by Leslie North
“Explain what?” she snapped. “I think I understand all too well. Don’t worry, though. I’ll go back to being your servant, and we’ll be fine.”
God, after all this, she was still worried about her damn job. Anger lanced through him, and for a second, he thought about breaking the door down. Technically, this house was in his family, and he could do what he damn well pleased.
Breathing deeply, he forced himself to calm down. Throwing his weight around wasn’t going to help things. “If all I wanted to do was fuck you before Christmas, I wouldn’t be on this side of the door trying to apologize.”
He listened for her footsteps on the other side of the door before it opened. “Say what you want to say,” she said stiffly.
“Melka’s not wrong,” he murmured in a low voice. “I did tell him that I was going to seduce you by Christmas.”
Rolling her eyes, she tried to shut the door but he quickly put his foot in the doorway to stop her. “But you came to me, remember?”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and he gently pushed the door open and entered the bedroom. “I’m not trying to throw that in your face. I’m simply pointing out that I turned you down at first, and that’s not something that I do with women. Ever. I don’t know what this is. It may be nothing more than a fling, but it’s still more than a challenge to me. I need you to know that.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned away from him. “It’s not okay that you ever thought of me as a challenge. Even if things changed, you still targeted me.”
Her words hit him hard, and he quickly stepped inside closing the door and leaning against it. “I guess that’s what I do,” he said after a moment of silence. “I target women and use them. Usually they don’t care. Women that are attracted to me are only attracted to my money or my status. I’m a trophy that they can tell their girlfriends about later, so I use them just the same.”
Poppy toed the carpet and sighed. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? I’m sure it’s more than your money.”
Her dry confession made him smile. “I was engaged once.”
“You? Engaged?” she snorted. “To what?”
Hurt, he crossed his arms and stared at her. “You don’t think I’m capable of falling in love?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Samir, but I’ve done my homework on you. Fall in love? Sure, but you’re not the kind of guy to commit to someone.”
“That’s because the woman I did commit myself to didn’t love me,” he growled softly. “A week before my wedding, I caught her sleeping with someone else. She was drunk and angry and confessed that she fucked other men all the time because the only thing I was good for was spending my money on her. She had dreams of me surpassing my brothers to wear the crown.”
“Oh, Samir,” Poppy breathed.
“I was nineteen. My brothers and my father both told me that I was far too young to get married, but I’d been with her for years. The crazy thing is that she thought I’d still marry her to avoid scandal. I guess I wanted to show her that she didn’t affect me.”
“So you started creating scandal?” Poppy went to him and put her hands over his heart. “Samir, that’s not how you deal with betrayal. People are cruel, but you can’t simply lash out. It doesn’t help anything.”
Gripping her wrists, he roughly pulled her against him. “You’re the only woman to ever turn me down. Now, you can see why I boasted to my guard.”
“And I guess I proved you right.” Her eyes searched his, and in that moment all he wanted to do was push her away. He was fully clothed and still felt naked and vulnerable.
“You did.”
“Don’t,” she snapped coldly. “Don’t do that. Don’t open yourself up to me and then try to push me away. It doesn’t work that way.”
Instead of responding to her, he pulled her up and kissed her hard. It was easier to bury himself in her than to admit that in the short time he’d known her, she’d managed to change him.
Digging his fingers in her waist, he forced her hard against his body grinding his erection straining in his pants against her. Part of him hoped that she’d push him away and slap him, but she moaned and clung to him. As he walked her from the door toward the bed, he stripped his shirt off and then reached under her shirt to squeeze her breasts.
“Samir!” she gasped as he pushed her to the bed. Wrestling with the button on her pants, he didn’t say anything. The time for words was over. He wanted to fuck her until he forgot all about the woman who broke his heart and destroyed his trust.
Until he forgot that, he was dangerously close to trusting his heart to another.
“No!” Grabbing his belt, she pulled him to the bed and quickly slithered off the bed to stand between his legs. “You’re not going to take me while you’re thinking of her.”
“Then leave,” he sneered.
Staring at him, she slowly pulled her shirt over her head. “I’m not leaving, Samir. And you’re only going to be thinking of me by the time I’m done.”
Captivated, he slid up on the bed until his back was against the wall and stared at her. The damn bed was so small that his legs hung off the side.
Standing, he undid his belt and shucked his pants so his erection would no longer be trapped. Naked, he settled back on the bed, stroking himself slowly as he watched her strip tease.
“Turn around,” he ordered when she unzipped her pants. “Turn around and bend over.”
With a seductive smile, she did as he asked. Groaning, he felt his desire unfurl as she ever so slowly peeled her pants over the pink lace of her panties and down her creamy thighs. The wet spot was already evident, and he squeezed himself gently. “God, you’re gorgeous. Take off your bra.”
With her back still turned to him, she unsnapped her bra and slipped the straps down her arms. Turning her head over her shoulder, she brushed her blonde hair from her face and gave him a teasing smile.
“Now, the panties.” His voice was hoarse as she hooked her thumbs under the elastic and slowly rolled them down. When she widened her legs, he could see her beautiful, freshly shaved, wet pussy.
