by Jennie Lucas
Nikos felt a strange lurch in his chest. A sick feeling spread through his body. She’d chosen Sinistyn over him? She trusted that man over him?
“No.” Anna was shaking her head at Sinistyn. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m sorry, but I don’t love you, Victor. I never have. I should have made it clear from the first time you flirted with me, ten years ago. I will never be with you. No matter how much money you loan my parents. Never.”
The smug expression disappeared from Sinistyn’s face. He looked dangerous and hard. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“You bought the palace for nothing. I’ll pay you back the money we owe. But I don’t want you.”
His eyes became hooded, his face flushed with anger. “At the club last week you made me think differently.”
She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. “I was going to ask for your help to get custody of my son. It was wrong of me. But then you were wrong to loan my parents millions of dollars at a thirty-five percent interest rate while claiming to be our friend.”
“Your father promised that you would be mine. When we were in business together he said he’d convince you—”
“He tried, but I refused. We’ve known each other for a long time, Victor. It is time for us to be honest. I will never be your wife, but I will pay back every dime we owe you. Can we at least part as friends?”
She held out her hand.
But Victor’s expression was hard as he looked from her outstretched hand to her face. He grabbed her arm roughly, causing her to cry out.
“I waited for you,” he said softly. “I’ve tried to be nice. But it seems there’s only one language you’ll understand. You’re mine, Anna. Mine.”
He drew back a fist. Sucking in her breath, she winced in anticipation.
Quick as a flash, Nikos stepped between them, grabbing the other man’s hand. He knocked him off balance with a hard right hook and shoved him to the ground.
“Don’t touch her,” Nikos shouted. “Not now. Not ever.”
His body was crying out for the man’s blood. He wanted to bash Victor Sinistyn into a pulp for threatening her. He wanted to kill the man for trying to hurt her.
Then he heard Anna’s soft moan.
Nikos realized that his own bodyguards were barely keeping Sinistyn’s men in check, and that at any moment a full brawl would break out in his own casino. They were already being watched by gamblers, gawkers and slack-jawed tourists, a couple of whom were holding cameras in anticipation of the coming action.
Breathing hard, Nikos jerked away from Sinistyn. “Get him out of here,” he ordered Cooper. Cooper nodded, and with a single gesture a phalanx of security guards appeared.
“Follow me, gentlemen,” Cooper said, holding out his arm in an ironic gesture.
One of Sinistyn’s bodyguards tried to help his boss to his feet, but the Russian jerked his arm away and rose slowly on his own.
“You’ll regret this, Stavrakis,” Sinistyn said, and then his eyes shifted to Anna. “You’ll both regret this.”
He stormed out, followed closely by his shamefaced bodyguards.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get back in,” Cooper said quietly. “And post extra guards on the night watch.” He said loudly to the crowd, “Show’s over, folks. The waitresses will be out to make sure everyone’s getting their drinks.”
Nikos felt Anna in his arms as she threw herself against his chest. “Oh, Nikos, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.”
At her touch, he slowly came back to himself. He looked down at her, stroking her hair.
“Everything you said was right,” she said tearfully. “Everything. I should have trusted you. I’ve been a fool. A selfish, cowardly fool.” She pressed her face against his shirt with a sob, then looked up at him, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. “I ran away when you were only trying to protect us. Can you ever forgive me?”
* * *
Nikos had been right about Victor.
Anna’s stomach hurt. She’d known Victor was bad, but she’d never thought he’d actually want to hurt her. Natalie had also tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen.
Nikos had been right about everything. Maybe he’d been bossy and controlling, but at least his motives had been good. Strong and loyal and true, he’d put their new little family first in his life. Why hadn’t she done the same? Why hadn’t she been brave enough to stay and fight, rather than believe the worst of him?
“Forgive me,” she said again.
His dark eyes were unreadable as he softly touched her lips with his finger. “There is nothing to forgive.”
