by Sophia Lynn
“I want to hear all of your stories,” Kashif said solemnly, and when she looked doubtful, he squeezed her hand. “Always. No matter where we are.”
The movement of the crowd carried them on for a while, and then there was a knot of people who called him over while a group of young socialites absolutely had to get their picture taken with the new sheikha. Honey was a little reserved around them, he could tell, but she was calm and at ease, everything he could hope for in a wife.
She's perfect, he thought. She's so perfect for this.
After that, Kashif lost track of Honey for a short while. The traffic of the gala ebbed and flowed, and the enormous trees and bushes and spikes of flowers in the arboretum made it hard to keep track of people. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he had last seen her, and after excusing himself from an ardent discussion of how public transportation should work to the border of Allatf, he went looking for her.
He didn't find her with the young socialites or even the older matrons who had some very specific ideas about how a young sheikha should behave. Kashif frowned as he kept looking for Honey, and he told himself to stay calm because the incident in the library with Lady Laila and her brother was still all too clear in his head.
You got lucky last time because nothing came of all of that, and Lady Laila liked Mother well enough that she would not actually enjoy seeing me smeared in a decent press for behaving like an animal. Stay calm.
Those words went on to serve him very well when he finally did find Honey, who had been backed into a small alcove by Tadd Stonewell, a news correspondent from some foreign press. Kashif had never liked the man despite his flattery and smooth attitude, and right now, looking the tightness around Honey's eyes, he was growing to hate him just a little bit.
Stonewell was leaning too close, smiling to wide even from the side, and Kashif's hands fisted at his sides. It was a good thing he wasn't holding a drink because he might simply have broken it. He stalked up to the pair, remembering to pull back at the last minute. If he had misread this situation entirely, he didn't want to make an ass of himself … but somehow, he didn't think that he had.
“And you see, sheikha,” Stonewell was saying urgently, “the whole world wants your story. The whole world wants to know is it a poor relation, a nobody from a disgraced house—”
Yes, that was really all he needed to know.
He started to come down on the conversation like a lowering thunderstorm, but then Honey spoke up, her shoulders squared and her voice approximately as cold as the North Pole.
“As a matter of fact, Mr. Stonewell, I think people are more interested in learning all about why you were dismissed from the London Times and are now looking to sell tabloid-style articles based on your old press passes.”
Both Stonewall and Kashif stared at her, because no one had heard anything about the new sheikha having such a sharp tongue. Stonewall was still trying to recover when she swept past him, her eyes glinting and offering Kashif her arm.
“So good to see you,” she said. “I was just ready to come find you.”
“Good timing,” Kashif drawled, and he found that he was not quite willing to let things lie, even with Honey's parting line.
“Stonewall?” he said, and the wretched man straightened up and had the nerve to offer Kashif an ingratiating grin.
“Yes, Sheikh Kashif?” he asked. “I hope you have given some second thought to that exclusive I brought up the last time we spoke?”
“I don't really give exclusives to paparazzi,” Kashif said, “and I hope you understand that whatever slim excuse you had for getting into this affair has now broken utterly.”
“Oh, ah…”
Kashif's tone hardened even as he kept a civilized smile on his face. Honey squeezed his hand gently, and he squeezed hers in return.
“If you are still having trouble understanding that, I think you are a poorer journalist than you ever have been. I want you to leave. Immediately. And I do not ever want to see you past the palace gates again, no matter what invitation you manage to steal or what party you attach yourself to. Is that clear?”
Stonewell swallowed and nodded, and Kashif made sure that the man was well on his way to slinking out before he nodded and turned back to Honey.
“Shall we return home, my darling?” he asked, and he wondered if there was something hooded and dark in her gaze before she nodded her assent.
Of course no one ever made it out of one of these parties without a great deal of chattering and well-wishing. It was almost half an hour later before they came down to take the car keys from a respectful valet, and Honey was quiet when he handed her into the passenger's seat and got behind the wheel. As he started the drive back to the palace, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Are you all right, Honey?” he asked, and she looked up as if he had startled her.
“Hm? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Just thoughtful, I suppose.”
Kashif winced a little.
“Please do not waste a single moment of sympathy on Stonewell,” he said. “I stand by what I did, and even if he hadn't insulted you to your face, he's—”
“Oh, I'm not thinking of Stonewell at all,” Honey said, a slight hint of amusement in her voice. “No. I was thinking about, well. You.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Do you know, I…”
She shook her head, biting her lip in a delicate way that sent a flush of heat rippling down his body. He had realized a while ago that Honey had no idea how very attractive she was. It seemed to be something he was meant to suffer in silence.
“What?”
“I was afraid tonight,” she said softly. “It sounds silly, doesn't it? I know there was nothing there that would hurt me, nothing in the least. And yet.”
“Our fears aren't always rational,” Kashif said gently. “Would you tell me what you were afraid of?”
“Several things! First I was afraid I would be a dreadful bore in front of all of your friends and all the people you needed to impress, and I was afraid I would spill something on this dress. I think it mostly went well, however.”
