Chapter 10 : Dinner & Dessert

Rashid

After changing out of my kandura and into regular street clothes so I wouldn't be recognized, I phoned ahead to clear out the section at my favorite open-top restaurant and headed downstairs to collect Lyla again.

She was much more beautiful in person than her pictures let on, if that were even possible. Lyla wore a tight-fitted dress clinging to each part of her body—much different than the shorts and t-shirt she'd worn coming off the jet in. I could tell she wasn't used to wearing such things by the way she tugged at the hem, even though it perfectly showed off her stunning legs and the curve of her ass.

Excitement brewed in me, of where our night would take us and where we'd end up. I planned on holding back until we returned from dinner, but the way she'd looked at me when we'd met had me second-guessing my mental itinerary.

Not wanting to immediately pull her into my room and have my way with her the moment she arrived because I could tell she was nervous, even if she had been outrightly undressing me with her eyes in front of most of my family, I held my tongue.

Instead, I was going to make her more comfortable being around me before we got to anything below the belt.

I ushered Lyla outside and into one of my cars, carefully helping her inside of it before shutting the door behind her. While it was probably smarter to get one of my drivers to take us over to the restaurant, I didn't want to share any more of Lyla's time with anyone else.

I'd already been waiting an entire week and a half since I'd won her auction, and I would not let any more time slip away from us since I finally had her here with me.

Starting the car, I resisted the urge to put my hand on her thigh while I drove and headed for the restaurant.

She was quiet as she looked out her window, her eyes wide while taking in all the beautiful sites around her. I had to admit my city was incredible to look at from a tourist perspective. If we found time aside from rolling around in the sheets all day, perhaps I'd take her on a tour around the city.

"So…" she finally spoke, causing me to glance away from the road for a second. "You're a… prince."

I raised my brow, holding in my smirk. "Were you not aware?"

Of course, I knew the answer already. She would've had no clue who I was until she arrived at the palace and shook hands with me. Or if one of the guards had, for some reason, decided to speak in English when they'd been referring to me.

However, that didn't stop me from wanting to tease her about it.

"Uh, no," she huffed. "I didn't."

I pulled up to a red light and turned to look at her.

"It was on your itinerary."

She turned to me, her face flushed.

"I can't read Arabic!"

I smirked and shifted the car's gears when the light turned green.

"When in a foreign country, it's best to learn the language."

She balked at me. "Isn't Dubai made up of mostly immigrants?"

"Oh? So you have done a bit of research. That's good. The language will come soon enough."

She huffed again. "I don't think I'm staying long enough for that."

I glanced over at her. "No?"

"Aren't I only staying for a week?"

I shrugged a shoulder, not answering her. Technically, when I'd called her school, I'd only given them a rough estimate of the dates for which Lyla would be here. I didn't want our time together to be crushed down into only a few days if it did actually take her a few days to warm up to me.

Of course, she would eventually fulfill her contact to me, but I certainly wasn't going to take it by force. I may dominate, but I wasn't into simulated rape or the real thing.

Plus, she'd already shown signs of attraction to me long before she'd gotten on my private jet and flown over here.

I swung around behind the restaurant and parked in the back, away from the main street. Since it wasn't dark yet, enough people were out and about who had the potential to recognize me. I rarely minded saying hello to my citizens or being friendly with any of them, but tonight I wanted to focus solely on Lyla and not be bogged down by an hour of people wanting pictures.

Getting out of the car, I headed over to her side and helped her out. When our hands brushed together briefly, I heard her gasp softly. I had to bite my lip and hold back my groan, along with the urge to press her up against the side of my car and put my hands up that dress of hers.

If by the end of this, I found out this entire innocent facade was all an act, I would give her a medal because it was entirely convincing.

Taking her hand in mine, I led her over to the door. A doorman greeted us and brought us up to the private rooftop without needing any kind of information from me. It was one of the many reasons I loved this place.

The rooftop part of the restaurant overlooked downtown perfectly. With the sun setting in the background behind the tall skyscrapers, it gave the perfect romantic atmosphere for Lyla to put her guard down and allow me to soften her up.

When we arrived, one of the waiters was already waiting for us at the table. He held Lyla's chair back for her and shuffled her in once she sat down. I took the chair across from her and sat with my hands folded on the table.

