I stirred as rough stubble grazed up my inner thighs. My body was on fire, covered in sweat and in need of release.

I moaned, “More. Please more.”

Gripping thick, wavy hair, I tried to position the mouth delving into my core to the spot I was desperate for touch.

“I’ll stop if you don’t move those hands back into position.” He lifted his head and stared up my body to my face.

“You’re making me crazy.” I glowered at him but threw my head back as he swiped a tongue down the length of my lower lips.

“Then you know how I’ve felt for the past two years. You made us wait, knowing how explosive we are in bed.”

Lifting my hips, I rode the fingers he’d pressed into my sopping core.

“Oh God. Ashu, I’m almost there.”

“I know, baby.”

“Then why won’t you let me come?”

He stopped his ministrations and slid up my body, letting his hard cock glide into the folds of my sex.

My pussy spasmed, readying itself for his invasion.

“Because you have to come to me. I told you I’d stick to our bargain. The only person who can break the no-sex-until-marriage rule you asked for is you.” He pressed in a fraction and then retreated.

“So, you’re going to leave me hanging?”

“That is your decision.” He laughed and thrust deep.

I cried out, sitting straight up in bed, and gasped for air. I searched the dark room for Ashur.

Son of a bitch. It was another one of those tormenting dreams.

Every day for the last week, I’d dreamed of Ashur and me in some sexual situation or another.

What had happened in Ashur’s office yesterday was only adding to the frustration I felt.

I’d tried self-gratification, but it left me unsatisfied. What was the point of my battery-operated boyfriend if I couldn’t get the relief I wanted?

I threw myself down onto my mattress and wiped a hand down my sweat-covered face.

Turning, I glanced at the clock.

Four AM. Fuck.

This was getting ridiculous.

Maybe my dreams were getting worse because of the fact Ashur had become more forward the closer we got to the wedding. Or maybe it was because I’d gone years without needing sex and my body was ready to break free from the self-imposed drought.

I rolled over onto my stomach and covered my head with my pillow. How the hell was I going to go back to sleep when my body ached for a man I shouldn’t want to this level?

You’ll crave me as much as I crave you.

Ashur had said those words to me, not knowing that my desire for him hadn’t stopped in the past fifteen years.

Shit, I had to get some rest, but I’d only be wasting time lying in bed for the next two hours.

Maybe I could get Casey up for a sparring match in the basement. He’d probably bitch, but he had offered.

Besides, even if I decided to go for a run, he’d have to go with me. So, a workout in my townhouse was the better alternative.

I reached over and grabbed my cell phone and dialed his number.

“Stop dawdling and hit me,” Casey yelled as he knocked me on my ass for the fourth time in less than twenty minutes.

“I hate you,” I muttered.

I’d thought getting Casey up for sparring match was a good idea, but now I was rethinking my stupidity. My fifth-degree black belt skills meant nothing against his seventh. Especially when I hadn’t trained properly in over a year and a half.

Casey was killing me, and from the look on his face, he loved it.

Bastard.

When I’d first met Casey, he’d been one of my training instructors in Solon. His job had been to weed out anyone who couldn’t cut it as part of the organization. By the end of the eight-week course, I’d called Casey every name in the book and believed he was the spawn of Satan, but I’d made it to the next level. I hadn’t realized it at the time, that Casey was hardest on those he saw potential. And to this day I am forever grateful he taught me ways to use my petite, five-foot-two size as an asset.

He’d remained a mentor until I’d started taking assignments and moved up in the chain of command. Then, he’d become a friend. I’d known it was more than a coincidence that he was now the lead in my Secret Service detail. The man had connections and a way of maneuvering bureaucratic red tape that could boggle the mind. Casey viewed me as the daughter he’d never had and wouldn’t let anyone else head my protection.

No one outside of Solon knew of my connection to Casey beyond his current position. In the public eye, we’d kept a professional relationship. It was only in situations like this one, where we were trying to beat the shit out of each other at four forty-five in the morning, that we let our guard down.

I rested my head on the concrete floor, gasped in shallow breaths, and then glared at Casey. “I’m exhausted, dammit.”

His bright green eyes crinkled at the corners and his lips turned up in amusement. “I’m not the masochist who wanted an MMA workout the day before her wedding.”

“You’re my security. You’re supposed to talk me out of stupid decisions.” I grimaced as I struggled to stand. “If I have bruises, Neya is never going to forgive me.”

“When the wife to my new boss wakes me at a god-awful hour and asks to work out, I give her what she wants. Plus, you have something more to worry about than Neya.”

I frowned and took the proper stance. “Like what?”

“How you’re going to explain the bruises to your soon-to-be husband. If I hadn’t pulled back in time, you’d have a nice black-and-blue shoulder accessory to go with your sleeveless wedding lengha. That man notices everything about you, if you haven’t realized.”

I straightened. I hadn’t thought about that. In less than twenty-four hours we’d be married and on our way to our honeymoon. And I was already going to have to explain a few of my older scars. It would be better not to add a new one to the list.

“Shit. That puts a damper on any more sparring.” I released a deep breath. “You’re mean whenever anyone wakes you early and more than likely will continue this beat-down if I don’t end this now.”

“Excellent observation, Commander.”

“Not you too with the Commander shit. Really? Tyler put you up to it, didn’t he?”

Casey’s lips turned up a bit before he went back to his usual serious expression. “Secretary Camden is too busy of a man to discuss ways to annoy you.”

I walked over to a bin of towels and picked up two, throwing one to Casey.

“Yes, Mr. I’m-a-Prankster would never put you up to anything. Especially not something that gets me riled up.”

“It is who you are.”

I rolled my eyes and decided to change the subject. “I let you knock me around for the last half-hour to help me release aggression not antagonize me. Now, I’m back to square one.”

Casey wiped his face. “You could sneak into your fiancé’s bedroom and take it out on him. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to accommodate you.”

“Not funny. I thought you were on my side.”

“I’ve been on your side since the moment you walked through the doors of that training facility in Geneva.”

I remembered that day like it was yesterday. It was the summer before I started law school. My former professors at Harvard had offered me an internship with an “international relief organization,” saying it was the perfect stepping stone for my future career in international law. Needless to say, I’d learned more than I’d bargained for or expected and entered a world I hadn’t known existed.

I wiped the perspiration on the back of my neck and held the towel to my face. “I know.”

“Now back to the subject you wanted to change. Your man wants you. You want your man. The least you could do is reduce the tension everyone feels whenever the two of you are in the same room.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I threw the towel to the ground, grabbed my water bottle, and then gulped down the cool liquid.

“You are the furthest thing from traditional. What are you waiting for?”

“First Samina and now you. Does everyone know I’m not fucking Ashur?” I ran a hand over my heated face.

“I’m your security.”

I frowned, picked up my towel, and threw it at him. “That’s your answer?”

“It’s a better answer than anything you’re giving me.” He stood, going over to the corner where his gym bag was and pulling out a jacket. “Besides, I know the answer. I just want to see if you’ll admit it.”

I crossed my arms across my body. “Oh, wise one, please tell me what is my reason for not sleeping with my fiancé?”

He walked toward the stairs that led to the kitchen. He set a foot on the bottom step, stared me in the eyes, and smiled. “Because you’re in love with him and you’re worried he’ll break your heart again once he learns all your secrets.”