The Sheik's Beautiful Intruder (The Friendship Series) (11 page)

“Relax!  Move your hips!” he called.

Nikki hadn’t realized how far away she was until she heard his voice in the distance.  She immediately turned Nella around, heading back towards the other end of the ring.  She wasn’t going to admit that she didn’t like being too far away from Nazar.  And even if that were the issue, it was only because she was learning something new and was still terrified.  Not that she liked being near him.  That wasn’t it at all! 

“Your hips should roll more.  It helps Nella to walk easier.”

She turned to the right, heading through the middle of the ring instead of coming closer to him.  “Roll my hips!  Relax.  Walk easier!” she grumbled, turning away so he couldn’t even see her mouth moving as she tried to figure out what he was talking about.  “How in the world does one roll hips?  What does that even mean?”

And suddenly he was right beside her!  She just about jumped out of her skin when he moved closer on Midas.  “It means, you need to move with the horse like this,” he said with a glint in his eyes.  He didn’t have to raise his voice in any way since he was so close.  “Your hips follow the rhythm of the horse’s movements,” he said and showed her.  His shoulders were basically still while his hips took on all the movement.  Nikki stared at him for several minutes, amazed at how he appeared to be melded to the horse.  They were one. 

He turned Midas around again and walked back to her.  “Like this,” he said and lifted her off of Nella, plunking her down right in front of him.  She gasped when she felt his strong arms around her, stunned by the sudden heat surrounding her as his arms wrapped around her waist.  “Just relax,” he said, his forearm coming to rest against her stomach, pushing her back against his chest while his other hand held onto the reins. 

Nikki knew with absolute certainty that this position was not conducive to any kind of relaxation.  He bent his head lower, his voice deep and husky in her ear.  “Why are you so tense?” he asked.  The hand that was around her waist moved even lower.  “Just pretend like you’re having sex.  Think of being on top and moving, shifting with your lover for maximum pleasure.”

With those words, an image popped into her mind and she was grateful he was behind her and couldn’t see her pink cheeks. 

And then things got much worse!

“Here,” he said low and seductively in her ear, his hand pressing her hips against his, “feel the way I’m moving.”  Oh, she definitely felt it.  “Move your hips with mine, Nicole.  Just sway with the rhythm.” 

For about five seconds, she wasn’t able to do anything but move the same way, her hips shifting, angling ever so slightly against his.  She honestly did feel Midas’ movements more, adjusting her hips ever so slightly so that she was moving better with him.  But the feeling was so erotic, she gasped and looked over her shoulder at Nazar. 

He was feeling it too.  She could see it in his dark eyes that told her he was just as on fire as she was.  He was imagining exactly what he’d described. 

Her mind shut down and her body took over, swaying as Midas moved across the ring, his enormous shoulders lumbering onward as she imagined moving on top of Nazar.  The feeling, the images in her mind, were so intense, she just about whimpered. 

She couldn’t handle this!  He was too intense!  She was out of her league with him and he had no idea! 

“I have to stop,” she said, trying to sound assertive but her voice was barely above a whisper.

“No you don’t.  You need to keep going.  You’ve finally found the rhythm.”  He groaned when she shifted against him, his hand moving even lower on her hip so that his hand was almost on her thigh.  “Don’t stop, Nicole.”

She couldn’t halt the shiver that traveled throughout her whole body.  “We have to stop.”

“No we don’t,” and he bent lower, kissing her neck, nibbling on the sensitive skin.  “Just keep that image in your mind, Nicole.  Show me how you move.  Show me what you like.”

She gasped again when his hand moved higher, resting just under her breast.  She’d never felt anything so erotic, so sensuous.  It was almost like he was making love to her on the horse.  “I can’t!” she almost cried out, her body so inflamed and she didn’t understand how to handle him, how to fight him and she was too scared of what he made her feel to accept him.  That only left retreat. 

“Let me down!” she told him and pulled her back away from his chest, her hand grabbing his wrist and releasing his hold.  Perhaps if he hadn’t been in the same state of mind that she’d been in, which had been totally lost in the sensuous moment and all of that moment’s possibilities, he wouldn’t have released her so readily.  But she’d surprised him so she was able to almost jump down while Midas was still moving. 

