She looked into his eyes, unaware of the excitement shining right back to him from her own eyes. “You have all the control.”
He chuckled. “Now you are starting to understand.”
With a groan of frustration mixed with intense excitement, she twisted her neck to try and see her wrists. Unfortunately, the man knew how to tie a knot. “Were you a boy scout or something?”
He laughed again. “Or something,” he replied, his fingers sliding under the elastic of her underwear. That finger moved over her skin, teasing, tracing the lacy designs. “I like this on you, Giselle. I don’t remember what you were wearing yesterday morning.”
She tugged a bit, but the knots weren’t giving way. In fact, she was probably making the knots tighter. “That’s because you tore them off of me.”
He chuckled. “I thought I’d only ruined your sports bra.”
“Yeah, that too,” but she could barely finish that comment before his finger slipped under the lace, diving into her wet folds. “Don’t! Oh, please don’t!”
“Why not?” he asked softly, his eyes tracking his finger’s progress underneath the material. “You’re so wet, Giselle. I’m taking that as a good sign. You’re truly absorbing this lesson.”
She tried to wiggle away from his tormenting finger, but when that didn’t work, she inched closer, needing his finger…yes! Right there!
And then it was gone! “Why?” she gasped, unaware of her heavy breathing but fully cognizant of his erection pressing insistently against the material of his slacks. “Why don’t you take your clothes off and join me?”
“Because if I do that, I’ll get distracted, and then this lesson will be over.”
“I’m fine with that. Just…”
“No, you haven’t fully appreciated my authority. You still think that you can control me and this. But I’m in charge, Giselle. Do you understand?”
She gritted her teeth, unable to answer him because he was unbuttoning her blouse, pushing the silk away. Then his finger traced a line across her breast, stopping at the nipple and tormenting her for long moments. “Ah!! No fair!”
“I think this is very fair. Do you have any idea how angry I was this morning when I woke up and you were gone?” he asked, pulling the lace material away from her breast and running his forefinger over her taut nipple. When she screamed and arched into his hand, he continued, tweaking the tip, sending more desire spiraling through her body, making her quiver.
When she could see straight, she looked up at him, her body feeling so alive, so on fire for him, she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into her lungs. “I just went home,” she told him, licking her lips. “I went home, showered, and went to work.”
“And how angry I was when you didn’t meet me for lunch as I requested?” he continued, ignoring her explanation.
She shook her head. “You didn’t request. You ordered.”
“Yes,” he replied, turning his attention to her other nipple, torturing that one as well. “Yes, that’s what I do. In my position, I order people and they obey.”
She shook her head, glaring up at him. “I’m not a puppy! I don’t run to you when you call me!”
He leaned over, his warm breath caressing her nipple without touching it. “You will.” And then he took the peak in his mouth, sucking hard, his tongue lashing at the sensitive flesh.
“Oh, please, enough! I’ve learned my lesson. I promise, the next time you send a note, I’ll come running down the hallway! I promise!” she sobbed, rolling her hips in an attempt to ease the almost painful tension, needing the release.
Jaffri stood at the end of the bed, his eyes drinking in the beauty of her, her hands tied above her head so that he had complete control of her. He’d always been a man in control, but he’d never enjoyed tying a woman up, thinking it was pointless. If a woman didn’t want to give herself to him, he’d move on.
But seeing Giselle like this, her arms above her head, her body shifting, writhing, begging for him, he couldn’t deny how much he liked it. Seeing her splayed out, just for him, made him hard as a rock. He wanted her, but he also wanted to savor this moment, to enjoy looking at her, seeing her ready for him.
“Tell me you want me.”
He tossed his slacks over hers and came back to the bed, hovering over her. He tossed the condom off to the side, thinking that he wasn’t quite ready to end this. He was enjoying it too much to stop now.
“I want you! You have no idea how much I want you.”
He moved a hand between her legs, spreading them wide so that he could admire at her pink folds. They were wet and glistening, her small nub throbbing for his attention. “I believe I understand,” he told her, his finger sliding into that heat, watching as her body lifted, trying to meet his fingers. But he wouldn’t give her the stimulation she needed, that she was silently pleading him for. Not yet. “Why didn’t you come to my office earlier today?” he asked, his hand sliding along her thighs, loving the softness of her skin.
“I was scared!” she admitted, shrieked actually. His finger was unmerciful and she knew that he was just as ready for her as she was for him. “I was scared and I didn’t know what you might want.”
“I wanted to have lunch with you.”
She shook her head, denying whatever. “I didn’t have time for lunch. I’d been out all day yesterday.”
“So you skipped breakfast and lunch today, huh?” he asked, bending lower. He added another finger to her heat, moving in and out of her tender folds, teasing and twisting. When she gasped, he took what her hips were offering and covered that nub with his mouth. She almost lifted off of the bed with that but he held her still with his other hand. His mouth sucked while his tongue lashed, doing to her nub what he’d done to her nipples earlier. The effect was sparkling!
