The Desert Prince's Bride (The Sheiks of Altair Book 2)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Giselle looked up at him, startled by his question. She repeated her words in her head, realized how it had come out. With a burst of laughter, Giselle shook her head, grateful for the small point of humor in an otherwise overwhelming morning. “I wasn’t running around like a crazy person, which I know is where your mind went. I was exercising. You know, running through the streets and up that hill on the west side of the city?”

  He thought for a moment, blinking as if the idea of running voluntarily was inconceivable. “You mean that hill, the one that’s four miles away from here? And five miles from where you live?”

  She chuckled at his horrified expression. “Yes, that hill,” she replied, thinking that Stephen could use a bit of outdoor activity himself. He wasn’t fat, but he had absolutely no muscle tone. “A bit of exercise is good for the body,” she told hm.

  Stephen waved his hands in the air as if he were warding off an evil spirit. “No, I disagree. Sleeping in is good for the body. Sleeping doesn’t increase one’s blood pressure. All the doctors have been telling the world to keep one’s blood pressure low.”

  Giselle laughed, shaking her head. “Stephen, exercise does lower one’s blood pressure. You should try it some time.”

  “I don’t think so, deary. In my case, the debate over whether to get out of bed and exercise vs staying in bed and sleeping is intensely stressful, hence the increase in blood pressure.”

  Smothering another burst of laughter, she accepted that Stephen was not going to change his mind so she changed the subject. “The dinner next week with the French Ambassador,” she began. For the next thirty minutes, she and Stephen went through several issues, nailing down details and coming up with additional problems they needed to resolve before the guests arrived. After briefing him on each of the events she was planning, he returned to his office and she focused on her ideas for two other events, needing to present her ideas to Stephen in a few days.

  Giselle worked throughout the day, forcing herself to focus only on the issues for the next week’s dinners and the garden party, and not on the possibility of seeing Jaffri again tonight. By five o’clock, she nervously handed in her ideas to Stephen, knowing that he needed to be the one to present the theme to the princess. Giselle wasn’t high enough on the food chain yet to be fully in charge of an event for a member of the royal family, but she was honored that Stephen had given her the opportunity to come up with the ideas. She also knew that he’d give her full credit if the princess liked them, but would take full responsibility if the princess didn’t go with the theme. He understood the need to protect his team and promote them whenever possible. It was one of the reasons she loved this job so much. She knew that she could put forth the effort and get the credit.

  Unfortunately, her mind didn’t settle down once she left the office for the day. By the time she was getting ready for bed that night, she was a nervous wreck. All day, she’d pushed the prince’s threat to the back of her mind, not sure what she was going to do about it. She didn’t want to work out in the gym and, even worse, he’d implied that he would be working out with her. What did that mean? She didn’t like working out with anyone. She preferred to go at her own pace, to challenge herself, to push herself. Or to slack off when she was having an off-day.

  Besides, the man was huge! His muscles alone outweighed her and that wasn’t including the rest of him! No, there was no way she could work out with him in the palace gym. Besides, he would most likely be there with the military elite and his security team. She’d heard rumors about their workouts and she wanted no part of that pain-fest.

  So that night, she set out her running clothes, intending to run in the opposite direction from where she’d gone yesterday. That would kill two birds with one stone, she told herself. She could still get her work out in, which always got her mind in gear, and she could avoid the man. For some reason, defying him and wondering how he would react was…exciting!

  The following morning, as she tied her running shoes, Giselle could feel her heart pounding but acknowledged an intense sense of anticipation in thwarting Jaffri. She’d avoid him this morning and any lurking criminals hiding behind big rocks. No way did she want to get caught up in whatever weapons-smuggling gangs were hiding out in the dark alleys or hidden caves. She knew that Altair had an amazingly low crime rate, but she also didn’t want to push her luck. Flashes of their kiss yesterday morning on the mountain, and again in her office, whizzed through her mind. No, she couldn’t go there again.

