Blazing Bedtime Stories, Volume IX: The EqualizerGod's Gift to Women

by Rhonda Nelson;Karen Foley

  “I have a suggestion,” Nikos murmured in her ear as he stroked his fingers over her arm.

  Lexi twisted her face until she could see him. He had propped his head on one hand and looked down at her with a warm expression on his handsome face. “What is it?”

  “It’s almost four o’clock. I think we should try out that claw-foot tub in the bathroom.”

  Lexi’s eyes widened, and she laughed uncertainly. “I’m not sure… You’re so large.”

  Nikos pressed a kiss against her mouth. “I think we can manage, and then afterward, if you’re hungry, I’ll cook you something to eat.”

  Lexi ignored the way her heart leaped, determined to keep her emotions in check. It would be easy to fall for a guy like Nikos, but she reminded herself that she knew next to nothing about him. She wouldn’t let herself get too attached to him. But right now, the lure of soaping his magnificent body with her bare hands outweighed any other concerns she had.

  “Mmm,” she murmured against his lips. “How can I refuse an offer like that?”

  * * *

  TUCKING THE PILLOW BENEATH HER cheek, Lexi watched as Nikos pulled his jeans on. His hair was still wet from his recent shower, and she could see droplets of moisture on his shoulders. It was barely 5:00 a.m. and still dark outside. Nikos had stayed the entire night. They’d taken a bath, as he’d suggested, which had led to another erotic interlude. Afterward, he had commandeered her kitchen and rummaged through her cupboards and refrigerator until he’d found enough ingredients to make a delicious stir-fry. He had pulled the meal together effortlessly, and Lexi could see that he was completely comfortable in the kitchen.

  They’d spent the evening entwined on the sofa, sipping wine and talking, and watching the sun sink over the Pacific through the wide windows. Nikos had seemed preoccupied with touching her. The contact was always light and nonthreatening; he played with her fingers, or traced the outline of her ear, or wound her hair around his fingertip, but he maintained an almost constant physical contact with her. Lexi had decided it must be a European thing, and she’d found it disconcerting at first. But when he’d stopped, she missed it. The hours had slipped by, and when she’d smothered a yawn, he had stood to leave. Knowing she’d be exhausted and irritable in the morning, but not caring, she had asked him to stay.

  She’d forgotten how wonderful it felt to have a warm, hard body next to hers during the night, and how magical the darkness became when masculine hands reached for her. Like velvet, the shadows had swallowed her soft cries and his husky words of approval.

  Now she watched as he dressed, admiring the play of muted light across his muscles. His body was imprinted on her skin, and if she closed her eyes she could still feel the slope of his spine and the firm thrust of his buttocks beneath her palms. Straightening, he caught her watching him and came over to sit on the edge of the mattress.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, reaching out to stroke the hair back from her face. “I think it’s better if I leave now, before the neighborhood wakes up and sees me.”

  Lexi smiled. Right now, she couldn’t bring herself to care what the neighbors thought. “Are you working next door today?”

  Nikos nodded and laced his fingers with hers. “My cousins will arrive in a few hours. What about you?”

  “I’ll be at my studio, working on my latest sculpture. You’ve inspired me.”

  He went silent and stared moodily at their entwined fingers. After a moment, he withdrew his hand and gave her a brief smile. “Well, I’m glad to be of service.”

  He stood up, and Lexi had a moment of panic that somehow, this was the end. She wouldn’t see him again. Reaching out, she caught him by the wrist.

  “Hey, did I say something wrong?” she asked. “I only meant that you’ve energized me—gotten my creative juices flowing.” She slanted him an amused look. “So to speak.”

  He responded by carrying her hand to his mouth and turning it over to press a warm kiss against the palm. “Thank you for last night.”

  “Will I see you again?” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as anxious as she felt.

  “You can see me anytime you want,” he replied. “I’ll be right next door.”

