Sheikh’s Fiancée (6 page)

As the food was served, Karim hoped that Alice would become more relaxed. But though she chatted with Sheridan and Kahlid, she avoided meeting Karim’s eyes. She withdrew further and further into herself until she looked like she was going to collapse in on herself like a black hole.

Finally, just as Karim was about to open his mouth and ask her if she was all right, she pushed back from the table and stood up. “I need to go to the ladies’ room,” she announced. “I’ll be back shortly.”

She disappeared, her
abaya
swirling around her, and Karim sighed, hoping that when she came back she might feel refreshed. But five minutes stretched into ten, and ten minutes stretched into twenty, and Karim started to worry.

After thirty minutes had passed, Sheridan finally put her fork down and speared Karim with a look, as though this were somehow his fault. “I’ll go find her.”

“No.” Karim stood up before Sheridan had a chance. “I will.”

Sheridan’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”

“She is my fiancée,” Karim said firmly while trying to be as respectful as he could. He wouldn’t have Sheridan looking at him and treating him as if he didn’t care about Alice or was mistreating her. “And therefore my responsibility. I will go and see where she is.”

It didn’t take long to figure out that she wasn’t in the ladies’ room – all it took was a quick check with the attendant to confirm that she’d come and gone over twenty minutes ago. Karim thought for a minute, then rode the elevator upstairs to the rooftop garden, hoping that he would find her there and that she hadn’t left the building entirely.

The sultry night wind teased his face as he stepped out of the elevator and onto the roof. Garden might not have been the most accurate way to describe it – it was more like a sprawling open space filled with groupings of furniture accented by palm trees and other tropical plants. It was currently closed to the public, so it wasn’t hard to spot Alice sitting in one of the chairs next to one of the walls, staring out at the twinkling city lights.

Karim joined her there, electing to place his hands on the wall rather than on her shoulders as he wanted. He wasn’t sure how she would react to his touch at the moment, and he wanted to heal this rift, not make it worse.

“A lovely view, isn’t it?”

Alice turned to look at him, the city lights reflected in her bottle-green-eyes as she looked up at him. Her expression was shuttered, but that didn’t detract from the ethereal beauty of her elfish face.

“It is,” she said quietly, her eyes flickering as she looked up at him.

“Lovely enough to keep you from the rehearsal dinner?” he pressed.

Alice looked away. “It’s peaceful out here,” she murmured, so softly her words were nearly snatched away by the wind. “I don’t have to smile or talk to anyone, or pretend that I’m not stressed and freaking out. I was never really much for solitude, for sitting up on rooftops or mountains and contemplating my navel, but after the last three weeks, I’m starting to see the appeal.”

“Stressed?” Concerned, Karim joined her on the cream-colored loveseat she perched on. “Stressed how? Is it about the wedding? Is there anything you need help with?”

“It’s about the wedding, about the move, about relocating my job, about giving up my old life, about everything!” Alice jumped out of the chair so she could pace across the rooftop, her heels clicking on the concrete. The wind tousled her hair, whipping the fiery wedges back and forth around her angular face, and her bottle-green eyes glittered with pent up emotion. “It just seems like everywhere I turn, there’s always something new happening, and I can’t catch my breath long enough to adjust. I can’t do this, Karim. I just can’t.”

“Of course you can,” Karim soothed, rising to his feet so he could take her into his arms. He pushed down the panic that tried to rise up in his throat, knowing it would do him no good – he needed to calm Alice down, not work both of them up into a frenzy. “You’re a strong woman, Alice,” he murmured in her hair as he drew her against his body. “And I’m here to help you. Anything you need from me, you’ve only to ask. We’re supposed to be able to depend on each other.”

Alice lifted her head to look up at him with her glittering eyes. “You say that, and yet we barely know each other, Karim. How am I supposed to lean on you as if you’re my soulmate when I’ve barely even kissed you yet?”

“Barely?” Karim arched a brow. “I recall kissing you in the garden when you agreed to marry me.”

“Yes, and that was three weeks ago,” Alice snapped. “You haven’t kissed me since, or really spent much time with me aside from family dinners. Plus, there was no tongue, as I recall.”

