by Leslie North
Despite herself, Catelyn lost herself in the scent of him. It took everything she had to stand back instead of wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him until they had no choice but to go back to bed.
Zafir stepped up on the stage then, and Rami nodded toward him. “I’m up next,” he said, and Catelyn allowed him to guide her back to the table.
Zafir’s introduction was short, and then Rami approached the microphone. This time, he sought Catelyn’s face at the head table and gave her a smile that took her breath away.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said smoothly. “This foundation would be nothing without all your support. And before we begin recounting all this year’s victories, I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your tireless confidence.” He looked right at Catelyn when he said it.
She had a hard time being angry after that.
14
“You have to charm her,” Catelyn said for the hundredth time.
“And how, exactly, do I do that?” Rami paced the suite. Window. Door. Window. “She did not find me very charming the last time we met.”
Catelyn blew out a breath between pursed lips. “Lydia’s the kind of woman who wants you to…prove yourself to her. She wants to know that you know about her business, but in a specific way.”
Rami snorted. “I do know about her business.”
His wife smiled at him, one eyebrow raised. “And I bet you told her all about it.”
“We did discuss various strategies, but—”
“That’s the thing, Rami. In order to charm someone, you need to make them feel important. You need to make them feel smart.”
He narrowed his eyes, pausing in the middle of the suite. “So…I need to act like I don’t know about her business? Wouldn’t that backfire completely?”
“No.” Catelyn cut her eyes back at her computer screen, then turned her attention to him again. “You need to make her feel like she’s the expert. No matter how much you know, make sure she knows better. Ask for her advice. Consult her on the finer points of—” She waved a hand in the air. “Strategy. Future plans. Anything. If there’s one thing Lydia loves more than parties, it’s being flattered—but not in an obvious way. You can’t just kiss her butt and expect her to fall all over you.”
Catelyn sniffled, and the noise silenced all the thoughts in Rami’s brain. “Are you all right?” He hadn’t noticed until this moment, but she sounded a little congested.
“I’m fine,” Catelyn said. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”
He laughed. “Only the most frustrating woman on the planet.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Lydia has her quirks, but so does everyone.” Catelyn gave him a pointed look. “Including you, husband.”
He thrilled at the word on her lips. “Don’t tempt me like that,” he said darkly.
“Why?” Catelyn smiled, the corner of her mouth lifting in a wry grin. “Would I make you late?”
Rami checked his watch. Yes. It would make him late, and this was a meeting with his father’s commerce advisor. Not a man he wanted to irritate, despite outranking him. “Yes. You would.”
Catelyn shooed him away. “Don’t let me distract you.” Her mouth was a perfect, satisfied pout. “I’ve got work to do, too. The things that need doing at Elite Occaisons…” She shook her head. “We might need to hire a fourth person, if I’m going to be—” She pressed her lips shut for a heartbeat. “For the next year.”
Rami’s stomach dropped to his toes at the reminder. In Al-Dashalid, it was easy to pretend that the fantasy was and had always been real. Even the media had joined in the celebration, accepting his whirlwind romance as absolutely natural. It helped that they loved Catelyn—every time they went outside the palace, their picture ended up in the newspapers.
“I know how important your business is to you,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. “If you need to hire someone else to make sure it’s running smoothly, you should.”
“I think I might,” Catelyn said. “I’ll have to talk to Daisy and Laura about it.”
“Of course.” He wanted to carry her to bed, but the meeting was in five minutes—as it was, he would only have a few moments to spare. “I’ll see you here after my meeting?”
It was an invitation, and Catelyn knew it. She swiveled toward him in her chair and raised her cheek to be kissed. He let his breath caress the shell of her ear and watched the shiver travel down her back. “I’ll be here,” she said. “Me and this mountain of work.”
She was clicking away by the time he reached the door.
* * *
Catelyn did not have time to come down with a cold.
That was the truth of it—they had to leave Al-Dashalid in a week, and beyond that, there was so much to do for Elite Occasions that she had to grab every spare moment by the throat and wring the productivity out of it.
No matter how crappy she felt.
After Rami left the suite, she waded through another group of emails, firing off responses and trying to ignore the increasing stuffiness in her nose. Her eyes began to burn, and one by one, tissues piled up on the desk next to her. Catelyn stopped between emails to swipe them into the bin beside her desk and went back to work.
But now—oh, now her ears felt pressurized, uncomfortable.
A sneeze snuck up on her. It was a near thing, lunging for the box of tissues, but she made it just in time.
“Gross,” she said to no one, and then the door to their suite opened, and Rami breezed back in. He was surprisingly graceful for a man of his height, Catelyn thought, though she didn’t have anyone to compare him to. Not really. But she couldn’t imagine being that tall and moving through the world with such precise movements.
Rami scanned the room. “Who are you talking to?”
“Nobody,” she said, then sneezed again.
His eyes locked on her, and Catelyn felt the urge to turn away, to hide the fact that she was sick. “You’re not well,” Rami said. Cover blown.
“It’s nothing.” Her voice sounded wrong, even to her. “It’s just a little cold.”
