Shrugging, Darius shook his head. “I have no idea, sweetheart. But we're going to find out instead of returning home to Clearwater after visiting my brother and sister and father. Amar is having Diallo and Farid brought to the embassy in D.C. for questioning.”
An incredulous gasp escaped her. “You think Farid is involved?”
“No. Well, we don’t know, honestly, but we’ll find out tomorrow. Since they’re best friends, even if Farid is not involved, he may know something he doesn’t realize he knows.”
Sagging back into the couch, Tahira shook her head. “I cannot believe . . . I mean, why?
Darius’s heart broke when he saw her eyes overflowing with tears. He knew she was reliving the horror of her captivity and rape again. Reaching over, he pulled her onto his lap. He cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed her cheeks, sipping the salty tears from her skin.
“Don't cry, Princess,” he whispered. “God, please don’t—it kills me when you cry.”
He lowered his mouth to hers, and she parted her lips immediately, allowing his tongue to pass between them and taste her. Her tongue tentatively danced with his. He should let her go, but her arms went around his neck and kept him close.
A cough, a giggle, and some murmurs came from her brother’s bedroom, and Tahira pulled away, but not far. Her heavy-lidded gaze made him hard as a rock, but he restrained himself. He would follow her lead, not giving her anything more than what she asked for. Hell, probably less than she asked for. Tahira wanted to be a virgin on her wedding night, and Darius was determined for that to happen, despite her torn barrier of womanhood. His aching cock would just have to deal with it. He’d been taking cold showers almost daily. If he had to take them throughout their short-term marriage, then so be it. But at least he could show her she was desirable and not every man was a bastard who liked to hurt women. He’d show her how she deserved to be treated and not to accept anything less from whoever her future husband was.
“Would you come lie down with me for a little while?” Her husky whisper nearly drove him crazy.
“Is that a good idea? If your brother—”
“If our doors are shut, he will not suspect a thing. Besides, I am certain he has other things on his mind at the moment. He and Kainda wish to have a baby.”
Her knowing wink caused him to chuckle. Tahira might be innocent, but she wasn’t naïve about what was going on in the other bedroom.
“Please, Darius. Just for a little while. I do not want to be alone.”
Before she could stand up, Darius tucked his arm under her legs and got to his feet. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then she cuddled against his broad chest. How could something so wrong feel so right? Had Tahira not been raped, Darius would never have gotten this close to her. He wished it had never happened and felt like a fucking ass for being grateful that it did.
He was falling for her—a woman he had no right to be holding in his arms, but he couldn’t stop himself from wanting her.
Striding toward her bedroom on the other side of the suite from where the married couple were getting things on, Darius stopped and shut the door to his own room. He carried Tahira into her bedroom and quietly used his foot to shut the door behind them. When they reached her bed, he set her down on her feet. Tahira took a step backward, her gaze never leaving his face, and her hands went to the belt of her silk robe.
He grasped her wrist. “Don’t, sweetheart. I’m hanging on by a thread here. You’re tempting enough fully clothed; I don’t need any more distractions. I’ll lay down beside you and kiss you if you want, but neither of us will be taking off anything—well, other than the slippers and shoes.”
Her radiant smile warmed him from the inside out. “If you insist.”
“I do, sweetheart.”
Pivoting, she pulled the bedspread and sheet down, kicked off her slippers, and crawled under the covers. Darius rounded the bed and laid down beside her on top of the covers, just like he had at the hospital. He may have himself under control, but he wasn’t a saint. He hadn’t lied—she was very tempting.
Tahira flipped onto her side, facing him. Reaching up, she stroked his jawline, which was rough with stubble. “I have not decided which look is more handsome on you—clean shaven or like this. Just please do not let it grow long again.”
“Yeah, I hate the overly scruffy look too, so you don’t have to worry about that.” He turned his head and kissed her palm. But when his gaze met hers again, he was surprised to see her lip tremble and her eyes water. “Hey, hey, what’s this? I told you not to cry over Diallo, and—”
She shook her head. “It is not him. Did—did I deserve what—what happened to me?”
“What?” He pushed her hair back from her face. “What are you talking about, sweetheart? You didn’t—”
“I mean all the flirting I did with you and my other bodyguards, knowing I—I was teasing you but none of you would do anything wrong. Was—was it karma for me doing that?”
When she started sobbing into his chest, he held her close. He didn’t know where this was coming from. He thought she’d been handling it so well—guess not. “Shit, sweetheart. Don’t ever think that. You didn’t do anything, and I mean anything, to deserve being assaulted.”
He stroked her back in silence until she seemed to calm down, her tears drying. She mumbled something into his chest, that he couldn’t understand. “What was that?”
Lifting her head, she stared at him. There was no uncertainty in her expression, only pleading. “Kiss me, please? Remind me that I am alive and still a whole woman.”
He couldn’t resist her request. Capturing her lips in his own, he tried to erase every negative thought from her mind. No rape victim deserved to think they were the reason for it happening, especially his woman.
No, she’s not yours! This is only temporary.
