Chapter 14
“I’m sorry about dinner,” Rylee said as she and Amar prepared for bed later that evening in her bedroom. She’d just finished washing her face and brushing her teeth, and Amar was still as quiet as he’d been since dinner had ended.
Everyone had recognized the evening was a bust and had retired to their separate corners. Rylee’s parents had gone to sit out on the porch swing while Noah and Chynna went for a moonlit walk. And Caleb, well Lord knows where Caleb had gone, probably off to some woman’s room.
Amar had undressed and slipped into his night clothes without a word. Rylee had never seen him this way before. His eyes were icy and unresponsive as he sat on her bed in his silk pajama bottoms with no shirt as he doodled on his iPad.
“It’s fine,” he finally commented in response to her statement about dinner, but he didn’t look at her.
“I highly doubt it’s fine,” Rylee spat and stormed over to the balcony. She swung open the French doors and looked out over the starry night. She didn’t know who she was more upset at — Jeremy for coming over uninvited and trying to start a fight, or Amar for almost letting it happen.
A few moments later, she heard footsteps behind her and noticed Amar had joined her on the balcony. His massive arms circled her waist as he pulled her close. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing her neck.
“Sorry?” Rylee asked, spinning around to face him. “It wasn’t my fault Jeremy came here. I didn’t ask him to stay.”
“No, you didn’t,” Amar replied stonily and pushed away. “But your father did. Clearly, he thinks Jeremy, a good ol’ boy, is the better choice for you.” He tugged up his pajama bottoms in a mocking fashion.
“Don’t you dare mock our simple country lifestyle,” Rylee said. “We work hard for every luxury we have here.”
“And I haven’t?” Amar said.
“That’s not what I said.”
“You didn’t have to. Your whole family,” Amar said, pointing through the open door, “thinks I’m some rich playboy playing cowboy. They don’t take me seriously as a suitor for you.”
“Who cares what they think?”
“I do!” Amar pounded his chest with his fist. “I want them to think I’m the man for you, not some Neanderthal who gambles away the best thing that ever happened to him. And I’m not just talking about the horse.”
Rylee’s expression softened, and she slid back next to him. “The only people’s opinions that matter are mine and yours.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Rylee. You’ve never been told you’re not good enough, that you’re less than. I’ve felt that way my entire life. I don’t want to feel that way with you or your family.”
Rylee touched his cheek. She could see the anguish in those murky depths. “You’re good enough for me,” she said, brushing her lips across his.
“Are you sure about that?” Amar asked, looking down at her. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so insecure, but he was and needed reassurance. He kissed her back, keeping it light. “’Cause Jeremy isn’t giving up on you. I saw it in his eyes tonight, the way he looked at you with such hunger. I wanted to punch him in the face.”
Rylee smiled. “I’m sure, because I don’t want Jeremy.” Her arms curved around his neck, and she drew his head toward hers. “I only want you,” she said seconds before her tongue invaded his mouth.
She coaxed a response from him as she deepened the kiss and pressed against him, pushing him backward against stucco. Every stroke of her tongue caused his penis to swell and a shudder to run up his spine, even now when he was upset. But he wasn’t upset with Rylee. In a short time, she’d become everything to him.
He shifted his stance so he could put one thigh between her legs. He could feel her heat emanating from the flimsy negligee she wore. He wanted it off her. Now.
He hooked a thumb under the strap of the negligee and bared her shoulder to him, nibbling tiny kisses down her shoulders and neck until the strap slid lower and revealed a breast. He leaned forward to take it in his mouth and sucked hard; she arched toward him, and he accepted her weight.
Her eyes were closed as she tipped her head back and offered herself to him. He took her, sucking her other breast with equal fervor. When he completed his ministrations, he moved upward so he could kiss her hard and run his fingers through her hair. Then he darted his tongue inside her mouth. She returned his ardor by gripping his butt and pushing the pajama bottoms he wore down, freeing his erect penis against her.
