The Sheik and the Slave (19 page)

"Moan for me, princess. I remember how you like
it," he whispered in her ear. Katharine blushed in shame. She wanted him
so badly.

His hand wrapped around her long, blonde hair and pulled
down on it so her chin jerked up. His mouth touched her sensitive neck and he
pressed into her body. He was hard for her. Ready to take her.

"If I fucked you right here, would you even try and
stop me?" he asked cruelly.

Katharine almost cried out. She wanted him to lift up the
hem of her dress. She would have given her soul to feel his thick cock deep
inside her. She could feel her juices damp inside her.

"Please," Katharine said as she tried to fight her
conflicting emotions.

Mohammed watched her face and saw her conflict. He released
her, pushing her away from him, and she stumbled. She pulled her bodice to
cover herself and tried to pull her hair back, but her hands were shaking.

"You shouldn't have come," she told him. She was
trying hard not to cry in front of him. "You have to go," she
continued.

"I am not leaving England without you," Mohammed
told her, before he left her alone underneath the willow tree.

Katharine stood staring after him, incredulous. Had this
proud, intelligent man really come all the way from Arabia to bring her back
with him?

Her heart shuddered at the thought. What were the lengths he
would go to keep her? And what would he do when the betrothal was announced
tonight?

Kat trembled at the thought. But suddenly, deep down inside,
she felt alive again.

Chapter
11

Anne sipped her champagne as she stood next to her husband.
She watched the couples whirl across the floor and spied Katharine's friend
Frances in the arms of the squire's son, Samuel.

Samuel was of good stock and expected to take over his
father's holdings when the time was right. Anne thought they might make a good
couple; after all, Frances could not expect to marry too highly, given her own
status, she sneered.

"Edward, where is Katharine? I haven't seen her in a
goodly ten minutes," Anne asked.

Edward smiled down at his wife and replied, "First you
decide she is too morose, and now you worry she is gone astray?"

"Ridiculous!" Anne admonished him lightly.

But Edward was worried for his daughter. Since she had
returned to them, she was altered, and Edward feared for her. She had been such
a spirited young girl, intelligent and beautiful; fortune hunters had come
after her. However, her keen intelligence kept the men at bay, and those who might
have prospered with lesser women were sent packing.

"My dear, I have come upon a wonderful idea!" Anne
said excitedly as she gripped her husband's arm.

Edward rolled his eyes at the tone. Anne had outlandish
ideas and often thought of herself before others.

"After the engagement is announced this evening, we
will send Katharine, with a chaperone of course, to my sister Louisa in
France!" Anne smiled broadly.

Edward arched an eyebrow at his wife. Anne saw the look and
pounced on it.

"But my dear, it will be just the thing to right her
spirits, just the thing!" she continued. Edward left his wife briefly, to
converse quickly with Jamie, and then returned to Anne's side.

"Anne, if you feel it would do Kat some good to spend
time in France, than I will agree. But let
’
s
ask her. After all, she is just returned to us and might be against the idea of
traveling."

"A holiday away from all this will be just the
thing." Anne assured him.

***

Katharine rested a shaking hand against her breasts. She
should not have let him touch her.

”
I
remember how you like it,
”
he had whispered in her ear. She shivered in the cool air.

She was so easily swayed. He had touched her, kissed her,
and she was ready to do anything. She had wanted to lift her fashionable Paris
dress up and wrap her legs around his waist. To feel his thick cock deep inside
her was all she wanted at the moment. She was weak. So weak, she cursed
herself.

She could feel the beads of moisture on her forehead and she
almost sobbed.

"Kat?"

She turned and found Jamie there before her.

"Jamie," she answered, breathing a sigh of relief.

"What happened to your hair?" he asked. Her
perfectly coiffed hair had been pulled down when Mohammed had touched her.

"It was so heavy," Kat supplied weakly.
“
I had a headache.
”

"I see," he said. "Your father asked that I
find you and bring you back to the ballroom."

