The Sheikh's Surprise Mistress (Jatar Sheikh 5)

He obeyed and furiously began to pound himself into me. Holding me in place with his vice grip and his weight pinning me, he made love to me like a man about to die. His breath caught in his throat just

as my lungs collapsed, and I climaxed in a writhing, seizing fit of mind-numbing bliss. I felt how my body contracted and closed in around his throbbing hardness, and we both smiled in pleasure.

He made an anguished sound, and then he climaxed in a moment of perfect joining. I was still drifting in the remains of the biggest orgasm I’d ever had as he finished and smothered my body with his. It was perfect. He was perfect. I’d never felt anything close to this union. He released my hands, and his head sagged on the pillow next to mine. I wrapped my limbs around him and held him. I mumbled to his ear, “Stay on me—in me. Please.”

He said something in his language. I didn’t understand the words, but I fully comprehended the meaning as he wrapped himself around me. For the briefest of moments, we were one soul and one body and it was unimaginable—blissful—harmony.

CHAPTER EIGHT

We fell asleep tangled together, and it wasn’t until hours later—well past dark—that either of us stirred. I couldn’t remember ever sleeping that long without interruption, and I found it difficult to fully wake. I was rummy and unable to access much of my brain. My body was another story, and it was still humming along—almost as if I could purr—in perfect contentment.

Amir had wrapped me in his arms, and we’d fallen asleep spooned together on our sides. He cupped one breast, and my cheek rested on his bicep. His breath tickled at my neck, and often he would kiss my nape or just squeeze me closer. I rarely actually slept with someone—like never! And although it felt kind of odd, it was also oddly perfect.

“Did you sleep well, princess?”

I stretched and giggled, “Oh yes! Like a drunk baby.”

“A drunk baby?” he questioned.

“Like the dead!” I rejoined.

“Ahhh, this is most excellent for a girl who never sleeps. Tell me, it is because you feel safe with me?”

I found his question strange, but after thinking on it, I had to agree. “Yeah, I do feel safe with you, Amir. I shouldn’t. But I do.”

“This is excellent. I would only seek to protect you and cherish you for the prize you are. You are my princess of the sunlit hair and ocean blue eyes.”

I rolled to face him, and he reached out and twined his fingers in mine. It was curious how he needed to touch me as much as possible, but I didn’t mind, and I found it reassuring in return. “Um, Amir, can I ask you a question?”

“Anything! I will endeavor to answer as thoroughly as I am capable.”

I bit my lip, picking my words. “I’m leaving in only a few days. Back to the US. This thing with you was just a—a—thing? Right?”

“Please explain—a thing?” he asked.

“A one night stand? I mean, a man like you would never invest in someone like me. Right?”

His expression turned pained, “You are a crown jewel. I would seek to make you mine, Julie—permanently—mine forever. No! This is not a—thing. I…”

His words trailed off and he rolled onto his back, releasing my hand and scrubbing at his forehead. I felt oddly weightless in the absence of his touch. He must have as well because within a moment he’d gathered up my hand again. We both took simultaneous inhales the moment we were once again connected. He rolled his head on the pillow, and his eyes once again bound me, “Julie, I feel something with you I’ve not felt before. I have lived thirty-three years on this planet, and I’ve never experienced the rapturous joy I felt—I feel now—when I am with you. There is more to this—to us. No! This is not a thing!” He kind of hissed the last word. “I want more!”

I blinked at him and thought. I couldn’t give him more. I just couldn’t. I had a future to think about and getting the best paying job I could find so I could take care of my grandmother. I let a thin layer of hard steel slide up inside my heart, and I pulled my hand from his. I spoke to the ceiling and even to my own ears my tone was aloof.

“Amir I’m sorry, but I can’t give you more. I have a life in the States, and I sincerely want to return to it. I can’t run off with you like Anna has done with Omar. I just can’t.”

I thought he might argue the point, but instead I felt him nod. “Very well, you live as you have planned. I will find a way. I always get what I want.”

He crawled from the bed and walked around to my side. I still refused to look at him. He used just one finger and tilted my head until our eyes locked.

“Julie, you are mine now, and someday you will know that fact without doubt or hesitation.”

He left me then, and I took a shower and dressed in my bridesmaid dress. A driver returned me to the high rise Omar and Anna lived in. I wandered in, not expecting to see anyone and was surprised when Anna met me at the foot of the stairs. She saw the look in my eyes and said nothing. She wrapped her arms around me, and we hugged it out. I started crying within moments and suddenly couldn’t stop the deluge.

I excused myself and fled to my room. I sat on my bed and scolded myself for all of it. For dancing with him in the first place, for drinking too much so my mind was too foggy to function correctly, and for sleeping with him. Not the sex, the damn sleep! The intimacy and that freaky connection we had found. I still couldn’t shake my longing to see him again and feel him again. Then I really scolded myself for allowing him to climax inside me. That was a huge no-no and wondered what had possessed me so fully that I hadn’t even thought of protection. I was the queen of condoms and even ran an on-campus sexual awareness group that handed out condoms on a regular basis. I sat there and shook my head from side to side, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world.

The next day, I hung out with Anna around their indoor pool, and we played another game of chess. We didn’t talk too much, and I was grateful she hadn’t pried into what happened with me and Amir. She did ask me, “You okay? You seem off.”

I shrugged and remained silent through three more moves. Then I blurted, “I think I felt what you were talking about.”