Brenda Jackson - Sleeping with the Sheikh

Sam considered what she was saying and then considered his marriage contract. Arrangement, he corrected. Only verbal to this point. His father had called because of that impending contract. Maila’s father was growing impatient with his absence, a greedy man willing to sell his daughter into a union for the sake of finances.

Maila was several years younger and a virtual stranger to Sam. The two times they had met, she had barely spoken to him and only then to give her vow that she would try to produce a son although he sensed that prospect wasn’t all that appealing to her. But Sam already had a son—a cherished child mothered by a woman for whom he cared deeply. A woman who now offered herself to him without condition. At the moment all he could consider was forgetting his obligations and turning his attention to that woman one last time.

“Are you certain you want this, Andrea?”

“Are you saying you’re willing to consider it?”

“As I told you before, I fear hurting you.”

“You’ll only hurt me if you keep acting as if there’s nothing going on between us, if you deny me this opportunity to be with you again in every way.”

“Are you not worried that I will disappoint you?”

Rising from the blanket, she began once more to undo her blouse and slipped it completely away. She then removed her shorts and panties, leaving her cloaked only by the night. “Do I look worried to you?”

“No. You look exquisite.” And she did, more captivating than he remembered. Priceless perfection. All his, if he so chose.

Heat surged through him and settled in his groin. A deep, abiding heat that made him hard and desperate to be inside her once more. That frantic need forced all consideration of the consequences from his brain. He only knew that he could no longer resist her.

Coming to his feet, he stood before her and tugged his shirt over his head. When he reached for the snap on his fly, Andrea stopped him with a gentle hand. “Let me do it. You didn’t give me the opportunity last time. In fact, I recall we didn’t completely remove our clothes.”

“True, but we were in a hurry.”

She slid his zipper down slowly. “Not tonight.”

When she had him completely undressed, they continued to stare at each other in the muted light until Sam could stand it no longer. He reached for her and she moved easily into his embrace. He held her a long while, relishing the soft feel of her bare skin against his raging body. Then he kissed her with all the yearning he felt in his soul, with all the need he had harbored since that final moment they were together seven years ago.

The kiss born of emotion soon turned to a kiss of sheer desire. Andrea pressed harder against him, meeting his tongue thrust for blessed thrust. Determined to show her more pleasure, he broke the kiss and settled his lips on her delicate throat then worked his way downward.

She sighed as he plied her breasts with tender kisses. She whimpered as he bent and traced a damp path down her belly with his tongue. She moaned as he fell to his knees and took her with his mouth.

With her hands gripped tightly in his hair, she swayed slightly as he explored the soft folds with his tongue, holding fast to her hips to steady her. But with every sound that escaped her lips, every tremor that ran through her body, he, too, began to feel unsteady. When she tensed and her breathing halted, Sam slipped a finger inside her to prolong her climax, to experience with his own hands the pleasure she now enjoyed.

As her knees began to buckle, he pulled her down onto the blanket and rocked her gently until she seemed to calm.

“That was—” she drew in a broken breath “—remarkable.”

He stroked her hair and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “I very much wanted to do that the first time we were together.”

“Why didn’t you?” she asked, her words muffled against his shoulder.

“I did not want to overwhelm you.”

She laughed softly. “I would have definitely been overwhelmed.” Pulling away from him, she nudged his chest. “Lie back.”

He complied, no longer able to withstand even her slightest command. She set a course down his body with her warm lips, driving him insane with desire when he realized what she intended.

As she reached the plane of his belly below his navel, he laid a hand on her silky hair. “This is not necessary, Andrea.”

She raised her head and showed him a determined look. “For me it is. But just so you know, I’ve never done this before, so you’ll have to be patient.”

That pleased Sam, knowing she had not had such intimacy with another man. It also forced every thought from his mind when she took him into the silken heat of her mouth and tested its limits. Perhaps she had no experience, but Sam would be hard-pressed to believe that at the moment. She was handling the challenge quite well. He only wished he could say the same for himself.

Nearing the edge, he pulled her head up and kissed her once more. Then he rolled her over and poised himself to enter her. But before he could sink into her, she said, “No.”

Sam sighed. “Have you suddenly changed your mind?”

“I’ve almost lost my mind. We’re forgetting something. Again. As much as I love Chance, I don’t think it’s a good idea to give him a brother or sister.”

Sam rolled onto his back, laid an arm over his eyes and cursed his stupidity. How could he be so careless a second time? How could he almost disregard something so very important? Because his only thoughts were of Andrea and making love to her.

“I’ll take care of it,” she said in a whisper, and before he realized she had moved, he felt her sheath him. “It’s okay now,” she said quietly.

Sam removed his arm and found her staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to take the next step. He vowed he would not disappoint her.

When Sam pulled Andi back into his arms, she experienced a rush of anticipation. Everything in her life seemed to have come down to this one moment, this reunion of bodies and souls with this one man.

He rolled her to her back and nudged her legs apart with his leg, then entered her with an easy thrust. She had a strong sense of being where she belonged, so close to this man who had lived within her heart for almost a decade.

He moved once more and seated himself deep inside her. A steady moan climbed up her throat and slipped out between her parted lips.

Sam stilled against her. “Have I hurt you?”

“Not in the least.” Not yet. But he would when he left again.

“Good. You feel better than I remember,” he said with a soft kiss on her brow, his voice strained with his effort to speak.

“So do you,” she said, then tilted her hips up to take him completely inside her body. As he set a steady rhythm, she tried to memorize the moments, every incredible sensation, Sam’s face as it showed the tension of a man trying to maintain control. How she could relate to that. Right now the bliss of this union was almost more than she could bear without giving in to tears of elation.

“Come with me,” Sam murmured, then pulled her over so they faced each other, her leg draped over his hip, their eyes connected as well as their bodies.

“I’m with you,” she whispered, and she was. At least for now.

Never in all her imaginings did she ever believe this would happen again. Never did she think that Sam would be making love to her once more, touching her inside and out, drawing another incredible climax from her as he quickened the pace.

She clung to his solid shoulders, held on as if to never let him go. He whispered to her softly in both English and Arabic, heightening the erotic quality of the night and this act. And with one final thrust, he said her name over and over as she relished his climax as well as her own.