The Sheik's Reluctant Lover (12 page)

“Because I want to ensure you’re safety, Rachel.  I thought we discussed this on Monday.”

She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore her impatience.  “I don’t need security guards,
Rais
.  Call them off.”

“I won’t.  And I need you to go with them.  They will escort you to the house, but once you’re on my property, you’ll be safe enough.  Now answer my question.  What are you wearing underneath that blue suit?  Or are you going to make me find out on my own?”

She sighed and looked out the sliding glass doors of her apartment, seeing the late afternoon sunshine streaming through.  She needed to hurry up and get out to his house, wanting to supervise the various vendors that were arriving to set up but if she didn’t hurry, she’d be late and that’s when confusion settled in. 

Knowing she wasn’t going to win this argument with him, she smiled slightly as she said, “Don’t worry,
Rais
.  I’m not wearing anything underneath the blue suit,” she said with complete honesty. 

With that, she snapped her cell phone shut and stuffed it back into her small clutch purse and walked back out to the hallway.  Kadar and Joe were still standing at attention in the hallway and she pulled her apartment door shut, twisting the lock to make sure it caught. 

“Okay, I’m ready to leave,” she said with a smile, ignoring her phone that started ringing at that same moment. 
She knew that it was
Rais
trying to reach her about her last comment and her grin widened but she didn’t take her phone out of her purse. 

By the time she reached the elevator, she heard Kadar’s cell phone ring.  The man immediately pulled it out of his pocket and answered it in a language she didn’t understand.  It sounded like Arabic, but it c
o
uld be any number of dialects or even the original language itself for all she knew. 

Kadar spoke rapidly but she had no idea what he said.  By the time the elevator reached the ground level, he had shut
off his phone. 

A moment later, her phone started ringing once again.  She pulled it out of her purse and noticed that
Rais
was once again calling her.  With another laugh, she pressed the ignore button, then dumped the phone back into her purse and stepped into the back seat of the black SUV.  She had to wink at Kadar who looked at her as if she’d just lost her mind.

Was she really the only person who wasn’t afraid of
Rais
?  Well, that wasn’t exactly true.  She was terrified of the man, but for a whole different reason.  She smoothed the dress down over her knees and looked out the window.  When she felt her phone vibrate, indicating that she’d just received a text message, she thought about ignoring it.  But she wasn’t the type of person who could do that.  Besides, it could be her boss or one of the vendors with a question or a problem.

With a groan of irritation, and no small amount of trepidation, she once again pulled her phone out and looked at the screen.  Sure enough, it was from
Rais
and her fingers shook as she read the words, “Payback is hell.” 

She bit her lip as she watched the city streets fly by.  They came to the same building she and
Rais
had descended from several days ago and she actually hesitated to get out when Kadar held the door for her.  It was all well and good to
pull the tail of
the tiger when he was far away.  But in less than twenty minutes she would be up close and personal. 

With wobbly knees, she stepped out, knowing she had a job to do.  This wasn’t a pers
onal visit
.  She wouldn’t even be around him most of the evening, she reminded herself.  She would be supervising the vendors, looking through the meals in the kitchens, observing the bartenders and a myriad of different things. 

She took a deep breath and stepped into the helicopter, taking a seat and nervously strapping on her seat belt.  What could he do?  She smiled and looked out the window.  She had a great deal of work to do before the party began and he wasn’t even scheduled to arrive until a half hour before the event was to begin at which time she knew he would have to shower and change. 

The helicopter set down fifteen minutes later and Rachel already had her clipboard out and was going over the details of the party.  Her eyes skimmed the vans lined up on the driveway, pleased to note that the florist was already packing up, the caterer had arrived and looked like they’d been here for a while, security was setting up their own perimeter and everything seemed to be going smoothly.  She walked in through the kitchen doorway, intentionally avoiding the main house just in case
Rais
had
actually come back earlier than planned.  She busied herself with her initial checklist but kept looking over her shoulder for the man in question. 

After two hours, she was starting to relax.  The caterer was finishing up with the last of the meal, the dining room was set with places for twenty people,
the
technician had the music all set for the evening, all she had to do was press a button.  Wine was open, flowers were in place
, wait staff had arrived and were
getting instructions….

She was doing a final walk through of the dining room and living room when a strong arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her up and carrying her into the smaller library.

Rachel
gasped
at the first contact, but as soon as she realized it was
Rais
, she pressed her mouth closed, not wanting anyone else to realize that he’d grabbed her like this.

When the
library
door slammed closed behind him and he released her from his strong grip, she spun around, intending to give him a lecture on how to treat her.  But the words never left her since he covered her mouth with his, kissing her hard while his hands pulled her skirt up, his knee sliding between her legs and she gasped with the intensity of desire that slammed into her.  He wasn’t satisfied with that either.  Her bolero jacket was pulled off her arms and the zipper on the back of her dress slid down with determined hands.  By the time he lifted his mouth, her dress was bunched up around her waist and she was gasping for breath, her hands gripping the tuxedo material of his jacket and her eyes were closed, her body begging for him to continue. 

“I like the fact that you think you can tease me,” he said roughly.  “But you didn’t follow my instructions Rachel.” 

