He said her name again, his voice low and rough, and she turned and faced him.
What she saw in his eyes told her that tonight, at least, anything was possible.
“Karim,” she whispered, and when he reached for her she went straight into his arms.
He told himself there were endless reasons to let go of her. To step back from this while he still could.
He had always done the right thing, the logical thing, the dutiful thing …
Karim groaned, and gathered her close.
This, only this, was the right thing. This was where Rachel belonged.
“Karim.”
His name was a sigh on her lips. He looked down into her face, her lovely face, and knew she was feeling the same emotions. Desire. Confusion. The realization that what they were doing could be dangerous, that there would be no going back …
“We can’t,” she said in a thready whisper, and he said she was right, they couldn’t …
She moaned. Rose on her toes. Pressed against him.
He bent to her and captured her mouth.
She tasted of the night, of honey, of herself. She tasted like cream and vanilla, and he shuddered, took the kiss deep, deeper still.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, and she trembled and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he knew they were both lost.
He slid his hands down her back, cupped her bottom, lifted her into him.
Another groan came from his throat.
He could feel all of her against him now. Her breasts. Her belly. Her hips.
Her body was hot. So was her mouth as he drank from it.
Half the buttons of his shirt were undone and she slid her hands inside, stroked them over his naked shoulders, and he shuddered under that feather-soft, tantalizing touch.
He drew her closer, holding her as if his arms were bands of steel, but it wasn’t enough, it couldn’t be enough—not when the need to make her his pounded through him with every beat of his heart.
He wanted to sweep her into his arms. Carry her to his bed.
But first—first just a taste of her skin. Here, behind her ear. Here, in the tender hollow of her throat. Here, at the delicate juncture of neck and shoulder.
She cried out.
The sound raced through him like a river of flame.
“Do you want this?’ he whispered. “Tell me, habibi. Tell me what you want.”