A Whisper of Disgrace(24)
‘Mmm,’ was all he said.
‘Kulal,’ she breathed.
Waves of shock and excitement washed over her as he pushed aside the moist panel of her panties and began to move his finger against her aroused flesh and Rosa thought that nothing had ever felt this good. Nothing. She could hear strange, gasping little sounds echoing around the cabin, which she realised must be hers. She could feel the tension as her body strained towards something tantalising which seemed just out of reach. Something which surely promised more than it could ever deliver. And then it happened—almost without warning—like a shower of fireworks exploding unexpectedly in the sky. She found her body contracting with the most exquisite sensations, the force of them taking her by surprise. It felt like flying—and then afterwards it felt like floating down into some dreamy place, all boneless with the pleasure which was still washing over her. She gasped aloud as her head fell back. Her tongue snaked out to touch her mouth and even that made her sensitive lips tremble and for countless minutes she just lay there, drifting in and out of the most incredible daydreams.
‘Unzip me,’ he whispered.
His words broke into her dreamy thoughts and Rosa’s lashes flew open to meet the opaque smoulder in his eyes. But there was no softness in them—nothing but hard-edged desire. Her gaze flickered to his groin and her nerve failed her.
‘I can’t,’ she whispered.
‘Why not?’ He frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’
Rosa bit her lip and felt the sharp indentation of her teeth. A million things were wrong and, stupidly, the one which seemed to bother her most was the fact that he hadn’t even kissed her. She realised that she had just had her first orgasm but Kulal had made it happen with all the cold-bloodedness of a scientist performing an experiment in a laboratory. She might want to learn all about sex but she hadn’t intended her first real lesson to take place on an aircraft, and she certainly didn’t want to be treated like some sort of faceless puppet.
She felt like someone who’d never skated before being put on an ice rink and told to dance. The other night when she’d been drinking, she’d been filled with an unfamiliar bravado as she had flung herself at him. Even the next morning, she’d still been disorientated enough to make an uninhibited pass at him. But now that the moment of truth had arrived, she was scared.
So why not tell him? Why not be upfront with him? Surely even someone as hard-hearted as Kulal might be gentle if he realised the true depth of her inexperience.
She drew in a deep breath and let the words out slowly. ‘I’m a virgin.’
‘Sure. And I’m Peter Pan,’ he murmured, guiding her hand towards his groin.
‘No,’ she said weakly as she snatched her fingers away. ‘I’m serious.’
He drew back from her and she couldn’t quite make out the expression on his face. Surely that wasn’t boredom she could read there?
‘So am I, habeebi, so am I. So why don’t we leave the role play until our appetites have grown a little more jaded? I know the fantasies which turn women on and we can do the “innocent virgin being ravished by the big, bad sheikh” to your heart’s content, but for this first time, shall we just stick to what nature intended and adjourn to the bedroom?’
Rosa stared at him as his harsh words registered themselves in her befuddled brain. He didn’t believe her! He didn’t believe she’d never had sex with a man!
A wave of shame washed over her. Why should he believe her, after the way she’d behaved? He had signed up for a woman who shimmied around in a revealing dress, not an overprotected Sicilian girl who’d never felt the intimate caress of a man’s hands on her body until now. And mightn’t he be disappointed if he knew how naive she was?
Her mind began to race. This was supposed to be a marriage of convenience, for her convenience as much as his, but it wouldn’t be very convenient for him if his new wife was a hopeless novice, would it? Maybe it would be better if he discovered the truth on their wedding night—when it was too late to turn around and tell her he’d changed his mind about marriage?
She tugged her dress back down.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded.
She met his incredulous look, trying to imagine what a more experienced woman might say in such a situation. ‘You’re planning to have sex with me?’
‘What do you think—that I want to discuss the state of the world’s economy?’ He glared at her. ‘Of course I’m planning on having sex with you. Isn’t that what you’ve been practically begging me to do since we first met?’