The Sheik's Reluctant Lover (14 page)

When he felt her stirring, he replaced his finger with his erection. 
Slowly pressing inside of her, watching her face the whole time.
  Her eyes smiled up at him and her soft hands moved from the carpet beside her to his shoulders while her legs automatically moved up his leg, giving him more room, better access.  She shifted her hips, adjusting to him and he loved the way her eyes brightened once again. 

But as he slid in deeper, her eyes became worried.  He stilled and reached down to kiss her gently, reassuring her with words he wasn’t even sure
s
he understood.  When he felt her hips move again, he pulled out and then pushed in a bit deeper. 
Rais
continued the process until he
felt her barrier and stopped, controlling his rampaging need to push into her to the hilt.  Sweat was forming on his back and forehead but he shook his head, trying to clear the lust away so he could concentrate on making this experience perfect for her. 

In the end, he had no idea what to do to help her through this pain and it tore at him to do this to her.  “Rachel, I’m sorry,” he said, his hands diving into her hair with his elbows holding him above her.

She heard his words, saw the worry in his eyes and the panic welled up inside of her.  Everything until now had been so perfect.  She tensed, her eyes widening and she shook her head.  “No,” she gasped out and tried to slide away
.  “You have to stop now,” she
cried out. 

He shook his head one more time.  “I can’t,” he said softly and a moment later, he pushed into her, feeling her slender body stiffen in his arms and he held still, forcing the desire away until she relaxed once again. 

Rachel bit her lip, unaware that her fingernails were digging into his skin.  Gone was that need, that desire for the finish.  Everything was gone except for the pain and she wanted to sob out her fear.  But slowly, the pain dissipated and she opened her eyes.  Feeling him fully inside of her was a new
feeling.  She should be angry with him.  She’d asked him to stop and he hadn’t.  He’d broken his promise.  But as she looked up at the man, his eyes closed and every muscle in his body trying very hard to remain still, for her, she forgave him. 
A warmth
filled her and she relaxed her hands, her legs came next and he felt that.  His eyes opened
and he looked down into her soft, smiling eyes and relaxed somewhat.  “Are you okay?” he asked carefully.

Her smile widened and she shifted slightly.  “I think so,” she replied. 

He let go of a deep breath.  “Thank
goodness!  I don’t think I can
hold off much longer.”  With that, he slid slightly out of her, testing her tenderness and was even more relieved when her eyes widened with the movement.  Several more gentle movements and she closed her eyes once again, pressing her body against each thrust. 

Rais
moved so that she had the best friction, shifting slightly to get a better angle, giving her as much pleasure as he could.  He watched her face, trying to read if some move was better or worse but everything he did just seemed to help her get close
r.  When he felt her tightening he increased the pace and watched with fascination as her body arched and climaxed, her whole being involved in the pleasure. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t watch for too long.  Her mindless pleasure pulled him in and he couldn’t stop his own orgasm from washing over him.  It felt as if every particle of tension was being pulled out of his body with the orgasm that swept him away with a pleasure that was so intense he couldn’t even think, just experience. 

When he could move, he opened his eyes and looked around,
then
down at the tiny woman he was crushing underneath his weight.  Immediately he lifted up and rested on his elbows, looking down at her smiling face. 

Even now, as she ran her fingers lightly over his back and shoulders, it felt incredibly good just to have her touching him after such a long wait. 

“So?” he asked, chuckling at her delirious expression. 

“So what?” she quipped. 

He gently stood up, lifting her in his arms.  “I can’t believe we did this on the living room floor,” he commented, shaking his head.  He didn’t even bother to pick up their clothes, just carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. 

“I think you were trying to reassure me that this wasn’t going to happen.”

He thought about that as he shouldered his way through the doorway.  “That might have been in the back of my mind,” he replied as he set her down in the middle of his huge bed.  “But now that you know it’s going to happen again, what are you thinking?”

She laughed and started to pull the covers over her nakedness but he only smirked and pulled the cover out of her hands, covering her with himself. 

Rachel raised an eyebrow.  “It’s going to happen again?  Who says?”

He mirrored her expression, not allowing her an inch.  “I say.  And it’s probably going to happen pretty soon, my dear.”

She gasped when she felt that he was telling her the truth.  “Oh my,” she sighed. 

He bent down low and kissed her neck, smiling at her response. 
“Oh my indeed.”

Rachel woke up to the alarm clock ringing and slammed her fist down on top of it.  She didn’t want to wake up, she didn’t want to go to work and she definitely didn’t want to spend the week without
Rais
.  She’d spent the weekend with him, feeling awkward when she went to visit her father in the stables Saturday morning.  He didn’t even blink an eye when she wandered into the stall though and she wondered what he was thinking.  Had
Rais
already discussed his plans?  Somehow that made the whole thing sound premeditated and she didn’t like that. 

But the weekend turned out to be a great deal of fun.  They went riding, had lunch with her father, dinner alone at the main house and she spent the whole weekend curled up in his arms.  She didn’t go home until Sunday evening, at which time, he’d come back with her, even coming into her apartment and made love to her one more time in her own bed before he left her to return to
Dunari
for meetings. 

The only good part was that she would have a chance to see him again this weekend when he returned for another dinner party on Friday night and he’d even asked her to accompany him to an embassy ball on Saturday night so it looked like she’d get to spend the next weekend with him again. 

