by Jennie Lucas
CHAPTER FIVE
NIKOS STARED AT HER, hardly able to believe his ears.
“Don’t you understand?” he said. “I’m giving you what you wanted. I’m making you my wife.”
“How very generous. But I only wanted that when I was in love with you. Not anymore.” When he didn’t take the box, she tossed it on the table between them. Such a small thing, but it separated them like a stone wall two feet thick. “Now I just want to be free.”
She shifted in her chair, brushing her dark hair off her bare shoulders. He looked around the restaurant that they’d conceived together. To his fevered imagination it seemed that every man in the room was watching Anna. Her lovely pale skin, the dark hair cascading in riotous waves down her back, those almond-shaped turquoise eyes challenging him. The beige halter top barely covered her full breasts, and her dark low-rise jeans revealed her flat belly.
God, she was gorgeous. He’d never wanted her more.
“You will marry me, Anna,” he said. “We both know it will happen.”
“Death and taxes are inevitable. But marriage?” She gave him a humorless smile. “No.”
“I don’t particularly want to marry you, either. But my son’s happiness means more to me than my own.”
He saw her lips tighten at that. Good, so she understood how much he cared for Michael.
But there was more to it than that.
From the moment Nikos had seen Anna dancing with Victor Sinistyn in the club, something had changed in him that he couldn’t explain. He only knew that Anna belonged to him and no other man. He had to stamp his possession on her for all the world to see.
The idea had haunted him. In the club, on his motorcycle, as he’d walked with Anna through the casino. He’d kept thinking it would be simple enough to marry her. Hell, they were already in Las Vegas. And once she wore his ring he knew she would be utterly loyal to those vows. There would be no more arguments or fear of betrayal. No custody battle splashed in the papers. It was the perfect solution.
He’d just never thought she would refuse him.
“You will marry me for the sake of our son.”
“Never.”
Nikos raked a hand through his dark hair in frustration. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was accustomed to his employees rushing to fulfill his orders, and his mistresses had always done the same.
“You will be rich—richer than your wildest dreams,” he pointed out. “I will deny you nothing.”
She snorted incredulously. “You think I care about that? If I’d wanted to marry for money, I could have done it long ago.”
“Meaning you’d have married Victor Sinistyn?”
“Yes. I could have.” She paused. “I could still.”
Nikos tightened his hands into fists, cracking his knuckles. A flood of unwelcome emotion swept through him.
He remembered watching Anna in the dance club, the way she’d swayed against Sinistyn, gyrating beneath the flashing lights. He remembered the way the skin on her taut belly had glistened, how her low-slung jeans had barely covered her hips as she swayed.
No other man but Nikos should touch her. Ever.
Especially not Victor Sinistyn. How could Nikos allow Anna to throw herself away on a man like that? How could he allow his son to have this man for a stepfather?
There was only one way to make sure that never happened. She would agree to his proposal.
He had to convince her.
“Why don’t you give the ring to Lindsey?” Anna said sweetly as she rose from the table. “I’m sure she’d be more than willing to marry you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go home and feed my son.”
Home.
He had a sudden image of her in bed, and he relaxed. Bed was a place where they’d always understood one another very well. A slow smile spread across his lips. Once they were home he would take her in his arms and she would not be able to deny him anything…
“I will take you home,” he said.
“But I left your car at the club—”
“That will be arranged. The fastest way to get to my estate is on the bike.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re afraid to be that close to me again?”
She tossed back her hair with a deliberate casualness that didn’t fool him for a second. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Good.” He rose from his chair, reaching out for her hand. “Let’s go.”
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes wide as the sea, then with obvious reluctance gave him her hand. It felt small and cool in his own. “Fine,” she said with a sigh. “Take me.”
Oh, he intended to.
But she hung back, glancing back at the table. “What about the ring? Are you just going to leave it?”
Nikos shrugged. Since the jewelry hadn’t worked, it was of no further use to him. All he could think about now was that her skin felt warmer by the second. He yearned to touch her all over, to feel her hands on his body.
“Is everything all right, Mr. Stavrakis?” the waiter asked nervously behind him. “I hope there was no problem with your dinner?”
His eyes focused on the young waiter who’d served Anna earlier. He looked scared, holding a platter of dirty dishes on his shoulder.
“Your tip’s on the table,” Nikos replied abruptly. Then he turned back to push Anna out of the restaurant.
He heard a loud gasp, and the clatter of dishes falling to the floor as the waiter saw the ring, but he didn’t wait for thanks. All he could think was that he had to get Anna home and in his bed. Within minutes they were roaring down the highway on his motorcycle.
* * *
The moon was full, casting shadows over the sagebrush and distant mountains. Anna clung to Nikos on the back of the motorcycle, her dark hair whipping wildly around her face as they sped across the wide moonlit desert.
She tightened her grip on his narrow waist, pressing her body against his. He was driving like a bullet, and the wind was cold against her bare arms and back. But that wasn’t the reason she was shivering.
She was burning like a furnace, lit up from within.