  6

  LEXI DROVE TO HER STUDIO WHILE it was still dark, consumed by thoughts of Nikos. Inside the cavernous space, she quickly punched the security code into the keypad next to the door, then flipped on the lights and raised the shades on the enormous windows. Pulling the dust cloth away from the half-finished sculpture, she circled it slowly, surveying it through critical eyes. She traced her fingers along the crosshatch marks made by her chisel. She’d roughed out the figure, but now she was ready to begin refining the piece, and with Nikos’s face and form still fresh in her mind, she knew exactly where to begin. She was glad that she’d selected a slab with large crystals, which would impart a brilliant finish to the completed work.

  Slowly, as the first rays of sunlight began to lighten the studio, she arranged her tools on a rolling table nearby. She began chiseling the stone with care and precision, stopping every so often to step back and scrutinize her progress. She might not have Nikos here to model for her, but she had her vivid memories of the previous night and they were more than adequate. As her hands worked the stone, she could almost feel his firm muscles beneath her fingers. If she faltered, or became uncertain about a particular chisel stroke, she had only to close her eyes to imagine him, and her hands became sure again.

  She worked steadily until her stomach finally prompted her to take a break and go in search of something to eat. Glancing at her watch, she was shocked to see it was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon. She’d been at it for more than ten hours, and although she’d become engrossed in her sculptures before, she rarely forgot to eat. Setting her tools aside, she went to the kitchenette that had been installed in one corner of the warehouse studio. Rummaging through the cupboards and the small refrigerator, she found a packet of crackers and a block of cheese, and fixed herself a quick snack. As she ate, she considered the sculpture.

  Typically, when she created her classical-Greek gods, she started at the top and worked her way toward the base, and this piece was no different. To her, the face was the most critical part of the sculpture and she couldn’t really visualize the physique until she had the facial features in place.

  She realized now that the reason she’d struggled with this particular work was because she hadn’t been able to visualize the face. But then she’d met Nikos and everything had become clear. Already, the bone structure was taking shape beneath her chisel, and she knew she’d made the right choice. Her hands had flown over the marble, chipping a bit here and there, defining the brow or the thrust of a cheekbone. Nikos’s face was beginning to emerge from the stone. At the rate she was going, she’d be ready to start on the body in just a few days.

  She still had several hours of good light remaining, but she suddenly found herself eager to get home. She didn’t know what time Nikos stopped working, and she wanted to see him before he left.

  Covering the sculpture with the dust cloth, she lowered the shades and flipped off the lights. Her studio was located in a row of warehouses on the outskirts of Santa Barbara, and the drive home would take thirty minutes. As she pulled into her driveway, she saw Nikos’s truck parked on the curb next door. Climbing out of the car, she debated going into the house to take a quick shower, since she was covered in a fine layer of dust. But afraid she might miss him, she drew a deep breath and walked along the sidewalk to the front porch. She could hear the sound of a hammer from inside the house, and she carefully pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway. Nikos knelt on the hardwood floor in the living room, carefully replacing several boards from a stack beside him. Gone was the wall-to-wall carpeting, and just as he had promised, he had exposed the gleaming mahogany beneath.

  “Wow,” she breathed. “What a transformation.”

  Nikos rocked back on his heels, his expression registering su
rprise. “Lexi.”

  “I’m sorry. I heard you hammering and let myself in.” Suddenly appalled at her own pushiness, she grimaced. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No, of course not.” He set the hammer aside and rose to his feet in one fluid movement, swiping his hands on his thighs. “I’ve been waiting for you. I mean, I was going to come over and see you when you got home.”

  Lexi reached out and put a steadying hand on the door frame. Would she always feel this light-headed whenever she saw him? “Really? I was afraid I would miss you. Not that I didn’t miss you—I did. But obviously you’re here, so I didn’t miss you—” She broke abruptly off, aware that she was babbling. “Forget it. I was afraid that you might have already left.”

  Stepping toward her, he reached out and wiped his thumb over her cheek, smiling down at her. “You have chalk on your face.”

  Lexi stared at him. He hadn’t shaved, and the shadow of beard on his jaw gave him a faintly piratical look that she found wildly attractive. In contrast to his sun-streaked hair, his eyebrows and lashes were dark, making his light green eyes all the more startling. She wanted to press her mouth to the indent in his cheek.

