Mirage

by Monica Burns

  “So tell me, emîra. Were you trying to tell me something tonight?”

  “Yes.” She nuzzled the side of his neck.

  “And are you going to tell me what?” He bent slightly as he pushed his way past the flap of her tent. She tipped her head back to study his handsome face. There was an imperial tilt to his sensual mouth, and she smiled. The small lantern she always used had been lit, and the regal lines of his dark features were softened in the low light.

  “I’ve already told you once.”

  Setting her down on her feet, he brushed his mouth across hers in a soft kiss. When he moved away, her body ached with disappointment. Removing his utility belt, he tossed it aside then turned to face her. Hands on his hips, he arched an eyebrow in her direction.

  “And what was it you told me?”

  “That I want you.” Her words rushed out of her, and the heat flooding her cheeks told her they were bright red. Silence filled the tent, and she looked down at the carpet as she waited for him to say something.

  “I want you too, emîra.” The deep richness of his voice enveloped her, and she jerked up her head to find him watching her with the same look of desire she’d seen on his face at the campfire. She took a step toward him, but he raised his hand. Halting immediately, she marveled at how easily he could control her. Whatever he asked her to do, she would, if only to please him.

  “Undress for me, emîra.”

  That hadn’t been quite what she expected. Swallowing her embarrassment, her fingers trembled as she reached for the buttons of her shirt. His eyes watched her like a hawk as first one button and then another came undone. A gentle heat suffused her skin, and she dropped her gaze beneath his passionate stare. Slowly she removed her shirt and it fell out of her hand to flutter to the floor.

  Her chemise clung to her skin, and she knew her nipples were hard with desire. They tingled with the frisson hanging in the air. She raised her gaze to his. Bending over, she removed her boots. As she tugged off her sturdy socks, she grimaced. These were far from sensuous or alluring.

  Upright once more, her fingers fumbled nervously with the buttons of the male trousers she wore. Grasping the cotton material along with the silk of her drawers, she slid the garments past her hips. As she stepped out of them and straightened, she heard him inhale a sharp breath. Her chemise fell just past her stomach, leaving her fully exposed to his eyes.

  “The chemise, ana anide emîra. Let me look at all of you.” The hoarseness of his voice made her quiver. Crossing her arms, she pulled the silk undergarment over her head and stood naked in front of him. Her eyes studied the pattern in the carpet, afraid to meet his gaze.

  “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are, emîra?”

  His words surprised her. Looking up, she watched as he removed his clothing. The muscles in his arms and chest rippled as he stood before her. Sleek and powerful, he was a pharaoh come to life. Her gaze roamed over his bronzed muscular chest then down to where his hard arousal jutted out from the apex of his thighs. Her heart skipped a beat as he watched her with his eagle-eyed gaze.

  “You haven’t answered me, ana gamâl. Do you not know how beautiful you are?”

  She shook her head. Again, he’d called her his beauty. How could he possibly find her beautiful? She thought herself passably attractive, but beautiful, no. Her lips were too full, her hair and eyes were ordinary, while her figure was much fuller than the women society always held up as ideal.

  “Well, ana gamâl, don’t you believe me?”

  “No.”

  Surprise darkened his face. “No?”

  “No.”

  He moved toward her, and she trembled as his hand slid down her cheek to cup her chin and his thumb caressed her lower lip.

  “Since you don’t believe me, it seems I have no choice but to demonstrate how beautiful you are, emîra.”

  Gently, he pulled her toward the red, green, gold and blue pillows strewn about the woven carpeted floor. As he guided her down into the silk cushions, he kissed the palm of her hand before trailing his mouth along the inside of her wrist. It was a blissful sensation.

  “Your skin is lovely, ana gamâl. Softer than silk.” The husky note in his voice ignited a flame in her middle. It eased its way into her limbs, and a lethargic pleasure took hold of her. She wanted to stay like this forever. Listening to his beguiling words, enjoying the delight of his mouth against her skin.