“Turn around. Touch yourself.” When she complied, he had to remove his hand. The way her fingers slid over her nipples was almost enough to make him lose it. “Enough. Come here.”
The air grew heavy when she dropped to her knees and crawled to him. He gritted his teeth when her tongue darted out and licked his entire length before lapping up his pre-cum. He was helpless to stop her as she opened her mouth and slid her lips down him. Grunting, he fisted his hands in her hair as she slowly bobbed her head up and down.
Once. Twice.
“No more,” he hissed as he pulled her away. Laughing, she crawled into his lap and straddled him. Bending his head, he reached out to lick her nipple. Circling his tongue around it, he waited until her breathy sigh turned into a moan before he pulled it into his mouth and suckled hard.
“What are you thinking about?” she panted.
“You.” Gripping her hips, he lifted her up, aligning with her slit before he thrust inside her hard. “This.”
Crying out, she clutched his shoulders, and he drove even deeper inside her tempting body. There was no way he was going to last long, but he was desperate to feel her fall apart around him again. It was an addiction, and he wasn’t going to deny himself. Pinching her nipple, he licked the column of her neck and gasped when she squeezed her muscles around him, milking him.
“Habibti. Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
“What about what you do to me? You’re going to make me come, and we’ve barely gotten started.”
“Good.” Running his hands down her back, he dug his fingers into her ass cheeks and forced to her to move faster. Pulling her body down, he lifted her again, yanking her back down onto his lap. The power of his thrusts forced her to clutch his shoulders or risk falling against him as she dug her toes into the mattress to help anchor herself.
Leaning forward, he cap
tured her bottom lip between his teeth. “Come, Poppy. We’ve got all afternoon. We’ve got all night. Don’t hold back.”
The gorgeous woman leaned back and pinched her own nipples. Samir watched, enthralled, as her head tipped back. If he didn’t have a hold on her, she probably would have fallen backwards, but she rode him fast and hard, touching herself, crying out. When her orgasm rolled through her, she clenched around him, and he felt something snap in him. Possessed, he shifted them off the bed until they hit the floor with Poppy pinned beneath him. Bearing down on her, he slammed inside her until her cries turned to screams, and when her second orgasm hit, he finally let himself go.
They didn’t leave the bedroom that afternoon or that night. After they’d recovered, Samir made love to her again, slow and hot, while they were still on the floor. He’d been in control of every movement, but she didn’t mind.
Afterward, he pulled her into her shower. It was too small to hold two people, but he’d lifted her up against the wall and proved that the shower was not only big enough to wash two people, but it was also big enough to make her come again.
Exhausted, they fell into the bed. When her stomach grumbled, he laughed and pressed his hand to her naked abdomen. “I guess we built up an appetite.”
“I’m starving,” she confessed. “But I don’t think I could even walk to the door let alone to the kitchen.
“I’m hungry too.” Leaning over, he slid his tongue over the inside of her thigh and nibbled gently on her skin.
“Samir,” she giggled and pushed him away. “I don’t think I have anything else to give you.”
“Is that a challenge?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” she said quickly, but it was too late. Shrieking, she tried to push him away, but he’d already buried his head between her legs. Soon, she was gasping and undulating under him. His talented tongue lashed out across her sensitive clit until there was nothing playful about his action. Panting and moaning, she orgasmed once again.
“Never underestimate what I can make your body do,” he murmured as he leaned up to kiss her. She tasted her own juices on his lips. Salty and tangy.
“I’m going to need another shower,” she said breathlessly, and a lecherous grin crossed his face. “Samir!” Punching his shoulder lightly, she lifted her head to kiss him again. “Want to see what I can make your body do?”
“Yes, but first I should feed you before you put anything else in your mouth.” Grinning, he pushed himself off her and reached for his clothes. “Want me to bring you some dinner? I’d hate for Melka to get an eyeful of your luscious body.”
The thought of Samir’s bodyguard bothered her. There were times she caught him giving Samir a speculative look that seemed to go beyond his job, but she pushed it out of her mind.
“No, I’m going to get dressed and join you. My room smells like sweat and sex. It needs to be aired out.” Her body protested when she eased off the bed, and she winced. “I think you broke me.”
“What?” he was immediately at her side to help her. “Are you okay? I can carry you up to my room, and we can eat there.”
“I’m fine,” she protested with a laugh. “Just a little sore. I’m sure it’ll be much worse tomorrow. We could bake our mincemeat pies if you want and finish decorating your Christmas tree. Seriously, all those boxes of lights and decorations lying around the living room are driving me nuts.”
There was something strange in his eyes as he looked at her. It wasn’t filled with heat and desire but something else that woke the butterflies in her stomach. “I’d like that,” he whispered.
Just as she finished dressing, there was a loud explosion in the distance. Poppy turned to the window in alarm, and Samir immediately grabbed her and forced her behind him.
“What the hell was that?” she gasped as she looked around him. Smoke spiraled in the distance, and anxiety knotted in her chest. “Oh, my God.”
The door flew open and Melka burst into the room. His eyes swept over them disapprovingly, but he reached over and grabbed Samir. “We’re leaving. Now.”
