Chapter Thirty-three
Chantelle had drifted into a wondrous limbo where no thoughts could intrude, just a surfeit of feelings, all of them nice.
Skin to skin tingling, a pleasant weight, a moist heat at her breasts, a slow heartbeat in her loins, so nice.
She could have stayed like that indefinitely, if Jamil hadn’t started to tease, drawing circles around a nipple with his tongue, then blowing cool air on it until it puckered into a hard little nub.
This surge of feeling, though still pleasant, wasn’t quite so relaxing. It seemed to force Chantelle’s hands to that head above her breasts to bring the warm mouth back to her nipple.
“So you are awake?”
She smiled dreamily as he now began to suckle very gently. “I wasn’t sleeping.”
Her fingers delved into his hair, marveling at the baby-fine feel of it. He was lying on her, with his belly pressed into her groin. Finally realizing that sent a sweet sensation curling through her.
Suddenly a hand cupped each breast, and his chin rested between them. “Are you angry with me, little moon?”
She raised an arm to support her head so she could look at him. Angry? Was he serious?
“Do I look angry?”
“I took advantage of you.”
Her lips twitched upward a tad. “Did you?”
“I believe you were sure this would not happen unless we were in my bed.”
“Aren’t we in your bed?”
He grinned at her. “You see my point.”
“Very well, so you took advantage of me.”
“And you liked it?”
“Will you have me drawn and quartered if I don’t give the right answer?” A squeeze to each breast made her forget about teasing him. “Yes, you conceited man. Is that what you want to hear?”
His smile nearly melted her heart. “Do you know how much pleasure it gives me, to know you belong solely to me?”
“I might, if you belonged solely to me as well.” After a moment, the blush spread up her cheeks. God, where had that come from? “What I mean—”
“No, I won’t let you take it back,” he interrupted with a chuckle. “I was right. You English cannot share, can you?”
Whether she could share or not, she didn’t share his humor now. “If you mean we believe in one man for one woman, yes, indeed, we do,” she snapped. “But a man who possesses nearly fifty women wouldn’t understand that!”
“Are you jealous, little moon?”
“Certainly not!”
“Then why should it bother you, how many women I own?”
“It’s indecent!”
“By your standards. By mine, the number is actually quite small.”
She couldn’t argue about that, not when his very religion sanctioned bigamy for the men of this country.
He would never understand her views, and would ignore them anyway, so why waste her breath?
But it infuriated her, honest to God it did, that his faithlessness was a matter of course here, but heaven forbid if one of his women should even be looked at by another man.
“I think,” she said with stiff hauteur, “that I should return to the harem.”
“Now you are angry with me.”
“Not at all,” she insisted, though the tight set of her lips put the lie to her words. “I was only anticipating your wishes, since I was told that when you’ve finished with one of your women, you send her away immediately.”
How she had dared to say that, when everything else Vashti had told her about this first time had proved untrue, Chantelle didn’t know.
And Jamil apparently didn’t like what he was hearing either.
His hands tightened on her unconsciously as he leaned backward, and his expression turned dark and ominous.
“Who told you such a thing?”
Chantelle’s irritation withered under that tone.
She might not like Vashti, and had even more reason not to like her now that she knew the girl had deliberately lied to her, but she wouldn’t wish Jamil’s anger and retribution on anyone, knowing full well what forms of punishment he could so casually have administered.
“What does it matter?” she evaded.
“Who?”
“I don’t recall.”
His eyes narrowed even more at her stubbornness. “And what else were you told?”
“Nothing,” and then more firmly, “Really.” But she might as well have saved her breath.
“Things to make you fear me?” he guessed correctly. “Who do I have to thank for prolonging my frustration? Who was assigned to instruct you?”
She knew he could find out easily without her telling him. If he was going to be furious with anyone, it might as well be with her. Vashti’s lies had not accounted for all her fears, after all.
“You’re wrong, your highness.” She reverted to formality, their intimate position forgotten for the moment. “Nothing that was told to me could have made me fear you more than your own actions had done.”
“You still think I would hurt you?” he demanded, more in amazement than in anger.
“You’re hurting me now,” she replied quietly.
He finally became aware of the flesh he was squeezing in his agitation and released her breasts, instantly contrite. But she didn’t give him a chance to apologize.
“However,” she continued, “that was still not the cause of my reluctance to share your bed. I was raised to believe that no virtuous woman would give her virginity to any man other than her lawful husband. To do otherwise would cause shame and ruin.”
