And he intended to get it.

Jamal's fingers were insistent as they moved down her body to come to rest on her backside, gently pulling her closer. His body hardened at the feel of the tips of her nipples pressing against his bare chest through the material of her top. The contact was stimulating, inflaming, arousing.

And it was driving him insane.

The area between his thighs began to ache and get even harder. Grasping her hips he brought her more firmly against him, wanting her to feel his arousal, every throbbing inch. He knew she had gotten the message when he felt her fingers tangle in his hair, holding him close as he continued to devour her mouth.

Moments later, another loud clap of thunder, one that seemed to shake the entire earth, broke them apart. Delaney gasped so hard she almost choked. She bent over to pull air into her lungs, and seconds later, when she looked up and met Jamal's hot gaze, she felt her body responding all over again.

One kiss had not gotten him out of her system. That thought made her aware that unless she backed away, she would be in too deep. Already she felt herself sinking, drowning, being totally absorbed by him.

She backed up and he moved forward, cornering her against the wall. "I don't think we should have done that," she said softly, unconvincingly. Her voice was shaky, husky.

Jamal was glad they had done it and wanted to do it again. "It's been a week. We would have gotten around to kissing eventually," he said in a low, raspy voice. His body was still radiating an intimate intensity, although they were no longer touching.

"Why?" she asked, her curiosity running deep. When she saw the way his eyes darkened, a part of her wished that she hadn't asked him. He was looking at her in that way that made certain parts of her body get hot. And at the moment she couldn't handle the heat and doubted that she ever would.

"Because we want each other. We want to have s.e.x," he replied, bluntly and directly. Although the words sounded brusque even to his ears, it was the truth and when it came to satisfying his body he believed in complete honesty. In his country such things were understood, expected and accepted.

Delaney's body trembled with Jamal's words. He'd made having s.e.x sound so simple and basic. She thought of all the guys she had dated in her lifetime. She'd never wanted to have s.e.x before. But Jamal was right-she was was tempted now. But a part of her held back. tempted now. But a part of her held back.

"I'm not a woman who makes a habit of getting into a man's bed," she said softly, feeling the need to let him know where she stood, and determined not to let him know that for the first time she was rethinking that policy.

"We don't have to use a bed if you don't want. We can use the table, the sofa or the floor. You pick the place. I'm bursting at the seams ready."

Delaney glanced down and saw his erection pressing against his zipper and knew he was dead serious. She inhaled deeply. He had missed her point entirely.

"What I mean is that I don't sleep with a man just for the fun of it."

He nodded slowly. "Then what about for the pleasure of it? Would you sleep with a man just for the pleasure it would give you?"

Delaney stared at him blankly. Indulging in s.e.x mainly for pleasure? She knew her brothers did it all the time. They were experts in the field. None of them had a mind to marry, yet they bought enough condoms during the year to make it cost-efficient to form their own company.

"I've never thought about it before," she answered truthfully. "When I think of someone being h.o.r.n.y, I immediately think of men, more so than I do women."

"h.o.r.n.y?"

She shook her head, thinking he was probably not familiar with a lot of American slang. "Yes, h.o.r.n.y. It means needing s.e.x in a bad way, almost to the point where your body is craving it."

Jamal leaned down close to her mouth. "In that case, I'm feeling h.o.r.n.y h.o.r.n.y," he murmured thickly against it. "Real h.o.r.n.y. And I want to make you feel h.o.r.n.y, too."

"That's not possible," she whispered softly, barely able to breathe.

A half smile lifted one corner of his mouth. "Yes, it is."

Before she could say anything, his hand reached down and touched her thigh at the same time his tongue licked her lips, before slowly easing inside her mouth. Once there he began stroking her tongue with his, as if he had all the time in the world and intended to do it all day at his leisure.

Delaney's entire body shivered when she felt his fingers at the zipper of her shorts, and a part of her wanted to push his hand away. But then another part, that foolish part that thrived on curiosity, the one that was slowly getting inflamed again, wanted to feel his touch and wanted to know how far he would take it.

She held her breath when he lowered the zipper slowly and deliberately, easing her into submission. His breathing was getting just as difficult as hers, and her entire body felt hot all over.

And then he inserted his hand inside her shorts, boldly touching her through the flimsy material of her panties. He touched her in a place no man had ever touched her before, and with that intimate touch, every cell in her body ignited. He began stroking her, slowly, languidly, making her feel h.o.r.n.y. Just as he said he would do.

Never had she experienced anything so mind-numbing, so unbelievably sensuous as one of his hands gently pushed her thighs apart even more while his fingertip gave complete erotic attention to that ultrasensitive, highly stimulated spot between her legs, while his tongue continued to suck on hers.

