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He didn’t tell her that they’d eschewed the public dining rooms, all three of them, in favour of a meal in his private suite. Even with his well-trained staff, he had no intention of being disturbed this afternoon.
His fingers tightened fractionally round hers, then released their grip as he gestured for her to enter his chambers.
‘After you, Rosalie.’
For an instant her eyes lifted to his and he felt the now familiar jolt, like a bolt of electricity, sizzle through him. Then she stepped over the threshold and into the suite. He fought to keep the anticipatory smile from his face.
Her exclamation of delight masked the soft click of the door closing behind them and he turned to see her standing in the deep semi-circular window embrasure that jutted out over the cliff-line. She reached out to brush her hand across the continuous round seat that lined it and then lift to the silk hangings, tied back to reveal the view.
His body thrummed an urgent message of need. He’d imagined her here so often, naked on that padded seat, or leaning back against the window frame, her bare arms outstretched invitingly towards him. The images were almost his undoing. Tension knotted his muscles and he felt the strain of imposing control in every cell of his body.
Deliberately he turned away and walked further into the sitting room, towards the drinks tray positioned beside one of the sofas.
‘Would you like a cool drink?’ he murmured in a voice rough with repressed desire.
‘Yes, please.’
He glanced over his shoulder and found she’d moved, bypassing the circular table laden with food, and was investigating the large telescope positioned before the next window.
‘You look at the stars?’
He shrugged, remembering the day—was it only a week ago?—when he’d first seen her through the telescopic lens. He’d known even then what he’d wanted from her.
‘Or the ships at sea. There’s a lot of activity in the shipping lane further off the coast.’ He put ice in a couple of glasses, then filled them. ‘I was in plaster with a broken leg and looking for any diversion. I’m not used to being cooped up.’ He turned and offered her a glass.
‘How did you do it? Break your leg, I mean.’
‘An accident on an oil rig. It happens. But, fortunately, not often.’ An explosion on a rig was disastrous. And this time it had nearly claimed the life of one of his men. If Arik hadn’t realised in time and turned back to look for him as they’d been evacuating, they might have had a fatality on their hands instead of mere fractures.
‘It sounds dangerous.’ She looked up at him so seriously that he wanted to pull her close and reassure her. But he couldn’t take her in his arms. Not yet.
‘Most of the time it’s no more dangerous than being on land. It was just a matter of bad timing.’ He turned towards the table that almost filled the window embrasure. ‘It looks like Ayisha has been busy.’
‘Ayisha?’
‘My cook. She seems to have decided we must be starving after our exertions on the beach.’ From the corner of his eye he saw Rosalie start. He wondered if, like him, she’d been thinking of exertions other than riding and painting. The suspicion pleased him. ‘I hope you’re hungry.’
Personally he was ravenous. But not for food. At least the meal would force him to take his time and not ravish her immediately. ‘Please, take a seat.’
He watched Rosalie settle on the wide padded seat beneath the windows and then pushed the round table in closer, within easy reach. He slid in beside her, close but not touching, and placed his untouched drink on the table.
The food was delicious. Subtly spiced, fragrant with herbs and unnamed spices, melting in the mouth at each bite. And yet Rosalie found it almost impossible to concentrate on the fare before her.
Instead it was the man at her side who took all her attention. Surreptitiously she watched his strong hands reach for dishes, lift covers, offer delicacies. A shiver slid across her skin as his fingers brushed hers. She loved his touch, had secretly dreamed of it all over her body. Now the sight of his hands mesmerised her into a haze of fascination and longing. She wanted to reach out and draw Arik’s hand closer, close it over her breast so she could feel its strength against her softness.
Rosalie swallowed down hard on a morsel of grilled fish and tried to concentrate on the meal.
She listened to his stream of small talk that reinforced the leisurely tempo of the meal. But there was no way she could relax. As each moment passed the tension in her stomach notched harder, tighter.
Arik passed her some rice flavoured with apricots, raisins and almonds.
‘This is one of Ayisha’s specialities and I can recommend it. Would you like some?’ The flash of his smile stole her breath and she found herself nodding, even though her throat had closed and she doubted she’d be able to swallow properly.
‘Here,’ he murmured, his voice dropping to a low, husky pitch that seemed to reverberate right through her, ‘tell me what you think.’
He lifted a fork laden with fluffy rice and held it out. Eyes as dark as her own midnight longings looked back at her and she felt something loosen and give way, deep inside her. Restraint? Caution?…Fear?
Obediently she opened her mouth, catching the flicker of expression in his eyes, unable to place it. She was too wrapped up in the…intimacy of having this man feed her to even try.
