Rachel couldn’t believe her ears!
For the second morning in a row, she’d awoken to someone pounding on her door.
Pushing the blankets back, she peered out at the window. It was still dark outside. Another hard knock and she rolled over to check the time on her cell phone which was propped up next to her on the nightstand.
It was only five o’clock in the morning. Much too early to get up, she decided, and pulled the covers up over her head.
She’d been asleep for perhaps three seconds when she heard the door open. She sat up and looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Rise and shine, beautiful!”
Rachel pushed the hair out of her eyes, trying to figure out if she was awake or not. Since she’d been dreaming about Tarin all night, his presence in her bedroom was confusing, to say the least.
“Tarin?”
His soft, husky laughter sent a thrill through her already dream-charged body.
“At least you call me by my first name when you’re half asleep. But it’s time to wake up, honey.”
“I’m awake!” she yelped. Rachel continued to sit there, looking around as if she wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Blinking, she looked at the dimly lit room, trying to make sense of the world. Unfortunately, her brain was too tired and wasn’t cooperating. “But…why am I awake?”
“Because you’re coming with me. Don’t worry about showering yet. Put on some exercise clothes and come on out.” Then he was gone and she was alone in the dark, cozy room.
She stared at the closed door, running the words over in her mind again. No shower. Exercise clothes. “Why would I do that?” she asked rhetorically.
Out of curiosity, she pushed the covers off and slipped out of bed. Grabbing her silk robe, she padded barefoot down the hallway to the large living room of the hotel suite.
Thinking she’d only dreamed about Tarin coming into her room, she blinked, trying to adjust to the brighter lights out here. Sure enough, Tarin stood in the living room, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper, pacing back and forth. He looked up when she entered, his gaze moving over her figure and she knew that she’d made a mistake.
“You’re going to work out in that?” he teased. “I like it. Might not be too practical though.”
She blinked owlishly at his teasing grin, still trying to make sense of this. “What’s going on? My alarm doesn’t go off for another hour.”
He walked over to her, tossing the newspaper onto a table. “I’m teaching you self-defense this morning.”
“Self-defense?”
“Yes. But only if you get dressed in something that you can move easily in. As much as I like the robe, I don’t think it will stay on once you start trying to flip me over your shoulder.”
Rachel had been eyeing the steaming coffee mug in his hand, but with that news, she looked lower, her gaze devouring his chest and arms and all of those muscles. “Um…will I get to do that?”
“Eventually,” he teased.
Now what did that mean?
“Do you have any sweatpants or leggings that you can work out in?”
She did, but did she want to wear them around him! “Yes, but….”
“Good. Go put them on. Hurry up, we only have an hour before we need to get ready for our first meeting.”
For some reason, Rachel blindly turned around and headed back into her room. She pulled on the leggings and, because she would be around Tarin, she brushed her hair and brushed her teeth, pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail to keep her mop of frizzy curls out of the way. Just for good measure, she swished with mouthwash, not wanting even a hint of morning breath.
She grabbed a sports bra and a tee shirt, pulling both on over her head, then hurried back out to the main room.
“Will this work?” she asked, then regretted asking as his gaze moved up and down her figure, pausing on her breasts, which immediately started tingling, just as they had last night in her dream. But Rachel knew better than to look down to check. She was fairly sure that he was aware of anything going on in her chest area. Looking at herself would only bring more attention to the problem.
“Yes. That will work,” he turned towards the door. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, jogging to catch up with him.
“To the hotel gym. There’s more room down there and we don’t have to worry about you throwing me into anything,” he teased.
She laughed, rolling her eyes. “Right.”
“You never know,” he pressed the button on the elevator. “I’m a pretty good teacher.”
A half hour later, Rachel had to agree. “Keep your stance loose,” he repeated. “Don’t tense up in a dangerous situation.” He moved closer, circling her. “Okay, come at me.”
“No,” she groaned, shaking her head for emphasis.
“Rachel, you’re never going to learn to take down someone bigger than you if you don’t keep practicing.”
She’d been practicing. For the past thirty plus minutes, she’d been trying to take him down with the arm-twisting method he’d shown her. But he was a foot taller than her and probably more than a hundred pounds heavier, all of it muscle. Now that she was with him and he wasn’t in one of his yummy, sexy business suits, she could more clearly see each and every one of those hard-packed muscles. And…wow! Just wow!
“Come on, Rachel, you’re not concentrating.”
She sighed. She was concentrating all right. Just not on trying to take him down.
Suddenly, he stood up. “How about if we concentrate on something else?”
That was probably a good idea. “Like what?” she asked, thinking coffee would be an excellent thing to concentrate on. Yep, she could really concentrate on a cup of coffee.
“Instead of trying to flip me, how about if we work on close-in attacks?”
