by Maya Blake
‘How?’
‘One simple phone call to warn me and I wouldn’t be here…I wouldn’t be afraid of going to sleep each night because of hellish nightmares…’ A deep shudder raked his tall frame.
‘Oh, Theo,’ she murmured. He leaned into the hand she placed on his cheek for several seconds then he pulled away and tilted her chin up.
The vulnerable man was gone. ‘This changes nothing. I am what I am. Do you still want me?’
She swallowed. ‘Yes.’
Something resembling relief swept through his eyes. ‘You have half an hour and a lot of head-clearing air before we’re back on the boat. I suggest you use that time to think carefully about whether you want this to go any further. Because, once we cross the line, there won’t be any going back.’
CHAPTER TEN
THEO THREW THE REINS of the launch to the waiting crew member and turned to help her out. Her bare feet hit the landing pad and she swayed a little when the boat rocked.
Contrary to her thinking he would rush her back to the boat after his pronouncement, Theo had taken his time walking her back down the streets to the promenade and onto the beach that led to the pier.
Hell, he’d even taken the time to help her out of her shoes so they could walk along the shore.
But the plaguing doubt that perhaps he didn’t want her as much as her screaming senses craved him evaporated the moment she looked into his eyes.
Burnt a dark gold by volcanic desire, he stared down at her for several seconds before he demanded in a hoarse voice, ‘Well?’
She licked her lips and watched his agitated exhalation. ‘I still want you.’
‘Are you sure? There will be no room for regret in the morning, Inez. I won’t allow it.’
‘I’m not drunk, Theo. Besides, I wanted you this morning and I wasn’t drunk then. Or last week, or the first night we met.’
His nostrils flared as he dragged her close on the deserted lower deck. ‘That first night, you felt what I felt?’
An impossible attraction that had no rhyme or reason? ‘Yes,’ she answered simply.
He swung her up in his arms and strode into the galley and down the steps into his large, opulent suite. Somewhere along the line, her shoes fell from her useless hands. She knew they had because her fingers were buried in his hair, and her mouth was on his by the time he kicked the door shut behind them.
Their tongues slid erotically against each other as they explored one another, his forceful, hers growing bolder by the second. Because she knew he liked it, she nipped his bottom lip with her teeth.
His deep growl echoed inside her before he pulled away. Eyes on hers, he slowly lowered her body down his sleek length. Hard muscles and firm thighs registered against her heated skin and even after her feet hit the plush carpet she held onto him, fearful she’d dissolve into a pool of need the moment she let go.
‘I need to undress you,’ he said raggedly.
Unable to look away from him, she nodded. The dark purple knee-length dress was form-fitting and secured by a side zip. After a couple of minutes of frustrated searching, she laughed and pointed to the hidden zip beneath her arm.
With a dark curse, he lowered it and tugged the dress over her head.
He dropped the dress. He swallowed. Then he stared so hard she stopped breathing.
‘Thee mou, you’re so beautiful,’ he groaned.
The feeling suffusing her was different from her reaction to the incandescent hunger in his eyes. It was pleasure that he liked what he saw, that he might well pardon her for her inexperience.
Eager to experience more of the feeling, she reached for her bra clasp.
‘No,’ he commanded. He grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. ‘That’s my job. You don’t move.’
He drifted his fingers up her sides, eliciting a deep shiver that brought a satisfied smile to his lips. Her bra came undone a second later and he glanced down at her heavy breasts.
‘Do you know how long I’ve waited to taste these?’ He cupped one globe in his hand, lowered his head and flicked his wet tongue repeatedly over her nipple.
Fire scorched through her veins and her head fell back as pleasure surged high.
‘Theo,’ she gasped as he delivered the same treatment to her other nipple. Caught in the maelstrom of sensation, she wasn’t aware her nails were digging into his pecs until he hissed against her skin.
‘Take my shirt off, querida. I want to feel those nails on my bare skin.’
