The Sheikh’s Stubborn Bride by Leslie North

10

For Stella, the next week flew by in a flurry of work and tasks to get her game ready for release. The date loomed large on her calendar, and there was still so much left to do. Coordinating with the distribution company—providing screen shots for advertisements, game-play trailers, approving the list of magazines to send advance versions to. And of course, finalizing the game itself—debugging the completed levels…and one more task she couldn’t wait to reveal. It took up most all of Stella’s time and then some. She’d even missed dinner again, as she’d done a few times before.

And she hadn’t gotten to see Kadir as much as she’d like either, with her schedule overflowing with things for the big release. It had been days since the family breakfast and their nice talk in the garden, and she missed him more than she cared to admit. And sure, they slept in the same bed together at night, but that wasn’t the same. Usually one or the other of them—or both—were up so late working that they just fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. She missed talking to him, missed laughing with him, missed holding hands, missed his weight on top of her, and just sitting with him, doing nothing.

Her chest ached a little, and she rubbed her hand over her heart. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was falling for Kadir, but no. It had only been a few weeks since the wedding and besides, this wasn’t a conventional marriage. You couldn’t love someone that fast.

Right?

That question was still niggling in the back of her mind when her husband walked into their suite, balancing a silver-domed tray on one hand. She glanced up at him over the screen of her laptop. The staff had set up a working office for her in the sitting room of the suite. They’d offered to give her one of the actual offices downstairs to use, but she liked it up here in the suite so much, she was happy to stay. So she’d basically taken over half the space, with a desk, numerous computer monitors and servers, and even a filing cabinet.

“What’s that?” she asked, typing more notes on the sales projections into her spreadsheet. She often still ate breakfast at her desk in the suite, but for supper they usually joined the family in the dining room—and she knew from the clock that meal was long over.

“Well, you missed dinner, so…” He bent to move a stack of papers on the desk before putting the tray down. “I brought you something to nibble on.”

“I’m not hungry,” she said, not looking up at him. In truth, she was famished, but she couldn’t possibly stop to eat right now; there was just too much to get done. Like the new level she was trying to finish before the game went live. The idea had occurred to her after that day in the garden, and she’d rushed to get the framework started without taking into consideration how it would eat into her already overstuffed schedule.

“Huh.” Kadir sat down in the chair beside hers and lifted the dome. “Not even for aish el saraya?”

“Aish el what?” Stella cocked her head and finally looked at the tray of food. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it smelled sweet like cake, and it was topped with pistachios. Her stomach rumbled loudly. She licked her lips, and he tracked that tiny movement with his gaze.

“Aish el saraya.” He smiled and picked up the fork to cut a piece. “Toasted bread soaked in caramel syrup and layered with custard then topped with nuts. Here, try a bite.”

He held the fork to her lips, and she couldn’t stop herself from opening her mouth. It was good. So good she nearly moaned. Okay. Fine. Maybe her work could wait just a little bit longer.

Stella sat forward and took the fork from him to get another bite. Kadir laughed. While she ate, he focused on her screen.

“How are things coming?”

“Okay,” she said around another bite of delicious dessert. “I’m hurrying to finish one more level on this one. I’m actually glad you’re here, so you can see it.” She set the fork aside to hook her laptop up to the flat-screen TV on the wall, then pulled up the new game level. They moved to the sofa together. “See, the player is the cat and you’re trying to sneak through a manhole and get into the basement of this building here. Try it.”

She handed him the laptop and showed him how to move the cat, then took another bite of cake.

“I’m in the manhole,” Kadir said, staring straight ahead at the TV while Stella smiled. He was so sexy when he concentrated like that. “And now I’m out and…Oh, wow! Is that the dome from the planetarium?” He leaned forward and squinted at the dome as his cat character did the same onscreen. “It is! There’s the glass stars and moon and planets.” His grin made her heart flip. “Stella, this is wonderful! You’ve recreated it all perfectly!” He looked over at her and her breath caught at the naked admiration in his expression. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She looked away, suddenly shy and overwhelmed by the level of affection running through her. “It wasn’t…I mean…It’s fine.”

“It’s more than fine, Stella. It’s brilliant. You designed an entire new level around my planetarium. I’m honored.”

She swallowed another bite of dessert but could’ve been eating cardboard for all she tasted that one. She set the fork aside and leaned forward, shoulder to shoulder with him, and stared at the TV screen.

“It’s not done yet. See these floor tiles here? I reused them from the museum level because I haven’t had time to recreate the actual ones from the planetarium yet. And there’s still a lot of models I need to make for the furniture and exhibits and stuff, but I wanted to make sure I got the dome just right first and…”

She was babbling, she knew, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. At least until Kadir set the laptop aside and placed a gentle finger on her lips to silence her.

“Habibi, even incomplete, this is one of the nicest gifts anyone has ever given me.” He cupped her cheeks and leaned in to kiss her, then stopped to brush his thumb over the corner of her mouth. “Had a bit of cream there.”

