The Sheik's Beautiful Intruder (The Friendship Series) (12 page)

Ugh!  She’d really messed up. 

She sat down in one of the comfortable sofas, absently impressed with how nice it really felt.  But foremost in her mind was trying to push aside her anger and come up with a plan.  So she’d messed up.  She’d gotten herself into a pickle like no other pickle jar had ever seen.  But what was she going to do to fix it?  How was she going to get out of the pickle jar without falling into…fire?  Brine? 

Even she had to shake her head at how ridiculous her analogy had gotten.  But the point was, she had to figure out what to do to get out of this mess.  She was creative and resourceful.  Somehow, someway, she had to leave this palace. 

Chapter 7

Nikki pressed her ear to the door and listened, noting the silence.  That didn’t mean that the guards weren’t there.  It just meant they weren’t chatting like she would be.  Of course they would be more disciplined than she was.  The memory of her and Brianna trying to sneak out of their foster home one night so they could meet Rachel at the school dance came to mind.  They’d almost been caught simply because Nikki had been chattering on and on about something to Brianna. 

Of course, Brianna had thought it was only because Nikki was fearless, that Nikki was chattering away as if to snub her nose at their foster home parents.  In fact, the complete opposite was the case.  When she was nervous about getting caught, the filter in her brain that would normally close her mouth just opened up and all the thoughts she was thinking simply jumped out. 

If it hadn’t been for Brianna clamping a hand over Nikki’s mouth, their foster father would have caught them at the basement window that night.  But Bri had saved the day.  Or night, actually.  With their silence, their foster father had retreated back to his position in front of the television set which had been blasting a baseball game but neither Brianna nor Nikki had moved until they’d heard him snoring again.  The man had at least been consistent in his laziness if nothing else. 

Nikki pushed aside all those bad memories and focused on the present.  She wasn’t sticking around here another day, she told herself mentally.  She was getting out of here, getting away from that man.  Nazar was more dangerous than she’d ever thought possible. 

As she slipped through the glass doors to the courtyard that faced her room, she looked around, felt for the tall tree and pulled herself up.  The branches weren’t thick and strong like an oak tree, but they would hold her weight.  At least for the few minutes it would take to pull herself up onto the courtyard wall.  It was only nine o’clock at night, so she was hoping no one would suspect she was trying to get out right now.  At least in the movies, people waited until two or three o’clock in the morning.  She wasn’t sure she could do it at that time of the night.  She’d lost enough sleep over the past several days.  Or nights, to be more specific. 

She was just about to slide her legs over the top when she thought she heard something.  Laying as still as possible, she tried to listen.  It was hard though because her heart was racing so fast and the blood was pounding in her ears.  But she slowed her breathing, closed her eyes and listened. 

Nothing. 

She let her breath out slowly, still carefully listening.  There was a night bird calling to its mate in the distance, a few sounds of traffic, which was good because that was the sound she would head towards once she got through all the palace security. 

Nikki slung her leg over the other side of the wall and carefully lowered herself as far as her legs could reach.  She knew there wasn’t a tree to help her down on this side so she was just going to have to fall.  She remembered watching how the actors in movies did it.  Just bend at the knees, let the momentum flow through her and she wouldn’t break her legs.  But her fingers continued to clench the edge of the wall while her mind worked through the release…and the possible issues after she released. 

In the end, she knew she had to do it.  And if she continued to hang here, procrastinating and imagining the worst, she was going to fall anyway.  So why not just do it and get it over with? 

With one more hope sent upwards for a safe landing, she forced her hands to release the top of the wall and…

The strong hands that wrapped around her bottom were definitely not what she was expecting.  Nor was she expecting the angry growl in her ear as she was safely lowered, almost to the ground but Nazar pinned her up against the wall, not giving her even the freedom of her feet touching the ground as his body pressed up against hers. 

She told herself it was just the adrenaline pumping through her, but she knew she was lying to herself.  The shock wave of desire that spun her mind out of control when his leg pressed between hers was something that had her moaning with a blinding, raging need, unlike anything she’d ever known.  

