mine?’
She puled back sharply and managed to break free of him,
but he caught her before she could reach the outer hal, seizing
her about the waist and sweeping off her feet. She beat against
him with her fists as he carried her to the inner chamber and
tossed her down on the silken softness of the divan. She lay
gazing up at him as he untied the belt at his waist and threw off
his caftan. His plain white tunic folowed that to the floor,
revealing the rippling muscles and bronzed skin she had found so
exciting in the courtyard. He towered above her, magnificent, a
pagan god in al his beauty, about to take a human sacrifice.
Eleanor caught her breath. Suleiman’s hair was slightly damp
as if he had bathed just before she came to him, and there was a
clean, fresh scent exuding from his body that she found enticing.
His dark eyes sought and held hers as he bent over her and
unfastened the jeweled clasp at her waist. Beneath the heavy silk
of her waistcoat, the flimsy gauze tunic did nothing to hide the
perfection of her breasts, which were peaked by the sudden
arousal of desire that had begun to sweep her body like a forest
fire.
Suleiman’s eyes seemed to devour her as he reached out and
Suleiman’s eyes seemed to devour her as he reached out and
ripped away the fine material, exposing her soft, pale flesh to his
burning gaze. His hand moved to her face, his fingers stroking
her cheek and then down the arch of her slender throat, moving
slowly down to caress the dark rose nipples, and then cupping
the fulness of her breasts.
‘Beautiful,’ he murmured huskily. ‘Beautiful… I have wanted
to touch you this way since I first saw you bathing in that pool. I
have burned for you, Eleanor.’
Her throat was tight with emotion; her anger drained away as
she recognised the need in him and felt it answered deep within
her. She could scarcely breathe for the churning excitement that
now possessed her, spirals of desire curling up from the centre of
her being. She should beg him to stop! She should fight him tooth
and claw, but the wil to resist was draining from her as she
gazed into his dark eyes. He was savage and wild, an arrogant
cruel man who would be her master…yet even as she formed
the protest in her mind she denied it.
He could be capable of harshness, of that she had ample
proof, but he was not wantonly cruel. The news of Fatima’s
punishment had shocked her, making her react angrily—but her
accusations had not been entirely fair. She knew that Karin had
spoken truly, and that many men in his position would have done
much worse.
Why had she begun to defend him in her own mind? Why
was her body betraying her, yearning to meld with his? Yet she
knew al too wel. It was because, despite his threats to show her
he was the master, he was stil hesitating, stil careful not to hurt
he was the master, he was stil hesitating, stil careful not to hurt
her. She might have expected rape after their fierce quarrel, but
this was seduction. He was drawing her to him, coaxing her
response with a tender care. His eyes held hers as his hand
continued to stroke and explore the softness of her body, his
touch beginning to make her flesh tingle with an exquisite
pleasure.
‘Do not fear me, my love,’ he murmured, his voice husky with
passion. ‘The die is cast and I cannot draw back, but I shal not
hurt you. I would never hurt you.’
‘I do not fear you,’ she whispered breathily. ‘I have never
feared you—only myself. I feared to give lest I was truly your
slave.’
‘You are my love,’ he said. ‘My only love.’
Eleanor moaned with pleasure as he bent his head to kiss her
breasts, taking the rosy tips into his mouth one by one to taste
and tease them with his tongue. Her breath quickened as he
pushed the flimsy drawers down over her hips, tossing them
away. Now he was kissing and tasting each inch of her, as if he
found her as sweet as honey.
‘I feel so strange,’ she said, gazing up at him, her eyes wide
with wonder. ‘I have no wil…no thought but you.’
Suleiman raised his head to smile at her. ‘I am about to take
you into paradise, my houri. We shal find our heaven on this
earth, I promise you.’
The feelings his kisses and gentle stroking aroused in her were
so unexpected and so sweet. Eleanor discovered that her body
was no longer her own; it vibrated like the strings of a musical
was no longer her own; it vibrated like the strings of a musical
instrument beneath his hands as she arched and moaned beneath
him.
‘I think I shal die,’ she whispered as his lips folowed his
stroking fingers to the centre of her femininity, making her gasp
and writhe with the pleasure she could not hide. ‘Oh…oh, my
lord.’
She felt him move so that his body covered hers and knew
that he was as naked as she. The heat of his loins burned her,
and without needing instruction she opened to receive the sudden
thrust of his throbbing manhood. A sharp pain made her cry out
and draw back as the hugeness of him filed her, but his lips were
on hers, teasing and coaxing her to acceptance once more. And
then the pain was over and she could feel the rising tide of her
own desire, sweling within her, driving her to meet his urgent
thrusting, her hips grinding against him in her own need. Her lips
parted in little mewing cries as he swept her on with him to that
far place.