  Even as she decided, Giselle could feel her body heating up just at the thought of seeing him again. And yeah, the prospect of kissing him again lurked in the back of her mind too.

  Nope, bad idea to even think something so silly.

  She grabbed her headphones as she left her apartment that morning, fully intending to head down the street for her usual run. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, a perfect time to run. The heat of the day hadn’t started yet, and there were still remnants of the crisp, night air to be enjoyed.

  Taking a deep breath, she swung her arms around and stretched her legs, then…yelped when the huge figure stepped out of the big, black vehicle parked across the street.

  “Going somewhere?” Jaffri asked, stalking across the street to tower over her.

  “Uh…” she wasn’t sure what to say. “Yes,” she finally admitted. “I’m going for a run.” Giselle was unaware of her chin jutting out defiantly or the way her green eyes sparkled a challenge.

  “So, you were planning to completely disobey a direct order, is that it?’ he asked ominously, moving closer.

  She didn’t like the way this conversation was going. “Not exactly,” she finally replied, realizing that he sort of, kinda, had issued a direct order yesterday. Although she hadn’t really taken him seriously at the time. Of course, she’d been a bit frazzled by his kiss. Was that a good enough excuse? Probably not, she thought silently, unwilling to admit to him that she’d been so affected.

  “So, what exactly were you about to do?” he demanded, doing that arms-over-his-chest thing that drew her gaze to his muscular biceps and shoulders. Drool was not pretty, she warned herself.

  “Umm…I was…” she shifted her feet, wondering if she could make a run for it.

  “I wouldn’t try it, if I were you,” he warned and that dangerous, sexy voice was back.

  She licked her lips, trying to decide what to do. Honesty was probably her best bet and…it was all she could come up with.

  “Here’s the deal,” she began. “I don’t want to work out with you.” She paused, but he didn’t react at all. He simply stood there, waiting. Giselle wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, so she continued. “I prefer to run outside.” Still nothing. He continued to watch her. Waiting. “I get a much better workout when I’m alone and can go at my own pace.” Silence.

  Huffing, she shifted again, preparing her battle stance. “Look, I’m not working out in the gym. I’m going for a…”

  He took her arm and led, almost dragged, her over to the vehicle. The door was already opened by the time they reached it but she pulled back. “You can’t force me to work out in the gym,” she announced, before remembering that he was royalty and added, “Your Highness.” But the last two words were once again tinged with sarcasm.

  Not a good idea, she realized because his grip only tightened on her upper arm. He wasn’t hurting her, but Giselle was fairly certain that she wouldn’t be able to free herself. Not that she was going to try it. She was finally starting to realize that the man truly did have a lot of power over her. He was the freaking prince of this whole country! Yeah, he was pretty powerful. Not to mention, he could fire her and she’d be gone. No questions asked, no need to provide any kind of reason for her dismissal. She’d just be gone.

  “Why don’t you want to work out with me in the gym?” he demanded, tugging her gently but mercilessly towards the back of the black SUV.

  Giselle huffed, furious that he could so easily win th
is battle. “I just answered that! But let me add in that I don’t want to work out with you in particular because you’re a huge, hulking man and I’m…not,” she finished lamely, daring the driver to laugh at her response. Focusing back on Jaffri, she dug her heels in, refusing to step into the black SUV. “I can’t keep up with your workout, Sir. Your Highness.” She saw the amusement in his eyes and refrained, with great effort, from rolling her own. “Listen, I’ll be perfectly fine running through the city, I’ll even use an alternate route. I won’t go near the side of the city where we were yesterday. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been running on my own since high school. I was on the track team back then and I’m pretty good.”

  He took in her figure, dressed in skintight leggings and a sleeveless top that clung to her curves. “I’d wager that there was an increase in the boy’s track team at the same time.”

