Guilty Pleasure Read Online Free PDF Page A

smile was scoffing. “It’s not nice to tease like this, Khalid. What happened? Did you lose your little black book? Need a little entertainment to fill in the few minutes before my father’s return?”
    She watched the grin that tugged at his lips. She had never seen Khalid smile fully, she realized. A tug of amusement at the corner of his lips, a little quirk of a crooked smile, but never a true smile.
    “As I’m certain you’re aware, I’m never at a loss for playmates,” he assured her, as amusement shone in his eyes.
    Marty breathed in, slow and easy, fighting the dark fear that wanted to take hold of her as she saw the pure need that filled his eyes.
    He hadn’t touched her; he had only moved closer. She could feel the heat of his body but not the touch of his flesh. Still, it was enough to make her feel fevered, flushed. She couldn’t seem to move away from him, to break the hold he had on her as his gaze stayed locked with hers.
    “So I’ve heard,” she mocked him lightly. “The ‘playboy sheikh,’ I believe is what they call you. Quite a reputation to have, Khalid.” And one that bit at her every time she thought about it.
    He reached out, his fingers feathering along the strands of hair that escaped her clip before brushing against her jaw. That smallest touch, that lightest stroke, had anticipation racing over her nerve endings.
    “Oftentimes a reputation is no more than a shield to protect oneself,” he said, his voice quiet, reflective. “To hold at bay the very things you know you cannot have.”
    Bullshit. This game was growing old, and it was one she was tired of playing.
    “Stop messing with me.” Stepping back from him, she fought to keep her breathing under control, to hold back the desire that assailed her.
    The sexuality that was so much a part of Khalid was beginning to wrap around her, to work its way inside her. She could feel him holding back, feel him fighting himself. The thought that he felt he had to stay away from her confused her, left her wanting to push harder, to find out the limits of the control he was imposing on himself.
    “You believe I’m playing?” He reached out to her, slowly. His fingertips touched her cheek and smoothed down her jaw, and she forgot to breathe until his thumb rubbed against her lips.
    Swallowing tightly, Marty forced herself not to shake, not to whimper with the response that tore through her. God alone knew how desperately she needed that touch, and how unwilling she was to beg for it.
    “Of course you’re playing,” she scoffed. “You’ve proven it over the years, Khalid. What’s wrong, frightened of me?” She pursed her lips and blew him a mocking kiss.
    “Fears are tricky things,” he said softly, the flavor of his accent whispering across her senses as he ran the back of his fingers down her arm. “They lock themselves inside your mind and become rooted in your very soul. Fighting them is never easy, but once you learn how to control them…” He lifted his gaze to stare into her eyes, to mesmerize her, lock her to him. “Once you learn how to control them, precious, then you control yourself.”
    She wanted to roll her eyes at the teasing in his tone. She would have, except she heard the faintest thread of sincerity there.
    “Then,” he continued, “you learn that control can be your best friend. Your wisest counsel. When tempted by a woman who you seem to have no defenses against, it comes in rather handy.” He whispered the last sentence softly against her ear. “Just as it comes in handy while showing a woman what should have always been hers.”
    “And that would be?” If he didn’t kiss her, she was going to die. If he didn’t touch her again, her flesh was going to burn to cinders from the need.
    “A woman should always know pleasure.”
    She watched as his head began to lower, as he continued to whisper.
    “A woman should revel in her sensuality, in that side of her nature that aches for touch, aches to be