Hero: Alexei Nikanova. Works for the super secret elite CIA team, The Black Opals. Has anger issues. Discovers his lover from the past has been sold to a Sheik for sexual slavery.

Heroine: Sasha Zablosky. She kind of loves her Sheik. But she loves Alexei more. She has lots of secrets.

The pleasant friction sent another bout of delightful shivers surging through Sasha’s body. She dropped one hand to his waist, plucked his shirt free, and slipped her fingers beneath to explore his warm flesh.

“Ah, Sasha,” he murmured against her temple. “Tell me you don’t hate me.”

Her hand stilled at the base of his spine. Hate him. How could she explain that feeling had never once struck? If she confessed to the truth, she’d look weak, sound like a fool. She should hate him. And yet . . . she didn’t. After everything, even after all he’d done to destroy her life, she could not hate Alexei. Turning her head, she met his gaze. “Alexei, I—”

He closed his eyes, but not before he could shutter away a flash of anguish in those green depths.

“Lie to me, princess. I need to believe.”

It was a plea he hadn’t needed to utter. She lifted up into him and caught his lips with hers. “I don’t hate you,” she whispered against his mouth.

A low snarl rumbled in the back of his throat a second before his mouth crashed into hers and  claimed her savagely. His hands speared into her hair, holding her head in place, imprisoning her to the fierceness of his desperate kiss. She met the stroke of his tongue eagerly, tugged on the hem of his shirt, pushing it up, exposing his abdomen, equally desperate to feel the warmth of his skin against hers.

When that moment of blissful contact came, Sasha let out a plaintive mewl. Blessed torture. Perfect. Nowhere near enough. She hooked an ankle around his calf and levered her hips into his, stroking herself against his hardened cock.

Alexei tore his mouth away with effort. “Easy, princess,” he rasped. Bracing his hands on both sides of her shoulders, he lifted his upper body away from hers. The faintest hint of a smile touched the corners of his mouth. “Don’t ruin me for the race. I’m already halfway to the finish.”

The faint smile disappeared as he lowered his head and grazed his teeth along the delicate shell of her ear. “I want to be inside you when I come,” he whispered. The tip of his tongue flicked against her earlobe. “I want you to come around me. I need that. Can you give it to me, princess?”

Oh, dear, sweet heaven above—she almost climaxed right there. A low moan slipped off her lips, and she gyrated against the taunting press of his cock. “Yes,” she exhaled. God, yes.

Rocking back to his knees, he yanked off his belt and tossed it over the edge of the bed. His large, powerful hands formed around her hips, his gaze dropping to the juncture of her thighs where she knew her shameful wetness dampened the gauzy fabric of her lightweight pants.

She liked the way he looked at her. The way raw desire flashed between flickering wonder that made her feel like she was the only woman he had ever wanted. Sasha wouldn’t delude herself into believing that fantasy, but he was definitely the only man she wanted this way. And he was taking too damn long.

I liked this book. Review to come this week. Gooreads l Amazon