Sheikh's Command (5 page)

At some point, Olivia realized that she had never played that piece better. Her hands were sure on her instrument, and her mind was nearly blank. It seemed to flow out of her, and when it was over, she transitioned to another piece with ease. She existed in a place where all she wanted was to play music for this man, and it was a place that made her feel safe and grounded and peaceful all at once.

When she finally set down her violin, Olivia was startled to see that almost half an hour had passed. It had grown dark while she was playing, and now she and Makeen sat in deep shadow. She couldn't read his expression in the dimness. She sat silently and tensely, waiting for his response.

“Set your violin aside. Come here.”

Hesitantly, she laid her violin back in its case and picked her way carefully to the couch. After a moment of hesitation, she sat down next to him, but she was only there for a moment as his arms went around her, and Makeen pulled her halfway onto his lap.

The kiss he gave her was unlike the one that they had shared before. Instead of being fiery and consuming, there was something terribly deliberate about. He kissed her as if they had known each other for years—as though this was what they had always done together.

Olivia might have wanted to keep herself separate from the kiss, but she found that she couldn't. Instead, she felt herself sinking into it, letting the deep warmth of his body suffuse her own. It felt as if there was a deep river of heat and desire in her that he could tap when he wished to do so, and she was helpless to resist it.

When she felt his hands move to her waist, sliding up under the loose hem of her T-shirt, she gasped a little. For a moment, she went stiff, and then she melted into him as if she was wax in the sun. She felt soft and open, receptive in a way that she barely understood. She shivered as she felt his hands roaming the skin of her back, raising goose bumps wherever he touched her.

His mouth moved from her lips down to the sensitive skin of her neck, and without thinking of what she was doing, Olivia bared her neck to him, aware of the exquisite vulnerability of her position. When she felt the white sharpness of his teeth against her throat, a shiver ran through her body, but she couldn't move to protect herself; she didn't want to. She wanted to bare all of herself to this man, whether it was wise or foolish. She wanted more, and right then, she would have offered it all to him.

It was Makeen who pulled back. Suddenly, he pulled his head away, and with a gentle motion, he pushed her back on the couch even as he stepped away.

“Thank you for the performance,” he said, his voice slightly uneven. “That will be all for tonight.”

For a moment, Olivia sat on the couch, staring at his back and hardly able to believe what he had just said. Then his words penetrated her mind and she gaped at being spoken to as if she were a member of his household staff, someone who was paid to come in and clean his house or see to his business affairs. Her cheeks flaming, she stood up straight, stepping back to grab her violin case.

“You're very welcome, sir,” she said, her voice almost syrup sweet. “Thank you for the honor of allowing me to entertain you.”

“Olivia …”

She didn't hear the rest of what he had to say because she stalked to her room. She managed to stop short of slamming the door after herself, but it was a near thing. She set her violin carefully off to one side and threw herself onto the bed.

What was wrong with her? Shouldn't she have been relieved that he was willing to respect her, and to leave her alone? She knew that she should count herself extremely lucky for the way things were playing out, but her skin still tingled with fire, still burned with need.

Instead of lying down to sleep, she stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what was going on. Was she not desirable to him? Was she not enough?

A sudden thought entered her mind, one that left her chilled with fear.

Had he decided that she wasn't enough? Was he so disappointed in the deal he had made that he was regretting it? Even worse, would he decide to go back on it if he continued to be displeased?

Olivia and her mother had never had much to say to each other, but one of the lessons that her mother had taught her was that a man who felt cheated was a dangerous man. So far, Makeen had acted honorably about David's release, but unless she was able to keep him happy, he might decide to do otherwise.

I can't let David be hurt, I just can't,
she thought.

She had to find a way to get Makeen's favor again, and apparently, she wasn't going to do it with her violin or with polite conversation.

As the night drew on, she began to plan.

***

After Olivia stalked back to her room, Makeen went back to his own and resolutely walked underneath the cold shower in his bathroom. If he thought about her too hard, imagined the silky feel of her skin, thought of her pale eyes dilated dark with desire, he would lose control, and that was the last thing he wanted right now.

Instead, he stood under the cold water until he was surprised he wasn't blue, and after that, went to lie down in bed.

For the first time, Makeen was wondering if he had bitten off more than he could chew. When he had made the bargain with the little hellion in the next room, his thoughts had been dark things, full of the kind of pleasure he knew he could force from her tender body. Then, after he had spoken with her longer, learned about who she was and what she would do to keep her family safe, his respect for her had grown. He had begun to feel like a bastard for what he wanted to do with her, and he had come to a decision.

He might tease, and he might have her play her violin, but beyond that, he wasn't going to tempt fate. There were hidden depths to the street violinist that he had found, and suddenly, the last thing he wanted was for things to get out of hand.

He sighed, climbing into the large bed. Things had seemed far simpler when he was dealing with the investigative forces to free her brother. Tomorrow. He would deal with it all tomorrow. Hopefully by then, his thoughts would have cleared.

Makeen dozed off, his thoughts troubled and strange. He dreamed of a woman whose face he could not see. She was laughing or crying, he could not tell which, but he could not reach her to comfort her.

He moved from sleep to wakefulness in a single moment, unsure of what had woken him. He started to sit up in bed, but a soft hand pressed him back down.

“Olivia, what …”

Before he could voice his question, she leaned her weight over him, pressing him back to the bed even as she levered herself up for a kiss. He knew that he should stop to figure out what was going on, but instead he gave himself up to the sweetness of her lips, the weight of her body on his, the brush of her dark hair over his arm.

“I want to please you,” she whispered huskily, and it was as if her words sent an electrical charge through his body. Suddenly it wasn't enough that he was kissing her. He wrapped his arms around her body, dragging her further on top of him. Her weight was nothing but perfect on him, and when he held her close, he realized with a start that she was naked. There was nothing between them but a sheet, and soon that would be gone too.