  There had been, but Giselle didn’t know why that was relevant. “Anyway,” she moved on, ignoring his comment, “I’m fine on my own and I’m not going to the palace to work out.”

  He continued to hold the door open for her, obviously waiting for her to get in. When she only glared back at him, he lifted a dark eyebrow in challenge.

  “Think you’re going to win this one?” he asked, moving closer to her. She found herself pinned to the side of the vehicle, his body pressing against hers in all the right places, causing her to gasp. “I don’t think so, my beauty.”

  “You’re being a brute again,” she whispered, wishing that her voice had more vehemence to it. She could be intimidating, she thought. She just needed to practice.

  “You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?” he teased, that sexy smile forming on his lips.

  She considered that question for a long moment. “I don’t think it is being stubborn so much as not bowing down to your commands.”

  He leaned closer, his hips shifting ever so slightly, causing her to gasp as the wave of desire ripped through her body. “Oh, but you might like bowing down to my commands.”

  She held her breath, images flashing through her mind. Yeah, she might like that. But…

  “I don’t think that would be a very good idea,” she whispered.

  “Why not?”

  She stared up into his blue eyes, trying to figure out the best way to explain. “Because I’m not good at following orders.”

  Suddenly, they were inside the SUV, but it was private, sort of like a limousine where the back half was closed off from the driver’s area. “What about when you like the orders?”

  She bit her lower lip, her eyes falling to his mouth as several images popped into her head. Bad images. Sexy, hot, sensuous images! She opened her mouth to respond, but his covered hers, obliterating her train of thought. She wasn’t aware of her hands sliding up his chest or of him lifting her onto his lap. She had no idea that the driver had pulled away from the curb or that they were speeding down the road towards the palace. All she knew was that his hand was finally cupping her breast and it felt…amazing! When his thumb flicked her nipple, her head dropped back and she grabbed his wrist, trying to control the sensations. But he ignored her feeble attempts at control and continued, flicking against the taut peak, causing her to squirm…and she was right back where she’d been the previous day, her core pressing against him. She couldn’t stop her hips from rolling…until his hands showed her how to press against his erection and she just about lost it right then and there! The tension was building and he tugged at her nipple through the stretchy material of her top, causing more sensations to flash through her body. She couldn’t handle this and tried again to pull his hand away, but he only captured her hands in one of his and shifted them behind her back. With his other hand, he continued to tweak and pull, tease and torture her nipple while she writhed against him.

  “Don’t slow down,” he growled out when she tried to pull her hips away. “Just feel it, do what works, baby.”

  She tried to stop! Giselle made a valiant effort to halt her actions, to not go down this road. But his hands were too strong and too persuasive. When she tried to lift her hips away from his, shaking her head in denial of what her body screamed for, he pulled her right back into position, his hand shifting her hips so that she was back in place, grinding against his erection and she couldn’t hold back. The climax roared through her. He covered her mouth with his own, absorbing her cries of release even as he helped rock her through the rest of her bliss.

  When it was all over, she collapsed against him, her open mouth resting against the heated column of his neck and she was completely unaware of anything. Never in her life, even in her wildest fantasies, had she thought something like that could happen. It was better than anything!

  She felt the vehicle slow and come to a stop, but her body wouldn’t move. Thankfully, he understood what was going on and lifted her into his arms, her legs draped over one arm while the other cradled her back, pulling her close. Giselle kept her face buried against his neck as she tried to bring her body back under control. But before she had a chance, he was closing the door to some room and lowering her to a bed. A part of her realized what was going on, especially when he pulled his workout shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor before leaning over her. But as he kissed her again, a full on, open mouth, wet kiss that didn’t end, she didn’t care. Not a whit! For this moment, she was oblivious to everything and everyone. It was just Jaffri as he stripped her leggings off, ripped her sports bra out of the way…discarded all of her clothes until she was naked, lying on his bed where his eyes could devour her unhindered.