That thought had he
r rolling over in her bed, smil
ing up at the ceiling.  She was eager to see him and be with him.  That probably wasn’t the safest thing, she told herself. 

But she pushed those reservations to the side, sweeping the covers off of her so she could start her day. 

The week was long and tedious, but by Wednesday evening, she was eagerly preparing his house for his dinner party.  There would be more people this time, with his whole house filled with guests.  She’d even had to order a white tent for the backyard in order to hold more guests for the dinner and dancing he had planned.

Her phone beside her elbow rang and she looked at the number.  Thankfully it was just Lenora so she picked it up.  “Hi, what’s up?” she asked cheerfully but was still sifting through all the notes on her desk.

“There are two bi
g, beautiful boxes here that were
just delivered for you,” the receptionist explained.

Rachel was confused.  She looked at her calendar, trying to see if she was expecting something for the party that she’d forgotten about.  “What are they?” she asked, confirming that she hadn’t forgotten anything.  Everything was supposed to be delivered to the farm so she couldn’t imagine anything coming here. 

Rachel told her she’d be right there and hung up the phone.  Picking up her notebook where she kept all the information on her events, she walked to the lobby, confused about what might have been delivered here accidentally. 

When she reached the lobby, she saw the huge boxes with a giant ribbon on the front.  Both boxes were long and flat with
an exclusive department store
label on the outside. 

“These look exciting!” Lenora was saying.  “Open them here so I can see, okay?”

Rachel smiled slightly but shook her head.  “I have no idea what these are but I’d better get them out of here.  You know how Derrick prefers his reception area to look nice and tidy.”

Lenora frowned, but knew that Rachel was correct.  It was her job to get deliveries out of the reception area quickly so the white lines and punches of color were undisturbed by extraneous trash. 

Rachel carried the boxes back to her tiny office, ignoring the curious stares of her co-workers. 

When she untied the ribbons and pulled off the top of the first box, her reaction was total stunned surprise.  “Goodness,” she whispered in awe. 

Lifting up the material, she was shocked by the incredible dress that was wrapped in tissue paper.  It was a stunning Emilio
Pucci
evening gown done completely in black lace with an under
dress of shimmering gold.  The dress would hug her figure from her shoulders to mid-thigh and then it flared out to her toes.  It was so beautiful she couldn’t believe that she was actually holding such a masterpiece. 

She heard someone gasp from her doorway and looked up.
  “Is that an Emilio
Pucci
?” Linda
whispered with reverence?”

“Yes.  It was just delivered.”

Linda, one of the other junior coordinators that Rachel occasionally had lunch with, stepped into her office and touched the black lace.  “How can you afford something like this on our salary?  It’s something like four thousand dollars!”

Rachel’s eyes snapped up to her friend’s.  “Are you serious?” she gasped. 

Linda only nodded, her eyes remaining on the gown.  “Positive.  I was looking at it just last weekend, drooling over the dress.”  She glanced up with eagerness.  “What’s in the other one?” she asked, almost whispering. 

Rachel carefully tucked the black lace dress back into the box, gently covering it with the tissue paper before pulling the second box forward.  When she opened this one, she felt as if her eyes were going to pop out of her head.  The
Akris
gown was almost too beautiful to touch.  It was a bodice cut made up in glowing
pink
silk that would hug her chest, skim along her hips and then flare out to the floor. 

“Well, that one isn’t four thousand,” Linda sighed, her fingers delicately touching the material.

“Thank goodness,” Rachel replied, almost afraid to pull it out of the box but Linda’s reassurance had her
taking it gently
and holding it up to her. 

“I didn’t even drool over that one.  It was in a glass case at the store.  I think it was closer to twelve thousand dollars,” she explained.  “That kind of dress is so out of my league I didn’t dare get close
to
it.”

Rachel almost dropped the dress with the news that the one dress
could
cost so much
money
.  She wasn’t even sure she made half that much in a month! 

“Who sent you these?” Linda asked, moving forward to peek into the box. 

Rachel did the same, spotting the card as she shuffled the tissue to pull it out of the box.  Her fingers were shaking as she opened the envelope.  She had a suspicion on who sent these dresses and she was almost dreading having those suspicions confirmed.  But as soon as she read the note her heart sank with the confirmation that
Rais
had sent both of them to her.  

“Can’t wait to see you in these,” Linda said, reading the note over Rachel’s shoulder.  “Who is ‘R’?”

Rachel was so furious that he thought it was okay to buy her things like this that she wanted to stomp her feet.  How dare he treat her like a mistress! 

“Just a jerk,” Rachel replied angrily and shoved the envelope back into the box.  She wanted to do the same with the dresses, but the expense of both made her treat the dresses with more care.  “They are definitely going back.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Linda asked, watchi
ng her friend with amazement. 

“I’m not kidding at all,” she said and closed the box. 
“I’m not for sale!”

Linda walked out of the office, shaking her head at Rachel’s attitude.  “If you don’t want the guy, let him know that I’m definitely for sale for those kinds of gifts.”

Rachel barely heard her.  She was too busy digging her cell phone out of her purse and dialing the phone numbe
r
Rais
had given to her.  Unfor
tun
a
tely, the call went to his voice mail and she had to ignore the shiver of excitement that tore through her when she heard his deep voice telling her to leave a message. 

“
Rais
, I refuse to be treated like this!” she said as her message.  “I’m sending t
h
em back and please don’t ever do that again!”