That didn’t sound like coffee. “What do you mean?”
He moved behind her and she knew this wasn’t a good idea. Definitely not good!
“I’ve been trying to show you how to stop someone coming at you with a direct attack. What would you do if I came up from behind like this?” he asked, wrapping his strong, incredibly wonderful, and oh-so hard arms around her shoulders. “What would you do?”
Besides lean back against him? Oh. Right. Defend herself. Nope, leaning back against her attacker wasn’t a good idea. But…yes, it would be lovely if her attacker was Tarin. Especially if he had a cup of coffee!
“Well, I’d probably…” she stopped, realizing she wasn’t sure what to do. “Scream really loud?” she offered weakly. Rachel blamed her lack of inspiration on a lack of coffee and not on the fact that this man had done this to her in her dreams last night, but with a completely different ending in mind.
“You’re not concentrating,” he said, his lips brushing her ear. “You’re distracted and that’s going to put you in a vulnerable situation. You have to be aware of your surroundings and know what to do.”
She wiggled, unaware of the impact her movement had on his body. “Maybe…pretend to faint?”
She felt his smile as his arms tightened. “Then you’re just a heap on the ground and in a more vulnerable position.”
Frantically, Rachel tried to remember what that one self-defense class had taught her way back in high school. Of course, in high school, she hadn’t been addicted to the beauty of coffee, so she’d been paying more attention.
“Isn’t there something about the inside of a person’s foot?”
“Yes. What is it?” he asked, his arm tightening as he pulled her against his chest.
“Um…shouldn’t I stomp on it?”
“Yes. Five minutes ago. Or you could reach up and poke at my eyes,” he suggested, his arm moving slightly. His hold felt more…sensuous now. Not at all threatening.
“Or your groin?”
He laughed. “Yeah. The groin on a man is pretty important. A good target, but you can’t really reach my groin easily in this position. So, what are you going to do?”
Licking her lips, she frantically fought the fog of desire that was overwhelming her thoughts. “I have no idea, Your Highness,” she finally admitted.
“Why don’t you use your elbow?”
She thought about that, but shook her head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He laughed, his arm tightening, but again, it didn’t feel scary. It felt…really good! She loved being held like this. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that he was her lover and he’d just come up behind her and…maybe he would kiss her neck. Or nibble on her ear. And slide his hand around to her stomach and…
Jerking upright, she spun around, pulling out of his arms. “I’m sorry!” she gasped.
“For what?”
She blinked at him, then looked around at the others in the gym. There were only two other people in the gym, both running on treadmills. “Um…well, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
He moved closer. “You were on the right track. How about if we try again tomorrow and I’ll show you more basic moves?”
She nodded. “Right. Tomorrow. Basic.” She nodded stupidly, then turned around, almost tripping over her feet. She righted herself, glanced back at him, then hurriedly walked away, terrified that he’d notice the blush staining her cheeks.
Back up in the suite, she sighed with happiness when she spotted the coffee tray that had been delivered while they were working out.
“Good morning, Ms. Morris,” a voice called out from behind her.
Rachel was so intent on pouring herself a cup of coffee that she shrieked and spun around, startled. That’s when she spotted the other woman, who was just as surprised. After a brief moment, they shared a rueful laugh.
“You okay?” Tarin demanded, bursting into the room.
“I’m fine,” Rachel said. “I just…” she waved towards the other woman.
“My apologies, Your Highness. I’m the housekeeper and cook. I stepped out to ask Ms. Morris if she wanted something for breakfast and didn’t announce myself properly.”
Rachel shook her head. “No, it was my fault. I’d been down with the big guy,” she said, pointing her thumb towards Tarin, “and wasn’t concentrating on anything other than getting a cup of coffee.”
Tarin frowned at her and she could almost read his mind. “I know!” she sighed. “You were just warning me to always be aware of my surroundings.” She lifted her cup of coffee. “I was completely aware. Of the scent of coffee!” she explained. Feeling foolish, Rachel cradled her cup of coffee and headed for her bedroom.
Tarin watched Rachel leave, appreciating the view of her remarkably fine derriere outlined by the tight leggings. He didn’t have to hide his lust since she wasn’t paying attention. Her entire focus was on her coffee. The woman had zero situational awareness.
Frustration was like a burn along his entire body. Tarin suddenly remembered the presence of the housekeeper. “Thank you, we’ll have breakfast in about thirty minutes.”
The woman nodded. “Very good, Your Highness,” she replied with a dip of her head, then backed out of the room.
Tarin walked over to the silver coffee urn and poured himself a cup of coffee, then took it to his room, thinking that he needed a cold shower. His idea of giving Rachel lessons in self-defense had been a good one, initially. It would help her get to know him better and he would be free to touch her while giving her very valuable information.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t counted on desire surging through him every time he touched her or the soft, sexy way she wiggled against him when she was trying to figure out how to get out of whatever hold he’d put her in. Wrapping his arms around her had been a mixture of heaven and hell.