“What are you doing here?” she gasped, her hands gripping his strong shoulders.  She wasn’t going to press her hips against his, she told herself firmly.  She wasn’t going to enjoy the feeling of his strong body pinning hers so completely.  No!  She wasn’t going to enjoy any of this! 

Again, she knew she was lying since every cell in her body was clamoring for more of him.  She was holding her breath, keeping herself from shifting, from moving so that he was pressed more perfectly against her. 

“What am I doing here?” he demanded, his hands moving her hips exactly the way she wanted to do and she inhaled sharply.  “I believe I am retrieving my prisoner before she can get herself killed!”

“You can’t keep me here!”  She wanted to yell that exclamation at him but it came out as more of a whisper because his hips moved against hers again.  At least he didn’t hear her moan, she told herself as she closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, trying to keep him from seeing her reactions. 

“You think I can’t?” he came right back.  “I think you’re wrong.”  He bent his head, lowering it inch by inch towards her mouth.  “And what’s more, you don’t really want to escape me, do you?” he asked. 

She opened her eyes and looked at him, realized what he was about to do and held her breath, wanting this kiss, wanting him so badly she ached deep down inside.  “I do want to escape you.”

“Why is that?” he asked, holding his lips just a breath away. 

“Because you’re dangerous.”

He smiled!  Actually smiled!  “Only to you, my love,” he said but wouldn’t give her time to respond because his mouth covered hers,

Nikki had no idea how long they stood there.  It might have been moments or hours.  All she knew was that, when he pulled his mouth away, she wasn’t ready.  She wanted more! 

“You were going over that next wall, weren’t you?” he demanded, his hands clenching her waist while the rest of his body pinned her to the stone wall behind her. 

She looked over his shoulder, both her eyes and her mind having trouble focusing.  “Yes.  I think that was my plan.”

He cursed in his own language and his hands clenched her waist slightly harder before he released her.  “Nikki, you don’t even know the danger you’re in, do you?”

She took a deep breath, trying to figure out what he was telling her but all she really wanted was for him to kiss her again.  “I know I’m in danger if I stay here.  I have to leave.  I have to find my friend,” she told him.   But she’d only remembered Brianna at the last moment.  Her primary goal was to get away from him, away from all these scary things he made her feel.  She couldn’t give in to him!  She knew she would be lost if she let herself feel all these crazy things for him and then where would she be?  He’d move on to the next woman and she’d be left all alone, trying to deal with a life without him.  She hadn’t felt this kind of panic since the police officer had shown up at her school to tell her that her parents had died in a car crash.  And she’d been so alone!  So desperately scared.  She wasn’t sure she would survive after Nazar left her.  “I can’t do casual sex!” she exclaimed. 

He chuckled but there wasn’t much humor in the sound.  “Nikki, when I finally get you into bed, there won’t be anything casual about the sex,” he stated firmly. 

She shivered despite her need to keep her feelings to herself.  “I can’t do that,” she whispered, sliding her hands between their bodies.  When he actually let her move him back, she was both surprised and disappointed.  “I won’t let you do that to me,” she asserted again, more for herself than for him.

“Come with me,” he commanded and didn’t wait for a response.  He took her hand and led her out of the silent area and Nikki cringed when she saw the guards who had been outside her door earlier in the evening. 

“How did you know I was going to try and get out tonight?” she asked, wanting to store the information away so she wouldn’t get caught the next time.

He looked down at her, one dark eyebrow raised as if to say, “Are you kidding me?”

“Seriously,” she said, squeezing his hand.  “I’d really like to know what I did wrong.”

He laughed as he pulled her into a new room which was down the hallway from where she’d been sleeping.  “First of all, you gave yourself away over dinner tonight.”  He dropped her hand and moved over to a beautifully carved bar that looked to be stocked with just about every kind of liquor she could imagine.  He reached down and poured brandy into two, large snifters, coming back to hand one to her.  “Your eyes are like windows to your thoughts, Nikki.  You wouldn’t look at me most of the dinner.  You only made eye contact with me when I irritated you, which I did as often as possible.  And then there was the other ‘tell’ that I’m not going to reveal to you quite yet.”

