Still she refused to speak the words, though he knew she teetered on the brink of submission.
His body was on fire. His groin hard, hot and painfully tight. He could have her now on the chair behind her, or better yet, on the big desk. They both craved it. Craved each other.
Whether it was the realisation of how much he needed her or a remnant of his determination not to coerce, Sayid didn’t know. But he found himself dropping his hand. Her eyes snapped open, velvety warm and bewildered and he had to step back rather than lose any hope of thought.
‘Marriage is for the best, Lina.’
He watched her fight her way out of her sensual fog. It took a while, but he found little gratification in that since it took everything he had not to step in close again and let nature and their bodies do the thinking for them.
She shook her head. ‘I’ve given you my answer, Sayid. Not that there was a question, much less a proposal.’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘That’s what this is about? You want me down on bended knee, proposing?’
She laughed and he didn’t like the sound—so bitter. So unlike Lina. ‘Frankly, I can’t imagine you ever doing that.’ She paused as if gathering herself. ‘A proposal would have been nice but it wouldn’t make a difference. I can’t marry you.’
‘Can’t?’ Fury turned his voice into a baritone growl. ‘Or won’t?’
She didn’t even flinch. Just lifted her chin imperiously. ‘Both.’
Sayid took a long step towards her, so close the ravishing scent of her skin clogged his senses, but he was beyond being seduced. Besides, he was the master at that. Once more he lifted his arm, reached out to her and stopped, his hand hovering so close to her breast he could almost feel it. The expression in her eyes confirmed her response to his phantom caress.
‘You’ll change your mind.’ He took in her quickened pulse and the way she swayed towards him. Despite her rejection he caught the scent of female arousal as a musk undertone to that lavish rose scent. ‘You’re wet between the legs for me, aren’t you, Lina?’ Her glazed stare confirmed it. ‘You want me right here, right now. You want the pleasure I can give you. Only I can give you. You want to come with me inside you. Or against my hand, or my mouth.’
Sayid’s heart slammed against his ribcage in an urgent tattoo but he stood his ground, refusing to succumb to the need his own words evoked.
Lina swallowed hard and triumph buzzed in his veins. She shook like a leaf, trying to fight the inevitable.
‘But know this. There will be no more sex until you agree to marry me. No more climaxes. No more kisses.’ She gazed at him in disbelief. ‘Nothing, until you say yes.’
Her breathing was a raw scratch of sound. Her cheeks flushed with an erotic heat he recognised. Just talking about climaxes aroused her. Lina was as highly sexed as he. She needed him. This, if nothing else, was her secret weakness and he had no qualms about exploiting it.
Sayid was congratulating himself on finding the perfect strategy for victory when Lina stunned him by stepping back. Her chest heaved and she clung once more to the chair back, but she stood there, staring up at him as if she’d never seen him before.
Something cold and hard sank in his belly.
‘Then I’ll just have to live without.’ Her choked, uneven voice detracted from her defiance, but the look in her eyes told Sayid she was dead serious. She drew herself up to her full height. ‘Thank you for the...consideration. I’m sorry I can’t accept. I’ll pack my bags and leave the palace.’
She turned and walked towards the door.
Away from him! Dismissing him and his honourable offer.
‘Don’t walk away from me!’ His voice was a roar that filled the vast chamber. He who rarely raised his voice. ‘I didn’t give you permission to leave.’
She flinched, her shoulders lifting high, making him feel like a brute. Except that was ridiculous. He was her Sheikh and her lover. He deserved better.
Slowly Lina turned. When she did, instead of facing him with that determined, glittering gaze, she sank flat to the floor in an old-fashioned gesture of obeisance. The sort of thing he abhorred. The sort of servile gesture his autocratic uncle had loved.
Damn Lina. She did this deliberately. He was not turning into his uncle. Hadn’t he given Lina the education she’d craved? A chance to experience the world beyond Halarq’s borders?
And shown her too how to please a man. How to use her body for his pleasure.
Ice skated through him, freezing the fire in his veins.
Finally she looked up. Lina might be sprawled on the floor like some obedient courtier, but her eyes blazed.
‘You don’t really want me, Sayid. You just don’t like being crossed. When you think it through you’ll realise it’s better if I go.’
Sayid’s hands curled into fists that shook with the effort it took not to haul her up and over his shoulder.
How dare she tell him what he wanted? As if she knew best? He was doing this for her. Because what happened to her mattered to him. Yet she threw that back in his face!
‘You may rise.’ His voice was devoid of emotion. He refused to abase himself any further.
Lina rose from the carpet with a grace that only irked him.
‘You may go.’
Was that a flash of hurt in her expression? Sayid couldn’t be sure but it gave him hope, even as he felt a pang in response. He knew he’d prevail but he’d prefer to resolve this as soon as possible. He sighed. There’d be no resolution right now. Lina was so stubborn it would take a few hours at least, if not days for her to see what was before her eyes—that marriage was the ideal solution for them both.
‘Don’t pack your bags. You’re not leaving the palace.’
She spun round in a swirl of skirts. His eyes dropped to her long, shapely legs then back up to her face.
‘But it’s best if I—’
‘You agreed to work with the community liaison team to pay your debt to me.’ He paused, watching her frown. ‘Then you agreed to be my lover for seven days as an alternative.’
He waited for some sign that she understood the implications. When she didn’t he went on, keeping his own features expressionless. ‘We’ve only had five days together so the debt isn’t paid.’
Lina opened her mouth as if to protest, then snapped it shut, her eyes narrowing on him. Sayid didn’t care about her anger. What he cared about was getting what he wanted.
‘Which means you still owe me for your education. I’ll tell my staff you’ll be working with them again in community liaison. We’ll discuss later just how long it will take you to pay off the debt.’
He turned to his desk.
He had her now, he knew. Her honour wouldn’t let her leave till she’d repaid the debt, even if she resented his devil’s bargain. Given time Lina would see the wisdom of his scheme. And with her passionate nature it wouldn’t be long before she was knocking on his door, begging him to make love to her. She might put on a fine show now but she wouldn’t resist indefinitely.
Sayid hid a satisfied smile as he sat at his desk and looked towards the door.
Lina had gone. For there was nothing she could say, no argument she could make.
He’d won.
It