Her Secret Page 4

  “We’re taking this at my pace, Kate. Not yours.” His eyes traveled down her body, taking in everything, from the delicate blush of her throat to her full breasts heaving under the thin material of her shirt, begging for his attention.

  “I don’t like your pace,” she shot back. “What’s wrong with speeding things up a bit?”

  His finger moved from her cheek down her neck, trailing a path of fire across skin bared by the V collar of her shirt. “I like the pace.”

  “That’s because you’re in control.”

  “Exactly. I’m in control.”

  She wiggled, trying to get away, but he slid that tantalizing finger across her breast and she gasped. Everything stilled. She stared up at him, not sure what he might do next.

  When she discovered his next move, she groaned as the heat hit her. That finger, that horrible, tantalizing finger, shifted and moved, circling her nipple. Not touching it! Oh no!

  “Tal! This isn’t fair!” she gasped, torn between trying to shift away from that tormenting finger and wanting to lean into it.

  He laughed and even that rough sound filled her with anticipation and eagerness.

  “I never said I was fair,” he pointed out. “I love how your body is begging me to touch you. Do you want me to touch you, Kate?” he asked, that soft, deep, tormenting voice sent heat right to her core. She shifted her hips, trying to entice him in the only way she knew how. Instinctively, she moved, wanting more. Wanting to discover this man and all of his secrets. Wanting him to discover her right back. At the moment, she’d settle for what it would feel like if he explored her breast.

  “I don’t understand…!” she gasped even as she arched her back, wordlessly begging him to touch her nipple.

  He smiled, enjoying the way her body responded. “Because I can.”

  She whimpered, not sure how to handle him. “So, if I were to stop, you would as well?” she asked breathlessly.

  He chuckled as he gripped her hips in firm hands. “I like that you don’t want me to stop, Kate.” Then he did it. His mouth closed over her nipple and she screamed, her back arching until her hips brushed his lap. Just as he’d anticipated, the flood of pleasure overwhelmed her and she tried to move away, to break the hold of his lips. But he wouldn’t let her get away and continued gently but unmercifully torturing the aching peak through the flimsy material. He wanted to tell her that it would be exponentially better once she was naked without clothing in the way, but he was having a difficult time thinking. The way she arched into his mouth, her body trembling, he could barely think, had trouble controlling his need to bury himself in her heat. Part of him roared, wanting to rip her clothes off so that he could explore every inch of her naked body.

  By the thinnest thread, he remembered his plan. He remembered that he wanted to get to know her, to learn about her.

  It was painful to pull away, to keep his hands from pulling the thin cotton down to discover what color her nipples were, but somehow, he managed it. Just barely.

  Lifting her up, he noted with intense pleasure that her eyes were glazed with passion and she trembled right down to her toes. He moved her so that she was straddling his hips. Damn, he thought as he surveyed her body, he could look at her like this all day!

  Of course, there were many things that would be better. More pleasurable. But he couldn’t discount the intense pleasure of seeing her almost limp with need. Her eyes were still slightly out of focus and her fingers were still wrapped tightly around his arms, her nails biting into his skin. He liked that, he realized.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, then watched with fascination as her lashes fluttered, slowly revealing those beautiful, blue eyes. He couldn’t believe how stunning she was and he wanted to possess her. But it would be better at a slower pace. Better if they both savored the journey.

  “Why did you stop?” she asked, her voice quivering with awareness and need.

  “Because we’re going snorkeling,” he announced, standing up with her in his arms, lowering her legs and feet until she was standing on her own. But he held her steady until he was sure she wouldn’t topple over.

  “Snorkeling,” she repeated blankly, as if the word were foreign to her somehow.

  “Yes. Snorkeling. These are some of the best waters in the world for snorkeling. Have you ever tried it?”

  Kate stared up at him, trying to make sense of the conversation. They were going snorkeling. That meant that he wasn’t going to make love to her. But…he’d been…and she’d…!