Fingers trembling, she complied with his demand, pulling the shirt off his broad shoulders and down his arms before giving in to the need to caress his bronzed skin. Heated and satin-smooth, his muscles bunched beneath her touch as she explored him.
But, much too soon, he was pulling her hands away, catching her around the waist and striding to the bed.
Depositing her in the middle of the king-sized bed, he stood staring down at her, one hand on his belt. The power and girth of him knocked the breath out of her lungs and a momentary unease sliced across her pleasure.
So far, Theo hadn’t commented on her inexperience but the evidence would become glaringly apparent in a few minutes. She opened her mouth to tell him but he was crawling over the bed towards her, his intense focus paralysing her to everything but the pleasure his eyes promised.
He kissed her again, deeper, more forceful than all the times before. She gave in to her need and buried her hands in his hair, scraped her nails along his scalp and won herself a deep groan of pleasure from him. His lips moved along her jaw to nip her earlobe before going lower to explore her neck and lower.
Once again, he suckled her breasts and once again she lost the ability to think straight.
‘You love that, don’t you?’ he observed huskily when he raised his head.
‘Sim,’ she groaned.
‘There are many more pleasures, anjo. So many more.’
His lips trailed down her midriff…he kissed his way to the top of her panties before he gripped the flimsy material in his hands. Expecting them to be ripped off—a notion that made her wildly breathless—she was surprised when he slowly and gently lowered them down her legs and drew them off.
Equally slowly, taking his time to savour her, he kissed her from ankle to inner thigh. When his mouth skated over her secret place, her hips arched off the bed in delirious anticipation.
She’d never imagined she’d want a man to go down on her but now she couldn’t imagine not feeling Theo’s mouth on her heated core.
At the touch of his mouth, she cried out, her body twisting as pleasure scythed through her. He tasted her so very thoroughly, his tongue, teeth and lips working in perfect harmony to drive her straight out her mind.
She slid ever closer to breaking point, both fearing and yearning for what lay ahead.
Theo slipped his hands beneath her bottom and pulled her even closer to his seeking mouth. With quick expert flicks of his tongue, he sent her careening over the edge.
Her scream was an alien sound, hoarse and pleasure-ravaged, her grip on the sheets tight as she was buffeted by blissful sensation.
He continued to kiss her until she calmed, then kissed his way up her body to seal her mouth with his.
The earthy taste of her surrender seemed to trigger an even more primitive reaction in him. By the time he lifted his head, his eyes were almost black with hunger.
‘Did Blanco make you feel like this?’ he grated.
She shook her head. ‘No.’
Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. ‘By the time I finish making you mine, you will not remember anyone else who came before me.’
Knowing he would discover her inexperience in a matter of minutes, she took a sustaining breath and blurted, ‘I never slept with Constantine. Theo, I’m a virgin.’
He froze in the act of reaching for a condom. Several expressions raced over his face before he spoke. ‘So I’m to be your first lover?’
She gave a jerky nod. ‘Yes.’
; Theo absorbed the news and tried to weigh which was the greater emotion swirling through him—shock or elation. The shock was understandable. But the elation, the fact that he was pleased he was to be her first? It’d never crossed his mind that she would be a virgin. But suddenly a few things fell into place. Her blushes, her furtive innocent looks, her surprise at his demanding kisses.
Another feeling rose to curl itself around his chest. Possessiveness.
The fact that he was to be her first made him want to beat his chest like a wild jungle animal. He ripped the condom packet open and stared down at her.
The look of apprehension forced him to slow down. He was moving too fast, possibly scaring her. Time to turn it down a notch.
‘I’ll go as slow as you want, querida, but I won’t stop,’ he warned. He couldn’t. He’d come too far. He wanted her too much.
I would’ve kept you… Perhaps even for ever.
His own words echoed in his head and yet another emotion swept over him. If they’d met in another time, would she be the one? The idea of Inez as his wife, the mother of his children if he’d been normal, washed over him. His heart raced as he stared down at her, so beautiful, so giving.