Tahira took Darius’s hand and brought it to her breast. All rational thought fled from his mind. He squeezed her flesh through the material covering it, and she moaned into his mouth. Kissing along her jaw, he rolled onto his back and pulled her with him. “Straddle me, baby. I can make you feel good without having sex, without even taking your clothes off. You only need to tell me what you want. The power is yours alone. That is your body—you accept only what you choose to allow. If you get scared or just want to stop, tell me and I’ll hold you until you go to sleep. Now, tell me what you want—you’re in control.”
When she hesitated, he thought he had his answer, but then she swung her leg over his torso. He settled her on his hips, just above his erection. This wasn’t about him—this was about showing Tahira her rape didn’t define who she was now.
She stared down at him, her pupils dilated. “What . . . um . . . what should I do? I do not know where to start.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do, Darius.”
He grinned at her matter-of-fact tone. “Then all you have to do is feel. If you want me to stop, just say the word red, like they do in the club. If you say it, I’ll stop immediately. Okay?”
“O-okay.”
“Good girl.”
Skimming his hands up her sides, he cupped the underside of her breasts, while watching her face for any signs of her being scared. She was beautiful, and it wasn’t just her outward features. The more he got to know her, the more his attraction grew. Tahira was the type of woman who walked into a room and lit it up from within. Women wanted to be her, and men just plain wanted her—and not because of her title. If she were a waitress in a low-income neighborhood, she would still have the same personality and outlook on life—of that he was certain.
Darius pushed aside the lapels of her robe and brushed his thumbs over her distended, silk-covered nipples. She gasped, and her knees tightened against his hips. The corners of his mouth pulled upward. “Like that?”
“Yes, very much.”
She hadn’t hesitated, and he knew she wasn’t just saying what she thought he wanted to hear. He thumbed h
er stiff buds slowly, teasingly. Her hands gripped the material of his T-shirt covering his upper abdomen before flattening again and sliding up to his chest. She found his nipples and ran her fingers over them. When he inhaled sharply, she asked, “Are they as sensitive as mine?”
God, he was going to need at least a thirty-minute cold shower after this. “They’re sensitive, but probably not as much as yours.” Proving his point, he rolled her hard peaks between his thumbs and forefingers. He grinned when her head fell back on her shoulders, thrusting her breasts out further for him. She was so responsive—he could probably make her come if she let him.
Sitting up, he cupped her ass cheeks and held her in place. His mouth closed around one of her nipples. Using his tongue, he moistened the silky material, then exhaled, long and hot.
“Oh! Darius! That—that feels so good!”
“Shh, sweetheart. Not too loud.” Her brother and sister-in-law were probably too busy getting it on to notice what was happening in the other side of the suite, but the last thing Darius wanted was a confrontation or Tahira being embarrassed.
She nodded and lowered her voice. “Again, please.”
Turning to her other breast, he gave it the same attention, until she moaned and gripped his hair to the point of pain—something he didn’t mind at all. In fact, it turned him on even more. There was something about a woman pulling his hair or scratching his back that just did it for him. But tonight wasn’t about him. He wanted to bring her pleasure so she could hopefully put Diallo, Secada, and everybody and everything else out of her mind for a little while. He was starting to understand what his Dom friends had been talking about all this time. He couldn’t make her forget, but he could give her something else to think about—something else to feel.
He kissed his way up to her neck and nuzzled the soft skin just below her ear. “Have you ever played with yourself, Princess? I mean, touched your body in private to bring yourself pleasure.”
When she froze, he pulled back to look at her face. Her red cheeks and gaze that wouldn’t meet his didn’t give him an answer. She could be embarrassed either way—if she had or if she hadn’t. “Talk to me, Tahira. There’s no right or wrong response here.”
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth for a moment. “No, I have not. You must think it is odd in this day and age for a twenty-five-year-old-woman to be so inexperienced.”
“Look at me.” Grabbing a handful of her hair, he tugged on it until her gaze met his. “No, I don’t think it’s weird at all. In fact, I think virginity and celibacy are making a comeback in the US, if you watch any of those cable shows some of the women I know are into. Nowadays, young women and men are signing purity pacts, or whatever they call them, where they vow to not have sex until their wedding nights. If it’s something that’s important to you, then it’s not weird and don’t let me or anyone else ever tell you differently.”
“Thank you for that, Darius.” She swallowed hard, then licked her lips. Her eyes were filled with desire, fueling his own. “Can you show me a little bit of . . . of how it can be, without . . . I mean, having read so many romance books, I know a man and woman can give each other pleasure without . . .”
“We can do that, sweetheart, if that’s what you want. But I want you to be one-hundred-percent sure.” He wouldn’t be taking anything from her in return, but as responsive as she’d been, he could probably get her off easily.
“I am. I have been daydreaming about you.”
His eyebrows shot up, and he gave her a devilish grin. Damn, her blush was adorable. “You have, huh? Want to tell me about them?”
Her cheeks grew even redder, and her gaze dropped to his chest. “I do not think I am brave enough for that yet.”
“That’s okay. Maybe some other time. What’s the safeword I gave you? In case you get scared or I do something you don’t like.”
“Red, like they say in the club.”