Turning on the shower, he switched the water temperature over to cold in an effort to get his body back under control.
A half hour later, he felt mildly better. That is, until he walked out and spotted Rachel in another one of those flouncy, flowered dresses. This one was a soft green that echoed the color of her eyes. The huge, pink flowers brought out the red highlights in her hair and the V neckline reminded him how much he liked her breasts!
He almost snorted at that last thought. As if he’d ever forgotten how much he liked her breasts! Hell, they’d been pressed against his arm yesterday while on the tower and several times over the course of the afternoon, he’d seen glimpses of her red bra. Why she’d worn a red bra yesterday while wearing a navy dress, he had no clue. But it had been on his mind all day.
Now, he wondered what color bra and panties she wore today. Would they be pink like the flowers on her dress? Or had she chosen a contrasting color, such as she’d done yesterday?
The mystery was going to drive him crazy!
“Good morning,” she called to him, bright and sunny now that she’d had a couple cups of coffee. Meanwhile, he was grouchy and irritable since the cold shower had barely clamped down on his raging libido. And the image of her in that moss-green dress had completely obliterated the effects of that damn, cold shower.
Thankfully, the work day started and, because they weren’t touring the city, it was easier to concentrate. They met with two architectural firms that day and three construction firms. He also got to sit with her during meals to discuss the contractors, listen to her opinion as well as her impressions, and Tarin was impressed with her insights.
Rachel walked into the beautiful hotel, exhausted and ready to curl up with a good book, then fall asleep. Because of her earlier than normal wake up call, the extra energy exerted during their morning self-defense class, plus working so hard today, she was wiped out! Completely mentally trashed!
“Are you hungry?” he asked as he followed her into the suite.
Rachel turned to look up at him, then quickly away when he tugged at the tie knot, revealing that sexy Adam’s apple. “Not really.” What in the world? A man’s Adam’s apple wasn’t sexy!
Tarin pressed a few buttons on a screen and music flowed through the room. “Better?” he asked.
Rachel closed her eyes as the soft, lilting music soothed her exhausted soul. “Yes!” she sighed.
“Come. Let’s dance,” he reached for her hand.
Rachel hesitated. “Dance?”
He hauled her out of the chair she’d slumped into. “Of course. You know the basics of the fox trot. What better way to unwind at the end of a long day?”
With a smoothness that seemed at odds with his height and brawn, he pulled her into his arms, one hand on her waist and the other held her fingers lightly.
“I don’t think we should…”
His voice was husky as he murmured, “Don’t think, Rachel. Just feel.” And he spun her before pulling her close again and Rachel’s heart pulsed with happiness and awareness.
Gliding around the suite, Rachel’s nervousness melted away as she moved through the steps. His lead was strong enough that she knew what he would do almost before he indicated the next move.
“Just relax,” he soothed when she stumbled slightly on a turn. “Let your instincts take over. Stop thinking.”
She laughed slightly, trying to pretend that her stumble was caused by her ineptitude and not because she’d felt his chest brush against her breasts.
The music changed and she looked up into his hazel eyes, wondering…a lot of things. Like what it would be like to kiss him. Was his chest as hard as it looked? Yes, from this morning’s lessons, she knew with absolute certainty that it was, but she wanted to touch it again. Although, this time with her hands. What would he do if she asked to touch him…No, she couldn’t do that. Never!
“What are you thinking about?”
Rachel stumbled over his feet, but his hands tightened, holding her steady.
“Must be something interesting,” he teased.
She blinked, her heart racing. “I was just…”
“Just?”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t anything important,” she whispered back, but her gaze dropped to his lips, her breath catching in her throat.
He paused for a moment, not in the dancing, but the pause was there in his eyes and Rachel was transfixed. Mesmerized.
“I suspect that your thoughts are very important, Rachel,” he replied softly.
His words, combined with the heated look in his eyes, warmed a small piece of her soul. Too many times, her thoughts or opinions had been mocked. It hadn’t been until she’d moved to Izara that she’d started to feel valuable. Now, in Tarin’s arms, small, fluttery wings opened a bit. Those wings fluttered, tentatively feeling the warmth of his pleasure.
“Thank you.”
His eyes widened slightly as they moved around the room, seeming to float as their bodies moved in perfect synchronization. “For what?”
She shrugged. “Just…thank you.” Rachel didn’t want to tell him that she was grateful for his belief in her. Or for valuing her. Those were words that he wouldn’t understand, coming from his background. So instead, she stopped thinking and simply allowed herself to lose herself in the music.