  “What’s going on?” she demanded, her muddled mind beginning to grasp that this man was a tease! He clearly enjoyed driving her to the edge of reason and then pulling away. Not fair!

  “It’s called foreplay, Kate,” he told her with amusement. “Long, extended foreplay.” He pulled her back into his arms, bending down until his lips could nuzzle the sensitive skin along her neck behind her ear. The shell of her ear. “It makes the whole adventure more interesting.”

  She inhaled sharply when he hit an extra sensitive spot, shuddering with the thrill until he moved on.

  And then he pulled away again. “I promise, when we finally make love, we’ll both be ready for it.”

  She didn’t like it. Not one little bit. “You mean, I’ve waited twenty-five years to have sex and when I finally meet a man who I want to do the deed with,” she gritted, feeling her cheeks flush red with embarrassment, “he wants to go even slower than molasses in December?”

  He kissed the top of her head, enjoying her obvious frustration. “Trust me,” he told her, then took her hand and pulled her out of the salon area. “Let’s get into the water, shall we?”

  Kate went along, but she was unaware of the furious expression in her eyes. She was trying to hide her frustration, trying not to give him any more power. Maybe if he didn’t realize how badly he affected her, he wouldn’t continue?

  She wasn’t sure. After all these years, she’d thought she would know what to do when the time finally arrived. It wasn’t like she didn’t know about sex. As an actress, she’d mimicked having sex with her movie partners many times. She knew what it was like to have a man touch her.

  Well, she’d thought she did. All those times she’d been almost naked in front of the camera, pretending to react, pretending to make love…that had been nothing compared to the real thing. There was something about Talal that she didn’t understand.

  “Here,” he announced as he opened the door to one of those twenty cabins that he’d mentioned earlier. “There are bathing suits in the closet. Find one that fits and meet me up on deck. We’ll go snorkeling and I’ll introduce you to the underwater world. Trust me, you’ll love it.” And with another quick kiss on the top of her head, he left, pulling the door closed behind him.

  She glared at the door for several long moments, not sure she wanted to play along with this foreplay plan of his. Every cell in her body vibrated with excitement and need. As she looked around at the luxurious cabin, she almost laughed aloud. For so long, she’d scoffed at people who complained about sexual frustration, never having experienced it before. But now…oh, yes. She got it now.

  And it wasn’t fun!

  Pulling open the closet, she peered inside, surprised at the number of items inside. And they were all in her size? She didn’t understand, but then again, nothing about this day made a whole lot of sense.

  Shoving most of the outfits out of the way, she found several bathing suits. A few were one piece suits, but then she found the two piece ensembles and an idea began to form. Could she do it? Could she give Talal a bit of his own back? He wanted to tease and taunt. He wanted to take things slowly, to enjoy the foreplay.

  Her smile grew wider as she held up a crimson bikini, admiring the effect in the wide mirror. It would take courage and a whole lotta guts. But yes, she could do this.

  Stripping out of her clothes, she pulled on the bikini then surveyed her figure in the mirror. Years of acting had been accompanied by years of physical tra
ining. Her body was slim and toned, muscular in all the right places. Thankfully, her curves were all her own, which gave her an added boost of confidence. So when she turned around, looking at her figure at various angles, she knew that she looked good.

  Picking up a towel from the bathroom, she pulled the door open. At the last minute, she thought about Talal and all of his muscles, the way his eyes heated up when she walked towards him. Wimping out slightly, she turned back to the closet and found exactly what she was looking for: a cover up. Thankfully, it was a sheer cover up, made of white linen. But it still did the job. Both jobs, actually. It allowed her to cover up slightly, but still entice. In fact, when she glanced into the mirror once again, she realized that the thin material was doing a better job of highlighting her figure than just the bikini alone.