“You did amazingly well,” Kashif promised her, and she let out a long relieved breath.
“Then when that man cornered me, I was afraid he was going to push hard enough that I would have to do something undignified to get him to leave me alone. I knew right away I didn't want to give a man like that anything, but I think Stonewell is the type who tends to make it difficult to say no.”
She took another breath, and Kashif tensed.
“And then you came. And I was afraid... Well, I was afraid that you would do something that made all of my efforts pointless. And you didn't. You handled it just right. I felt so safe with you. I felt as if we were working together for the first time. I was safe.”
“Always,” Kashif promised her. “You are always safe with me.”
He reached over to take her hand. It felt small and cold in his grip, as if she was still afraid, and he rubbed her fingers lightly, trying to bring some warmth to them.
“I am right here, darling,” he said. “You are always safe with me, Honey.”
He realized there was more he wanted to say. He didn't just want to keep Honey safe, he needed to keep her safe. He needed to keep her safe and close because his feelings for her were growing in leaps and bounds, and he couldn't begin to control them, not in the least. He didn't even want to.
He started to share this startling revelation with Honey, but she spoke first. Her fingers closed around his with surprising strength.
“Kashif?” she asked, her voice low and husky.
“Yes, gorgeous?”
“Do you remember when I said I needed time?”
“I do, of course I do.”
“Well. I think I have had enough time.”
Kashif tapped on the brakes in surprise, and then he regained his speed on the road, risking a glance at Honey's calm and luminous face.
“Honey...”
“Take me
to bed, Kashif,” she whispered. “I have waited too long.”
Chapter Nine
Honey
Honey had been in the car when Kashif was driving before. She knew him to be a man who liked to drive fast, while just barely staying within what the law would allow. Tonight though, he made the drive back to the palace in record time, and she took the opportunity to examine his face tense in concentration.
“I'm not going to change my mind,” she murmured, and he laughed, a little breathless.
“I hope you won't,” he said. “but if you are tired of waiting, well. I cannot tell you how exhausted I am over it. Woman, you have been in my dreams every night since we bedded together. I will not wait one moment longer to have you back in my bed again.”
Honey wanted to laugh at his fervent pronouncement, but there was something vivid and real in his speech. He wanted her just as she wanted him, and a shiver of longing went straight through her.
Usually Kashif parked the car in the garage himself, but tonight, he left it in the front, tossing the keys to one of the garage staff. Honey gasped when he took her by the hand and started walking rapidly towards their private wing. Along the way, they passed one of Kashif's secretaries who was working late, and Honey caught a glimpse of wide and startled eyes before she was rushed past.
“They're going to know exactly what we're doing,” she murmured, and Kashif laughed, shaking his head.
“We're still technically newlyweds,” he retorted. “Nothing is going to surprise them short of us locking ourselves in the war room.”
The war room, given Allatf's long history of peace and prosperity, was a room little used, dark, with an enormous mahogany table dominating the space. Honey was suddenly struck with a vision of herself stretched out naked on the table's top, Kashif's soft tread circling her as he touched her exactly how he pleased.
“Is…” She swallowed hard. “Is that an option?”
The look he shot her was heated, but as they swung into his room, she thought that that wasn't a no.
The moment the door locked behind them, Honey found herself pulled into Kashif's arms, his mouth slanting hard and hot over hers. The kiss was breathtaking in its wildness and its force, and she kissed him back just as hard because, yes, yes, yes, it had been altogether too long.
The way they were going, she thought he would simply throw her into the bed, but instead, he pulled back to look at her searchingly.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly, running the ball of his thumb over the curve of her cheek. “I want you to be sure.”
“Kashif, I have never been as sure of anything as I am of how much I want you to touch me, to kiss me, to—”
She could have gone on, was happy to do so, but then he took two great handfuls of her dress and tore it straight down the front. The fabric parted with a heavy ripping sound, and suddenly she was standing before him in nothing more than her bra and a frail slip that left her belly exposed.
“Kashif!”
“I can't stand to have anything between us,” he said, his voice a low growl. “Darling, I want you naked—”
He blinked as she took a step back, a challenging look in her eyes.
“You too,” she said, her voice only shaking a little. There was a part of her that was still shocked that she was allowed to make demands of the Sheikh of Allatf. There was more of her that was certain that this would only be the first demand of several.
“Come on,” she murmured. “You denied me the first night. This is what I want.”
For a moment, the light in Kashif's gaze was so hot that she thought he would simply sweep her up and throw her to the bed, but then he reached for his own clothes, never taking his eyes off of her. The hunger that practically vibrated through his frame made her shiver, and she knew that she only had until his clothes were off, only that much time and no longer.
Licking her lips, Honey stripped off her bra and slip, stepping out of her shoes. As an afterthought, she pulled the pins out of her hair as well, letting it fall down loose to her shoulders. Out of the dress, she suddenly felt far less like the Sheikha of Allatf, far more like Honey, but right then, as Kashif tugged off his last article of clothing and approached her with purpose in his stride, she was just fine with that.
