Chapter 4
Nothing cures vehement rejection like losing yourself in art, Kerry thought as she and Aram sat at their respective easels painting and drawing. They were quiet, pensive, the air was thick with their individual tension. Aram had been having more dreams about his mother lately and she wondered what he would draw today. Her dark mood had to do with Malik’s rejection on the terrace a few nights ago.
Not that she wasn’t used to rejection, because her whole life had been a series of mild and tragic rejections. The real problem was that she wasn’t just attracted to Malik, she also liked him and his testy temper, his grouchy personality and even his uptight nature. It was a bad combination and one she’d worked damn hard to avoid over the years. She dated men who either fired her body up or her mind. Never both. Both were dangerous.
And now I work for and live with both.
But she’d been a tough cookie like the older woman who lived next door to her growing up, Tricia, had told her to be. Probably more important, she’d been a smart cookie, choosing distance over strength. She spent dinner in the kitchen on her own, though sometimes Esperanza kept her company until dessert was served. After dinner she left Aram and Malik to their family time, retiring to her room to read, paint, or just stare at the stars. She stayed away, not reappearing until morning.
It not only worked, but she’d finished a painting this week.
I call that progress, she told herself when she reached a stopping point and checked on Aram. “That’s great buddy. Tell me about it over snacks.” She pulled vegetable sticks and dip from a small fridge in the corner, setting them on a table on the balcony of Aram’s play room.
“When I have my bad dreams,” he pointed to the bottom half of the drawing which featured him in bed, “Mama looks over me and gives me strength so I’m not scared. She makes my dreams go away.” Rounded eyes looked up at her. “Do you think that’s true?”
Despite Malik’s warnings, she nodded. “I do. I still think my mom is around helping me make decisions, making me stronger so I can make the right choices.” Like not going after extremely handsome widowers with a bad attitude and molten-lava eyes. “What are your dreams about?”
He shrugged. “Normal bad things.”
Kerry pushed the veggies in front of the boy, sensing he was already worn out by the topic. “Eat up so you can grow big and tall.”
While he munched on his vegetables, Kerry’s gaze fell on the city below, wondering what her future held. This life, where she was now, was so far removed from where her life began and probably still a million miles from where she would end up. It wouldn’t last, she knew that, and she would keep reminding herself for as long as it took. “Are you mad at me and Father?”
“Of course not,” she assured him, surprised it had taken this long for him to ask about it. “I just want to make sure your dad gets as much time with you as he wants.”
“I miss eating with you.”
Kerry smiled, falling more in love with the little boy each day. “But we get to get breakfast and lunch together and your dad only gets the one meal. Imagine how much he must miss you.”
“I guess,” he pouted but there was no steam behind it. "Can we have dinner together this week? Please?”
“It’s a date. Now let’s go downstairs. I bet your dad will be home any minute now.”
Aram hopped up and shot out of the room, his little sneakers squeaking against the floor as he went. Kerry followed behind at a more sedate pace, shocked to find not just Aram and Malik in the main room, but a stunning woman with sable hair and a skintight white dress.
Well no damn wonder, she thought as she took in the well groomed woman. She never stood a chance. Suck it up, buttercup. She fixed a professional smile on her face and pushed her shoulders back. She didn’t want to let Malik hurt her pride. He wasn’t worth it.
“Kerry, Aram, this is Chantal.”
“Such a pleasure to meet you both,” Chantal said, not sounding at all like it was a pleasure.
She noted that neither of them returned her greeting, so she gave a small nod in concession to politeness. After all, it wasn’t Chantal’s fault.
“Chantal is staying for dinner,” he informed them with a tight smile.
“No!” Aram stomped his feet and ran off in an uncharacteristic huff.
Without a word Kerry went after him, hoping to sooth him enough to get him down to dinner with his father. Without her.
Heaven help her, they would be having dinner without her.
* * *
“I expected you to join us for dinner.” Malik stood in the open doorway of the guest room Kerry occupied with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.
“I was under the impression that the start of dinner marked the end of my work day. Did I have that wrong?” Slowly her gaze turned to his and she gave two lazy blinks.