  With a smile, she grabbed her sunglasses, the towel and then pulled open the door, heading back the way she’d come. She got lost a couple of times, but eventually found her way up onto the deck. And there he was. Goodness, he looked amazing! He was wearing a pair of swimming shorts and…that was it. All of his glorious muscles were on display in amazing, magnificent detail. She stood there for a long moment, just drinking him in. None of the actors who spent most of their days working out could compare. He was shockingly strong! And even had an enticing tattoo on his right shoulder and arm. She’d never really been drawn to tattoos, but she’d never seen one on Talal before.

  Kate accepted that she was now a tattoo-loving convert!

  What was better? At least for today, he was all hers! All of those muscles would be hers to explore when he finally allowed the two of them to make love.

  Taking a deep breath and clutching the towel tightly, she approached the man who literally made her drool with desire. How strange to have been around beautiful people for so many years only to find the most fascinating man halfway around the world. Life was funny, she thought.

  He was talking on a cell phone so she stood back, to give him some privacy.

  Okay, so she was standing there taking him in, she admitted, if only to herself. She knew that he was gorgeous and, yeah, he intimidated her. This was going to happen, she realized. This man was going to make love to her. And she was going to make love to him! Could this vacation get any better?

  Then he turned, seeing her for the first time and he stopped speaking. He didn’t move. Well, his eyes moved. His eyes moved from the top of her head where she’d piled her hair, all the way down her figure, ending at her red-painted toenails. Once again, that silly, pointless trembling started up and she didn’t know how to deal with it. She wanted to move forward, to walk into his arms. But the way he was staring at her, with that almost angry expression, discouraged her. She couldn’t retreat either. Kate wasn’t sure if her feet were going to take her forward or backward. So she stood there, hoping he would direct her one way or another.

  He did neither. He ended his call and tossed his cell heedlessly onto a nearby chair, even though Kate suspected that the conversation hadn’t been over. He stalked towards her, his eyes locked on hers as he came closer. Closer. And then he was there! Less than an inch away, their bodies not touching.

  “So, are we going snorkeling?” she asked, looking up and him and wishing he would say something. Anything!

  He sighed, running a hand over his face. “I’m not sure now,” he admitted.

  Talal couldn’t pull his eyes away. She was gorgeous! There was just a hint of shyness that made her even more enticing. There was no arrogance about her. No vanity. She knew she was beautiful, but that was as far as it went.

  Not in his mind though! Hell no! He had to resist the temptation to pull her into his arms, to carry her off to his cabin and spend the rest of the day making love to her. He didn’t because…well, because. Because he was in control, he reminded himself. He’d deviated enough from his normal routines, from his responsibilities because this woman had taken over his mind. Now he needed to prove that he was indeed in control.

  It was barely there, but he was still in control.

  “Come,” he ordered, then softened his tone by taking her hand. “The captain has lowered the back of the ship. We’re all set to snorkel for the morning. I asked the chef to make something light for lunch so that we could go back out in the afternoon, if you wanted to explore a bit more.”

  She smiled up at him, but he noticed that the smile was still nervous. The expression didn’t reach her eyes and he hated that he’d done this to her. He’d scared her with his one word command. She was such a gentle little thing. He’d have to remember that so that he didn’t hurt her tender feelings.

  He helped her choose a mask and snorkel, and gave her a brief lesson on how to breathe underwater. “Sounds pretty simple,” she was excited to get into the water. With a swish, she lifted the white bathing suit cover-up over her head, dropping it onto a nearby chair. When she turned back, she smothered a smile at his shocked expression.

  Oh yeah! This was the payback she was hoping for. “Ready? I can’t wait to see what’s down there.” And with that, she walked over to the edge of the landing dock and bent down, hoping that he was still watching her. She made a play of sitting down, ensuring that he got an excellent view of her bottom and legs, then reached behind her, pretending to adjust the string that held her bikini top in place.

  “Are you coming?” she asked, glancing at him over her shoulder.

  That spurred him into action. He grabbed the mask and snorkel he’d chosen, bringing them to the landing dock along with two pairs of fins. “Ready,” he agreed and dove smoothly into the water.

