She stood and pushed her long blond locks over her shoulder. Jennifer wished she hadn’t forgotten her hair tie. It was stifling in the club, with its tight confines and hot, sweaty press of bodies. If she could only get her own heavy mane off of her neck…
“Now you’re just piling it on thick,” she joked, trying to get the upper hand in the tête-à-tête they were engaging in.
It was easy to speak to men during meetings or around the boardroom, but ever since her last breakup, she always felt like she stumbled through her dates, as if she were tongue tied all the time. It was hard knowing that Bahan was probably feeding her the same lines that he’d given so many girls. Jennifer hadn’t missed his slip about being a ladies’ man. In fact, it should be setting off alarm bells for her. One thing Jennifer had learned the hard way was that she didn’t want to be just another notch on someone’s bedpost. Yet she couldn’t turn away from his captivating voice, his broad shoulders, or even the spicy scent of him, so like turmeric and other exotic herbs.
She wanted to see where things could go with him.
Taking his hand, she let him lead her out to the dance floor. It amazed her what it was like being with him. Bahan commanded the room, and even the crowded dance floor at The Wild Orchid parted for him like the Red Sea before Moses. It was almost as if the whole world was stopping for them. Looking up into his eyes, watchin
g as they alternated from black to brown under the pulsing lights overhead, Jennifer extended her arms and wrapped them around his neck.
“Show me what you’ve got, Bahan.”
So he did.
He started slowly, moving his body in a sensuous rhythm against her own. Already she was aware of the bulge of his erection under his pants, and that was a bit of a surprise. She didn’t think she’d have quite the effect on him, at least not so quickly. Then again, as she began to move around him, placing her hips up against his hardness, Jennifer was reminded of how short her dress actually was. It rode up high on her legs, and that seemed to entice Bahan even further. He reached down and clutched at her thigh, kneading her left leg with a skill that left her belly flaring with heat and made her legs feel like Jell-O.
His hands didn’t stop there, they moved over her torso, over her ribs and abdomen, as if he were torn between touching her and enjoying the smoothness of the fabric draping her. She leaned against him and felt herself be more daring. Maybe it was her own fears about her sister’s health or her career, maybe it was the heat of the club, or maybe it was even the alcohol in her veins, but she felt driven to take this time---this dance---and use it as an escape. Normally, she’d never be so forward with a man, let alone one she barely knew. But this felt right, like they were being drawn together through passion and need, and as she ground against him, she wanted to let him know exactly how much she wanted him and was compelled to be with him.
Turning around, she wrapped her arms again around his neck. To her surprise and enjoyment, Bahan let his own hands stray through her hair. She was glad now that it was down. It felt like heaven to have his fingers moving smoothly through her wild, blond mane.
“You have such gorgeous hair, Goldilocks. There’s nothing I’d love more,” he said, lowering his voice and leaning toward her ear, “than to take you home tonight. I want to see all those golden curls splayed out on my hotel pillow.”
Earlier, she’d been too nervous to run with his banter and his entendre, but now the Jim Beam seemed to be doing its job.
“I’m a bit harder to seduce than that. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that good things come to those who wait?”
“Something’s hard,” he said, pulling her against his erection.
She twisted back away from him and then sidled around his body, letting her hands dip low over his hips and squeeze the luscious lobes of his muscular glutes. “But it’s about the chase, isn’t it, Bahan?”
“Maybe, but maybe there’s more I want from you.”
“Keep dancing with me, and we’ll see where it leads,” she said, draping her arms over his back and around his shoulders. “After all, it’s only eleven and we have till last call. Let’s see where things go from there. I’m fine with going that far if you are.”
“You know that I am, Goldilocks,” he said, his voice so low and rumbly that it vibrated through his whole body. The quietness of it almost made her think of a threat more than a promise. Maybe she wanted it that way.
“Then let’s dance.”
Chapter Two
“I still think this city is too bloody cold,” Bahan said, pulling his coat and scarf more tightly around his body. His brother, Fareed, studied him carefully but didn’t offer an opinion on the chill in the New York air. “Don’t you think so?”
“When you’re used to one-hundred-and-twenty-five-degree days, then everything is cold, brother,” Fareed said, chuckling as they continued their stroll around Central Park. “I actually like the change of pace from the usual heat of Yemen. This has its advantages, assuredly so.”
“Yes, but I’m not ever going to be a fan of snow. I keep expecting to see reindeer or polar bears plodding along here as well.”
“The zoo here does have penguins. Would that help?” Fareed asked, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with his merriment.
“That’s not funny,” Bahan scowled. “I just want to get this new shopping complex up. Fifth Avenue has grown stale. If we can cut into Macy’s or Saks’s business, then I’m all for that. I just want to be back at the palace, enjoying life per usual.”
“I know you have a myriad of ways to enjoy life,” his brother said drolly.
Bahan stopped and glared down at his brother. While Fareed was still taller than average, he wasn’t quite as tall as Bahan was. It was a fact that Bahan used often to lord over his brother, especially when the younger man dug in about things that were none of his business.
“Seriously, brother, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you’re really just sore about this scouting trip because you’re away from your bevy of beauties.”