by Alice Raine
‘Are you OK? Sore?’ he asked as he climbed back into the bed beside me.
‘I’m fine.’ I was a little sore, but I gave an embarrassed shrug and pulled the sheets up around me again now that he seemed satisfied with his cleaning regime.
Rolling onto his side so he was just a few centimetres from my face, he lifted a hand and gently stroked some hairs back from my cheek.
‘Let's talk, hmm?’
Was talk the usual thing to do after sex? I thought most men just fell asleep. Maybe he really was regretting it and wanted to break it to me gently.
‘So, tell me how a girl as beautiful as you was still a virgin at twenty-two?’
Was. I’d finally gone and done it! Popped my cherry! And what a guy to lose it to. Regardless of how these months in Somora panned out, I’d never regret these days spent with Khalil.
My cheeks burned with heat, and I averted my eyes, but Khalil took my chin between his forefinger and thumb and brought my gaze back to his. ‘I don’t know really. I was really shy growing up, a bit socially awkward, I suppose, so I didn’t date. Then I gained a lot of confidence during my time at university, but none of the guys on my teaching course attracted me.’
‘You must have dated, though?’ he asked, still seemingly shocked.
‘A bit. The teaching degree was hard work, so I threw myself into that instead.’
‘And you’ve never been with a woman either?’
I spluttered out a giggle at his increasingly personal questions. ‘Nope.’
‘The cultural expectation on Somora is that a woman will be a virgin for her husband, so there has developed a trend of women secretly sleeping with other women, or doing –’ Khalil paused and winced, as if embarrassed ‘– other things with men, so they retain their virginity for their husbands.’
I assumed he was referring to anal sex, which I hadn’t done, either, and my hackles rose. ‘Well, I haven’t done anything with any other man or woman,’ I blurted, hating how awkward this conversation was making me feel. I’d never planned on saving myself for my husband, so I didn’t have any regrets about what we’d just done, but I could still do without the mortifying inquisition.
Khalil closed his eyes for a second and sighed heavily. ‘I would not have been so persistent if I had known,’ he whispered.
I sucked in a wounded breath and shifted myself away from him, sitting up against the bedhead and frowning. ‘You wouldn’t have wanted me if you’d known?’ I murmured, unable to hide the hurt in my voice.
At my words, his eyes snapped open and a small, wry smile flickered on his lips. ‘Not wanting you and not being persistent are two very different things, little one,’ he stated, elegantly sliding up from under the covers to sit right next to me. ‘I would still have wanted you, even more so, in fact, but what I meant was that I would have applied a little more self-control.’
Oh. That made me feel a little bit better.
‘Come now, I’m not finished taking care of you yet,’ he announced, before swiftly scooping me into his arms and carrying me into the bathroom. As we got inside I noticed that the air was steamy, and the gigantic oval bath tub was nearly full. The smell in the air was gorgeous, almost good enough to make my mouth water, and I immediately wondered what he’d put in the water.
‘Local herbs, good for a relaxing bubble bath, but also known for their healing properties,’ he explained, as if reading my mind. ‘If you are feeling a little tender, this should help,’ he added quietly.
As he placed me down, I marvelled at how I no longer felt self-conscious in front of him. Perhaps it was because of all we had now shared, or maybe it was down to the confidence that he somehow instilled in me.
Instead of getting straight in the bath, Khalil cupped my cheek and gazed at me, a look of regret seeming to flash in his eyes. Was this because of his future arranged marriage? Was he, too, dwelling on the fact this thing between us could have no future? He stroked his thumb across my skin, making my eyes flutter shut with pleasure.
‘I wanted you too much to stop. I’m sorry.’
My eyes sprung wider at his apology, and I instantly shook my head. ‘I’m not.’ I blinked several times and gave a shake of my head. ‘Besides, you gave me an opportunity to stop and I told you not to.’
