Desert Orchid, Chapter Twenty…..
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Desert Orchid – Copyright
By CC MacKenzie
Copyright © C C MacKenzie 2014
Chapter Twenty
Khalid studied Jamila’s happy face and felt more at peace with himself than he’d done for years.
Although witness statements were garbled and confused, Amir had highlighted pertinent points on the papers. No matter how Khalid looked at it, the event had been an accident, caused by another boat crossing the bow of his. However, the report also stated that speed had played a part in the disaster. He would have to live with that. At least now he actually wanted to live. For years he’d ridden the path to self-destruction. And his wife—his wonderfully brave wife—had forced him to confront and face his demons head on and deal with them.
He wasn’t stupid.
He knew he still had a long way to go to heal and to find acceptance, but Khalid knew he’d been given a miracle this day.
Now he picked up a photograph of a young Charisse with Amir. Khalid might be uneasy about his uncle’s marriage but there was no doubt in his mind that Amir had adored his very young wife. No wonder, the woman was amazing.
These days he enjoyed their meeting of minds and how Charisse leaped ahead of him in her thinking and how she challenged him.
The sound of a splash caught his attention.
He tenderly placed the photographs on the table and went to find her.
He found her in her narrow lap pool and his first clear thought was, thank you God.
She had an amazing body, which was showcased in a stunning white two piece bikini as she swam in a leisurely crawl.
One of the many wonderful things he loved about her was the way Charisse could relax and switch off. Oh, how he envied her that ability. No matter how hard he tried, he never relaxed. This morning was their first day off from the demands of work, duty, and the people whose lives and issues dominated their waking hours. Now he nudged those duties to the back of his mind.
Today they were just a man and a woman with lives and, God knew, problems of their own.
She turned to him and speared him with a glittering sapphire look. Those fabulous eyes never left his as she rose out of the water, showcasing her glorious body. Bypassing the chair that held her towel, she tugged her hair free of the topknot on her head and it fell in a silver shimmering curtain down her back.
He read desire, demands, in those eyes as she stood before him, her breasts swollen, her nipples tight.
Charisse had taken control, again. And the feeling aroused as well as left his legs strangely weak.
Khalid buried his hands in her wet hair as he bent his head to whisper in her ear,
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, baby.”
“There’s nothing you can do to me I can’t finish, Rock Star.”
And her mouth aggressively bruised his as he dragged her to the floor.
His hands were everywhere – hard, brutal, and demanding as they took and her body frantically responded.
Her hands searched and found him with a hot, hungry fury as she tore the shirt from his back and put her teeth to his burning flesh.
With a curse, Khalid crushed her soft mouth with his.
He ripped the bikini from her, fast, his hands racing to possess that soft, silky, wet skin. A brutal arousal was obliterating him, agonising, making his hands too hard, too careless, when he should have been taking great care with her.
At last he had her naked beneath him and his breath hitched in his throat as his hands skimmed over her breasts, hips, thighs and calves.
He could smell her, taste her, feel her. Dear heaven, she was so beautiful and Charisse lay there suddenly still, open and ready for him.
Then he gripped her hips and took her with a force that had her scream out his name.
He drove into her hard and fast until there was a blinding fire and Khalid knew he was taking her, himself, to the brink of human endurance and that he wanted, needed, nothing less. And Charisse was with him with every groan, every heartbeat, every thrust until the storm that surrounded them reached a maelstrom, a summit where nothing but oblivion followed and they lay tangled together.
Annihilated.
Exhausted.
Whole.
But he couldn’t move. He could barely breathe as he buried his face in her damp hair. He was trembling, again, he realised with a feeling of utter terror. No woman had ever made him feel like this. Weak. Wanting. Willing. What the hell was she doing to him, he wondered as he tried to inhale.
And then he realised she was trembling, too.
Dear God, had he hurt her?
Khalid lifted his head to look down at her. Her soft skin was marked red and raw where he’d touched her, sucked her. The little bites his teeth had made worried him until he saw the flush of passion over her fabulous face as her eyes, watching him through her lids, were almost closed. And, amazingly, he felt fresh arousal stir. Dropping his face back into her fragrant hair, he took a shuddering breath. He needed a minute to settle himself or he’d ravish her again.
Breathing his name, Charisse ran her fingertips over his strong back, down over his tight ass.
There was something in his eyes she’d never expected to see. Surrender. And she didn’t feel all-powerful, but amazed and drowning in love. A deep, abiding love that made her want to soothe, to care, to nurture this wonderful man.
She burrowed closer. Right into his wide chest and felt his heart beat settle. His short breaths whispering over her cheek levelled off.
When Khalid lifted his head, those grey eyes told her nothing.
“You’re trying to kill me, baby.” He kissed her but kept his lips gentle. “You want me out of control, even violent. Why is that?”
She gave a deep, happy sigh of sheer feminine triumph.
“I did kill you. You lost control.”
“You want me to lose control?”
“Mmm hmm, Rock Star. I want you to lose control when you make love to me every single time.”
Khalid lifted his hand and watched his fingers comb through that silver waterfall of hair, and decided to take her down a peg, or three.
“You’re an amazing woman.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder, then lifted his head. “But perhaps a little… skinny.”
That contented, cat-got-the-cream look vanished from her face to be replaced by something that looked like shock.
“Skinny?”
She wriggled under him, trying to escape, but he simply pressed his hips into the cradle of her thighs and held her still.
“Yeah, skinny. You’re not exactly ugly, either. In some tribes you’d be regarded as scrawny and bony, not even worth the price of a camel.”
Blink.
Blink.
“Are you saying I’m not attractive?” she demanded in a voice that would melt solid steel.
The woman had absolutely no guile and Khalid couldn’t keep his face straight as he howled with laughter.
Trying to catch his breath, he kissed her, hot and hard then lifted his head to stare into those big hurt eyes.
“Seriously, you scare me at times, you really do. Ah, baby, you’re drop dead fucking gorgeous and you know it.”
Baffled, she shook her head.
“No one’s ever spoken to me like that or told me that I’m beautiful.”
Now it was his turn to blink and he read the truth in her eyes. What had started out as having a little fun and teasing her had turned into something quite different. Yet again she humbled him.
“Then I’ll make it my mission in life to tell you every single day that I love you. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Her eyes immediately twinkled up into his.
“Well, considering the number of women you’ve seen that’s saying something. And you’re an incredible lover, Rock Star. I can’t say I’m surprised since you’ve had plenty of practice.”
Again, she’d turned the tables on him and his libido flared which made Charisse’s eyes go wide.
“Ah, well,” she said as she tilted her pelvis and opened her legs wide to let him slide inside her with a little gasp. “I suppose I need to do my wifely duty.”
His laugh turned into a groan as her core gripped him in a burning hot fist.
“Baby, you kill me.”
Desert Orchid – Copyright
By CC MacKenzie
Copyright © C C MacKenzie 2014
Chapter Twenty-one tomorrow.
Ludlow Hall Sneak Peek coming later…..
Christine X
