Sheikh's Command by Sophia Lynn

quickened his thrusts, and she heard his deep growls of pleasure. Her own body tightened up, and then, almost to her shock, she was coming again, screaming into her hands as the sensations cascaded over her. In almost the same movement, he thrust into her savagely, holding her brutally still as he came to his own peak. For a moment, their cries mingled together in the still office air, echoing one another in a pleasure that seemed to go on and on.
    When they were still, there was something terrible about it. She could feel tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She knew why she was here and what she was doing, and she felt as if her heart was going to break.
    With a soft sigh, he pulled away. Olivia was still for a moment, and then, moving as if she was in pain, she pushed herself off the desk to land on her own two feet. She turned to see Makeen doing up his clothing as if nothing had happened at all.
    She almost expected him to tell her to get out, but instead of doing that, he removed a handkerchief from his pocket and dampened it with a bottle of water he had on his desk. To her surprise, he started to clean her, starting with the seat on her body before finally dipping down between her legs. She squawked with embarrassment, but he shushed her absently, holding her still until he was done. When he stepped back, she reached for her clothes, which he had dropped off to the side.
    Despite everything that they had done together, Olivia felt exposed now, more naked than she had been when she was bent moaning and writhing on the desk. She could hear her heart too clearly, the same way she could feel his eyes on her.
    “What happens now?” she asked, her voice soft and dull.
    He was silent so long that she nearly started to cry. She was on the verge of turning to him, begging him for … for what, she didn't even know. All she knew was that he was a man of honor, of his word, but right now, she had no idea where she stood in that regard.
    “I call the investigators. I tell them to release your brother. In the morning, we get on a plane to return to Zahar, and we never speak to each other again.”
    She had expected no better, but she still flinched. “Makeen …”
    The sound he made was more animal than man, a terrible growl that made her think of beasts that hunted in the mountains, hungry and lean.
    “ No. Do not. Do not speak with me as if you loved me, as if I were some pet that you could train to do your bidding. I have had enough of that. I am sick of it, and I am sick of your presence. Go to your room. Wait for the plane tomorrow. These are the last words that we will speak to one another.”
    At last defeated, tears in her eyes, she fled back to her own bedroom. She felt as if she had been scalded. Pain filled her being, and she could barely think.
    In her despair, she reached for the one thing that had always been there. Olivia's hands were shaking, but still she could undo the clasps on her violin case. Once she had her hands on the polished wood and familiar bow, she felt a calm settle over her. With motions of exaggerated calmness, she tuned her instrument and she started to play.
    The wild music that poured out of her that night was like nothing she had ever produced before. It was fast, jagged, just barely melodic, but somehow it carried her feelings of pain out of her body, giving her some kind of rest.
    She didn't know how long she played, but when she finally collapsed, her fingers ached and her entire body felt as if it had been drained of everything. She knew that the pain would be back. She knew that when it returned, it would be terrible. Right now, however, she was too exhausted to do anything but lie down, and sleep.
    ***
    Makeen thought that he would be all right until she started to play. The first notes began tearing his heart out, and the ones after that made him feel as if he were being racked over coals.
    It didn't matter what they had done to each other, or what she really wanted