She was faling…faling through time and space into
something that wrapped her about with warmth and pleasure.
Indeed, it was as though she had died and gone to paradise. She
moaned a little as she felt Suleiman move and tightened her arms
about him, as if to hold her to him a little longer.
‘Do not leave me,’ she whispered.
‘I shal never leave you or put you from me,’ he vowed as he
raised himself above her on one elbow so that he might look
down at her. He wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘Forgive me if I
down at her. He wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘Forgive me if I
hurt you, my darling. It must always be so the first time.’
‘You did not hurt me so very much,’ she said, looking up at
him shyly now as she marveled in the sense of wel being
flooding through her. ‘I think I cried because I am happy—and
because I have been foolish to resist you. I did not know that I
could feel like this…’
‘You do not hate me now?’ His gaze was thoughtful as it
rested on her lovely face, flushed and smiling now. ‘I meant to
wait until you were my wife, Eleanor. I never intended to force
you.’
‘You did not,’ she replied and blushed. ‘At first, yes—but
that was because I provoked you into losing your temper. I fear
that I spoke harshly to you, my lord. I was distressed and hurt
that you had punished Fatima—but I did not know that she
had
kiled Dinazade. I thought it was because of what she did to me,
that you had taken revenge out of anger.’
Suleiman straightened up. He reached for his robe and puled
it on, before sitting on the edge of the divan beside her. ‘I did
punish her the way I did because of how she attacked you,
Eleanor. I am guilty of harshness towards her. I thought you
would die and I hated her. She had committed many crimes,
which were punishable by death, yet I stayed my hand against
her these many weeks. I would have been content to banish her
—until I thought she had robbed me of that which I treasure
more than my life. Then indeed I acted with the savage anger my
fear aroused. I warned you I was not perfect—though I have
strived to be just. Love made me cruel—my love and need for
strived to be just. Love made me cruel—my love and need for
you.’
‘Oh, my lord…’ Eleanor caught back a sob. ‘I—I did know.
I have held back, taunted you… Can you forgive me?’
‘I shal no doubt think of some suitable punishment,’ he said
huskily. ‘You must learn to know me, my dove.’
‘Yes, my lord,’ she replied demurely. ‘I shal pay heed to
your instruction most diligently.’
‘So obedient!’ Suleiman laughed. ‘Why do I suspect you
most when you are meek?’
‘Perhaps because I have been wilful and impudent in the
past?’
‘Yes, that may have some bearing on the matter. But know
that I would not have you change too much, my love. I think I
gain much from battle with you—especialy when I win!’
Eleanor’s eyes sparked with mischief as she sat up and
looked at him. ‘You have shown me that I was foolish to fear
love, my lord—but what makes you imagine you won the
argument?’
‘It is an argument neither of us can win,’ he said, the laughter
dying from his face. ‘We do not live in a perfect world, Eleanor
—nor am I without my faults.’
‘Indeed, you are not, my lord!’
He smiled wryly. ‘I have a feeling you wil teach me to be
more considerate of others, Eleanor. I have perhaps been too
much indulged. Everything was always as I ordered it—until one
woman refused to obey me when I told her I would dry her
hair.’
hair.’
Eleanor smiled. ‘Why did you not drown me as you
threatened—or have me beaten for my disobedience?’
‘I could not bear to think of you in pain. When they told me
you had been so il…’ He touched his fingers to the bandage on
her arm. ‘Does the wound stil pain you?’
‘Sometimes it is a little sore, but I do not regard it. I fear it
wil leave a scar—I am worth less than I was before.’
‘You are beyond price to me,’ he told her. He cursed
suddenly, then stood up and began to pace about the room as if
in agitation. She watched, sensing that he was fighting a battle
within himself, and then he returned to her. ‘I cannot hold you
against your wil. It would be a mockery of the love I bear you. I
grant you your freedom, Eleanor. You may return to your family
if that is your wish.’
For a moment Eleanor was stunned. Was he realy offering
her freedom? Once it had been al she wanted, a chance to
return to her homeland and the life she had known…but now she
knew deep in her heart that she could never leave him. Not
because he was her master, but because she was bound to him
by the ties of love. But supposing he did not truly want her?
She looked at him uncertainly. ‘Do you want me to go?’
‘You know that I do not. I would keep you with me always
as my wife—my only wife, for I vow that I shal take no other.’
‘Supposing I cannot give you a son?’ She knew that it was
very important to him to have a son, and that his religion made it
possible for him to take another wife if she was unable to
provide him with one.