  With the back of his hand, he traced the outer line of her breasts. The feather-light caress teased her senses. Lord, she wanted his mouth on her again. As he cupped one breast, he leaned forward. Delicious expectation rose in her throat.

  The spicy scent of him teased her senses as she slid her hands up over his muscular arms. His mouth came closer, and she held her breath. Waiting for his mouth to close over her. God, she wanted his touch. She needed him so desperately. Eyes fluttering shut, she inhaled a quick breath of anticipation. An instant later he blew a warm breath over her taut nipples. Startled, her eyes flew open to meet a brown gaze dark with mischief.

  “These are beautiful breasts, emîra. And I love watching you while I suck on you.”

  The seductive words fired her cheeks with color. He smiled broadly. Still watching her, he lowered his mouth and suckled her nipple. His touch made her arch upward as her nipples tightened with intense need. The caress sent desire spiraling through her limbs and into the lower half of her body. Lord, she never wanted this to end.

  His mouth had the ability to render her senseless with pleasure, and the more he touched her the more she wanted. Her fingers stroked through his silky brown hair, pulling him closer as his tongue teased and flicked its way around her nipple in a wicked dance of seduction. The touch of his hands on her belly tugged a moan from her as his mouth followed the caress of his hands.

  “You smell like jasmine and the sultry heat of the desert, ana gamâl. How could I not find you beautiful?” His mouth seared its way over her skin as he feathered her stomach with kisses. Sweet heaven, she was already wet, and her body craved more of his touch. She shivered as his mouth trailed down the side of her hip. Did he know what delicious torment this was? She wanted to feel him inside her again—filling her, expanding her until she shuddered with the same mind-numbing pleasure he’d given her before.

  “Your hips are tempting curves that hint of the treasures below.” His mouth nibbled on the inside of her thigh, and she moaned. Now. She needed him now. Her hands grabbed his broad shoulders, and she pulled on him to show him she needed him inside her. A laugh tickled her inner thigh.

  “Not yet, emîra. I haven’t yet finished telling you how beautiful you are.” His teeth gently nipped at her thigh again. “Here, do you feel this, ana gamâl? Do you feel the beauty I can see?”

  She could barely nod her head as his finger parted her slick folds and stroked her. Her eyes fluttered shut in delight. A moment later, his mouth settled on her sex. Stunned, she bucked beneath the touch, her hands clutching at his shoulders.

  “Oh. My. God.”

  She’d never experienced anything so wildly wicked in her entire life. If this was sin, then she’d gladly go to hell if only he wouldn’t stop. As his lips parted her wet slit, his tongue swirled around the sensitive nub between her folds. Her hips arched upward at the incredible sensations enfolding her skin.

  Vibrant colors crashed against her closed eyelids as each nip or stroke of his tongue tightened the coil of need inside her. The intimate touch of his mouth melted her insides as her fingertips dug into his shoulders.

  “Oh God, yes!”

  Shudder after shudder assailed her body as she succumbed to his sinful caresses. She spiked her hands through his hair as she trembled with a release that left her limp. As her tremors eased, his mouth shifted from her sex to the inside of her thigh, lightly nipping her flesh.

  “Do you believe me now, ana gamâl? You�
�re a beautiful woman.”

  Unable to speak, she simply nodded. He slid up the length of her, his lips trailing heat across her skin as he did so. As his mouth brushed across her shoulder, he stroked one of her nipples with his thumb. The touch made her sigh softly. Everywhere he touched her pleased her beyond belief. She wanted to please him too.

  She remembered how much he enjoyed her touching him. Her fingers caressed the hard muscles of his hip, before they edged their way to his inner thigh. The ragged sound of his breathing increased as her fingers brushed over his erection.

  Enclosing him in her hand, she smiled. Her touch excited him. She could hear it in the way his breathing hitched as the pad of her thumb circled the rim of his erection. A slick bead of desire smeared against her skin. So powerful and strong in her hand, and yet smooth, almost velvety against her fingers.

