The next thing she knew, she was being woken by a soft caress against her neck and she wanted nothing more than to curl into the feeling.
She woke slowly, trying to figure out what was going on, her body on fire and eager for more of that caress. “Don’t stop,” she whispered, still trying to wrap her mind around the feeling. “Please don’t stop.”
“I wish that was really you talking,” Nazar said in her ear. His body was in pain, wanting to bury himself inside of her, but he knew she wasn’t fully awake and, therefore, her pleading words couldn’t be counted on as her true state of mind.
Nazar watched with growing desire as the lovely woman stretched on the soft, dark bed. She’d looked so sweet and tempting a moment ago with her long, black lashes resting against her pale skin. With her eyes closed, he could see the dark circles under her eyes and he realized that she hadn’t been getting enough sleep.
It was a rare person that cared enough about a friend to go through this much trouble to find her. Nazar only had one other friend like that and it was an almost insane irony that this sweet woman’s friend was with his own best friend.
While she’d slept, he’d searched through the rest of her e-mails and hadn’t found anything but the one where her friend had taken a picture of the letter he’d handed to Rocco that night at the nightclub. How she’d gotten hold of it was probably an interesting story. Thankfully, she hadn’t gotten a full picture of the details, but she’d gotten enough so that it looked illegal.
So there was nothing else he could do but keep his little beauty here with him until all of this blew over. As he looked down at her eyes fluttering open, he knew that it was a sacrifice that he was more than willing to make. He would devote the next few days to making sure this little spitfire didn’t stumble onto something that would mess up the plan.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, still more than half asleep.
Nazar chuckled as she tried to push herself up onto her elbows, giving him a better view of her voluptuous curves as the fabric pulled back against her chest. He had a hard time keeping his eyes on her lovely features so, in the end, he simply gave up the fight and let his eyes wander over her delicious figure.
Nikki tried to wake up but she couldn’t fight the battle with her fatigue. When she flopped back against the pillows, Nazar sighed and knew that he’d have to get more answers the following morning. She was simply too tired to answer any of his questions tonight.
Lifting her up, he carried her through his suite to the room down the hall from his. The guards that had been stationed outside of his doorway while he’d been gone followed him and opened the door. With a thud, he kicked the door closed and carried her straight through the elaborate suite and into the bedroom where he laid her down on the soft, white bed with the filmy curtains all around her. He slipped her shoes off of her tiny feet, almost chuckling at the way her toes curled up now that they were free. He pulled her jeans off of her long, soft-looking legs and when the temptation was too great, he pulled the blanket up to cover those limbs, not able to endure the sight of such perfect thighs or enticing calves for too long.
Soon, he promised. This woman would be in his bed and she wouldn’t be screaming to get out. He’d have her right where he wanted her, he promised himself.
Chapter 5
Nikki woke up and stretched, feeling so much better. But as her eyes opened up, she was amazed to find herself in a strange room. Looking around, she noticed the gauzy curtains surrounding the bed, the white, fluffy blanket covering her bare legs and the sensuous silk pillows under her cheek. She didn’t remember pulling her jeans off, but as she looked around, she realized that they were missing from the room.
She saw a silky robe draped over the back of a white, velvet covered chair and wondered about it, but didn’t move, still trying to get her bearings on where she was. Slowly, her mind started functioning once again and she remembered the events of the previous night. Her hike into the country, hitch-hiking to get into the city, the dangerous, terrifying trip through the gates of the palace and her elation when she’d finally found her way into what she’d thought was an unguarded courtyard. And everything that happened after that.
She buried her face in the silk covered pillow beside her, wondering what he must be thinking of her after last night’s kiss.
“Good morning,” his deep voice said from the doorway, startling her off of the pillow.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, pulling the silk sheet up higher over her body. “And where are my clothes?”
He chuckled as he walked into the bedroom, picking up the satiny material and bringing it closer. “I’ve been very busy while you slept, my beauty,” he explained conversationally while he sat down next to her on the bed.
She tried to scoot out of his reach, but he simply leaned over her, placing his hand on the other side of her hip, trapping her. “I need to go home,” she asserted. “I have to work.”
He chuckled as he ran a finger down her bare arm. “Yet another lie,” he commented. “You are a high school English teacher. A very good one, from what I’ve discovered.” He waited and wasn’t disappointed when her eyes widened in surprise. “And you are on vacation for the whole week, according to your supervisor. Since you have no family other than your friend Brianna and another woman named Rachel, you are perfectly free to spend the next several weeks in my company,” he said smoothly.
Nikki had a hard time breathing, not sure what to say when he’d discovered so much information about her. “What do you want?”
One dark eyebrow went up and a slight smile formed on those hard lips. “You mean besides you in my bed, writhing underneath me as I fill you up with…” he couldn’t finish since her hand was covering his mouth. He chuckled and pulled her hand away. “Since you don’t want to hear about that, how about a challenge?”
She pushed back, scooting higher up onto the bed so her back was leaning against the headboard, and she wasn’t so close to him. “What did you have in mind?” she asked warily.
His eyes moved slowly down her figure underneath the silk sheet, then back to hers with an intense heat as he looked down at her. “I will take you to your friend. And I guarantee that she is safe and sound.”
Her eyes lit up but she could instantly tell that there was a catch. Her body curled back as if bracing for a hit of some kind. “But?” she prompted.