The little minx knew she didn’t have it wrong but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. “Was dinner not up to your standards?” He arched a dark brow in her direction, his smug smile mocking her.
“Was there something you needed?” Green eyes looked bored at him, impatient.
“I need you to work late tomorrow. I have an appointment in the evening.”
“Alright,” she answered as though it were no big deal, dammit. He didn’t like to be ignored and Kerry had done a damn fine job of ignoring him over the last week. He didn’t know if it was his rejection or his presumptuous kisses and sensual touching, but she’d stopped having dinner with him and he’d barely laid eyes on her since that night.
“Is that all? You don’t have to cancel plans or something?”
Dropping the charcoal in her lap with an impatient sigh she looked up at him. “Does it matter? You need me to be here for Aram and I said I will.”
“Look, I’m sorry.” He raked both hands through his hair and groaned when she held her hand up.
“Don’t bother apologizing. I’m a big girl and I don’t need it. Was there anything else?”
There wasn’t, so he left. Reluctantly. The truth was, he found it difficult to do anything but think about Kerry since he’d gotten that one simple taste of her nearly a week ago. He wanted another taste, needed it like he needed his next breath. Which was the exact reason he’d finally agreed to go out with Chantal.
She was beautiful and sophisticated, elegant and intelligent. And boring as hell. She was the perfect antidote for his addiction to Kerry. Where Kerry was lively and loud, Chantal was muted and understated. She was all the things Kerry was not and she didn’t fire him up the way his nanny did.
So despite his misgivings, he’d come home from work to changed after picking up Chantal. Only, when he came into the main room, he heard a familiar voice saying things that were a bit too familiar.
“A boy of your station shouldn’t be messing around with something as silly as comic books.”
“Kerry says I can choose what I want and I choose comic books,” Aram told her, with no small amount of attitude.
“Don’t be silly, Aram, you don’t listen to your nanny. Perhaps a boarding school is what you need.”
Malik frowned at her words, ready to barge in, when Kerry spoke.
“Don’t you think it’s a little too early for you to be trying to ship off Malik’s son? Because I assure you, that man loves his little boy more than he will ever care for the likes of you.”
Chantal gasped with outrage. “Just wait until Malik hears how you’ve spoken to me.”
“Just wait until he hears how you’ve spoken to his son.” Her voice pitched lower and Malik knew she’d stepped closer to the woman. “You might be able to get me fired because I’m not important, but Aram is everything and you’ve insulted him and threatened to ship him off. I wonder what Malik will think of that.”
He’d heard enough. “That’s enough, Kerry.”
She looked up at him, hurt and disappointment burning in her green eyes. “Sure is.”
“Malik, darling, you really need better trained staff,” Chantal purred.
“Say good night to your father, Aram.”
“Bye, Father,” he said, waving as they walked away.
Malik resisted the urge to go after Kerry as much as he wanted to, but he didn’t owe her an explanation and she had been rude to his guest. Even if the woman had overreached and Kerry was just looking out for his son. “Let’s go,” he muttered without taking her hand or waiting for her to catch up.
“Oh, I just can’t wait. I’ve heard nothing but good things about La Fete!” She smiled up at him and Malik felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
He groaned. Another non-eating woman looking forward to a night at a fancy restaurant just to be seen. With him. Even across oceans, women wanted the same thing from him. Except the one you just rejected, he reminded himself.
Besides, after his harsh tone earlier, he’d be lucky if she ever spoke to him again.
* * *
Kerry was up early Saturday morning, ready to take advantage of the warm day and move the rest of her things from her old apartment to a storage facility. It was another bill to add to the bunch, but with no rent to pay for a few months, she could swing it. Dressed for the weather in a pair of cotton shorts, a worn tank, and her oldest but comfiest sneakers, she headed to the kitchen for some pre-moving sustenance.
She had a steaming mug of coffee halfway chugged when Malik walked into the kitchen looking adorably rumpled with bronze biceps on display. Swallowing her arousal and turning away from the tempting sight he made, she squeezed her eyes tight. She absolutely would not give in to her lust, or even her fantasies about Malik. He’d gone out on a date with another woman and Kerry had spent the better half of the evening seething. Until she’d come to her senses.
