The Sheikha's Forbidden Lover (The Tazeem Twins Series Book 5) Read online

  Flexing her feet, she dug her heels into his butt as she felt her toes curl in pleasure. Lifting her hips, she continued to meet his thrusts. Feeling her orgasm draw near, she moaned loudly as her body began to shake with need.

  Wrapping his arms around her, Kalik lifted her to him as he captured her lips with his. Thrusting faster, he felt her orgasm begin to roll through her as her muscles pulsated around him. Unable to hold out any longer, he groaned as his own orgasm hit and he shuddered above her.

  He was surprised when he felt tears land on his lips. Breaking the kiss, he looked down to see Adilah crying. Licking at her tears, “What is it, habibti? Why are you sad?”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him to her as she shook her head. “It is not sadness that I feel, it is joy.”

  “Then why the tears?”

  Smiling up at him through wet lashes, “Because sometimes I cry when I am happy.”

  Chapter 11

  It was opening day for the International Baking Exposition and it was Adilah’s hope that it would be as extravagant as a New York fashion show but with pastries. Companies from all over the world had set up displays and demonstrations to showcase their own products and treats.

  The room that was empty the day before was now filled with booths that made up stations for each company to display their products. Some of the biggest brands in the world were there all eager to show off.

  Adilah was dressed in a traditional, long-flowing pink dress with silver embroidery on the front. Her hair had been pinned up neatly.

  Walking around the venue, she introduced herself to each of the exhibitors and made sure that they had everything they needed. Since she had been too nervous to eat, she eagerly sampled their wares as she commented on the use of ingredients.

  The thing that most excited Adilah about the event was the fact that there were children present. She loved teaching them about traditional Middle Eastern foods, desserts and pastries. Since it was well within the Middle Eastern culture for women to be able to cook, Adilah wanted to play a part in showing the children how fun it could be and the creativity that could be shown with the use of traditional ingredients.

  Cooking and baking was more than just making food, it was a way to create and show hospitality, and it was art and culture. Adilah wanted to share her love of baking with the world. She also wanted to show them that there was more to her city than turmoil and terrorism, that there was a rich history of both tradition and growth.

  As part of the exposition, any leftover food would be saved and distributed to the needy. Charity toward others was something that she participated in regularly as she worked with different local charities to find ways to do more.

  “The event is going really well,” Cassie said as she linked her arm into hers.

  “It is,” Adilah smiled. She turned around to see if anyone had been following her. During the day, she felt as if there were people following her, but she put it down to nervousness. Nevertheless, it made her feel uneasy.

  Due to the fact that she had been incredibly busy throughout the day, she had forgotten to check in with Kalik. She really wanted to speak to him because she had heard that there had been some protestors at the entrance to the hotel but he had put an end to it before it began. It was because of him that her event had run smoothly.

  So much so that it didn’t occur to her to let security know that they would be walking around the corner to the souk. His security team had done such a good job of remaining invisible that she assumed they saw them leave.

  “You must be tired,” Cassie said to her as they walked toward the souk.

  “Tired does not even begin to explain how I feel right now. I just need one spice, then we can head back, and I can put my feet up.”

  “You need to. If I were in your shoes, I would have collapsed by now.”

  “Believe me, Cass, I am about to.”

  Adilah and Cassie turned a corner. Before she walked into the shop, Adilah looked around again to check if there was anyone following them. She was starting to panic. She tried to convince herself that she was simply tired from the event and that no one was following her, it was paranoia.

  However, she could not shake the feeling. Kalik and his security team always followed her; and she was used to it. So why did this feel so different now?

  Adilah made sure to pick out the spice she needed as quickly as she could. She paid for it and headed out of the shop. Cassie had stayed outside to make a phone call to Hussain.

  Adilah rushed out of the shop and saw Cassie’s purse on the pavement. There was a note next to it:

  End the exposition or your friend walks in the fields in your place.

  Panic instantly filled Adilah as she started looking around. “Cassie!” she shouted.

  She could not see her anywhere. Adilah’s hands started to shake. This could not be happening. Not to Cassie! She had felt it. She knew there was someone following her. She should not have gone for that damn spice.

  “Cassie!”

  A black car screeched up and Kalik’s men rushed out of the car. They grabbed her by the arms and put her in the car. “No, we can’t leave. We have to find Cassie,” Adilah shouted hysterically.

  “Miss, we have strict orders to escort you back to the hotel,” one of the men said to her. Waving to the men who drove up in a second car, they jumped out and began to search the area for Cassie while Adilah was forced into the first car.

  “No!” Adilah screamed. “Someone took her, we cannot leave her.”

