Wrapped in Pleasure (24 page)

J
ohari sat across from Monty at the dinner table, fully aware of everything about him. His every movement, no matter how slight, tightened her nerves, had heat blazing through her veins and made awakening passion flow down her spine. She had struggled through the entire meal trying not to stare but, more times than not, hadn’t been able to help herself. He was such a handsome man, strikingly so.

When she had arrived downstairs for dinner he had met her at the bottom stair. He had showered and changed into another outfit like she had done and from the way his gaze had moved over her beneath long, shuttered lashes, she had known he liked her choice of outfit—a gauze skirt set in bright geo print. It added a flare to her that he hadn’t seen before in any of her other outfits. She liked the way the top hung off her shoulders and the skirt ruffled around the hem.

He was casually dressed in a pair of dark slacks and a white
shirt. It was simple enough attire, but the magnitude of his sexuality hit her hard the moment she saw him. All her senses had been on alert and the moment he’d taken her hand in his, she had to steady herself to keep from passing out. The man transmitted sensuality with such an intensity that it slammed into her head-on, made her wonder how she would be able to handle such a man in or out of the bedroom.

“Would you like anything else, Jo? Dessert perhaps?”

The sound of his voice—deep, authoritative, yet considerate—made her look up from her dinner plate to meet his dark eyes. Her response almost caught in her throat from the intensity of his stare. She noticed how, ever so slowly, subtly, yet very thoroughly, his eyes would scan her face, linger on her lips, making them throb under his scrutiny.

“No, I don’t want anything else. Thank you.”

He smiled before nodding at one of his household staff members standing not far way. Within minutes the table before them had been cleared. “Would you like to join me for a glass of wine in the ocean room?”

“The ocean room?”

He smiled as he stood on his feet. “Yes.”

Intrigued, she stood, as well, and when he walked around the table to her and took her hand in his, she felt a tingling sensation all the way to her toes. She tilted her head and looked up at him, already regretting the time when they would part. In just a short while she had grown to feel close to him, felt protected by him. She couldn’t help wondering how it would feel to be loved by him.

She wasn’t into masochism by any means, so why would she even go there and imagine something that would only cause her heartbreak and pain? Monty was what he was, a jet-setting playboy, a wealthy tycoon. When it came to mistresses, he was probably in the same league as the man she
was to marry. The same league Jamal had been in before he’d fallen in love with Delaney.

She might be naive in some things but she was smart enough to know just what short-term affairs were about and what was expected. She knew Monty was getting something from it, as well. When it ended, and Monty returned her to New York, he would be on his merry way, ready for the next willing conquest. She was determined not to let the thought that she was just one of many bother her. Things were as they were. She only had his company for two weeks, not enough time to start something that could never be.

As they left the huge dining room and continued walking along the foyer that led to several rooms, Johari was amazed at the beauty of the paintings on the walls, the intricate wood carvings that adorned several mantels. When he pushed open a set of double doors and they walked into the room, her breath caught. The symmetrical room was perfect in design and furnishing, and completely glass all around. One section of the room stretched out as a long glass-enclosed deck that extended out over the Atlantic Ocean.

It was late evening and the sun was just going down on the horizon. The sight was breathtaking, truly magnificent. Monty released her hand to move across the room to the bar and she turned around in a circle to take it all in. Glass everywhere. The ocean everywhere. She quickly moved toward one of the windows when she noticed a school of dolphins in the waters below.

She couldn’t help the excitement that shone on her face when she turned back around to Monty and he handed her a glass of wine.

She smiled up at him. “Oh, Monty, do you see them? It’s simply wonderful! I can’t believe this place and I’m so glad you brought me here.”

He returned her smile. “I’m glad I brought you here, as well. At night when the lights are darkened and you stare out over the ocean it’s even more beautiful beneath the moonlight,” he said, speaking smoothly.