He was a Sheikh, which put him far out of her reach. A man like that ended up with an extraordinary woman like Chantal, not a nanny or a therapist and certainly not an artist. Good, she told herself and would until she remembered it. Finishing her coffee, Kerry rinsed the mug and grabbed an apple before heading towards the exit.
“Where are you headed?” he asked casually as though he wasn’t out, probably inside, with another woman.
With a sigh she gave a short answer. “Moving my stuff from my old place.” At his wide golden eyes, she rolled her own. “Don’t worry, it’s not coming here. I’m putting it in storage.” As if she’d dare taint his place with her junk. Since that was apparently all he’d had to say, she turned and left the kitchen.
“I had to take her out,” he shouted, an air of desperation in his voice that stopped her steps cold. “You know this can’t happen between us, Kerry.”
Her tense muscled went lax and her shoulders fell. Of course that’s what he wanted to clear up, not explain. “Right. No explanation necessary.”
“I could help you today.”
“No, thanks. I can handle it. Besides, you promised to spend the day with Aram.”
“I’ll let him play that new video game with Rajiv until we get back. It’ll be a couple hours,” he said as though she were the one who needed convincing. “Let me change and then we can go,” he said, strolling past her and disappearing down another hall.
Kerry tried not to watch the muscles of his fine backside as he walked away but it was impossible. The man’s ass was a work of fine art. Her thighs clenched and her core tightened, two signs that she should leave now. Without Malik. So she did, only she sat in the car and waited for him while the air conditioning blasted her overheated skin. She could have left but Malik would probably have followed.
“Ready?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts as he folded himself into her front seat. “You sure you don’t want to take the Range Rover?”
“I’m sure.” Her eyes stayed on the windshield, refusing to let her gaze rake over him now, when his body and his scent took up so much space in her little compact car. “Are your bodyguards following?”
His lips parted and curled into a wicked grin. “No. It’s just you and me, Kerry.”
I will not shiver at his sexy spoken words, she insisted just in case her body hadn’t gotten the memo. But the images wouldn’t stop. Her pressed up against a wall with Malik between her legs, thrusting into her while she held on and screamed his name. Her laid out on the bed in her real room one last time while he sent her to the heavens and back. Damn this man! What is it about him? She didn’t know the answer and with the way her body responded to him, she didn’t want to know. “Is it me or is it hot in here?” she asked, ignoring the knowing chuckle coming from his direction.
Once they arrived at her old apartment on the other side of town, with the moving truck it took less than an hour to get her belongings into the truck. Toya had hired a moving company to pack up her things and clean, but they’d also packed up and labeled Kerry’s things and left them stacked in one corner, along with her bed, desk and hideous but comfortable orange sofa. “Efficient,” Malik mumbled, sounding impressed.
Why she was annoyed with him, she couldn’t say, but everything he did bothered her. Offering to carry the heavy boxes, taking most of the weight when they carried her furniture down, and trying to pay for the storage unit. “I can pay for my own storage,” she’d snarled.
“I pay you, so isn’t it the same thing?”
She slapped her bank card down on the counter without another word. Even now, when they were just about done, she’d maintained her cone of silence. It was childish, especially since he was doing her a favor—one she hadn’t asked for, but still—and she could do better. And I will, she promised, pushing the box against the wall and turning to find the object of her thoughts standing a few feet away.
“There’s a spider on your shoulder.”
“A wh—? Oh!” She swatted and smacked her shoulders, convinced the eight-legged bastard would tangle himself in her hair. Rather than risk his northern assault, she yanked at the shirt until it went sailing through the air and landed at Malik’s feet. “Is it gone?” Her voice was little more than a screech and her chest heaved. She was sure her hair and eyes held a wild look. “Is it?”
His gaze slid over her body like she was his favorite dish being served naked. On his birthday. On a tropical island. He looked at her, lids heavy with desire. So intensely, her body responded no matter how much she begged it not to, nipples puckering under her sheer white bra.