Thee mou, what the hell was he doing wishing for the impossible? He wasn’t normal…
‘I don’t want you to stop,’ she replied. Then she performed one of those actions that illuminated her inexperience. Her gaze flicked down to his groin and she bit her lip. She had no idea how hot that little gesture made him.
A groan ripped from his chest and effectively wiped away the useless yearning.
Planting his hands on either side of her, he parted her thighs with his and settled himself at her entrance.
‘Hold onto me, and feel free to dig your nails into my back if it all gets too much.’ He attempted a smile and felt a touch of relief when she returned it.
The seductive bow of her mouth called to him and, leaning down, he drove his tongue between her lips. Gratifyingly, she opened up to him immediately. He deepened the kiss and swallowed her groan.
Carefully, he nudged her entrance, fed himself slowly into her wet heat.
He froze as she tensed. ‘Easy, anjo. Relax,’ he murmured soothingly against her mouth.
With a rough little sound she complied. Except now the tension was channelled into him. The feel of her closing around him threatened to tear him apart. Lying in the cradle of her hips, a sense of wonderment stole over him he’d never felt before. And he wasn’t afraid to admit it scared the hell out of him.
‘Theo.’ She said his name with a touch of imploration and frustration that ramped up his tension. Never had he wanted to make it more right for a sexual partner.
He pushed deeper and felt the resistance of her innocence. Those nails dug in. Pleasure roared through him as he pulled back and looked into her beguiling face.
A face that held a touch of apprehension and breathless anticipation.
‘Please, Theo. I want you.’
Her husky entreaty was the final straw. With a hoarsely muttered apology, he breached the flimsy barrier and buried himself deep inside her.
She made a sound of pain that pierced his heart then her head was rolling back on a long moan that echoed around the room. He waited until she had adjusted to him. Then he pulled out and rocked back in.
‘Meu deus,’ she voiced her wonder.
‘Inez…’ he waited until her glazed eyes focused on him, then he repeated the move ‘…tell me how you feel.’
‘Fantastico,’ she groaned, and Theo was sure she didn’t realise she spoke her native tongue.
Her fingers spiked into his hair and when he thrust into her, she met him with a bold thrust of her own. His breath hissed out.
‘You’re a fast learner, querida.’ He increased the tempo and gritted his teeth for control when she immediately matched his pace.
All too soon her back arched off the bed, her chest rising and falling in agitation as she neared her climax. Hot internal muscles rippled along his length and he shut his eyes for one split second to rein in his failing grip on reality. Leaning lower, he took one tight nipple and rolled it in his mouth. Her cry of pleasure was music to his ears. He treated its twin to the same attention then lowered himself on her. Sliding his arms under her shoulders he brought her flush against him and thrust in fast, deep movements.
She screamed once before her teeth closed over the skin on his shoulder. Deep shudders rocked through her as her bliss pulled her completely under.
She bit him harder, her nails scouring his back as she rode the unending wave.
When her head fell back towards the pillow, he raised his head and looked at her face. The expression of wonder and ecstasy sheening her eyes finally sent him over the edge.
With a roar torn from deep inside him, he gave into the shattering release.
He clamped his mouth shut as new, confusing words threatened to burst free. Praise? Gratitude? Hell, adoration? When had he ever felt those emotions in connection to a woman he’d just bedded?
He buried his face in her neck and let the ripples of pleasure wash him away in silence. Until he could fathom just what the hell was going on beyond the chemical level with Inez, he intended to keep his mouth shut.
Inez slowly caressed her hands down his back, not minding at all that she was pinned to the bed by his heavy, muscled weight. Right at that moment, she couldn’t think of a better way to suffocate to death. The thought made her giggle.
Theo turned his head and nuzzled her cheek. ‘Not the reaction I expect after a mind-blowing orgasm but at least it’s a happy sound.’