“Look at me, sweetheart.” When her gaze met his again, he continued. “Don’t be afraid to say it, all right? I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her expression softened. “I know. I will say it if I need to.”
Darius inhaled deeply and then let it out slowly. “Take off your robe for me; nothing else.”
As he’d expected, she hesitated a moment. But then she untied the belt and shrugged the material off her shoulders. Once it had been discarded onto the floor, Darius reached up and skimmed the backs of his fingers over her pert breasts. As much as he was dying to see them, and the rest of her, it had suddenly become important to him to wait for that big reveal until after they were wed. His mind was waging a war with his heart and body. He wanted to claim her as his—to be the only man to know what it felt like to be inside her from this day forward—but he had to remember the marriage would only be temporary. For now, he could make her feel like a woman again—to bring her pleasure she’d never known.
Tahira’s eyes were dilated and heavy-lidded. Sliding one of his hands downward, he paused just above her mound. Searching her face, he made sure there was no fear showing. While the hand at her breasts teased them, he swiped his thumb over her silk covered clit.
She gasped and almost leaped off him but settled down quickly again. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Again?”
“Yes, please.”
A soft snort erupted from him. She was so adorable in her refinement, but he wanted a different reaction from her. He wanted her to throw her primness out the window and scream as she shattered for him. Of course, he’d have to cover her mouth with his own, so she didn’t alert her brother or the guards out in the hallway that she was having her first orgasm.
Damn. That thought had him growing impossibly hard. It had been a long time since he’d given a woman her first big-O.
His thumb caressed her clit again, this time keeping the contact as he applied some pressure and made small circles.
“Oh! Oh, Darius! That feels so—so . . .”
He smiled as her words trailed off. Her hands gripped and twisted his T-shirt, as her eyelids fell to half-mast and her hips began to move. Through her thin pajama top, he rolled and played with one nipple, giving it a tug. Her pelvis bucked, as if trying to get closer to the thumb that was bringing her to a peak she’d never reached before. All the while, Darius watched her face. He wanted to make certain the memories of her rape weren’t interfering in the intimate moment.
“Darius, I feel . . .”
“Tell me what you feel, Princess.”
She shook her head, but he could tell she was lost in the sensations bombarding her. “Like . . . I do not know . . . like I want to fly.”
That was exactly how he wanted her to feel. Keeping the same rhythm and intensity, he strung her along until she began to beg him to send her out into an abyss.
“Please, Darius! Oh my God, please!”
At the same time, he pinched her nipple and pressed hard on her clit. When he saw she was going over, his hand left her breast and clasped the back of her neck. He quickly sat up, keeping his thumb moving, and pulled her to him, his mouth sealing over hers as she screamed her release. Her thigh muscles tightened as she rocked against his thumb. Through the silk, he felt the wetness flow from her core and soak the material.
As her climax faded, her body began to sag. Ending their kiss with a sweet peck on her lips, Darius laid back down and pulled her with him until she was draped over his torso. Her gasps for air eased as he stroked her back from her neck to her ass and up again.
Darius reveled in the fact his woman was thoroughly satisfied—it meant more to him than finding his own release, which she hadn’t realized he’d found. That had never happened to him before—ejaculating without his cock being stimulated in some fashion.
He didn’t want to leave her, but an hour later, he forced himself from her bed. After covering her with the sheets, he leaned down and kissed her forehead, then quietly left the room.
33
Not long after having breakfast with Levi and Barrie
, Darius pulled their rented SUV in behind an occupied patrol car parked in front of a small plot of land. Two of Tahira’s ever-present royal guards, Jabari and Zareb, were in a third vehicle behind them.
As Darius turned off the engine, Tahira glanced around. There were a few sheds, a dirty pickup truck that had to be at least fifteen years old, and a double wide trailer. The property had numerous overgrown trees and bushes and had more dirt and rocks than grass covering the lawn. It was about two miles from the quaint town of Brookford where Darius and his siblings had grown up.
“This is it?”
Darius glanced at her. “Yes, Princess. Some people actually do live like this—not everyone lives in a mansion.” His sharp tone was not one he’d ever used when speaking to her before.
Reaching over, she set her hand on his arm. “I am sorry, Darius, my question was not meant in a condescending manner. I know I am one of the privileged people in this world who will never have to live in a small home like this. And I know that you have done everything you can to help your father, but he does not want the help. Please do not think that I am passing judgment on you, your father, or your siblings. I would never do that.”
He placed his hand over hers and closed his fingers around it. “I know. It’s just that sometimes I get defensive about the way my father is now versus the way he used to be. He might not have been the greatest father or the greatest husband in the world, but I'd give anything to have him back the way he was before the accident.” He gave her hand a squeeze, then let go and opened his door. “Come on. Hopefully he's having a good day and I can introduce you without any problems. But don't be alarmed if he thinks I'm too young to be married. He kind of thinks I'm fifteen years younger than I am now, and unfortunately, I’ll always be that age according to him.”
“I am not worried,” she reassured him with a smile. “I really am looking forward to meeting him.”
Forty Days & One Knight: Trident Security Omega Team Book 2 Page 21