His reefing away both startled and dismayed her. Her eyes flew open to find him taking a backward step from her and running an agitated hand through his hair. His face was flushed and his breathing ragged.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
He stared at her, before shaking his head, then smiling a rather wry smile.
‘I was going way too fast.’
‘But I liked you going fast.’
‘You wouldn’t in the end.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I know.’ He smiled another of those wry smiles. ‘Sheikhs know these things. Now I suggest you go get the rest of that dress off by yourself. Take a shower. And put on something more comfortable. Both our bags should be in the dressing room leading off from the bathroom. Or so I was told.’
Charlotte didn’t want to do any of those things. She wanted to stay with him and have him kiss her some more. And play with her some more, then just take her, without too much preamble. Her nipples were still hard but the rest of her body was in meltdown mode. She wanted him.
But she would not beg.
‘I won’t be long,’ she said, hurrying into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.
The sight of herself in the huge vanity mirror was a shock. How decadent she looked standing there, half-naked. Spinning away, she hurried into the adjoining dressing room, where she stripped off the rest of her clothes, not returning to the bathroom till she was totally naked.
As she walked over to the vanity to get one of the complimentary shower caps, she glanced at herself in the mirror again.
Louise always said she had a fabulous body. Charlotte thought it was good, but not fabulous. Her hips were a bit wide. But she looked in proportion and she’d never felt ashamed of it.
But she’d been brought up in a modest household where you didn’t flaunt yourself. Being totally naked in front of anyone had always been a problem with her, but especially the opposite sex. Mostly, in the past, she would undress then dive into bed and keep under the sheets.
Charlotte had long ago realised her inhibitions were a contributing factor in the ultimate failure of all her relationships, especially the one with Dwayne.
Strangely, though, she did not feel any of her usual shyness with Daniel. She wanted him to see her naked. Wanted him to make love to her, to be inventive.
Her hands lifted to lightly touch her nipples, producing a delicious quiver. She did it again, then cupped her whole breasts as Daniel had.
Her responses rocked Charlotte. Daniel wasn’t even here and she was finding pleasure in her body.
Louise was right. This had to be lust, not love.
It was a liberating realisation, because she didn’t want to love Daniel. She did, however, want to make love with him.
The bathroom door suddenly opening behind her had her snatching her hands away from her still throbbing breasts and whirling round.
‘I didn’t hear the shower,’ Daniel said as he entered and walked towards her, seemingly unaware of being totally naked. Not so Charlotte. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him.
‘Why don’t we share?’ he asked, and with one smoothly sweeping action scooped her up into his arms.
Charlotte didn’t object. How could she? She was having enough trouble just breathing.
He held her with one hand whilst he turned on both taps in the made-for-two shower, adjusting the temperature and the shower heads till he was satisfied. Then he lowered her carefully to that spot where the two sprays met in the middle.
‘My hair,’ she did protest when the warm water started streaming down over her head.
‘Don’t worry about your hair,’ he commanded, and pulled her against him again, not quite so roughly as the last time. But there was still an intensity in his body language which Charlotte found incredibly exciting. She liked to think he wasn’t quite as cool as usual, that she had rattled him today.
She could feel his hardness pressed against her stomach, evoking wild images in her imagination.
‘Are we going to do it here?’ she asked him breathlessly.
He frowned down at her. ‘Do you want to?’
‘Yes.’
‘Hell, Charlotte.’
‘What?’
‘You have to stop doing this to me.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Making me lose the plot. I’m the sheikh here. You’re the captive bride. You do as I say.’
‘Do I have to? I mean… I don’t want to wait.’
‘You might not have noticed but I’m not wearing a condom. They’re back in the bedroom. Can’t you wait a few minutes?’
She really couldn’t.
‘Unless there’s some other reason why you have to use protection,’ she blurted out, ‘I—er—I’m on the Pill.’
‘On the Pill,’ he repeated, and a shudder ran through him. ‘You shouldn’t have told me that, Charlotte.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because men will often say anything not to use condoms. Men can be very selfish. And stupid. I’ve always used protection myself. I’m somewhat paranoid about getting a girl pregnant. But you only have my word for that.’
‘Your word is fine by me,’ she said. ‘I know you wouldn’t lie about something as serious as that.’
‘God, woman.’
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’ He shook his head, splashing water all over the place. ‘This is going to be a new experience for me.’
‘What is?’
‘Being with someone like you.’
‘What does that mean? What’s different about me?’
‘Everything. Now shut up and let me kiss you.’
She shut up and let him kiss her and kiss her till she was squirming against him. Once again, his mouth burst away, his eyes flashing her a warning.
‘Enough of that,’ he growled, and spun her in his arms so that her back was to him. The water splashed down over her head and body, forming rivulets that streamed down.
‘Wind your arms back around my waist,’ he told her.
It was an incredibly exciting position, leaving her entire front totally accessible to his hands whilst hers were linked behind him as if she was, indeed, a captive bride. She could feel her heart thudding behind her ribs, her chest rising and falling.
Her heart raced even more when he dribbled shower gel over her breasts then started to caress them. The slipperiness of the liquid soap made everything more sensual and sensitive. Soft little sounds of pleasure escaped her lips every time he grazed one of her nipples.
When he abandoned her breasts and moved southward, Charlotte sucked in her stomach. When he passed beyond her navel, her whole belly started quivering. He was going to touch her down there. Her breath caught in anticipation and then his hand was sliding into the slickened folds of her sex. Every internal muscle she owned tensed, and waited. Waited and craved. His fingers slowly slid inside, moving as deep as they could before withdrawing a little then pushing deep again.
And again. And again.
Her