Chapter Three
I PRETENDED TO FALL asleep just as the couple on screen started to make love, and I felt Mik’hail look down at me in surprise when my head fell against his chest. I kept my eyes closed and worked hard to keep my breathing steady.
Several moments passed, and then I felt Mik’hail return his gaze to the movie. The sounds the couple were making made me feel a little hot, and was I imagining things or did I also Mik’hail release a low groan behind me as my body fell against his?
“Aurora?”
I couldn’t answer, my senses reeling. I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about how large and powerful the sheikh’s body was, and—nooo!
I nearly cried in disappointment when I felt him lift me off his lap, and I started thinking furiously of ways I could pretend to wake up naturally as I felt the sheikh settle me onto the seat beside him.
Even though we were just inches away from each other, the distance still hurt, and I found myself terribly missing the warmth of his body.
Beside me, I could hear the sheikh moving in his seat. It was a strange thing for him to do, and I slowly opened my eyes just the tiniest sliver.
Even in the darkness of the theater, even with only the flickering light from the screen, I could tell what was happening. The sheikh, forbidding himself to touch me, was instead seeking relief...on his own.
Mik’hail started to turn towards me, and I quickly closed my eyes again, making sure to keep my breathing steady.
For a long time, the only sounds in the theater came from the couple on the screen...until...oh.
The sounds I heard in the background were...from the sheikh.
And they were unmistakble, even to me who had never experienced anything.
The rhythm of his movements. The harsh edge to his breathing. And when he started to groan—
I heard them all, and if only...
If only I had the courage to open my eyes and watch him.
If only I had the right to tell him that I want us to feel these...together.
Oh, if only.
But because so many secrets and rules separated us...
I could only struggle to stay silent even as listening to the sounds surrounding me created a responding ache deep within my body, and it was an ache that kept tightening and tightening until I knew it was only a matter of time—
Oh, how it kept building!
Just a matter of time before I...could no longer help it.
I flipped to my side like someone who was stirring in her sleep, not realizing as I did that my shirt, loose as it was, had dipped dangerously low on one side.
All I could think about was sneaking a peek.
All I wanted to know was if he was staring at me as he reached for the kind of pleasure that I could have given him.
Pleasure that we could experience together if one of us just had the courage to. ..
Oh!
I nearly tensed, my eyes nearly flying open as the sounds from the sheikh suddenly became rougher and more erratic. A tense, frenzied feeling had tinged the air, and it left me dazed and aching because I knew it only meant one thing.
The sheikh was close.
So very close.
And then...oh.
I could feel him shuddering right next to me...just as the smallest drop of something warm landed on my cheek. My whole world threatened to spin off-tangent when I realized what that was. What that meant.
Oh, Mik’hail.
Minutes passed before all sounds from the sheikh completely faded into silence. Even the couple on the screen had quieted down, and soon I heard music start to play, the way it always did when the end credits started rolling.
Mik’hail swore under his breath, and it was all I could do not to move as I felt him staring at me.
Oh, how he stared at me.
And that was when I realized...
He liked seeing his mark on me.
And I...liked it, too.
So, so much.
And that was why, the moment I heard the door shut closed behind him, and I was all alone—
I didn’t even bother opening my eyes.
I just let my hands wander where they ached to go.
I imagined it was the sheikh’s touch instead of mine, and that was it. I could feel something building and building, and there was nothing left to do except chase it—
I swallowed back my cry as pleasure swept me away for the first time in my life.
I heard the door open, and I quickly stilled.
The sheikh came back, and I felt him gently wipe my cheek with a warm cloth.
“Aurora?” He repeated my name when I didn’t stir, and after the third time, Mik’hail simply bent down and scooped me into his arms.
He took me to my room and carefully laid me down on the bed before tucking me in.
I only opened my eyes when I was sure Mik’hail had left, and for a long time, I simply stared up at the ceiling, my body still tingling with the memory of what had just happened.
Mik’hail.
My blood sang at the mere thought of his name.
“Mik’hail.”
I allowed myself to murmur the sheikh’s name and savored the way each syllable felt on my lips.
“Mik’hail.”
His name tasted like dark, sinful chocolate, something so forbiddingly sweet and addictive.
I let my fingers drift across my skin, imagining that it was the sheikh who was touching me.
“Mik’hail.”
My mind had completely shut down, and every touch was now ruled by fantasies of the sheikh giving me what I wanted.
With my eyes closed, it was so, so shamelessly easy to just pretend that it was the sheikh who was touching me.
The sheikh who was finding all my secret places that ached.
..until I found myself shattering for the second time.
Mik’hail.
Mik’hail.
Mik’hail.
When the last shudders died down, I knew then things would never be the same again between us.