Grinning, she skipped over to the huge bed and perched on the end, away from the mirror. She pasted a bored expression on her face just as Tariq opened the door. He stopped. She saw him swallow, and for once she knew exactly what her husband was thinking. He wanted to throw her on the bed and teach her not to tease him. Except he wasn’t sure that she was teasing. And, Jasmine decided, he was too much in control if he could resist that primitive urge.
She jumped off the bed and walked over. “Ready?”
He nodded but didn’t seem to remember that he was blocking the door. Successfully fighting the urge to tease him, she pushed at his chest. He obediently moved aside to let her pass, then followed.
Once inside, he didn’t take a cushion on the other side of the low table set with food. Instead, he sat down beside her, propping himself up with one hand flat on the cushion behind her. His shoulder and chest pressed against her and when she leaned back a little, his arm provided a hard masculine backrest.
Jasmine tried to steady her breathing, and picked up a plateful of small tarts of some kind. She offered the plate to Tariq. He lifted one dark eyebrow in invitation. With a blush she couldn’t control, she picked up a tart and fed it to him. He almost caught her fingers on his second bite. Laughing, she pulled away just in time.
Her husband had a definite glint in his eye, but she was determined that she wouldn’t be the only one losing control tonight. He was coming with her. However, attempting to ignore the way the panther by her side was throwing her body into chaos was proving to be difficult.
With a forced smile, she picked up a tart and took a bite. “I’ve never eaten anything like this.” The savory pastry was spicy, with a hint of unfamiliar herbs, but delicious. To her surprise, Tariq reached out and filched the rest of it.
“Hey!” Surprise overcame her inner trembling.
“I told you I was hungry. Feed me quickly.”
Jasmine told herself she was imagining the double entendre in his words—surely he hadn’t meant that he was hungry? She was getting ahead of herself. She mock-scowled at him, but picked up a kebab and fed it to her sheik. He sprawled beside her, seemingly content to eat whatever she chose, as long as she offered it to him. Tariq had never done this before and Jasmine found that she enjoyed cosseting him. Today, for the first time, she’d begun to understand precisely how enormous his duties were. It made her want to fill his life with pleasure, so that those duties wouldn’t burn out the bright light inside him, though that same light threatened to make her love for him impossibly stronger.
“I don’t think I can eat dessert.” Some time later, she put a hand on her stomach. It wasn’t terribly full, but she was aware that she might be engaging in some strenuous exercise soon.
Tariq’s eyes traveled in a slow journey from her lips to her breasts, to the curve of her stomach. This time she couldn’t fight the glow that tinged her skin the color at the heart of Zulheil Rose. The instant he became aware of her response, he ran a finger across the top of her breasts. The fleeting caress made her feel weak and tingly inside.
“We’ll leave it here.” Tariq rose to his feet and held out a hand to help her up. “In case you get hungry later.”
Jasmine almost stumbled when she caught the meaning of his husky words. However, when she looked up, she saw that he continued to exercise rigid control over his expression. If she surrendered now, she wouldn’t be any closer to breaking through the sensual barriers between them than she’d been at the start of the evening.
What now? she thought, frantic at the prospect of failure. He wasn’t aroused enough if he wasn’t ripping off her clothes. She was sick of being gently undressed each night. She wanted her passionate, insatiable and teasing lover back. He led her into their bedroom, stopped by the bed and lifted his fingers to the buttons on her blouse.
Jasmine took a deep breath and pushed Tariq’s hands away. They dropped at once, but he’d already half unbuttoned her blouse, leaving her breasts in imminent danger of falling out.
“You do not wish to proceed?” He was painfully correct in his speech.
“Tariq, would you grant me a boon?” The old-fashioned words seemed appropriate. She was dressed like a princess from a fairy tale, or perhaps a sensual goddess from myth, and in front of her stood a dark warrior she had to woo to her side or all would be lost.
“You do not have to ask a boon, Jasmine. I accept your desire not to…” He began to back away. Only the way he clenched his fists at his sides revealed his true feelings.
She gripped his shirt in desperate appeal. “I want you.”
His hands went to her buttons again. She shook her “head.”
“What is it, Mina?” He sounded impatient, more like the lover she’d known before he’d started to withdraw. And he’d called her Mina.
“I just…” She bit her lip. “Would it be okay if I touched you tonight?” This time, she went for his buttons.
He groaned. “I’ve told you, touching me is permitted at any time.”
“But I want you not to touch me.”
“I do not understand.” He was wary again.
“I lose my mind when you touch me, and for once I want to be able to explore you. Please?” She knew asking him to give her control was a risk. But if he said no, she’d just keep trying, she decided. He was already acting with more heat than he’d shown for the past two weeks. She undid the button she’d been toying with and moved on to the next one.
His hand touched her hair in a light caress before he pulled out the pins. The soft curls tumbled to her shoulders in a fiery waterfall. “And what am I to do while you…explore me?” She didn’t miss either the slight hesitation or the abrasive roughness of his voice.
Ten
Jasmine undid another button. “Just lie back and enjoy it. I’ll do all the work.”
Silence filled the room, broken only with the sounds of their breathing. Jasmine bit her lip again and stopped herself from pleading.
“I’ll allow you to do this.” His hands settled on her exposed hips, his skin warm against hers.
Jasmine smiled and reached up on tiptoe to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”
He appeared startled by her open enjoyment of the situation, but was willing to do as she wished. She drew back and finished unbuttoning his shirt, then pulled the tails out of his pants to complete the task. His beautiful chest felt as hard as steel under her questing fingers. Delighted by the freedom to explore, she ran her fingernails down the center line of his chest. He sucked in a breath.
“I love your chest.” She threw caution to the winds. “Every time I see you come out of the shower, I want to pull you into bed and kiss you everywhere.” She moved her fingers to his flat male nipples and then ran her nails over both. His groan was music to her ears.
Emboldened by his response, she wrapped her arms around his rigid body and put her hands flat on his back. His skin was so hot it almost burned. Then she flicked her tongue over one of his nipples. His hand moved up her back to clench in her hair. Delighted, she continued to kiss his chest, alternating soft warm kisses with wet openmouthed ones. She kissed her way down to his abdomen until she was kneeling in front of him. When she reached the waistband of his pants, he tugged on her hair with innate gentleness and pulled her back up.
“Mina,” he whispered, against her mouth. “Have you had enough exploring?” His voice was heavy, sensual, encouraging.
She gasped when he sucked her lower lip into his own mouth. He took his time kissing her, bestowing nibbling love bites on her lips before