Zahir tensed. This was the last thing he needed. He’d been working hard to get her to tell him everything that he needed to know about Clayton. He had no doubt that as the other man’s personal secretary for months, she’d overheard and seen things that Clayton wished she hadn’t. He hadn’t been able to get her to offload at the office, hence this meeting here.
Okay, to be honest, it was a date. He wanted to get to know his newest and most irresistible employee more intimately, even if it were just conversation afforded him over fresh fish. However, he absolutely could not have her back off from this conversation. He needed this information, or he’d never have the leverage he wanted in the merger renegotiations.
Thinking quickly, he offered her something she could grab on to, something that would in turn make her comfortable as well. “I don’t think it’s unprofessional. I have to admit that my company has had reason to do business with his steelworks. I’ve found him less than trustworthy, and, assuredly, less than easy to deal with. There’s a lot of scorn and derision from Clayton, and that’s for other men, usually, who are as powerful and rich as he is, sometimes with an even higher station in life. I can’t imagine he was any less severe to you.”
“He was a jerk, sure, but everyone has a bad boss.”
“I haven’t.”
She laughed and took a third cup of sake. He hoped she’d pace herself. Maybe he should take some away from Addison, but she had already yelled at him for going overboard with chivalry (not that he had). If he did anything to stop her from opening up now, then he wasn’t going to get the information he needed. As a result, he decided to let her be her own judge of her tolerance as he still sipped his first cup.
Addison pushed some curls back from her face. “You’ve never had to be anything but your own boss. It must be nice. If you don’t want to come in for a week, who’s going to fire you?”
“There is a board, and I wouldn’t want to do anything to ultimately hurt the bottom line. I feel, in a way, that my employees are the ones who I answer to. If I make a mistake, then profits fall, and sometimes to save money we cut employees. Any business must. It’s heart wrenching. But if I’m my best, then I give all those families the best possible shot to stay solvent and to have their best possible lives. So, in a way, I have thousands of bosses.”
Addison sniffled a bit at that and ate another sushi roll. After she’d chewed some, she responded thoughtfully. “I wish that Mr. McDermott had been that way. I felt like I was such a failure, that there was nothing I could do to be perfect enough. Though, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he was being rude to even other business associates. Some of the things I saw him do…frankly, I don’t know much about business but I had to wonder if it was even legal.”
Pay dirt.
Zahir leaned forward and tried not to come off as overeager. “Now what would that be?”
Addison opened her mouth and was about to reply when the main course arrived at the table. The distraction seemed to be enough to keep her from succumbing to her desire to blab again. Grinning broadly at him, she readied her chopsticks for the next course.
“Never mind. It’s all in the past, and this looks amazing. Let’s eat!”
“Yes, let’s,” he said, knowing for the time being that he’d missed his window.
***
Addison was very worked up as they made their way to the window. He’d had the sense not to order another sake, but the Buddha Bar had a generous-sized pitcher, clearly intended for a full table and double the size of normal containers, if not larger. He hadn’t stopped her from drinking, not wanting to upset her or seem overbearing, and yet she’d easily downed at least four cups over the course of dinner. She was lucid but had erupted into a flight of giggle fits as they got to the limo.
“That was really great. Thank you!” she said. “I didn’t know I’d ever like fermented cabbage so much, but that was some of the best food I’ve had in months. Definitely have to give you props on that one.” She giggled again and slumped into his arms as the limo started off toward her apartment.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “You seem very, well, comfortable.”
She giggled again, this time ending in a snort that he couldn’t help but find adorable. “You wanted me relaxed, and I definitely am. I think that if oranges actually tasted and made me feel like that sake then I’d eat my fruits and vegetables every day!”
“That’s true, but you seem also more friendly,” he said, nodding to where her hand was clutching his. “I just want to make sure that whatever we do tonight, that you know two things. First, I will want to work with you no matter what. You’re easily the most organized and one of the best assistants I’ve ever had.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “At least I don’t feel like I’m about to walk the plank any day at work. I love it here and Dubai’s gorgeous. I just wish I had more time to see all the sights. I just haven’t yet. I really was nervous moving out here from Boston, but it’s been great, and I’m talking too much again.”
He chuckled. Zahir definitely liked this playful and insecure side of her. When the sake loosened her tongue a bit and helped her shed her inhibitions, he could see that playful side of her—the girl who had to be so in love with spending her time creating whimsical outfits for those convention goers of hers. It was such a shame that she buried that away, that such an ass like Clayton had made her ashamed to be anything more than a meek mouse during work hours.
One day, he was going to enjoy buying the company out and bankrupting Clayton McDermott and everything he was.
“You’re not,” he said, reaching down and stoking her face, letting his fingers stray over those soft and delicate lips of hers. Addison’s sapphire-blue eyes looked back at him, and Zahir knew that he could lose himself forever in her gaze. “I find everything you do utterly fascinating. I just need you to know the rules. First is that we’ll still be working with each other, no matter what happens tonight.”
She exhaled and her breath was soft and gentle on his hand. “What’s the second rule?”
