The dark interior surrounded them as Khalid pushed the button to raise the partition between them and Abdul.
Beside her, Shayne watched her silently, his expression tense, filled with lust. Only lust. There was no emotion aside from the affection of a friend, a lover. Khalid could read nothing in the other man that appeared to be a threat to his possession of Marty's heart.
Khalid's jaw clenched as Marty shifted, causing the bodice to tighten over her breasts. He wanted to lower the material, wanted to feel the firm weight of the swollen globes in his hands once again.
As he watched, her hand lifted, the painted tips of her fingers stroking over the upper curves of her breasts teasingly. Her fingers shook, but her expression, though filled with wariness, was also filled with curiosity.
Khalid watched her hand, as he knew Shayne was watching as well.
Khalid's eyes lifted to hers, his body clenching so tightly that he swore bones would break. He met the teasing glint in her eyes.
"I stayed away as long as possible," he said gently. "Remember that when you begin to learn things you don't like, little flower. I tried to protect you."
"You could explain." There was a somber edge of sadness in her voice.
Khalid glanced at Shayne and read the warning in his gaze. If he didn't tell her, if he didn't explain, he could lose her, and not just to the repercussions of his work with her godfather, or to his past. He could lose her by not warning her, by letting her face danger without being prepared.
Her head tilted to the side. "Did you grow horns and I'm somehow missing them, Khalid?" she asked. "Or perhaps you don't trust me with the truth."
"Perhaps the horns were there long before you were old enough to imagine what I would want from you. And I would trust you with my life."
There was blood in his past, the blood of an innocent, the blood of someone who had dared to trust him, dared to love him.
God knew that should he lose Marty in the manner that he had allowed himself to lose Lessa, he could never live with the guilt.
He was aware of Shayne watching, listening, waiting. He had no choice but to tell her the truth. The danger he would become to her from this one night onward would demand that she know the truth of his past, that she would see him for the man he was, rather than the man he wanted to be for her.
"I don't know, Khalid," she said quietly. "I rather doubt I'd find a monster. I'd probably simply find a man who found he couldn't control the world as he once thought he could."
Khalid sighed. "I haven't been as careful as I should have been in the work I've done for your godfather. My two younger half brothers have learned that I was part of a recent operation that has cost them financially, as well as personally. Because of that, I suspect they'll make a move soon to strike against me. I did not want you endangered, Marty. I wanted you safe, and that safety is no longer something I can guarantee."
Shayne watched as Khalid fought to reveal just the information Marty needed, and none of the painful truth of what had happened before he left Saudi Arabia ten years ago. He actually felt sorry for the poor bastard. As strong and as arrogant as Khalid could be, Marty could still bring him to his knees. And how she saw him was still something Khalid struggled with.
He wanted to be a white knight in her eyes, not the dark knight. And there were times he had never understood that it was the dark knight who actually ended up saving the day, the princess, and the world he believed in.
But what Shayne had known, and Khalid had yet to see, was the woman Marty truly was.
At Khalid's explanation her gaze sharpened, her eyes narrowed, and the agent she had become over the years slipped into the picture.
"What was the operation?"
Shayne had to hide his smile. She would be full of questions now, and hiding the rest of the truth from her would be harder by the day for Khalid. Just as it would be more difficult for these two people to continue denying the emotions they felt for each other. Others saw it. Shayne saw it in both of them. But neither Marty nor Khalid had yet to acknowledge it.
He also doubted that Khalid saw the depth of her love, but it was something Shayne saw, and almost envied. If he were ready to love, then he would definitely have to fight Khalid for this woman.
And Marty didn't recognize that emotion in herself because, Shayne knew, she had felt it for Khalid for so long, that it had simply become a part of her. It was now as natural as breathing.
"So you believe Ayid and Aman Mustafa are going to try to kill you because of the mission here in D.C.?"
Marty knew far more than she let on. She wasn't about to allow it to distract her now, though. As she spoke, she allowed her fingers to whisper over the rise of her breasts above the bodice of her dress. Back and forth, stroking, caressing her own flesh until even he could barely think for watching her.
"That is a reasonable explanation," Khalid murmured.
Shayne almost grinned at the sudden distracted tone in Khalid's voice. Not that he blamed the other man, watching Marty's fingertips caress the upper slopes of her breasts was making him insane as well.
"And this is why you've stayed away from me all these years?"
Ah, she had him there. Shayne would have glanced at Khalid for his reaction if he wasn't pretty certain Khalid's attention was still glued to those fingers as she caressed herself.
"Should we play this safe then?" she asked. "Should I choose another lover, Khalid, hope he's a member of your illustrious club, and then hope he chooses you as a third?" Her fingers played closer to the edge of the material that barely covered her nipples. "Then you wouldn't have to worry, would you?"
Shayne's mouth began to water even as he admired the very delicate, very subtle way she was learning exactly how to ensure that Khalid lost his heart to her. He wondered if she was aware he already had.
Damn, she was frightening. She should be an interrogator. Because she was going to wring every and any truth from Khalid's lips if he wasn't very careful.
"Would you enjoy watching me commit murder?" Khalid muttered, then nearly held his breath as she pressed her fingers beneath the bodice and slowly lowered it over the ripe, firm globes of her breasts.
