I held in the tremble of my body when I felt the smooth surface of the loofah lowering to my spine. I wanted to arch my back and close my eyes and let him lather me with his veiny hands all day if he wished.
I was snapped out of my dirty thoughts when Zain said, “You do not have to accept this marriage, if that’s your wish.”
“What?” I turned around to see him. “What do you mean?”
I had been so surprised by his words that I had forgotten that I was in the bath. His face flamed when his eyes dropped below my chin, at my bare breasts. My heart thudded wildly when his obsidian eyes darkened, my nipples tightening and turning into hard peaks under his scorching gaze.
With flushed cheeks, he looked away, his hand tightening over the loofah he held. He gritted out, “You do not have to accept me as your husband. Reject me if you wish. I… I will help you find a better prince and help your younger brother be the sultan.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, lowering myself into the bath. The warm water was turning cold as I thought about what he said. His apology, his behavior, his words.
Peering up at him, I asked, “Will a prince help me turn Maahnoor into a better country?”
Zain faced me, his eyes not lowering from my face. “Depends on which city’s prince you marry, Nasrin. But if they tried, maybe they can help you.”
I hummed, giving it another thought and answered with my chin high, “Then I do not wish to marry anyone else but you, Zain.”
“Why?” He breathed.
I closed my hand around his, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles, his wrist with a gentle touch. “Because even though you were cruel last night, you were honest. And as much as I hated you for speaking the truth, I needed to hear it. I admire that about you.”
“Hated?” he asked, raising his brow. “Past tense?”
“Yes, Zain.” I dipped my chin, only a little. “But I have some conditions before I marry you.”
His burning gaze danced over my body, underneath the water. My stomach dipped, the familiar pang of arousal tightening between my legs. I held my breath when Zain leaned closer, his eyes raising from my thighs to my face.
The musky, masculine scent of his cologne fused with the jasmine bath oil, creating a heady air around us. I took a deep breath, clenching my fists when he placed the loofah over the crook of my neck, slowly lathering the sensitive skin.
“Go on,” he whispered, his warm breath brushing my cheek. My eyes fluttered close, hearing his deep baritone voice. “I am listening.”
“I want to work after we get married,” I said, forcing my eyelids to open, gazing at the delicious exposed tanned skin of his neck. A little closer and I would be able to lick it.
Zain hummed, the reverberations rumbling down my spine making me clench my legs. “That can be arranged.” The small quirk on his lips assured me he had noticed what his closeness did to me. “But you have to be present with me during the festivities or important meetings regarding Azmia and Maahnoor.”
I hadn’t expected that. Maybe Zain was truly a ruler, as everyone had been talking about.
“Even though I am a woman?” I asked, remembering the rejection of my father whenever I tried to enter a political meeting. That it was not a woman’s place.
The loofah stopped on my collarbone, his eyes narrowing on me. “Being a female changes nothing. Azmia has better protection and laws for both the genders because of our women’s council. I would like it if you can join the women's council after the marriage. It would help me with a few of the decisions.”
I was in awe. It seemed like the person I had met the night before was just being a sultan, but the man in front of me was Sultan and human and Zain, caring about his people, their needs and wants.
“Of course, I will help you.” I licked my lips, “It will be my honor.”
He smiled, my heart tightening at the sight of it. Illegal, it should be illegal for Zain Al Latif to smile at me without giving me a warning. “You can work as a vet, I do not mind.”
His charcoal eyes drifted to my collarbone, continuing his work when the loofah pressed just above my breasts. “But I won’t allow my wife to overwork and strain her little body.”
Heat burned between us, my chest arching for his touch. “So bossy, Sultan Zain.”
“May I?” He asked, his eyes lowering to my hardened nipples.
I nodded, sitting straighter in the bath. Not because he asked me too, but because I wanted to. Okay, that was a poor lie. I wanted him to see me. See how much he affected me, even though he was bathing me fully clothed.
“If it’s okay, I do not want you to get married again, and tell me before you get any mistresses.” I looked down at the soapy water, not wanting him to see me. “Don’t lie to me, Zain.”
“I promise to stay monogamous throughout our entire marriage, Nasrin,” he said, his voice firm with authority. I held in my gasp when his warm fingers held my jaw to make me look at him, his touch soft. “I don’t wish to warm anyone’s but your bed—our bed. And I would never lie to you, Princess.”
I nodded, his eyes taking in my reaction. I knew he wasn’t the type of man to have an affair or mistresses, but I had to be sure. I wanted to know if there was anyone else he cared about… or loved. Surely, he must have slept with more women than I can count on my fingers. He was the Sultan of the most powerful country in the Middle East after all, I had to know.
“Why do I feel that there is something else you want to say?” he urged, head tilting to the side.
In the dim light of the bathroom, the dark strands of his hair seemed tinted with blue, his sharp jaw and cheekbones making him look otherworldly. It intimidated me how easily I could forget that he was a sultan and I was a princess of the country he had a rivalry with. If he wished, he could marry me in a day and keep me in a dungeon, keep me caged. If he wished, he didn’t have to accept my wishes, my conditions.
But he didn’t.
