Chapter Five
Juliana curled up next to Cemal the entire limo ride back to the palace. Her head was spinning, and she realized it was a terrible idea to work past lunch and only have a piece of date bread for breakfast. She’d had more wine than she’d realized, and although she desperately wanted to make love to Cemal, to do more than a dance, she also found herself more exhausted and fuzzy headed than she realized.
For right now, at least, having him hold her in his arms and kiss the crown of her head felt amazing. It felt like the tenderness between them had never died, and that the connection they’d forged years ago was still vibrant between them, a living spark that had never completely died out. Still, it hurt when he got out of the limo and started to his corner of the palace. Yasmeena took her, letting her Juliana lean on her shoulder, as both women walked slowly (oh so slowly) to the harem quarters. As an honored guest, Juliana had her own separate bedroom within the wing—one that led into a private bathroom as well.
As she sat on the lip of the massive Jacuzzi tub, Juliana watched the older woman poor a bubble bath. The servant even added hints of rich Arabian spices and rose petals to give the water a truly luxurious feeling.
“Now, do you need help? You won’t fall if I give you a few minutes of privacy, will you?” Yasmeena asked, concern furrowing her brows.
“No! I’ll be fine!” she said, waving her hands about her, feeling almost as if she were a helicopter about to take off.
Yasmeena shook her head. “I’ll be close outside. You merely have to yell if you have a problem.”
“Aww, you can go on ahead. There’s no way you want to be taking care of a drunk chick right now,” she said, smiling reassuringly back at the older woman. “I’ll be fine.”
The servant hesitated a moment longer before hurrying out of the door. Juliana stood and swayed a bit on her feet as she took off her jeans and her tank top. It didn’t surprise her in the least that her jeans were slightly wet. God had she been worked up as she’d danced for Cemal. She’d have given anything if they could have gone further tonight, but he’d always been so sensitive to her needs. The reason they’d never slept together in high school was because he’d been patient, waiting for her to be ready.
Maybe she wasn’t quite ready yet, not with her problems with Phillip still spinning in her mind. And, okay, maybe she was just a bit tipsy, she admitted to herself as she slid into the heavenly warm bubbles. Still, they were together again and he’d shown her something real. He was as bent, broken, and frustrated by parental edicts as she was.
God, it was all so confusing but she did still want him. The sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs had been throbbing ever since she’d straddled him. Her pearl begged for attention.
Slipping one hand under the surface of the water as she reached with the other for her nipples, Juliana resolved that she’d have to take care of her need for tonight. Leaning her head against the porcelain of the tub, she imagined that her fingers were his, that it was Cemal’s broad, callused fingers that were threading their way through her folds. That it was his scent—that spicy, devilish aroma—filling her nose.
Her fingers stroked the softness of her most secret lips and it felt as if her blood had turned to lava, like magma was running under the surface of her skin, promising to erupt for her at any moment. Then her right hand parted the petals of her flower and she found her center, that special rosebud that, honestly, hadn’t been worshipped in a long time.
Maybe that should have been her sign, that she couldn’t even remember the last time she and Phillip had had sex.
She’d always been so busy with her career, and she’d assumed that he’d been busy with his.
No, not here. Now she was going to pleasure herself, make herself feel all the ecstasy that had been denied to her for so long. The fingers of her left hand stroked and played with her nipple, raising it into a peak, making it pebble with desire. In her imagination, it was Cemal doing this. Someday it would be his tongue laving against her skin. More than that, it would be his thumb pressed against her pearl, rubbing it in semicircles until the hot, racing magma ran through her veins, making her burn in the most delicious way possible.
She plunged two of her fingers deep into her channel even as she increased the pressure of her thumb. She came then, erupting as readily as Mt. St. Helens, the pure power of her ecstasy overtaking her. Slipping under the water, she made sure to keep her nose above water, but the rest of her was limp and boneless, utterly content from her orgasm.
And yet…
She knew it would be better if Cemal had done it to her, and she’d feel empty until he did.
***
“My mouth tastes like the bottom of a New York City cab,” she groaned, shoving a pillow over her head as Yasmeena came into her room. “I can’t go program like this.”
“I think you’ll be alright,” the older woman said as she dropped two Alka-Seltzer tablets into her cup.
Even the light fizzing of the medicine sounded like a bubbling spring to her addled, super sensitive ears. Juliana shoved the pillow more tightly over her face. “No, I don’t want to.”
