Free Valentine Vegas Gigolo Sheikh by Teresa Morgan Page B

down and dominated. This wasn't who she was.
    "Why did you do that?" he demanded.
    "You're crushing me," she lied. "Get off."
    "Tell me why."
    "Because you're a controlling jerk who lied to me. Now get off," she demanded.
    "Ah," he said, in his irritating way. The exasperated look cleared from his face. "And you so dislike being out of control."
    Her head began to pound. All the afterglow of her two—two!—orgasms drained from her. "You." She swallowed. "Sound like Colin." The memory of his criticisms came rushing back, adding her ex's voice to Zaqwan's.
    "I learned many interesting things from your Colin," he said. "Shall I tell you what they are?"
    "He's not my Colin." How she managed to push out the words through her gritted teeth, she didn't know.
    "Ah, but for a time, he was very much yours. Yours to control."
    "Why are you saying this to me?" She gasped. But it was clear. He was done with her. He'd gotten his rocks off tonight and he didn't care anymore. He was unloading on her in some kind of Scorched Earth policy.
    "You punish yourself for being out of control of your life by staying in a job that does not satisfy you. You blame yourself for choosing the wrong men instead of blaming them for being the wrong men. You remain in relationships that do not work because you wish to fix them, though your body screams at you that you have not yet met the right man for you. Even me, you chose me to help you, but decided to control me by not allowing me to finish the job you had hired me to do." Every word punched her in the gut. "You need a man who will not bend to your control, whose strength equals your own."
    "What are you talking about? I didn't ask for you to psychoanalyze me." Panic rose in her, starting from her belly, where Zaqwan's hard abs touched her. "Really, I mean it. I need you to let me go."
    Her arousal was quickly disappearing. No, not disappearing, but mixing with her strange twitchy feeling. Her breath came faster, shallower.
    "You see—" He paused and lowered his head to her neck, to lick and suck for a few moments. "Situations that you do not dominate make you feel helpless. I suspect it has to do with your upbringing. With your father being constantly ill, your life must been full of uncertainty. Perhaps you tried to take control of what you could as a defense mechanism. When you became an adult, you chose men who needed you, who depended on you. That way, you could assert yourself over them. You were always the dominant one in the relationship."
    Heat flushed her face. How dare this man, who had only known her for twenty-four hours, claim to know all about her? The world closed in on her.
    "Take your Colin, for example. Were you attracted to him before he broke his arm? I think not. And Armen, before his car accident?"
    The air had gone too thick to draw into her lungs. He was right. But everything was wrong. Zaqwan wasn't saying or doing anything to threaten her, but something bad was going to happen. Her arms and legs began to twitch. Blood pounded in her ears, drowning out her thoughts, leaving only this irrational sensation of growing panic.
    "As for me—" How could he keep such a reasonable tone when reality was falling apart around them? "You are attracted to me and repelled by me in equal measure. You have never before encountered a man who is your match, or perhaps you have simply never let such a man get close to you. The only reason you allowed me near you is because you thought I would do your will because of the money you paid. When you discovered otherwise, you would have avoided me if not for the prospect of getting it back. Yet all this time, your body was telling you what your mind would not acknowledge. You need a man who will not be controlled by you. And you are a strong woman who deserves such a man."
    "Get off me," she somehow managed. "Please."
    "Even now," he continued, as if she had said nothing. "You are having a panic attack because I control this situation, not you."
    She