“You want tongue?” Karim asked softly, tugging her closer until her soft curves were pressed against the hardness of his body. “Well, why didn’t you just say so?”

He kissed her then, pressing his mouth hard against hers, and she gasped, her fingers curling around the lapels of his jacket. He slid his tongue inside as her mouth opened for him, tasting her for the first time… and then he groaned as the sweet taste of honey and strawberries filled his senses.

Alice kissed him back just as fiercely, tangling her tongue with his, and he clung to her tightly as he tasted her at length. Allah, but how had he gone this long without kissing her, without savoring her exquisite taste? She was like a divine dessert, sweet and smooth and addicting, and she lit a fire low in his belly unlike any other he’d ever felt.

“More,” he growled into her mouth. “I want more.”

He pushed her down onto the couch, then climbed atop her and kissed her again, swallowing her harsh gasps. His hands found the hem of her
abaya
, and he pulled it up, bunching the fabric around her hips. A thrill went through him as he slid his hands up the smooth skin of her taut belly for the first time, and he smiled against her mouth as he felt her muscles quiver beneath him. He went slow, gliding his palms up her abdomen, and then he cupped her breasts and slid his thumbs across the nipples jutting through the lacy fabric.

Alice moaned into his mouth, arching into his chest, and Karim nipped at her bottom lip. He popped the front clasp of her bra, then growled as her breasts spilled into his hands. He wanted to see her taut nipples, but he knew how risky it would be to fully undress her while they were out in the open like this, so he settled for sliding his fingers up and down the taut buds, feeling them and trying to imagine what they looked like as though he were a blind man. They were firm, rounded at the tips and slightly longer than average, and when he slid his thumbs across the tips, Alice whimpered and squirmed beneath him. He sucked on her tongue, swallowing her sounds, and massaged her nipples thoroughly until she was clinging to him.

“Please, Karim,” she half-whispered, half gasped as he lifted his mouth from hers to catch his breath.

“Please what?” he whispered back, staring down at her in the dark. The torches strategically placed around the furniture gave him enough illumination that he could still catch the color of her gorgeous eyes, though her features were still cast in the shadow of his body hovering above hers. “Do you want more? Do you want me to stop?”

“We… we’re going to be missed,” she breathed as he slid his hand lower, beneath the waistband of her panties.

“You’ve already been missed,” he reminded her as the tips of his fingers brushed the curls between her legs. “What’s a few more minutes?”

He dipped his hand lower, then caught her mouth in another kiss as his fingers came into contact with her moist heat. Alice moaned into his mouth as he stroked her hot, wet folds, searching for the sweet spot he knew every woman had. It didn’t take him long to find the slick pearl, and when he did, her hips jerked involuntarily. Grinning against her mouth, he fingered her expertly, swirling the pad of his thumb delicately over and around her sweet spot, advancing and retreating over and over until she was a squirming mass of need beneath him.

“Karim,” she growled, slapping her hand down on top of his and pushing him more firmly against her. “Stop teasing me.”

“Or what?” He nipped at her lower lip. “You’ll scream? That would bring the guards running, and I don’t think you want that, do you?” He flicked her clit with the edge of his thumbnail, and she shuddered, but her eyes gleamed up at him defiantly.

“I think you’re the one who will suffer more if the guards come running,” she challenged. Her perfectly sculpted lips curled up at the corners. “Why don’t we test out that theory right now?”

She opened her mouth to scream, and Karim covered it with his own, thrusting his tongue inside to muffle the sound. At the same time, he slid two fingers deep inside her. He swallowed one startled cry, and then a deep moan as he pumped his fingers firmly within her, making her hips buck and her body quiver. He loved the way her inner walls felt, so slick and hot and wet as he plunged his fingers in over and over again, taking her to the brink of ecstasy.

Finally, she dug her nails into his scalp and stiffened, her body arching into his as the walls of her tight pussy squeezed his fingers. Her body quaked in his arms as she came, and he let her cling tight to him as she rode his fingers and screamed into his mouth.

A minute later, she collapsed against the couch cushions, and he released her mouth so she could catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she panted, eyes wide as they glittered up at him in the darkness.

“That was…” Alice shook her head. “What the hell was that?”

