Expecting the Sheikh's Baby Read online

  She wanted him. Oh, how she wanted him. She wanted to know how it would feel to have him turn her into a mass of mindless feminine need.

  Funny that Carl should enter her mind at that moment. She’d never wanted him with the same desperation. But then Carl’s idea of lovemaking had entailed a once-a-week session whether needed or not. Afterward, Karen had always felt somewhat used, cheated, unsatisfied, and she hadn’t known how to tell him. He hadn’t asked, either.

  Forcing her ex-fiancé from her mind, Karen turned her focus solely on her new husband. With a good deal of bravado, she inched closer to him and rested her lips against his back. Even if she didn’t wake him, she would definitely enjoy her exploration.

  “I see you’re awake now.”

  Karen rolled away to find Ash had turned his face toward her. “So are you.” Obviously, dummy.

  A laugh rumbled low in his chest. “I have yet to sleep.”

  “But—” Karen couldn’t think of one thing to say. He had known all along what she was doing. Maybe that should have embarrassed her, but for some reason it didn’t. It gave her an odd sense of power.

  “Are you feeling more refreshed?” he asked.

  She was feeling hot and bothered. “Yes.”

  He worked his way to his side, facing her. “Refreshed enough to continue with our honeymoon?”

  Oh, yeah. “If you’re not too tired now.”

  He ran a slow finger down the cleft of her breasts. “I have never felt more animated in my life.”

  When he moved over her, Karen’s breath caught in her chest. He reached for the bedside lamp and snapped it on, completely illuminating the room. “What are you doing?” she asked in a scratchy voice.

  He hovered above her, his thick dark hair unkempt and incredibly sexy, his dark eyes roaming leisurely over her body. “I want to see you. All of you.”

  Karen could see all of him—almost. She could see the width of his sculpted chest, the flat plane of his belly, but she couldn’t see anything below that. She could feel him, though. Could feel his “secret weapon” pressing against her hip and she wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she spontaneously combusted at any given moment.

  “Take off your gown,” he said in a low, lusty voice.

  “Don’t you want to do it?”

  “I would gladly do it, but I would prefer to watch you undress for me.”

  Karen didn’t have one whit of will left to protest. When she started to slip her arms out of the straps, Ash commanded, “Stand by the bed.”

  Stand? She wasn’t sure she could. “Why?”

  “It would give me pleasure to watch the material fall away from your body. I believe you will enjoy it as well.”

  Karen wasn’t so sure about that. She’d never undressed for a man before, not even Carl who preferred darkness. She had never really seen Carl naked in the light.

  But if she did what Ash had requested, she would definitely be able to see every fabulous part of him and that drove her out of the bed.

  She tossed back the covers from her lower body and slid off the mattress to stand on jelly legs. Ash remained on his side, his elbow bent and his jaw braced on his palm, his near-black eyes trained on her face.

  Forcing her gaze to remain locked on his, Karen slipped her arms from the straps then tugged the bodice down, baring her breasts. A cool draft of air flowed over her and that, combined with the heat in Ash’s eyes, caused her flesh to pebble.

  Only then did she venture a glance below Ash’s waist to garner his true reaction. A very observable reaction. And as she slowly slid the gown down, she experienced a heady sense of control as she watched him grow and swell right before her eyes. She paused when she had the fabric worked below her abdomen, hesitated to increase the tension. Not that Ash looked the least bit tense, at least not his face. Had it not been for his current state of arousal, it would seem that this was an everyday occurrence for him. Maybe it was.

  Karen refused to ponder how many women he had asked to do this for him. She only considered that she was doing it for him now, and that he was, for all intents and purposes, her husband, even if not in the truest sense of the word.

  She managed a smile as she shimmied the gown from her hips. It fell in a pool of lace at her feet and she stepped over it, bringing her closer to the bed.

  Ash sat up, draped his legs over the side of the bed and perched on the edge to face her. While Karen stood there fighting chills and heat, he visually scanned her body.

  “Do you approve?” she asked.

  He brought his gaze back to her eyes. “Come closer and I will show you how much I approve.”

  She moved forward and came to a stop immediately before him. He parted his legs and pulled her between them. With a gentle fingertip, he traced a circular path around one breast then the other. “Very beautiful,” he murmured.

  When he flicked his tongue over one nipple, then the other, Karen swayed forward in offering. He suckled her and she felt the steady pull all the way to her womb and lower.

  He kept his hands braced on her waist while she propped her hands on his shoulders to keep from toppling over. Then he took his mouth away. Karen wanted to groan from the loss of sensation, but not for long as he kneaded her bottom much the same as she had his. “You feel very good.” He explored and fondled her buttocks, with each pass coming nearer to the point between her legs where she needed his attention the most.

  He brought his hands around to her hips and stroked her pelvis all the while watching her. When he finally made it to the layer of curls, an almost pleading sound climbed up Karen’s throat and came out of her mouth despite her attempts to stop it. Never had she been so close to begging someone to soothe the ache. Never had she been so close to coming apart.

  “Do you wish me to touch you, Karen?”

  “Yes,” she said on a breathy sigh.