She knew why Nikos was driving down the highway as if all the demons of hell were in hot pursuit. She’d seen it in his dark eyes. She’d felt it in the way he’d touched her. In the way he’d taken possession of her hand and pulled her from the casino.
He was going to make love to her. Until she couldn’t see straight. Until she couldn’t think.
Until she agreed to marry him.
She felt beads of sweat break out on her forehead, instantly wiped away by the cool desert wind.
It terrified her how badly she wanted him in return. She was barely keeping herself in check. She was afraid she’d give in.
To sleeping with him.
To everything.
Had anyone ever defied Nikos for long? Was it even possible?
She shivered again.
“Cold, my sweet?” Nikos asked in a husky voice as they pulled into the ten-car garage. Turning off the engine, he set the kickstand and gently took her hand, pulling her off the bike. He ran his fingers down the inside of her wrist as he pulled her close. “You won’t be cold for long.”
She backed away. “I—need to go feed Misha,” she gasped out, and hurried down the hall. She was surprised and relieved beyond measure when he didn’t follow her.
Afterward, as she closed the nursery door, leaving a well-fed, slumbering baby behind her, she was just congratulating herself on escaping her fate when she heard his voice.
“I shouldn’t have called you a bad mother. It’s not true.”
She whirled around to see Nikos step forward in the moonlit hallway, his face half hidden by shadows.
Gulping a breath, she looked down at the floor. “Nikos!”
He came closer and lightly brushed her wind-tangled hair off her shoulders. “I’m sorry I said it. You are good with him.”
She knew that his brief kindness was part of his plan to wear her down, but unfortun
ately it was working. Those were words she’d been so desperate to hear, especially from him.
Damn! Biting her lip, she threw a look of longing at the guest bedroom the housekeeper had assigned her. It was only ten feet down the hall, but it might as well have been a million miles away as he took her in his arms.
He stared at the way her teeth rubbed against her lower lip. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, lightly tracing his finger against her cheek. “And so wild. So much passion behind that prim, dignified secretary. For all those years I never knew.”
She started to tremble. She had to get out of here. She had to escape. She was already perilously close to giving in.
Swallowing, she tried to pick a fight. “Where’s Lindsey tonight?”
“I have no idea. I fired her.”
“You did—what?”
“She was never my lover, Anna. She fed you lies out of some deluded hope that she might be someday. But she was never my type.”
“What’s your type?” she retorted feebly, trying to hide her shock about Lindsey.
He blinked, then shook his head, giving her a predatory smile. “Arrogant Russian-born women with black hair, cat-shaped eyes and a tart mouth.” He leaned forward to breathe in her hair, whispering in her ear. “I remember the sweet taste of you. Tart and sweet all over, Anna…”
She struggled not to remember, not to feel anything as his voice washed over her senses. “Lindsey really wasn’t your lover?”
“Since that first night we were together you’ve been the only one.” He ran his finger gently along her lips. “You’re the mother of my child. I need you, Anna. In my home. In my bed.”
Oh, my God. She was dizzy with longing, unable to speak.
“You are meant to be my wife.” He kissed her softly on the forehead, her cheeks. “It is fate.”
“But I—I don’t want you,” she managed, her heart threatening to jump out of her rib cage.
“Prove it,” he whispered. Encircling her body with his strong arms, he slowly traced his hand down her bare back. She could feel the warmth of his skin, the strength of his hand.
“I don’t,” she insisted, but her voice was so weak that even she didn’t believe it.
He backed her up against the wall between a large plant and a Greek statue in the wide, dark hallway. “Are you sure?”
The only thing of which she was sure was that the strain of not reaching for him was causing her physical pain. She flattened her trembling palms against the wall as he gently ran his hand through her tangled dark hair. His fingers brushed against the sensitive flesh of her earlobe. He traced lightly down her neck.
“I always get what I want, and I’ve never wanted any woman like I want you…”
Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her. His lips were gentle and oh, so seductive. Pressing her hands against his chest, she willed herself to resist. To remember the cruel way he’d humiliated her before.
I won’t give in this time. I won’t…
But even as she made token resistance she felt her body surrender. Her head leaned back as his tongue teased her, as his lips seared her own. She felt her mind, soul, everything float away until only longing was left.
“No!” With her last bit of willpower she pushed him away. She tried to push past him toward her room, but he blocked her. She stumbled over her high-heeled sandals, kicking them off as she turned and ran down the hall. He pursued her, as single-minded as a wolf stalking a deer. She raced outside, banging the door behind her.
In the courtyard, dark clouds had spread across the sky, and she could smell coming rain. Silver threads of moonlight laced the sky, barely holding back the storm.
Barefoot, Anna tripped across the mosaic tiles of the courtyard, skirting the edge of the pool’s shimmering water. Her pale skin glowed in the moonlight as she ran beneath the dark shadows of palm trees.
Nikos caught her in front of the enormous Moroccan fountain, his arms wrapping around her from behind.
“I need you, Anna,” he said huskily in her ear, holding her body against his own. “And you need me. Don’t deny it.”
Kissing her neck from behind, he ran his hands over her, cupping her breasts in the suede.
