Untangling the Web

Chapter 5

At breakfast the next morning, Reyhan sits completely embarrassed, the recipient of some pretty nasty glances from Cemre. Emir's huge hand covering her own is the only indication she has that he senses her discomfort. It makes her feel a little better that he isn't oblivious to Cemre's effect on her.

"Welcome home, Son," Cavidan greets when she arrives to the table. "You snuck in last night and didn't even come to see me. I trust the trip went well?"

"Very well," Emir assures her. "And it was very late when I got in last night. I didn't want to bother anyone."

"Well, I'm sure you are going to want to rest today. Although from what Cemre says, you might need to take your wife shopping for proper bedtime attire. I hear she's... lacking in that area."

Cavidan and Cemre both turn a disgusted glare in her direction. Reyhan is so mortified that her breakfast refuses to stay down.

"Excuse me," she barely manages to say before rushing from the table and into her bathroom to be violently ill.

Emir also excuses himself from the table and is waiting for her when she gets out. He gives her a sympathetic look.

"Let's go somewhere," he suggests.

All she does is stare, one perfectly manicured eyebrow lifting in question.

"And no," he winces. "Not pajamas shopping. I don't know what's gotten into Cemre lately. She shouldn't have barged in on us and she definitely shouldn't be talking about you to my mother."

Reyhan just shakes her head and goes to get her coat and purse. If Emir can't see that Cemre is doing all this because she's in love with him, then she's not going to point it out. Instead, she decides to take him up on his offer to get away for a little while. She doesn't even care where they go. Just as long as they're together.

"Where are we going?" she wonders once they get into the car and turn onto the main street right outside the property. Her breathing gets much easier the further away she gets from the two snakes currently taking up residence in the mansion.

"I hadn't thought much about it," Emir says with a shrug. He reaches across the console to grab her hand and places a gentle kiss there. "I noticed your stress. I just wanted to get you out of there. You feeling okay?"

She smiles at how sweet and attentive he's being.

"Much better now," she assures him. She's always better when she's with Emir. The past week was a struggle for her. Not only because of the constant torture from Cavidan and Cemre. But everything seemed to rub her the wrong way. She even found herself getting into little spats with Zeynep and ended up having to apologize to the sweet girl on more than one occasion.

She realizes now that she just missed him. Nothing seemed right without him there. Turning to look at him, she smiles again at him and at the fact he always seems to have that sexy little grin just for her, his dimple almost winking at her. Taunting her. That dimple is too irresistible and she leans over to bite it.

"What was that?" he laughs, rubbing at his cheek. "Did you just bite me?"

"Do you mind?" She suddenly starts to worry that she's being a little too aggressive. "I've been, um ... reading things."

"Oh really?" A slow grin spreads across his face. "What kind of things?"

She buries her face in her hands. This is nothing at all like the article she read in that women's magazine. 20 Ways to Drive Your Lover Wild. The article had offered a wealth of information. The ideas seemed good at the time. But she's realizing now that her execution of them might need a little work.

"Hey," she hears him whisper just before the car slows to a stop. "Are you crying?"

She sniffles loudly and realizes that she is in fact crying. Great. The article definitely didn't mention tears as a turn on. She doesn't even know why, aside from major embarrassment in front of her husband, she's crying in the first place.

" I'm fine," she says once she gets herself under control. "Sorry about ... "

She points to his cheek where she had bit him earlier. He just smiles, his sneaky grin giving her pause.

"You do realize what this means, right?"

At her blank look, he continues.

"It means that now, I get to bite you, too."

Now she's really starting to worry. The look on his face is far too wicked. And it's causing a flutter in her stomach she doesn't understand. It's a sense of excitement. Anticipation. She's suddenly very eager to get to wherever they're going. She looks out the window and she can't keep the look of confusion off her face when she finally notices where they've stopped.

"We came to see Kemal Abi?"