The pillow was pulled away and she howled as the light assaulted her senses and made it feel as if a team of Irish step dancers had set up shop in her head.
“You drink this and I’ll have some croissants and eggs sent up here soon.”
“You’re such a mom,” she said.
“No, I am not,” Yasmeena said, her tone a bit more subdued than before.
Juliana sipped her concoction for a moment and then sighed. Setting her hand on the older woman’s hand, she added. “You’d have been a good one, even if you are too bossy.”
“I live to serve and right now the order from Cemal is that you sober up.”
Juliana’s mind sifted flashbacks of last night and she almost dropped her mug in shock. At first, the memories of any time after the midafternoon yesterday were fuzzy. Now? Now, her mind was racing through so much. The dancing she’d learned and, oh God! She’d given Cemal a lap dance, hadn’t she?
And then the Jacuzzi after, the way she’d come just thinking about him.
“I made a fool of myself.”
“From the look on the master’s face when he came home last night, I do not think that Cemal was upset,” Yasmeena intoned.
“I had way too much wine. I did things I haven’t done in years,” Juliana said. Then she blanched, thinking of the lap dance. “I’ve done things I’ve never done!”
“Again, I think that the sheikh didn’t mind.”
“He should have! I had to have made him a laughingstock of the city.”
Yasmeena laughed. “He has done many, many things in his time. Trust me. There has been every type of rumor and story about Cemal over the years.”
“Oh,” she said, ignoring the ache in her chest.
How foolish of her. He was royalty, the heir to one of the largest oil fortunes in the world. He could have any woman he wanted, any person on Earth in his bed. She couldn’t have expected him to wait for her. After all, she’d had lovers in college and a fiancé. Still, that news made her feel bad, as if she couldn’t hope to compete with all the women he’d known. Wait, what was she thinking?
She was sober now and, damn it, all she had to do was focus on her mission. Juliana was here to fix the security system and get home. She’d impress Ms. Grant with her efficient skills, get her promotion, and remain sober for the rest of her stay in Jordan. That was the mission.
She wouldn’t stray from that.
Really she wouldn’t.
***
It was half past two and she was stuck on a nonsensical snarl of code when Cemal put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Her traitorous heart had already sped up, even when all she’d done was catch the hint of saffron in the air. Nervous, she kept her head down and focused on the screen before her.
“How is it coming?” he asked.
“I know what’s wrong, but I’m not quite sure yet how to rewrite it. My usual patches aren’t being the charm they’re supposed to be. Otherwise, peachy,” she said, her voice high and tinny.
Please just go away. I don’t want to relive last night. God, you must think I’m an idiot.
“You can look at me. It’s okay.”
Sighing, she tried not to look him in those mesmerizing, amber eyes, but he pushed her chin up anyway. “You must hate me.”
“Why?” he asked, his eyes betraying no hint of annoyance.
“Because I went total slut on you last night. I was exhausted and stressed and had too much wine. Now I’m just feeling completely stupid.”
“You shouldn’t, Snow White,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Perhaps you just let far too much pent-up anxiety out in one go. Maybe it’s not best to let all of your, ahem, freak flag fly, but it’s okay to have some fun.”
“I need to get this code working.”
He arched an eyebrow playfully up at her, and that damn heat was flaring through her again. Cemal could get her to do anything, feel anything, and a huge part of her was scared of the power he wielded over her, even after all this time.
“You said you were blocked.”
“I am, but if I keep staring at this screen and yelling at it, something will unjam. It’s an ancient coder secret.”
“I see, that seems to work great. How long have you been doing it?’
“About two hours.”
He smirked back at her. “So it’s going that well, is it?”
“It might be,” she huffed. “I just…I’m here to do a job. I don’t know if I can mix business and pleasure, even if I want to.”
“I do understand that we all see the world more clearly when we’re not so intoxicated.”
She flinched a little, but it was a fair point. Juliana had been so irresponsible, more than she ever would have been if she wasn’t still reeling from Phillip’s betrayal. “I am so sorry—”
He leaned down and kissed her, his tongue tangling with her own. She loved the way his tongue could dance and stroke hers, the veritable workout it gave her. It was enough to leave her panting when he pulled away. “Don’t be sorry. Just come with me. I’ve waited almost fifteen years to show you my country. Please let me do that for you.”
“I…”
“Just say yes.”
So she did.