Johari sighed deeply. She couldn’t wait to experience something like that. She took a sip of her wine, noticing just how close Monty was standing to her. She became intensely aware of him, not that she hadn’t been aware of him already. But suddenly something was happening as they both paused to take sips of their wine while staring at each other. She could feel it and knew that he could feel it, as well. Once again she was feeling a rush of desire for him that was so keen and deep that her pulse rate quickened. She stood there staring into his eyes, slipping under his spell as sexual tension shimmered between them.

“In addition to the picnic on the beach tomorrow, I thought we would go out on my boat,” he said, as he continued to stare at her.

“Sounds like fun,” she found the words to say, not sure if he could even hear her through her suddenly tight throat.

“And I intend for it to be.”

Her gaze fell to his lips, the same lips that had devoured hers in the car earlier. He had such a robust and manly flavor, she was certain she could still taste him on her tongue. “I admire the person who built this place.”

Monty broke eye contact with her to turn a smiling gaze to where the dolphins still played in the water. “When Santini’s father was an Argentinian ambassador, he had it built for Santini’s mother. They both died the following year unexpectedly in a car accident and Raul wasn’t interested in keeping it. He knew how much I liked it and offered it to me and I bought it. I love it here.”

“And I can understand why.”

“Do you?” he whispered in a raspy tone.

“Yes. You are a private person and being here gives you the privacy you crave when you desire it.”

He studied her intently for a few moments and chuckled and then said, “You are right. Few people know how to figure me out.”

And few people could get next to her as he was doing so effortlessly, Johari thought, as she continued to feel the warm fires stroking within her at his nearness.

“I never did give you an official tour of my home,” he said, placing both of their wineglasses aside and offering her his arm. He led her toward the door. “We’ll return later, after it becomes dark,” he whispered as they left the ocean room.

She took deep, calming breaths as she walked beside him while inhaling his sensual scent. There was something about Monty that had disturbed her senses from the very beginning. And now after meeting him in a New York nightclub a few days ago, she was here with him on his own personal island.

He escorted her around the various wings and she truly believed he enjoyed seeing the astonished look on her face with every room they toured. Her pulse increased as they headed up the stairs.

“So tell me something about you, Jo, that no other living soul knows,” he said as they continued up the stairs.

She fought back saying,
I think I’m falling in love with you against my better judgment.
Instead she smiled and said, “I can tell you something that very few people know, and that is I have a baby.”

She couldn’t help but smile when Monty nearly lost his step. He stopped walking and stared at her. His mouth, full sensuous lips and all, dropped open in shock and the sharp cut of his eyes wiped the smile from her lips.

“You have a child?” he asked in a low, hardened tone.

“Not a human child,” she quickly said and regretted that her words had not come across as the cute joke she had intended.

“Not a human child?” he asked, repeating her words with a confused look in his eyes. “Is there any other kind?”

Her smile returned. “For me there is. I own a puppy that I consider my baby, because he definitely acts like it sometimes.”

He lifted a dark brow. “A puppy?”

“Yes, but no one knows about him but Cel and another friend from college. I heard him crying one night and when I investigated he was outside the condo where I lived. Someone had thrown him and four others in a nearby Dumpster. The moment I held him in my arms I fell in love with him. He was barely a few days old and was so tiny and I knew I had to take care of him.”

“What kind of dog is he?”

“The vet said he is part Yorkie terrier. He is still tiny and the most he will weigh is four pounds. He is being kept at Cel’s parents’ home. I’m hoping once I’m married my husband will allow me to bring him to my country. I named him Copper and he means a lot to me.”

Monty nodded before they resumed their walk up the stairs. “Is there a reason your husband wouldn’t let you own him?”

She met his gaze, realizing he was probably not familiar with her country’s customs and said, “Yes, in my country a dog can’t be housed in the main living quarters, but I’m hoping my future husband will agree to let me keep him at a kennel somewhere close by where I can visit him on occasion.”

