Her heart was now bumping its way up her throat. She knew what he was asking. It thrilled and terrified her in equal measure. This had all happened so fast.
And yet it felt so right.
It seemed like a cliché, the star-struck traveller falling for a handsome man in a foreign and romantic city. If she’d told her family or friends at home, they’d be either amazed or appalled. Sceptical, too, as they always had been of her crazy dreams.
Travelling, Gracie? But why? Everything you could ever want is right here.
Her parents hadn’t left Illinois in over a decade. As for Jenna, her best friend from high school, she wanted only to go to Illinois State and marry her high-school sweetheart. No one had really got Gracie’s desire to see more of the world, to live large and to the full.
‘Gracie?’ Malik stroked her cheek again, making her shiver. ‘You don’t have to. We can stay here.’
‘No, I want to.’ She gave him a bemused smile. ‘But you remember you were my first kiss, right? I’m not exactly experienced in this type of thing. I don’t know...’
‘Nor am I,’ Malik reminded her. ‘I just want to spend time with you. We don’t have to do anything.’
But when Malik kissed her, she wanted to do all sorts of things. Over and over again.
‘Okay,’ Gracie whispered, and he led her from the fountain.
* * *
Malik’s hand nearly shook as he swiped the key card to his hotel suite. He couldn’t wait to have Gracie in his arms again. Thank God his grandfather liked his privacy and insisted on them having separate suites. Thank God Malik hadn’t encountered anyone but a few sleepy security guards in the hotel foyer. The last thing he wanted right now was his grandfather’s icy rage or disapproval.
Gracie stepped into the suite, her eyes wide with admiration. ‘This is a lot better than the youth hostel where I’m staying.’
‘But now you are here, and this suite is for us to enjoy. So let’s enjoy it.’ He flipped on some music from the sound system discreetly hidden in a panelled cabinet. The low, sonorous notes of a solo saxophone drifted through the room. Gracie smiled, but he saw the hesitation in her eyes.
With a trembling laugh Gracie swayed a bit to the music. Malik smiled but did not join in the dance. Yet another part of his education that had been neglected. Gracie shrugged as she stopped swaying.
‘I don’t know what I’m doing,’ she admitted, and Malik laughed softly.
‘I don’t, either.’
‘Don’t you?’ She shook her head slowly. ‘It seems hard to imagine. You’re so...’ she laughed and spread her hands ‘...fit.’
‘Thank you,’ Malik said dryly. He’d never really considered his looks either way, except for how he bore himself in public, with the regal dignity required of the next Sultan of Alazar. Yes, if he was honest, he’d noticed a few admiring glances from women, quickly veiled, when he’d been out in public, but they hadn’t affected him the way that Gracie’s artless confession did. He cared what she thought. What she felt.
And the warmth he saw now in her eyes made him reach for her. She came willingly, breathlessly, her soft, slender body colliding with the hard planes of his chest and thighs and making him ache.
He didn’t kiss her, not yet; he wanted simply to savour the feel of her against him, her head tilted upwards and her smile telling him everything he needed to know.
And then, despite his uncertainty, his lack of expertise, the barricades that had been thrown up in every area of his life to keep him safe, he knew exactly what to do. He knew what he wanted to do, and he did it, stroking her face and hair, brushing the tips of his fingers feather-light across the ridge of her nose, the arches of her eyebrows. She exhaled a single, shaky breath.
‘I feel like a plateful of jelly.’
‘I feel like I am on fire,’ he answered, and trailed his finger from the curve of her cheek to the enticing hollow of her throat. Gracie bit her lip, nearly making him groan. He rested his fingertip in the hollow of her throat for another moment before sliding it to the delectable, shadowy vee between her breasts. She let out a soft gasp, and he glanced up to gauge her response.
‘Is this...?’
She nodded, her eyes huge, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip. ‘Yes.’
He’d barely begun touching her, and yet already his body ached and throbbed. He could feel the intensity of her response in the way she shuddered, her body taut and straining.
He skimmed his fingers down her front and then slid his hand around her waist, his palm moulding to the dip and curve of her body, fingers spreading and seeking.
Gracie let out a shaky laugh. ‘This is so...’
‘I know.’
She rested her head against his shoulder, her hair falling across his chest. ‘I’m shaking.’
‘Are you afraid?’
‘No. I just...feel so much.’
‘As do I.’ He put his arms around her, and they swayed to the music, her breasts brushing his chest, everything in him aching. If he could have held this moment for ever, he would have. It was breathtakingly perfect.
Except being in such close proximity to Gracie made him long for her all the more; he pulled her even closer, their hips bumping, and a soft sigh escaped her. The music ended on a long, lonely note, and Gracie tilted her head up to look at him.
One glance at her heart-shaped face, her lips slightly parted, and Malik had to kiss her again.
Her mouth opened beneath his and one hand clutched at his shirt. He felt as if he could kiss her for ever; he didn’t want to do anything else, just lose himself in her lips, in her softness.
Then her hand tightened on his chest and a little moan escaped her, and he realised he wanted so much more than kisses. And so did Gracie.
She pulled away from him a little, her expression dazed, her lips swollen. ‘Malik...’
Even though it half killed him to say it, he made himself mutter, ‘If you want to stop...’
‘Stop? No.’ A small, tremulous smile played about her mouth and she shook her head. ‘I was thinking the opposite.’
Relief poured through him, along with a tingling, electric anticipation.
‘Thank God,’ he said, and, taking her hand, he led her further into the suite, and into the bedroom.
In the dim lighting of the bedroom Gracie looked innocent and pure, her eyes wide as she waited for his lead. And despite his own inexperience, Malik knew what to do. What he wanted to do.
He pulled her towards him, his mouth finding hers, his tongue plundering its softness. He skimmed his hands under her shirt, the pleasure of her silky bare skin so intense he sucked in a hard breath. Her breasts were small and perfect, and he cupped them, drawing his thumbs over their peaks. Gracie shuddered.
Suddenly his clothes felt cumbersome. In one fluid movement he pulled his shirt off and Gracie’s mouth dropped open slightly.
‘Wow,’ she breathed, and then laughed softly, self-conscious.
‘Can I...?’ He gestured to her billowy T-shirt and she pulled it off. Her skin was golden and lightly freckled and Malik ached to explore every inch. Without breaking his gaze, Gracie reached behind and unsnapped her bra, dropping it to the floor. Her breasts were high and proud and perfect. Malik reached out and stroked one with his finger, felt the tremor of Gracie’s response.
In answer she placed a hand on his chest, and he felt as if he’d been branded. He pulled her towards him, groaning at the sweet collision of their bodies,