Her Older Sheikh (Sheikh Breaks My Heart #9)

Chapter Seven

M r. Mine raises a brow when he returns to my side and sees that Grandpa Paco is no longer around.

"He says I should ride with you."

"Good."

"You know he's matchmaking, right?" I hold my breath as soon as I say the words, but Mr. Mine appears unruffled.

"I'm glad he deems me suitable."

"It's more than that," I feel obliged to clarify, just to make sure that he's aware of the precarious position he's in. "Your bachelorhood is at risk, I'm afraid. My grandpa thinks you're quite the catch—-"

"That's because I am."

His words startle a laugh out of me, but it doesn't last long. There's something about this whole situation that doesn't feel completely right, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

"What's wrong?"

His voice is quiet, but it's the warmth in his tiger-gold eyes that makes me feel even more bewildered and unsettled. The stars have finally started to align for both of us, but instead of being grateful, here I am doing what I can to stir up a hornet's nest.

Mr. Mine is still looking at me, and I force a smile. "Sorry, I'm just being silly. I don't think there's anything wrong—-"

"And that's what's worrying you."

Oh, Mr. Mine .

Why does it seem like he knows me better than I know myself? I can't even figure out what's troubling me, but I know it's exactly as he says it is the moment I hear his words.

I was scared Grandpa Paco's shameless attempt at matchmaking would turn him off, but he doesn't seem bothered at all. I know Mr. Mine can easily be the kind of man to take everything in stride without revealing his thoughts, but I have this weird feeling he really doesn't mind that my grandfather sees wedding bells every time he looks at us.

And yes, I do know I shouldn't question a gift horse in the mouth, but...

"Why aren't you mad?" I blurt out.

His ride comes up the driveway before he can answer me, and I'm momentarily distracted when I realize he's helping me into the backseat of a limousine. My grandfather is obviously no pauper, but even my old man isn't so fancy he's going around the city in a limo.

Mr. Mine slides in next to me, and my heart skips a beat as I hear the thud of the door closing shut.

It's just the two of us again, and while I love that it's so—-

"We really do need to talk," I say reluctantly.

"We do," Mr. Mine agrees. "And we will. Later."

"But—-"

Mr. Mine hauls me to his lap, and I forget why I want to talk in the first place the moment I feel myself straddling his muscled thighs.

Mr. Mine is right, I think dreamily.

Why waste time talking now when there's this thing that's oh so big and hard that has started poking my belly?

Poke, poke, poke it goes, and lust reenters my bloodstream.

His gaze captures mine, and the look in his eyes—-

"You're the one doing it this time," I whisper.

"Do what?"

"Looking at me like you want to eat me."

"Because I do."

Sweet, sweet, sweeeeeet fantasy, baaaaaaby.

When words utterly fail me, there's always the Mariah Carey to articulate what I want to say, and everything that's happening right now is the sweetest fantasy, since it wasn't so long ago when I really believed it was over between us.

Oh, Mr. Mine.

Mr. Mine stiffens when he sees my lip start to tremble. "What's wrong?"

I wish I can tell him there's truly nothing wrong this time, but all I can do at the moment is bite my lip hard to keep myself from crying stupid tears of joy.

Stop being such a crybaby, self!

Mr. Mine's jaw clenches. "If you're suddenly having second thoughts about me, just forget it."

"But—-"

"I don't give a fuck if you suddenly feel I'm too old for you. You're mine now," he says savagely, "and I'll never let you go."

Oh.

Wow.

Mr. Mine is being jealous again.

Hihihi.

I cup his face, and he jerks at my touch.

"If you had just let me speak, I would've told you that the reason I'm fighting back tears is because I'm happy ."

"Bullshit."

"But it's true," I insist. "You're the only man I've ever cared about—-" My voice trails off when Mr. Mine takes hold of my hands before gently lowering them down.

"You say such words easily, my sweet."

"Because it's true."

"And yet you've let that boy touched you."

Uh...oh.

"Did you not?"

He makes me feel defensive, but I choose to go on the offensive instead. "What about you?" I ask archly. "Do you expect me to believe that the whole time we weren't together, you never—-"

"Never."

Uh...oh, 2.0.

I don't waste time making amends, and I apologize in a rush. "My bad. I'm sorry."

"Not good enough, I'm afraid."

The menacingly soft way he's drawled those words out makes me a little nervous, and so I bite my lip and say, "But Rashad —-"

The distraction works like a charm, and Mr. Mine's gaze narrows. "How did you know my name?"

"I heard Dr. Al-Masri use it earlier when he was talking to you."

"You know Adam?"

"I know of him." I look at him curiously. "How do you know Dr. Al-Masri?"

"We...share the same blood."

"Then...that means you're part Huznan as well?"

"Will it bother you if I say yes?"

I look at him in surprise. "Why should it?"

His gaze turns hooded, and I have a feeling what he's about to say matters a lot to him. "Most people are under the impression that men from...our kingdom are of a certain type."

Understanding dawns, and I look at him with sham terror. "Oh no! I forgot all about that, and now I'm so scared!"

Mr. Mine rolls his eyes.

I wrap my arms around myself in a gesture of self-defense. "Please don't hurt me, sir. Please—-"

His finger is suddenly on my lips, and I shut up in an instant.

"You've made your point," he says dryly.

But just as he's about to pull his finger off, something wicked this way comes, and before I know what I'm doing, I already have his finger in my mouth, and I'm sucking on it like his pointer is my favorite lollipop.

Mr. Mine curses hoarsely his breath, and lust oozes out of my pussy at the sound.

"Enough."

But this only makes me suck harder on his finger, and Mr. Mine breathes hard.

A moment later, I feel his hand cup my cheek, and he says gently, "Enough, Madeleine."

It's his first time to say my name, and his method of distraction also works like a charm. My lips part in shock, and it's my turn to ask, "How did you know my name?"

"Your grandfather called you Maddy, didn't he?"

"Oh." He sounds a little too smooth, but I'm probably just imagining things.

"I prefer Madeleine, though."

And when he says my name like he's making love to every syllable—-

I prefer it, too.

So much so that—-

"Say it again, please."

"Why?"

"Because I like how you say it."

"Because of my accent?"

"No."

"Then why... Madeleine ?"

A sweet ache squeezes my pussy, and I feel my body melting against his as I say, "Because you say it like I'm yours."

"You are."

"And you?" I ask tremulously. "Are you mine?"

"I am."

He says the words so swiftly and firmly, it almost feels like a dream.

"From the very moment we met," he says fiercely, "I was yours."

But I know it isn't.

It may feel like a dream, but it's not.

This is real, and I know this to be true not just because of what he says, but how he says it, and it's that moment—-

It's that moment when my Mr. Mine becomes what he will be for the rest of my life.

He's my Rashad, and because he's mine just as I'm his—-

I place one hand gently against his chest, and my pulse leaps in excitement when I feel his heart pound under my palm. "This is like our second chance, isn't it?"

"It is."

"And a second chance is like...another life."

Rashad's forehead creases. "I suppose."

"So..." I look at him from under my lashes. "Does this mean you'll let me eat you now?"

Say yes, say yes, say yes!

But the car has slowed down to a stop before he can even answer, and an almost-smirk curves over his lips when I look at him in unconcealed dismay.

"To be continued," he says mockingly as he helps me out of the car.