"Thank you," she replied. She took his arm as they
walked back to the house.

"I would still like to announce our betrothal,"
Jamie said quietly.

Katharine's heart sank. It was all so unfair. Why did
Mohammed make her feel this way? Why did she burn for the Arab's touch? Why
didn't Jamie ever touch her or at least try? She should not be so wanton with
Mohammed when Jamie had been so kind.

Katharine suddenly stopped Jamie on their way to the large
house.

"Jamie, kiss me," she said.

Jamie looked down into her luminous blue eyes. "What
did you say?" he asked.

"Please, kiss me, before we announce our
betrothal," she said.

"Of course, dearest," he said, smiling. He bent
his head toward hers and lightly touched his lips to hers. His lips were cool
and it ended after a brief meeting of their lips.

Mohammed's dark eyes watched the two lovers kiss in the
darkened garden.
So the little falcon is at it again,
he thought.
Whether
they are dark Arab men or pale English gentlemen in this cold world, they all
flock to her honey, like dogs after a bitch's scent
. He seethed.

He remembered so well the night of the banquet, when she had
spread her slim legs and moaned as he took her virginity. Did her English lover
know that she wasn't a virgin? Did he know that she had lost her virginity on
that Arabian evening when her hair had been scented with jasmine? What would he
think when he told him she lost it to an Arab Muslim?

Mohammed chuckled. Maybe he should find himself alone with
the man and tell him all.

He watched the lovers enter the large ballroom and followed
them inside.

"Daughter," Anne came to her daughter's side. She
noticed her daughter's hair fallen down her back.

"Your hair, " she mentioned.

"Yes, Mother. It was too heavy. I took it down. I'm
tired of fashion's dictates," Kat grumbled in an unattractive, unladylike
way. She thought suddenly of the free-flowing Arabian clothes and life without
corsets.

"And corsets bind most unappealingly," Kat
continued, sulking.

Anne looked shocked.

"My dear. What would a woman be without a slim
waist?" she asked. She glanced to Jamie and Edward, but neither seemed
interested in their conversation.

Katharine was tired of the ball, the throng of people and
the heat. She was terrified of being introduced to Mohammed in front of her
father and having to make niceties to a man who had been her lover.

"Let's announce the betrothal," Edward suggested to
the threesome.

"Oh yes," Anne smiled as she held another
champagne flute in her hand.

Katharine wondered if her mother was drinking too much and
watched as Edward managed to attract the large crowd's attention.

Edward thanked the people for coming near and far to join in
the festivities and to welcome his beloved daughter home. He then took his
daughter's hand and Jamie's hand joining them together.

"Anne and I are proud to announce the betrothal of our
beloved daughter Katharine to James Clifton."

Applause broke out around her as Katharine fell into a black
hole. Jamie caught her before she sank to the ground. As he carried her
upstairs to her bedroom, Anne was fussing behind them.

***

Fern and Daisy, the Bucket sisters, were 15 years older than
Katharine and vicious town gossips. They stood behind a large pillar in the
ballroom and watched as the blonde was picked up and carried away by her fianc
é
.

"Did you see that, Fern? She fainted!" Daisy told
her sister in a hushed tone.

Fern, a large-nosed woman with frizzy red hair and watery
brown eyes, sniffed decidedly.

"Of course she fainted.
”
Fern said.
“
The
little chit couldn't wait until the wedding night. She's obviously in the
family way."

***

Mohammed stood behind the town gossips unseen.
She had
spread her legs again and this time, the Englishman's seed had been potent,
he thought. He would never take the leavings of a pale Englishman. He imagined
her as she had been when he had taken her from behind in the bath. Pounding
into her tight pussy had been beyond pleasure for him. His little princess had
always said one thing when she had wanted the opposite.

Katharine had always been too proud to admit that she needed
and wanted him, but he had been the same.

He had never been able to admit what effect she had on him.
She had dazzled him, as she had the men before him and after him, but he still
wanted her. He decided that he would place her in the harem. T
hat is the
only place for this wayward falcon,
Mohammed thought arrogantly.