Pale pink nipples, hard and flushed, met his avid gaze as he felt his mouth water for the taste of them.
A quick glance at Shayne showed that the other man was just as entranced. Just as eager and as hungry for a taste of her as Khalid now was.
"Would you commit murder for me?" Her inquiry was but a distant sound to his fogged brain.
"If another man tried to touch you without my direct approval, then yes, I believe I would," he stated, his attention never wavering as her fingers began to play over her distended nipples.
Damn, that was pretty. Watching her touch herself was almost as torturous as touching her himself. He knew the shape, the silky sweetness, the heat of the firmed flesh. He knew the taste of them, the feel of them against his tongue, and he ached for more.
The strain on his own control was telling. He wanted nothing more than to jerk her to him, pull her over his lap and release the aching length of his cock before pushing inside her.
Better yet, to have Shayne hold her, caress her, gently restrain her as Khalid parted her thighs and allowed the other man to watch his possession of her. To caress her, to push her pleasure higher than she could ever know with a single lover.
The fact that she was a virgin was all that stopped him. Though, leaning closer, his fingers going to her knee as her face began to flush with pleasure, he wasn't certain if either of them had the strength to pull back.
"You're beautiful," Khalid whispered as Shayne slowly moved to press her thighs apart and slide the short skirt of her dress nearly to her hips.
Sliding his fingers over the damp crotch of her panties, Khalid had to clench his teeth to hold back the need to fuck her immediately. How in hell was he going to manage to wait?
"Khalid." The breathiness in her voice stroked his senses as he pulled the silken material from the bare folds of her pussy and ran his fingers over the silken, slick flesh.
"Let us watch you play with those pretty nipples, sweet flower," he said as heat flooded his fingers. "I'll pet your soft little pussy for a minute. Just for a minute, Marty, then we'll be home."
Her head fell back against the seat as her fingers pinched at her nipples.
Moving closer, Khalid pressed one knee into the seat beside her as the fingers of one hand worked into the delicate clenched opening of her sex. His other hand tore at the restraints of his slacks, his eyes devouring the sight of her tweaking her nipples as Shayne began to touch her, to caress her thighs, to ease higher as Khalid slid his fingers free of her pussy to allow the other man to touch, to experience the softest flesh in the world.
Releasing the excruciating length of his cock, he had to bite back a groan. He needed her lips on him. He needed her taking him. Shayne began to caress the delicate folds of her cunt. His control was shaky at best at the moment.
"Fuck!" As the thought of this passed through his head while his eyes had closed to hold back the demand, Marty had taken the initiative herself.
Staring down he saw her tongue rimming the swollen crest of his cock. Delicate pink and damp, it was like a stroke of fire as she licked him like a favorite treat.
He watched as Shayne pressed two fingers into the clenched tissue of her pussy in a shallow thrust, as Khalid fought for breath.
"We may not make it home before I fuck you." Khalid growled out the warning as her lips parted and her mouth began to consume him.
Wet heat. White hot flames. Her lips wrapped around the wide head of his dick and sent his senses drowning in pleasure as she began to suck him with delicate greed.
Nothing could have prepared Khalid for the sight of her taking him so intimately. Her face flushed with pleasure, with hungry demand, her eyes closed as the fingers of one hand attempted to wrap around the base of his cock.
Nothing could have prepared him for the pleasure. The erotic sensation of her lips, her tongue, moving over the swollen crest and sucking it deep inside the snug heat of her mouth sent bolts of electric pleasure racing through his balls, up his spine. His entire body felt surrounded by static sensation as it tingled over his flesh, stroking it with a phantom caress as her tongue whipped over his cockhead like wet fire.
He forgot about Shayne for the moment. He heard her moans, felt them on his cock as Shayne caressed her, touched her, and knew nothing but pure ecstasy.
"God, yes," he hissed out, fighting for control. "Sweet sweet Marty. Just like that."
He loved the way her cheeks hollowed, sucking at him hungrily, her tongue licking him greedily. No experience with any other woman had ever been as sensual as watching this woman taking him as though she were starving for the taste of him.
Shayne's fingers stroked inside her pussy as she sucked Khalid's dick. He felt the generous flow of juices as she moaned around the flesh fucking her mouth. Pressing against the fragile barrier of her virginity Shayne drew back, ignoring the shifting of her hips, the slight arch of her body as she sought a deeper caress. Damn, she was sweet and hot, pure fire as he touched her while Khalid enjoyed the sweet heat of his mouth.
The gift of her virginity was Khalid's alone. It was a responsibility he didn't want, a commitment he had no intentions of sharing. Her innocence was the gift she had for the man she loved. He would enjoy only the pleasures she shared. And that was enough for him.
Stroking her, touching her. God, he ached to taste her.
Moving to the floor between her thighs he glanced up, met Khalid's gaze, and had to fight to hold back his groan as the other man gave a quick, hard nod in acceptance.
Hell yes, he would taste her. Fuck her sweet pussy with his tongue and fantasize about her lips wrapped around his own dick.
Khalid felt his heart tightening, racing out of control as he stared down at Marty's flushed face, his senses exploding at the complete abandon in her expression as he took her mouth and watched as Shayne's head lowered to lick at the sweet delicacy of her pussy.