Sheikh's Stand In (14 page)

“And if it doesn't?”

“Well, they'd probably hear all about that, as well.”

“Ah, sounds fair. I can have my car brought up, and then—”

“Sorry,” she said with a grin. “I like you, but we're taking a cab back to my place. My mother always said never to get into a car with a guy I don't know.”

“Really? And what did she say about inviting him back to your home?”

“Well, we don't tell my mother every little thing....”

Aladdin laughed and obligingly hailed a cab. One stopped almost immediately, and he opened the door to hand her in.

Charlotte's apartment was not far away, which was a very good thing. During the drive, she couldn't take her eyes off of Aladdin. He was every bit as handsome as she thought he had been in the club. She was willing to bet that underneath those well-cut clothes, she would find an impressive body.

For his part, he made conversation with the driver and commented on the neighborhood. It would have been an unremarkable cab ride if he hadn't placed his hand on her knee and started to slide it up. She drew her breath in a little at his intimate touch, but then she put her own hand over his, guiding it further. His hands were surprisingly rough for how well he was dressed, calloused in a way that made her think of her theater friends who built sets. The roughness felt delicious against the delicate skin of her thigh as he rubbed it gently.

By the time they made it to her apartment building, she was ready to drag him right to bed. Despite having toyed with her for the entire cab ride, he seemed in no hurry. He chatted a little longer with the driver, gave him a large tip, and waved him away cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Charlotte could still recall the feel of his warm touch on her inner thigh. When he finally turned to her, she was nearly squirming with eagerness.

“So do you feel like begging yet?” he asked softly, stepping so close that she could feel his breath against her cheek.

She laughed a little, amused at the game he continued to play with her.

“You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you think I'm going to beg after a little bit of fondling,” she murmured. "Maybe you can show me something better if I take you upstairs?"

"That would be delightful," he murmured, and she shook her head at his old-world courtesy in such a new-world situation.

She guided him into the small lobby of her old apartment building. He didn't raise an eyebrow until she pulled open the folding gate of the elevator.

"Is there any other way up?" he asked.

"Well, you can take the twelve flights up to my apartment if you want...."

"Not at all," he said.

The elevator was very small. She could have touched the opposite walls without straightening her arms.

She turned away from the buttons as the elevator began its slow and rickety ascent, facing Aladdin. She looked up into his dark eyes. They weren't the dark brown color she had thought they were. Instead, they were a deep mossy green, a dash of color that gave his dark face a strangely sweet look.

"So what do you think?" Charlotte found herself asking.

"Hmm? About what?"

"About all of this. About me. Was this how you imagined your night ending?"

He laughed. To her surprise, he touched the point of her chin with the tip of his finger, angling her face up a little.

"No, I had no idea that my night was going to end like this," he said softly. "I had no idea that a beautiful woman who shone like a star was going to accost me, tell me in no uncertain terms that she was interested in me, and then take steps to show me exactly how interested she was after that. I would never dare dream that I would be this lucky."

His words struck something deep inside her, something that had not been rung in some time. There was something about him that told her that he was telling the truth. She could feel it, and suddenly, she wondered when she had last been with someone who had been so open and honest with her.

She licked her lips, suddenly nervous. He stepped forward so that their bodies were close enough to touch, and then with a sweetness that barely covered the deep well of passion underneath, he kissed her.

Charlotte wasn't quite sure what she had expected when she decided to take Aladdin home. She had known that she was going home with a gorgeous man, one who would hopefully be good in bed and as invested in her pleasure as she was in his. She had hoped for passion.

No matter what her expectations were, she had not expected this tenderness. There was passion there, plenty of it, but overlaid on top of all of that was a kind of tenderness that she had never quite sensed before.

She felt the brush of his lips over hers, making the soft skin there beautifully sensitive. She felt the way his tongue lapped against her lower lip, sending shivers through her body. One hand had come up to rest lightly on the small of her back, bringing her even closer. Now she could feel his excitement in the way his body responded to hers. It drew a deep groan from her, which she stifled just in time as the door clanged open.

"Oh!  Good evening, Mrs. Kaminski!"

The old widow peered at the two through her thick glasses, frowning at them both. At the best of times, Mrs. Kaminski made Charlotte feel as if she were twelve and breaking all the rules. Right now, wearing a dress that showed off her generous curves and with her shoulder-length hair as wild as it would be on a windy March day, it was not one of those times.

"Well, I don't suppose you two are thinking about getting out of the stairwell anytime soon, are you? Some of us have places to be."

Mumbling apologies, Charlotte slid out of the elevator, bringing a bemused Aladdin with her. After Mrs. Kaminski stumped into the elevator and began her descent, Charlotte started laughing.

"Oh my god, that was terrible," she said, shaking her head. "She already thinks I'm a terribly immoral woman for living on my own and doing as I please. What's she going to think about me now?”

"I don't know what she has to complain about," said Aladdin. "We're coming in for the night. She's the one who has somewhere to be at one thirty on a Friday night..."

 "You know, I would not have thought of that...."

Charlotte fumbled with the keys to her place, a task that was made harder by Aladdin wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. There was something about his height that ensured she fit perfectly under his chin. Before she opened the door, she pressed back against him, making him growl in her ear.

When she had the door closed behind her again, it took everything she had not to simply lead him to her tiny bedroom.

"All right, I just want to set down the rules."

He raised his eyebrow.

"I know if you tell me to stop, I'll stop, and I know that I'm not going to make you do anything that you do not thoroughly enjoy...."

Charlotte stifled a soft shiver at the promise in those words, but she made herself speak clearly.

"Look, I think I can tell you honestly that I like you, but this is all we are going to have. This is a one-night stand, and we're going to have ton of fun, but after it's over, we're going to go our separate ways. You're not my boyfriend, and I sure as heck am not your girlfriend. If you can't agree to that, we had better just call it quits now."

