. “You called my parents.”

“Of course I did. I'm worried about you. They mentioned the baby and that you'd be coming to visit.” Eric turned to Rafiq. “Didn't know that, did you? Kiley has a big family. I was always welcome there. They liked
me.
Think they'll say the same about you?”

Kiley wasn't sure what her family would say about Rafiq, and she wasn't planning to find out. In truth, now that Heather had had her first baby, Kiley wanted to go home for the weekend. She'd planned to tell Rafiq over dinner. She still would. She just hated how Eric made it sound as if she were keeping secrets.

Rafiq leaned back in his chair and regarded Eric. “Kiley was telling me about the baby when you interrupted. It is unfortunate you've finally realized what you lost, but the fault is yours. Kiley is gone and you have no one to blame but yourself.”

Eric took a step toward him. “I oughta nail you.”

Rafiq placed his napkin on the table and stood. He topped Eric by several inches and outweighed him by fifteen or twenty pounds of muscle.

“Do you think that's possible?” Rafiq asked with a casualness that belied his temper.

Kiley didn't know what to do. A part of her wouldn't mind if Rafiq beat the crap out of her ex-fiancé. But this was a public place and she didn't think Rafiq would appreciate the potential publicity.

Just then an older man hurried toward them. Two burly cooks and a big waiter accompanied him. He paused by the table and bowed his head.

“Prince Rafiq, I'm so sorry. I did not realize this man was bothering you. Please allow me to escort him outside.” The man snapped his fingers, and the two cooks grabbed Eric.

“Hey, you can't do this,” Eric said.

“It seems he can,” Rafiq said as he sat down. “Know this. If you bother Kiley again, I will speak with the senior partners at your law firm. She has told you to stay away from her. It would be best for you and your career if you did just that.”

Eric was hustled out of the restaurant before he could respond. Kiley felt the interested stares of the other diners.

“I'm sorry,” she said, barely able to look at Rafiq. “I don't know how Eric found us or why he even bothered looking.”

“Are you all right? Did it trouble you to see him?”

“It's embarrassing to have him make a fuss, and I hate that you had to get involved.”

“I would have stepped in sooner, but I thought you would want to handle him.”

“I did.” She reached for her wine and took a sip. “I don't get it. He was so willing to ignore me for so long. Now that I'm gone, he's acting as if it's a big deal.”