No, you didn’t.
‘There’s every reason to steal a moment, Kassie,’ he said softly, his expression revealing his awareness of her wavering contrary thoughts. ‘Don’t you deserve just a moment?’
‘As if it would be good for me?’ She rolled her eyes.
But that little voice of truth whispered, mocking. It would be good for her. And the heat unfurling in her depths was the real reason for staying when he had told her to go.
‘I’d make it good.’ He chuckled at the look she shot him. ‘You know it’s true. Why don’t you let me try and we’ll see how you like it?’
‘As if I haven’t heard that line before!’
‘You already liked it a little. I think you might like it a lot.’
He scooted along the sofa until he sat the merest inch from her. Her skin sizzled and her pulse raced. Every cell yearned for him to come closer still. She refused to look at him.
‘I could make you feel so good. You know that’s true. I already make you feel.’
She swallowed hard. ‘You’re not being fair.’
‘No.’ He smiled at her. ‘But life isn’t fair.’
She looked into his eyes and the second she did so temptation screamed along her bones. ‘Your H—’
‘Call me Giorgos,’ he gritted. ‘I’m not your King. Not here.’
‘You can’t—’
‘That’s a command,’ he snapped. ‘When we’re alone I’m not your King, and you’re not my subject. You’re my equal. You may always speak freely—even when I don’t like what you’re saying.’
‘You’re commanding me to speak freely?’ she teased.
‘Yes.’ He glared at her. ‘I want to understand what you’re thinking.’
‘I already speak my mind—you know you can’t stop me. And you already know what I’m thinking. You know you confuse me.’
‘Then let me make it simple. All I want, right this second, is to kiss you,’ he said plainly. ‘Are you willing to let me do that?’
The desire—so new, so rare, promising so much—was irresistible. How could she not explore this—just once—now she finally felt it? It would doubtless be a mistake, but only a little one. And it was one that might be worth the price she would have to pay.
‘One kiss,’ she breathed. ‘One.’
With slow deliberation he brought his hands to her face and gently tilted her head towards him. She caught the light that kindled in his green gaze as he angled and lowered his head so he could brush his lips against hers in the softest, gentlest sweep.
That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t a real kiss. And suddenly she realised that she wanted a real kiss—one like that passionate encounter of the other night.
And then he was back, his mouth roving over hers and his tongue teasing her sensitive lips apart. She gasped and he was there, and all that giddy warmth flooded her. She closed her eyes and for the first time truly sank into it. He was so powerful. So commanding. And as he took his time and his care something shifted within her. Then shifted again.
Then he slowly eased the pressure, until he finally lifted his lips but kept his hands framing her face. She kept her eyes firmly closed.
‘Was it so awful?’ he prompted softly.
She didn’t want to look at him and admit the truth. She didn’t want to break the magic. She didn’t want to go back, or go forward in time, she just wanted to remain suspended in this moment of utter bliss.
‘Have I kissed you into a catatonic state?’
She laughed, an irrepressible bubble of delight bursting within her even as tears stung. She blinked them back, opening her eyes to see him—too close, too tender.
‘Oh, she breathes, she smiles. She lives.’ He was smiling at her, but there was that glint in his eyes. ‘Was it so terrible?’
She realised that under that arrogantly teasing question there was concern. Slowly she shook her head. ‘Why did you stop? You know you could have done...more.’
‘Because I wanted you to want more,’ he answered with an arrogant shrug. ‘I wanted to leave you wanting.’
His honesty was both shocking and thrilling. ‘Well that’s not fair.’
‘Actually, it is. You’ve left me wanting for days now.’
‘Unintentionally,’ she said indignantly. ‘I wasn’t even aware.’
‘You were aware.’
She looked down. She had been aware of the electricity between them. She just hadn’t been certain he felt it to the same degree as her. And she hadn’t known how to handle it.
She heard him give a muffled groan beneath his breath and he bent closer again.
‘I’m going to kiss you again, Kassie. And I’m going to touch you.’
Heat flooded her. ‘Where are you going to touch me?’
His smile flashed—wicked and approving—and it made her want to wriggle closer.
‘I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to cup and stroke your breasts until they’re tight and aching. And then I am going to slide my hand into your panties and touch you where you’re hottest. Where you’re already wet.’
Her jaw dropped. She was shocked at his explicitness.
‘Just my words make you wet.’ He took advantage of her parted mouth and kissed her again. Hot and fierce. ‘Just my words make you want it.’
She trembled and knew he felt it.
‘I think your body knows what it wants,’ he muttered. ‘I think it knows just what to do.’ He pulled her so she was lifted into his lap. ‘Are you going to let it?’ He kissed her throat. ‘Are you going to let me?’
Oh, there was no choice at all any more.
‘Kiss me...’ she breathed.
He didn’t hesitate—delivering the long, slow kisses that served to torment her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. Never had she known kissing could be so good. So different. So playful. So intense.