  “Sorry, Miss, we have our orders. We are responsible for your safety. We have others looking for Miss Milton.”

  Grabbing her phone, she tried to reach Kalik, but his phone went to voicemail. Hanging up in frustration, she called her brother.

  “Where are you?” she demanded as her brother asked her what she was talking about. “Cassie, she’s been taken.”

  Chapter 12

  Adilah was filled with rage and fear when she arrived back at the hotel. She rushed upstairs. She could not get to her room fast enough. She practically kicked the door open when she got there. “Kalik!” she shouted.

  “What is the matter?” he asked as he walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist.

  “Cassie,” Adilah said, her breath hitching when she saw rivulets of water dripping down his chest.

  “What about her?”

  “She was taken. They left this note.” She handed him the note trying not to stare as water dripped down his torso and settled on the towel draped around his waist. She clutched Cassie’s purse to her chest as Kalik took the note and read it. A dark shadow swept across his face, then he left the room. Adilah could hear him giving orders to his men in the corridor.

  Walking back into the room, he was satisfied with the increase in security around Adilah. From experience, he knew that Cassie’s kidnapping was nothing more than a ploy to lure Adilah out into the open and he would be damned if he allowed that to happen. He would manage the search from a fixed position, at Adilah’s side assuring her continual safety.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her as he walked back into the room.

  “No,” Adilah shook her head and buried herself against his naked chest. Kalik wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

  “I will do everything I can to find her,” he said to her as she burst into tears. Cassie had become like a sister to her. She could not stand to lose her. Hussain would not be able to take it either. “Please do not cry. I can stand anything else but not your tears,” he said as he stroked her back.

  Adilah pulled out of his embrace and looked at him. “I am so scared, Kalik.”

  “I know, and I am here. So don’t be,” he wiped her tears from her face.

  “It was me they were after. They wanted me and now Cassie has been taken because of me.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. It was not because of you.” He wiped her tears off her face again. She held his hand and pressed a small kiss on
his palm. “No, Adi,” he said softly as he looked at her.

  Adilah did not want to think about what could have happened to Cassie. She simply wanted to be here with Kalik and forget everything, if only for a moment. She pulled her dress over her head and dropped it onto the floor. Kalik’s eyes widened as he turned around and gave her his back.

  “Look at me,” she said, still sobbing.

  “I cannot,” he replied.

  “Why not? How is this different from last night?”

  “It simply is.”

  “Touch me, Kalik.” The longer she stood there naked, the more awkward she felt. He was a man. What happened to his passion from last night?

  “Adilah, can’t you see that now is not a good time? What we had last night was special and beautiful. Right now, you are in pain, habibti, it would be wrong.”

  She walked around him to stand in front of him. Cupping the side of his face, she waited for him to look at her, “Can’t you see that every moment counts no matter how slight?” she asked. His gaze got more intense as he looked down at her. Closing the distance between them, he dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers.

  Adilah parted her lips as Kalik wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him, his muscles rippling under her fingers. Moaning into his mouth, she surprised him with her passion as she twined her tongue with his.

  Scooping her up into his arms, he strode over to the bed and laid her down. Reaching her hand out, she pulled his towel free as it dropped to the floor and she looked at him in all his glory. She thought that she might faint at the passion she could see in his eyes.

  Sitting up, she arched her back as she reached behind her to unclasp her black lace bra. Reaching for her panties, Kalik stopped her as his fingertips glided along her hip. Closing her eyes, she was surprised at how good his touch felt against her heated skin.

  Grabbing his hand, she drew it to her waistband and in one quick snap; he ripped her matching lace panties down the side and pulled them off her body. Looking up at him in surprise, she watched his eyes darken as he gazed upon her now fully exposed body. While she wasn’t shy the night before, the bright light from the sun whisked away the shadows leaving her fully exposed under his watchful gaze.

  Joining her on the bed, he trailed his fingers from her head, down her body as if he were trying to memorize every detail about her. Mimicking his actions, she touched him everywhere he touched her. Rubbing his thumb on her nipples, she did the same and was surprised to see his own nipples harden as she began to pant.

  Adilah’s body was screaming for him to take her as she pressed her breasts against his hand wanting him to keep touching her. Rubbing her hand over his rock hard chest, she kissed his lips, before shifting to his cheek and then to his neck.

  When she brushed her lips across a sensitive spot on his collarbone, he hissed in response as she lightly licked it, pleased when she felt his erection press against her leg. Her body was on fire as he touched and caressed her.

  Wanting to show him how much he meant to her, she resisted the urge to lie back and allow him to have his way with her as she continued to kiss her way across his chest. His skin was so smooth beneath her lips as she brushed against his nipple and he groaned her name. Smiling to herself, she pushed him onto his back and he resisted for a count of three before she looked up at him, silently pleading with him to relax. If only for a moment.

