Desert Rogues Part 1

She wanted to protest, or at the very least cover herself, but before she could think of the right words needed, he’d lowered her to her back and pressed his lips to her right breast. His hand closed over her other breast. Suddenly being topless didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

She closed her eyes and absorbed the wonder of his ministrations. His tongue and lips were soft and wet against her sensitized skin. His fingers matched their movements. He circled her, brushed over her, then suckled her. All the while her body turned to liquid.

Was this what happened between a man and a woman? she thought incoherently. Was this the wonder of which she’d read? So many things became clear to her. That lovers would move mountains to be together. That they would risk death. She would have done anything to prolong the magic.

He moved against her, now licking, nibbling and loving her other breast with his mouth and teasing the first with his fingers. She watched him, then found her eyes would not stay open. She brought her hands to his head and allowed herself to touch his silky, dark hair. It was all too perfect, too incredible.

Then she felt the pressure against the side of her leg. His arousal surged against her in a rhythm so primitive, even she recognized his desire. He wanted her. For reasons that made no sense to her, this handsome, rich, kind man had decided to make love with her. She wasn’t sure she believed that he really cared about her, but the proof of his desire was inescapable. That rubbing against her leg was the most precious gift anyone had given her.

Tears formed in her eyes, but not tears of pain or regret. They were of both pleasure and gratitude. How could she ever thank him?

Khalil shifted, moving lower. His fingers pulled at her panties until they lay in a tangle of silk on the floor. He knelt between her thighs and looked at her face.

“You please me,” he told her. “Now I will please you.”

But he didn’t enter her, which is what she’d expected. Instead he bent low and kissed her most feminine place. Shock stole the breath from her lungs. Shock and the silent scream that he couldn’t possibly be kissing her there. But he was. He gently drew apart the protective folds and touched his tongue to a tiny point of pleasure.

Dora came up off the bed. Her entire body stiffened. She didn’t want to tell him to stop, but she wasn’t sure she could survive the experience. He didn’t seem to notice her reaction, or if he did, he didn’t stop to talk about it. Instead he moved against that small bump, licking it gently, slowly, making her both tense and relax and finally sink back against her pillows.

This wasn’t happening, she thought as her head moved back and forth, and she found herself pulling her knees up and out to give him more room. Men didn’t really do this sort of thing, did they? Except she couldn’t deny the waves of pleasure that crashed through her.

With each flick of his tongue, he carried her higher and higher, or at least that was how it seemed. In reality she never left her bed, although it felt as if she were flying. She couldn’t get close enough. He had to go faster, no slower, no…

She breathed his name, then she couldn’t breathe at all. She begged him to never stop, commanded him to stop, no, wait. Her muscles quivered. Heat flared on her face and her chest. Her heels dug into the mattress. She writhed and pushed and held back and waited.

She didn’t know how long it went on. She was lost in a universe in which time had no meaning. She felt the flicker of his tongue and his hot breath. When she screamed his name again, she was sure she felt him smile. Her whole body collected itself and surged toward a goal she couldn’t understand. Then he gently inserted one finger inside of her. As his tongue continued to move back and forth, he pressed up from the inside and stroked at the same speed, in perfect counterpoint.

The explosion destroyed her. It was too perfect to survive. She hadn’t known that her body could respond, could feel, could experience the primal release of the moment. She was cast up to the heavens, then caught in strong and gentle arms. Shudders rippled through her, breaking her, assembling her, leaving her forever changed. She could only gasp and pray for a road back, then a soft voice called her name, and she found herself cradled in Khalil’s arms. He held her close and touched her face.

“So the desert rose is a wildcat,” he murmured, then kissed her. “You are quite the surprise, sweet Dora.”

Her heart still pounded hard and fast in her chest. “Was it supposed to be that good?” she asked.

He laughed. “Only when two people are very lucky.” His smile faded. “We are a good match.”

Then he moved over her, again kneeling between her thighs, but this time he wasn’t going to kiss her there. He was going to possess her, to change her. When he finished, she would no longer be a virgin.

It was all she could do to keep from begging him to hurry. She desperately wanted to feel him inside of her. She wanted to know what generations of women had known before her, and to become one with this incredible man.

“Tell me you want this,” he told her.

“Yes, Khalil,” she whispered, staring into his dark eyes and losing herself there. “Please. Be in me. Change me.”

Something probed between her legs. He reached between them, guiding himself. She parted her thighs and told herself to relax, that tensing would only make it more difficult. Then he was filling her, stretching her until it nearly hurt. He pushed in deeper, then paused.

“There,” he said. “The proof.”

His expression tightened. He flexed his hips once and pushed. A sharp pain ripped through her, making her gasp, but he didn’t stop. He thrust deeply into her, all the while staring into her eyes. Passion combined with possession. Later she would swear that she remembered the faint whisper of a desert wind as he took her into his embrace and called out to the heavens, “You are mine.”

Chapter Five

Khalil lay in the darkness. He was tired, but he couldn’t sleep. Not after what had happened.

He turned his head to the left and stared at the woman curled up next to him. He could barely make out the shape of her body, but the scent of her filled his senses and made him want to pull her close so that they could make love again.