The combination of his fingers and his tongue was too much. She felt faint. She felt scandalized. She was feeling pleasure of the highest magnitude.

Another rumble of thunder with enough force to shake the cabin jolted Delaney out of her s.e.xual haze and back to solid ground. She pushed Jamal away. Taking a deep breath she slumped against the wall, not believing what had just happened between them. What she had let him do. The liberties she had given him.

She had been putty in his arms.

A totally different woman beneath his fingers.

She appreciated the fact that evidently someone up there was looking out for her and had intervened before she could make a total fool of herself. Just as she'd thought, Jamal was a master at seduction. He had known just how to kiss her and just where to touch her to make her weak enough to throw caution to the wind. And she was determined not to let it happen again.

Forcing her gaze to his, she knew she was dealing with a man who was probably used to getting what he wanted whenever he wanted it. All he had to do was snap his fingers, ring a bell or do whatever a prince did when he needed s.e.xual fulfillment.

Did he think she would fit the same bill while he was in America? The thought that he did angered her. She was not part of his harem and had no intentions of being at his beck and call.

Furious with herself for letting him toy with her so easily, she glared at him. "I plan to take a cold shower. I suggest you do the same."

He didn't say anything for a long moment, and then he smiled at her. It was a smile that extended from his eyes all the way to each corner of his lips.

"A cold shower won't help, Delaney."

"Why won't it?" she all but snapped, refusing to admit he was probably right.

"Because now I know your taste and you know mine. When you get hungry enough you will want to be fed, and when that happens I will feed you until your body is full and content. I will provide it with all the s.e.xual nourishment it needs."

Without giving her an opportunity to say anything, he turned and walked away.

After pacing the confines of her bedroom for what seemed like the longest time, Delaney sat on the edge of the bed. She couldn't ever remember being so irritated, so frustrated...so just plain mad.

"I'll feel better once I get my head back on straight," she said, as she stood and began pacing again. How could one man have the ability to set a body on fire the way Jamal had hers still burning?

All she had to do was close her eyes and she could actually still feel the essence of his tongue inside her mouth or the feel of his hands...more specifically, his fingers, on her flesh. And she could still feel the hardness of him pressed against her stomach.

A silky moan escaped her lips, and she knew she had to leave the cabin for a while and take a walk. But the problem was that it was raining, and not just a little sprinkle but a full-fledged thunderstorm.

She touched a finger to her lips, thinking that it was too bad the thundershowers couldn't wash away the memories of her kiss with Jamal.

A part of her wondered what Jamal was doing right now. Was his body being tormented like hers?

She sighed deeply. She had to stay determined. She had to stay strong. And most important, she had to continue to avoid Jamal Ari Yasir at all costs.

Chapter 4.

"Going someplace?"

Delaney stopped in her trek across the room to the door. She wished she had waited until she'd been absolutely sure Jamal was asleep before leaving to go to the store. After their encounter a few days ago, she had avoided him by staying in her room most of the time.

But she had been too keyed-up to hide out in her room any longer. Heated desire flowed like warm wine through all parts of her body, making her feel things she had never felt before. Restless. On edge. h.o.r.n.y.

The rain for the past two days had kept them both inside the cabin. And whenever she got too hungry to stay in her room, she would go into the kitchen to find him sitting at the wobbly table sketching something out on paper. His black gaze would pierce her, nearly taking her breath away, and although he didn't say anything, she knew he watched her the entire time she was in close range. Like a wolf watching his prey.

She sighed as her gaze moved slowly down the length of him. He was dressed in a pair of white silk pajamas. The first thought that entered her mind was that she had seen her brothers in pajamas many times, but none of them had looked like this. And then there was the white kaffiyeh that he wore on his head. Silhouetted in the moonlight that flowed through the window, he looked the epitome of the tall, dark and handsome prince that he was.

Inhaling deeply, she needed all of the strength she could muster to hold her own with him, especially after the kiss they had shared; a kiss that made her breathless just remembering it. And it didn't help matters that she was noticing things she hadn't noticed before; like his hands and how perfect they looked. The fingers of those hands were long, deft and strong. They were fingers that had once swallowed hers in a warm clasp while he had kissed her; fingers whose tips had touched her cheek, traced the outline of her lips, and fingers that had touched her intimately. Then there were his eyebrows. She had been so taken with his eyes that she had failed to notice his brows. Now she did. They were deep, dark, slanted, and together with his eyes were deadly combinations.

"Delaney, I asked if you were going somewhere," Jamal said.

She swallowed as she gazed across the room at him and nearly came undone when he nailed her with his dark, penetrating eyes and those slanted brows.