“And what if the man you marry isn’t easily persuaded?” he asked in a thoughtful voice.

When they reached the landing, she turned to him. “Then I need to persuade him to indulge me on this one thing, because…”

“Because what?” he asked softly.

She drew in a deep breath, held his gaze, smiled and said in a compelling voice, “Because I’m worth it.”

Because I’m worth it…

Rasheed fought to keep from frowning at Johari’s words. The woman was not low on confidence by any means. Did she honestly think that the man she would marry, just because of his wealth and position, would indulge her in such a rebellious thing?

He shook his head as he continued to walk beside her. Where in the world did she get such a stubborn streak? He then remembered Jamal from their days together at the private school as teens and his rebellious escapades. But that was then and that had been Jamal. Besides, Jamal was a man and Johari was a woman. He glanced sideways and his gaze swept over her. Yes, she was definitely a woman. A woman determined to be defiant and unruly.

A woman he couldn’t wait to bed.

Besides her belief that she was worth her husband giving in to her unorthodox whims, what made her think for one minute that she could persuade him to do such a thing? And how could she assume that she would learn in ten days all there was to know about pleasuring a man to the point she would become an ace at it? Didn’t she understand all he could do was introduce her to the basics and that the skills would have to be perfected over time? Did she not know the use of sex whenever she wanted anything amounted to nothing more than manipulation? If she thought for one minute that she could learn to control his physical desire to the point where
she could use it to have her way then her way of thinking was preposterous.

Rasheed berated himself under his breath for getting worked up over Johari’s foolish notions. That was the main reason women had husbands to keep them safe, protected and, in Johari’s case, out of trouble. He decided to put what he thought of his future wife’s behavior out of his mind for now and shift his thoughts to something else. Specifically, what her role would be to him not once they got married, but beginning tonight.

He gave her a tour of the upstairs quarters, showing her how each room had a view of the ocean. When they had left one of the guest rooms, she glanced around. “It’s seems awfully quiet all of a sudden. Where is everyone?”

He caught her eyes as he led the way to his bedroom. “They are gone.”

Johari’s eyes widened. “Gone?”

“Yes.” Rasheed kept walking.

Johari stopped. “Gone where?”

Rasheed stopped and turned to look at Johari. “I sent Ishaq back to the States and the others to the mainland.”

She stared at him. “Why?”

“So we could be completely alone.”

Johari suddenly felt dizzy and seconds later she felt an intense flutter in the pit of her stomach. Other strange sensations began to claim her, play havoc with her mind, body and senses. Her lips, which seemed to be holding his attention, had begun to throb and there was a deep pounding in her chest.

They were on the island alone
. That realization was unfolding a mirage of emotions in addition to the sensations she was feeling. She nervously chewed the underside of her lip as she stared back at Monty. He smiled and the sexiness behind the
smile was so blatantly predatory that she had to fight to catch her breath.

“It’s time for another lesson, Jo,” he said quietly.

When she didn’t say anything he leaned back against a wall. “Are you having second thoughts?”

Her brow rose. “What gave you that idea?”

He chuckled. “You’ve been standing in the same spot now for over five minutes.”

Johari swallowed. Yes, she had.

“Come here, Jo.”

Her lips curved into a nervous smile. “You want me over there?”

“Yes. For now. But I’m sure you know I do have other plans for you tonight in my bedroom.”

Her heart rate increased at the thought of what those plans were. Did he have to be so brutally straightforward? She began moving, closing the distance separating them as she pondered that question. By the time she stood directly in front of him, she still didn’t have an answer. He was so tall that she had to tilt her head back to look at him, stare into his dark piercing eyes and become the recipient of his heat.

“I’m here now,” she said, when he just stood there staring at her. She swallowed again. The look in his eyes was so intense, it was beginning to awaken things in her that had been dormant for twenty-four years.

“Monty, I—”

The words were basically lost when he leaned over and swept her into his arms.