Immediately her mind turned to the dozens of women he’d pleasured before her. Hot green jealousy burned through her euphoric haze and her hands stilled.
‘Hey, what did I say?’ His voice rumbled through her. When she didn’t immediately answer, he raised his head and stared down at her. ‘Inez?’
‘It’s nothing important,’ she replied. And it wasn’t.
Earlier this evening, she’d tried to make him see a different way. But he’d refused. This thing between them would last until his vendetta with her father was satisfied. She had no business thinking about what women had come before her or who would replace her once he was done with her family and with Rio.
She endured his intent gaze until he nodded and rose. The feeling of him pulling out of her created a further emptiness inside that made her heart lurch wildly.
Deus, she needed to get a grip. Her hormones were a little askew because she had experienced her first sexual act.
No need to descend into full melt-down mode.
She watched him leave the bed, his body in part shadow in the lamp-lit room. He entered the bathroom and returned a minute later with a damp towel. When she realised his intention, she surged up and tried to reach for the towel.
‘No,’ he murmured softly. ‘Lie back.’
Her face heating up, she slowly subsided against the pillows and allowed him to wash her.
Incredibly, the hunger returned as he gently saw to her needs and when he finally glanced back at her his nostrils were flared, a sign she’d come to recognise as a control-gathering technique.
Her nipples puckered and her body began to react to the look on his face.
‘You need time to recover.’
Her body refuted that but her head knew she needed to take time to regroup. When she nodded, he looked almost disappointed. He returned the towel to the bathroom but left the light on as he came back to bed. Getting into bed, he pulled the covers over their bodies and pulled her into his arms.
She settled her hand over his chest and felt his steady heartbeat beneath her fingers. They lay there in silence until another giggle broke free from her jumbled thoughts.
‘I’m beginning to get a complex, anjo.’ He brushed his lips over her forehead.
‘I believe this is the part where we make small talk after sex but I can’t come up with a single subject.’
She felt his smile
against her temple. ‘Wrong. Normally this would be the part when I either leave or do what I just did to you all over again.’
Her heart caught. ‘And?’
‘I’m trying to rein in my primal instincts and not flatten you on your back again.’
Feeling bolder than was wise, Inez opened her mouth to tell him that he needn’t hold it back for much longer. Instead a wide yawn took her unawares.
It was his turn to laugh. ‘I think the decision on small talk has been shelved in favour of sleep.’ He turned her face up to his and pressed his mouth to hers. Within seconds the kiss threatened to combust into something else. He pulled back with a groan and tucked her against him. ‘Sleep, Inez. Now,’ he commanded gruffly.
With a secretly pleased smile, she slid her arm around his waist, already feeling the drowsy lure of sleep encroaching.
* * *
She woke to moonlight streaming through the windows. The bedside lamp glowed and she judged that she’d been asleep for a few hours.
Beside her, Theo lay on his side, tufts of sleep-ruffled hair thrown over his forehead. In the soft lighting he looked younger and peaceful but still so damn sexy her breath caught just looking at him.
She suddenly needed to commit his likeness to paper. Her pad was next door in her suite. Slowly extracting herself from the arm he’d thrown over her, she pulled on his shirt and went to retrieve it.
Returning just as quietly, she settled herself cross-legged at the foot of the bed and began to draw. Every now and then she paused and took a breath, unable to fathom the circumstances she found herself in.
She was in bed with a man who was bent on destroying her family. And yet the overwhelming guilt she expected to feel was missing. Instead she yearned to save him from the demons that she’d glimpsed in his eyes when he spoke of his nightmares.
She swallowed as a well of sadness built inside her. Despite his outward show of invincibility she’d seen his battle. A battle he believed only revenge would win for him…
She froze as Theo made a sound. It was somewhere between a moan of pain and the bark of anger. His hand jerked out and then closed into a tight fist.
His whole body tensed for a breathless second before his chest started to rise and fall in agitated pants.