He nibbled her lips with a tug of his teeth and then licked the small sting, caressing it with his lips. His hands held her close as he teased her, playfully alternating between soft and shallow kisses and deep lush sweeps of his tongue right inside her mouth. Dizzying, drugging...delightful.
Her blood ran hot and hotter still, and she began to wonder if he’d meant what he’d said—if he was ever going to do what he’d promised: touch as well as kiss. She ached for him to go lower, to touch where he’d threatened so wickedly. She was tight and aching all over—not just her breasts but in that hot, secret part of herself.
She moaned—unable to verbalise it. She didn’t want to fight it any more, nor to wait. She wanted him to make this ache end.
Slowly, with infinite patience, he kissed down the column of her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin. As he went he gently slid his hand beneath the hem of her tee shirt and up to cup her breast. She gasped as his thumb stroked across the taut tip of her nipple.
‘Giorgos...’ she moaned.
He returned to kiss her mouth—the gentle teasing replaced with a fierce passion that she instinctively met. An innate urge drove her to suck on his tongue as he plunged it deep into her mouth. His groan of response only made her hungrier.
Readier.
His hand swept down across her stomach firmly. Finally. And she was on fire. She moaned again and writhed—twisting to try to get his touch where she wanted it. But he was strong, holding her still while he kissed her and stroked lower, and lower still, slipping his hand beneath the waist of her jeans, beneath the cotton of her panties.
In reflex she pressed her legs together, but all that did was trap his hand—there. Right there. His fingers teased. Skilful, knowing fingers. She squirmed as she fought to accept the overwhelming pleasure of his intimate touch.
And acceptance—indeed the need for more—won. Her legs parted and she recklessly pushed her throbbing source of desire against his hand. Because it
felt so good. He felt so, so good.
And he answered—giving her more, and then more still. That primal pulse thrummed between them. Her hips circled as he drew breathless moans from her until she arched, taut, every muscle screaming with tension as he held her suspended in that long moment of searing, aching need.
She convulsed as pleasure shattered her. Her cry was caught in his rapacious, hard kiss until he released her mouth, allowing her to gasp as she rode the waves he’d summoned within her. In a half delirium she glimpsed him gazing down at her with glittering satisfaction as she came apart in his arms.
She buried her face in his chest so she wouldn’t have to meet his searching gaze and he let her, as if he knew she was feeling too exposed, too vulnerable. His fingers stroked through her hair, holding her close, and she could feel the fast beat of his heart and the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he cradled her.
A slow spread of sweetness relaxed every cell, and then more than sweetness...euphoria. It was a joy so sharp she couldn’t contain it. She lifted her chin and smiled at him, even as her eyes welled with gratitude, and she felt the fizzing feeling of total goodness.
‘That was amazing,’ she whispered with unrestrained astonishment. ‘Just...amazing. I never... Gosh.’ She couldn’t think of the words to express it.
‘That was your first orgasm?’
Something flickered in his eyes as she nodded.
‘Thank you.’ She pointed her toes as another last spasm of delight rippled through her and puffed out a breath of amazement.
‘The pleasure was mine,’ he said gruffly. He stood, tossing her a little in his arms to hold her more easily. ‘It’s late, Kassie. It’s been a big day.’
And it wasn’t over yet.
Desire and anticipation hummed throughout her body as he carried her down the corridor to her room and placed her on that big white bed. She sat up, biting her sensitive lip as she wondered what he’d do now. She wanted him to stay close to her and do that again. All caution had burned away in the heat of her attraction to him.
But he pushed her back down on the mattress and then stepped back. ‘This time I think we really do need to walk away. I’m not ordering you. I’m asking you.’
‘Giorgos...’ she breathed.
He shook his head and backed away quickly. ‘Have mercy on me.’
Her heart lurched as he closed the door, leaving her alone in that beautiful bedroom. And she finally understood just what a wicked devil he was. He’d done exactly what he’d set out to do. He’d left her wanting.
More.
CHAPTER FIVE
KASSIE WOKE IN a rush, instinctively realising she’d slept late. Given the events of last night, the fact she’d had such a deep, dreamless sleep was incredible. But the big bed was decadently comfortable and the room temperature had been deliciously cool on her hot skin.
She quickly showered and dressed, adrenalin rippling through her veins as she darted along the labyrinthine corridor to his ‘lair’. She guessed he’d be there, at work already.
He was sitting at the large table, rather than on the sofa, clad in another of his suits. His frown didn’t lighten in the least as he glanced up from his open laptop to watch her walk into the room.
She closed the door and avoided looking at him by focusing on the papers in front of him. One sheet held an incredibly long list of engagements—dates, places, times, people who would be in attendance—but it was the newspapers next to it that claimed her attention.
Kassie’s thudding heart sank as she read the bold headlines. The media had gone after Giorgos in their coverage of the astounding news.
King Denied Romance!
Forced into Unhappy Engagement!
True love wins!
The photos they’d included of Giorgos were not kind—his expression was stern in every one—while each picture of Eleni showed her smiling and beautiful. In one she was looking up at her brother as if he were chiding her, but even Kassie understood now that he’d only wanted to do what was best.