Pushing her chest out and enjoying the way his gaze intensified, torching her thong along the way, she smiled. “I asked if it was gone, Malik.”
“Yes,” he grunted out, sounding frustrated and regal all at once before turning away.
“Thanks,” she said and turned her back on him. It wasn’t a smart move to play with a man like Malik, but it was damn insulting that he was attracted to her yet wouldn’t act on it because she was the nanny. He was a snob, plain and simple. So she ignored him and looked for the box with off-season clothing to cover herself up. “Score,” she said when she found a blue tank top nestled into a sweater. A quick look over her shoulder confirmed Malik had gone and she stripped out of her bra to ensure all traces of the spider were gone.
“Are you ready to…go,” he groaned the last word as his gaze collided with her naked breasts.
“In a minute,” she whispered, mortified, heart thumping when he moved closer to her, closer still before he touched her.
“You’re beautiful,” he said on a deep grunt a moment before he swept his mouth over hers, kissing her in a way that could only be described as mouth-watering. His tongue was soft yet insistent, commanding her to join in the dance, to melt into him, which she happily did. His tongue was a wicked sorcerer, sending her hands moving up and down his expansive, muscular chest, and promising more wickedness to come. She was dying to take him up on every single promise. “So sexy,” he moaned, dipping her head back, and kissed his way down her throat and between her breasts before wrapping his lips around her nipple.
“Yes,” she said in a breathy whisper as lust shot through her, electrifying her nerve endings.
Back and forth his mouth went from breast to breast, nipple to nipple until she was wet and aching and squirming beneath him. She thrust her chest up so he could take more of her, give her more pleasure. He responded just as she hoped he would, slowing down and taking his time, loving her breasts while one hand climbed her thigh.
A horn blared in the distance, breaking the spell between them.
Malik bit out a curse.
Kerry bit back tears and closed the lock on her unit.
The ride back to the penthouse was silent.
* * *
Malik awoke with a start but he couldn’t tell what exactly had woken him. A quick glance at the clock told him it was just after three in the morning and he’d fallen asleep with his door open. The same way he had for the past few nights. After dropping him off at home after the storage facility incident, she’d taken off and not returned until after midnight. She’d done the same thing the past three nights, taken off once she was done with Aram, only to return at the oddest hours.
Then he’d heard the soft moans of his little boy. Probably having another nightmare. Malik shot out of bed and went straight to Aram’s room, only to find his bed empty. He followed the sounds back to Kerry’s room, because that’s who his son wanted to soothe his nightmares. Opening the door just a sliver, he peeked his head in and saw Aram curled up on his nanny’s chest. Something he thought long buried dislodged within his chest, dissolved into nothingness.
“Malik?” Her voice was soft and husky, her green eyes wide with alarm. “What’s wrong?”
“I heard Aram and came running.”
She smiled at the sleeping boy, her hand still drawing soothing circles on his back. “He’s settling down. Do you want him with you?”
“Father?”
“I’m here.”
“Can you and Kerry read me a story?”
Malik wanted to say no but he couldn’t deny his son something so small. “I’m game if you are,” he flashed his dimpled smile at Kerry, who shrugged.
“Let’s pick a story and then snuggle in bed.” She slid to the edge of the bed and stood and Malik nearly groaned out loud at the sight of her smooth curvy legs, her round ass more uncovered than covered by the small Batman t-shirt she slept in. His gaze dipped lower to the smooth skin not covered by her lacy boy-shorts as she led them back to Aram's room.
Malik settled on one side of the bed and Kerry on the other, with Aram as their pint-sized barrier. They took turns, using different voices for different characters until Aram slept soundly, arms wrapped around his favorite stuffed seal.
“Sleep well, kiddo.” Kerry pressed a kiss to his head and crept away while Malik did the same.
He knew he should have kept walking forward, down the hall and back to his own room. But he couldn’t. He stopped just inside her room as she slid her shorts off, giving him a glimpse of her heart-shaped backside. “You are so sexy.”
