Free The Return of the Sheikh by Kristi Gold Page B

tomorrow.”
    “I prefer to stay here with you.”
    And she wanted to stay with him, honestly she did, but to what end? “If we stay much longer, we could make another mistake.”
    He searched her face and paused at her mouth before returning to her eyes. “I have made many mistakes in my lifetime, but spending time with you will not ever be a mistake.”
    Her foolish heart executed a little flip-flop in her chest. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
    “Everywhere?”
    One more sexy word out of his incredible mouth and she’d be too far gone to stop any madness that might occur. “The only place we should be going is into your office, and repairing your reputation is the only thing we should consider.”
    He studied the stars and sighed. A rough, sensuous and slightly irritated sigh. “You are right. Business should always come before pleasure, no matter how revolting that business might be.”
    Madison was admittedly somewhat disappointed that he conceded so quickly. “You will get through this, Zain. It’s only a matter of time before you earn your country’s trust. You are destined to be a great leader.”
    “I sincerely appreciate your faith in my abilities.”
    He both looked and sounded sincere, causing her spirits to rise. “Now let’s get some work done before dawn.”
    When Zain came to his feet and held out his hand to help her up, Madison wasn’t quite prepared for the sharp sting of awareness as they stood. She wasn’t exactly surprised when he framed her face in his palm. But the sudden impact of his mouth covering hers nearly buckled her knees. The kiss was powerful, almost desperate, yet she didn’t have the will to stop him. Every argument she’d made against this very thing went the way of the warm breeze surrounding them.
    She somehow wound up backed against the wall with Zain flush against her. Even when he left her mouth to trail kisses down her neck, lowered one strap and slid the tip of his tongue slightly beneath the scoop neck of her dress, she disregarded the warning bells sounding in her head. Even when he worked her hem up to her waist, slipped his hands down the back of her panties and clasped her bottom, she couldn’t manage one protest. And as he kissed her again, pressed as close to her as he possibly could and simulated the act she’d been determined to avoid with both his body and tongue, stop became go and thinking became an impossible effort.
    Separated only by silk and cotton, Madison felt the beginnings of a climax, prompting an odd sound bubbling up from her throat. She was vaguely aware of the rasp of a zipper, very aware the no-return point had arrived and extremely aware when Zain abruptly let her go.
    She closed her eyes and waited until her respiration had almost returned to normal before she risked a glance to see him facing the wall, both hands raised above his head as if in surrender. “It appears we’re suffering from restraint issues.”
    He straightened and redid his fly. “Suffering is an apt description.”
    She pushed the strap back into place while struggling for something more to say. “Out of curiosity, why did you stop?”
    He leaned back against the stone and stared straight ahead. “You deserve better than frantic sex against a wall.”
    “Honestly, it was the hottest few moments of my life and frankly out of character for me.”
    “Leave, Madison.”
    The command caught her off guard. “We still have to go over—”
    “We’ll meet in the morning.”
    “But you need—”
    “I need you to go before I am tempted to carry you to my bed and complete your climax before giving you another while I am inside you.”
    Madison understood that, loud and clear. She couldn’t remember ever having such a heated physical reaction to a man’s words. Then again, no man had ever said anything remotely close to that to her. “I’m not leaving until I make myself clear. Whatever this thing is between us, it’s going to take a lot of strength to