She was suddenly aware of the curious stares of onlookers and the noise of the slot machines. “Before you leave for Asia, I need to talk to you.”
“Let’s go upstairs.” He hugged her close to his body, guiding her gently toward the private elevator. His body felt warm against hers. She wrapped her hand around his muscular waist, enveloped in the scent of him—clean, but with a hint of something dangerous, as searing as the desert sun.
She knew the risk of reaching for the sun. Its heat and fire could consume her.
But she was suddenly so tired of feeling frozen inside.
Nikos had made it clear that he was done fighting with her. She’d been praying that she would have changed his mind by now, that she’d have proved she could both be a good mother and a good employee. But it was too late. He didn’t want her as his secretary. He wanted her to fulfill their deal.
She’d blown it.
Once they were upstairs he’d demand the name of his new secretary. She’d give it to him, and tomorrow he would fly off for Singapore. There would be nothing left for her to do but pack for a new life in New York.
A new life that, for all its freedoms, would be missing one thing she wanted desperately. The man she loved.
She loved him. There. She’d admitted it—if only to herself. But he didn’t want to hire her, and without his love she didn’t want to marry him. There was nothing left to say.
Except that if their relationship had to end she wanted one last night to remember. One night to laugh with him again. To be daring. To be bold. One night where she allowed herself to love him with her whole heart.
One night to prove how much she trusted him.
But, as much as she knew he wanted her, he’d already refused her too many times, holding out for marriage. She licked her lips, glancing at him from beneath her lashes. Before he left, could she make him change his mind—just for one night?
She’d never seduced a man in her life, but maybe it was time to try.
Marveling at her own boldness as she crossed the casino floor with his arm around her, she ran her fingers surreptitiously along his waistband, stroking his flat belly through his shirt. “You changed your shirt.”
She heard his intake of breath, but his voice was even as he replied, “You ripped up the last one.”
“Sorry.” She rubbed her breast against his side as they walked. She heard a slight growl from his throat.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
He picked up his pace toward the elevator, and the moment the doors were closed behind them he was on her. Pressing her against the cool metal wall, he kissed her savagely, running his hands up and down her body.
“God, you drive me crazy,” he whispered against her skin. “I want you, Anna. It’s killing me.”
“Good.” She reached for his shirt and saw his expression as she untucked the fabric and ran her hands underneath, exploring his flat belly and the muscular chest covered with dark hair. “This time you’re not going to refuse me,” she said, using a tone she’d heard him use many times—the tone no one could refuse. She unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers somehow moving deftly, as if she’d been seducing men all her life. “You’re not going to make me wait. You’re not going to demand that I marry you.”
“Anna.” His breathing was
coming harder. “We both know—”
“Later.” She already knew what he was going to say, and she didn’t want to hear a word of it. She didn’t want to think about the résumés in her purse, or the fact that Nikos had finally decided to let her go. Tomorrow she’d face those cold, hard facts. But tonight she’d stop time. She’d have one perfect night with him that could be crystallized in her memory forever—something to remember during all the cold and lonely nights.
Tonight she would give herself to him completely.
I love you, Nikos. I love you.
“Did you say something?” he murmured.
Oh, my God, had she whispered those words aloud? She had to distract him.
“I said no talking.” She reached for his waist. Unbuckling his belt, she pulled it out of the loops and tossed it to the floor of the elevator. She slowly stroked his bare belly beneath his shirt, swaying her body against his.
With a taunting smile, she undid the top button of his pants.
He gave an audible gasp and grabbed her wrists, yanking them tight above her head. “Is this what you want?” he choked out. “Hard and fast? Here in the elevator?”
She struggled against the shackles of his hands, wanting to touch him, to feel his naked skin against her own. Her whole body ached for him.
The elevator dinged as it reached their floor, and the doors slid open. She felt drunk, drugged with desire, as with a throaty growl Nikos picked her up, carrying her roughly into the penthouse.
