with a nervous little laugh.
Not just honeymooners, Daniel thought as he looked from the raised, black-lacquered four-poster bed with its filmy white curtains up to the mirrored ceiling above. Once again, the carpet underfoot was lush and thick, though this time it was green. Emerald-green. Everything else in the room, however, was black, white or silver.
‘Lots of silver,’ he commented. The wallpaper was silver, and so were the edges of the mirrors, and the thread running through the white satin quilt. ‘I would have expected gold.’
‘The bathroom has gold fittings,’ she said. ‘To go with the black marble, I guess.’
‘They said it had a spa bath.’
‘Yes, a huge one.’ She flushed at the mention of the bath.
Surely not from shyness, Daniel reasoned. No woman who’d chosen the wedding dress she was wearing was shy about her body.
‘Good,’ he said.
Daniel decided any more delay would be counterproductive. ‘I think it’s time to check out that bathroom,’ he said, reaching for her. ‘But first, let’s get you out of that dress.’ And he turned her round.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHARLOTTE sucked in sharply when his hands started work on the laces that anchored the bustier top to her body. Louise had tied them very tightly so that her waist was pulled in as far as it would go, the compression pushing her ribs in and her breasts upwards, giving her an extreme, hourglass shape.
She wore no bra. None had been needed, the top of her gown heavily boned and lined. Once Daniel got the laces undone, Charlotte knew that the top would fall from her body, leaving her naked from the waist up.
Just the thought turned her on.
She’d never been this eager to be naked before. Or to have a man’s hands on her body.
‘Aah, now I get it,’ Daniel said as the bodice went slack around her. ‘The top’s separate from the skirt.’
The freeing of her breasts from the skin-tight constriction brought with it a wave of melting heat. When he removed the top right away from her body, she swayed.
‘Hey!’ he said softly, his arms sliding around her just underneath her breasts. ‘Don’t go fainting on me.’
Her answer was a soft moan, her eyes fluttering shut as she leant back against him in blissful surrender.
When his hands moved upwards to cup her breasts she almost cried out, her nipples stabbing at the centre of his palms. As though he knew what they wanted, he spread his hands out flat and rotated his palms slowly over the taut peaks.
Charlotte gasped, then groaned.
He kept up the rotating motion till her breasts were swollen and her nipples so sensitive that the sensations he created were close to pain.
Just when she felt she could bear it no longer, he stopped. Perversely, she opened her mouth to protest. But before she could utter a word, he spun her in his arms and covered her mouth with his own.
His lips were hard, and hungry, his hands on her back just as demanding. He clamped her to him, kept her lips open and drove his tongue deep. Charlotte had thought he’d kissed her with passion in the lobby. But this…this was more than a kiss. This was total ravishment.
His reefing away both startled and dismayed her. Her eyes flew open to find him taking a backward step from her and running an agitated hand through his hair. His face was flushed and his breathing ragged.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
He stared at her, before shaking his head, then smiling a rather wry smile.
‘I was going way too fast.’
‘But I liked you going fast.’
‘You wouldn’t in the end.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I know.’ He smiled another of those wry smiles. ‘Sheikhs know these things. Now I suggest you go get the rest of that dress off by yourself. Take a shower. And put on something more comfortable. Both our bags should be in the dressing room leading off from the bathroom. Or so I was told.’
Charlotte didn’t want to do any of those things. She wanted to stay with him and have him kiss her some more. And play with her some more, then just take her, without too much preamble. Her nipples were still hard but the rest of her body was in meltdown mode. She wanted him.
But she would not beg.
‘I won’t be long,’ she said, hurrying into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.
The sight of herself in the huge vanity mirror was a shock. How decadent she looked standing there, half-naked. Spinning away, she hurried into the adjoining dressing room, where she stripped off the rest of her clothes, not returning to the bathroom till she was totally naked.
As she walked over to the vanity to get one of the complimentary shower caps, she glanced at herself in the mirror again.
Louise always said she had a fabulous body. Charlotte thought it was good, but not fabulous. Her hips were a bit wide. But she looked in proportion and she’d never felt ashamed of it.
But she’d been brought up in a modest household where you didn’t flaunt yourself. Being totally naked in front of anyone had always been a problem with her, but especially the opposite sex. Mostly, in the past, she would undress then dive into bed and keep under the sheets.
Charlotte had long ago realised her inhibitions were a contributing factor in the ultimate failure of all her relationships, especially the one with Dwayne.
Strangely, though, she did not feel any of her usual shyness with Daniel. She wanted him to see her naked. Wanted him to make love to her, to be inventive.
Her hands lifted to lightly touch her nipples, producing a delicious quiver. She did it again, then cupped her whole breasts as Daniel had.
Her responses rocked Charlotte. Daniel wasn’t even here and she was finding pleasure in her body.
Louise was right. This had to be lust, not love.
It was a liberating realisation, because she didn’t want to love Daniel. She did, however, want to make love with him.
The bathroom door suddenly opening behind her had her snatching her hands away from her still throbbing breasts and whirling round.
‘I didn’t hear the shower,’ Daniel said as he entered and walked towards her, seemingly unaware of being totally naked. Not so Charlotte. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him.
‘Why don’t we share?’ he asked, and with one smoothly sweeping action scooped her up into his arms.
Charlotte didn’t object. How could she? She was having enough trouble just breathing.
He held her with one hand whilst he turned on both taps in the made-for-two shower,