Amar lifted Rylee’s negligee, and his hands went to make work of the little scrap of fabric she called panties, but he found she wasn’t wearing any.
His brow rose. “Naughty girl.”
“Only for you. Only for you.”
Amar hoisted Rylee in his arms, lifted her legs around his hips until his penis was at the apex of her womanhood and then plunged inside. He shuddered into her warmth.
“Oh, God, Amar, this feels …” Rylee didn’t know how to describe it. Wonderful. Unbearable. Delicious. Thrilling. The sensation of Amar’s hot, sweaty chest on her heaving bosom with him deep inside her was heady. She wrapped her arms around his neck and captured his mouth in a hungry kiss. Her body had a mind of its own and began to move frantically up and down on his penis. “Harder. Faster,” she urged.
He slammed her back against the stucco and surged further inside her with power and heat and lust. In. Out. In. Out. Everything within her began to tighten as Amar devoured her mouth. Lust and heat fused together, and her breath began to hitch.
“Amar!” His mouth muffled her scream as her back arched and the full force of her climax hit her. Slowly, Amar pulled out, lowering her to her feet. Her legs felt like noodles and before she knew what was happening, Amar was carrying her to her bed, pushing back the comforter and laying her down.
She glanced up at him through pleasure-sated eyes. “You didn’t come.”
“I couldn’t, habibti,” Amar said, “We were not protected, and even then we took a risk.”
“What does habibti mean?”
“My love,” Amar responded through heavy-lidded eyelashes. “It’s a term of endearment. Occasionally my Arabic comes out when I least expect it.”
“About the protection … I wasn’t thinking.” Rylee began to sit up. She hadn’t even though about the fact that they’d just had sex without a condom. She’d been so caught up in the incredible moment of being with Amar with no emotional filters that she’d simply forgotten.
“No apologies,” Amar said, squeezing her nose as he looked at her. “We are both responsible. In that moment, I wanted you just as much as you wanted me. That just means you’re going to have to make it up to me to ensure I come.”
“Is that so?”
“Oh, yes,” Amar said, lying back on the pillows. He reached for a condom on her nightstand and slid it onto his still-erect member. He pulled Rylee atop him. “Here’s your opportunity to make it up to me.”
She made it up to him all night long.
“You guys did it on the balcony?” Camryn asked the following day on the telephone when Rylee called to dish about the hot sexual encounter she’d shared with Amar.
“Girl, yes, and can I tell you, it was hot, hot, hot.” Rylee fanned herself with her free hand.
“Omigod!” Camryn put her fist in her mouth to keep from screaming at work. She didn’t want the other reporters at the newspaper to hear her. “I imagine it must have been. Hell, I’m surprised your family didn’t hear the screams from the opposite wing.”
“Amar muffled them with his kisses,” Rylee whispered, glancing around her on the front porch to make sure no one was listening. She’d come outside with her coffee later that morning for some privacy.
“You sexy diva, you,” Camryn said. “So, what’s next for you two? Do I hear wedding bells?”
“Wedding bells?” Rylee asked in horror. “It’s
too soon for that kind of talk, Camryn.” The thought had crossed her mind during his stay, but she’d tried to push down those images. “We’ve only known each other a couple of weeks.”
“That may be so, but didn’t your parents fall in love at first sight?” When Rylee remained silent, Camryn continued, “And Noah and Chynna? They fell in love during her stay on the ranch too. Tell me you can’t see you and Amar together.”
“That’s the problem, Camryn.” Rylee let out a sigh. “I can. I can see a future with Amar, but he’s not known for sticking it out for the long haul. Heck, his own magazines have done articles about him as the interminable playboy. About the only thing he holds on to are his companies, but women? Not even.”
“Who’s to say you can’t be the exception, not the rule?”
“I don’t know, Cam. We’re so different. And from different worlds, how would we make that work? I mean Amar lives in Palo Alto, and I live here.”
“So? There are ranches in California.”
“True. But what about his lineage? His father is a sheikh.”