Instead he pushed himself into a sitting position and turned until his feet rested on the floor. For the first time in his life, he’d made love with a virgin. He’d heard Gerald’s accusations and had assumed the man was telling the truth, but a part of him had wondered. Dora’s hesitantly eager responses had also hinted at the truth, but until he’d felt his arousal pierce the veil of her innocence, he hadn’t been sure.

The act of deflowering a virgin had been surprisingly satisfying. He enjoyed knowing that no man had spilled his seed inside of her—that she was, in the most primitive way possible, his.

Khalil smiled, but the gesture was more cynical than humorous. He prided himself on being a modern man, forward thinking in his quest to lead his country into the new millennium. Yet here he sat, pleased that he’d finally bedded a virgin. So much for his thin veneer of civility. He was not as far removed from his savage ancestors as he would like to think.

Which didn’t answer his question about the woman. He glanced over his shoulder and watched her sleeping. Could he do this? Was it wrong?

He dismissed the queries as soon as they appeared. He was Khalil Khan, prince of El Bahar. He could do anything he liked. In matters of state, the fate of the country came first. He would not marry Amber and subject himself and his nation to her petty nature. Yet he had to marry and produce sons to carry on for him when he was dead. He was a member of the royal family—he had obligations.

Besides, without him, who was Dora Nelson? A secretary? A nobody who had been badly used by her former employer? With him, she could be so much more. She would, in fact, be honored by his proposal. This was best for all concerned.

That decided, he stretched out on the bed. When the first light of morning crept into the room, he would begin making phone calls. By the time Dora awoke, all would be arranged. He closed his eyes to sleep, but instead of relaxing, he found himself reliving the pleasure he’d found in her arms.

She’d been unskilled, but eager. Her pleasure when he’d touched her most feminine place with his tongue had surprised them both. She’d writhed beneath him like a wildcat. The memory made him smile, then grow hard. He remembered how tight she’d been. How she’d stiffened from the pain when he’d first pushed through her barrier. But she’d relaxed, allowing him to go more deeply. He’d plunged in and out of her, feeling her give herself up to him. How fiercely she’d wrapped her arms around him as she’d urged him to completion. She’d wanted him to take her, to change her, to make her a woman. When he’d climaxed, she’d clung to him, as if she never wanted him to go.

He’d had every intention of returning to his own room, yet somehow he had not. He’d spent the night here, at her side, listening to her soft breathing and waiting for dawn. Even now, when there were only a few hours left until the new day began, he stayed in her bed. Aroused and wanting, he pulled her close and breathed in the scent of her hair. She stirred against him but did not wake. He would sleep another time. For tonight, this was enough.

Dora stirred slightly under the covers, which seemed especially heavy this morning. She turned over and bumped into something…warm.

Her eyes flew open. Khalil lay next to her, his brown eyes alert, his mouth smiling. “Good morning,” he said.

She swallowed hard as memories from the night before crashed into her. Her conversation with Gerald, Khalil’s declaration that he couldn’t keep his hands off her, the way they’d made love. The last thought brought sensual images to mind, of him touching her, kissing her, taking her. She felt a flush of embarrassment crawl up her face, and she had to fight the need to duck under the covers and never come up.

“Ah, so you do remember what happened last night,” Khalil said, his voice as low and gentle as his caresses had been. “I’d hoped you might.” He placed his hand on her bare shoulder, then stroked her arm. “I think we did very well together.” He slipped one leg between her thighs. “So well I had trouble sleeping. All I could think about was wanting to make love with you again.”

She blinked at him but didn’t have a clue as to what to say. What was the correct social response on the morning after? Especially when the night before had not only been unexpected, but had also been her very first time?

“Thank you,” he said, and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or to scream. Here she was, naked, in bed with a handsome prince, who by the way had his bare leg between her bare thighs, and he was thanking her for their close encounter. Had the world gone completely crazy? Or was he looking for a way to let her down gently? Was that what this was about? Did he want to find an easy way to let her know that she would be a fool to have any expectations?

“I had a nice time, too,” she said at last when it became obvious he was waiting for some kind of response. She wished she could put a little space between them, but she didn’t know how to do that without being thought of as rude. She would also like to get up, but she was naked and the only bathrobe nearby was clear across the room in the bathroom. She did not relish the thought of walking around naked in front of Khalil. While his bare body had been sheer perfection, she saw no need to flash her flaws in the light of day.

“I was hoping you would think our lovemaking was more than just nice,” he chided. “How about spectacular? Extraordinary? Even magical?”

He was teasing. She could tell by the tone of his voice. His playfulness gave her a little courage. While she had no illusions about his expectations for any kind of relationship with her, perhaps this wasn’t going to end badly.

“I think I’ll stick with nice,” she said primly, then braced herself for his retaliation.

He didn’t disappoint her. He waited less than two seconds, then lunged toward her, tickling her stomach and her side. She screamed and tried to wiggle away, but he was much stronger. Using only one hand, he pinned her arms above her head, which gave him free access to her naked torso. But instead of continuing to tickle her, he bent down and licked her nipple. She shivered.

He released her and sat up. “We are well-matched,” he said, repeating what he’d told her the previous night. “I was not wrong to choose you.”