Golden eyes slumbrous with very male satisfaction, Rauf murmured, ‘That was—’
‘You at your most domineering…’ Lily slotted in helplessly, lifting her tousled head, face hot but eyes reproachful.
Rauf laced long lazy fingers into her tumbled hair. ‘So you can go for domineering in a very big way, güzelim,’ he countered silkily.
Lily trailed herself free of him and suppressed a sigh, knowing she ought not to say what she wanted to say, knowing she was going to say it anyway because it hurt so much not to be loved. ‘Maybe I wanted romantic…’
‘Was Brett romantic?’ Rauf asked in a tone of derision.
Lily blinked and then turned her head in confusion. ‘What’s he got to do with anything?’
‘I was just curious,’ Rauf drawled smooth as honey.
‘Well, how would I know?’ Lily grimaced and turned away again, thinking of the way Rauf had made love to her. Wild, inventive, exciting, full marks, she guessed, for technique, expertise. Was it such a turn off when she touched him? Was she so inept? And had he had to demonstrate his superior control with such humiliating completeness that she had ended up virtually begging for him to make love to her?
‘I can do romantic…’ Rauf asserted, tugging her back to him.
Lily stiffened. ‘No…you can do sex.’
‘Don’t be crude…I don’t expect that from you.’
Lily had never attracted an accusation like that in her life before. Crude?
‘Sex…sex…sex…sex!’ Lily hissed back at him like a furious spitting cat.
In a sudden movement, Rauf leant over her, propped his blue-shadowed jawline on the heel of one lean hand and studied her with wickedly amused golden eyes and a lazy, electrifying smile. ‘Petticoat…petticoat…petticoat.’
The volatile speed at which Rauf could change mood had always disconcerted her. As Lily gazed up at him in chagrin he lifted her hand and threaded an exquisite diamond ring onto her finger next to her wedding ring. ‘Romantic,’ he pointed out.
‘Where did it come from?’
‘I put it under the pillow before I got into bed.’
Dumbstruck, Lily surveyed the glorious diamond cluster from all angles.
Rauf shifted with lithe masculine intent into a more intimate position over her. ‘What’s my score now?’
‘Eleven out of ten…it’s a very beautiful ring.’ Lily sighed, feeling incredibly tired and knowing that she should have guessed that he would excel at one-upmanship. He loathed being criticised and it was their wedding night. It wasn’t the time to tell him that, no matter how incredible he was in bed, no matter how intense her own response, having to plead for him to make love to her made her feel small.
He gave her a challenging look and then freed her to sprawl back across the pillows, all lithe indolence and gorgeous masculinity. ‘But I would hate to be thought domineering.’
Impervious to hints and with a sleepy smile, Lily just wriggled back across the divide he had opened up between them and snuggled up to him as if he were a large teddy bear. ‘I can hardly keep my eyes open,’ she mumbled round a stifled yawn. ‘And I don’t want to look like a hag when I meet your family tomorrow.’
‘You couldn’t look like a hag if you tried,’ Rauf groaned and tucked her under his arm.
But he then lay there smouldering and trying not to wonder if she would have gone to sleep on Brett. It was not that he was jealous or competitive, just that he was sensitive. She might be his wife but he was not about to make a fool of himself over her. So why was he staying in bed at ten in the evening wide awake but holding her tight as if she might be about to make a break for freedom? She was his wife; she wasn’t going anywhere. And if she ever did, he would soon fetch her back.
All things considered, he decided that he felt remarkably good in spite of overhearing that phone call. He relaxed and listed all the physical things he liked most about her. The smell and the feel of her hair, the smoothness of her skin, the blue of her eyes and the sparkle there when she smiled, the trusting way she curved round him. Trusting her, though, was still a challenge. He would never tell her that that diamond ring was three years old.
The next morning, Lily ended up in a mad rush. Having breakfasted in bed and promised Rauf she would only be half an hour, she went through everything in her luggage before finally settling on wearing a lilac skirt and toning shirt that looked more formal and smart than anything else she had with her. But when she emerged breathlessly from her room, she found Rauf’s housekeeper waiting to intercept her in company with one of the maids who spoke English and who explained that Irmak wanted to give Lily the official guided tour of the house. Reluctant to risk causing offence, Lily smiled and just hoped that Rauf would be patient.
She loved Sonngul. It was a timeless, special place where she and Rauf had found each other again without the intrusion of the outside world. She was duly admiring the tall, serried ranks of pristine bedding in the huge linen cupboard when Rauf appeared and gave her a pained masculine appraisal. ‘We have to be at the airport in less than an hour…what are you looking at sheets for?’
‘Irmak was pleased,’ Lily chided.
As they passed the door of the room he used as an office he paused and strode in to wait for the fax that was spewing out papers. Tucking them at speed into the file lying on the desk, he lifted the file and rejoined her.
‘If I hadn’t had work demanding my attention, I would’ve stayed in bed later.’ In the shaded privacy of the path that led out to the helipad, Rauf claimed a hungry kiss that made her senses sing.