When she thought about it afterwards, jumping off of a moving horse – especially one as strong and ready to bolt as Midas – was an extremely bad idea.  Thankfully, Nazar was a strong enough horseman that he was able to control the horse while Nikki ran away. 

She’d thought that she would make it all the way to the stables before he could reach her.  But obviously she hadn’t been thinking clearly.  Nazar was on a huge animal with long legs, four of them!  Those four legs were much faster at covering the distance than her two much shorter legs were at creating the distance. 

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Nazar leapt off of Midas right next to her, grabbing her quickly and stopping her planned disappearance.

“What just happened here, Nicole?  Why are you running?” he demanded, almost furious with her, both for putting herself in danger by such a stupid move as well as livid that she was once again ignoring the passion their bodies incited within each other. 

“I don’t know!  I don’t know anything!” she yelled out.

Nazar signaled to a stable hand, passing Midas off quickly before he took Nikki into the shaded cover of the stable.  “What don’t you know?”

“I don’t know how to do that!  I don’t know how to move like that!” she waved her hands wildly out to the ring for explanation.  “I’ve never…” she saw the stunned look in his eyes as the tears of frustration and fear clogged her throat, making further, or even more coherent, explanations difficult.  “I don’t know how to do that!”

She tried to yank her arm free, but he only tightened his grip which hurt her arm.  With a muttered curse, he pulled her deeper into the stable.  “What are you telling me?”

He had her pinned to the wall of a stall, his lower body holding her in place while his hands plastered against the wood behind her.

Nikki closed her eyes, imagining herself…and him…and her on top of him…riding like that…  The image made her shiver again and she bit her lip.  Taking a deep breath, she leaned her head back but refused to look at him.  “You’re asking me to do things that are outside of my experience.” 

There!  She’d said it.  And she didn’t care if he laughed at her.  Or if he thought she was ridiculous for being twenty-five and never having had sex before.  Other men had laughed and she’d scoffed at them, more than able to walk away from those relationships because they hadn’t done anything for her.  Hadn’t created any need in her to care about the man.

So why was her admission now so embarrassing?  Why did she care about Nazar’s reaction?  She’d already accepted that he was too far out of her league. 

She opened her eyes, bracing herself for either amusement or an irritating light of challenge, which was why Nikki was so startled to see tenderness in his eyes instead. 

“I’m sorry, Nicole,” he replied, his voice still deep and husky, but she suspected it was for a different reason now.  “I didn’t know.”  He took a deep breath and continued to watch her, his hand moving across her cheek, caressing her gently.  And then, with amazing tenderness, he pulled her against, him.  This wasn’t a sexual embrace, she realized.  Well, as much as anything with Nazar could be considered non-sexual, which was pretty much impossible.  The man simply oozed sex appeal all the time.  He couldn’t help it. 

But this embrace felt different.  It was comforting.  It was, and she might just be imagining this, accepting. 

“Ah, Nicole.  I’m sorry.”  He stroked her hair, her back, holding her close while his tall, strong body gave her a different sort of warmth than the ambient temperature of the stables.  “I didn’t know.  And I never would have suspected, but you’ve been so different in every other sense, I should have simply assumed.”

A part of her mind told her to pull out of his embrace.  But it felt too incredibly nice.  She actually leaned closer to him, her cheek resting against his muscular chest and she enjoyed hearing his heartbeat, loved the way his arms held her gently, as if she were something precious.  And in that moment, she felt precious to him.  It was a strange sensation to feel with someone like Nazar, but she didn’t push him away.  Nikki just stood there, feeling warm and cherished. 

But eventually she pulled away.  She couldn’t accept his affection.  She couldn’t accept anything from this man.  She’d worked too hard to stand on her own two feet, to not depend on anyone except Brianna and Rachel.  Dependence meant getting hurt.  It meant that eventually, that person would either walk away or be taken away.  Life had cruelly taught her the hard way that needing someone was dangerous to one’s mental strength. 