But he could also tell when she was about to fly over the edge and pulled back before she reached that point. He almost laughed out loud at her scream of frustration. Waiting, calming her down with a hand to her lower stomach, he soothed her. When her breathing mellowed a bit, he lowered his head again, repeating the action and still pulling away before she climaxed. “Next time I call you for lunch, you’re going to come to me, aren’t you?”
“Yes!” she panted, her body arching against his mouth, unconcerned with ladylike behavior now. Everything was instinct. Everything was need and desperate desire. Her whole body felt like it was on fire for him and she couldn’t control it. He was completely in control. He had her right on the edge where he wanted her.
Finally, he stood beside her bed and watched her as he rolled the condom down his shaft. She watched, fascinated with the process as well as with him. He was so amazingly muscular, just a gorgeous specimen of masculinity. She watched, waiting with eager anticipation as he…
“NO!” she begged when he lowered his head again instead of entering her. But he was stronger than she was and that mouth…he knew what to do. He took her right to the edge again and again! When he finally entered her, she was almost out of her mind with desire. As he moved into her slowly, filling her up, she couldn’t hold back any longer. The climax that hit her was stronger, more powerful than anything she’d experienced yesterday and she screamed. Fortunately, he absorbed the sound into his mouth as he kissed her, filling her up.
Then he started moving. Giselle had thought she was finished, but as he moved, grinding his body against hers, she felt herself start to climb one more time. Shaking her head, she pleaded with him to stop, but he didn’t. He moved, shifted, slamming into her exactly as she wanted him to. Over and over again, he pounded into her until she couldn’t hold back. This climax wasn’t as intense, but she still couldn’t believe the sensation of the pulsating pleasure hitting her. The waves pulsed, pounded, and rocked her body until she felt him reach his own climax.
When it was all over, she felt him reach up and, with a single tug, her wrists were freed from the cotton belt, his strong hands massaging the red marks on her wrists. Giselle didn’t care a
bout anything other than collapsing against him with exhaustion. When he pulled her closer, she sighed, needing to feel him, all of him, against her body.
“Did you learn your lesson?”
Giselle couldn’t help it. The laugh burst out of her before she could stop it. She buried her face against his chest and laughed.
“That doesn’t sound like you’re very contrite,” he commented, shaking his head.
She curled the blanket around her as she looked up at him. “I suppose I’m just a slow learner,” she purred, watching his body react.
He growled and pulled her into his arms, discarding the blanket in the process. “I think you enjoyed the lesson too much. Next time I’ll have to try harder.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to the middle of his chest. “I loved the lesson when it was over. It was…”
“Beautiful,” he finished for her and bent to nibble on her neck. He pulled away though, smacking her gently on her bare bottom. “But right now, you need food. You didn’t have breakfast or lunch. What do you want for dinner?”
She shrugged, pulling the blanket back up around her body. “Chinese food,” she told him. “And I might have skipped meals, but I snacked on a protein bar this afternoon, plus I had an apple and banana today. So I did eat something.”
Still, he shook his head. “Not enough, Giselle.” He pulled her against his body once again, kissing her. She wasn’t sure if that was his way of stopping her from arguing with him or if he just wanted to kiss her again.
He lifted his head and groaned, running a hand down her back to cup her bottom. “What kind of Chinese food do you prefer?” After a soft, tender caress, he pulled away, tugging her so that she was standing up as well.
Grabbing her robe, she pushed her arms through and tied the belt as she walked over to her cabinet and pulled out the menu for a carryout place around the corner. “Definitely sweet and sour shrimp,” she told him, tapping a pen against her chin. “But I’m starving, so probably kung pao chicken too. What do you want?” she asked, handing him the menu as she picked up her cell phone.
He surveyed the options, then started to dial a number on his cell phone. “I’ve got it,” she announced, picking up her own phone. As soon as the person on the other end of the line answered, Giselle greeted whoever was on the other end. “Hi Tom.” And a moment later, she gave the guy her order, adding in spring rolls, soup, noodles, and then lifted her eyebrows in question at him. He told her his order and walked into her bedroom to pull his pants on so that he could tell his guards to go pick up the food. But he spun around when she laughed. “Just put it on my credit card.”
A moment later, she dropped her phone back into her purse as Jaffri glared at her. “You’re not paying for dinner,” he announced, grumpy now that he understood what she was doing.
Giselle walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Already done.”
He pulled his slacks on anyway and walked over to the door, snapping an order to his guards. They immediately lifted their radio to convey his instructions. “Add on food for you guys as well. I’ll be here for a while.”
With that, he slammed the door. “Food will be here in thirty minutes.” He surveyed her body, clad in the cotton robe that left little to his imagination. All of her soft curves were well defined by the thin material.
“What are we going to do for thirty minutes?” he asked, although he had some good ideas. What he wasn’t prepared for was the eager smile on her lovely features as she walked back into his arms. He slid his hands around her back, lifting an eyebrow.
Chapter 6
Jaffri woke up with pain in his neck and his back and groaned with frustration. But the damn woman wouldn’t come to him at the palace and…hell, he wasn’t willing to sleep without her at night. She was like a drug that he couldn’t seem to get enough of.
