by Diana Fraser
She nodded, again. At that moment she felt as if she were in some kind of thrall to him and would do anything. So much for being in control. It seemed that surrendering a little of that control—or a lot—gave her a surprising amount of pleasure.
Then all thought vanished into a puff of air as he lowered his lips, not to her waiting ones, but to her neck. His lips and breath were warm against her skin and tickled it as he trailed kisses under her ear. He groaned and lifted his head. “You smell delicious.”
She would have returned the compliment if she’d been capable of forming words. But all she could do was to lift her chin and offer her neck again. It seemed she’d conveyed her message sufficiently as his lips descended once more. This time she felt the smooth trailing of his tongue as, instead of moving to her other ear, he moved down to her breasts which rose with a sharp intake of breath to meet his lips. She closed her eyes as she absorbed the sensation of his lips and tongue against her delicate skin. The feelings were unexpected and all encompassing. She cradled his head and kissed the top of his dark hair as his clever tongue continued to work its magic.
She felt his finger move along the edge of her bra and slip under its edge. He looked up. “May I?” he asked, as if he were about to top up her drink. She nodded. “Yes,” she breathed.
He needed no further encouragement and slipped his finger under her bra, his fingertip catching her erect nipple, causing her to gasp. His eyes were fixed on her to assess her reaction. Even he couldn’t have anticipated that she would react in quite such an extreme fashion.
The gasp turned noisier as he fingered her nipple under her bra. At the same time the exquisite sensations were centered on her breasts, deep inside of her, the same sensations were stirred—moistening her and sending ripples of pleasure as if he were somehow stroking her inside. She surrendered herself to the pleasure for only a few moments because the more she gained, the more she wanted.
She fumbled behind her to unhook her bra. She wanted nothing between his fingers and her skin. She grunted with frustration.
“Allow me,” Xander said with a grin. With one deft movement which was far more practised than Elaheh wanted to consider, she was free of the bra. But, instead of paying immediate attention to her freed breasts, he stepped away. For an awful moment she thought he wasn’t going to continue, as if ridding her of her bra was all he was going to do. But then, with one swift movement, she found herself in his arms, being carried to the bed. He sat down with her nestled in his lap and kissed her in a way which showed that her that he had no intention of stopping.
She moaned as their tongues met in a dance whose beat quickened with each pulse of her heart. She wanted to be closer and shifted on his lap, but still she wanted her flesh pressed against his. She broke off the kiss and opened her legs, kneeling either side of his hips so she could rub her bare breasts against his chest as she pressed her lips back to his again.
She was panting now, as they kissed, her nipples stimulated against his chest hair. And, as she moved against his chest, her hips also moved in a circular motion, caressing the erection which, while covered, was still very much in evidence. All fears were forgotten.
She pulled away from the kiss with a gasp and arched her neck away, as she focused on the intense sensations which were growing as she rubbed against him, adjusting her stance as she figured out which part of her was giving her pleasure.
He kissed and tasted her neck as she closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the sensations which washed through her in waves, quickening. Then he lifted her breasts into his hands and rubbed her nipples. A gasp tore from her lungs as the sensations amplified inside. She didn’t know what was happening to her, she had no idea what to do apart from what her body was dictating to her. She felt she was being urged on, but had no idea as to the destination.
It was only when she felt the warm, wet heat of his mouth around her breast and nipple that the tensions intensified and she knew she needed release from the thrall which held her. She rubbed herself against him harder and thrust her breast into his mouth. She could feel the wet in her panties soaking against his shorts but didn’t care. She needed more, she needed to continue to get whatever lay at the end of this sensation.
He moved from one breast to the other. Still she panted and moved against him, caught in a fever pitch of desire but with no knowledge where to go next.
Then he licked his finger and touched her and she stopped mid movement. He touched her there, that place which felt like the nub of her desire. He slid his finger beneath her soaking panties and rubbed her and caressed her. It was all she needed to shift to that place she needed to go.
She cried out as white-hot shimmers and pulses and flutters filled her. Then she called out his name as the shimmering movement inside her slowed and drained her. She slumped against him, suddenly exhausted, but sweetly so.
“Oh, Xander,” she breathed. “I had no idea.”
He cupped her face and kissed her. “No idea?”
“That such pleasure existed. I thought…” She trailed off and swallowed as the reality of what she’d thought for so long hit her. Tears pricked her eyes. “I thought sex was about pain, not pleasure.”
His lips twisted and he shook his head as if trying to deny what she’d just said. “No,” he said.
She nodded her head “Yes.” And then she leaned against him, cradled in his arms and the tears, so long held back, flowed against his chest, while he cradled her head and kissed her hair and murmured soothing words.
* * *
It had taken a long while for Ela to cry herself out. And Xander hadn’t moved until she’d finished. He didn’t want to break the spell, because it felt like a healing spell and he instinctively knew that it was what she needed.
But now, as Xander lay listening to the old grandfather clock in the library strike one, with Ela nestled in his arms asleep, like a delicate, damaged bird, he knew three things.
One, there was little he could do about his erection without waking her and that he wouldn’t do.