  She raised a self-conscious hand to her face. “I just came from my studio,” she explained, laughing a little. “I should probably go home and clean up.”

  “Don’t.” Grasping her by the shoulders, he made a show of inspecting her. “You look perfect.” His smile widened. “You’re covered in white powder.”

  “It’s marble dust.”

  Nikos took her hands in his and turned them palm up. He stroked his thumbs across the roughened pads of her fingers.

  Embarrassed, Lexi pulled her hands free and curled them at her sides. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I like the way they feel on my skin.”

  Immediately, heat swamped her as images of the previous night flooded her memory. She had loved touching him. In fact, she had spent most of the night exploring his amazing body with her hands and mouth. Neither of them had gotten much sleep, and yet she’d woken up feeling energized and eager to get to work. As she looked at him now, warmth bloomed beneath her skin and flowed through her limbs like liquid honey. She wanted him. That was the real reason she’d hightailed it out of her studio and made a beeline for his house, despite the fact she could have easily worked for another three hours.

  She wanted Nikos. At least, she amended silently, she wanted more of the incredible things he could do to her. She smiled at him. “Well, I’m a little partial to your touch, too.”

  “Come with me,” he said, and caught her hand.

  Lexi was too surprised to protest as he pulled her out of the room and toward the staircase that led to the second floor. As far as she knew, the house was empty of furniture, so she couldn’t imagine what he had in mind. At the top of the stairs, he drew her along the corridor and opened the door to the bathroom.

  “I keep a few personal items here in case I need to clean up,” he said, stepping back.

  Lexi entered the bathroom and saw a stack of towels on the shelf and toiletries on the counter. A man’s robe hung from a hook, and the room carried the scent that she had come to associate with Nikos—a mixture of spicy citrus and fresh cotton.

  “You want me to shower here?” she asked in surprise.

  “Why not? When you’re finished, put on my robe and come downstairs. I’ll make you dinner.”

  Lexi’s eyebrows rose. “You keep enough supplies here to cook?”

  Nikos shrugged. “Nothing fancy, just a cold salad.”

  Lexi hesitated. She’d come over here specifically to see Nikos, so what was the problem? Looking at him now, leaning negligently against the door frame of the small bathroom, she knew exactly what the problem was. She hadn’t come over here for a shower and a cold salad, no matter how enticing both sounded. She wanted Nikos.

  Naked.

  Groaning.

  Inside her.

  “Maybe you could wash my back,” she suggested softly.

  She watched as heat flared in his eyes. Shrugging away from the door frame, he stepped close and cupped her jaw in both hands. He rubbed a thumb across her lower lip.

  “I’d love that,” he assured her in a husky voice, his accent more pronounced. “But unfortunately, this shower won’t fit two people. It’s one of the first things I’m going to change when I renovate the bathroom. Take your shower, and then come downstairs.”

  He pressed a warm, moist kiss against her mouth, lingering for a long moment as she swayed against him. When he finally lifted his head, Lexi’s knees felt a little wobbly. He left, closing the door behind him, and she sagged against the shower enclosure, disappointed. But when she pulled back the curtain, she saw he hadn’t exaggerated. The space was tiny—too tiny for both of them.

  Turning on the water, she quickly undressed, grimacing at the accumulation of dust on her clothing and skin. Stepping beneath the spray, she shampooed her hair and then quickly washed herself with his soap. There was something incredibly intimate about using his toiletries. As she turned the water off and dried herself with a thick towel, she realized she smelled like him.

  Rubbing the condensation from the surface of the bathroom mirror, she inspected her reflection. Devoid of cosmetics, her skin was pale. She chewed her lips, hoping to pull some more color into them, and then pinched her cheeks. Sighing, she ran a comb through her hair. She’d never been the kind of woman who obsessed over her looks, but she wished now that she carried lip gloss or mascara in her purse. Of course, she could always run home and get dressed, but if she wore Nikos’s bathrobe, as he’d suggested, she would be completely nude beneath the chocolate silk. Smiling in anticipation, she folded her discarded clothing into a neat pile, slipped into the robe and made her way downstairs. Nikos was in the kitchen with his back to her, working at the counter. As she padded silently toward him, he swore softly and put a finger to his mouth.