I watched her look around at the plate and silverware in front of her, clearly trying to search for some kind of menu. Her eyes flitted over the table nervously, a glimpse of her tooth coming out to pucker the swell of her bottom lip.

I breathed in slowly, clutching the molding on the side of my chair. How would her lips feel wrapped tightly around my cock, I wondered.

"It's already been ordered."

She stiffened and slowly looked at me.

"What?"

"The food," I amended, murmuring the words to her. My voice had already grown husky. "It's already been ordered."

Her mouth dropped open, disbelief evident in her eyes. Why was she so surprised I'd already thought everything through? Being wined and dined in this city was a typical experience, especially for a woman going out for a night with someone of my caliber.

The waiter came over with a fresh bottle of wine and poured us both a glass, turning the label to Lyla so she could see it was one of the more expensive ones.

She gave the man a shy smile and nodded at him even though I knew she had absolutely no clue what was on the label.

I brought my wine glass up to my mouth and held back a snort.

She was adorably charming in her naivety.

"So we don't need to order anything? How do we know what's being served?"

I set my glass down and brought my leg up to cross over my other one. I wanted to look as casual as possible, even though my hands were aching to wrap them around her body. My head had been focused solely on making sure she felt as comfortable as possible being out of her element. But my cock had different ideas.

It wanted to lay her right out on top of this table and bunch her dress around her waist so I could see what kind of lingerie she'd worn for me.

"I told the chef to make the very best. We'll see how he does."

Her eyes went wide again.

"What if it's not good?"

Smiling slowly, I let the wheels inside of her mind work overtime. Maybe I was a little cruel playing mind games so early into us meeting, but my boredom tended to manifest this way, even if I was practicing my best behavior.

She leaned across the table and spoke to me in a hushed tone. "You're… not going to kill him or put him in jail, right?"

"You watch too much TV."

Her cheeks reddened again.

"I won't pay for it if the food is bad. That's the consequence. And considering this plate charges four hundred dollars a plate, I'd say that's punishment enough."

Her mouth dropped open again, the look causing me to swallow a chuckle.

I'd known previously Lyla wasn't within the same realm as me financially, but now it was bordering just plain sad. Had she never gone out for a night on the town and spent a good sum of money and well made food?

Americans were typically stingy with their finances, but from what I knew, they knew how to have a good time.

"If the food is to your liking, I'll be leaving a nice tip. So, you'll need to tell me truthfully how it is."

She nodded quickly and sat back straight in her chair. "Of course, sir. Your Highness? Errr…"

"Lyla."

She swallowed visibly. "Yes..?"

"It's just Rashid. And relax. We're here to enjoy the beautiful view."

I splayed my hand and gestured to the view of Dubai's skyline.

"Not… getting to know each other?"

I laughed again. "That too."

***

Lyla

By the time the check came around, I was so stuffed I half-wanted to tell Rashid he needed to carry me out.

The thing was, I think he would actually do it if I asked him to.

As he slapped his card down and grabbed his still half-full glass of wine to swirl it around, I leaned back in my chair and looked out at the lights out across the distance.

The dinner had been impeccable, along with the view and, surprisingly, the conversation. Rashid was an incredibly charismatic man I definitely needed to be careful around.

More than a few times, I fell for his charms and let my guard down much more than I'd planned. Of course, I wanted to get to know him as much as I could, but it was hard not to become wrapped up in his warm nature and cocky attitude.

I could understand if he had women falling over themselves to get an audience with him. If I were anyone else, I probably would too.

When the waiter returned with the check, Rashid filled out the slip and left an insane tip making my eyes practically bulge out of my head. He pocketed his card and offered me a hand which I took without hesitation.

Calm in his presence, I half wondered if it was from the wine or if I was actually warming up to him. I wanted to reason with myself and tell myself it was most likely both, but a voice in the back of my head told me otherwise.

Rashid brought me down to the car and helped me inside, waiting for me to tuck myself into the cabin before shutting the door behind me. As he came around the other side, it gave me a few seconds to openly marvel at his car.

It was definitely some kind of sports car, but which one I had no idea. It looked expensive and had a luxury interior only a prince would have.