He had been silent for several seconds now, and her heart
caught. She could not expect him to renounce al that he had
been born to for her sake, the culture that was so much a part of
him, but when he spoke his words were so unexpected and so
touching that they brought tears to her eyes.
‘Then I shal have no son.’
‘Do you love me so much, my lord?’ she asked, misty-eyed.
‘I have not the words to tel you—only time wil show that I
speak the truth.’
‘Then I shal stay with you, my lord—for I love you. I tried to
fight my feelings for you, but you were too strong for me.’
Suleiman sat beside her again. He reached out to trail his
fingers down the curve of her cheek. ‘If you left me I should be
lost. I am trapped in this place, Eleanor. Caught by love and duty
—and even my love for you cannot free me from the web that
binds me. If you stay, you must live by our customs and religion,
though I shal pretend not to notice if you cling to your own in
private.’
‘I know this, my lord. I have accepted it.’
‘I would have you as free as my falcon when she flies, but
you wil never truly be free in this land. We protect our women
from the harshness of a cruel world, Eleanor. I cannot let you go
out without the eunuchs to guard you, because you would not be
safe. A woman alone would not be considered worthy of respect
and therefore vulnerable to abuse. Men are not to be trusted, my
love. We are but base creatures, and only love may redeem us.’
‘This also I know,’ Eleanor assured him and smiled teasingly.
‘Karin has done her work wel, my lord. I know that I must
conform in public, but in private…’
‘Ah…in private you may command,’ he said and laughed. ‘I
am your slave here, Eleanor.’
‘My lord seeks to mock me,’ she replied and shook her head
at him, for there was a wildness in him that would never be quite
tamed, though like his beloved hawk he could be coaxed. ‘But I
do have one request…’
‘I imagined you might. Ask and it shal be granted—if it is
possible.’
‘Could you not buy Fatima back and send her home?’
Suleiman looked at her for some seconds in silence.
‘It is already done,’ he said at last. ‘I have told no one in the
palace—but the man who sold you to me held her for me at his
house in the city. After she had been beaten, I regretted what I
had done, Eleanor. Yet to have been seen to do less would have
seemed weak. Fatima pleased me once, though she also
betrayed me. I have given her into the charge of Mohamed, and
he wil take her back to Algiers. What she does then wil be of
her own choosing.’
Eleanor took his hand and held it. ‘And I accused you of
being unjust. Please forgive me. It is I who have wronged you,
my lord.’
‘What—am I no longer a savage?’ His eyes gleamed with
amusement.
‘My lord is a most noble sava
ge,’ Eleanor replied. She put
‘My lord is a most noble savage,’ Eleanor replied. She put
her hand out to pul his head down so that their lips touched, and
then she kissed him…sweetly, slowly and with passion. ‘I think
that my master should continue my instruction…’
Suleiman’s eyes glowed like hot coals, as he bent over her.
‘My love…’ he murmured. ‘It wil be my pleasure to meet this
latest request of yours…’
They lay close together long into the night, whispering, sharing
the secrets that neither had ever confessed to another, kissing,
touching…loving as they came to know and enjoy each other’s
body.
‘Should I not return to the harem?’ Eleanor asked at one
point. ‘What wil the others think?’
‘They wil know that their mistress has found her rightful place
at last—and that place is here by my side, Eleanor.’
‘I cannot stay forever in your bed. We are not yet married.’
‘But we soon shal be,’ he murmured, holding her fastened
against him as if he would never release her. ‘It must be soon.
Tomorrow your brother shal be brought here to my apartments,
Eleanor. I shal make arrangements for him to be returned to
your family, but that wil take time and until then you wil want to
see him as often as possible.’
‘Yes, I should like to see Richard.’ Eleanor kissed his
shoulder, tasting the salt of his sweat. ‘When did you decide to
give him his freedom?’
‘When I realised that I loved you. I could not keep your
‘When I realised that I loved you. I could not keep your
brother against his wil, but I needed to make you understand
that we were meant for each other. Had I told you before this,
you would have asked to go with him.’
‘Yes, I should,’ Eleanor admitted, snuggling against his hard
chest with a sigh. ‘I did not know myself. I think that I began to
love you when you turned your back that day in the gardens…
but it took me a long time to know my own heart.’
Suleiman’s arms tightened about her and she felt the shudder
run through him. ‘Supposing Mohamed had not offered you to
me—I cannot bear to think of what might have happened to
you.’
‘Or if I had managed to escape you!’ She gazed up at him
mischievously. ‘How much I should have missed.’
‘There was never any chance of you escaping me, woman!’