Taste exploded in her mouth—sweet, nutty, a perfect blend of flavours. But it was his gaze that had her attention. It was a palpable force, warming her skin, holding her still, waiting for his next move.
Finally she swallowed. ‘It’s delicious.’
‘Good.’ His one-sided smile sent a surge of pure longing through her. ‘Have some more.’
Again he held out the fork. Again he watched her open her mouth and accept the food. And once again she saw a ripple of something in his expression. Something at odds with the easy, relaxed pose of his big body and the slow smile on his face.
Hurriedly she chewed and swallowed. ‘Thank you. But no more.’
He raised one lazy dark eyebrow in enquiry. ‘You’ve had enough?’
Silently she nodded.
‘Ah, then we come to my favourite part of the meal.’
Something about the low burr of his voice, the infinitesimal strengthening of his accent, made gooseflesh rise on her skin. She shivered.
‘Really?’
He inclined his head, still focused on her in a way that made her conscious of the heavy beat of her pulse, the miniscule distance separating them.
‘Dessert,’ he said. ‘I’ve always had a weakness for sweet things.’
The words were innocuous. But not the way he said them. She knew he wasn’t merely discussing food. His very look was an invitation: flagrant, tempting.
Now was the time to leave. To say she really needed to be going. That she’d changed her mind and wanted to go home. Or that she had a headache. Anything to get her out of here, where this man’s ability to seduce with a look, a word, was the most potent force she’d ever known.
She could do it. She knew she could. If she wanted to.
‘I…’
‘Yes, Rosalie?’ He leaned a fraction closer—close enough for her to inhale the scent of his skin: hot, male, musky.
She licked her lips. This was her chance to escape back to safety. Arik wouldn’t stop her; she knew that with absolute certainty. She could scurry away to her private refuge from the world, turn her back on temptation and rely on the lessons of fear and caution she’d learned in the past three years. They would protect her from hurt.
‘I like dessert,’ she whispered after a long pause.
Immediately she was rewarded with the bright blaze of his smile, radiant with approval.
‘And you shall have it, Rosalie.’ His voice was lower, throatier than before, and she started when he reached for her hand, raised it to his mouth and placed a single kiss to the back of it. His thumb stroked her sensitive skin and she shuddered as awareness prickled through her, from the sensitive tips of her breasts to her neck, her thighs and deep in her womb.
He turned her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm, let his tongue lave its centre, and a jolt of something white-hot and stunning burst through her. She felt a clenching deep inside as every nerve reacted. Automatically she tugged her hand, trying to break his grip, but he simply smiled and held both her hands in his.
‘There is no need for haste. We have all afternoon.’
Then he released her hand and reached out to a platter at the centre of the table.
‘Would you like some fruit?’
She stared at the plate, her mind slow, still catching up after the effect of Arik’s smile on her nervous system.
‘I…yes. Thank you.’ Her throat was dry, her voice cracked. She took refuge in a gulp of her iced juice as she frantically tried to get a grip on her churning emotions.
Had she done the right thing? Was she regretting the impulse to stay?
She waited for the icy finger of fear to trail down her spine, for the churning regret to unsettle her stomach.
But all she felt was a hot eagerness. An avid expectation that soon, very soon, she’d be in Arik’s arms. She bit down on the small secret smile that curved her lips at the thought.
No, she had no regrets.
‘Peach?’ he offered and she turned her head. He held up a neat sliver of fresh fruit to her. It smelled like summer and it tasted like sunshine as she let him slip it between her lips. There was the faintest brush of his fingers against her mouth and then his hand was gone.
Her lips tingled from that fleeting touch.
‘Aren’t you having any?’ she said as he held out another piece to her. This time his touch lingered against her mouth a second longer. Time enough for her to take in the slight salt tang of his skin and feel the passing caress of his thumb against her bottom lip.
Heat bloomed deep inside. Darts of sensation shot through her, pulling her straighter in her seat, eager for his next offering.
‘That depends,’ he said, letting his gaze slide from her face to her hand, grasping the edge of the table in a white-knuckled grip.
Depends? Rosalie looked from her hand to Arik and then to the neatly sliced peach on the plate before her.
It depends on me she realised with a thrill of daring. Tentatively she reached out and picked up a wedge of fruit. It was ripe, slippery with juice, and her fingers trembled.
Did she really mean to be so…provocative as to feed him?
She took a slow breath, trying to regulate the rhythm of her racing heart. But when she looked up into his fathomless eyes, her pulse pounded harder than ever. His gaze was so intense that she felt it graze her features, brush over her throat and linger on her lips.
Rosalie offered him the fruit, the tremor in her hand so pronounced that she was barely surprised when he closed his fingers around hers while he slid the peach into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, smiled, and then licked the juice from her fingers.