“Oh.” Heat prickled her skin, and she pulled back, flustered and frazzled and completely bewitched by the magical man beside her. For lack of anything better to do, she picked up the fork and got another bite of cake.

Before she could eat it, however, Kadir covered her hand with his, taking the utensil from her. “Here. Let me.”

Her heart threatened to slam out of her chest. She’d never had a man feed her before, and it was oddly, intensely erotic. Slowly, she opened her mouth and felt the cool metal of the fork touch her tongue. Kadir watched her closely, his own breath deep and slow, his pupils blown wide with desire, his lips parted and his cheeks flushed.

“How is that, habibi?” his low, rough voice scraped over her nerve ending just right.

Throat parched, Stella forced words past her constricted vocal cords. “Good. So good.”

Without thinking, she licked the fork as it left her mouth, then Kadir’s finger, where a tiny spot of cream had landed. His deep groan of need was the last straw. Stella wasn’t sure who moved first, but the next thing she knew, she was on his lap, straddling him, her mouth on his, kissing him as if her life depended on it. He gave as good as he got, his hands sliding beneath her T-shirt to unhook her bra then cup her breasts, tweaking her sensitive nipples until she cried out with wanting him.

“Please,” she begged, trailing kisses down his neck before nipping at his earlobe. “Don’t stop. Please, Kadir. I need you.”

“Then you shall have me, habibi.”

Finesse went out the window. Their clothes came off in a frenzy of tugs and pulls, until they were both naked, skin to skin, soul to soul. Then finally, things slowed down. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Every touch, every lick, every soft sound drove the fire inside her higher until she melted into a pool of sensation. All her obligations disappeared until there was just this man, this moment.

Tonight was all about experiencing each other, every caress, every kiss. Kadir gently moved them to the floor and kissed his way down her body, stopping to pay homage to her breasts before making love to her with his lips and tongue. Afterward, she returned the favor, taking him into her mouth, loving the velvet hardness of him, the taste of his need for her, the way he gave himself up to the pleasure she lavished on him.

Finally, he pulled her off him and kissed her sweetly. “I want to be inside you, habibi. I want to feel you come apart around me as I climax.”

She watched as he put on a condom, then stretched out beside her once more. Kadir kissed her again, taking her breath away. When she’d first married him, she’d never expected to feel this worshipped, this cared for, this…

No. This wasn’t love.

Couldn’t be love.

Could it?

Kadir slid into her slowly then, carefully, until he was fully seated inside her. Tender, intimate, more. So much more.

Confusing emotions swirled inside her, but Stella refused to be distracted. She pulled Kadir down for another kiss, then began moving beneath him, letting him know she was ready for more. Soon, Kadir had set up a rhythm that had them both on the brink of ecstasy far too soon.

“Are you close, habibi?’ he asked against her neck.

“Yes,” she strained upward, searching for it, needing it. Wanting it, wanting him, more than she wanted anything in the world. “Please, Kadir. Please.”

He kissed and reached between them to stroke her most sensitive flesh, and she was there. Her world exploded into a billion shards of sensation. Kadir groaned and thrust once, twice, before his body tightened and he came hard inside her.

They floated on that wave of pleasure as it washed over them again and again, slowly landing back on Earth in a tangle of limbs and kisses and sighs. When she finally came back to herself, Stella blinked up at the TV where the twinkling dome from the planetarium still showed onscreen. She chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Kadir growled, his breath warm on her skin where his head settled between her breasts. He rested his chin atop his hand to look up at her.

She toyed with his hair, loving its silky feeling on her fingertips. “When I came to Al-Fatha, I was looking for an Arabian Nights fairy tale, but the reality is so much better.”

He grinned and kissed one of her nipples. “Yes? How so?”

“Well, like seeing the city and meeting the people. It’s changed my whole concept of what this place is. And that made me change my game.” She shook her head. “At first I planned a stealth-type game, like Assassin’s Creed or something. But the more time I spent here and the more research I did, the more I wanted the player to focus on the beauty of this land, on the lives of the people who live here. I want them to feel like they’re exploring a real place, not a fantasy. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” He moved to kiss her other breast before rising up to kiss her mouth.

Stella closed her eyes and smiled. “I feel the same way about you.

Kadir froze. “You do?”

“Yes. You’re a prince. You live in a palace. You’re basically a walking, talking fairy tale.” When he started to respond, she stopped him. “But what I really like about you are the little details. The things that make you who you are. Like how much you love the planetarium, or how thoughtful you are to bring me dessert when I’m hungry, or how much you care for your family.”

“So, you’re saying you like me then?” he asked, narrowing his gaze on her.

“Yes. Of course I do.” She more than liked him, but that was still too new, too raw to say out loud. She’d barely processed it herself yet. So, she went for a bit of teasing instead. “I like you a lot. Almost as much as I’d like more of that cake.”

For a moment he stared at her, something suspiciously like disappointment flickering through his dark eyes. Then it was gone before she could be sure she’d seen it, and he laughed, a deep, rich sound that soothed her soul. He grabbed the plate and stretched out beside her again. “Then more cake you shall have, halu, because a dessert is a terrible thing to waste.”