  “Then I shall and you will watch.”

  And she did watch him, watched as he parted her flesh. Watched as he made maddening passes over and around her tender, aching center, first lightly, then more insistent, then lightly again, almost teasing her into total oblivion. “You are beautiful here, too,” he said, his gaze leveled on the place he now touched.

  Karen was lost in the eroticism of the moment as he caressed her with a proficiency she had only fantasized about until now. Her knees almost buckled, and had it not been for her grip on his shoulders, she might have fallen. But that didn’t stop Ash’s carnal assault on her senses or the threatening climax building and building in Karen.

  Then he took his hands away. This time Karen groaned, or more like moaned. Was he determined to drive her insane? If he told her she needed to rest, she’d have to sock him.

  “I’m not finished,” he assured her. “I simply want to feel you when you reach your climax.” He took her hands into his and tugged her forward. “Come to me now.”

  Karen straddled his thighs and, with his help, lowered herself onto him in slow increments. Before she could attempt to take all of him inside her, Ash stopped her with a solid grip on her waist. “Relax for a moment.”

  Relax? How could she relax? Not in this position. And why was he so intent on her relaxing? “I’m fine,” she insisted.

  “You will be better in a moment.” Keeping one hand on her waist, he touched her with the other, stroked her without mercy until he brought her back to that place where nothing mattered but sheer sensation. The orgasm hit her in strong, mind-bending jolts.

  This time Ash groaned and muttered something she didn’t understand but it sounded almost desperate, followed by “Do with me what you will. You are in control now.”

  “My pleasure.”

  And it was. The ultimate pleasure. All thoughts of the purpose of this union left Karen’s mind as she immersed herself in the moment. With Ash’s hands planted firmly on her hips, she moved in a rhythm that began slowly before growing wild and reckless.

  She kissed Ash with all the passion bubbling inside her, tangled her tongue wi
th his in frantic forays not unlike the love they now made. Karen was consumed by a power she couldn’t comprehend when Ash broke the kiss and in a harsh voice said, “Now.”

  With that, he pushed her hips down until he was deeper inside her, deeper than Karen ever thought possible. His chest heaved against her breasts and his body tensed. She felt the pulse of his climax from the inside out, felt him shudder with the force of it.

  Ash collapsed onto his back, bringing Karen down with him. He continued to tremble, or maybe she was trembling; Karen couldn’t tell since they were so closely joined. His heart beat in an erratic rhythm against her cheek while hers fluttered in her chest.

  They stayed that way for a time, silent, until Ash rolled her over and rose above her. She expected him to say something but instead he kissed her, a languid, gentle, honeyed kiss that contrasted with their uncontrolled lovemaking. A tender kiss that spoke to Karen on a level she didn’t want to acknowledge.

  Ash moved up onto the bed, taking her with him to share his pillow as they faced each other. He enfolded her in his strong arms, stroked her hair, made her feel protected and appreciated for the first time in a long time. Had she ever felt this way before? No, and that frightened her.

  Ash spoke to her in whispers, concerned that he had been too forceful. She assured him he had been wonderful, and that made him smile, a smile as soft as his continuing kisses. A fissure of emotion opened in Karen’s heart, one she had been so determined to keep closed. She told herself that it was only an illusion, that what she now felt for Ash was a product of incredible sex. Told her heart to stay strong, stay protected.

  They remained that way for a long time, holding each other in the quiet aftermath, Karen savoring his arms surrounding her. Then he slipped one hair-roughened thigh between her legs and rubbed intimately against her. The dam broke again, the sensations came calling again, and Karen opened herself to him again. He entered her with a slow steady glide, caressed her with capable fingers until she was lost to everything, lost to him. Lost to a moment where she started to believe that this mysterious man who filled her body so completely could easily fill the void in her soul.

  Ash collapsed heavily against her, but she didn’t find the weight a burden at all. She reveled in it, reveled in the feel of him, the roughness of his jaw against her cheek, his warm, ragged breath playing over her neck where he had buried his face. Much sooner than she would have liked, he moved from atop her but kept his arm resting across her abdomen and his cheek against her cheek. When she heard the sound of his steady breathing and knew that he slept, only then did reality take hold.

  She had given him everything tonight in hopes of creating a child and in turn, when she’d taken him inside her body, he’d threatened to enter her heart. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She couldn’t give up a good deal of her soul to another man for fear that he might want it all.

  This one night with Ash would have to be enough. But deep down she worried it never would be.

  Shortly before dawn, Ash walked onto the balcony with a cup of coffee and feelings he could not explain.

  He had correctly assumed that making love with Karen would be a most pleasurable experience, and it had been that and more. But he had not bargained for the odd heaviness in his heart after they had made love, a heaviness that still existed. It went far beyond desire and called up a wariness from deep within his soul.

  He did not fear many things. He had braved the steep slopes of mountains, conquered the vast, unpredictable spectrum of investing, disentangled himself from his father’s hold and left the only home he had ever known to pursue his own path in the world. Falling in love with another woman—a woman who might leave him as well—was something he dare not encounter. He could not allow himself anything beyond warm feelings for her. He could not want more from her, or from himself.