In an instant, Rami had crossed the room and was bending over her desk. “That won’t do,” he said, pressing the laptop shut. Catelyn’s head pounded. “To bed with you.” He scooped her up in his arms and took her to the bedroom, where she curled into the pure white sheets. Then he bustled around the room, taking off his jacket. Catelyn propped herself up on two pillows.
“No jacket?” Now that she was away from the computer and lying down, the headache was subsiding.
“No shirt, either,” Rami said wickedly. He pulled off his dress shirt and undid the buckle on his pants. “I’m canceling all my meetings.”
Catelyn pushed herself fully upright and immediately regretted the decision. “What? You don’t need to do that.”
“I do,” Rami said. “My wife is ill and needs my full attention.” As if to really drive the point home, Rami took his phone out of his pocket and turned it off. He tossed it onto an overstuffed chair near the floor-to-ceiling windows. He finished stripping down, leaving only his boxers and a white undershirt.
To hell with the cold. “I would feel so much better—” Catelyn cleared her throat. “If you’d come to bed with me.”
Rami grinned. He didn’t hesitate, bounding across the room in two long strides. But he was careful as he climbed in next to Catelyn.
“I feel a little bad,” Catelyn said. “You should be preparing for the trip. The meetings—”
“They can wait.” Rami leaned down and tugged the collar of her T-shirt away from her collarbone. Then he pressed his lips to the ridge there. “Besides, I am preparing for the trip.”
Catelyn’s core heated at the kisses he was lavishing her with, and she let herself sink back into the pillows. “How so?”
“I’m taking care of my wife. I need you to be healthy, otherwise it’ll be a lost cause.”
Rami took the hem of her shirt and tugg
ed it up so he could keep kissing her, slowly, deliciously, all the way down her rib cage and toward her belly button. Catelyn closed her eyes. She could swim in that sensation forever. Why not? It was so good, so good…
When Rami reached her panties, he hooked his thumbs in the waistband and tugged them off.
“Are you sure you shouldn’t be—”
“Shhh.”
Catelyn gave herself over to him, eyes closed, pillows supporting her back. Rami kissed down the front of her leg and then turned his attention to the inside of her thigh. It made her wet, to feel him swirl his tongue against that delicate skin. He kissed closer and closer, up the line of her leg until—
He pulled away.
“Rami, no—”
“Shh.” Rami stroked his fingers between her legs, his touch feather-light, and Catelyn groaned, arching her back. “Greedy,” Rami commented. Another stroke, and she wanted more. But he teased and tempted, those fingers playing over her slick folds.
“Rami, please.”
“Only because you asked so nicely.” He drove two fingers inside of her, twisted them, finding a hidden spot that made her clench around them. Catelyn curled toward him and he caught her easily in his arm. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and spread her legs wide for him. She didn’t care how it looked. She only cared how it felt, and it was filthy and delicious all at once.
He withdrew his hand again, only this time the bed shifted. Before she could protest, he was there, the warm thickness of him nudging at her entrance. More kisses fell like rain along the side of her neck.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, yes…”
Oh, he was so gentle as he filled her, sinking in to the hilt and drawing back with a care that made tears come to Catelyn’s eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time a man—or anyone, really—had treated her as if she was utterly precious.
But after a few strokes, Rami gritted his teeth. “I want…” It was clear he was holding back.
“Take it,” she said. “Take what you want.”
“I want more of you,” he said, his voice rough, and she knew what would come next. She welcomed it.
He pulled out and thrust back in, a fierce movement that drove the breath from Catelyn’s lungs. Rami braced himself against the bed and curled one hand around the back of her neck, a hard grip that held her in place while he picked up the pace. Her own hips responded, meeting him with every thrust, and it didn’t matter that she had a cold. All that mattered was the heat between them, the driving pleasure that sparked through her core.
Rami lowered his lips to her ear. “Come for me,” he said, and his tone told her that it was an order. It sent her over the edge and she came hard against him.
He pressed his forehead against her collarbone, following suit.
When he had finished, Rami sucked in a deep breath and fell onto his side, keeping her firmly in his arms. His breathing was so even that she could have fallen asleep. She would have fallen asleep, if it weren’t for the ache in her heart. So sweet. So hot.
“Do you feel better?” Rami murmured into her ear.
“I’m not quite cured yet,” Catelyn said, and Rami skimmed his palm over her stomach. She sighed. “I shouldn’t spend the afternoon in bed. My work—”
“How is the business, anyway?” Rami propped his head on the heel of his hand, considering her.
With a whoosh, all her worries tumbled back into her mind—only now they seemed muffled, farther away. “It’s been harder than I thought,” she admitted. “Being away from New Jersey. And I’m nervous about the trip to Texas.”
“You are?” Rami frowned.
“Yes. I want it to be a success for you. And I want to be by your side, but I also need to prioritize Elite Occasions—” Catelyn shook her head. “I’m going to have to go to New Jersey straight from Texas.”
“We’ll see if you’re up to it,” Rami said.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Catelyn joked, but Rami’s expression was serious.