Two, something had healed for Ela tonight.
Three, watching Ela heal had shattered the seal he’d set over his emotions. It had awoken something deep inside of him which scared him to death.
Xander awoke the next morning to an empty bed and a bad mood. He could deal with his physical arousal in a time-honored way, but he knew it wouldn’t satisfy him.
Ela. Something might have healed for Ela last night, but it had opened a can of worms for him.
He swung his legs off the bed, pushed his fingers through hair which didn’t need to be pushed off his face and rose with purposeful steps, pulled on his shorts, and made for the gym. If he couldn’t have a woman then he’d have to sweat it out another way.
But even after a workout, a cold shower and a meeting with his advisors his mood was still black. He found himself on a video call to the only other person in the world who would understand.
“Xander,” said Roshan, leaning in to adjust his settings before sitting down, his forearms on his thighs as he sat alert and looking directly at Xander, as if to assess his mood. “What’s up?”
“Ela is what’s up.”
Roshan sighed, shook his head and sat back in his chair. “What’s happened now?”
Xander opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t continue. What was he going to say? He felt sorry for her? She was more than he’d imagined? “She’s just… demanding too much of me.”
“Of course she is. That’s just her. Just ignore it.”
“It’s hard when it’s…” He trailed off. How could he describe what had happened last night?
“It’s what?”
“When it’s kind of personal… I guess,” he added lamely.
Roshan leaned forward, and Xander didn’t like the spark of interest which lit his eye. “Personal, eh? Don’t tell me you’ve succumbed to Elaheh’s charms.”
Xander grunted but couldn’t deny Roshan’s statement. He never lied to his br
other—from the early days after they’d lost their parents they’d made a pact to always be honest with each other. “She’s beautiful, I’ll give you that, and every now and then I catch a glimpse of the woman who exists behind that stroppy mask. But the bottom line is she’s driving me mad.” Xander hoped that by diverting Roshan from his statement he’d avoid it. But the look on Roshan’s face indicated the opposite.
Roshan nodded. “I see.”
Xander scowled.
Roshan pressed his lips together and shook his head. “It was fifteen years ago, Xander. You’ve got to move on.”
Xander felt his anger crumble away and tears prick his eyes as Roshan dove straight to the heart of the issue. He licked his lips and tried to speak but no words came out. He blinked instead.
“Selya was my friend, Roshan. More than my friend. We were always meant for each other. She was the only girl I ever loved, the only girl for me. I still…” He petered out, unable to express how he still lived daily with the feeling that there was a hole in the place where his heart should have been. His heart, that had been gouged out of his body, and tossed aside for the desert sun and crows to eat the day that his love had been killed before his eyes, alongside his parents. Even now he unconsciously rubbed his hand where her blood had splattered.
“I know, Xander, but you can’t live in the past.”
“It’s not the past to me.”
“It has to be. Unless you leave it behind, you will have no future. Xander, listen to me, you can do it.”
“It’s hard, Roshan. So hard.”
“I know. You were always the soft one, always the tender, the sensitive, the vulnerable. And it seems your love for Selya was planted deep at an early age. I understand that. But you still have a loving heart.”
Xander made a scoffing sound.
“Don’t dismiss that, Xander. I know you do. If you didn’t you wouldn’t have made this call to me. I understand, probably more than you know. And”—he glanced to where Xander guessed Shakira was standing—“now I share my life with my love I truly understand. It will happen again for you. Don’t let the past become a barrier to your happiness.” He gave someone a heart-stopping grin and Xander felt a shift in his own heart. Then Roshan turned back to him. “And, you know, I think Elaheh might be just the person to force you to find your heart.”
“I’m not letting Elaheh loose with my heart. Who knows where it will end up.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but she sure has the force to batter down your defenses, and that’s what’s needed right now. And, I suspect, it’s a process which she’s begun already. Anyhow, I have to go. Take care, and call me soon.”
Xander logged off and sat back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling and blinked. It was good to talk to Roshan. It eased the pain of his loss a little. But as to the rest? It was nonsense, except for Elaheh being forceful enough to kick down his defenses. He’d have to watch that.
Chapter 9
“No,” Xander said, the next morning. “It’s out of the question.”
“But,” pouted Elaheh, replacing her tea cup and reaching out for his hand across the breakfast table. “You asked me what I wanted to do, and going into the desert is what I want to do.” He took her hand in his but his frown didn’t disappear as she’d hoped. She tossed her napkin onto the table and rose, watching as his eyes were drawn to her as if to a magnet. She could get used to this. She walked around the table and leaned over his shoulder, pressing her breasts to his back, and kissed his cheek. “Didn’t you mean it when you said we could do anything I wished?”
He huffed a frustrated sigh. “Of course I did.” He twisted around and caught her lips in a brief but devastating kiss. It was nearly enough to make her forget what she wanted. Nearly, but not quite. “I thought you’d want something reasonable, to do something inside the castle, where it’s safe.”
“My request is reasonable. You love the sea and we spent a morning at the beach. And I love the desert, and would like to spend some time there. That’s reasonable and fair.”