  His obligation to Karen should be based solely on creating a child and establishing a relationship built on mutual respect, not love. He had learned to shield himself against succumbing to those emotions, yet in one night Karen had exposed him in a way no other woman had in fifteen years. He would be damned if he gave into that weakness.

  Granted, he did crave her passion, appreciated her strength and wanted her with every breath that he took. Even the cool Boston breeze did nothing to quell the heat when he considering rejoining her in bed to reach even greater heights. He had not even begun to show her all the ways a man and woman could take pleasure in each other. He preferred to reveal those aspects a little at a time. If she decided to allow him that honor in the coming months. The coming years.

  “I’m leaving now.”

  Ash turned to see Karen standing in the doorway dressed in a white tailored shirt and black skirt, her hair pulled back into a plait. Unless he was mistaken, she looked ready to return to work, and that infuriated him.

  Carefully he set his cup of espresso down on the patio table and with effort kept a tight rein on his temper. “Where are you off to so early in the morning?”

  “Work. I have to open up since Maria won’t be there.”

  “People actually prefer ice cream for breakfast?”

  “You’d be surprised but no, most come in for pastries and coffee. We have quite a few regular customers who show up every morning when we open at seven.”

  Ash fisted his hands into the pockets of his robe. “I assume you will be off earlier today due to your morning arrival?”

  “Actually, I’m not sure. I need to see who’s on the schedule. I’ll probably have to stay until tonight.”

  “And after that?”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Will you join me here?”

  She threaded her bottom lip between her teeth. “I guess I could, at least for another couple of nights. My fertile cycle won’t be over until then.”

  Ash took another step, anger steeping inside him. “Then you have no intention of us living together as man and wife?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, I love my apartment and I can’t imagine you would be happy living there.”

  “I would be happy living wherever you might be.”

  Her gaze wavered. “Maybe we should discuss it later. If I don’t leave now, I won’t beat the traffic and I’ll be late. I promised Maria I would look after things in her absence.”

  She had promised Ash nothing beyond being the mother of his child and that thought angered him more. “When Maria returns, it will not be necessary for you to remain employed.”

  Her mouth opened then fell closed. “Ash, I intend to continue working at Baronessa. I love my job.”

  “And if you become pregnant?”

  “I can work up until a few weeks before the baby’s born.”

  “I have no say in the matter?”

  “No, you don’t. I enjoy my independence. I will not stay home and do nothing. If there is a baby, I’ll consider my options then.”

  Ash was caught between fury and frustration. Desire and determination. The fire in Karen’s eyes fueled an illogical need to sweep her up into his arms and take her back to bed to use every sensual tactic he knew to make her forget work, forget everything but him.

  With a strength he didn’t know he possessed, he simply said, “You may return to your job now. We will discuss this and our living arrangements later.”

  She sent him an acrimonious look. “Thank you so much for your permission, but in terms of my job there’s really nothing more to discuss.”

  Changing strategy, he sent her a smile. “Could I perhaps persuade you into kissing me goodbye? Something that will carry me through the day until we are together tonight?”

  She sighed. “Oh, all right. I guess one little goodbye peck would be okay, although I’m not feeling very affectionate toward you at the moment.”

  Something Ash was determined to remedy. He strode toward her and without the slightest pause, claimed her mouth with the force of his anger, his desire. And Karen responded as she had the day she’d agreed to his propos
al, as she had last night, as if she were trying to prove exactly who was in control. Ash was beginning to wonder about that very thing.

  Their mouths sealed together as if each breath they drew depended on the other. Karen’s bag dropped to the cement floor and her arms came around his neck. Ash circled her waist, cupped her buttocks, pulled her against him to let her know that he could easily take this further, take her beyond the limits.

  Karen didn’t allow anything beyond the kiss and pulled away. She picked up the bag and sent him a playful smile. “Hold that thought until tonight.”

  He would rather hold her. “You would leave me now in such a predicament?”

  Her gaze came to rest on his predicament. “Go take a cold shower.”

  “That, my dear wife, is a total fallacy. Cold water does not provide relief.”

  She shrugged. “Well, you probably need some time to rebuild your stamina after last night anyway.”

  “I would not wager on that, and neither should you.”

  She smoothed a slender hand over her blouse. “In the meantime, order some orange juice. It’s supposed to aid in fertility. I’ll see you later.”

  With that she was gone, leaving Ash with his discomfort and a strong determination.

  They had much to learn about each other, and much to decide. He refused to consider living apart from her. After all, he was her husband. Of course, the penthouse had been anything but a real home to him, except last night when Karen had been in his bed, in his arms. But this hotel room was only temporary, as it had been with all the places he had occupied over the past few years. He considered moving to Karen’s current residence. An apartment would not do if they had a child, which left only one option.

  Fueled by his goal, Ash made his way back into the suite and picked up the phone. If good fortune chose to be gracious, the living arrangements would be decided today.

  Six

  “You must come with me now.”

  Karen looked up from the booth where she’d been taking an order to find Ash standing beside her. He wore a black business suit, a white Arabian headdress covering his dark hair and an expression that said he meant business. “What are you doing here?”