“Hang on.” He climbed out of bed and went to find his phone in the armchair. He powered it up, his focus coming to life the moment the screen lit up his features. Rami seemed to be scrolling through message.
He scoffed. “Issam…”
“What did he do?”
Rami came to the side of the bed and showed Catelyn the latest message from Rami’s brother. It read, “Your wife doesn’t like people who slack off and miss multiple meetings in a row. You also missed our security check meeting.”
Rami turned the phone back in his direction and fired off a quick text.
“What’d you say?
“I said I’ll be right there.”
Another message from Issam came in. With a roll of his eyes, Rami let Catelyn read this one too.
“Better hurry, brother mine,” Issam had written. “You’re going to lose this deal and your girl if you don’t get back to work.”
Catelyn laughed.
Rami didn’t.
15
“You want me to wear this?”
Rami held the hat away from his body, trying to picture exactly how ridiculous it would look.
Catelyn watched him, her blue eyes sparkling. “It’s a mini rodeo. Everyone will be wearing something similar, I promise you. If you don’t look the part, it’ll only stand out. And attract the wrong kind of attention from Lydia.” Her phone buzzed again. Since the plane had touched down in Texas, the device had been pinging nonstop with texts and calls. Rami noticed the way she paused, catching herself, and looked him in the eye. “If you really don’t want to wear it, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Answer your messages,” he told her.
She closed the distance between them, rising on tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips. “I’ll be right back.”
Catelyn moved lightly to the door of the suite they were sharing at Lydia’s estate. As it closed behind her, Rami heard her say, “Mom? What’s up? No, I’ll see everyone at the party—”
Her voice trailed off as she went down the hall.
Rami turned and surveyed himself in the mirror. There was no way anyone would mistake him for a cowboy, ever. But Catelyn was right. He needed to prove to Lydia that he was willing to play her game. He needed to charm her. And if wearing this stupid hat would do it—
He put it on, feeling instantly embarrassed. He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared himself down in the mirror, trying to shove away his embarrassment and focus on the positives. The hat fit his head, at least. It wasn’t too big or too small. That was all he could dredge up. He left it on for as long as he could stand it before sweeping it off and putting it gently on one of the side tables.
The minutes ticked by, empty without Catelyn, and Rami felt a stab of irritation. This was supposed to be something they were tackling together, and it seemed as if she’d been consumed with other people since they’d stepped off the plane. She couldn’t walk five feet on the estate without someone stopping her to congratulate them on their marriage or ask her about her business. Rami appreciated the good wishes, but that’s never where they ended. Everyone wanted some of her time. Everyone wanted a picture.
Catelyn’s mother had played more than a supporting role in that department. Even from the middle of the ocean, she’d managed to get the word out. Rami hadn’t fully understood how much one woman could affect the social atmosphere until so many people in the States had proven themselves to be intimately acquainted with his recent nuptials. When he’d asked Catelyn about it, she only replied, with a shake of her head: “My mother.”
The door to the suite opened, and Catelyn rushed in, blonde hair loose around her face. “I’m sorry that took so long,” she said, giving Rami an apologetic smile. “First my mom called, and then—”
“Hasn’t she called three times today?”
Catelyn tossed her phone onto the bed and hustled into the bathroom. The opening event of the negotiations weekend was a mini rodeo followed by a true Texas-style dinner in Lydia’s ballro
om, and all the calls and texts had eaten up most of the time they had to get ready.
“Yes. For some reason, even though she’s supposed to be on her honeymoon, she still feels the need to guide me through this event. I told her I’d be busy the rest of the evening.”
“Honeymoon?”
“Didn’t I tell you? She and my dad got married. Again.”
“I didn’t know they were divorced.”
“You never can tell with my parents.”
“They didn’t invite you to the wedding?”
Catelyn came out from the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans that were scandalously skintight and rose up over the curve of her hips, accentuating her bare waist. The sight of her breasts in a lacy bra made Rami’s mouth water, and she must have seen his expression change because she gave him a wicked grin.
“It was apparently on the boat at the beginning of the cruise.” She made her way across the hotel room, swaying her hips, and went to the closet. “Are you ready for a surprise?”
“I hope the surprise involves you taking off those pants.”
She shook her head, still smiling, and brought a shirt out of the closet. “Look.”
It was a Texas-style shirt, short-sleeved, but it was made of bright fabric from the dressmaker’s shop in Al-Dashalid. The sight of it thrilled him in a way he never would have expected.
“Want to see it on?” Before he could answer, Catelyn was putting her arms through the sleeves and drawing the top button closed. Rami could see instantly that the shape of it was going to drive him mad with desire all night.
He didn’t let her get to the second button.
“That’s enough,” he said, closing the distance between them.
Catelyn’s eyes went wide. “You don’t like the shirt?”
“I love the shirt,” he growled. “Keep it on while I—” He undid the button of her jeans and slipped his hands underneath, using the fabric of her panties to draw her close so he could kiss her. She tasted like sweetness and mint, and her lips parted for his with a little gasp. He pulled himself away. “I was going to ask you to look over the dossiers for the negotiations, but—”