  She slid her thumb over the cap and down to the heavy lip of his phallus. Gently she rubbed the ridge just below the cap. He inhaled a sharp breath at the touch. Pleasure skidded through her as she realized how much he liked the way she was touching him. She wanted to explore every inch of him, touch him, kiss him, just as she’d read in the Erotic Papyrus of Turin.

  Again, she repeated the caress, and he groaned. Closing her hand around him more tightly, she stroked him slowly at first, then with increasing speed. A deep growl of pleasure rumbled in his chest as he rolled onto his back, giving her free access to his hard length.

  God, but the woman had no idea what she did to him. His cock continued to jump with every stroke of her hand and each flick of her thumb against his sensitive flesh. Eyes closed, his muscles tightened with intense pleasure as she slid her hand up and down his erection.

  The friction from the palm of her hand burned him with a fire that threatened to engulf him. He wanted her. He wanted her in every possible position he could imagine. Even then, it wouldn’t be enough. She was a part of him. The scent and taste of her forever embedded inside him.

  Ready to spring up and drive himself into her, he froze as her hot tongue swirled around his staff. The shock and pleasure of her touch held him rigid. A second later as her lips closed around him, he arched upward into her mouth with a guttural cry of delight. God, she was incredible. Her teeth edged over him as she sucked on him.

  “Yes, ana gamâl. Christ Jesus. Suck me.”

  Her tongue flicked over him in quick, intense movements as she eased him in and out of her mouth at a quick pace. The intensity of the pleasure her mouth generated in him made his ballocks tighten. God help him, he was going to spill his seed if she didn’t stop. His hands stroked her hair, and he struggled to speak as she continued the maddening caresses of her tongue.

  Did she know what she was doing to him, or was she simply moving on instinct? He didn’t care. Her beautiful mouth had thrown him into a state of unadulterated pleasure, and he didn’t want it to end. Once more, her tongue probed the tip of him, and he groaned. She had to stop. He wouldn’t last much longer at this rate. His hands reached for her when her mouth tightened on him and she plunged down to his ballocks. The resulting friction etched its way sharply through his body, and his hands slammed down into the pillows at his side as he cried out. God Almighty. No woman had ever sucked on him like this. With increasing speed, her mouth rocked over him. Tension filled his body as he struggled to keep from coming in her mouth.

  “Damm gahannam. Alex, you have to stop,” he said hoarsely as he reached out to touch her head. Instead of releasing him, she increased the pressure around him, her teeth grazing over the sensitive vein of his cock. The pressure building inside him was quickly reaching a breaking point. With great effort he struggled up out of the fog blinding him. Christ Jesus, he was going to come.

  “For the love of God, Alex. I—” As her lips clutched him tightly, he came in her mouth. White heat surged out of him as his cock erupted between her lips. Stunned he pulsed in her mouth as the pleasurable sensation of her swallowing his seed sent his senses reeling. With each throbbing beat, she drank every drop. He shuddered. How in the hell had she known such an act would please him? She slowly released him from her mouth. All the while, her tongue lapped at him, licking and swirling around him.

  She pressed a kiss to his stomach as she sat up and stared down at him. There was a look of satisfaction on her face, and he blew out a breath of awed disbelief. Spent from the depth of his pleasure, he brushed his hand over her breasts. The warmth of her curves melted into him as she lay down beside him. Incredible. That’s what she was. Absolutely incredible. She’d pleasured him unlike any other woman before her. His fingers played with her golden-brown hair. The tresses were like a young hawk’s feathers. The warmth of her curls caressed the back of his hand like the finest silk.

  “Did I please you?” she whispered.

  He expelled another breath of disbelief. “Beyond words, emîra. Beyond words.”

  A sigh of relief escaped her as she pressed a kiss against the top of his shoulder. “I thought you might think it wicked of me to please you in that way.”

  “I like it when you’re wicked.” He chuckled, relaxing into the balmy heat of her. “Although I must confess to finding your knowledge a bit surprising.”

  “I’ve read the Erotic Papyrus of Turin.” A slight hint of guilt filled her voice.