Giselle’s bed was about half the size of his own. For a man of his height and brawn, he should have known that this bed wasn’t going to work. He’d thought about bringing her back to the palace last night, but he knew that she didn’t want anyone at the palace to know of their relationship.
Something would have to be done about the bed, he thought. Because this wasn’t going to be the last night he stayed with her. Unfortunately, he didn’t think she would be willing to spend more nights in his private suite at the palace. That meant he needed to figure out an alternative location.
A house would be best, he thought, kissing her bare shoulder before heading into the bathroom. When he turned on the shower, he was startled to once again find that the water coming out of the showerhead was cold. Cold water? That’s annoying! Waiting several minutes, he used her rose scented soap and pink razor to shave, thinking that she needed better shaving gear as well. When it took almost five minutes for the water to heat up, and even then, he had to duck to get his head and body under the shower, he resolved that there was only one solution. He had to buy her a new house. One with a huge bedroom and a massive shower. No need to do without creature comforts when he slept over, he thought. There was also the need for tighter security. His guards would need a place to stay if he was going to be with her more often.
Fifteen minutes later, it would have been a shorter shower except that it took so much effort to rinse off, he walked out to find her sitting up in the bed, pillows propped up behind her back. Her hair was messy, the glossy, dark curls going every which way, and her lips were swollen from his kisses. Yeah, she looked well and truly loved, he thought with pride.
Walking over to her, he kissed her gently, chuckling when she blinked sleepily up at him. “Not a morning person, are you?”
She shook her head. “I usually am,” she told him. “But not when someone keeps me up more than half the night,” she grumbled.
He laughed again, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone. “I’ll see you later today.”
A moment later, he was gone, leaving Giselle to process everything that had happened over the past twelve hours.
Twelve hours? Good grief, she still hadn’t fully reconciled the previous twenty-four hours, much less everything that had happened last night!
One thought struck her. He’d been in her apartment when she’d walked in last night. He’d broken into her apartment! Yeah, she’d have to have a long conversation with him about that. She contemplated a run, but her muscles were still too sore, too well used, to venture out into the streets for even a few miles. Nope, she’d excuse herself for one more day and put in a good workout tomorrow.
Time to get ready for work, she told herself, heading into the kitchen for coffee first.
An hour later, she was freshly showered and dressed, tossing more of her underwear into the trash. Couldn’t he remove it gently? Then she pictured his big hands against the delicate lace. Hmmm…his strength against the delicate lace of her underwear? Not a good combination.
Driving into the palace parking lot, the guard at the gate directed her towards a different area of the parking lot. She had no idea why, but since it was closer, she smiled and pulled into the space he’d indicated. Grabbing her tote bag and her badge, she walked into the palace, a spring to her step that she was entirely unaware of.
“Someone’s in a good mood!” Stephen observed when he walked into her office that morning. “We have…”
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. A woman in a professional suit stepped through the doorway, eyeing them with a pseudo-apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I’m supposed to meet with Giselle Jones,” she announced.
Both Giselle and Stephen turned to look at the flustered woman, someone they’d never seen in the palace before.
“I apologize for interrupting,” she said, holding up a binder filled with papers. “But I was told to bring these to you immediately to get your preference.”
Stephan took the papers and glanced through them. “Are these options for venues?” he asked. “They’re all beautiful houses but…”
; The stranger shook her head. “No. Not for social events. These are housing options for Ms. Jones.”
Stephen and Giselle shared a confused glance. “I’m sorry?” Giselle asked, not sure what was going on. Stephen handed her the pictures.
“I didn’t know you were moving,” he commented, his eyes widening at the stunning and enormous houses.
Giselle glanced through the houses, her eyebrows lifting in surprise. “Neither did I.” Shaking her head, she handed the pictures back to the woman. “I think there’s a misunderstanding. There’s no way I could afford one of these, even if I were in the market for a new place.”
Stephen chuckled. “I couldn’t even afford those houses!” he laughed but made his way out of Giselle’s office. “Get me the menus for the prime minister’s visit, okay?” he called out as he rounded the corner and entered his own office.
Giselle looked back at the woman. “Obviously, there’s been a mistake,” she told her with a smile. “Tell me who you’re looking for and I’ll direct you to their office.”
The woman shook her head and sighed, almost dropping into the small chair in front Giselle’s desk. “I was called early this morning with orders to bring housing options to Ms. Giselle Jones of the Hospitality Division.” She smoothed her skirt over her knees. “Apparently, this is an immediate need.” She looked at Giselle curiously. “You’re not in the market for a new house?”
Giselle was starting to understand what was going on. Jaffri! She remembered him taking up most of the bed last night, but every time she’d nudged him to move over, he’d only woken up to make love to her. One of the reasons she was so painfully tired this morning.
Apparently, he thought she needed a bigger bed.
Giselle was furious with him! First, he kept her in bed all day two days ago and had one of his minions call her boss to tell Stephen that she was sick. Then last night, he breaks into her apartment. Now he calls and arranges to buy her a new house…and he thought she would be happy about this? He was going behind her back and manipulating her life!
The Desert Prince's Bride (The Sheiks of Altair Book 2) Page 7