She at last sighed again. “I wouldn’t put it past you. So they’re your subjects, too?”
“Oh, no. They’re just old friends. We have an understanding.”
Just as she’d thought. “I sort of believe you.”
“I could get used to hearing you say that.”
The rolling r’s of the accent that caressed his perfect English thrummed that chord of ready desire that seemed to have come into existence in the core of her being. Instead of agitating her, it lulled her. She suddenly wanted to sleep. Like this. Ensconced in his power and protection.
She yawned. “You’re comfy.”
“I certainly am not comfy.” His chuckle vibrated through her. But it was the powerful jerk against her buttocks, what she could no longer doubt was his hardness, seeming to be getting bigger, if that was possible, that lurched her out of her stupor.
He pulled her back against him. “Don’t move.”
“But you’re…you’re…”
“Aroused? Sure. I’ve been hard as steel since I laid eyes on you. And no, I’m not like that by default. But I don’t mind.”
“I thought men didn’t mind anything more.”
“I’m not ‘men.’ And even though it started out as uncomfortable, veered into painful and is now bordering on agonizing, I’ve never enjoyed anything more. I’ve never felt so alive.”
She squirmed with his every word, only to be struck still when she realized it only made him harder. She’d never known mortification like this. Or arousal.
Her heart rattled her frame, until he pressed her closer to his body and whispered against her cheek, “I’ll never do anything you don’t invite me to, Talia. Beg me to.”
She believed him. And she sagged back, savoring the way their bodies throbbed in unison. She’d probably be horrified later. But who cared about later when now was here? And like this?
She melted into him, felt her breathing and heartbeats match to his.
Endless minutes of shared tranquility and silent communion later, he kissed her forehead and sighed. “See that star? The one winking azure-blue? I’ll call her Talia.”
She nuzzled into his kiss, inviting a few more down her cheek, her core now so hot, so drenched and cramping she was breaths away from inviting more. Begging for it.
She pressed her thighs together, alleviating a measure of the pounding, and choked a thick murmur. “It must already have a name.”
“I don’t care. It reminds me of your eyes.”
She giggled. “Maybe you should call it Talia’s Eyes.”
“Since it’s only one, better yet Talia’s Eye. So which will it be, ya nadda jannati? Talia’s Left or Right Eye? I can foresee the myths that would one day be woven around such a name.”
“Hmm, if I were a Cyclops, we wouldn’t have this dilemma.”
“If you were a Cyclops, they’d be the sexiest creatures to ever dominate men’s fantasies.”
She snorted. “And among all your skills, you acquired a black belt in far-fetched flirting?”
“You’re right. I should have stuck with the truth. That it would dominate this man’s fantasies. The two-eyed, sexy bundle of cuteness I’m wrapped around right now already does.”
“I bet you wouldn’t say that if you saw me in bloodstained scrubs with my hair spiked like a porcupine. Yeah, that ‘atrocious’ haircut wasn’t for my disguise’s sake. That’s how I keep my hair out of my way and off my mind.”
“You’re talking to the man who found you overwhelmingly arousing when you were sporting a beard. I’d find you sexy if you were covered in mud. Oh, wait…now there’s an idea.”
“Mud-wrestling fantasies, huh? How mundanely male of you.”
“I don’t have those, no. But if it involves you and me, I’ll definitely add them to my inventory of fantasies.” She twisted around to glare up at him and he only whistled. “Whoa. Maybe I’ll call it Talia’s Glare.”
“Since it’s harsh and cold, huh?”
“Far from being either, this star, like your glare, is compelling, hypnotic, resolute, indomitable.”
She almost did something stupid. Like kiss the aftertaste of those delicious words off his lips, or swirl her tongue in that solitary dimple that winked in his left cheek when he grinned.
She gave him a pseudo-self-important glance instead. “I’ll have you know this glare has my interns and junior residents in the E.R. jumping and remaining in the air until I say down.”
“I believe it.” Suddenly he gathered her tighter. “Would you consider doing that here?”
Her heart veered in her chest. She struggled to spin around further in his arms, came to lie sideways over him so she could more easily look into his eyes. “You mean work in an E.R. in Zohayd?”
“Actually, I’d love for you to consider training my men and women in field and emergency medicine.”
“Oh…” The idea of remaining in Zohayd after they got through this, the fact that he esteemed her enough to offer her a responsibility like that, and elation at the thought of being where she could see him regularly erupted inside her.
Without thinking of the feasibility of such a scenario, she grinned up at him. “That sounds incredible!” It was only when his eyes blazed in return that she faltered. “I mean, we’ll have to, y’know, talk this through when this is over…see if it’s even plausible given why I’m here and all and—wait…women? You have women in your special forces?”
Impatience spurted in his eyes, probably since she’d changed the subject without giving him an answer. Then they softened again, perhaps in acknowledgment of the difficulties of their situation beyond the real and present danger. “Not many, since it doesn’t seem to be one of the career options Zohaydan women prefer.”
“I’m staggered that it is an option in Zohayd. That you have any.”
His smile turned whimsical. “There is a difference between being a pigheaded, mulish ox and being a male chauvinist pig.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll never hear the end of that, will I?”
“Do you want to hear it?” he teased.
She thought for a moment. Then grinned impishly. “Nah.”
With that, they both fell silent and snuggled deeper into each other as if by agreement.
After an hour of being melded together in deepening companionship, during which she’d simultaneously managed to remain molten and he to remain hard, they set off again.