Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [74]
Cel shook her head. “That’s really sad. I couldn’t imagine marrying a man that I didn’t love or who didn’t love me.”
“It is my duty. It is expected.”
“Yes, and that’s where our cultures differ,” Cel said, taking a sip of her drink. “My duty to Gary, if that’s the word you want to use, is no different than his duty to me, and as far as expectation goes, I expect him to be as loyal to me as I will be to him.”
“And by loyal you mean to only sleep with you during the entire lifetime of your marriage?” Johari asked for clarification.
“Of course.” Cel then smiled and said, “But then as a woman and as his wife, I’m going to do everything in my power for him to have everything he needs at home so he wouldn’t think about straying. I will give him all the pleasure he will ever need.”
Johari pushed her hair behind her ear as she stared across the table at Cel. Her friend’s steady boyfriend of three years, Gary Akins, was a very handsome man and was a graduate of Harvard Law School. There was no doubt in Johari’s mind that Gary was as deeply in love with Celine as she was with him and expected a wedding in the very near future.
“So, do you think my future husband would appreciate a woman who is well trained in the art of pleasure more than a woman who knows nothing at all?” Johari decided to ask.
Cel shrugged. “I’m not sure, but a lot of guys swear that they prefer experienced women over virgins in their beds, but a man with such an important title as a sheikh might look at things differently. He may feel a sense of entitlement. The only sheikh I’ve ever met is your brother. Not only was he handsome but his presence seemed overpowering. I also happened to notice that whenever he would come to the school and visit you, he seemed aloof to other woman, and after seeing his wife I can understand why. She is beautiful, and for him to only have eyes for her leads me to believe that she keeps him happy in the bedroom.”
Johari couldn’t help but smile. She would be the first to admit Delaney’s presence in her brother’s life had certainly shaken things up a bit. But everyone in Tahran loved and respected her for that reason. Jamal was an exceedingly happy man and it showed even after almost eight years of marriage.
“I was wondering if I could join you ladies?” The speaker had a deep, masculine voice, filled with strength and sensuality, and his English was perfect.
Johari and Cel glanced up. The handsome stranger was no longer sitting across the room at the bar but was standing beside their table.
Chapter 2
There had not been any doubt in Rasheed’s mind that he would wed Johari Yasir, for better or for worse. But now that he was standing beside her chair and staring deep into the darkness of her eyes, there was no doubt in his mind, any time spent with her would be for the better. She was beautiful. Stunningly so.
From the confused look in her eyes, he could tell that she was mystified by the depths of their attraction to each other, which meant she was still very much an innocent at twenty-four. But then on the other hand, she had a willfulness, a wild streak that most women in his country wouldn’t think of exhibiting. The very thought that she had defied her parents’ wishes to return home, had tricked her bodyguard and was sitting in a nightclub in the heart of Manhattan and without so much as a chaperone, and dressed in a way that invited male attention, was not acceptable.
When seconds ticked by, with neither woman responding to his request to join them, but just sat staring at him, he was beginning to wonder if they had heard his request when the African-American woman blinked and then said, “Yes, you may join us. My name is Celine, but everyone calls me Cel. And this is my friend—”
“Jo,” his fiancée quickly said. And he didn’t