“If you want to do anything more tonight, then it’s your choice. I’ll do only what you want, Addy. I’ll do only what you feel comfortable with. If you want me to drop you off at home with only a polite kiss to the back of your hand, well, it’ll pain me to do that and to have that much restraint, but I’ll do it for your sake. If you want more, just tell me exactly what you’d like from me.”
“I want more than just a kiss on the hand,” she said, leaning up and kissing him. Her mouth tasted of the sake—like oranges with a good, slow burn. “I want you, Zahir. May I have you?”
He nodded and grinned back at her. “If you want me, Addy, then you can have me in any way you want.”
She licked her lips eagerly and started pushing a bit at the fabric of his suit blazer. “Then good, because I had naughty thoughts the second I saw you in this suit, and I want to explore you.”
Zahir nodded and once more looked into her eyes. “And you’re sure?”
She seemed to practically purr at him. “I couldn’t be more sure, Zahir.”
There wasn’t much talking after that, at least nothing coherent came from his lips. Addison stayed on her side of the limo, but he helped work with her, slipping out of his blazer and shoving it behind him. Then he watched, enraptured, as she slowly and teasingly unbuttoned each part of his shirt. When she was done, Addison spread the blue silk fabric wide and he shimmied out of that for her too.
Grinning back at him, she ran her hands delicately over his skin. Then she began to rake her nails over his chest and down over his abs. He hissed as her nails bit and played with the sensitive flesh around his belly button and idly wondered if any of that would leave a mark. He hoped it did and loved that Addison was working to claim him this way. His minx moved closer so that she could kiss him again, and he reveled in the taste of her, that citrus heaven on her tongue.
Soon her tongue was tangling with his, locking
it in a dance that was frantic and overwhelmed by need all at once. They continued their dance back and forth, his tongue stroking over hers, even as she worked to plunder his mouth. Every kiss was a promise for more things to come, for so very many things to be shared between them.
As she kissed him, her hands roamed over his body, down to his pants, and she caressed the bulge there. He arched his hips up toward her touch. He wanted her hands on him, wanted to feel her fingers stroking the length of his manhood. He knew that all of that would feel like the purest ecstasy if just her stroking him through the fabric of his pants was causing pleasure to roar through him like a fire.
“I can do whatever I want?” she asked, her eyes glittering like the clearest Mediterranean waters.
“Yes, oh assuredly yes.”
She grinned at him and then unzipped his pants. As she repositioned herself over him, he knew exactly what she was planning, and Zahir considered himself damn lucky that Addison was so willing to please him, that she wanted to taste him. His lover pulled his member from his pants—he’d always been a commando type of man since boxers often got in the way—and lowered her mouth, keeping her lips just shy of him.
He groaned as her warm breath caressed and teased his tip. Zahir felt his eyes roll back in his head. Then she actually began the fellatio. The tip of her delicate, pink tongue flicked over the head of his length. He groaned again and let himself fall to the pleasure, let his minx’s ministrations carry him away. As he closed his eyes, Zahir ceded every rational thought to sensation, to the sweet smell of her perfume, to the fall of her hair against his stomach, and to the soft suckling of her tongue and lips against his manhood.
As she continued, working him to new heights of experience, the fire was no longer just roaring through him. With every suck and lick, with every flick of her artful tongue, Addison was pouring gasoline on the flames within. They were out of control, consuming every part of him, until he thought he couldn’t withstand it any longer. Then she took him so deeply into her mouth that he thought she’d swallow him whole. The flames inside grew so impossibly brilliant then, rendered him down to nothing as he came, shooting his seed deep into her throat.
Zahir was beyond impressed when she swallowed it all coquettishly.
Well, my minx has so many talents, doesn’t she?
Addison took some time to wipe at her mouth and then to straighten herself up. As she did that, Zahir zipped himself but left his shirt off; she seemed to enjoy the view. He was glad he did. Once Addison was more settled, she leaned back against his left shoulder and stroked at his chest, playing with the lines of his pecs and scratching her fingernails against his abdomen.
Such a sweet mix of pleasure and pain.
And that reflected everything else, didn’t it? She could never know why he’d really hired her, why he was taking such an interest in her. Even though this was all about making Clayton pay for all of his crimes, including the way he’d verbally bullied her, that wasn’t enough. He knew that Addison would feel used and reject him. So, as he wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulder, he hugged her to him and smirked a bit as she began to quietly snore.
No, it was better if the truth stay buried. It always was.
Chapter Six
At first, she didn’t realize where she was when she woke up. Her apartment in Dubai was clean and functional but very cramped. The city was too luxurious and the rent too high for her to afford more than a loft, especially with the two thousand dollars she’d had to pay before she’d left the States. After paying for a replacement suit for her old boss, she’d had to scramble just for money to cover the first month, last month, and security deposit. This is why she knew immediately that the soft mattress underneath her and the luxurious and tantalizing satin sheets beneath her skin weren’t her own. All she could afford was efficient cotton.