  “Are you okay?” Lexi asked.

  He spun around and his eyes swept over her. Lexi could see from his expression that he approved. He gave her a rueful smile. “I’m fine, just a nick.”

  Frowning, Lexi took his hand in hers and inspected the small slice on the side of his index finger. “You should run this under some water. Do you have any Band-Aids?”

  Nikos nodded toward a cupboard. “I keep a first-aid kit in there.”

  As he washed the cut, Lexi pulled the kit down and found a bandage and some antiseptic. “Here, let me,” she said when he reached for the items.

  She applied some ointment before carefully wrapping his finger in the bandage. She didn’t immediately release him. His hands were strong, the fingers lean and tapered and the nails clean and neat. Funny how much you could tell about a person from their hands. They were one of the first things that Lexi noticed when she met someone. That, and their teeth. Nikos had good teeth, as strong and well kept as his hands.

  “I think you’ll survive,” she said, smiling at him.

  He raised her hand to his lips. “Thank you.”

  Lexi knew she shouldn’t feel so delighted each time he made a gallant gesture. After all, he was European and everyone knew European men were naturally charming. At least, that’s what she’d heard. He was certainly more charming than any of the other men she’d been involved with.

  “What are you making?” she asked when he released her hand.

  He gestured for her to see for herself, and Lexi approached the counter. He had prepared two bowls, but what he claimed was nothing fancy was cold pasta salad with shrimp, cherry tomatoes, feta and basil. Her mouth began to water as she realized how hungry she was.

  “Mmm, this looks delicious!”

  “I am glad you approve. Why don’t we eat in the sunroom.”

  Without waiting for her response, he scooped up both dishes and made his way to the far side of the house. Lexi followed him, and stopped on the threshold, momentarily speechless. The small room overlooked the valley, and with the sun just settin
g over the ocean, the view was breathtaking. In the time that it had taken Lexi to shower, Nikos had brought the small patio table and chairs indoors. He had found several half-spent candles and placed them on a dish in the center of the table beside a bottle of wine, two glasses and a baguette of crunchy bread.

  Lexi turned to him. “When you said you brought a few things back, I didn’t realize…”

  “I wanted the option of inviting you to stay here,” he said, giving her a lopsided grin.

  Setting the salads down on the table, he held her chair out for her, and then moved to a windowsill where Lexi saw an iPod music system. Nikos scanned through the playlist, and soon the romantic strains of a Frank Sinatra song filled the room. He turned to Lexi and arched an eyebrow, silently asking if she approved.

  “Very nice,” she acknowledged. “But won’t the home owners object to you using their house as your own personal love shack?”

  She’d only meant to tease him, and was surprised when he sat down across from her, his expression puzzled.

  “I thought you knew,” he said, uncorking the bottle of wine and pouring some into her glass.

  “Knew what?”

  He filled his own glass and then lifted it to hers in a toast. “I am the home owner.”

  7

  “SO, YOU ACTUALLY BOUGHT THIS house?” Lexi asked carefully.

  Nikos nodded and tore the end off the baguette. “I did.”

  She gave a huff of laughter. “But how? I mean, this house listed for over a million dollars. Wait. Did your company purchase the house for you to restore and resell? I mean, it’s not really yours, is it?”

  Nikos frowned. “Why do you look so surprised? I assure you the house belongs to me.”

  He could see her struggling to form a response, and knew without her having to say anything that she had believed him to be no more than a day laborer, even though he’d told her what he did for a living. He took a sip of wine, but found he was no longer hungry. How many times in his life had people looked at him and believed him to be nothing more than an attractive facade without much going on inside? Despite the fact he had built a career and a comfortable life for himself, and had nothing to prove to anyone, he found it still irritated him.