Aladdin nodded thoughtfully.

"So in some ways, this is like an arranged marriage, only it is arranged merely for a single night."

"Er, I guess so? Basically, I just want to make sure that we are on the same page as far as expectations go. I don't want any surprises and I don't want either of us to be disappointed. Can you agree to that?"

"Yes, I can." Aladdin tilted his head to one side, regarding her curiously.

"Do you have any questions?" she asked a little desperately. She was beginning to feel as if she were a teacher lecturing a particularly stone-faced classroom.

"I do, as a matter of fact."

"Go on."

"When can I touch you?"

She realized suddenly that there was a coiled tension to him, something that had been poised to spring as soon as they walked into the apartment. She had been the one who put a halt to it, but now she had the power to release him. Once she knew that, she didn't hesitate.

"Now," she said. "You can touch me now."

With a deep growl, he crossed the floor between them with a truly astonishing speed. Charlotte was shocked at how quick he was for a man his size. In a matter of seconds, she was in his arms, crushed against him as he claimed her lips in a passionate kiss.

"I have wanted to do this from the moment I laid eyes on you," he murmured into her ear. "I thought about running my fingers through that gorgeous hair of yours, seeing everything that this blue dress hid."

"Do it," she said challengingly. "You said you were going to make me beg, so let's see you do it."

She caught a glimpse of a white grin that was as sharp as a knife before he caught the lower neckline of her dress in two fists and yanked sharply. Under his strength, the fragile material gave way as if it were tissue paper, hanging in shreds from her shoulders. The feeling of being suddenly exposed and bare made her sharply catch her breath. Now he could see the lacy ivory underwear she wore underneath, the color glowing against her golden skin. He didn't need to know that it was the last pair of clean underwear in her drawer.

"So beautiful," he murmured. "So beautiful..."

Without hesitation, he scooped her up in his arms, carrying her straight to her bedroom. Her double bed creaked under their combined weight, but she couldn't care, not about anything except what this man was making her feel.

With a surgeon's precision, he spread apart the rags of her dress, revealing her form to his hungry hands and mouth. As she shivered with anticipation, he began kissing her, starting with her mouth before moving to the point of her chin, her neck, and her shoulders. He passed his hands along her skin, grazing gently over the areas covered by her underwear until she started to press herself upwards into his hands.

"You're still clothed," she panted. "Don't you think you should join the party?"

"Say please," he said with a grin.

"I'm not begging," she scoffed. "I'm not that easy."

"I'm not asking you to beg. I'm just asking you to be polite."

Well, that was certainly good logic, and she did want to see what was waiting underneath that well-tailored suit.

"Please, Aladdin, won't you take your clothes off for me?"

"There, now was that so hard?"

In a single fluid motion, he quickly got up from the bed and started to shed his clothing. She watched hungrily as it all hit the floor, revealing a body that was lean and muscular, resembling a swimmer’s physique. He was tan all over, and her hands ached to stroke his sculpted chest, his long limbs. Aladdin didn't stop until he was entirely naked. She could see that he was fully aroused now, and though it should have made her blush, all she could feel was a hot desire and a strange pride for having aroused him.

"Thank you," she found herself saying, and he laughed.

"Well, I suppose we will teach you manners yet," he said, climbing back into bed with her.

This time, there was the elegant sensual slide of body against body. She could feel the coarse hair of his legs against her smooth ones, feel the beginning of a five o'clock shadow rubbing against her shoulder.

She wound up on her stomach, with Aladdin knelt between her slightly spread legs. She wondered if he would take her now. Instead, he unhooked her bra, kissing the spot that had been covered before. He kissed his way down her spine to the curve of her buttocks. There, he nipped her firmly with those sharp white teeth. She cried out in something between pain and pleasure, pressing herself deeper into the mattress even as she raised herself toward his touch. She started to ask him for more, but then she bit her tongue. She would be damned if she begged the way he said she would.

Almost as if he understood exactly what she was thinking, he pulled away enough to roll her to her back. With a quick motion, he flicked away her bra, leaving her firm, round breasts quivering with sensation. He bent his head to one hard peak, then the other, laving them with his tongue before brushing them with the sharp edge of his teeth.

She thrashed against him, but she still would not give way. She refused to beg, even if her entire body longed for more of what he had to give her.

Charlotte thought that he must be done teasing her when he tugged her panties down and tossed them to the floor. She could feel how aroused she was, almost smell it, and that was before he passed the heel of his hand over her mons.  He pressed lightly, letting her feel the pressure and warmth of his touch against her most sensitive flesh. Involuntarily, she pressed back against him before catching herself.

"Going to beg yet?" he asked with a grin.

She glared up at him. In a way, she knew that she was only working against herself and getting what she wanted, but her competitive streak had been awakened.

"Not likely," she shot back. "I'm not sure I've really been impressed yet."

His laughter filled the small room.

"Well, let's see if we can fix that."

With a quick motion, he was resting between her legs, his hands pressing her thighs farther apart. She groaned, knowing that he could look at her most private parts and wanting him to.

He stroked her intimately for a moment, sliding his hand along her spread flesh. Then, firming his grip on her thighs, he lowered his mouth to her.

The first touch of his tongue electrified her, making her want more. She tried to press herself more firmly up against him, but his hands kept her still. Instead, all she could do was thrash helplessly as he started to run his tongue up and down over her yearning flesh.

She wailed when his tongue slid against her clit. The moment she made a sound, he pulled it away, only returning it when she was still. He lapped at her with a single-mindedness that was arousing in and of itself.

Before she knew what was happening, she could feel the first hot flames of climax running along her legs, igniting a fire in her belly. She started to cry out, perched on the very peak of her pleasure...