When Rashid opened the door and slid into the driver's side, my stomach fluttered. To think I'd ever get the opportunity to be sitting in the presence of actual royalty…

What the hell was going on with my life?

As soon as Rashid shifted his car into gear and leaned back in my seat.

"Hey, how fast can this thing go?"

He glanced at me before pulling out into traffic, pausing on the curb.

"The car?"

"Yeah," the wine was making me very bold, apparently. "It's a sports car, right?"

Something gleaned in his eyes I couldn't exactly place. A devious sort of look making the fluttering in my stomach intensify.

"Would you like to find out, Lyla?"

He asked me this while he shifted gears and brought us into traffic.

I gripped my seatbelt and sat up fully. Rashid gave me about three seconds' worth of a pause before the light in front of us switched to green, and he floored it. My entire body pressed back into the seat as the engine roared, vibrating roughly I could feel it under my feet.

I couldn't help the grin plastered on my face and the surprised laugh when he suddenly rolled down the windows. The wind whipped my hair back, my laugh lost in the burst of air zipping past us.

He weaved the car in and out of traffic like an expert racecar driver. Drivers slammed their horns while cutting through breaks in the line of cars to head down a busier and more residential part of the city.

When he shifted gears again, we climbed up a sloped hill and drifted when taking a sharp right. I scream-laughed again and let my body be flung around the cabin, thankful my seatbelt kept me strapped into my seat.

The palace gates grew closer up ahead, forcing Rashid to slow down and pass through them at a moderate speed.

"Damn," I breathed out.

Looking over when he barked out a laugh, I saw wild excitement brimming in his eyes. My own adrenaline mirrored his, knowing I probably looked disheveled as all hell. Reaching up, I smoothed down the hair sticking up around my face.

Once we were past the gates, though, he floored it once more all the way up until we reached the parking garage where we'd come from.

I sagged in my seat, my hands shaking from gripping my seatbelt so tightly. I'm sure it'd leave marks in the morning, but at this point, I didn't care. That was the most fun I'd had in a while.

Rashid parked the car expertly and cut the engine, turning to look at me slumped over.

"Are you alright?"

I grinned at him. "So this thing can clearly move."

He laughed. "Yes. I have a few others that can as well."

I sat up in my seat. "Can I see them?"

Before I could react, he cupped my face and pulled me over the center console. His thumb brushed along my bottom lip. The same kind of wild chaos living just beneath the surface of his dark eyes captivated me, making it hard to look away from him.

"Later," he spoke softly.

I swallowed and tried to regulate my breathing to be somewhat normal.

He pulled back from me suddenly, leaving me feeling like a completely helpless mess for no reason. I leaned back into my chair and watched as he got out of the car and shut the door behind him. Unbuckling my seatbelt with shaky hands, I popped open my own door.

When he came around to my side, he yanked me up and pressed me against the side of the car. I gasped when his entire body molded to mine; every hard line he had dug into me and held me against the car.

He cupped my face again, with both of his hands this time, and kissed me.

I grabbed onto his arms, trying to force my legs not to turn to complete jello.

He surprised me by running his tongue along the seam of my lips and parting them just enough to dive between them and into my mouth.

I let out an involuntary groan, running my tongue along his.

I've never been kissed like that before. Most of the men I've 'dated' had only given me chaste kisses at the end of an awkward night filled with small talk and pleasant exchanges. It always left me feeling weird and not exactly desired in the slightest.

But this… this was on an entirely new level.

Rashid shifted us and pinned my hips against his, causing me to feel the hard line of his dick. Wetness pooled between my legs, making me want to rub my thighs together to get some kind of friction there.

Holy shit, was this what it was like to actually be kissed?

Rashid moved back and broke our kiss, our lips making a soft wet sound when he did so. I opened my eyes, my chest expanding rapidly while the air in my lungs refused to allow me to breathe properly.

His tongue dipped out of his mouth to run along the bottom of his lips. It was almost a teasing gesture that had me moving forward to close the distance between our mouths again.

More, I needed more.

He made a negative sound at me, forcing me to freeze.

"Not yet."

Before I could ask the meaning of what exactly that meant, Rashid completely pulled his body away from me. I grabbed the side of the car, my legs actually jello, and let out a small surprised noise when he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"Let's take this somewhere else, Lyla."