“Your father is a hard-working rancher, so what? It doesn’t make Amar better than you. Only unique.”
“Wow! When you put it like that, it makes it seem like I’m not proud of my dad and what he and mom have achieved, and I am.”
“Listen, Rylee, that’s not what I’m saying. Hear this — you can come up with a myriad of reasons why it won’t work between the two of you. No one ever said this love thing was easy, but look at Noah and Chynna. She’s a superstar for Christ’s sake, but she still comes home to Tucson to be with Noah, because she loves him. Surely if both of them are willing to make it work, you two can make a go of it.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so.”
Amar had been listening to Rylee from the front doorway. Rylee had no idea that he’d overheard her entire conversation with Camryn. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but when he’d heard his name, he hadn’t been able to resist. Not only had he learned just how much Rylee had enjoyed their passionate encounter on the balcony, he’d heard what she wasn’t telling him, which was that she feared their relationship would end.
And he had his playboy reputation to thank for her uneasiness. He wished he could say it wasn’t true, hadn’t been true up until now, but it was. He’d run away from every relationship that turned serious. If a woman got too clingy, too needy, wanted too much, he showed her the door. But Rylee was different. She had been from the start.
He’d felt a peace and serenity with her that he hadn’t known existed, that he had been searching for his entire life. She was his harbor in the storm of life. Her family, on the other hand, was a little more difficult. Amar knew he’d won over Madelyn with her sweet, yet classy disposition. Noah, he’d earned his respect by his willingness to work hard in the field from sunup to sundown. Amar made it a point to eat and stay with all the ranch hands until the day was over.
Rylee’s father, Isaac, and her brother Caleb were another matter altogether. Amar recognized Caleb for the sly fox he was. Caleb was a ladies man, so he recognized one when he saw one. And to his credit, a couple of weeks ago, Caleb would have been right about Amar’s love ‘em and leave ‘em reputation, but the moment he’d set eyes on Rylee, Amar hadn’t wanted or so much as looked at another woman. Amar knew that with a little time and resilience, Caleb would come around his way.
Her father, however, would be a tough nut to crack, and that’s what made it worse, because her father’s respect was what Amar wanted the most. He supposed it had something to do with his own relationship with the Sheikh. He yearned for a father figure, for someone to believe in him, to respect him. But Isaac Hart had his heart set on Jeremy Wright. Jeremy was not the man for Rylee. Not only did he not possess the charisma or personality, but he didn’t have that fire in his belly that a man would need to keep up with a woman like Rylee.
Amar was that man. He hadn’t yet figured out how to make a long-distance relationship work between them. Didn’t even know if that was the route they would go. The one thing he did know was he didn’t want to spend his nights without Rylee by his side.
Amar’s cell phone rang in his jeans pocket, and he fished it out without looking at the display. “Hello,” he asked, trying to catch the call.
“Amar?”
It was Tariq. This was the second call he’d received from his brother, and something told him it wasn’t good news. He moved away from the front door and began to pace the foyer entrance.
“What’s happened?”
“It’s father. He-he’s taken … a turn for the worse,” Tariq responded with a choked voice. “Had another heart attack last night. The doctor’s—”
Amar didn’t let him finish his sentence. “I’m on my way.”
“Hurry, Amar. There isn’t much time.”
Amar ended the call and took the stairs to Rylee’s suite two at a time. He called Sharif to get the jet — which he’d kept grounded at Tucson International — fueled and ready. It would take a couple of hours to get the plane and flight plan good-to-go, but that would be enough time for Amar to pack and get to the airport and return the SUV he’d rented.
He burst through the door of Rylee’s bedroom and searched frantically for his suitcase. After the first few nights in different rooms, he and Rylee had long since given up the pretense of separate bedrooms and had begun to sleep in hers.