He watched me carefully, and his shoulders relax as he smiled. ‘In that case, let me thank you for the incredible gift you have just given me.’
Standing straighter, I placed my hand over his heart and stared into his eyes. ‘Even if this thing between us can’t last, I’m so glad this has happened.’ His face tensed at my mention of things ending between us, but lightened almost immediately as I slid my hand up to trace the edge of his jaw.
‘What we just did … it was …’ I tried to come up with words suitably descriptive for the awe-inspiring moments we had shared. ‘It was everything I had always hoped for, everything I had waited for. And more. So, I will accept your thanks, and return it. Thank you, Khalil, for making this so special.’
His face softened, and he lowered his head, pressing his lips against mine in a heart-wrenchingly sweet kiss that had me rolling up onto my tiptoes, so I could increase the contact and wrap my arms around his neck.
I could feel myself falling for him so quickly, and while that brought me some joy – at least I’d given my virginity to someone I truly cared for – it was tinged with sadness, too. If only we could have met in a different place, or a different time, somewhere that he wasn’t expected to follow through on his parents’ plans for an arranged marriage.
Khalil pulled back. He placed another kiss on the tip of my nose and guided me towards the gigantic bathtub. We climbed in, and he sat behind me, pulling me back into his arms so I was leaning on his chest and almost completely submerged in the hot water.
He gently massaged my arms and shoulders before finally settling his hands around my middle.
We sat there in silence for several minutes, the warmth of the water relaxing me almost to the point of falling asleep.
‘I feel I need to confess something to you, Sara,’ Khalil suddenly whispered, his words jerking me awake again.
‘Oh?’ He sounded worried. What could he want to confess?
‘I haven’t been entirely honest with you. I told you this was my parents’ house, which it is, but I probably should have mentioned my family name. It's Safar. My father is Sheik Al Safar.’
He left the sentence hanging, as if I should know the name. Sheik Al Safar. The name rolled through my brain, then the pages of my guidebook sprung to my mind and I sat up rapidly, sloshing some water over the side of the tub as I did so.
I rotated between his legs to stare at Khalil with my mouth hanging open and the name still ringing in my ears. Sheik Al Safar. I’d read about him. The Sheik of Somora, he was the leader of this country and something akin to a King.
‘Oh my God, he's your father? So that means you’re … you’re …’
‘The Prince of Somora, and heir to the throne. Yes.’ Khalil finished for me, his face devoid of any excitement. ‘It's not a title or position I particularly care for.’
Oh my God, I’d just slept with the prince of this island! More than that, I’d given him my virginity! ‘I … I …’ I was speechless; I had no clue what to say. I’d known Khalil had exemplary manners and was clearly comfortable in opulent surroundings, but I’d never suspected he was royalty. ‘You should have told me!’ I finally blurted.
He gave a shrug and leaned back in the bathtub to make himself more comfortable. ‘I was enjoying the fact that you didn’t know who I was. It was refreshing. Which is why I didn’t tell you about it earlier.’
I was sitting naked in a bathtub with a prince. I wasn’t sure this week could get any more surreal.
‘But I thought you were a vet … You said you worked with the horses …’ I mumbled, sounding like a complete idiot, but not knowing what else to say.
‘I am a qualified vet, and I do work with the horses, but I also h
appen to be the prince who owns the horses. It's the best I can do, seeing as my father doesn’t want me getting a proper veterinarian job on the island.’
Khalil seemed to tire of me freaking out, because he sat up and dragged me closer to him again, settling me between his legs and cradling me against his chest.
Once I was comfortable, I clapped a hand to my forehead and groaned in mortification. ‘This makes sense of all the bowing!’ I had noticed the lowered heads and bows on several occasions, but assumed it was just a cultural thing. What an idiot!
‘Hmm, yes, I’ve told Aliya and the other staff here not to act formally around me, but they insist.’
