The Desert Princes. Jackie Braun

thrown at her was effectively obliterated by Raffa’s overwhelming sensuality. She had never felt passion like this before and pressed close, her breasts aching for his touch.

      When he deepened the kiss, plundering her mouth in a brazen imitation of what he’d like to do to her, swollen lips pulsed with need and she groaned her approval. ‘Oh, please,’ she begged, clinging fiercely to him. ‘Don’t you dare change your mind now.’

      There was no chance of that.

      Raffa removed her clothes with ease.

      The words ‘years of experience’ flashed between them in a look. The revelation that sex could be fun boosted Casey’s confidence. It had always looked like such a serious undertaking between the covers of her parents’ books. But with Raffa—

      That was as much thought as she could manage before Raffa’s lips crushed her mouth, opening her lips with the pressure of his, invading and tasting her, only to pull back and tease her with his tongue, tracing the line of her mouth, before plunging deep again, in a blatant rehearsal of what he meant to do to her.

      She was on fire for him, every part of her pleading for his touch, for his attention. Mindless with delight, she bucked towards him. A dam had broken, and now her hunger was released she wanted everything he could give her.

      She offered her breasts, begging in words she hardly recognised for him to ease the ache inside her. Taking her nipples, he chafed them while soothing her with words in A’Qabani. But she refused to be soothed. Her nipples were almost painfully extended, and the pleasure was streaming between her legs, where it gathered in insistent pulses.

      Raffa’s answer was to brush her nipples with his lips, and then he suckled while his hands explored, tracing a leisurely path over her quivering belly towards the source of her need.

      She was almost frantic with desire by this time. She had waited so long for this moment, and was almost frightened of losing control again before Raffa could complete his investigations.

      ‘Are you warm enough?’ he demanded, when she shuddered uncontrollably.

      Desire swirled around her, making it impossible to answer. She could only thrash beneath him, seeking more contact. These feelings, these incredible sensations—all of them new, and all of them so much stronger and more intense than she had dreamed.

      ‘There’s only one way to be sure,’ Raffa growled. ‘I’ll have to cover you all over.’

      She gasped as he swung her beneath him, and then rubbed herself shamelessly against him, catching what pressure she could from his powerful thigh. ‘Please…’ she managed shakily, hungry for more pleasure.

      ‘You want more…?’

      ‘Everything,’ she groaned, opening herself to him.

      Raffa tugged his robe over his head. He was naked underneath. He was magnificent…

      ‘I always wondered what a Sheikh wore underneath his robes,’ she murmured, reaching up to trace his ferocious tattoo.

      ‘Well, now you know.’

      ‘A condom and a tattoo.’

      ‘It’s enough, don’t you think?’

      ‘More than—’ Casey’s words were choked off as Raffa’s hand found its place between her legs with unerring accuracy.

      ‘Good?’ he murmured, testing her readiness.

      She could only writhe with greedy delight. There could be nothing better than this, surely? Closing her eyes, she gave herself up to pleasure as Raffa worked with the greatest skill and sensitivity, until she was so engorged with need she could only whimper, ‘I need you…I need you…please…please…’ But though he teased and stimulated, he refused her release. ‘Oh, please don’t stop.’ She was practically sobbing with disappointment when he changed position.

      ‘Who says I’m stopping? I want you to feel me…’

      Casey’s mouth dried. Reaching down nervously, she gasped at the size of him, but even as she shrank away Raffa moved so he could touch her with just the tip of his erection. ‘I would never hurt you, Casey.’

      ‘Oh…’ Her mouth fell loose. This was more sensation than she had ever known. Her breathing changed, quickened, as if every part of her was waiting, but he was so big, so huge…

      Raffa was kissing her, deeply and persuasively, until all her fears dissolved and she was crushing her mouth against his, hungry for more contact, more pressure, more pleasure— more of everything he had to give her…

      She was so tender and vulnerable beneath him, and yet she was driven by a hunger equal to his own. She had taken his shoulders in a vice-like grip and was urging him on with words that surprised him.

      ‘Okay, we can do that,’ he murmured, grinning against her mouth. This was all he had ever wanted for Casey…all he had ever wanted.

      Her eyes had turned almost black, with just a slim ring of cobalt surrounding the dilated pupil. His must be the same. He wanted her as he had never wanted any woman before, and he eased her thighs a little wider. He found her to be just as he’d expected only better—plump, warm and moist, and oh, so eager. He teased her with the tip again, for the sheer pleasure of hearing her soft cry of delight.

      ‘Please, Raffa…Please…’

      ‘Patience,’ he murmured against her lips, moving rhythmically so that each time he caught a little deeper inside her.

      ‘No—now,’ she insisted fiercely, taking the decision out of his hands by bucking towards him. ‘Oh, Raffa,’ she moaned, as he moved with infinite steadiness to claim her completely.

      However much he wanted this he would never allow himself to forget how inexperienced she was. ‘Am I hurting you?’

      ‘If you stop now I’ll never ever forgive you…’

      For ever was a long, long time he thought—and then, inevitably, the world outside real time slipped away.

      Her world was composed of Raffa. Her concentration was all on him—on his muscular back beneath her fingers, and his rock-hard chest in front of her face, and the sublime rocking motion that was taking her places she had always wanted to go. Her eyes were full of him, and her ears were tuned to his erotic suggestions in A’Qabani. Her world was pleasure—pleasure that defied belief as Raffa settled deep inside her. He inhabited her completely—and not just her body, but her mind, her soul, her heart.

      He stretched her beyond anything she would have believed possible before this moment, and as she grew accustomed to the new sensation of being one he withdrew. There was barely chance to voice her complaint before he plunged deep again, to her shriek of surprised delight.

      ‘For the pleasure of taking you again,’ he murmured against her smile. ‘And again.’

      He moved faster now, in firm, measured strokes, but the build was so great the destination began to terrify her. ‘I can’t—’

      ‘Yes, you can,’ Raffa insisted. ‘I’ll keep you safe.’

      ‘No…. Please…Really…I can’t—’

      ‘Yes,’ he told her firmly, continuing the steady onslaught on her senses.

      Seconds later she was keening with surprise as ecstasy consumed her. As the violent pleasure took her over completely Raffa held her safe, as he said he’d would, and when she calmed he continued his steady rhythm until her throbbing flesh demanded more.

      ‘I can’t…not again,’ she said more in wonder than surprise.

      ‘But you want to?’ Raffa smiled wickedly down at her.

      ‘You know I do,’ she gasped out, locking her legs around his waist.

      ‘Then you can.’ And, cupping her buttocks in his strong, firm hands, he