“I don’t want to do this with you.”
“How do you know until you’ve tried it? I happen to be a spectacular kisser.”
“I wouldn’t know about that, but I do know you’re a legend in your own mind.”
“Don’t be critical until you’ve sampled my charms.”
Her heart seemed to be tap dancing inside her chest. She was having trouble breathing. “I’m not interested in your charms.”
Instead of responding, he touched her mouth with his thumb and forefinger. “Relax,” he told her. “Let these muscles go. Now say my name.”
“Jamal.” She clipped the word at the end, making a tight, very unrelaxed sort of sound.
“No. Slowly. Draw it out.”
The man was insane. She was insane. She was also starting to enjoy being this close to him. He was strong and broad, and oddly enough, he actually made her feel safe.
“Jamal,” she repeated, closing her eyes and speaking as he’d requested.
She waited. But instead of hearing how she’d done, there was the lightest, sweetest pressure against her mouth.
He was kissing her. Kissing her!
Heidi’s eyes popped open. She couldn’t believe it. She’d never really had a kiss before. Not from an eligible man. Certainly never by someone with Jamal’s reputation. If the tabloids could be believed, he’d made love to more women than James Bond, and then some.
But there he was, holding her close. She couldn’t see much of his face, but his right eye appeared to be closed. She closed hers again and concentrated on the feel of his lips against hers.
He was warm and soft in a kind of firm way. It wasn’t unpleasant. In fact she felt a distinct increase in the heat between them.
He cupped the back of her head. His fingers were strong, yet gentle. The arm around her waist held her firmly, but she didn’t feel trapped. Mostly, the kiss was very nice. She liked how he moved back and forth, as if he had to learn all about her mouth. Maybe she should put her hands on his shoulders or something.
“Relax,” he murmured.
“I am relaxed.”
“No. Your mouth is puckered.”
She concentrated and realized her lips were pursed together, like a child waiting for a kiss from a parent. This time the heat didn’t just flare on her face. It raced through her body and made her want to bolt for safety.
“Don’t even think about it,” he told her, tightening his grip on her waist. “Just think about saying my name.”
She was about to protest that this couldn’t all be about him, when his lips returned to hers. This time she tried to focus on relaxing. Mentally, she said his name over and over until her mouth formed the word. As she did so, something warm and damp and very exciting brushed across her lower lip.
A shiver rippled through her. It started at the top of her head and worked its way down to her toes. In its wake, it left a very distinct kind of trembly weakness. Her br**sts felt funny and there was heat between her thighs. Was this passion? Was this—
He swept her lower lip again, then moved his tongue into her mouth. The combination of heat, pleasure and excitement caught her completely off guard. She didn’t remember raising her hands, but suddenly her fingers were pressing against his shoulders. She wanted to be closer to him. She wanted the hot jolts of fire to never stop zinging through her. She surged forward, circling her tongue around his, all the while wondering why no one had ever told her kissing was like this.
Over and over they touched and moved and danced in a way that left her breathless. His hands stayed still on her back, even though she wished he would rub them up and down her body. She wanted more of what it was they were doing. She wanted—
Jamal broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “See,” he said, his breathing a little heavier than it had been a couple of minutes before. “Not so horrible.”
She had to clear her throat before she could speak. “I suppose not. It was a very nice kiss.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
His voice sounded funny. “I meant that most sincerely,” she assured him. “Really.”
He straightened. “I believe you.”
His gaze was dark and intense. Heidi fought against the awkwardness flooding her, but she was as inexperienced with the post-kissing moment as she had been with the actual kissing itself. Given a choice, she preferred the kissing.
“Did you want to do that again?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
Jamal took a step back. “I think we’ve both had about all we can handle for one night.” He glanced around the garden. “It’s probably safe for you to escape to your suite now.”
At first his words didn’t make any sense. Then she remembered the dinner and how the king and Fatima wanted her to marry Jamal. Somehow the prospect wasn’t quite so daunting.
She gave him a shy smile. “I guess I should go back to my room, then.”
He nodded, which disappointed her greatly. Didn’t he want to kiss her again? Hadn’t he liked it?
Heidi drew in a deep breath. She didn’t know enough to be able to answer her own question, and she wasn’t brave enough to ask him. Which meant she was left in the dark. Oh joy. So she whispered a quick good-night and left the garden.
Nothing about the evening had turned out the way she’d thought, although that wasn’t all bad. Jamal had been…very special, she thought with a sigh. He was funny, charming and a great kisser, although her frame of reference on the latter was limited to a sample of one.