She wasn’t fine. She was scared to death. He ground his teeth to keep from frightening her more. But if that guard had come back and touched her… “What did they do?”
“Nothing. They didn’t do anything…to me.” Her eyes welled with tears, then she collapsed against him in a fit of sobs that squeezed his chest like a vise. “Oh, Nasir.”
Questions revolved in his brain. Emotions closed his throat. Without knowing what had happened, how could he help her? He didn’t know what to say, what to do. Only knew…this was the first time in his entire life he’d ever felt utterly and completely helpless.
His eyes slid closed. He held her tight. He couldn’t lose her. Not her too…
When her trembling eased, he swallowed hard. He was afraid to hear the answer but knew he had to ask. “Tell me what happened.”
She sniffled, drew in a deep breath. Seemed to gather herself as she eased back and looked up. Her green eyes sparkled with unshed tears when she said, “The servant girl—Hana. She saw my bruises…from that guard. She must have thought you’d…” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “I’m sure Zayd told her if there was any sign I’d been hurt to bring me back. So she did. Took me to the harem. To him.”
Rage welled inside Nasir, the bitter urge to decimate that had kept him alive in the pits this long, but he forced it back and waited, knowing he needed to give her time to tell him. That he couldn’t force it out of her. But his stomach pitched and rolled at the thought of the highborn looking at her. Touching her. And when she pushed out of his arms as if she couldn’t stand the thought of him holding her while she relayed the horror, he knew that was exactly what the son of a bitch had done.
“He was elated by my bruises. But when he found out I was still a virgin, well, let’s just say he was not happy. Irate, actually.”
She brushed the hair back from her face, and he caught sight of the purplish marks against the soft skin of her throat. Marks that asshole took pride in.
“I thought he was going to hurt me. When I saw his eyes, I thought he was going to kill me. But he didn’t. He knows my weaknesses better than I do.”
She looked up, and in her eyes there was pain…and a whole lot of anger he hadn’t seen from her before. “So he had his guards hurt Hana.”
“The slave girl?”
“I tried to stop them, but he wouldn’t let me. They ripped off her dress, then put their hands on her. And she was so scared.” Her voice hitched, and a soul-deep sadness replaced the anger. “I tried to look away, but he—Zayd—he made me watch.”
He caught her just as another sob racked through her. One he felt through every cell in his body. Holy Allah… He’d known the highborn was depraved, but this…
“I…I couldn’t let them rape her.”
A chill spread over his spine. “What did you do?”
“I…I promised him…” She rested her cheek against his chest, drew in a breath, let it out as her fingers splayed across his pec. “That by tomorrow I’d have completed my test.”
Tomorrow…
Shock rippled through Nasir’s body. No, tomorrow wouldn’t work. It didn’t give him enough time to teach her to harness what few powers the highborns hadn’t bound. It didn’t give them time to plan an escape. It was too soon. He needed more time. Needed more of her warming and bringing him back to life in a way no one ever had.
“No.” He swallowed the growing lump in his throat. Forced back the panic. “No,” he said louder. “You have two more days. Two more nights. The rule with the test is five days. Malik said its tradition. That it doesn’t change.”
She pulled back and looked up. “Don’t you see? If I hadn’t agreed, he wouldn’t have let me come back to you. He’d have broken the rules and sent me to another sahad, or worse, he’d have taken me himself. I read it in his eyes. He doesn’t care if I live or die anymore. He just wants to humiliate and use me however he can, and hurting Hana was simply part of that.”
Her lashes dropped as she looked back down at his chest. “At least this way we get to say good-bye. At least this way, I can always remember—for however short the rest of my life may be—that you were the first.” She looked up again and whispered, “The only one I’ve ever wanted. If, that is, you still want me too.”
Emotions stole through him, overwhelmed him, consumed every part of him. Then pushed out all rational thought until there was only need. And heat. And a desire like nothing he’d ever felt before.
He lowered his head and took her lips, then groaned when she opened instantly to let him in. Her mouth was wet and inviting, her skin dewy and so damn soft. Her arms circled around his neck. And her body—her lush, curvy, incredible body—pressed up against his, igniting an arousal he couldn’t fight back. Not anymore.
“Rouhi.” He changed the angle of the kiss, cupped her jaw, and slid his tongue over hers again and again and again until her taste made him light-headed. “I want you. Allah, I’ve wanted you since the first moment I laid eyes on you. So much I can barely breathe from the need.”
She groaned, and her lips turned greedy against his. Hard, tight nipples covered by the thin fabric of her dress abraded his skin. And the heat from her pelvis so close to his sent stars firing off behind his eyelids.
“Nasir…” She threaded her fingers into his hair, continued to drive him mad with her mouth. “Please… Please… I need you…inside me.”
Yes. Yes. Yes… Why had they waited? That was what he wanted too.
He growled his agreement, trailed his hands down her slim back, and cupped her ass, lifting her easily. Her legs slid around his waist, her arms more fully around his shoulders. And her mouth, her soft and succulent mouth, never left his as he turned and carried her toward the bed.
This wasn’t about fulfilling some command or doing what either of them had been ordered. It was about need—primal, voracious, all-consuming erotic need. The kind that couldn’t be denied. Not anymore.
He lowered her to the bed, braced a hand against the blanket, and swallowed her moan of excitement when he eased on top of her. She kissed him deeper, spread her legs, lifted them around his hips. Arched into him so he could rub against her.
Oh, but the sounds she made…
It was all he could do not to lift her skirt, free himself, and thrust deep inside her. But he didn’t want that for her this first time. He wanted to tease her. To arouse her to never before known heights of pleasure. To make her remember this wherever she went from here.
Emotions tightened his throat, but he pushed them aside, focused on her. He licked into her mouth, nipped at her bottom lip, then trailed kisses across her jaw to her ear, where he blew hot, then nibbled at the tender flesh until she groaned.
She shivered, sifted her fingers into his hair. “Nasir…”
He loved the sound of her voice. Loved when she said his name. As he sucked at the sweet column of her throat, she arched into him. The hard nubs of her nipples grazed his naked chest. Amped his need higher still. Pushing the strap of her dress down, he kissed her shoulder, repeated with the other, then tugged at the garment until her beautiful breasts were finally freed.
“By Allah,” he whispered, easing back and looking down. The tips of her nipples were pink, like sweet, rich cherries, ready to be picked. Enjoyed. Devoured. “You are so beautiful.” He slid down her body, cupped her left breast with his palm, lowered and laved his tongue across the nub until she groaned. “I want to make love to your breasts with my mouth. With my cock…”
Her brows drew together, her gorgeous face flushed with her arousal, her breaths shallow and excited as she watched him. “Can you do that?”