  Turning his head, he stared at her in amazement. “Where the devil did you get your hands on that document?”

  “Father had a copy of it hidden in his library. I shared it with Jane who explained the things I didn’t understand.”

  “I might have known.” Beneath her hand, his chest rumbled as he released a soft laugh. “You’re incorrigible, emîra, but I cannot deny how much pleasure you gave me a few moments ago.”

  Dark fingers stroked her cheek as his gaze met hers. In the dark depths of his eyes there was great tenderness. Glimpsing the emotion, she rested her fingers against his cheek.

  “Altair, why did you think your Bedouin heritage would revolt me?”

  The question made him stiffen, and he looked away from her. She’d raisesd painful memories for him. She could see it in the taut line of his sensual mouth. Remorse made her feather a kiss against his shoulder. Silence hung between them for a long time, and she nestled her head in the dip of his shoulder. His unwillingness to discuss the matter disappointed her, but she knew better than to persist with her questioning. Cradled against his side, she contented herself with simply being in his arms.

  “When I was much younger, I fell in love with a woman named Caroline.” The quiet confession surprised her as she watched his chest drag in a deep breath. “I asked her to marry me and she accepted.”

  Silence filled the air again and she waited patiently. She could tell it was difficult for him to talk about the matter.

  “Against her parents’ objections, we announced our engagement. At first, little changed, but then the social cuts and snubs started. Soon the numerous invitations Caroline was accustomed to dwindled away until none came at all.”

  He stopped speaking, and she watched the muscle in his cheek twitch as he clenched his jaw into a tense line.

  “One evening, in an effort to lift her spirits, I surprised her with a trip to the theater. From the moment we arrived, the snide comments directed at her were overt and vicious. I was accustomed to the slurs, but it devastated Caroline. It pushed her over the edge, and she denounced me then and there, breaking our engagement.”

  The harsh rasp of his voice made it clear how deeply Caroline’s betrayal had been. Society’s scorn must have been difficult enough for him, but to have the woman he loved denounce him in public could only have been devastating.

  Such a terrible betrayal would most certainly have made him leery of trusting anyone. Especially women. She could now understand why he’d not told her who he really was. All the reasons for hiding the truth from her had been motivated by a lack of trust and a fear of scorn.
Misleading her about who he was and his connection to her father had been a self-preservation measure. He’d had no reason to trust her. With a gentle touch, she stroked the side of his cheek.

  “I’m sorry I thought you were the Mazir in my uncle’s warning. I should have known better.”

  Tenderness flitted across his face as he stared down at her. The expression made her heart leap with happiness. Time would tell whether he would come to trust her enough to share his heart with her. She caressed his face as a sleepy yawn parted her lips. Brushing her hair away from her forehead, he kissed her brow as she snuggled against him and another yawn escaped her.

  The quiet apology was a balm to the wounds he seldom allowed himself to feel. They thawed a part of him that he’d never expected to feel again. She yawned for a third time, and he smiled at the sound.

  “Sleep, emîra.” Gently, he rolled them over so they faced each other. Her hazel eyes drooped and another yawn rounded her mouth.

  “You promise to wake me?”

  “Wake you for what?” He grinned as her hand punched at him in a sleepy move, and she protested with an inaudible response. “Sleep, emîra. For I have every intention of waking you.”

  He watched as her breathing slowed and she drifted off to sleep. After more than two months, she was once again in his arms. But would she stay here?

  She’d read that Coptic warning and thought it was him. She’d thought him capable of hurting her. Could he really blame her? He’d lied to her, and he’d seen the look of fear on her face when he’d gotten angry.

  The sound of her soft breathing made him tighten his arms around her. She was so precious to him. If something happened to her—he didn’t want to think about it. Nothing was going to happen to her. He’d see to that.

  Tomorrow he would tell Alex about Mohammed. She needed to know all of his suspicions about the man. He couldn’t wait for Medjuel to do something about the traitor. While no one had tried to harm her since that night in the oasis, it didn’t mean the danger no longer existed.