A hint of a smile tugged at her lips as she stared back at him. There was no mistaking the clear, dark possessiveness in his tone.
That smile, so starkly feminine and filled with satisfaction had him reacting in a way he hadn’t expected. He could feel the arousal tearing through him, building, burning hotter, brighter than ever before.
He swore his cock had never been so hard, his balls so tight. The blood throbbed through the thick, tight flesh, reminding him that she could make him hunger for her like he had never hungered for another woman.
“You’re pushing.” And it would take her places he was certain she didn’t want to go.
Zach had assured him years ago that Marty wasn’t the sharing kind. That when it came to a relationship, to the man she would eventually love, he had been warned not to attempt to draw her into the lifestyle that members of the club shared.
“How am I pushing, Khalid?” she whispered archly. “Wouldn’t it be difficult to push much further than I’ve already pushed you over the years? Or further than you’re trying to push me? Don’t imagine for a moment that I’ll tolerate any of it.”
She was aroused. He could see the hunger in her eyes and in the soft smile on her lips.
She was more determined and certainly more stubborn than he had ever imagined.
As they passed through the open ballroom doors, Khalid felt the overwhelming need for her tearing at him again. His self-control was deteriorating by the moment. If he didn’t have her soon, if he didn’t mark her, claim her, then he was going to go insane.
He had to admit to a small bit of surprise when she followed him. They moved through the ballroom to the foyer, and without searching for Ian or Courtney, they left the party.
Shayne was waiting outside, leaning lazily against the tall column of the porch as he watched them curiously.
“Shayne will be coming with us,” Khalid said, his body tightening to the point of breaking.
Marty nodded, breathless.
“Though when we get home, it will just be us,” he said firmly.
Marty looked confused but said, “Ok.”
Shayne gave him a quick nod to show he understood, though there was a question in his eyes.
Marty had saved herself for him and he would not share that gift even with the man he had chosen as a third. Still, he wanted her to continue to become accustomed to Shayne’s touch and to the both of them giving her pleasure.
Marty wanted to close her eyes, to hold onto the fantasy, if that was what this was, and never let it go. She felt as though she should pinch herself, do something, anything, to prove it was real.
Her body was humming with sensation as the two men escorted her down the steps to the driveway where Abdul was pulling up in the limo. Khalid’s hand rested low on her back, Shayne’s arm brushed against her shoulder.
The heated sensations washing over her were sizzling. The clear intent in their gazes, in the careful positioning of their larger bodies against hers was unmistakable.
It was finally going to happen. So many years spent dreaming about it, fantasizing to it. And now that the moment was here, she was terrified she would awaken once again to find it was simply another dream.
“Courtney is going to skin you alive,” she said, hearing the breathlessness of her voice, the nervousness as she slid into the back of the limo.
“Courtney will survive,” Khalid informed her as Abdul closed the door behind them.
The dark interior surrounded them as Khalid pushed the button to raise the partition between them and Abdul.
Beside her, Shayne watched her silently, his expression tense, filled with lust. Only lust. There was no emotion aside from the affection of a friend, a lover. Khalid could read nothing in the other man that appeared to be a threat to his possession of Marty’s heart.
Khalid’s jaw clenched as Marty shifted, causing the bodice to tighten over her breasts. He wanted to lower the material, wanted to feel the firm weight of the swollen globes in his hands once again.
As he watched, her hand lifted, the painted tips of her fingers stroking over the upper curves of her breasts teasingly. Her fingers shook, but her expression, though filled with wariness, was also filled with curiosity.
Khalid watched her hand, as he knew Shayne was watching as well.
Khalid’s eyes lifted to hers, his body clenching so tightly that he swore bones would break. He met the teasing glint in her eyes.
“I stayed away as long as possible,” he said gently. “Remember that when you begin to learn things you don’t like, little flower. I tried to protect you.”
“You could explain.” There was a somber edge of sadness in her voice.
Khalid glanced at Shayne and read the warning in his gaze. If he didn’t tell her, if he didn’t explain, he could lose her, and not just to the repercussions of his work with her godfather, or to his past. He could lose her by not warning her, by letting her face danger without being prepared.
Her head tilted to the side. “Did you grow horns and I’m somehow missing them, Khalid?” she asked. “Or perhaps you don’t trust me with the truth.”
“Perhaps the horns were there long before you were old enough to imagine what I would want from you. And I would trust you with my life.”
There was blood in his past, the blood of an innocent, the blood of someone who had dared to trust him, dared to love him.
God knew that should he lose Marty in the manner that he had allowed himself to lose Lessa, he could never live with the guilt.
He was aware of Shayne watching, listening, waiting. He had no choice but to tell her the truth. The danger he would become to her from this one night onward would demand that she know the truth of his past, that she would see him for the man he was, rather than the man he wanted to be for her.
“I don’t know, Khalid,” she said quietly. “I rather doubt I’d find a monster. I’d probably simply find a man who found he couldn’t control the world as he once thought he could.”
Khalid sighed. “I haven’t been as careful as I should have been in the work I’ve done for your godfather. My two younger half brothers have learned that I was part of a recent operation that has cost them financially, as well as personally. Because of that, I suspect they’ll make a move soon to strike against me. I did not want you endangered, Marty. I wanted you safe, and that safety is no longer something I can guarantee.”
Shayne watched as Khalid fought to reveal just the information Marty needed, and none of the painful truth of what had happened before he left Saudi Arabia ten years ago. He actually felt sorry for the poor bastard. As strong and as arrogant as Khalid could be, Marty could still bring him to his knees. And how she saw him was still something Khalid struggled with.
He wanted to be a white knight in her eyes, not the dark knight. And there were times he had never understood that it was the dark knight who actually ended up saving the day, the princess, and the world he believed in.
But what Shayne had known, and Khalid had yet to see, was the woman Marty truly was.
At Khalid’s explanation her gaze sharpened, her eyes narrowed, and the agent she had become over the years slipped into the picture.
“What was the operation?”
Shayne had to hide his smile. She would be full of questions now, and hiding the rest of the truth from her would be harder by the day for Khalid. Just as it would be more difficult for these two people to continue denying the emotions they felt for each other. Others saw it. Shayne saw it in both of them. But neither Marty nor Khalid had yet to acknowledge it.
He also doubted that Khalid saw the depth of her love, but it was something Shayne saw, and almost envied. If he were ready to love, then he would definitely have to fight Khalid for this woman.
And Marty didn’t recognize that emotion in herself because, Shayne knew, she had felt it for Khalid for so long, that it had simply become a part of her. It was now as natural as breathing.
“So you believe Ayid and Aman Mustafa are going to try to kill you because of the mission here in D.C.?”
Marty knew far more than she let on. She wasn’t about to allow it to distract her now, though. As she spoke, she allowed her fingers to whisper over the rise of her breasts above the bodice of her dress. Back and forth, stroking, caressing her own flesh until even he could barely think for watching her.