“I believe it’s called an orgasm,” Karim teased, feeling more than a little smug.

“Yeah, well, don’t think that stunt you pulled is enough to keep me satisfied. You’ll have to give me more of those eventually.”

“Oh, I will,” Karim said, chuckling. “But for now, we should probably get back to the others.”

Chapter Seven

“This is so surreal,” Alice muttered as she held her arms up and out of the way so one of the Furies could properly pleat her skirt.

“What is?” Sheridan asked. She was sitting in front of the vanity, already dressed in a pale blue and silver sari, holding perfectly still so the woman in front of her could finish applying her makeup.

“This whole thing.” Alice waved a hand in the air, and the bells on her skirt jingled a little. She’d chosen a deep green for her wedding outfit rather than Sheridan’s red, but other than that everything was the same – the style of outfit, the three-day wedding, the Fury-like attendants who were getting her ready. “It’s almost an exact repeat of your wedding, except that we’re getting ready in my room instead of yours.”

“Yes, and you’re getting married to Karim, not Kahlid,” Sheridan said pointedly.

“I know.” Butterflies fluttered around in Alice’s stomach as she thought of Karim, of the way he’d kissed her up on the rooftop garden, and then pleasured her so thoroughly she’d almost considered lying up there afterward instead of rejoining the rehearsal dinner in the restaurant. That had been two days ago, but the memory was branded in her mind, in her skin, on her tongue…

Her toes curled, and warmth spread low in her belly.

“Miss?” One of the attendants was waving a hand in front of her face. “Miss, we must put your makeup on now.”

“Oh! Right.” Alice blinked, pulling herself away from the rooftop and back to the wedding preparations. Sheridan had already vacated the vanity chair, and she watched Alice with a bemused expression as the attendants led her to the chair.

“What?” Alice asked as one of the women brought out a pot of foundation.

“Nothing,” Sheridan said innocently. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest, regarding Alice with blue eyes that twinkled a little too brightly.

“Yeah right.” Alice would have crossed her arms as well if she wasn’t afraid of incurring the wrath of the Furies. “I recognize that look in your eyes. Spill the beans.”

“Well, it’s just that you were staring off into space and blushing just a few seconds ago,” Sheridan pointed out, a feline grin curving her lips. “And the other night when Karim left to find you, he was gone just a little
too
long.”

A hot flush burst across Alice’s cheeks at the amusement in Sheridan’s voice. “Oh no you don’t. I am
not
going there right now. Not in front of the Furies.”

Sheridan snorted – Alice had already told her about the nickname. “Oh please. You’ve never had a problem dishing to me before. Why not now?”

“Because…” Alice trailed off as one of the attendants held a tube of lipstick aloft, indicating for her to open her mouth. She did as the attendant asked, then waited about a minute for the woman to get it just right before she spoke again. “It just feels weird, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess I understand what you mean.” Sheridan plopped down on the edge of Alice’s bed with a sigh. “But don’t think you’re getting off easy.”

They didn’t speak again until the Furies were finally done making Alice up. As the women packed up their things and left, Alice stood in front of the full-length mirror and admired the way her colorful skirt swished around her ankles as she swayed her hips. The emerald green fabric set off her eyes perfectly, and the gold embroidery glimmered in the lamplight like fire. The matching
dupatta
flowed around her shoulders, covering the rear half of her head while still showing off her brilliant red hair as well as the wealth of gold jewelry hanging from her ears, throat and wrists.

“You look gorgeous,” Sheridan said softly from behind her.

The bangles on Alice’s wrists jangled in time to the bells on her skirt as she turned around to face her best friend. “Do you really think so?” she asked, allowing some of the anxiety brewing in her belly to seep into her voice. “I just, I don’t know… I feel so out of place.”

Sheridan nodded sympathetically. “I know what you mean,” she said, rising to her feet so she could envelope Alice in a hug. Alice closed her eyes as she returned the embrace, soaking up the comfort. “When I first started wearing
abayas
it was strange to me, too. I’ve just had more time to adjust than you, and also I spent my college days in the Middle East, so I’ve had more exposure in general. You’ll get used to it in time, trust me.”