ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (110 page)

“That’s so funny,” said Riley, twirling her straw. “You two are the coolest guys I know.”

“You know,” said Nick. “I remember the first time I met you, I thought you were so cute. I tell you, if you weren’t Matt’s sister…”

Riley blushed. “Really? Because I have to be honest with you,” she said. “I had a crush on you as well. I mean, it wouldn’t be that bad if something were to happen would it?”

Nick grinned but said nothing, and for a moment she wondered if he was just teasing her.

I should have just kept my mouth shut,
she thought.
He’s obviously just messing around the way he and Matt do, always jibing each other. It’s just his way
.

The waitress arrived then and took their order and the topic seemed to be forgotten. She vowed to leave it that way and not make a fool of herself any further.

Neither of them mentioned their previous attraction to one another again during the course of meal. As they sat on the deck of the restaurant looking out over the beach, the conversation remained light and playful, like two long-time friends, while inside, a rock band played edgy ballads with crunchy distortion driving their guitars, the lead singer with a voice that seemed to have been cultivated from a lifetime of chain-smoking and drinking whiskey in New Orleans blues bars.

“This is why I miss Florida,” said Riley.

“I couldn’t live anywhere else in the world,” said Nick. “The sunshine, the beaches. I’d be just as happy living in a shack with nothing but my board and a battery operated FM radio.”

“Can I ask you something?” asked Riley.

“Sure,” said Nick.

“What is it that motivates you? I mean, why do you keep working so hard if you’d be happy with so little?”

“That’s a good question,” said Nick. “I guess one day down the line I’d like to start a family, you know. My family didn’t have much growing up. I want to be able to give my kids every opportunity in following their own dreams. It’s about leaving a legacy to them. I guess they’d have to learn their own hard lessons along the way, but they’d never have to eat ramen for three years straight and use coupons just to get a cup of coffee. I guess it’s about taking care of my tribe, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I do,” said Riley, imagining what gorgeous kids he would have one day. “That’s really sweet. I bet you’d make a great dad. But then why aren’t you already married?”

“To be honest with you,” said Nick. “I always thought I had plenty of time for that later. I wanted to build up the company, pour my heart and soul into that without any distractions. I hadn’t thought too much about it until…well…until your brother’s accident. I think it was a wake-up call for both of us. I mean, we work hard, but when are we actually going to
live?
”

“You’re living now, aren’t you?”

Nick chuckled that deep warm laughter. “You’re right. I guess I’m getting overly dramatic here. This is it. This moment right now. This is life. And ain’t it sweet?”

Something in his eyes and the way he had said it, made Riley want to lean across the table, hold his face in her hands and kiss him. Something in his eyes made her wonder if he didn’t want to do the same thing.

She was the first to break their gaze and look away. Nick cleared his throat. A silence settled over them in the wake of the electricity between them.

“See those clouds over there, out over the sea? I bet we’re gonna have a storm later.”

“Then we better hurry home,” said Riley. “I want to try out your pool.”

On the way up the long driveway to Nick’s house, Riley got the first sense of how big the place actually was. At the end of the drive stood a huge futuristic glass building that looked as though it had been designed by a cubist painter, glass panes and white walls running off at strange and breath-taking angles.

Behind the house, the infinity pool seemed to continue right into the dark ocean beyond. In the distance, Riley could see the sparkling lights of Miami on the other side of the bay. They sat on the edge of the pool, sipping cocktails that Nick had prepared.

Riley dangled her feet into the water. The pool had retained the heat of the day and now felt warm and soothing to her weary feet.

“I just want to jump in,” she said. “The water’s so warm.”

“Be my guest,” said Nick.

“It’s kind of silly,” said Riley, “But ever since I was a kid and saw the Jaws movies, I can’t swim alone. Also, I only packed what I could fit in my backpack so I didn’t bother with a swim suit.”

Nick chuckled. “I can help you with the first one, but you’re on your own with the latter.”

He didn’t wait for a response, instead he stood up, unbuttoned his shirt and stripped down to his boxer shorts.