Then she opened her eyes and saw the huge archways overhead and the gorgeous tile work, the myriad of tessellations made from jade and turquoise and even more semiprecious stones from throughout the Middle East.
“Where am I?”
“You’re back in a guest room of my palace. It’s hardly any trouble. We have at least thirty,” Zahir said as he walked into the room. He carried a tray with a pitcher of coffee, a bottle of water, Advil, and several flat pitas of naan bread. “I thought you might need something for any possible hangovers.”
She blinked blearily at him, even as she began to notice the throbbing in her temples. God, she had to stop following her id. There was a reason she’d shoved any rebellious streak in her deep down and into a cave back in middle school. When she just let herself out, Addison ended up going far too buck wild. But unlike the masquerade ball, she could remember last night in perfect clarity. Hell, she could still taste him—all of him—on her lips and tongue, and a large part of Addison would love nothing more than to pleasure her sheikh all over again. There had been so much power in seeing him writhe beneath her every motion and caress.
She loved that.
Still, she’d had more sake than she meant to, making her tipsy. She’d been craving him since that night on the rooftop garden at Club Rouge, and now she’d had him all over again.
Zahir set the tray beside her bed even as she struggled for levity, for some sense of sanity in the things she’d done.
“You have people for that. Hell, I’m sure you have legions upon legions of people to do that. Like if one person fails then there’s a line eight-people deep to help him out.”
“I wanted to do it. Sometimes, I do like the hands-on touch,” he said, pushing her hair back from her face. It was a bit of a tangled mess, and she hated that he saw her with actual bedhead hair. “Besides, I wasn’t sure how you’d be feeling today. I asked you so many times last night if you were sure, but even I wasn’t sure quite how drunk you were. You fell asleep before we got to your apartment. I decided to bring you here and put you in one of the endless guest quarters.”
“I think I…oh I must have made a mistake,” she said, hating herself all the more, especially when she saw the way Zahir stiffened.
“If you feel that way about it,” he said, handing her the water and the Advil, “then I’ll have my servants help you dress. I didn’t feel comfortable doing more than letting you sleep everything off in your dress, but I have some other options for you if you need something more comfortable to wear home. After that, you can go home and I’ll see you back at the office. As I promised beforehand, I want to keep working with you as my assistant. Nothing can ever change that.”
“Even if I give you oral pleasures? God, I had too much sake but that’s not even the excuse because I knew what I was doing. I was being bold and daring and doing something new, and I just messed everything up. You must think I’m the biggest slut out there for doing this to my boss just two weeks in…or, uh, at all.”
Zahir considered her, those gold eyes simmering before her. “No. I doubt you’d ever touch a loathsome toad like Clayton McDermott. What I see is a woman who has chafed under a thick collar and leash for almost a year and who is both trying to be happy and, I hope, is feeling something new with me. I know I feel something powerful with you, something so familiar and attractive but also amazing. I like what we have, and frankly, I’d like to explore it further.”
Swallowing hard, Addison pulled at her cuticles. Maybe now was the time to tell him that she was the kitty from the rooftop, but she was scared to. He’d called her to interview and seemed not to have made the connection, but maybe it would make her look like some weird stalker if she said anything. That was the last thing she wanted. She was finding her footing here in Dubai. She was happy.
That last thing she wanted was to be sent away. Zahir did make her feel things that she’d never felt before. He lit a passion deep in her belly and made her core clench and quiver.
She wanted him, and she wanted to explore so much more with him.
Addison just wasn’t sure he’d still respect her, if she h
adn’t already lost that privilege when she’d been lost in the throes of passion last night.
Yeah, big, big “if.”
“How?”
“It’s a weekend and a bank holiday abroad in the States. We won’t even be back in session until Tuesday. That gives me three full days to show you the parts of Dubai you said you hadn’t yet seen. Would you like to see the Al Ain?”
“Is it pretty?”
“Gorgeous, and it has so many interesting places to see. It’s on the outskirts of the city, far from the tourist claptrap or the high-rises and malls. We could do that, too, but I thought you might want to see all the nuances my proud country has to offer.”
“And you’re not…I was so forward, Zahir.”
He set everything on his lap aside and reached up to cup both of her cheeks. His hands were so large that they seemed to swallow her face almost whole. This close, her nose was tickled by the scent of him—both that raw maleness mixed with the spicy aroma of turmeric. That was so very much Zahir, the exotic and the raw power. It was one of the myriad of things drawing her to him, making her weak even now.
“It’s more than fine. I care about you, and you care about me, and maybe this is moving fast.”
You have no idea how fast…
“But let me show you all the sights you haven’t had a chance to see this weekend. I promise you, that we’ll only do what you want. Let my driver take you home, you think about it for a few hours, and at noon I’ll come to pick you up if you would like. Then I’ll show you all of my world.”
“I can think about it?”
“Yes, and I don’t think that the dress would be practical in the more rugged parts of Al Ain,” he said, winking back at her. “Listen, Addy, I truly see a woman who is struggling and desperate to come into her own. Let me help you do that, please.”
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