  Rising up on her knees, she smiled down at him as he reached up to release the clip that held her hair in place. Tumbling down around her like a blanket, he slid his hand into her hair and watched as it poured from his fingers like water. Pulling it over to one side, she could tell that the brush of her hair was having an effect on him as his eyelids fluttered in response to the tickling sensation it created across his skin.

  Bending over him, she kissed her way down his body allowing her hair to trail along with her, as Kalik seemed to react to every sensation. Brushing her lips across his abdomen, she marvelled again, at how well he was built as she kissed his increasingly fevered skin. Working her way down his hip, his erection brushed against her cheek as she lightly rubbed her face against it.

  Kalik moaned suddenly afraid to move for fear of breaking the bubble of intimacy that surrounded them as she kissed the inside of his thigh. His hand tangled in her hair to stop her from going further. At the rate they were moving, he did not want to come until she had experienced her own pleasure.

  Tugging lightly on her hair to encourage her to move up, he groaned as she leaned against him and slid up his body. Wrapping one hand around her head, he stroked her back with the other as she looked down at him passionately.

  With one quick move, he rolled her under him as they continued to stare into each other’s eyes. His eyes darkened when she licked her lips in anticipation. Dipping his head down, he captured her lips, plumbing their depths as she eagerly kissed him back.

  Rocking his hips, he pushed her legs farther apart as he settled comfortably between them. Rubbing her legs against his, Adilah drew her legs up and wrapped them around his hips, digging her heels into his butt as she stroked his back.

  Looking up at him, she smiled seductively as he positioned himself, rubbing lightly against her folds. Moaning, she lifted her hips as he slowly pushed inside, groaning at how wet she was.

  Kalik began to move, thrusting in and out as her body met each thrust, her muscles clenching around him as he pulled out only to thrust back in again. Her muscles clung eagerly to him with each outward pull; the resistance making him shudder as desire coursed through his body. Looking down at her, he smiled as her body became flush with the intensity of her arousal.

  Moaning his name, he could feel her tremble beneath him as pleasure worked its way through her body. He groaned as she raked her nails across his back, the sensations adding to his rapidly growing pleasure.

  With a small cry, Adilah arched up, her body shaking as her orgasm coursed through her, her feet tightening against him as she lifted her hips. Thrusting faster, his own pleasure crested as he kissed her.

  Rolling to his side, he held her to him as she continued to shudder, lightly stroking her skin until he felt her racing pulse slow and return to normal.

  Smiling down at her, he rubbed his thumb across her lower lip as she snaked her tongue out to lick it.

  “I need to check in with my team to find out if there’s any news about Cassie.”

  Nodding her head, “Oh, my, yes,” she answered, suddenly worried that she took Kalik away when he could have been out there searching for her.

  Reading her emotions, he smoothed away her frown, “They are incredibly capable. If they needed me, they would have called,” he told her soothingly as he sat up. “My job is assuring your safety. My men will see to Cassie’s safe return.”

  Chapter 13

  Kalik returned to the room to find Adilah fast asleep. She looked so beautiful and peaceful, as if the stress of the past several weeks had been wiped away. He was tempted to wake her to pick up where they had left off, as his thirst for her had not been quenched.

  Their time together here had been amazing and he was loath to see it end, but soon, they would return to her home and he would resume his duties with Hussain.

  Looking down at her, Adilah was perfection sprinkled with powdered sugar. She was beautiful, inside and out.

  So was Maria.

  He could still remember Maria embracing him from behind and giggling before she would slip out of his grasp and run away inviting him to chase her. She had a laugh that would make even the most depressed smile.

  Kalik was not pleased with himself. He never allowed business and pleasure to mix - that was how he lost Maria. Instead of being ever vigilant, he allowed himself to indulge in his feelings for her and she died as a result. It was his fault that she was at home when the terrorist bomb went off nearby burying her in rubble.

  He would not be able to forgive himself if something happened to Adilah because he had neglected his d
uties. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep. He had fought his attraction to her from the moment they met and now that they had made love, it would be impossible to return to how things once were. Unfortunately, if he was going to do his job and keep her safe, he had to do it. She was more important than his feelings.

  He rose from the bed when his phone beeped indicating a message. Adilah turned on her side and opened her eyes. “Where are you going?” she asked him.

  “I received a text in regards to Cassie’s whereabouts,” he replied as Adilah sat up quickly.

  “You did?”

  Nodding his head, “They may have tracked her location but we have yet to confirm it.”