He blinked once. She had a feeling few people could surprise Khalid, but it appeared she had done so. The cynical, handsome son of a prince was staring at her as though she had suddenly morphed into an alien being.
“Interesting.” He leaned forward, bracing his arms on the table as he watched her. “You are, of course, aware that Ian believes he has no heart. How do you capture what a man believes he does not possess?”
She was aware of the sad curve of her own lips at the thought of Ian and the heart he believed he did not have. There was a haunted light in Ian’s eyes, a dark, almost hidden shadow of pain that she wanted nothing more than to wipe away. As naïve as she knew it sounded, she wanted to fill his life with light, with love. She wanted to see that special gleam in his gaze, such as her father had with her mother. That smile, secretive, almost bemused, that graced his lips each time her mother was near. She wanted that for Ian.
“You help him find it. One step at a time.” She could only pray that the steps she was making were the correct ones. She could only follow her heart and her woman’s intuition and hope she wasn’t making any drastic mistakes.
“And you think you can change him because of this love of yours?” He was looking at her with equal parts pity and amusement. “Reform him so to speak?”
“Not hardly.” Some men should be placed in pens and taken out for breeding purposes only, she thought. They had no understanding of women, or of how adaptable their love truly was. “Love doesn’t seek to change what already is, Khalid. It seeks only to be a part of it. Thankfully for Ian, I look forward to being a part of the life he lives and the sexuality that is a part of him. I don’t seek to change him.”
Once again, his gaze became confused, as though he couldn’t quite figure out what she was talking about.
“You’ll see,” she assured him with a smile. “I will succeed, Khalid. I’ve known since I was a child that I belonged to Ian. I just have to convince him of this now.” She rose to her feet to stare down at him questioningly. “Shall we go?”
He shook his head, but followed suit. “Of course.” He moved around the table, his hand settling in the small of her back as he led her from the restaurant to the waiting limo.
Courtney could feel the blood pounding through her body as they rode back to Ian’s estate. He would realize of course, how she was manipulating the situation. Ian was no fool. Just as he would realize that once she knew how to push him, she wouldn’t let up. It was a dangerous game she was playing, and she was well aware of it. Ian was a man, full grown and in his prime. She was but an amateur and she knew that well. But, a very determined amateur, she assured herself with a flare of satisfaction.
“That smile is frightening, Courtney,” Khalid mused with a chuckle as he led her to the waiting limo. “I believe I may well decide to feel quite sorry for my good friend Ian, rather than the little chick I feared he would devour. In this case, I believe the chick has teeth and the wolf may well be rendered helpless.”
The thought of succeeding in her goal was nearly as arousing as the thought of Ian awaiting her, demanding her return.
She could feel her br**sts, swollen and sensitive as they pressed against the fabric of her top, her ni**les rasping against the material and sending sharp, heated sparks of longing shooting through her nerve endings, straight to her engorged clit. And that small mass of nerves was demanding relief. A relief she had never known, never found on her own, just as she had failed with Sebastian.
“I want him with every cell of my body, Khalid,” she whispered longingly. “I’ve wanted him like this since I was little more than a child. Before I ever knew what sexual heat could be, or how intense it could become, I have felt this for Ian.”
His hooded gaze raked over her br**sts as he sat in the seat across from her, his dark gaze hot and filled with lust.
“I’ve shared women with Ian before, little chick. He won’t go easy on you.” She heard the warning in his voice.
“It isn’t easy I wish,” she breathed hungrily, shifting on the leather, her thighs tightening at the thought that soon, very, very soon she would face Ian once again. Perhaps a hungrier Ian. One who had given up the battle to keep her from his bed.
Khalid’s expression became more sensual, heavy with desire as his eyes glittered with intent, though he said nothing more. She could see his thoughts though, the lust that built slowly during the drive, the erection that thickened beneath his pants.
She drew in a slow, deep breath as the limo pulled in front of the steps that led to the house. She waited patiently until the chauffeur opened the door, helping her from the backseat as Khalid followed.
Her heart was racing in her chest, her juices collecting between her thighs and slickening the swollen folds of her pu**y as the butler opened the door. Warmth spilled from the house as they stepped inside, sexual tension immediately whipping around them as Ian stepped from the receiving room to the side.
His eyes were wild. The Irish blue glittered beneath thick black lashes as his gaze went first to Khalid, then to her.
“Good evening, Ian,” Khalid was the first to speak, his voice thickening as his hand slid from her back to the curve of her hip. “As you can see, I’ve delivered her safe and sound.”
“So you have,” Ian growled as he gestured to the butler to leave.
The other man nodded and retreated toward the back of the house.
“I believe it must surely be my bedtime.” Courtney ignored the racing of her blood and the arousal destroying her.
She turned and smiled back at Khalid as she reached up and kissed his cheek lingeringly. “I had a very pleasant evening.”
“No more than I, sweet one,” he said, his voice dark with lust. “I will look forward to seeing you again soon.”
“Ian.” She turned back to him, ignoring the dangerous stillness of his body. “Goodnight. Perhaps I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I think not.” He surprised her.
He moved quickly, standing before her, tall and broad and aroused as he stared down at her, blocking her way to the stairs.
Courtney lifted a brow mockingly. “It is rather late, Ian.”
She was aware of Khalid watching the byplay with hot interest.
“Did he touch you?” There was no jealousy in his voice, but rather avid hunger.
“And would you care?” she asked him with a smile, a deliberately sensual curve of her lips, rather like the one she had seen her mother giving her father when teasing him unbearably.