  She was surprised by the splash and leaned back, letting out a silly screech when he grabbed her ankle.

  “I’ll help you put on the fins.” He grabbed one, his hand sliding up her calf, pretending to be helping when, in reality, he was only teasing her. “Stop squirming,” he ordered and slid the fin onto her foot. “Now the other one,” he continued, moving his fingers up her calf muscle, along her lower thigh. Kate couldn’t stop the moan as his hands teased and tortured. The man was diabolical!

  Finally, the second fin was on and she quickly pulled her mask down over her eyes and nose, following his instructions on centering the mask and putting the snorkel into her mouth carefully. Knowing she looked ridiculous with the snorkel in her mouth, she slid into the ocean, grateful for the cool water that helped dissipate the heat caused by his teasing hands and burning looks.

  “Right. This way,” he urged as he took her hand, leading her out into the water.

  For the next several hours, she followed him, enthralled with the new world under the water. They couldn’t go very deep, but they didn’t have to. This far out in the ocean, the creatures were more confident and swam closer to the surface. She eagerly looked every time he pointed one way or another, almost choking on a mouthful of water when he pointed out a sea turtle gliding through the water nearby. When she did that, he realized how tired she was and they swam back to the boat.

  “Oh my, that was wonderful!” she enthused, pulling off her mask and snorkel after he lifted her onto the landing platform. When he came up beside her, she threw her arms around his neck, laughing in excitement. “I can’t believe I’ve never done something like this before! It was wonderful!”

  She abruptly registered that she was almost naked. So was he. And she had her arms around his neck, her breasts plastered against his bare chest.

  All of the sexual tension and awareness that had been pushed back while they’d explored the depths of the ocean flooded back, nearly swamping her. “Thank you,” she whispered, feeling it deep inside of her. “That was amazing!”

  “You’re welcome,” he replied, his voice deeper. Huskier. And his eyes showed her that he was feeling that delectable burn as well.

  “Lunch?” she asked, thinking that she’d prefer to head right down to his cabin and explore other amazing things. Like his body. Like this sexual tension that neither of them could ignore. It was like a pulsing, vibrating
thing between them. A live wire than neither could avoid.

  There was a long silence and Kate knew…she could see in his eyes…that Talal’s mind was going in the same direction as hers. She held her breath, waiting, hoping he would tell her that they wouldn’t be dining quite yet.

  But she was disappointed. “Shower to get the salt water out of your hair,” he decided, his eyes moving up to her dark locks.

  Kate reached up to touch her hair, beyond trying to hide her frustration. “I’m obviously not doing this very well if you’re more concerned with the salt in my hair,” she spat, and spun around, furious with him for delaying.

  She’d taken two steps before he’d grabbed her arm and spun her back. “What’s wrong, Kate?” he asked even as he pulled her closer to him. “Are you frustrated?”

  She wanted to tell him that, yes she was very frustrated. But standing here with his body pressing against hers, she didn’t have the strength. For the past several hours, while he kept his distance from her, she’d played the temptress, trying to lure him closer, enjoying his soft, brief touches. But now, with him standing here, those strong hands pressing her stomach against his increasing erection, she couldn’t form the words. She couldn’t say what she needed.

  So, she nodded.

  With that single gesture, everything changed. She’d felt his arousal against her stomach before, but in that moment, it seemed to grow. Impossibly, she felt it press more firmly against her stomach and she could barely breathe, not sure what that might mean.

  Both of his hands slid lower, cupping her bottom as he lifted her slightly against him. “I wouldn’t want my lady to be frustrated,” he commented easily, almost as if he were having a nice little chat about the weather, but the heat in his eyes told a completely different story! The look he gave her was white hot, molten desire and it melted away every fear inside of her. Lifting up onto her toes, she kissed his chin, the only place she could reach. Her hands shifted, ever so slightly, and she heard him growl low in his throat. That sound gave her more courage and she shifted against him, her breasts sliding against the water-slick muscles of his chest.