A Whisper of Disgrace(28)

‘You may now kiss the bride,’ said the celebrant.

Rosa stared up into the gleam of Kulal’s eyes and held her breath as she waited, but the swift, almost perfunctory graze of his mouth over hers left her feeling oddly rejected.

Her disappointment was so great that she summoned up the courage to rise up on tiptoe to put her lips close to his ear. ‘That wasn’t much of a kiss.’

‘I agree that it was briefer than any kiss I have ever given any woman, but I fear that once I start kissing you, I may not be able to stop.’ He linked his fingers in hers and gave them a squeeze, putting his lips to her ear so that nobody else could hear. ‘And perhaps it would be inappropriate for me to ruck up that pretty dress and take you unceremoniously against the wall, which is what I feel like doing.’

‘Kulal!’ The word trembled from her lips. ‘That’s the kind of thing a savage would say!’

‘But perhaps my “savage” words turn you on, my beauty.’ His black eyes gleamed with challenge as he observed the sudden flush of colour in her cheeks. ‘Am I right?’

And although she shook her head to halt his erotic line of questioning, the truth was that he was turning her on. Turning her on in a way she wouldn’t have thought possible, especially when all he was doing was holding her hand. Rosa could feel her breasts pushing against the bodice of her gown, as if they were anxious to be freed from their lacy confinement. Her mouth was drying and her skin was tightening with anticipation, so that she felt almost dizzy. But even though she felt a little daunted by this rush of unfamiliar sensations, she met his eyes with a sudden fearlessness, recognising that this was her opportunity, her time to grow. She had married Kulal to be free and independent, not to cower in the corner just because he was making her body respond to him in a way which was perfectly natural.

‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘Your words turn me on. They turn me on very much, if you must know.’

She saw the sudden tension which passed over his face before he nodded. ‘Then let’s get this next bit over with,’ he said, sliding his arm around her waist. ‘Let’s go outside and give the press exactly what they want.’

But despite his warning, Rosa was unprepared for the wall of blinding light as the embassy doors were opened onto the street, where the small number of photographers had grown into a jostling crowd.

‘Rosa!’ someone yelled as the flashlights flared. ‘What do your family think about you marrying a sheikh?’

‘Rosa, how do you think Kulal’s ex-fiancée is feeling today?’

Rosa could feel herself stiffen, but Kulal pressed his fingers into the flesh at her waist.

‘Smile,’ he instructed softly. ‘Look like you’re having fun.’

But she felt almost paralysed by the flashbulbs and the damning nature of the questions and maybe Kulal realised that, for suddenly he turned her towards him, his lips parting so that she could see the gleam of his teeth.

‘Seems like I’m going to have to kiss you properly after all,’ he said.

‘And is that such a hardship?’ she whispered.

‘Everything about me is hard at the moment,’ he commented drily as he lowered his mouth onto hers.

For a moment, the only thing Rosa was aware of was the press going crazy, but then the outside world blurred and faded and she was aware of nothing, other than the sensation of his lips exploring hers. Desire raced through her, as if he’d turned on some powerful current. As if she was on fire. She pressed the palms of her hands against his chest, revelling in the feel of his powerful torso, until she realised that he was pulling away from her and that the kiss had come to an abrupt end.

His eyes were impossible to read as he stared down into her upturned face, as if he was seeing something there which he had not expected to see. ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever kissed a woman in public and I don’t think it’s an experiment which needs repeating. I think I’d better get you back to my apartment as quickly as possible,’ he said, his mouth barely moving for fear that some clever lip-reader in the press corps could pick up on what he was saying. ‘Before we’re hauled up on a charge of public indecency.’

Rosa could feel herself blushing as his bodyguards began to clear a way through the press, but she was surprised when Kulal waved a dismissive hand at the driver, who was opening the door of his official car. ‘No. We’ll walk,’ he said. ‘It isn’t far.’