Against a backdrop of two-story-high windows, the only color was a minimalist red sofa against white walls and white carpet. He took her swiftly into his enormous bedroom. He pressed a button on the wall and the room suddenly glowed with firelight. She’d wondered what this room would be like. It was spartan, empty, and ghostly white. The floor was white tile, covered by a white fur rug in front of a white adobe fireplace. Surrounded by oceans of unused space, the king-sized bed sat, pristine and untouched, in the center of the room.
Nikos started to kiss her again, and she closed her eyes. She forgot where she was, forgot everything. He lowered her gently to the enormous mattress, caressing her long hair. He stroked her cheek, down her neck, then placed his hand softly between her breasts, over her heart.
“Last chance to leave,” he growled.
Deliberately, she leaned back against his bed.
Unblinking as a wolf, he stared at her. Her eyes devoured his bare chest. Dark hair covered his torso, tightening to a vertical line that disappeared beneath the waistband of his exquisitely tailored pants.
His clothes were elegant and fine. The uniform of a wealthy, civilized man. But his body was something else, something more. As he discarded his clothes, tossing them on the white tile floor, he revealed the savage warrior beneath.
He stood in front of her, naked and unselfconscious. His muscles were hard, wide. She saw the old scars, almost faded, brought into stark relief by new white lines across his ribs and collarbone. She saw how much he wanted her. Most of all she saw his dark eyes, hungry with need. She sat up, reaching for him, holding out her arms.
He was on her in an instant, pressing her back roughly against the luxuriant softness of the bed.
“Agape mou,” he whispered. “I have waited so long. Wanted you for so long…”
Reaching his broad hands beneath her back, he unzipped her skirt. He pulled his shirt over her head and tossed them both to the floor. The stroke of the fabric, the sheen of his breath, sent prickles of longing up and down her skin. As he kissed slowly down her body, between her breasts and down her belly, it was all she could do not to blurt out the three forbidden words.
Kissing her, he pushed her back against the soft goose-down comforter, spreading his hands wide as he caressed her body, making her shiver as he ran his fingers over her white panties and bra.
He covered her with his naked body, pressing her into the soft folds of the thick comforter. She felt as if she was drowning. She clutched at him like a life preserver, gasping as he unhooked her bra and freed her breasts. He slowly moved his body up against hers, rubbing his chest against her, pressing his naked hardness between her legs as he sucked on her neck, her shoulder, her earlobes. Holding her tightly, he ran his tongue around the tender edge of her ear, slowly moving inward until he made her gasp as he penetrated the center with his tongue. She turned her face to him, grabbing the back of his head as she kissed him hungrily.
Then she pulled away, looking into his eyes.
She had to say the words. She couldn’t keep them inside anymore.
“Nikos, I love you.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
NIKOS FROZE. “WHAT?”
“I love you.” Anna’s face looked bare, vulnerable, as she repeated the words.
Nikos had tried for the last hour to speak those same three words—the simple lie that would close the deal and give him the upper hand. But he’d been unable to force the words out of his mouth. He hadn’t wanted to say them, hadn’t wanted to lie to her. He’d let himself hope that making love to her would be enough.
Tsou. No. It was now or never. He had to act now, or it was all over.
He pictured his son with a man like Sinistyn as his stepfather. He imagined Anna in another man’s arms, and his lips pressed into a line. To protect his family he’d do anything, say anything, sacrifice anything.
Even his honor.
Watching his face with a troubled expression, Anna rushed to say, “I know you don’t love me back, and it’s okay—”
“I love you, too.” He spoke the words quickly, spitting them out as if they were a live grenade in his mouth.
“You love me?” Anna stared at him in amazement, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
“Yes.” His voice was low, strained.