***

Katharine awoke slowly with a pounding headache.

"There, there," Anne said as she patted her hand.
She then poured her a glass of water.

"I don't remember," Kat began.

"You fainted, dear. It must have been the heat of the
ballroom," Anne explained. She took a cool cloth and placed it over her
daughter's forehead.

"Was the betrothal announced?" Katharine asked.

"Yes, dear."

"Are you pleased, Mother?"

"Well, yes. I suppose I am.
”
Anne said, smiling.
“
And you, are you happy?" She wondered
about her high-spirited daughter who seemed to want to please her family for
once.

"Yes. I am, Mother. Jamie is a good man."

"Of course he is," Anne replied. She took the
cloth away and stepped away from her daughter's bed.

"Rest, darling. Most of the people have gone, so you needn't
go back down. Tomorrow we'll talk about an idea I have. You might like to go
abroad before the wedding."

"Before the wedding?" she repeated.

"Yes, to France, Paris. To visit your Aunt
Louisa."

Katharine jumped at the chance.

"I would like that very much," she said.
Here
’
s a chance to
leave England and get away from Mohammed,
she thought.
He can
’
t follow me
forever.

"Rest now," Anne said, and she closed the door
quietly and went downstairs. She still had to perform her duties as hostess and
bid those leaving goodbye and good journey.

Katharine settled back into the bed. She could still
remember the brother-like peck that Jamie had bestowed upon her lips. It had
all the warmth and passion of a walnut. But then, he had never lied to her;
Jamie had been honest and forthright. He had told her that they would marry for
friendship and family duties.

She tried to imagine a life with him. Could she be a good
wife to him? How could she lie with him and make love to him as she had with
Mohammed? There were things she had let Mohammed do so easily. Could she take
Jamie into her body? Why had Mohammed come back? Just when she was trying to
forget him and move on, he had come to her. She wanted to hate him, but she
couldn
’
t. She had
fallen in love.

She wanted to remove the heavy ruby silk dress. Once she
undressed, she could put this evening behind her and move forward. Mohammed
’
s presence meant nothing.
She would marry Jamie. It was the right thing to do. She planned to ring for
her Irish maid.

She moved to the edge of her bed and flicked up her skirts,
revealing her legs up to the thighs. Silk stockings encased her legs and two
garters kept each stocking from falling down. She sighed, leaning back. She
wanted to undress and have this night be done. Everything had been moving
smoothly forward until he had shown up. She had been willing to marry and
forget him, but now that he was here she wanted him all the more.

She flung herself backward onto the bed.

“
Damn
him,
”
she said.

“
Damn
who?
”
Mohammed
asked.

Katharine whipped up, her hair spilling all around her as
she peered into the darkness of her room. He was leaning insolently against her
armoire, hidden and silent until now.

"You are mad to be here! Why are you here?"
Katharine's dress billowed out she stood up to face him. He moved toward her.

"My little princess, so perfect and unspoilt," he
spoke lowly and then cursed in Arabic.

Kat blanched at the word he called her. She knew it. He had
called her a whore.

"You have no right to call me that!" she spoke to
him, her breasts heaving in anger. His dark eyes watched her creamy globes as
they slipped over the bodice.

"Perhaps no right. But don't pretend to be something
you are not, Katharine," he said.

"I don't understand," she said, shaking her head.

Mohammed watched her throat and longed to bury his mouth in
it.

"Don't act the lady, when all you really are is a cheap
whore," he continued. Katharine slapped him hard, and the sound echoed in
the room.

In a second, Mohammed pinned her arms behind her back,
picked her up and threw her onto the bed. Before she could fight back, his
weight settled on top of her as he pinned her down wrists above her head.

"Little slut," he purred into her ear, holding her
hands in one hand as his other delved underneath her silk skirts. Her
silk-encased legs were mouth-watering, with small blue garters adorned with
rosettes.