  “You’re more beautiful than I imagined,” he murmured as he lowered his head to her nipple. She screamed as he sucked on that peak, her hands trying to drag his mouth away, but when he lifted his head, she needed his mouth back, needed more of the torture.

  “What are you doing to me?!” she demanded, lifting her hips to feel that strange sensation, ease the terrible ache deep below in her belly.

  “The same thing you’re doing to me, Giselle,” he told her as he moved lower, nibbling his way to the juncture of her thighs. When his finger slid inside of her, she screamed again, shocked by the intimacy but unable to figure out why since she’d been naked and pressing against him for the past…however long.

  It didn’t matter though. Nothing mattered, she thought. Nothing other than satisfying this deep, aching need in her body that was trying to claw its way out of her. “Help me,” she sobbed, unaware of how she was arching her body up to him, offering herself to him.

  He understood and actually ached with the need to sink into her, to find his own release. But not before she climaxed again. She’d had one in the car ride over here, but he hadn’t been able to watch her, to see her and feel her when it had happened. So that one, in his mind, didn’t count. This one…this was going to count, he vowed. Circling that bud, he twirled his fingers inside of her, making her body tighten. She was so close! So damn close and so amazingly hot!

  “Relax and let it happen, Giselle,” he soothed, encouraging her along by sucking that sensitive nub into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue. When he felt her tighten more, her fingers diving into his hair, he knew she was close and he sucked harder on that bundle of nerves, prepared when she exploded, her inner muscles tightening around his fingers as her body throbbed against his mouth.

  Feeling that, watching her like this, he almost lost it. By a bare thread, he held onto his control until he could sheath himself with a condom. Coming up over her, he kissed her as his body pushed into her. She was so damn tight! But the wet heat of her was incredible! Pulling out and then pressing deeper, he repeated the ritual until…

  “Giselle!” he groaned when he broke through that thin membrane and was fully embedded inside of her. He felt the small jerk of her slender body and wanted to beat himself for taking her virginity so brutally. He should have been slower, should have taken more time. He should have given her another climax, he thought. Looking down at her, h
e noticed her chest heaving as she looked up at him, her pink nipples tight and enticing. He needed her, needed to move, but he didn’t want to hurt her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as gently as he could. His voice was rough with desire, but she only beamed up at him. “Damn, you’re so beautiful,” he growled when he felt her hands dig into his shoulders. Her legs lifted, wrapping around his waist and he closed his eyes as her sweet body pulled him deeper. “Giselle,” he groaned and started moving in the age-old dance. Carefully now, he pressed into her tight body and then pulled out, watching her face, watching for signs that he was hurting her. When her fingers trailed down his chest, he shook his head, trying to keep control. But those fingers, the way they followed the line of his hair down to…

  Grabbing her wrists, he pulled her arms up over her head, moving in and out of her in a demanding rhythm. He knew that he was close, so damn close, but he wanted this first time for her to be perfect. Shifting, he moved so that his body would be more aligned with hers and that was all it took to send her over the edge once more.

  Jaffri tried to hold back, to let her enjoy her orgasm more fully but the tightening of her inner muscles around his erection wouldn’t let him hold back. He pressed into her once…twice…and that was all it took to send him over the edge right along with her.

  A long time later, Giselle opened her eyes and looked around. She could barely breathe with Jaffri’s weight on her, but as soon as she shifted, he moved, rolling over and pulling her right along with him. She stared at him, shocked by the intensity of what they had done. Pulling the comforter over herself, she sat up and looked around, pushing her dark curls back out of her eyes. “What have we done?” she whispered.

  His hand stroked along the skin of her spine and she shivered.

  “If you don’t know, then I think we should do it all over again, so you can figure it out.” He sat up and kissed her shoulder, her neck. When he lifted her into his arms, she barely had time to drop the comforter and wrap her arms around his neck. “In fact, I think right about now is a good time to start all over. I’ll explain the process to you step by step.”