A moment later, she was crushed against his body again, and this time, she revelled in how very different it was from hers, how his body was all hard lean planes to her softness, how the hair on his chest scratched so pleasantly and perfectly against her breasts, leaving her nipples hardening and tightening with need.
“Have me,” she found herself whispering. “Take me, Kashif, oh please.”
“Like I could do anything else right now,” he said, and with nothing more than that, he threw her to the bed. She yelped in shock at going literally airborne for a few moments, and then she landed safe and sound on the mattress, Kashif following to fall on top of her.
She was pressed on her stomach in the clean sheets, and she whimpered as Kashif's dense warm weight covered her. She gasped when he raked his fingers through her hair, twisting it into his fist before smoothing it away. His lips found the tender skin at the nape of her neck, and then he was kissing her, his kisses hot and needy and occasionally a little sharp as he dragged a tooth across her skin. She shivered at his touch, and then she moaned when she realized that he had absolutely no intention of pulling back and allowing her to roll over and face him.
Instead, he kept her on her belly as he kissed and caressed her back, moving down her spine and then up it again with the most maddening touch of his tongue and his lips and his teeth. She whimpered when he squeezed her rear, and then he was moving lower yet, to the backs of her thighs and her firm calves. Honey giggled in startled sensitivity as he lapped at the area behind her knees, and then he grasped her ankle, putting it back down.
“No kicking,” Kashif said, his voice deep and throaty. “There are consequences for little noblewomen who kick.”
Honey's breath caught in her throat, and her laugh was more breathless than not.
“Oh really? And what kind of consequences might those be?”
She yelped with surprise when Kashif landed a brisk slap on her rear, the sting barely enough to pink her flesh, but the sensation sharp and sweet and utterly captivating.
“Bad girl,” he murmured, leaning down to nip at the curve of her rear. “Don't think that I'm going to go easy on you just because I like you so much.”
“I wouldn't dream of it,” she retorted, and then deliberately she flipped her leg up again, careful not to connect, but equally careful to make her intent clear.
“Why you lovely little minx,” Kashif said. “I suppose I really will have to teach you a lesson, won't I?”
Before she could tease him further, because she would absolutely do so to get what she wanted, Kashif let loose a fusillade of blows to her rear, loud and crisp, one after the other until she was grasping at the sheets and squirming. They came so fast that she could barely count them, and after the first few, she gave herself up to the sweeping sensation that rose over her, pleasure and heat and sweetness, and when Kashif finally stopped, she slumped to the bed in a small puddle of limp satisfaction.
“Well?” demanded Kashif, his voice low and warm. She could tell he was as affected as she was, and she only wanted him more. “Have you had enough? Have you learned your lesson?”
“Oh, I have, I have,” she said. “I promise, no more bad behavior from me.”
She had never felt this relaxed or this pliant. Every bone in her was melted, and she had nothing to offer by way of resistance in the least. All that mattered right now was how good she felt, how her rear stung and how she knew Kashif was watching her with so much hunger in his eyes.
“Hm. That sounds very good, but I think I want to check and see what a good wife you are going to be to me.”
She started to ask how he intended to check, but then he pulled her legs open, sliding one probing hand between her thighs. The sudden inti
macy of his touch made her whimper, and she couldn't help tilting her hips up a little, giving him more clearance to find what he needed. She blushed a little thinking about what she must look like with her rear pushed up, but the only person who was there to see was Kashif, and he was the only one who mattered anyway.
“Oh, you are so very beautiful like that, my darling,” he whispered. “Do you have any idea how you look? Do you have any idea how you feel?”
She started to answer, but then his fingertips pressed slightly inside her opening, and she became aware in a way that she hadn't been before that she was wet, so wet and aroused that she whimpered, pushing back even further, asking for more.
To her disappointment, Kashif did not press his fingers inside her, instead only sliding forward to fondle her clit. It was almost too much, the lightning sensation that shot through her at his fingertips' touch. It felt good, it felt so very good, and she pressed down desperately on his hand, ready to demand more or to beg for it if she had to.
“You feel good,” he groaned. “You feel ready, darling, and I do not know if I can resist you.”
Honey glanced over her shoulder at Kashif, who knelt behind her. She could see his proud cock standing up stiffly against his belly, and all she knew was that she wanted him inside her more than anything, needed it. She tried to put that longing into her gaze, and from the way he focused on her almost in awe, she knew she had been at least partially successful.
“Kashif, please,” she murmured. “I can't resist you, why should you resist me?”
The words were barely out of her mouth before Kashif rose up behind her. She thought he would turn her over, but instead his strong hands wrapped around her hips, lifting her up even higher, putting an arch in her back.
A moment later, he had sheathed himself completely within her, filling her up and making her moan. He stilled, and then a moment later, he started to thrust into her, his body stopping just short of pushing hers forward.
Honey's mind went absolutely blank and buzzing with pleasure, and the only thing that mattered was how good he felt, how very full she was with this man, the only man who had ever made her feel this way, the only one whose name could be twisted from her lips in such ecstasy.