Unconsciously, her arms started to move to cover herself. He captured them and pinned them down beside her hips. ‘Don’t deny me, Allegra. Stay,’ he commanded gutturally. ‘Let me look and have my fill.’
He let go of her, staggered away for a handful of seconds and returned with a condom. Dropping to his knees, he framed her body with his hands. From neck to thigh, he caressed her while his eyes devoured her. By the time he hooked his hands behind her knees and parted her, Allegra had forgotten what it felt like to breathe. Each caress pushed her higher on a plane of pure heart-pounding desire, where plea-filled words crowded her brain, ready to fall should he keep her waiting a moment longer.
As if he knew the depth of her desperation, he crashed forward, took her mouth in another voracious kiss. Their tongues duelled, their mouths melding in bruising kiss after bruising kiss, until with a groan he yanked his towel free, donned the protection and positioned himself between her thighs.
With one hand locked in her hair, he tilted her head up. ‘Look at me.’ Lust throbbed in his voice, but there was also a tinge of anger.
And when she lifted lust-drugged eyes to his, she witnessed a sliver of cruelty in there. Not enough to stop her though. She exhaled as she felt him, solid and strong, against her core. ‘Open wider for me.’
She complied with a helpless groan, then whimpered when he still hesitated. ‘Rahim, please.’
A fevered flush flared across his cheekbones, a sheen of sweat coating his upper lip as he gritted out, ‘Tell me again that this is what you want.’
Allegra angled her hips, desperately bringing herself closer to the promise of oblivion. ‘Yes. I want you, please. Take me— Oh!’
Rahim drove into her, his penetration sure and powerful and complete enough to drive her breath from her lungs. On the heels of his uncompromising possession came a surge of pleasure so amazing Allegra could only stare up at him in wonder.
Then he moved.
Hot, guttural Dar-Amanian words fell from his lips and a visible shudder shook his frame as he slammed back in, then held himself deep and solid inside her.
‘Heaven above, you feel incredible,’ he groaned when he moved again.
Allegra couldn’t find words, so she held on tight as he increased his scorching rhythm, taking her with a mastery that heaped pleasure on top of pleasure with each thrust. Somewhere along the line, he released his grip on her hair, and transferred his hold to her hip. Holding her steady, he took her higher, deeper still, all the while kissing her, and muttering indecipherable words against her skin when he drew away.
The raw beauty of the act seared her soul, and when the pressure got too much, tears filled her eyes.
‘Rahim...’ Allegra didn’t know what she wanted. All she knew was that the feeling inside her was too much to contain. Sliding her hands up his jaw to his cheeks, she cradled his face in her hands, stared deep into his eyes as her world exploded into flames and ecstasy buffeted her in relentless waves.
His own scorching release followed swiftly on the heels of hers. Allegra watched in awe as he threw back his arrogant head, gave a hoarse cry before a series of deep shudders raked his frame. He collapsed on top of her, and their breaths mingled as their racing hearts began to calm.
Minutes passed by before Rahim rose on one elbow and brushed her hair away from her face. Although she’d closed her eyes at some point, Allegra felt his keen scrutiny. But she wasn’t prepared for the words that fell like barbs from his lips.
‘If this is how you make amends, then I’m all for it.’
She stiffened, her heart clenching with hurt despite the knowledge that she’d brought his response on herself. Opening her eyes, she met fierce, hazel ones. ‘You could at least wait until I’m dressed before you hurl the insults,’ she breathed.
‘Insults? I thought you were all for speaking freely and honestly? I in turn meant what I just said. Give me another taste of your body and you can consider your apology accepted and your slate wiped clean,’ he said. ‘That is if that was what you really came here for?’ A cynical smile touched his lips, but it was replaced a moment later by male appreciation as he transferred his gaze from her face to her body, then back again.
She lowered her gaze, unable to withstand the challenge and suspicion in his eyes. Her insides clenched in shame at how utterly she’d let herself down since stepping foot in Dar-Aman.
‘It was...but my gesture was finite.’ She started to move away, but he caught her arm and held her still.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
‘Back to my room, of course.’
One finger caught her beneath her chin and compelled her gaze to his. Hunger, wilder than before, blazed in his eyes. ‘I told you I intended to have my fill. I’ve barely started, Allegra. You’re going nowhere until I’m done with you.’
The shameless part of her that craved what he offered melted with a swiftness that robbed her of breath. She scrambled to gather a semblance of thought as his head lowered dangerously towards hers. ‘I have no intention of being your plaything, Rahim. I’ll leave that to the women in your harem.’
He looked surprised for a moment before a low laugh spilled from his lips. ‘I stopped having playthings the moment I hit puberty, habibi.’
The absence of denial of his harem set a different blaze in her belly that made her squirm to get away from him. ‘Whatever. I’m still leaving in the morning.’
‘And I have no intention of stopping you,’ he parried with arrogant ease, as if she was one of the many ornaments in his palace to be taken or left at his whim. ‘But there are many hours between now and morning and I intend to fill them all.’
Allegra told herself she should be thankful that Rahim had proved her right in one aspect—he was a playboy who bedded and discarded women as frequently as he changed his regal clothes. She told herself she ought to have more self-respect, leave while the absurd feelings of hurt and bewildering anger weren’t choking her.
But then his hand slid down her belly to the place that still throbbed hard and mercilessly from his possession. A weak, helpless moan escaped her before she could kill it.
Even to her own ears, the sound of surrender was enough to halt her in her tracks.
She would never see Rahim Al-Hadi again. He was the very epitome of a no-strings-attached one-night stand. Hell, by this time tomorrow, he’d have forgotten she existed.
Why couldn’t she do the same? Use him as he was using her?
Because that’s not who you are...
‘Stay with me, Allegra,’ he demanded harshly.
Allegra’s disturbing thoughts melted as his fingers curled, expertly teasing her heated flesh. She tried to shake her head but he only increased his exquisite torture. Her body, having had a taste of what pleasures were in store for it, completely betrayed her, undulating to his command as bliss overtook her.
‘Stay with me,’ he demanded again his tone gentler. His head dipped and he caught her nipple in his mouth. His tongue swirled around the bud before he pulled it deep into his mouth.
With a deep groan, Allegra gasped, ‘Yes.’
At some point, he carried her from the fireplace, up the stairs to his bed. In between intoxicating bouts of lovemaking, Allegra took in the view from her lofty position, her senses drowning in the wonder of floating on a bed of dreams.
But dream turned into nightmare somewhere around dawn when she jerked awake, the ephemeral thoughts that had been niggling at the edge of her brain finally sending her on a frantic search. Hands shaking,