He found his suitcase in a nearby corner where the maid must have put it when she came to tidy Rylee’s room. He rushed over and opened the double doors to her closet and immediately began snatching clothes off the hanger and throwing them inside the suitcase, no thought to care or wrinkles. He had to get home. He was so busy throwing clothes into the suitcase and running back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom that he didn’t notice Rylee come in until she was standing right in front of him.
“Amar?” She looked at him questioningly as he tossed his toiletry bag into his luggage. “What’s going on?”
Amar glanced up, barely seeing her. “It’s my father. He’s had a massive heart attack. They don’t give him much time. I have to go.”
“I’m so sorry.” Rylee rushed to him and tried to hug him, but he disengaged her arms and went back to his task. “Is he okay?” she asked, confused, staring at him.
Amar shook his head, not looking up. “Don’t know.” He brushed past her to walk to the nightstand and grabbed his iPad. He began stuffing it and several file folders he’d been reviewing into his briefcase.
“What can I do?” Feeling helpless, Rylee watched him rush around the room frantically.
At her question, Amar glanced up. “There’s nothing you can do, baby. I wish there were.” He zipped up his suitcase, grabbed his briefcase and began heading toward her bedroom door.
“Wait!” Rylee grabbed his arm. “You’re going alone? I
mean—”
“What? What is it?” Amar yelled through a cloudy haze of anxiety and grief. He couldn’t think straight. Time was running out. He had to get to Nasir. He had to see the Sheikh one last time.
“Nothing,” Rylee responded, “nothing. You just go.”
“I’ll call you when I land,” Amar said and rushed out the door.
Tears had filled Rylee’s eyes when Amar brushed past her and out of her bedroom. She hadn’t known what to do to comfort him over his father’s imminent passing, but she certainly hadn’t expected him to shut her out so thoroughly. He’d acted as if she were invisible or barely existed as he’d stuffed his belongings into his luggage.
She’d thought their time together had meant more to him. She’d thought in his time of need that he would lean on her, maybe even want her to come with him. She’d never expected him to turn as cold as ice.
She threw herself on her bed and began sobbing.
Several minutes later, she felt a reassuring
rub on her back as someone let her release all her agony at Amar’s abrupt departure.
“It’s okay,” Chynna whispered. “Whatever happened, it’s going to be okay.”
“How can you say that?” Rylee asked, glancing up at Chynna, her eyes brimming with tears. “Amar’s gone.”
“Gone? Why? What could have happened to change things so drastically between you?”
“It’s not us,” Rylee said, sitting up on the bed. “At least not directly. His father suffered another heart attack, and this one’s bad. They don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“Omigod!” Chynna’s hand flew to her mouth.
“I know, right?” Rylee nodded. “It’s terrible. And you would think Amar would want the woman he’s been spending time with the last couple of weeks with him, but did he ask me to go with him? No! Instead, he just pushed me away.”
“Cut him a little slack,” Chynna said. “He’s under terrible duress right now, Rylee. Losing a parent isn’t easy. I know.”
Rylee glanced up and saw a sadness wash over Chynna. For a moment she’d been so caught up in her own grief that she’d forgotten that Chynna and Kenya had lost their mother not too long ago.
“I’m sorry, Chynna. I was being selfish.”
Chynna sniffed. “It’s okay.” She patted Rylee’s arm. “But you have to know that Amar is beside himself and not thinking clearly. You need to think clearly for the both of you.”
“I don’t understand.” Rylee’s brow crinkled in a frown.
“I mean, if you want to go with Amar to his home country to be there for him in his time of need, then you need to pack a bag and follow him.”
“But he didn’t ask me.”
“Should he have to?” Chynna challenged with her arms folded across her growing bosom.
Rylee thought about Chynna’s question. Amar was in the middle of a life-altering experience and she couldn’t expect him to think rationally, but she could be the clear-minded one. “I’m going with him,” Rylee said, rushing toward her closet. “You’re right,” she said, looking back at Chynna. “I have to go to him. Show him that I will stand by him no matter what. Show him I have his back in the toughest of times.”
Harts of Arizona Series Page 51