Chapter Fourteen #2
Either way, releasing the strain on the pressure valve that had been building between them for days brought on a sense of satisfaction that lingered.
He stayed where he was, his forehead to hers, carrying his weight with his hands, and spared a thought as to when regret would set in.
He should have concerns. He wasn’t sure what they were, because his brain hadn’t caught up with him yet.
He was half afraid to move in case Malika’s regret had already set in.
He needn’t have worried.
“No wonder my sisters talk about lovemaking so much,” she said, sounding all soft and dreamy and satisfied. “This is magnificent.”
*
Jayce lay on his back with Malika’s head on his chest, one of her arms and a leg tossed across him, while he contemplated the stars.
He wound a silky lock of her hair around his finger and rubbed it with his thumb.
They were naked, but the earth held the day’s heat, and the stalks of wheat—what hadn’t been crushed—cut the breeze.
He had to marry her now, except that might not be the best way to frame it.
He’d lead her to the obvious conclusion and let her make up her own mind. She didn’t want to be a second wife. She seemed quite content, however, with the fact that her fiancé was rich, so while she might not be happy with the arrangement, it could very well be acceptable to her.
He couldn’t think of a tactful way to draw her attention to the damage they’d done to her current engagement, but since tact was another thing that didn’t bother her much, he might as well come right out and ask.
“What will happen if your new husband finds out he wasn’t the first?” he asked. He was morbidly curious about how he might die if she decided she was happier with the original arrangement.
She didn’t look up. “He’ll never find out. If I’d intended to marry him, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
If she’d just used sex with him to get out of an unwanted marriage, he could hardly complain. He was no innocent bystander. More a partner in crime. And it worked in his favor.
“What happens when your brother finds out you aren’t going to marry the guy he picked out?”
“Adeel will cut me off. But I don’t need him. I have other plans.” She sounded pleased with herself.
That made him nervous. Did he feature in them? If so, what was his role? “Want to tell me about them?”
Her plans had nothing to do with him, as it turned out.
“I’m going to start a business online.”
She outlined her plan. He let it sink in.
She had to be messing with him. Sure, she’d come up with a semi-viable plan for her future, all on her own.
There was, indeed, a market online for women who didn’t mind exposing their bodies and telling men what to do—both of which she did not.
He’d enjoyed the show she’d provided for him from her balcony, although he was less enthused about discovering he’d been a trial run.
Between her roommate and her sisters, she was remarkably well informed, even if lacking hands-on experience.
His head swirled at the same pace as the stars.
He’d just provided that for her too.
But her plan still needed work. A great deal of work. He spotted a few flaws she hadn’t thought through.
“Aren’t you worried that your brother—or any other male member of your family—might stumble across your business if they’re surfing online?”
“How? They’d have to be surfing an American domain to find it. That’s why my roommate set up her business here, rather than in Djitania. She didn’t want her family to find out. This is the land of the free.” Malika’s deep sigh expressed happy contentment. “Freedom is wonderful.”
“Your brother spends a lot of time in this country,” Jayce pointed out, because one of them should be experiencing regret right now, and if it wasn’t going to be her, it might as well be him.
She dismissed that concern. “Adeel doesn’t use a computer. He is a dinosaur when it comes to technology.”
“The people who work for him aren’t.”
Her roommate with the side business online, for example.
She lifted her head to look at him. “I thought men didn’t care for conversation after sex. You’re ruining the moment.”
And Malika lived in the moment. He doubted if the possibility of pregnancy had entered her head.
Marriage to him was a much better solution than her ridiculous plan.
Better to let her figure that out on her own.
She’d be thrilled when she did. He was thrilled too.
If she wished to display her body for his viewing pleasure and boss him around in the bedroom, then he was all in.
Their compatibility was no longer in question.
But this wasn’t the right moment to ask.
Because he’d gotten lost in the moment too. Ali had promised Burning Scrub twenty-five million dollars if the town kept his sister out of trouble until he returned. Reality came crashing down.
Jayce had not kept her out of trouble.
And he didn’t have that kind of cash lying around.
*
Malika
Jayce refused to meet Malika’s eyes across the breakfast table the next morning, despite her attempts to engage him. They were alone in the kitchen. His parents awoke very early.
Malika took a small, thoughtful sip of orange juice. He behaved as if he were the one who’d been ruined. The thought was intriguing. Could men be ruined? She didn’t know.
She did know her own ruin had been glorious. She’d thought she knew everything she needed to know, and he’d been wonderful when it turned out she didn’t. He was an excellent tutor.
Now was the time for her to tell him he had no need to worry about any expectations he thought she might have, if that was why he was so distant this morning. She understood that last night was about physical attraction.
She’d discovered something else as she’d tossed and turned in the long hours of the night, however. Not only did she not want to be second best, but she also didn’t want to settle for second best, either. No other man would ever compare. One more reason why she couldn’t marry Eli Chamas.