"I'm going to the store," she finally responded. "There are some items I need to pick up."

"At this time of night?"

Even in the dim light Delaney could see the frown darkening his face. She met his frown with one of her own. "Yes, this time of night. Do you have a problem with it?"

For a long moment they stood there staring at each other-challenging. Delaney refused to back down, and so did he. To her way of thinking he reminded her of her brothers in their attempts to be overprotective. And that was the last thing she wanted or would tolerate.

"No, I don't have a problem with it. I was just being concerned," he finally said. "It's not safe for a woman to be out at night alone."

The quiet tone of his voice affected her more than she wanted it to. And the way he was looking at her didn't help matters. Intentionally or not, he was igniting feelings she had been experiencing lately; feelings she had tried ridding herself of by staying in her room. But now she felt the slow pounding of blood as it rushed to her head and back down to her toes. She also heard the ragged pant of her breathing and wondered if he heard it.

"I'm used to living alone, Jamal," she finally responded. "And I can take care of myself. Because of my study habits, I'm used to going shopping at night instead of in the daytime."

He nodded. "Do you mind some company? There are some things I need to pick up, as well."

Delaney narrowed dark eyes, wondering if he actually needed something or if he was using that as an excuse to tag along. If it was the latter, she wasn't having any of it. "If I wasn't here, how would you have managed to get those things?"

He shrugged. "I would have called Asalum. And although he would be more than happy to do my shopping for me, I prefer doing things for myself. Besides, it's after midnight and he needs his rest."

Delaney was glad to hear that he was considerate of the people who worked for him. Slowly nodding, she said, "Then I guess it will be all right if you come along."

Jamal laughed. It was a deep, husky, rich sound that made heat spread through the lower part of her body. She slanted him a look. "Something funny?"

"Yes. You make it seem such a hardship to spend time with me."

Delaney sighed, looking away. He didn't know the half of it. Moments later she returned her attention to him. "Mainly because I had thought I would be here alone for the next few weeks."

He grinned at her suddenly. It was so unexpected that her anger lost some of its muster. "So had I," he said huskily, slowly crossing the room to stand in front of her. "But since we're not alone and it was your decision to stay, don't you think we should stop avoiding each other and make the most of it and get along?"

Delaney fought her body's reaction to his closeness. It wasn't easy. "I suppose we can try."

"What do we have to lose?"

Oh, I can think of a number of things I have to lose. My virginity for one, Delaney thought to herself. Instead of responding to his question, she turned and headed for the door. "I'll wait in the car while you change clothes."

"Did you get everything you need?" Delaney asked Jamal as they got back into her car to return to the cabin. Once they had gone inside the all-night supermarket he seemed to have disappeared.

"Yes, I got everything I need. What about you?"

"Yes. I even picked up a few things I hadn't intended to get," she said, thinking of the romance novel she had talked herself into buying. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to read a book for pleasure.

They drove back to the cabin in silence. Delaney kept her eyes on the road but felt Jamal's eyes on her all the while.

"What kind of doctor are you?" he asked after they had ridden a few miles.

His question got him a smile. She enjoyed talking about her profession and was proud of the fact that she was the only doctor in the Westmoreland family. "I will be a pediatrician, but first I have to complete my residency, which will take another two years."

"You like working with children?"

Delaney's response was immediate. "Not only do I enjoy working with kids, I love kids, period."

"So do I."

Delaney was surprised by his comment. "You do?" Most men, especially a single man, wouldn't admit that fact.

"Yes. I'm looking forward to getting married one day and having a family."

She nodded. "Me, too. I want a houseful."

Jamal chuckled and gave her a curious look. "Define a houseful."

The words leaped from Delaney's mouth without thinking about it. "At least six."

He smiled, finding it amazing that she wanted pretty close to the same number of children that he did. "You are asking for a lot, aren't you?"

She grinned. That was what her brothers always told her. They were convinced it would be hard to find a man who'd want that many kids. "Not a whole lot, just a good even number to make me happy and content."

When the car stopped at a traffic light, Jamal glanced over at Delaney. He thought she was too beautiful for words. Even with a face scrubbed clean of makeup and a fashionable scarf around her head to keep her hair in place, she was definitely one nice feminine package, a right sa.s.sy one at that.

His thoughts drifted to Najeen. She would remain his mistress even after he took a wife. That was understood and it would also be accepted. He knew that Western women tended to be possessive after marriage. They would never tolerate a husband having a mistress. But then, most American women fancied themselves marrying for love. In his country you married for benefits-usually heirs. His marriage would be no different. Since he didn't believe in love he didn't plan on marrying for it. His would be an arranged marriage. Nothing more. Nothing less.