I had to say it. Licking my lips, I parted them, my eyes burning when his lowered to my wet lips. “I don’t want you to touch me without my consent.”
Ice drenched his features when he stilled, the swirling emotions fading from his eyes as they turned cold. His hand pulled away, and I had the strangest urge to get closer and feel the warmth of his hand on my skin again.
Zain chuckled, his laugh devoid of any humor making me shudder. He leaned closer and my eyes widened when his lips went past mine to press against my ear as he whispered, “I don’t want to know why you think so lowly of me, but I assure you, future wife…” A slither of pleasure rolled over my spine hearing his rumbling velvety voice, his lips brushing over the shell of my ear, “That you would be the one begging me to touch you.”
He was so right, he had no idea.
I would beg. For him. Only him.
My eyes were glazed when they roved over his powerful, lean body, the muscles on his biceps moving when he leaned back on the stool. I pressed my teeth on my bottom lip, the air around us thickening with the steam, exotic oil, his musky cologne.
I met his eyes. “Then I beg you to touch me, Zain.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and added in a soft whisper, “Please.”
His eyes widened a little with shock, and something darker coursed through them. My heart thudded loudly when I realized what it was. Pure lust. Desire. If I could move back in the bath, I would, because his gaze turned predatory, and I felt like his prey. Naked in the bath, while he was covered in clothes.
I watched when he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dark shirt, revealing the tan skin underneath. My tongue seeped out to wet my lips. A hint of a smirk grazed his lush lips when he said,
“Spread your legs and show me your cunt, Princess.”
Shock spread through my body. His words… so dirty and wild for a sultan. I swallowed the lump in my throat, wondering if I had made a mistake in poking some primal beast.
I watched him stand up and remove his shirt, his eyebrow raising at me. Taking a deep breath, I followed his command, spreading my legs and blushing when his eyes landed on the apex of my thighs. His bulge hardening as he removed his pants and boxers, standing naked in front of me.
I licked my lips when he entered the bath, sitting down across from me.
“May I?” he asked, gesturing to my legs.
I nodded eagerly. Perhaps too eagerly. “Yes, please.”
His large hands glided over my legs, goose bumps skittering all over my body when he leaned closer, spreading my thighs as wide as he could. The cold marble pressing against my skin.
I stifled my moan when his fingers ran over my slit, slowly, as if he had all the time in the world to tease me. “Tell me, Nasrin, what do you enjoy the most? Getting your clit rubbed?” He rubbed the sensitive bundle of nerves with his fingers, watching me tremble. “Or your cunt fucked?” he whispered, his voice hot and heavy as his fingers slid inside me.
My back arched and eyes squeezed shut when my walls clenched around his fingers, a soft moan passing through my lips. When I couldn’t reply, he repeated his actions, fucking me with his fingers, curling them towards my G-spot.
“I don’t like to repeat myself, Nasrin. Tell me.”
“Both,” I gasped, my eyes widening at him. “Both. I like both.”
Zain nodded, his body wet with water as he teased me. The pad of his thumb slowly rubbing circles over my clit, his fingers plunging inside me. Having him watch me grind myself on his hand felt dirty, raw, and intimate. His onyx eyes raking over my body as if he was thinking about touching and licking me everywhere.
Our eyes lowered to his hand, already glistening with my juices as his own hardened member stood erect. I tried to lean closer to him and please him, but he shook his head, his eyes blazing with lust and hunger.
I held his cheek and claimed his lips, a pleasant hum pouring out of him. He pulled me closer, kissing me deeply and intensely when my orgasm tethered on the edge.
“Every inch of you is divine,” Zain said, his voice thick.
I blushed, my neck and cheeks heating.
“I wish I could devour you right now and show you how much, Nasrin.” his guttural voice rolled over my body, his face leaned closer until his lips landed on my neck, tasting the skin, licking it.
I closed my eyes, arching myself in his touch when his teeth pressed against the sensitive spot. “I am touching you because you begged me to. Because I want to lick your perfect breasts and bite them when you come for me. You will, won’t you, Princess?” he whispered, my stomach tightening into a ball at his hot words.
My head dipped in a nod, my breathy whimper making him smile when he lowered his other hand into the water behind me, supporting my lower back. My hand moved on its own accord, holding onto his muscular forearm, veins moving when my fingers tightened over his tanned skin.
Zain hummed, his mouth lowering to my collarbone at the same time as his fingers thrust deeper, making me sigh at the slight relief. But it was short-lived when his hot mouth attached to my breast, his fiery tongue licking the pebbled nipple before his teeth bit into it.
I groaned his name, my half-lidded eyes gazing over his thick dark hair. Pleasure bubbled inside me at the familiar tightness. His mouth repeated the same actions on my other breast, the hand on my back rubbing slow circles as my orgasm climbed higher and higher until it reached its peak.
“Before you cum,” Zain said, pulling away from my chest. He licked his pillowy lips, glancing at his fingers inside me. “I have my own conditions.”
I gaped at him, wanting to strangle him with my bare hands for—
He smirked, as if he could read my mind. “Now, now, don’t be angry. I will help you climax, Princess.”