Sucking in her breath, she whirled to face him. Angry words fell unspoken as she saw his face. His handsome, strong face, made somehow even more masculine with the dark bristles of a five o’clock shadow on his chin. In the snug black T-shirt and dark jeans he didn’t look like a billionaire tycoon. He looked like a biker, dangerous and dark, and a devil in bed.
He was right. She wanted him.
Needed him.
Could so easily love him…
“I can’t,” she gasped aloud.
“Can’t?” He held her even tighter.
In spite of her resolve, honesty poured out of her. “I can’t fight you anymore…”
His sensual lips curved into a smile as he reached his hand behind her head and pulled her into a hot, hard kiss. She returned the kiss hungrily, tasting blood in the intensity of their mutual need. His blood? Hers? She didn’t care. All she knew was that she’d been denied his touch for too long. If he stopped kissing her now she would die.
She wanted to possess him as thoroughly and savagely as he’d possessed her soul…
She pressed her hands against his back, desperate to pull him closer, but it wasn’t enough. She brought her hands between them, beneath his shirt, running her hands up his taut belly. She heard him gasp as she explored the trail of hair up his chest, feeling the hard planes of his torso. He’d always been strong, but his muscles were bigger now, harder than they’d ever been. And more…
“What’s this?” she murmured aloud, but didn’t wait for an answer. She yanked on the black T-shirt, and he let her pull it off his body. She lightly traced a hard ridge across his naked collarbone, then found another one over his ribs.
“You have new scars,” she whispered.
He shrugged, a deceptively careless gesture. “I worked some aggression out in the boxing ring while you were gone.”
“I’m sorry—”
“I’m not. I’m stronger now. No one will ever have to do my fighting for me again.”
Unlike most rich men, she thought in a daze. Unlike Victor.
Nikos ran his hands up and down her halter top, caressing the soft suede, pressing her breasts upwards until they threatened to spill over. He reached beneath the top, cupping and weighing their fullness, then bent to nuzzle between them. The dark stubble of his chin was rough against her tender skin, sending prickles all over her body as he licked his way slowly to her neck. He sucked at the crook of her shoulder, causing pain and pleasure and a mark of possession.
She moaned softly, arching into him. He pushed her back roughly against the tiled wall of the courtyard. Her eyelids fluttered, and as if in a dream she saw the splash of colorful tile in the moonlight, heard the burble of the stone fountain.
She couldn’t let this happen…
She couldn’t stop herself from letting it happen…
Dazed and unsteady, she threw her arms back against the wall for support. He pressed his hands on the small of her back, pulling her closer, tighter. His naked chest pressed against her, the hard muscles of his arms wrapped around her bare arms. Their legs were tangled as she felt the naked skin of his taut belly against her own. He kissed her hard, running his hands through her hair.
He ran his hands along the sides of her jeans. Jeans! She cursed the choice. Why hadn’t she worn a skirt? He grabbed her backside, lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around him. She could feel how hard he was, how ready for her. She wanted him to take her here, now, against the wall, before she had time to think.
“God, I want you,” he whispered. “For the last year you’re the only woman I’ve been able to think about. Just you. Only you.”
She took a deep breath. “Then take me.”
There. She’d said it. Right or wrong, she’d dared to admit what they both already knew:
she wanted him. Her cheeks felt hot; she felt like a hoyden. She took a deep breath. “But please be gentle. My—my doctor said the first time I had sex after the baby might feel like…like I was a virgin. It might hurt.”
He pulled back abruptly, giving her a searing look. “I would never hurt you, agape mou.”
At that moment she believed him. “I know.”
But he still hesitated, looking troubled. She realized that he was holding himself back because he didn’t want to cause her pain. He still cared about her. For the first time she felt the magnitude of her own power over him, and it thrilled her.
She smiled up at him, tracing the beauty of his slightly crooked nose with her fingertip, touching his bare scars. He was a warrior, fierce and powerful, and frightening in his beauty.
But, powerful as he was, she realized she could match his fire.
Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she unwrapped her legs from his body. Backing away, she reached behind her and untied her halter top. It fell into her hands, leaving her upper body naked. Moonlight briefly drenched her skin in an opalescent glow the color of pearls, then disappeared behind the dark clouds that were rapidly covering the sky.
She stood in front of him in the semidarkness, straight and tall. She’d never been this brave before. Even during the months of their affair she’d always let him take the lead. Nervous at her own daring, she looked into his face.
His expression was strained. With a low growl he lifted her back into his arms, pressing her against the wall. The feeling of his skin against her own, without the halter top to separate them, was exquisite. But it wasn’t enough—still not nearly enough.
Clasping her wrists tightly in one massive hand, he pulled her arms over her head, kissing down her body as he moved his other hand between her legs. Her earlier fear of pain was already forgotten as she moved against him, wanting to feel more. To feel him. Above her, she could hear the howl of rising wind, and she felt small drops of rain against her overheated skin. Her hair whipped wildly as she leaned her head back, hardly able to breathe, out of her mind with longing.
“I take it all back,” she gasped. “Don’t be gentle. Don’t make me wait. Take me now.”
