The Royal House Of Karedes Collection Books 1-12. Кейт Хьюит
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a Maserati and it goes like a rocket.’
‘But, Highness, I have no desire to travel in a rocket—’
‘Just get in, will you?’ he snapped.
What could she do but obey him?
‘Hey,’ said Kaliq softly as he roared off down the drive in a spray of gravel, relenting slightly as he saw her knuckles whiten in her lap. ‘Just relax, little lizard.’
‘How can I relax when you drive so fast?’ she demanded hoarsely.
‘Is that a criticism?’
‘It’s an observation.’
‘You can go pretty fast yourself on a horse—I’ve seen you.’
‘A horse is different—at least then I have some element of control.’
‘You don’t trust my driving, Eleni—is that it?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Oh?’ He shot the one-word question at her.
Fear and all the conflicting emotions of the preceding night had loosened her tongue. Eleni shrugged. ‘You have a reputation for being…’
‘For being what?’ he demanded.
‘Nothing.’
‘Tell me!’
Eleni wriggled in her seat. All the rules had been turned upside down—maybe if she offended him badly enough with the truth then he would have her shipped straight back to Calista and she would be liberated from the dangerous excitement of his company. ‘Reckless,’ she said reluctantly.
His mouth hardened. He knew that—for it was no secret. And on one level Kaliq had always revelled in his daredevil, playboy image. As a teenager, he had embraced risk and clung to it like an old friend. Adrenalin was his lifeblood—as was pushing life to its very limits. It had been his way of coping with a world made dark by the disappearance of his brother—and his guilt at the part he had played in it.
Yet he had to admit that as time had gone on he had found that risk could be wearing—even boring. But making that discovery for himself was one thing—having this little nobody pointing it out to him was quite another! He felt the fire of anger and indignation and something else he didn’t quite recognise.
On impulse, he turned the car sharp left well before they reached the main gates and then bumped down the lane into a shaded little copse before coming to a halt. He switched off the ignition and turned to look at her.
‘This isn’t the way to the polo field,’ said Eleni slowly.
‘No.’
‘I thought you were worried we were going to be late for the polo.’
‘I was.’
‘Then… then what are we doing?’
‘This,’ he said fiercely. ‘As you think I’m so reckless, then let me live up to my reputation.’ And he leaned over her and began to kiss her with a passion so intense that she couldn’t have stopped him, even if she’d wanted to.
Eleni went up in flames. It was as if he’d set her on fire with that first touch of his lips and hard embrace—so that when he caught her breast almost roughly in his hand she urged him on with a fervent, ‘yes!’ And when he started pushing up her tunic and began to untie the belt of her trousers she found herself moaning her impatience—lifting her bottom to help him pull them down as if she had been born to be seduced in the cramped and confined space of a sports car.
And her eagerness seemed to ignite him—as if he needed any more encouragement! He groaned as he freed himself, so hard and so hot for her that he felt he might burst. If she had been more experienced, he might have just told her to take him in her mouth—but for some reason he found himself glad that she wasn’t. He wanted her—to plunge deep into her tightness and lose himself.
Letting the seat down so that it was almost horizontal, he loosened his clothing and positioned himself so that he could enter her. And after that first delicious thrust, he stayed completely still for a moment—just revelling in the magnificent sense of filling her with himself, staring down at the darkening of her eyes and the slow pinkening of her cheeks.
‘By the desert storm,’ he murmured, and began to move inside her.
It all happened very quickly. It seemed only seconds before Eleni was gasping with the same sweet pleasure that she had so recently discovered—and something in her swift orgasm seemed to please him because she was half aware that he was watching her before finally he jerked against her body with a low, wild groan of his own.
He did not move. They stayed like that for seconds—or maybe it was minutes—until he had stilled inside her. He cradled her head against his chest with his hand, stroking it almost absently as he struggled to free himself from the dreamy lethargy which had settled over him like a soft blanket and was quite unlike anything he’d ever known before. How could it be that a functional and urgent coupling in his car could feel this good?
He wrapped a silken curl around his finger. ‘You learn very quickly,’ he commented unsteadily.
Aware of a sudden danger—of the strange desire to tell him that he made her heart sing—Eleni pulled her head away from his chest. ‘Am I to be judged like a horse in the field?’ she questioned lightly.
His hand skated down to rest proprietorially on her bottom, letting it splay over the silken-soft skin. ‘Well, you do have a magnificent flank,’ he teased.
Automatically, she whispered her fingertips over the iron-hard muscle of his thigh. ‘And so do you.’
Kaliq swallowed, feeling himself stir once again. It was bizarre how easily and how comfortably she had slipped into the shadowy world of intimacy, he thought—but her words reminded him of where he was, and who with. He glanced at the heavy gold timepiece which gleamed at his wrist. ‘We had better get moving,’ he said, his gaze raking over her critically. He sighed. She looked exactly like a woman who had just been ravaged in the back of a car. ‘Can you repair your appearance?’ he demanded.
The pleasure of that urgent coupling was shattered as surely as an egg dropping onto stones from a great height—spattering her with shame and the realisation of how she must look. How quickly he could change from ardent lover to cruel critic, she thought.
‘I will do my best,’ she said tightly.
As he reversed the car back along the road and renewed their journey Eleni sat and brushed her hair—not caring that he kept glancing at the abundant fall, like a snake fascinated by a charmer.
‘You should wear it like that all the time,’ he commented.
‘It is not practical on horseback,’ said Eleni tartly, for his earlier words had stung her.
‘Are you angry with me?’ Now why the hell was he asking her that?
‘I just think it is unrealistic for you to expect me to look… neat… when you have been climbing all over me.’
Kaliq bit back a smile. He should be remonstrating with her for daring to berate her sheikh, not admiring her feistiness. ‘I thought you liked me climbing all over you.’
‘That isn’t the point.’
They arrived just as the match was starting and at least the thundering of the horses’ hooves on the grass was a welcome distraction from Eleni’s distracted and erotic thoughts as she tried to ignore the towering presence of the dark sheikh at her side. Or the attention he was getting. The polo field was absolutely packed with spectators—including some of the most beautiful and outrageously dressed women she had ever seen.
And every single one of them seemed to be staring at Kaliq.
‘All the women are looking at you,’ she blurted out, before