Izzy rolled upright and shimmied with shameless haste out of her trousers. ‘Only if you overthink it.’
‘I always overthink stuff,’ Rafiq admitted hoarsely.
Izzy had the cure for him, she decided as she sank down on her knees in front of him and tugged at the waistband of his jeans. The boxers went down with them, exposing the thick length of him. She licked her lips and just went for the challenge, hoping enthusiasm was more important than experience and from his first husky sound of pleasure she was lost in a sensual daze.
‘I want to come inside you,’ Rafiq husked, his deep voice soft and hoarse as he pulled her back up to face him again.
Unexpectedly, he then dropped down on his knees to peel her panties out of his path and nuzzle against the tender flesh between her slender thighs. All control was torn from her as he explored the swollen dampness at her core where she was so unbearably sensitive.
Izzy quivered with excitement and shook until he lifted her, hands cupping her hips and, in a feat of strength that took her breath away, brought her down on him with an urgent hiss, his body meeting hers and thrusting home with an efficiency that sent her heart racing like a bullet. He went down on the floor and hooked her legs over his shoulders and began to move with awesome speed and ferocity, grinding down into her receptive body with all the urgent demand and force she craved. As frantic as he was in that driving need for completion, she writhed under him in a frenzy, rising up to welcome every thrust.
The pressure tightening within her was an uncontrollable force of nature that dominated everything. When he sent her soaring and, with a harsh gasp of completion, buried his face in her tumbled hair, she felt as though she blacked out at the apex of her climax because it was so blinding, so utterly intense. Shaken by that raw physical intensity, she trembled as spasms of delight continued to ripple through her in pulsating waves.
Rafiq lifted himself off her in a fluid movement and then hunkered down to lift her up into his arms.
He stalked into the bathing facilities tacked onto the back of the tent and pressed the shower lever. Water streamed down her overheated body, plunging her from one temperature into coolness. She shivered and used the shower gel to freshen herself up as quickly as she could. As she emerged, Rafiq engulfed her in a giant towel and dried her off.
‘I was rough. Did I hurt you?’ Rafiq murmured, those glorious eyes locked to her and visibly anxious.
‘No, I love your passion,’ she confided in an involuntary rush, still stunned by the entire experience they had shared.
‘And I yours,’ Rafiq murmured thickly, scooping her damp naked body into his arms and holding her close. ‘But I didn’t intend this to happen.’
‘Shush…’ Izzy urged, resting a finger against his wide sensual mouth.
‘I thought we could manage our relationship most effectively by becoming friends.’
Izzy rolled her eyes as he tugged a throw over her to keep her warm. ‘We’re never going to be friends. I’m too attracted to you,’ she told him baldly, shaken by her own boldness but preferring to be honest. ‘I know that’s a complication we don’t need but, since you seem to be feeling the same way, we might as well just go with the flow for the present.’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever gone with the flow with anything,’ Rafiq admitted, black lashes lowering over his beautiful dark golden eyes as he studied her. ‘How attracted is attracted?’
‘Hungry for compliments…right?’ Izzy grinned up at him, absolutely charmed by that need she saw in him then while she was in her relaxed state and able to be observant.
‘It is a serious challenge for me to keep distance between us,’ Rafiq confessed.
‘Well, we just lost that battle,’ Izzy pointed out without too much concern, relieved as she was to know that he was struggling with the concept of a platonic bond in the same way that she was. ‘You’re accustomed to rules and following them. But you can’t make decisions on my behalf. I couldn’t do friends with you right now…maybe some time in the future when we’re a little more distant from recent events. Let’s just keep it casual.’
Rafiq released his breath on a slow measured hiss. In relationships, he preferred a pre-set agenda with every aspect carefully considered in advance. That approach left little room for misunderstandings or sudden emotional squalls. In comparison, he had never extended casual to more than one night with a woman and to be married and involved in a casual sexual relationship with his wife struck him as all kinds of wrong and dangerous, indeed much more likely to cause confusion and toxic feelings when they finally separated. And yet he still wanted her, he wanted Izzy more than he had ever wanted anything, and the knowledge that she carried his children only turned him on even more and made it even harder to take a step back. He lounged back on the sofa, cradling her in his arms, and struggled to relax while his libido was stirring him again to renewed hunger for her.
‘You’re so tense,’ Izzy sighed against his chest, revelling in the damp musky scent of his skin, one hand idly stroking a satin-smooth shoulder. ‘Tell me about your parents. What’s your last memory of them?’
Rafiq groaned at that unfortunate question, which nobody had ever asked him before, but he was in the mood to be honest, shedding the guilt that that recollection always imbued him with. ‘I was hiding behind a pillar and