‘Poor Eleni, bullied by her big brother.’ Giorgos’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Big, bad me.’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Kassie smiled. ‘It might be nice to have a protective brother...’
She almost wished she’d had one, to stand alongside her and stare down the jerks who’d harassed her.
She glanced at him. ‘Why have you gone all frowny face again?’
He was glaring at her. ‘I’ve already told you there is nothing brotherly about what I’ve done for you. Nor is there anything nice.’
He rose from the table and moved around to stand in front of her. That was all he did—just stood that little bit too close, studying her far too intensely with those gleaming eyes. And she reacted—aching for him to take those few inches closer to her.
‘Not brotherly,’ she choked. ‘I got that already.’
He fascinated her, and right now the shadows beneath his eyes were all too human, revealing hurt and worry. Had he got any sleep?
In embarrassment she realised far, far too late that while she’d had that ‘release’, he hadn’t. She’d gone to bed like the cat who’d got the cream and promptly fallen asleep, while he’d... He’d what?
She cringed as she realised she didn’t even know if he’d been aroused by what had happened. He’d made it all about her—her acquiescence, her pleasure—and taken nothing himself. He’d put her ahead of him. Just as he’d put Eleni ahead of himself now.
‘You’ve taken the blame instead of her,’ she said quietly. ‘Pinned yourself as the villain to protect her.’
‘The speculation will die down quickest that way,’ he said dismissively.
‘Eventually,’ she acknowledged. ‘But the commentary isn’t kind to you.’
He was being slammed in the press in a way he’d never been slammed before.
‘I can handle it.’
He shouldn’t have to. He’d only been trying to support his sister.
She skimmed the first paragraphs of the report. ‘So they’re saying you blocked her romance and that you don’t approve of her marriage.’
‘And they’re be right.’
‘You don’t really think that. I know you want her to be happy.’
‘Suddenly you think so much better of me?’ A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. ‘I’m thinking you must have slept peacefully last night.’
‘You’d never have let the marriage go ahead if you hadn’t decided to trust her.’ Kassie ignored his reference. He’d impressed her and, yes, that was quite a change from only a day ago. But it wasn’t because of the way he’d kissed her last night.
‘It was in the best interests of the country to get Eleni’s situation sorted quickly.’ He walked back behind the table.
‘It was in her best interests. She was your priority. Don’t deny that.’
‘She’s always been my first priority,’ he said dryly. ‘You just chose not to see it. But now it seems I’m not quite the monster you first thought.’
He frowned as he turned his laptop to face her. A news service was streaming on the screen.
‘It’s not just me they’ve latched on to. They’re still outside your apartment. And they’ve interviewed one of your co-workers. One who met Damon when he visited you. They put you and the hospital as the link between them.’
‘Just as you did.’ She shrugged.
She chose not to care what they thought of her. She’d heard it all when she was growing up.
‘But it wasn’t your fault.’ He turned to stare at the laptop screen again. ‘It was Eleni.’ He rubbed his hand over his forehead. ‘Nevertheless, it is better for them to think worse of me than her.’
‘You think they’d judge her if they knew the truth?’
‘Of course they would—you know that.’
‘The
re shouldn’t be anything wrong with a woman acting on her desires.’
He suddenly laughed. ‘Says you, the expert.’
She quietened, embarrassed and a bit hurt. He had no idea...
His expression turned regretful, and then surprisingly tender. ‘But it’s not like you don’t have any desires, is it, Kassie?’
She looked away from him. ‘Foolish ones. Ones that shouldn’t be acted on.’
‘Because you don’t want to be judged?’ He angled his head so he could keep looking into her eyes. ‘The way your mother was judged?’
‘I’ve already been judged. I was judged for years simply for being her daughter—the illegitimate child of the other woman,’ she said scornfully. ‘That fact made me an instant sex object in my home village when I was a teen and developed curves.’ Her gaze narrowed. ‘And boys and men don’t like it if you say no to them when they’ve cast you as the village floozy. Then they judge more. And then your reputation is sealed.’
He frowned. ‘Did no one defend you?’
‘Who was there?’
Her mother had kept to herself. Her schoolfriends had become jealous of the attention she attracted. She’d become isolated. And then her mother had got sick and she’d retreated completely.
‘That must have been tough on you,’ Giorgos said grimly.
‘It wasn’t so bad. I survived. And I no longer care what anyone says or thinks of me.’ She shrugged off his sympathy because she was stronger for her experience. ‘I just want to live my life the way I want to.’
‘That would be fair enough if you actually did. But you don’t. You don’t let yourself have that element to your life at all. And you’re right—a woman shouldn’t be judged at all differently from a man for having sexual desire.’
He glanced again at the screen.
‘You shouldn’t watch it,’ she said, because she did know how it hurt, even when you told yourself not to care.
‘I need to know what they’re saying so I can figure out my response.’
‘What’s your usual response?’
‘To say nothing. We never comment on personal issues within the royal family.’
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