The man tried to pull Samir from the room, but the Sheikh pulled out of his grasp. “Poppy. We’re taking Poppy.”
“We can’t,” Melka spat. “The next place isn’t meant for three people. She’ll be fine here. They aren’t after her.”
“I don’t care,” Samir snapped. “They could hurt her to get to me, and I won’t let that happen. She’s coming with us or we’re not going at all.”
Melka narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Fine, but we’re leaving now. Grab your jackets.”
Stunned, Poppy let Samir pull her from the room. What the hell was going on?
Was someone trying to kill them?
12
Two days into the new place, and there was nothing but tension in the air. Samir paced the small living room and occasionally glanced out the window. “How could you not tell me that you thought we were followed?” he yelled at Melka. “You didn’t think that I would care about that?”
“You seemed otherwise preoccupied,” Melka responded coldly.
Poppy flinched at the words and closed her eyes. There was only one bedroom in the small apartment in the city. Samir wasn’t allowed to go outside for fear that someone would recognize him, and Melka wouldn’t leave his side, so Poppy was the one running errands. It was nice to get out of the apartment, but she couldn’t shake the fear that someone was after Samir.
An empty cabin near the safe house had exploded. Melka believed it to be a bomb, but he hadn’t gone out to investigate it. “What are you waiting for?” Samir snapped. “I need to know what’s going on.”
“And leave you alone with her?” Melka snarled. “She shouldn’t even be here.”
Unable to hear anymore, Poppy deliberately dropped the box of cereal to let the guys know that she was back. She thought she heard Samir say something under his breath, but she couldn’t hear it. “I’m back,” she said in a shaky voice as she lifted the scarf from over her hair. “I know we can’t have mincemeat pies, but I thought we could still have some roast turkey with a few trimmings.”
“Why?” Samir said through gritted teeth.
“Because it’s Christmas.”
“You don’t like Christmas.”
A lump formed in her throat, but she pushed it down. She and Samir had shared the only bed in the apartment, but he hadn’t touched her. She didn’t push for it since she knew that he was anxious, but she felt a chasm growing between them.
Maybe it was time for her to accept that things were over. Samir was facing reality, and it didn’t include her.
“I’ll go investigate the explosion,” Melka muttered. “You will not leave this apartment. Do you understand me?”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Poppy said reassuringly, but Melka glared at her. The past two nights on the couch hadn’t helped his disposition toward her. Not that he would be sleeping anywhere else in such tight quarters.
Grunting, the bodyguard stomped away, and Poppy turned away from Samir. Even if it killed her, she was going to do her best to make tonight somewhat special for him. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she rubbed her hands nervously on her pants. “I know things aren’t easy for you, Samir. Let me make you dinner, and you can go relax. Lay down for a little while. I know you haven’t been sleeping well.”
He muttered something angrily under his breath, but he left her alone in the kitchen. When she heard the door close to the bedroom, she sighed in relief and got to work. She’d only gotten a small turkey breast, so it wouldn’t take long to cook it. Without any of the recipe books from the safe house, she only had her memory to work from.
Her grandmother loved to cook, especially around the holidays. Poppy remembered being elbow deep in sweet potatoes, pleading with her grandmother to let her put marshmallows on top. As always, the older woman would protest and pretend to clutch her chest in horror at the idea of using marshmallows, but she always gave in.
It always ended up being her family’s favorite dish.
Once her grandmother passed away, she was in charge of the cooking. It took a few years for her to perfect, and by the time she’d gotten everything completely right, her father had brought home his girlfriend.
Holidays were never the same after that.
Pushing the unpleasant thought from her mind, she threw herself into her work. When everything was in the oven, she opened the storage closet and pulled out the biggest surprise. It wasn’t much, but hopefully it would make Samir smile.
Right before everything was finished, Samir came out of the bedroom and surprised her by wrapping his hands around her waist and nuzzling her neck. “I’m so sorry that you’ve been pulled into this,” he whispered.
“You don’t have to be sorry, Samir. It’s not your fault.” She turned in his arms and kissed him. “Dinner is almost ready. I managed to find a bottle of wine, but it wasn’t easy. I didn’t think about how hard it would be to shop for alcohol in this neighborhood but Melka has been really strict about the places I can shop.”
“It smells great,” he said as he leaned over to open the oven.
“Hey!” Swatting him away, she closed the door and glared mockingly at him. “It’s not ready yet, and if Melka comes back and you’ve burned yourself, he’ll have my head on a stake.”
“He’s only looking out for me,” Samir said airily. “If anything happens to me, my family will blame Melka. He’s under a lot of pressure.”
“He cares for you. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at you.”
“We’ve been friends for a long time.”
Poppy wanted to tell him that she thought there was more to it but then she wondered if she was seeing something that wasn’t there. Instead, she handed him the wine, and he opened it and poured it into two glasses. When the timer went off, she pulled everything out of the oven and arranged it on the counter. “The table isn’t very big, so I can’t exactly make an impressive display of everything,” she said apologetically. Instead of beautifully decorated ceramic dishes, Poppy had everything in aluminum trays. Still, the turkey breast was a gorgeous brown color, and everything smelled wonderful.