She was startled by that statement and watched in fascination as he sat down on the sofa, holding his brandy in one hand and laying his other on the back cushions.  “I have a ‘tell?” she asked.  “Like in poker?”  That would explain a lot, she thought silently. 

She stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, relieved to have something different to talk about other than sex and she grasped onto that subject with both mental fists. 

“Everyone has something that reveals what they are thinking,” he told her smoothly, taking a sip of the brandy.  “You just have to be observant enough to find it.”

Nikki thought about that as she lowered herself carefully into the chair across from him.  “What’s your signal?” she asked.

He threw back his head and laughed.  “First of all, I don’t know what my signal is.  And even if I knew, there’s no way I would tell you.”

She leaned back, taking a sip of the brandy and instantly felt the burn against the back of her throat and started coughing.  She squeezed her eyes shut as her throat slowly came back to life.  “Goodness!  How do you drink this?” she asked, staring at the strong liquor. 

“It’s an acquired taste, I suppose,” he replied and took another sip.  “Would you like something else?  A glass of wine perhaps?”

She shifted in her chair, feeling as if he were daring her.  And she never ignored a dare!  “This is fine,” she said and leaned back against the cushions again, bringing the snifter to her lips.  “So what’s my tell?” she asked, taking a sip and pretending that the brandy wasn’t tearing a layer of cells off the back of her throat.  It was sweet, she suddenly realized now that she wasn’t coughing and gasping for breath. 

Nazar smothered his laughter at her attempt to pretend like she was enjoying the brandy.  “As I said, I’m not going to tell you.  I need all the advantages I can find when it comes to dealing with you.”

Nikki glared at him.  “You said you saw it in my eyes.  Or was it that I wouldn’t look at you?”

Nazar wouldn’t answer her, just smiled back at her as if he knew all of her secrets.  “Why don’t you come over here and talk to me.  Maybe I’ll tell you something you want to know.”

Nikki’s eyes narrowed, wondering if she should trust him or not.  But what alternative did she have?  “I think I’m safer over here,” she came right back and pulled in her feet so they were tucked up underneath her in the big chair. 

His handsome face smiled right back at her.  “I never thought of you as the kind of woman who played things safe.”  He watched her carefully and saw the exact moment when her mind absorbed his challenge.  Her lips compressed ever so slightly and her shoulders squared.  He’d bet she had no idea how cute she was when she looked like that.  “I thought you were the kind of woman who wasn’t afraid of anything.  Someone who dared the world and challenged the air around her.”

She wiggled in her chair, looking down.  “I’m not that bad,” she said, feeling an odd sort of tingling in her stomach.  What did he see in her that made him think she was so brave?  Or did he just think she was stupid and didn’t realize the dangers in the world.  Well, she wasn’t stupid.  She knew that he was dangerous.  At least to her willpower.  He could override that with just a touch.  She had to remember the aftermath of any relationship with him. 

No, she was safer on this side of the coffee table. 

“Come over here and I’ll give you a clue about your friend,” he finally said.

Nikki gritted her teeth and glared at him.  “You’re holding that out as the trump card a bit too often, Nazar,” she replied. 

He chuckled as she stood up and came around the low coffee table.  But she didn’t sit next to him.  In fact, at the opposite end of the sofa, she was actually farther away from him than she was on the chair.  “Okay, I’m here.  Tell me where Brianna is.”

He threw back his head and laughed.  “Oh no, my dear.  You knew what the deal was.  Either come closer or you’re not getting anything out of me.”

Nazar was delighted with her.  No other woman had ever challenged him on so many levels before.  And she was beautiful, stunning with that pink color skimming across her porcelain cheeks like that.  He wanted to touch that skin, see if she turned pink in other areas.  Perhaps when she was aroused there would even be pink on her breasts. 

He knew he’d won when she huffed before she stood up and came over to the cushion right next to his.  “Is this better?” she demanded, setting her brandy down on the coffee table beside her and crossed her arms across her stomach, unaware that the position only pressed her breasts higher, causing them to almost spill out of her low-cut shirt.  He would have to send a compliment to the assistant who had ordered all of Nikki’s clothing.