A shudder of pure longing swept through her. Her nipples peaked, pebble-hard against her bra as she watched him suck the sticky sweetness from her thumb, her forefinger. Incendiary heat shot straight to the pit of her belly and to the moistening core of her desire.
Oh, my.
‘Delicious,’ he whispered in a throaty voice so deep it resonated within her.
Still holding her hand, Arik selected another segment of peach and held it to her lips. This time he didn’t draw his hand away and she had to slip it from between his fingers. Heaven! It tasted of him. Or did he taste of the fruit? His thumb pressed against her bottom lip and she slid her tongue along it, watching the glimmer of anticipation in his eyes. Cautiously she parted her lips a little wider and took his thumb into her mouth, sucking the sweetness from it.
The searing pleasure in his expression reflected her own excitement, told her this was a mutual delight.
That was a heady realisation. For the first time she felt a thrill of power, knowing she could affect him so.
He might be the master at this, but even the novice had something to offer.
She reached for another piece of fruit and felt an unravelling, unsettling sensation as she watched him eat from her hand, then use his tongue to swipe up the juice on each of her fingers.
Her eyelids drifted down on a wordless sigh. She felt…everything. Her skin had grown so sensitised that even the lap of his tongue over a fingertip, the caress of his lips on her palm, was enough to seduce her into ecstasy.
‘Rosalie.’At the sound of his voice she opened her eyes and found him leaning closer, offering her another piece. Obediently she took the segment but she was clumsy and juice dribbled from her lips.
He still held her hand in his so she lifted her other one to wipe away the moisture. But she was too late. Already he’d moved, tilting his head to catch the droplet of juice with his tongue.
She shuddered at the sensual impact of his mouth on her flesh, smoothing along her chin. She felt his breath on her, scented him in her short, urgent gasps and shut her eyes against the dizzying onslaught of awareness. He kissed her jaw line, the corner of her mouth, across the sensitive spot beneath her ear that sent arrows of heat to every nerve in her body.
Her head lolled back as he pressed his lips to her throat, evoking the most exquisite sense of abandonment. If he put his hands on her now she’d welcome his touch. Revel in it.
And then, suddenly, he was gone. Rosalie opened her eyes to find him watching her, so close that she had only to lean forward a little to bring her lips to his.
For a heartbeat she stalled in thought, wondering, wishing. And in that instant Arik moved, shifting back in his seat and half turning away.
Panic shot through her. Had he changed his mind? He must know she wanted him. She sat up straighter just as he turned and held out a small damp cloth.
His expression was tight, almost hard, as he wiped the cloth across her chin and then her hands, removing the last sticky traces of peach. Then he flung the linen on to the table and fixed his eyes on hers.
What she saw there stole her voice. Gone was the laid-back insouciance she’d come to expect from Arik. The teasing half smile. Even the enigmatic stare.
Now his face seemed cast in hard bronze, drawn tight with the force of a compulsion he couldn’t hide. On any other man that look would have frightened her.
On Arik it excited her.
‘It’s time,’ he said, reaching out and enfolding both her hands in his. ‘You’ve decided, haven’t you, Rosalie?’
He paused, awaiting her response. Words were beyond her, so she nodded.
‘Good.’ Already he was drawing her to her feet. ‘At last we will be lovers.’
Chapter Seven
THE light sea breeze from the open windows cooled Rosalie’s flushed cheeks as he drew her through the arched doorway into his private domain. His bedroom was large, light and airy. At the centre of the back wall was a low bed, wide and sumptuous with its richly patterned coverlet. That was where Arik led her, slowly, inexorably, till it lay before them, a blatant invitation to pleasure.
She swallowed hard, faced with the reality of her desire. Did she have the nerve to go through with this?
But then Arik’s hands were on her, gently compelling, drawing her down to the bed, and there was the promise of heaven in his touch. The lure of long-denied fulfilment. Of joy. Rosalie sank down beside him, leaning in against him without a second thought. For now it was her body responding, not her mind. She acted on instinct alone.
Their kiss was perfect. Growing passion tempered by a fierce restraint she sensed in him. And this time it wasn’t just a meeting of lips and tongues. As he slanted his head to gain better access to her mouth, she felt his hands skim over her. Even through her clothes his touch ignited a desire that sparked and seared. Over the bare skin of her face and neck, across her shoulders, her back, her arms, down her sides and back up to her face. Wherever he caressed her he left a trail of sizzling excitement. It burned across her skin, coiled hard and tight inside her, till she was on fire, desperate for something to assuage the raging need.
Then the welcoming heat of his big body encompassed her, the hard strength of bone and taut muscle.