Her whole face started to light up from within, like a thousand Christmas candles glowing at once. “You love me?” she repeated in a whisper, her eyes filling with tears. If he’d truly loved her, the joy on her face would have been enough to keep him warm through a thousand cold, dark winters. “I never expected—I never dreamed— Oh, Nikos…”
She kissed him then with a passion so pure and sweet it was unlike anything he’d ever known. He returned her kiss with fervor, desperate to forget the lie he’d told, to wipe his sin clean through the fire of his longing for her. He wanted her. He wanted every part of her. Her beauty and innocence and goodness. He kissed her back with all the hard, brutal honesty in his soul.
He ran his hands down the length of her soft skin, kissing her lips, her breasts, sucking the tips of her fingers as she reached for him, trying to pull him closer. The way she moved, the sway and tremble of her body beneath him, brought him perilously close to exploding. Only the thin barrier of fabric kept him from seizing her hips and plunging himself into her. The image had barely crossed his mind before he kissed down her belly, running his hands beneath the fabric, gently nudging her panties down as his kisses went lower. He pulled the cotton down with his teeth even as he ran his fingers between her splayed legs, lightly tracing upwards from the sensitive area behind her knees to her inner thighs. He reached his hands beneath her panties and pulled them down. His tongue descended on her, spreading and licking her wide. As he ran his tongue over her hot nub, swirling in a circular motion, she writhed and moaned beneath him.
“No—” she gasped, trying to push him away. “I want you inside me—”
But he was merciless. Instead of stopping, he reached a thick finger inside her, then another finger. He pushed into her as his tongue licked and lapped her. She arched violently, her body snapping back against the bed, and he felt her shake and tremble as she came.
Feeling like he was going to explode, he lifted up on his arms and positioned himself between her legs. He found her wet core, pressing right into her, then hesitated, panting from the effort of restraint. He didn’t want to hurt her. He would have to go slowly…
But Anna, more merciful than he, took things into her own hands.
As he gritted his teeth, aching as he pushed himself slowly inside her, she reached behind him and yanked his naked buttocks towards her, forcing him through the tight sheath, impaling her. He heard her gasp, and he tried to pull back, but the pleasure of being buried deep inside her after all the months of longing was too much. He moaned her name softly, moving inside her, and took her in his arms, kissing her.
He’d never known it could be like this.
* * *
It hurt when he pushed into her. Had he always been this big?
Then he kissed her. His tongue twined around hers, caressing her deeply, and as her body relaxed the pleasure returned, built, intensified.
He loves me, she thought in amazement. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the expression on his face as he was kissing her. It was worshipful. Devout. Intent. He loves me.
Her body relaxed. She didn’t have to leave him, ever. Her heart was flooded with joy such as she’d never known before. He’d never said I love you before.
With those three words her whole world had changed.
Somehow everything would work out. Why not? What problem was insurmountable, what miracles were impossible, when Nikos loved her?
Running his hands along her breasts, he slowly pushed into her again. Her nerves grew taut. She wanted him, wanted more. She lifted her hips to meet his thrust, holding on to his shoulders. But the bed was far too soft, swallowing her into the comforter under his weight.
With a growl of frustration he lifted her up from the bed, careful not to pull out as he wrapped her naked body around him. In five long steps he crossed the firelit room to the nearest wall—the thick windows that overlooked the Las Vegas Strip, twenty floors below. Thick, unbreakable windows that she herself had discussed with the architects—but she’d never dreamed she would put them to use like this.
Anna moaned as he pressed her naked body against the windows. She glanced down at his tanned skin, at the ripple of his hard muscles in the flickering firelight. She tightened her legs around his rock-hard buttocks as he pushed into her. A groan came from his lips as he thrust into her again and again, causing her full breasts to move with each force of his thrust. Leaning forward, he bit her neck as the pleasure began to spiral within her, even deeper and harder than she’d felt before. Her whole body began to shake, so tense that she could hardly breathe for want of him. She felt him explode inside her with a shout, and she screamed, rocked hard against the windows behind her, as she was devoured by the most intense pleasure she’d ever known.