“Anyway…” she said, feeling awkward as she pushed the hair out of her eyes.  “I’ll just…”

She backed away, unable to look at him.  She didn’t want to see what was in his eyes, not wanting to feel anything more for this man.  He’d been kind but she was also somewhat ashamed of her status.  What kind of woman was still a virgin at twenty-five?  Either a woman who no one wanted, or a woman afraid of life.  She was neither of those things, she reminded herself. 

“So now that you know the truth, I imagine that you don’t really need me to stay here any longer.  I’m not experienced, I can’t do fabulous sexual tricks that will blow your mind away and I won’t have casual sex with you.  So that just about eliminates all of your needs.”

Nazar stared at her, not comprehending what she was talking about.  Was she crazy?  She was even more important to him now!  He suddenly realized that Nikki was the woman he’d been waiting for. 

Previous to this conversation, he’d wanted her.  Quite desperately.  More desperately than any other woman he’d ever run into.  But now, knowing that she had never been touched by any man…well, he was enough of an old fashioned man to like the idea of being her only lover.  Really like it.  If he were a better man, a more enlightened man, he would be ashamed of his feelings.  But he didn’t care.  All he cared about now was getting her to trust him enough so that all his other plans could fall into place, plans that were expanding even as the two of them stood in the earthy stables. 

She spun around and started walking into the palace and for several seconds, he enjoyed the gentle sway of her hips, the feminine curve of her bottom and her slender, muscular legs.  His Nicole wasn’t one of those skinny women who starved themselves to stay thin.  He realized that she was strong and muscular.  She worked hard to maintain her figure.  Not too thin though, which he liked.  A lot.  But those thighs had long, strong muscles underneath the smooth skin. 

And he also realized that he hadn’t responded to her comment about her leaving.  No way in hell!

“Nikki!” he called out to her, almost smiling when he saw her shoulders tense with his voice.  He moved closer to her, towering over her once again and he almost laughed at those nervous, beautiful eyes.  “That only makes you more beautiful in my eyes, Nicole.”  He waited for his words to hit her then he said, “And you aren’t going anywhere.”

Her eyes widened with that declaration.  “But…”

“No but’s Nicole.  We will be together.  You need to accept that.”

She shook her head, so confused she thought her head might explode.  Or was that anger?  She wasn’t completely sure. 

With a screech of fury, she swung around and raced away, running as fast as her legs could carry her.  She didn’t care where she was going and didn’t really have a destination in mind other than just getting away from him.  She couldn’t believe how arrogant he was!  How conceited.  Why did he think he could simply keep a person in his dreary, old palace without her consent?  It was kidnapping!  Okay, so she’d snuck in here by herself but that didn’t mean she had to stay!  It didn’t give him the right to keep her here! 

Shoot! She hated being reasonable but there was the sticky little issue that he probably did have the right.  In fact, he probably was being extremely generous in not throwing her in prison and forgetting about her.  But goodness!  At this point, she might prefer prison to what she could anticipate from him.

When she reached an empty room, she threw open the doors and slipped inside, grateful for the solitude so she could stomp around and get out all her frustrations.  This situation was completely her fault.  She’d come here, knowing what he was about, just trying to find her friend and she’d completely messed everything up.  She didn’t know where Brianna was other than some vague reassurance from Nazar that she was okay.  She didn’t have any way out.  She had no way of contacting anyone and, she opened the doors to the room she’d just stumbled into, peering out into the hallway.  Sure enough, the body guards were standing outside the door, neither one appeared to be even slightly out of breath from chasing after her. 

How had they caught up with her?  She’d been running fast and she hadn’t seen them when she’d sprinted out of the stables.  Well, maybe she hadn’t been looking, but that was because Nazar had said things….she shook her head and slammed the door shut once again, pacing back and forth in the enormous room. 

She shouldn’t have told him about her sexual status, she thought.  Maybe he thought of it simply as a challenge.  In the past, other men had thought she just needed “to be touched in the right way” and had done all they could to convince her to let him be her first.  She’d been repulsed by their efforts, irritated that they’d thought she just hadn’t found the right guy. 

Well, maybe that was true enough.  No man affected her like Nazar did with just a simple touch.  But that didn’t mean she wanted him to be her first.  Definitely not!  No, she’d much rather find a man who was more sensitive.  Someone who at least respected her right to not be kidnapped!  Or kept prisoner!