Rubbing my hand over my face, I shook my head in embarrassment. ‘I thought it was a traditional Somoran thing that I had just missed in my reading. I thought they were bowing at me, not you!’
‘To be honest, it was probably a bit of both. If you were seen with me, they would extend the respect to both of us.’
Wow. ‘You’re a prince,’ I repeated, still struggling to absorb it.
A laugh rumbled through his chest, then Khalil draped his legs over my thighs and snaked his arms even tighter around my waist, so I was well and truly encased in his heat. ‘I am, but you are currently wrapped within my naked body, so please don’t start treating me differently.’
Nodding, I tried to push down my shock and abide by his wishes by bringing this back to the topic we’d been discussing. ‘So, your father doesn’t want you working? Why?’
‘No, he said it isn’t the done thing for royalty, but I disagree. My father and I have a good relationship, and he's done much to further the Westernisation of Somora, but we still disagree on many topics.’ He sounded thoughtful. ‘He was happy for me to travel to the UK to expand my education, though, so I took advantage and studied something that I knew I could put to use as a job on the estate when I came back.’
Beneath the water, Khalil began absently caressing up and down my arms. The sensation was lovely, and I relaxed back against him with a contented sigh. He might be a prince, but I’d never felt more at ease with a man in my entire life.
‘I’ve always loved animals, and throughout my life I’ve spent time with the horses on the estate, so Veterinary Science seemed like the perfect option. My father wasn’t happy that I was working in the stables so much, but he's given in over time.’
‘You seem to have a real affinity with the horses.’ I remembered how at ease he’d been around the powerful stallion on the beach.
‘They’re incredible creatures. Riding gives me an opportunity to briefly escape the pressures of royal expectations.’
‘What sort of pressures?’
He sighed behind me, his entire chest rising and falling with the heaviness of his sigh. ‘I’m not free to be my own man.’ With one of his fingers he began absently circling a trail on my wet shoulder, but his other hand gripped my hip, giving away just how tense he felt. ‘I can’t just go out when I want, or meet up with my friends. I’m stuck with rigid security guards and a schedule of public appearances. It might sound glamorous, but believe me, it's not. When I ride I feel free, even if it is only a temporary escape.’
‘I can imagine,’ I murmured, wrapping one hand around his forearm and giving a supportive squeeze. ‘I didn’t see any security guards with you on the beach.’ I wondered just what use they were if they were miles away from him.
‘There weren’t any. That strip of beach is private.’ My eyes widened at that comment. Private? I hadn’t seen any signs that stated as much. ‘At least it should be,’ Khalil added with a dry chuckle.
‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to trespass.’ Imagine if it had been an armed guard that had caught me on the beach, and not Khalil? Trespassing on royal land … That was probably cause for a stay in prison.
‘I guess the most recent storm we had might have damaged the fencing. Don’t worry about it.’
‘I saw you several times, though. How come you didn’t tell me to leave?’
He shifted his hands to my waist and tickled, causing me to wriggle in his arms and gasp. Behind me, Khalil laughed, but then dropped his lips to my ear. ‘Because I could immediately see you weren’t a threat, and I enjoyed watching you.’
Enjoyed watching me? That made two of us, then.
‘You made quite an impressive sight on that horse,’ I admitted softly.
Khalil hummed his approval of my comment, and as he shifted me in his arms the hard heat of his erection pressed into my back, causing my insides to flutter in excitement.
‘That particular horse is my favourite. His name is Zufar. It means brave like a lion. I’ve raised him since he was a foal.’ The genuine affection in his voice was incredibly endearing, but I was getting more and more distracted by the miniscule shifting of his hips behind me. Each adjustment brought his cock more firmly against my back and sent my heart rate rocketing.
As much as I wanted what he seemed to be aiming for, I had a nagging worry growing within me. ‘Khalil … we should stop whatever this thing is between us.’
His movements stopped, and his entire body tensed below me. ‘Why?’
