"You are good at that."
She bit her lower lip. Him holding her this tight had her heart beating too fast, and her mind kept going to how good he smelled and how much better he'd taste. She tried to focus. "So the best thing is for me to leave. ’Sides, Amal said you…you need a great love. I'm not sure I've got that in me."
He tightened his hold on her. "Amal should mind her bloody own business. Why did she tell you such nonsense?"
"’Cause of your mama up and leaving here after your daddy died. And…well, it's just the sex we've had. It's got you all turned around. Hell, it's got me all turned around."
Dropping his arms away from her, he stepped back. "You think this is all just about sex?"
She swallowed. "Well…haven't heard you say otherwise."
His mouth clamped tight, and the pulse kicked up in his jaw. Ginni took a step back.
Swinging away, he kicked at the sand, cursed in what sounded like Arabic, and threw his hands high.
After a few minutes of this, he stopped, and Ginni muttered, "Wow—never seen you lose it like that. My daddy'd be impressed."
"This is what you do to me!" Stomping back to her, he took her in his arms, kissed her until her head spun and her knees loosened. She had to grab him to hang onto the world. When he pulled back, Ginni gulped down a breath. Nasim was looking down at her with something in his eyes she hadn't seen before—something vulnerable and needy.
"This is what you do to me. And if you think this is just sex, I think you need a better demonstration of what this really is."
"Oh, yeah," she muttered.
He swept her up in his arms and carried her into the tent.
Ginni giggled. "Sorry," she said. "Just seems too much a cliché."
He growled and dumped her onto a pile of pillows. She tried to scoot away, tried to start talking sense, but he was kissing her again, getting those robes off her, and then her jeans disappeared, and he was kissing every spot he bared and stroking over her skin with feathered touches, and she didn't want sense. She wanted him.
She got his tunic off, got stuck with trying to get his trousers gone, so he did that, and then she had all that glorious skin next to hers and all that hard muscle under her hands. She let out a long breath and spread her legs for him.
Holding himself up by his elbows, pushing at her with his erection, he told her, his voice low and rough, "This is not just sex." And then he pushed in.
She gasped. This was better than on the office terrace. Better than in his bed. He pushed in slowly, took his time, made her feel every inch of him. He kissed her neck and bit softly. She moaned and put a hand on his ass.
He pulled back. "No. We take this slow. I want to make love to you."
With a smile, she pulled his head down to hers to kiss him. He nipped her lips, pulled out and pushed in again, so slowly she wanted to grab his hips and make him pump harder and faster. He drove her crazy with his patience, had her wiggling and begging for more. And still he made her wait. The need built in her along with the heat. It sizzled over her skin and sank into her. She wrapped her legs around him and gave up—let him set the pace, and when he pushed in deeper than she thought possible, when the shudders began in him, she gave in to the bliss of knowing a fragment of eternity.
Shifting off her, he pulled her close to his side.
Ginni traced a mindless pattern over his chest. "Okay, I'm leaving you more often if this is the result."
Taking her hand, he held it. "That is too great a strain on my heart. You will have to find something else to tease me about. I also called your father."
"What?" Ginni sat up. Nasim looked rumpled, his hair sticking up, and Ginni decided she must look just as thoroughly ravished.
He pulled her back down to his side again. "I arranged a second wedding for us. We cannot rob your parents of seeing you wed. It will also ease the concerns of the family lawyers about if our first marriage was legal or not."
Propping herself up on one elbow again, she asked, "You mean I'm not married to you?"
Nasim took her hand and kissed her palm. "In my heart I have been married to you forever." He brushed the hair from her cheek. "My cousin Arif once told me that patience is the key to every great treasure. You are my great treasure, Ginni, my love. Habibi is the term you must learn. I feel as if I've been waiting all my life for you, habibi."
She pulled her hand away. "What about that great love thing?"
Putting his hands on her waist, he said, "I think a great love is much like a good business deal—it takes negotiations and time to mature. What do you think?"
With a grin, she settled herself on his chest. "I think I like the negotiation part the best. So who's on top this time?"