of seeming needy now, because he was holding nothing back. Because he needed her, it wasn’t half so terrifying to prove that she needed this, too. To expose her neediness. How could it be when he was demonstrating that he needed her, too?
She flexed her hips, shifting her position slightly to bring herself in line with his arousal. His grip on her hair tightened when she did, but he didn’t push her away. Her hands were still pressed against his chest, and she used that position to take hold of his tie, to wrench it free of the knot and cast it to the floor. Then she moved on to the buttons on his dress shirt, undoing the top two before sliding her hand beneath the fabric. She’d touched his chest before, and every single time it was a revelation.
Even better now that he was kissing her while she touched him.
His teeth grazed her swollen mouth and she retaliated, closing her teeth over his bottom lip, earning another growl that shook his entire being.
No one had ever touched her like this. No one had ever kissed her like this. And she had never realized how much she needed it.
But she needed more already. Needed that perfectly tailored suit of his on the floor, needed to discard her beautiful gown so that there was nothing at all between them.
She was about to make a move to do just that when she found herself completely bereft of his presence. He had released his hold on her, moving away from her, pacing back and forth.
“Tarek...”
“This is unacceptable,” he said.
The words hit her like an arrow to her heart. “No. It’s perfectly acceptable. We are going to be married. It is not acceptable for you to be with anyone else,” she said, stating a possessiveness she had never once spoken aloud to Marcus, unsure why she was doing it now. “So if not with me, then who is this acceptable with?” Her voice was trembling now, and she despised it. “And when?”
“You test my control,” he said. “That is what I find unacceptable.”
“What do you need control here for?”
“Control is nonnegotiable.”
“In this room?” She gestured around them. “With me?” She pressed her hands against her chest.
“In every room. Always.”
“I’m going to be your wife. You have never been married before, and I assume you’ve been with other women, so I can’t imagine what the issue is.”
“You are not my wife yet.” His words were insistent. Maddeningly opaque.
“But I will be.”
“And when we consummate, it will be then. And it will be in the proper order.”
“Am I to understand that you object to the spontaneity of this?” She was just peeved now.
“Yes. Because I refuse to allow my body to dictate my actions.”
“There is nothing wrong with this...”
“After the wedding.”
“Perhaps I don’t want to wait until after the wedding.” She was feeling slightly ashamed of how hard she was pushing. But then, why should she not? This was to be her marriage, too. What she wanted was important. And she wanted him.
“I must maintain my focus. I cannot afford to be distracted.”
“Tarek—”
“I can be ruled by nothing. My only master is this kingdom. I must do everything in my power to protect it. I have spent my life casting off earthly desires, and I will not give in to them now.”
Somewhere in her lust-fogged brain, she tried to make sense of his words. Tried to figure out something to say next. But she couldn’t.
“Get out,” he said, “or I will leave and find somewhere else to sleep tonight.”
“I’m not going to beg,” she said, her tone wooden. “Nor am I going to violate your person against your will.”
“Tonight went well. Do not let this ruin it.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Do you know anything about women?”
“No,” he said, his tone dark.
“If you did, then you would know that rejection is always going to cast a pall over the evening.”
“I’m not rejecting you. I am marrying you.”
She flung her arms wide. “Well, I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
“Why are you angry with me?”
“Because,” she said, ignoring the tightening in her throat, “you hurt my feelings.”
Oh, how she despised herself for that moment of honesty. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was too deep in this to see that she was letting it affect her judgment. Normally, she was much more like Tarek. Guarded. Holding back pieces of herself. Not allowing desire or a need for anything to dictate her actions.
Maybe he was right to be wary of this thing between them.
His dark brow furrowed. “How?”
“Because...I take it as...commentary on my appearance. On my appeal.”
He let out a hoarse laugh. “There is nothing wrong with your appeal. That is the problem. I cannot allow your appeal to become bigger than my goals.” His dark eyes dropped down to her lips. “I must never let my own desires become larger than the tasks I have to complete.”
“Not even desiring your fiancée?”
“Nothing. Where would it end? You don’t understand... My brother... He was driven entirely by his own desire. It was not limited to sexual need. But greed. For power, for money. It overtook him. And we carry the same blood. Where does it begin? And where does it end? I don’t know the answer. I will give no foothold to that level of greed. None. Not even for you. I must keep my focus clearly set.”
“But later...”
“It will be different. It will be in its place. Part of my obligations, and not merely a temptation.”
“Am I a temptation?”
He clenched his teeth tightly, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “You are the only real temptation I have ever faced.” With that, he turned away from her, summarily dismissing her without another word.
But he couldn’t dismiss the admission. She was a temptation for him.
She had never been a temptation for anyone before. For Marcus, she had been another indulgence in a lifetime of them. And she hadn’t even truly been that. She had been the suitable woman, the one he had married.
She tempted Tarek.
She wanted to hold that close, to examine it and turn it over in private, where she could decide how exactly