‘Because it's just not right. You’re a prince … and you’re supposed to be marrying someone else … and your parents would freak if they found out you were with someone like me …’
‘Someone like you?’ he repeated, his voice low and gruff. ‘What the hell does that mean?’ I’d never heard him swear before, and I wondered if I had said something wrong. ‘You’re an incredible, beautiful, intelligent woman. Don’t you dare put yourself down.’
He really was one for over the top compliments, wasn’t he? ‘Th-thank you, but that's not what I meant. I’m a newcomer to the island, I’m naïve in the ways of your culture, and I can barely string a sentence together in Somoran yet.’
‘Uh. I see. That might be true, but my parents aren’t here at the moment, are they?’
Khalil sat me up then proceeded to stand and leave the bathtub, sending a cascade of water onto the floor as he did so.
He grabbed a towel and briefly dried himself off then turned to hold the towel out to me. He was still completely naked, and as much as I knew I should be concentrating on the conversation at hand, I couldn’t help my gaze drifting downwards and absorbing his perfect body.
And very erect cock.
Oh God. How was I supposed to stand my ground and be good when he was standing there looking as impressive as he currently did?
‘As for me marrying someone else? That is my father's intention in the future, but you have no need to feel guilty at present because they haven’t picked who yet. It's not like we’re cheating on anyone. We’re both single and simply enjoying being with each other. Can I persuade you to put your worries aside?’
When I just sat there staring at him, Khalil leaned forwards and took my hands, pulling me up and guiding me from the tub. He ran the towel across my body, seeming to manage to perfectly pinpoint each and every one of my sensitive areas, and led me back into the bedroom, his pace becoming more purposeful with each and every step.
When we reached the bed, he turned to me with a wicked glint in his eye, then scoped me into his arms and crawled onto the soft covers before depositing me below him. ‘I wanted to throw you on the bed and pounce on you, but I’m still wary of your head,’ he murmured regretfully. He grinned down at me and took both my wrists into one of his hands and pinned them above my head. ‘Now, I believe I had some persuasion to do.’
Khalil lowered his mouth and kissed a trail up my neck, across my jaw, and finally to my lips. All the while I was trying and failing to remember why I’d said we shouldn’t be doing this. It was becoming increasingly difficult to even string two thoughts together with the distracting things he was doing to me with his tongue.
As his fingers began exploring my body again, he lifted his head and gazed down at me. ‘I know you have concerns, and I understand that. I don’t know how this will play out, either, but, I do know that
you and I share a crazy connection, and it seems a shame to waste the time we do have left together.’
He tweaked a nipple and I groaned my agreement, deciding for once in my life not to overthink things. Millions of people across the world indulged in casual sex, why shouldn’t I?
‘Shall we make a deal that for the next week until my parents get home we don’t think about the future, hmm?’ He trailed his fingers across my stomach, dropping ever lower until they trailed through my landing strip and zeroed in on my clit. When he gave a gentle pinch, I gasped, and clutched at his arms, watching as he smiled wickedly down at me. ‘Not when the present moment feels so good.’
I nodded jerkily. Khalil slid a finger inside me and I moaned, my back arching as pleasure spiralled through me again.
As I felt a second finger pressing inside me and scissoring to stretch me for him, I cried out from the feelings flowing through my body, and answered him verbally. ‘Deal … you have a deal …’
‘Good girl. One week. And the world of pleasure I want to show you.’
Another whole week of sexual exploration with this incredible man sounded amazing, and although I suspected that one week might not be enough where Khalil was concerned, I kept my side of the deal and focused on the here and now by reaching for him and dragging his mouth to mine.
The end… or is it? It's up to you! We could leave Sara and Khalil in their happy little bubble, or if you would like to know what happens between them during their week together, not to mention what will happen when his parents return, then get in touch and tell me!
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alice.raineauthor
Twitter: @AliceRaine1
Website: www.aliceraineauthor.com