Riley had just enough time to notice the rippling muscles of his stomach and then his back as he launched himself head first into the pool.

“Come on,” said Nick, “The water is beautiful.”

Riley thought of Matt telling Nick to keep his hands off and then remembered what he’d said about how quickly life can turn, how you should enjoy it while you can.

“Come on,” said Nick again. “I won’t bite. Live a little.”

She imagined diving into the pool and pressing her body against Nick’s firm, wet skin and bit her lip. No, she told herself, it’s just a swim, nothing’s going to happen. But deep down she knew that what she wanted was very far from nothing. What she wanted was to seize the moment and everything that came with it.

Riley stood up, trying to mimic Nick’s explosive confidence. She turned away from him as she lifted her dress over her head and tossed it over a nearby deck chair. She stood for a moment in her white bra and panties, crossing her arms over her breasts. She could almost feel Nick’s eyes taking in her figure, stroking down her bare shoulders and back. When she glanced coyly over her shoulder at him, she was pleased to confirm her suspicions.

“Here goes nothing,” she said and dived as gracefully as she could into the pool.

She opened her eyes too late and when she came up, she was standing face to face with Nick. Water glistened in his hair and on his lips. His chest mere inches from her damp, now see-through brassiere. She could feel her nipples hardening under the cool fabric and the buzzing electricity of his presence.

Her lips parted on their own accord as their gazes locked. His eyes looked deeply into hers then dropped to her lips. Instinctively, she moistened them and watched him do the same. The electric aura between them suddenly revved up tenfold and tingled across her skin. As he leaned in closer, the conflicting thoughts in her head roared to an almost audible level.

Don’t do it, Riley!

Do it!

Don’t do it!

Don’t!

Do!

Nicks lips hovered an inch from hers, pulling her in with all of his magnetic power. Her breath caught in her throat at the sheer force of the attractive pull. Her hands drew up to his chest to push him away, but instead rested there on the warm, firm flesh of his pecs. Her heart leapt. His skin so incredibly alive beneath her fingertips.

The electric tingle spread down across her belly, tingling, warming, all the way down, her breasts now rising and falling heavily, faster and faster until the explosive crescendo. She leaned in, caught his lower lips between hers. Her tongue flickered across the tender flesh, tasting the clean water cooling there.

His hands cradled her head, nibbling her lip in return. Then, like a tidal wave of passion, the little nibbles became furious, feverish kisses: swirling tongues, roaming hands, hot skin against cool fabric.

His mouth roamed down her neck, stubble grazing her ear as it went, whispering titillating secrets. His hot tongue and gentle teeth found the erogenous spot of her throat bared to him, sending paralyzing waves of pleasure down into her legs, causing them to buckle forward, pressing her against him. She could feel his hardness through the fabric of his boxer shorts and the thin damp lace of her panties. Wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, she pushed against him harder, wanting to be as close as she could to him, wanting him inside her.

Her body became weightless in the water as one of Nick’s powerful arms supported her while the other hand unclipped the clasp of her bra. She let it slide off into the water, feeling her nipples tingling in the cool air.

He cupped one small breast, his thumb teasing her nipple, never quite touching and then alighting on it for only one maddening moment. She rocked her hips against him, lifting her breast to his mouth. His tongue spiraled around her sensitive nub in tightening circles until finally treating her to the delicious warmth of her mouth. She moaned softly into the warm night air as he suckled her.

When he pulled away, he looked into her eyes. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” said Nick. “I know we shouldn’t, but I wanted you the moment I first saw you.”

She placed a finger on his lips. “I want this,” she said. “I want you.”

She slid her hand down his torso and behind the waistband of his shorts, taking hold of his girth. It throbbed in her hand as she stroked him. His eyes closed and seemed to be fighting an inner battle between loyalty and desire.

Finally desire won out. He lifted her by the waist, pushing her backwards through the water, pinning her again the far wall of the pool.

His hand slipped beneath the water, caressing her tenderness through the fabric of her underwear. The twinkle in his eyes had now become a fire.