She stood slowly, turning even slower just to torture him, he was sure. “What are you doing, Malik? You were perfectly clear before so—”
Malik cut her off, unwilling to hear a word about his appalling behavior at the storage facility. He wasn’t sure if he hated himself for mauling her or for stopping too soon, but it had been too much. So he poured his want into the kiss he planted on her, licking at and drinking from her sweet plump mouth and tasting of her cherry lip balm. His hands gripped her ass, pulling her in so she could feel how hard he was for her. “I was a fool before, Kerry. I want you. Tell me you want me.”
She hesitated and he hated it. “I do. I want you.”
“Say it again,” he demanded.
“I want you,” she answered, voice thick with desire.
Her words fired him up, made him even harder. “Kerry,” he growled.
She put a hand to his chest and took a deep breath. “I do want you, Malik, but I can’t have you.” Grabbing the hem of her shirt, she lifted it slowly until her breasts were bared and the shirt sat on the edge of the bed. “All I can have, all we can have, is tonight. Just us together. One night.”
He ignored her words and captured one hard, puckered raspberry tip in his mouth, circling it with his tongue and clamping down on it until she squealed. He would take tonight, but he already knew one night wouldn’t be enough. “Lie back,” he told her, pressing his palm to her chest.
She complied and Malik bit back a groan. He’d worry later about how her obedience turned him on. Kerry slid to the middle of the bed and opened her legs, teasing him. “Like this?”
“Hell yes, I do,” he moaned, yanking her sexy panties down her legs and tossing them behind him. He took in her glistening core and smiled before burying his head between her legs, licking and tasting, sucking and nibbling while she squirmed underneath him, begged him for more, begged him to stop. She just begged and he loved it, the same way he loved how tight she held his hair when she shook with pleasure.
“Malik,” she whispered his name as he kissed his way up her body, taking a moment to stop and love each breast, bringing her nipples to hard peaks before his lips traveled north. “You feel so good.”
He groaned at her softly spoken words, sinking slowly inside her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, circled her hips to accept more of him. She was so wet he sank right into her damp heat, making him clench his jaws to prevent things from ending prematurely. “So do you, Kerry. So damn good.” He shivered as her nails lightly trailed down his back before sinking into the round muscles of his ass.
His strokes were long and deep, meant to drive her wild and it was working. Kerry groaned his name, swinging her head left and right as though trying to outrun the passion, swirling her hips to the rhythm he set while her breaths came in short and fast. “Malik, yes. So good. Yes.” Green eyes stared deep into his as she let her pleasure be known. “More. Harder. Please,” she cried, ratcheting up his desire another ten notches.
Malik drove in hard and fast, hips moving like pistons in and out, both of their bodies slicked with sweat. With a grin he leaned in and nibbled her ear, giving her everything she asked for and a few she hadn’t. “Kerry, you’re so hot. So wet. Tight,” he bit out the last word as her pleasure tore through her, eyes blazing beautifully as her body shivered and her core squeezed him tight.
“Malik, yes. Yes! Yes!”
She looked like an erotic nymph, skin slick and glowing with pleasure, but he wasn’t done with her. Not yet. “Kerry, look at me.” She looked up at him, eyelids heavy with desire as his hands traveled down between her breasts, tickling over her belly and tangling in her curls before pinching her clit between his thumb and forefinger. “Come again. Come with me, Kerry.” Long hard strokes rocked her body and his free hand squeezed her breast.
“I can’t, not again,” she told him breathlessly.
“You can. Come now, Kerry.” He squeezed harder, pounding into her with everything he had, feeling his own orgasm crawl up his spine. Then he felt it, her walls fluttering tighter and tighter like a vise grip around him, sucking and pulling him deeper inside her body.
“Malik, oh god!” Another orgasm ripped from her body, shaking her violently as his thrusts slowed under the force of his orgasm.
Watching her come apart again was a magnificent sight. She looked like a goddess all stretched out and satisfied. Well loved. “I’m getting hard again just watching you come down.”
She laughed and her breasts shook, drawing his mouth to them. Kissing and licking slowly until she moaned.
He collapsed on his side, pulling her into his arms and kissing her until she was dripping wet and ready to go again, because one night would never be enough. They would have more nights like this until this thing between them burned out.