“We are in the desert.”
“We’re in a castle—” interrupted Elaheh.
“A medieval castle—” corrected Xander.
“A medieval castle with all the trappings of a luxurious palace.”
Xander shrugged. “What do you have against luxury? I, for one, enjoy it.”
She desperately wanted him to want what she wanted. But, it seemed, they were opposites. He loved the water and the sea, she hated it. She loved the dry desert heat, and it appeared he hated that. At night they’d found mutual pleasure but, it seemed, their differences were all too obvious in the cold light of day.
“I’m a simple Bedouin woman who feels most at home in the desert. That’s all.”
Xander grunted. “There is nothing simple about you, Queen Elaheh.”
She pouted again. She liked the way his gaze slid to her lips as if he wanted to kiss them. “You call me by my full name and title when you’re cross with me.”
“I’m not cross with you. It’s only…”
“It’s only nothing. You obviously have no real objection, so why don’t we stop arguing and get going?” She grinned. “I’ve given instructions to ready the horses and prepare the camp ahead of us. And don’t worry, while we’ll feel alone, I’ve taken the liberty of ensuring we’ll be safe. Your men won’t be far away.”
“You’ve what?” Xander exploded. “Ela!”
She pressed her finger against his lips. “It’s okay. We’ll be safe.” She moved her finger over his lips and she knew she had him when he licked her finger. It didn’t take a mind-reader to figure out where his thoughts were straying. She took a calming breath. As much as she was tempted, she wasn’t about to be diverted from her plans. Besides, there would be plenty of time to experience all Xander had to offer in the desert. “The desert will be just that—deserted, or mostly. We can do whatever we choose to do.” She raised a suggestive eyebrow.
His eyes darkened in a dangerous and seductive warning. “And where, exactly, is our destination?”
“The Shuruq Alshams Wahah.”
“Sunrise Oasis,” said Xander, giving it its western name. “And no further?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” The Sunrise Oasis wasn’t her ultimate destination, but she decided not to tell him where they’d spend the night. It was further away and would no doubt elicit an even more negative response. They’d have no choice but to continue on if they wanted a tent to sleep in.
“Okay, but no further.”
“Great! You’ll enjoy it, you’ll see,” she added. And she really did hope he would see, because she yearned for the intimacy of the night before. The pleasure he’d given her was turning out to be a drug—once tasted the cravings only increased, demanding satisfaction. Well, she had the prospect of a full day and night alone with him and she knew Xander wouldn’t be able to refuse those particular demands.
* * *
Xander could have stopped the expedition to the desert oasis. Of course he could. But it seemed he was unable to deny Ela anything. Watching her natural passions emerge the previous night had had an effect on him he didn’t wish to consider. As they walked through the castle to prepare themselves for the horse ride ahead—he tried not to shudder at the idea of the ride—her animated face was reward enough for his sacrifice. At least they were venturing no further than the Shuruq Alshams Oasis.
Ela might believe he had no valid reason not to enter the desert, but he did have one. Only one. But one big enough with the potential to derail him completely if he returned to the place where his nightmare had begun.
Elaheh felt the thrill of the ride in every cell of her newly awakened body. The desert wind had pushed her hijab from her face and her hair flew out behind her. And for once she didn’t care how it looked. The early morning sun was warm on her face, and her stallion was at his responsive best. They galloped as one, the pounding of his hooves in time with her quickened heartbeat. She was relaxed, and yet fully awa
re, living in the moment in a way she couldn’t do when she was in the public eye. And she was always in the public eye.
She glanced across at Xander who, despite his protestations, looked superbly at ease on his mount. He might not be enjoying it, but he was certainly good at it. The thought suddenly crossed her mind that she didn’t know anything he wasn’t good at. If she had been asked to name one weakness in him, she wouldn’t have been able to. But surely no one was that strong? There were times she sensed an unease in him, but she had no idea as to its source. But maybe, just maybe, by putting him out of his comfort zone she’d be able to know him a little better. Especially if she bypassed the Shuruq Alshams Oasis and headed directly to the place she really wanted to go. She suspected he wouldn’t be aware of the change in itinerary.
And she was correct. While the desert was apparently featureless, she knew her way instinctively, drawn to the smudge on the horizon which indicated her destination. And Xander said nothing, merely rode silently alongside her.
Slowly the smudge took shape. Firstly the spiky leaves of the palm trees—their points dark against the deep blue sky on the horizon. Then the different shades of brown and green, then the birds who lived there. It was only as they approached that the mirage of shimmering water turned into the actual water of the oasis.
The land was a kind of no man’s land now and so only the most traditional Bedouin would use it. But not at this time of year. She knew it would be empty, and had taken precautions to make sure it was before they’d set off. The place had been secured and prepared for their arrival. Although she’d protested against the luxury of the castle, she was anxious to make sure Xander was comfortable. Both for himself, and for her. The more at ease he was, the more satisfaction he could give her, she thought with a smile.
As soon as they reached the first trees she jumped down and patted her horse, calming him after the brisk gallop.