Deftly, he slid the fabric aside, feeling her sensitive warmth with his fingers, savoring it. She was beyond self-restraint now. She yanked down his boxers and pulled him against her.

He eased into her slowly, giving her time to adjust to his size. Their gazes locked, burning with all of the emotions they’d kept hidden. His body pulsed like some finely tuned machine. Like a panther, smooth, fluid, dangerous.

She could feel in him the primal strength that had allowed him to tear Nick from the powerful undercurrent, and her body yielded to it as he took control.

A long rumble of thunder in the distance, followed by an earth shattering crack, caused her eyelids to snap open. Over Nick’s shoulder, a storm was moving in from the ocean. A thick, wall of cloud and water lit up by flashes of lightning was fast approaching.

“Nick look!” she said pointing out to sea.

“That’s Miami for you,” said Nick. In seconds, the storm was overhead and hot droplets of rain were falling down over their heads.

They looked up at the sky together and laughed, stretching out their hands and catching the rain on their faces. She kissed him again deeply, the fresh smell of the storm enlivening her senses. She was enchanted by the idea of making love in the rain, but another loud crash from right above them was enough to change her mind. She pulled away from Nick and leapt from the pool thrilled, frightened, but laughing wildly in the face of the torrential downpour. Nick followed quickly, chasing her into the house, his deep laughter competing with the skies.

Nick brought some towels and after they had dried off, he said, “I know the perfect place where we can watch the storm. Follow me.”

Riley followed him up the stairs, wrapped in a towel, and then watched as he opened a hatch in the ceiling. “Are you taking me into the attic?” she asked.

Nick grinned, that same mysterious smile that he had given her in the restaurant. A set of stairs lowered on a hinge and bright natural light shone down. “Ladies first,” he said.

Curiously, Riley climbed the stairs and found herself, to her amazement, in a greenhouse observatory. Exotic plants grew under bright artificial sunlight and sprinklers sprayed fine mist into the air like a perfectly encapsulated section of jungle. A Koi pond wound its way around the room and in the centre was an open area with rustic wooden flooring and a sofa as big as a double bed. To one side stood a telescope aimed out to sea and tied between two sturdy beams hung a hammock.

“This is amazing!” said Riley. “Look, there’re even butterflies.” A group of them gathered around a puddle of condensation building on the glass while outside the storm raged on. The rain hammered against the glass with futility. Inside the glass room however, the rain sounded like a far-away ocean.

“This is my little piece of paradise,” said Nick. “I come here to think. I come up with most my creative ideas for the company here. I wanted to buy an island, but I figured this was the next best thing. Saves on commuting by boat.”

Riley couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but she laughed anyway, more out of sheer awe for the place than anything else.

Nick joined Riley peering out of the glass wall at the storm beyond, her hand resting against the cool glass. She turned to him, smiling, as he placed her hand on the small of her back, unravelling her towel and letting it fall to the floor, leaving her standing naked in front of the glass.

She giggled and pressed her breasts against the warmth of his torso to cover herself. “Can anyone see in?”

“Not in this storm.”

“Too bad,” she said, and with a cheeky smile, she similarly unravelled the towel around his waist.

The illusion of being in a jungle was so convincing, and the world beyond was so dark under the cover of the storm that it was easy to imagine that they were the only two people for miles around.

He scooped her effortlessly into his arms. With a gleeful cry, she wrapped her legs around his waist, holding onto his powerful body as they kissed, his hands firmly supporting her buttocks.

Then, with as much ease, he carried her to the large futon in the centre of the floor and lay her down. With a turn of a dial on a remote control lying on the mattress, the bright spotlight dimmed, and the artificial midday sunlight became twilight. The rain still drummed its hushed rhythm against the glass and she could hear the gurgling of the waterfall feeding the winding koi pond. The effect was hypnotic, soothing, never before had she felt so at peace than in this warm sanctuary with so strong a man.

He kissed her gently, the rogue power of his masculinity kept purposefully in check as his teeth grazed her lip, her earlobe, her neck, sending shivers across her cool skin.