She opened her eyes slowly, her heart racing and her breathing ragged.  She didn’t care what he said, but she desperately wanted his hands back on her body, touching her. 
When his leg shifted slightly, she gasped, her body jerking as the electricity, and something else she’d never felt before, sparked up along her stomach. 

His fingers traced along the lace of her bra, one finger sliding inside to tease her already hard nipple and Rachel bit down hard on her lower lip, her head falling back against the wall and she gripped his lapels harder, pulling him closer. 

Rais
looked down at the woman who had driven him nearly insane with desire this afternoon after her phone call and almost cussed out loud.  He had her exactly where he wanted her, completely ready and more than willing for him to finish what he’d started.  But his guests would be here in less than ten minutes!  Damn! 

A part of him thought about calling every single person and telling them to just stay away, but he knew he couldn’t do that. 

He pulled her dress back
up,
making sure that her pretty lace bra was back in place.  He then smoothed her skirt back down over her hips, kissing her much more softl
y.  He heard her breath, shaky
and deep, and wanted to kiss her again, to bury himself inside of her but that would have to wait. 

“You look beautiful,” he said softly.

Rachel kept taking deep breaths, hoping to somehow get herself back under control.  It was hard, but she finally released her hands from his jacket and stepped away from him, holding onto the back of a chair because her legs were too unsteady. 

“Thank you,” she managed to say, relaxing her shoulders and trying to figure out how to walk once again. 

“Why didn’t you wear the suit I sent to you?” he asked, moving in closer.  He knew he should keep his distance, but she just smelled good and she felt even better. 

She smiled, but looked away from him.  “It was a beautiful suit,” she replied softly. 

“I thought so.”

“But it had buttons down the front.”  She looked up at him, almost laughing at the irritation that flitted across his handsome face. 

“And you just wanted to show me your independence?”

She took a step backwards, almost laughing when he stepped right along with her.  “It had nothing to do with my independence,
Rais
.  I just wanted you to know that I don’t follow orders well.”  She watched him, her eyes challenging him.  “And the suit was too expensive.  I can’t accept gifts like that.”

He shook his head as he stalked her several more steps.  “Rachel, you need to understand something about me.”

“What’s that?” she asked, almost laughing for some reason.

“When I give an order, I expect it to be followed.”

“And if I don’t follow your orders?”

One eyebrow went up with that.  “Then you have to face the consequences.” 

He was just about to reach for her when the doorbell rang.  She slapped a hand over her mouth as she watched his expression change from lascivious to
disconcerted
at his plans being foiled. 

He looked down at her as he shook his head.  “You think it’s funny?”

“Yes,” she giggled. 

He bent down low even as she leaned back over the back of the chair.  “Don’t forget, there’s always the end of the evening when the guests are gone.” 

With that, he
straightened
up and took her hand to lead her out of the library. 

“My clipboard,” she called out, trying to pull her hand away so she could grab her information.

“You won’t be using that tonight,” he said and pulled her back, tucking her hand into his bent arm.  “Come along.”

“But, I need that to work,” she argued.

“You’re the hostess tonight,” he countered.  “No clipboard.”

She wanted to argue more, to explain that her job was to hang in the background and oversee the evening but he wouldn’t let her go and George was already opening the front door to the first few guests.  “Good evening, Senator,” Rachel said, stepping into professional mode, trying to pretend that
Rais
wasn’t there. 

The evening continued on but each time Rachel tried to step away from
R
a
is
, he pulled her back by his side.  She enjoyed his company, not having witnessed the
humorous
side of
Rais
but he was incredibly funny when he set his mind to charming people other than long haired, brunettes. 

The evening was a fabulous success and Rachel was proud of how well the vendors operated.  They had a few questions for her, which they whispered in her ear occasionally.  But she was able to handle everything without a hitch. 

The only problem was when the guests started to take their leave.  She hadn’t minded being on
Rais
’ arm while others were there to provide a buffer. But as soon as their numbers started to dwindle, her nervousness increased. 

Very carefully, while he was discussing a project one of the senators wanted to build in
Dunari
, she slipped her hand from his arm and walked over to the door that led to the kitchens.  “How are things in here?” she asked Lucy who was busy overseeing the cleanup from the caterers.

“Everything is just fine, Rachel.  You did an excellent job and the food was delicious.”

Rachel walked over to Lana, the caterer who had handled everything.  “Thank you so much Lana.  This was a big night for me and you really pulled through.”

Lana reached up and gave Rachel a huge hug.  “I’m so glad you trusted me with this job.  I had a lot of fun.”

“And you’re an excell
ent cook!” Ra
chel came back.

Lana’s grin widened.  “Why don’t you go relax
?
  You’ve been on your feet all afternoon.  We’ll be finished here in about ten more minutes.”

“So soon?”
Rachel
asked,
her voice breathy with nervousness.

“Sure!  We’re fast!  I h
ave
a fabulous staff who know
how to get things done efficiently!”

With that, Lana almost danced off, excited that her first major party for a big client went so well.  That left Rachel standing with Lucy who was huffing off to the dining room to start turning off lights. 

Rachel stood in the kitchen alone, her eyes worriedly looking around, trying to find something to do.  But everything was completely under control.