“Why are you here?” he asked, breaking their kiss for a moment. Though his body raged at him to continue what he was doing, he couldn't allow himself to keep going, not while that question hung over everything.

“Because we made a deal,” she said, reaching for him again. “Because I want to keep up my end of it.”

Ever after, Makeen would regret the fact that he kept kissing her. He couldn't help himself. He heard her words, but despite the way they made him cringe, he couldn't help holding her close, feeling the way her lush body pressed against his. It was pure heaven, and the more his hands roved that perfect body, the more convinced he became that she was made for him.

It wasn't until he felt her begin to move the sheet away that he came to his senses. With a muffled swear, Makeen sat up and pushed her away. When she made a startled longing sound, he almost gave in, but instead he growled, bringing himself under control again.

“Stay there,” he said, and for a wonder, she obeyed. He reached over to turn on the light above the headboard. When he turned back, he took a single moment to relish the picture of her utterly naked, her dark hair streaming down her shoulders, her lips slightly parted with lust.

“Now what the hell do you think you're doing?” he demanded.

“Are you telling me you don't know?” she asked. “Because that would surprise me a great deal!”

He groaned slightly, shaking his head. “Answer the question. Why are you here?”

“I told you,” she answered, and to his shock, there were tears in her copper eyes. He wanted to gather her up in his arms, but he wasn't sure that he trusted himself just then. His body still shook at the prospect of having her near.

“What did you tell me?” he asked. “I'll be perfectly honest, when beautiful naked women accost me in my bed, it does not necessarily do wonders for my memory.”

“I told you that I would do whatever it took to make sure that my brother could walk free. I … I don't care if you are not terribly impressed by me just yet. You're not giving me a chance. You … you need to give me a chance, please. I will do anything …”

He could feel his arousal spike at her words. Somehow, he had ended up in bed with one of the most desirable women he had ever met, and now she wanted to touch him and do exactly as he pleased. Makeen decided that it must be a punishment for some kind of great terrible wrong that he had forgotten about that he could not do anything about it and still call himself a good man. He took a deep breath, and then another, and when he thought that he could speak without his voice breaking like a boy's, he turned to her.

“Olivia … your brother is safe. I swore to you that if you came with me, if you abided by my decisions for a month, he would be. Here you are holding up your end of the bargain. What makes you think that I wouldn't uphold mine?”

She bit her full lip, watching him nervously. “You … you haven't done what I thought you were going to do,” she said meekly. “I thought … I thought …”

He winced at the tremor in her voice. “I can imagine what you thought, but Olivia … I am not a monster. I desire you, that much is very clear. I want you. I walked into a frigid cold shower tonight thinking about you, but I will not force you.”

“It would't be force—”

He shook his head firmly. “When you are doing it simply to make sure that your brother walks free? It most certainly is. No. I will be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure what I was thinking when I made this bargain, but fairly early on, I realized I did not want you to do anything that you didn't want to do. Our rules were explicit. You are here, you are doing what I say, and that is enough. I promise you, Olivia, your brother is safe.”

She looked at him as if she didn't necessarily believe him, despite how sincere he was. His heart squeezed for a moment thinking about what kind of life she must have led that had caused her to doubt him. Slowly, though, Olivia relaxed. At least, her hands loosened, and she looked a little less desperately unhappy.

“It wouldn't be something I didn't want to do …”

For a moment, Makeen's heart leaped at that. He could already imagine that spill of dark hair over his sheets, the way her copper eyes would light up, how she might look while she was shouting her ecstasy to the sky. Then, with an effort, he reined himself in.

“We're not talking about that right now,” he said as sternly as he could. “I wouldn't trust myself to make good decisions when I'm naked and next to the woman I want like breathing now, so that's not happening. You should go back to your room.”

She hesitated for a moment. “Is that an order?” she asked, and her voice was so plaintive that he paused.

“Do you want to sleep here?”

Her eyes lit up, and she nodded. There was something fearful in her gaze, as if she thought he might mock her for her want. All he wanted was to sweep her in his arms and keep the world from hurting her again.

“All right, come here.”

There was something almost shy about the way she came to lie next to him. Makeen had known that there was no way he would be able to lie down next to her naked without doing something he might regret. He gave her the sheet instead, which she wrapped around herself, and then he covered both of them with a blanket. He thought he was doing the right thing, but at the end of the day, he was truly no plaster saint. He pulled her next to him, and it felt as if the curve her back fit his chest perfectly. She was like heaven in his arms, and he resigned himself to a long night without sleep.

CHAPTER SIX

Olivia woke up the next morning to the sound of running water. When she woke up in the most luxurious bed that she had ever seen, she had a brief moment of disorientation. She had no idea where she was or what was going on, but then when she glanced at the indent in the pillow behind her, it all came rushing back. Her cheeks burned red when she thought of what had happened the night before.

God, how mortifying was it to all but throw herself at a man and to have him turn her down. She was comforted by his promise that her brother was safe, but today, she realized that that wasn't all that she wanted. She shivered when she thought of the depths of her own desire, and how Makeen could play it so easily. She knew that she was treading on some very dangerous ground right now, and on the line was her body, her heart, and her soul.

She jumped a little when Makeen came out of the bathroom. First thing in the morning and fresh from his shower, he looked good enough to eat. His wet hair was slicked back, making him look strangely young, and when she glanced down at the towel that swathed his hips, she could not stop herself from thinking that it was very low slung; how little effort it would take to pull it away entirely.

Makeen saw her look, and she realized that he had mistaken it completely when he winced just a little. “I told you last night, Olivia. I am not a monster. I will not make you do anything that you don't want to do.”