“I am your lawful master.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“The only man available to you, Shahar, the same as a husband to you.”
“No, not the same. You bought me. You didn’t marry me.”
“You want me to marry you?”
She was appalled by the very idea. “And be your fourth wife? No!”
She was further appalled to realize too late that she had just insulted him in the worst way. But thankfully, he chose not to take offense, saying only, “So there is yet another reason for this reluctance of yours to make love with me?”
She glanced away before replying in a tiny voice, “It made it—final, my enslavement.”
His own voice softened in understanding. “It became inevitable the day you were captured, Shahar. Surely you did not delude yourself otherwise.”
“Until it actually happened, there was still hope. You have a large harem filled with beautiful women. And since you rarely enter it, you could easily have forgotten about me.”
He smiled, turning her face back to him with a hand on her cheek. “You are not the type of woman who can ever hope for obscurity, little moon. A man has only to gaze on you once to never forget you. Don’t you know that?”
She shook her head. “By your standards, my body is much too thin to be found attractive.”
A teasing light entered his eyes. “You might be lacking in padding, but what you have is everything that I could want.”
“You don’t want me to put on weight?”
“I want you to remain just as you are.”
“Then if I do put on weight, you won’t want me anymore?”
He chuckled, following the direction of her thoughts. “I could have sworn I heard you say you liked what we just did. Or have you perhaps forgotten so quickly that you no longer have your virginity to protect?”
She blushed, for she had indeed forgotten for the moment that that monumental transformation had occurred to change everything, especially her outlook.
How she felt about it she wasn’t quite sure yet.
But one thing was disconcerting. She hadn’t expected to enjoy it so completely.
But it was foolish of her to admit liking it, especially to him.
The man had her at enough disadvantage as it was without giving him that, too.
Having gone from satisfied languor to anger to dejection to confusion was also disconcerting.
She wanted nothing more than to leave so she could be alone to think more clearly about her loss.
She certainly couldn’t think clearly with Jamil still settled comfortably between her legs.
Why was she still here? That he slept with only his wives was not one of Vashti’s lies, but fact that she had heard from numerous sources.
Of course, he didn’t appear to be ready to sleep.
“You have become pensive, little moon.” His voice drew her gaze back to those probing emerald eyes. “I will not allow you to regret your surrender.”
His arrogance was almost amusing. “You might own my body, your highness, but my feelings are still at my own command.”
“Are they? And your senses, are they at your command, too?”
He dipped his head to suck a nipple into the warm recesses of his mouth.
Chantelle closed her eyes as the delicious thrill traveled from her breast to her belly, and from there to her loins.
The other breast was given the same thorough attention, until her fingers moved into his hair, answering his question more plainly than words.
Abruptly he left her, only to scoop her up into his arms and carry her to his bed.
The momentary respite to her senses brought her out of her daze long enough so that the bed beneath her triggered a memory, and she immediately glanced behind her.
How could she have forgotten about his guards?
But the hot flush didn’t have time to spread. The wall behind his bed was empty.
“Where are your mutes?” she asked as she looked back at Jamil and then gasped, finding him staring down at her, his eyes slowly traveling the length of her body.
“Banished to the garden in deference to your modesty.”
He himself was playing havoc with her modesty, since he spoke without ending his slow perusal of her body. That same modesty forbade her a like examination of him. Though he stood beside the bed in full view of her, her eyes wouldn’t move below his chin.
“Am—am I to understand you aren’t finished with me yet?”
Even that question didn’t bring his eyes back to hers. “Oh, no, little moon,” he said with feeling. “How could you think that? Such frustration as you have caused me will take a long time appeasing.”
“I find this frustration you keep expounding on hard to believe when you have so many women available to you.”
It was her terse tone that finally got his attention. He smiled and joined her on the bed, stretching out next to her so that she felt the heat of his body along her entire side. One hand cupped her cheek and slid up into her hair to bring her mouth to his for a disturbingly gentle kiss.
“You think another could put out the fire you ignited?” His lips moved on to the side of her neck, ending by her ear, causing an explosion of hot, liquid pleasure that shot clear to her toes.
“I have been able to think of no one but you since my eyes first beheld you. How then could I invite another to my bed, Shahar? Only you would do.”
She chose to believe him, because those words were as inflaming as the tongue delving into her ear. Once more all thoughts deserted her as she gave herself up to the pleasure of his touch.