Desert Orchid: The Desert Princes: Book 1 by CC MacKenzie

headboard.
    Since her hands fluttered between her breasts and her sex, he handed her a pillow and she hugged it hard as she pulled up her knees.
    Positioning himself directly in front of her, Khalid sat in the lotus position and stared in absolute fury at her shuddering shoulders.
     
    "Start talking," he growled.
    Huge blue eyes drenched in tears blinked into his. And the tip of her nose was red. White teeth bit down hard on her bottom lip in a pitiful attempt to stop it quivering. And Khalid had never seen anything so beautiful or so utterly vulnerable in his entire life.
    "I’m so terribly sorry," she whispered and tears again gathered to swim in those big eyes.
    He simply could not bear those tears.
    "Stop crying!" he roared like a bull.
    Her jolt of shocked surprise made him feel like an absolute bastard, but apparently it had the desired effect.
    She blinked rapidly as unsteady fingers swiped her cheeks.
    "I’m a virgin."
    His jaw dropped.
    Excuse the fuck out of me?
    For a breathless moment he stared at her in stunned disbelief as his brain attempted to compute the statement.
    Yet again she’d thrown him a curve.
    Whatever he’d been expecting it certainly hadn’t been this.
    But why was he surprised?
    She’d come to Onuur at the age of sixteen.
    He knew she’d been a good and loyal wife to his uncle.
    Every day he spent in the country only reinforced how hard she worked and how much she loved the people.
    Why had he assumed she’d had lovers?
    Was it because it was easier for him to think of her as a harlot with her eye on the main chance rather than admit how much she’d affected him as soon as he’d laid eyes on her?
    He’d accused her of not giving him a chance.
    What chance had he given her to show him how she ticked?
     
    And he’d scared her.
    Badly.
    She was staring at him as if he was a ticking bomb about to explode.
    All these thoughts and more raced through his brain.
    But the one that brought him the most joy and relief was the realisation that no man had ever touched her. Khalid couldn’t remember a woman coming to his bed untouched. For his whole life women had come to him expectant and demanding.
    He could only hope he had it in him to be careful and gentle with her.
    Dear heaven, she’d trusted him enough to be the first.
    No.
    Not just the first, but the only lover she’d ever have.
    He only hoped to God that he had it in him to look after her properly.
    Her gaze kept flicking down to his aching arousal and the bitter truth hit him like a freight train.
    She was terrified that he was going to hurt her.
    A deep affection for this beautiful girl unlocked the padlock of the heavy chain that surrounded his heart.
    With an unsteady inhale of breath, Khalid reached out to cup her face between his hands and tip it up to his.
    "Baby, I cannot begin to tell you how happy you have made me with that news. You did the right thing to stop me."
     
    She blinked and he read a wary relief that warred with a needy disappointment.
    God bless her, even though she was scared to death, she still wanted him.
    Her courage humbled him.
    "I should have told you before but I thought everything would be fine. I’m not stupid, Khalid. I understand perfectly well that the first time will hurt." Those big blue eyes flicked again to his manhood and went wide. "But, it’s just that..."
    He tilted her head and smiled into those amazing eyes.
    They say that the eyes are the window to the soul.
    In that case, Charisse had the most beautiful soul.
    "You do great things for my ego. But I’m not much larger than the average man. Will you trust me enough to make it good for you?"
    Charisse's hands held on tight to his wrists.
    She frowned now in a way that he found absolutely adorable.
    "Only if you still want me."
    Her faith in him unmanned him in a way he’d never experienced before.
    The expression of complete trust on her face made him tighten his grip on her chin and his own eyes went wide.
    "Are you crazy? Of course