“We’re going to figure this out,” she whispered to the tiny life inside her. “Don’t you worry. I’m working on a plan.”
“Do you need help with it?”
She turned and saw a tall man behind her. It was too dark to see his features, but her heart recognized him all too well.
“Qadir.”
“I could not sleep,” he told her. “When that happens, I come here.”
She didn’t know what to say. They were having a fairly normal conversation, so words should come easily. But her recent talk with Victoria had changed things. She was aware of her possible growing feelings, of how she no longer thought of Qadir as just her boss. She was afraid her interest would show and he would be kind. Sometimes kindness could be the worst.
He stepped closer. “Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded.
“What troubles you?”
“Nothing,” she murmured. “I’m fine.”
A light wind blew a strand of hair across her face. He reached out, probably to tuck it behind her ear. But the second his fingers brushed against her skin, she felt her whole body go up in flames. Need pulsed through her, a heady rhythm that blocked out the sound of the sea.
She stared at him, wanting to get lost in his dark eyes. While he didn’t promise to be a safe haven, she knew he would protect her for as long as she was in his arms. Right now that seemed like more than enough.
She wanted him to touch her, to hold her, drawing her close, taking her with a passion that would leave them both breathless.
He cupped her cheek. “In a foolish attempt to be honorable, I will tell you that I am no longer willing to walk away from the temptation you offer.”
Meaning she should be the one to leave. That if they started something, they wouldn’t stop.
Her heart fluttered and her skin burned. Anticipation swept through her making her melt from the inside out.
“Maggie.”
He said her name with a low growl that made her shiver.
Two clear choices. Be sensible or give in. She knew what she should do and what she wanted to do. In the end, it wasn’t a choice at all.
Slowly, carefully, so there could be no question of her intent, she rose on tiptoe and kissed him.
Chapter Eleven
M aggie waited what seemed like a lifetime before Qadir responded to her kiss. She was just starting to think she’d made a huge mistake when he drew back and stared at her.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he admitted.
Relief was as sweet as it was intense. “I can handle it,” she said with a smile.
“So you claim.”
“Test me.”
He took her hand in his and led the way to an open French door halfway down the long balcony. They stepped inside what she assumed was his room, but didn’t get much of a chance to explore.
The second the door closed behind them, he pulled her close and claimed her with a kiss that burned her down to the soles of her feet.
His lips took all she offered and more. His tongue swept inside, exploring, claiming, urging. She met him stroke for stroke as need grew, filling her, making her ache and want.
He touched her everywhere, first up and down her back, then down her rear where he cupped the curves. She moved against him, feeling his erection, loving how hard he felt, wishing he were inside her already.
He broke their kiss long enough to pull off her T-shirt, then he cupped her bare br**sts in his hands.
Even as his fingers worked their magic on her sensitive ni**les, he kissed her all over her face. His mouth moved along her jaw, then down to her neck where he licked and nipped and made her gasp.
Liquid desire poured through her. She was already wet and swollen and when he bent down to suck on her br**sts, she gasped her pleasure.
She touched him where she could. His hard muscles rippled in response to her caress. She was about to tell him to take off his shirt when he dropped to his knees. At the same time he unfastened her jeans, then jerked them and her panties down to her ankles.
She was trapped by her clothing, unable to step away or spread her legs very far apart. Still he kissed her stomach, then parted her with his fingers before kissing her intimately.
The feel of his lips and tongue was exquisite. She had to hang on to him to keep from falling to the floor. He found her center and licked it over and over again as he moved his hands behind her and squeezed her curves.
“Qadir,” she breathed, wanting what he was doing to go on forever, but needing more. A bed, she thought frantically. A sofa. The floor.
Still loving her between her thighs, he helped her out of her shoes, then eased her clothes from her body. She opened her legs more, giving him access, desperate to give in to the building pressure.
She put her hands on his shoulders and hung on for the ride. But just as she was about to surrender and lose herself in pleasure, he stood.
“You can’t stop,” she gasped.
“I’m just getting started.”
He led her down a hallway, into a large bedroom. She had a brief impression of dark, masculine furniture and a bed that could sleep twenty. Then Qadir pulled back the covers, turned to her and began to touch her.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, stroking her back. “All of you. It’s maddening to watch you prance around in your coveralls with those little fitted T-shirts. I have dreamed about you in that T-shirt and nothing else.”
Heat filled her as his words aroused her to the brink. He’d fantasized about her? Was that possible?
“I don’t prance,” she said, trying to tease rather than give in to unexpected tears. She couldn’t figure out why on earth those words would make her want to cry, but they did.