and slid into the corner.
“What did you say?” he asked, his gaze intense.
She stared at his face noting the tightening of the muscles around his mouth and the light of some new fire in his eyes.
“Tell me,” he insisted. “Tell me again that I am the possessor of your heart.”
This wasn’t exactly the turn she’d expected for their conversation, and his scrutiny made her a little nervous. “You heard me the first time.” She wiggled to free herself, but his hold on her wrists only tightened. “Let me go.”
“Never,” he said fiercely and swept her up in his arms. He carried her across the room and lowered her onto the bed, then settled next to her. “I will never let you go, wife of mine.” He stroked her face, then brushed his thumb across her lips. “For you are mine, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, unable to deny the truth. “I love you with all my heart.” She glared at him. “But don’t think that’s going to change things between us, because you love me, too. I want a real marriage. I want us to live together like man and wife, and I want you to swear you’re never going to sleep with anyone else, especially Amber.”
At the mention of the younger woman, some of the light faded from Khalil’s eyes. He drew her close and wrapped his arms around her, urging her to rest her head on his shoulder.
“I should have known she would make trouble,” he murmured. “I should have told you the truth about her, but I was ashamed.”
Dora looked at him. “I don’t understand. You were engaged to her.”
“Yes, but it was an arranged match, and one I was frantic to avoid. I never wanted to have anything to do with her. She disgusts me. For several years Amber has been something of a hedonist. She finds sport in hopping from bed to bed. I didn’t want to tell the truth about her because of her father.”
Dora had learned enough of El Baharian law and custom to understand that. “Aleser is a good leader for the country,” she said. “If you told him about his daughter, he would be forced to resign.”
Khalil nodded. “When we were in New York, Amber came to see me. She reminded me that we were engaged and insisted we would be married. I felt trapped.”
So many things fell into place, Dora thought. Khalil’s need to find a solution to a difficult problem. Why the other woman had been so cruel.
“And there I was,” she said. “A tolerable answer.”
He wrapped his arms around her and rolled until she rested on top of him. “Far more than tolerable,” he said, brushing her mouth with his. “You are the light of my life.”
“You love me,” she said.
He sighed. “Yes, Dora. I love you.”
She smiled. “Oh, Khalil, we’ve both been so very stubborn. It makes me sad.”
“It should. The situation was your fault entirely. If only you’d been a cooperative, sensible woman we could have—”
She pushed away from him and tried to scramble off the bed. He held her fast.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, hauling her up against him.
She pushed again, but couldn’t make any progress. The man was too strong. “The dagger is still in the room,” she said, glaring at him. “I think I’ll use it on you.”
He laughed. “Never. You love me too much.”
“I know. I hate that.”
“No, you don’t.”
She relaxed against him. “No, I don’t,” she agreed.
He stroked her hair, then kissed the top of her head. “Have you loved me long?” he asked.
His voice sounded casual, but Dora heard an undercurrent she couldn’t explain. She looked at him. Darkness filled his eyes, something that, had it been anyone but Khalil, she would have labeled as uncertainty.
“Yes,” she told him. “Almost from the beginning.”
“Then how could you have turned away from me all those times I came to your room. Why didn’t you want to make love?”
He asked the question not as a prince, but as a man. A man who has been brought to his knees before a woman. Her heart ached for him. “Every time I struggled against my desire for you. I wanted you desperately. I always want you.”
He kissed her deeply. “As I always want you. The reason I didn’t come to you tonight was because you seemed to feel ill.”
“I know.” She knew so much more now. Amber would never come between them again.
Khalil sat up and pulled off his shirt. He quickly slipped off his shoes, socks, slacks and briefs, then stretched out naked on the bed.
“You have much to answer for,” he said imperiously. “You have denied your husband his proper place in your bed, as well as your heart. The punishment for your actions will be severe.” He motioned to his arousal. “You may begin atoning for your sins by servicing me this evening.”
“Oh, may I?” Dora asked, not sure she could believe he’d actually said that. Tell a man you love him and he assumes he owns the world.
“I would not deny you your opportunity to please me.”
“How gracious,” she murmured and rose to her feet.
So Khalil thought he would get the best of her, did he? She hid a smile. Two could play at this game.
Dora slowly slipped off her dress, then her stockings. She unfastened her bra and let the straps slide down her arms before releasing the garment. When she’d pulled off her panties, she knelt over her husband and lowered herself until her erect nipples nearly brushed his mouth.
“Tell me what you want, Prince Khalil, and I will do your bidding.”
His eyes glazed over slightly as he reached up and pulled her closer. Then he licked her nipple and made them both moan. She shuddered. Already she was wet. She could feel the heat and the pressure between her legs, and he hadn’t even entered her. She was aroused and ready just by being close to him.
“I want you,” he said, gazing at her. “I love you. Promise you’ll come live with me here.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Anything else?”
He thought for a moment. “Promise that you’ll always love me.”
Her feelings welled up inside of her, filling her with a sense of rightness she’d never known. “Forever, husband.”
“Which is nearly as long as I will love you.”
“Is that everything?” she asked. “Do you have more desires?”
“Several.”
