What the Greek's Money Can't Buy

by Maya Blake

  ‘Okay.’ She licked her plump lower lip. ‘Sakis...can I go back to my desk?’

  His ire grew along with his hard-on. He grasped her waist. ‘After what just happened? No way.’

  She eyed the closed door with a longing he wanted transferred to him, preferably with single-minded devotion to the granite-hard part of his anatomy. ‘Please...’

  He tracked back over their conversation and sighed. ‘I can’t change who I am overnight, Brianna. Forgiveness comes easily to you, but I’m going to need time.’

  Her eyes widened even further with alarm. ‘I don’t want you to change...not unless you want to. I mean, I’m not invested in anything here...with you. Certainly not enough to warrant you going out of your way to make those sorts of reassurances.’

  Those words spilling from her lips sent him into the stratosphere. With a snarl born of frustration, anxiety and piercing arousal, he locked the door, caught her around the waist and swung her up in his arms.

  ‘Sakis!’

  ‘Let’s just see how invested you are, shall we?’

  ‘Put me down!’

  Ignoring her demand, he carried her to the desk she’d straightened so efficiently minutes ago. Setting her on the edge, he slashed one hand across the polished surface, sending the papers flying.

  ‘I seriously hope you don’t expect me to clean that up!’ Her colour was hectic, her breath coming out in pants as she glared at him.

  Yes, this was what he wanted: her fire, her spirit. He hated the sad, frightened, achingly lonely Brianna. He hated cool, calm and distant Brianna even more, especially after last night. Not after seeing the generous heart and fiery passion that resided beneath the prim exterior.

  ‘If that’s what I desire, then you shall do it, no?’

  Her chin rose and his senses roared. ‘In your dreams. My job description doesn’t include cleaning up after you. I’m not your chambermaid.’

  He caught her hands and planted them on his chest. ‘As of last night, your job description includes doing whatever pleases me in the bedroom.’

  Despite her protests, her fingers curled into his chest. He nearly shouted with triumph and relief. ‘We’re not in the bedroom. Besides, what about what I want?’

  His hand fisted in her hair, sought and found the hidden clasp and tugged. Vibrant golden hair spilled over his arm. Using it, he pulled her close until his jaw grazed her soft cheek. ‘Call this mutually beneficial therapy. Besides, I’m a quick study, glikia mou. I know exactly what you want.’

  Her breath caught, making him laugh. He pushed her back, using her slight imbalance to swiftly undo the single button of her jacket. It was off before she could take another surprised breath.

  ‘Sakis, for goodness’ sake! We’re in your office.’

  ‘My locked office. And it’s the end of the day for everyone else except us.’

  ‘I still think...’

  He kissed her, the temptation too much to resist. That it effectively shut her up was a great bonus, as was her fractured moan that vibrated through him.

  He made easy work of the zipper of her dress and slid it off with minimal protest. He didn’t notice what she wore beneath until he spread her backwards across his desk. A strangled choke made its way up his throat as he froze.

  ‘Theos, tell me you haven’t been wearing lingerie like these since you started working for me?’

  A provocative smile dispelled the nervous apprehension on her face. ‘Fine. I won’t.’

  She stretched under his gaze, arching her back in a sinuous move that made him think of a sleek cat. Over the top of the bustier bra that connected the garter to the top of her sheer stockings, the plump slopes of her breasts taunted him. His mouth watered and his fingers itched to touch with a need so strong he staggered forward. Roughly he pulled one cup down and circled a rosy nipple with his tongue.

  Her ragged cry of delight was music to his ears, because the knowledge that he wasn’t in this insane feeling alone soothed a stunned and confused part of him.

  He rolled the nub in his mouth and tugged with his teeth while he frantically undressed. Naked, he straightened and glanced down at her, spread across his desk like a decadent offering. Struck dumb, he just stared at her stunning perfection.

  ‘You’re about to tell me you’ve imagined me spread out like this across your desk, aren’t you?’ she asked huskily.

  Surprisingly, this particular scenario had never once crossed his mind. ‘No, and it’s a good thing too. I don’t think I’d ever have got any work done if I had a picture such as this in my mind,’ he rasped, his voice thick and alien. ‘I’ve imagined you elsewhere though—in my shower, across the back seat of my car, in my lift...’

  A shiver went through her. ‘Your lift?’

  ‘Ne. In my mind, my private lift has seen a lot of action featuring you in very many compromising ways. But this beats even my most fevered imaginings.’

  He continued to stare at the vision before him. He must have stared for too long because she started to squirm. With one hand he held her down. With the other, he pulled down the skimpiest thong ever created and slid his hands between her thighs. Her wet heat coated his fingers and in that moment Sakis believed he’d never been so turned on. The next moment, he realised he was wrong.

  Brianna laid her hand on his thigh and that simple action sent his heart rate soaring out of control. Then her hand moved upward...and her searching fingers boldly settled over his hard length.

  ‘Theos!’

  ‘Wrong deity,’ she responded saucily.

  His laugh scraped his throat as she gripped him hard. From root to tip, she caressed him, over and over, until he was sure he’d lost his hold on reality. His altered state was why he didn’t read her intention when she moistened her lip and wriggled down his desk. Before he could admonish her for not staying put, she boldly took him in her perfect mouth.

  ‘Brianna!’ He slammed a hand on the desk to steady himself against the deep shudder powering through him. The sight of him in her mouth nearly unmanned him. His breath hissed out as he fought not to gush his climax like a hormonal teenager right then and there. He groaned deep and long as her tongue swirled over him and her hand pumped, teased, threatened to blow his mind to smithereens. ‘Yes! Just like that!’

  He suffered the sweet torture until the tell-tale tightening forced him to pull back. When she clung and made a sound of protest, Sakis seriously considered giving in, but no...

  The chance to take her again, stamp his possession on her, was paramount. He needed to obliterate that distance he’d sensed her trying to put between them. The reason for it was irrelevant. The need was too strong to question.

  He trailed hot kisses down her body, making her squirm anew for him. The seconds it took to locate and put on the condom felt like decades. But at last he parted her thighs and positioned himself at her entrance. She lifted her head and looked at him, her expression one of rapt hunger that almost equalled his own.

  ‘Are you invested in this?’ he rasped.

  A glimmer of alarm skittered through her eyes. ‘Sakis...’

  ‘Are you? Because I am, Brianna.’

  Her mouth parted on a shocked exhalation. ‘Please, Sakis, don’t say that.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because you don’t mean it.’

  ‘Yes, I do. I fought it for as long as I could, but in the end it was no use. I want you. I want this. Do you want it too?’

  Her breath shivered out of her. ‘Y-yes. I want this.’

  He plunged into her, perhaps a little more roughly than he’d intended, but his need was too great. Watching her breasts bounce with each thrust, Sakis wondered if a heart had ever burst from too much excitement, too much need.

  Because, even as he took her to the brink, he realised it wasn’t enough
. He’d never get enough of Brianna. But this... Theos, this was a brilliant start. Later he would pause to examine his feelings a little bit more, reassure himself exactly what he was dealing with and how best to handle the strange feelings inside him. Because something was happening to him. Something he couldn’t define.

  As his brain melted from pleasure overload, he let his hands drift upward in a slow caress. His fingers grazed her scar and a feeling of primitive rage rose through him at the person who’d done this to her. If he hadn’t received Brianna’s reassurance that justice had been done, he’d have hunted the culprit down and torn him apart with his bare hands.

  Overwhelming protectiveness—another alien feeling he had to grapple with. Gripping her nape, he forced her up to receive his kiss as he surged one last time inside her, felt her spasm around him and let go.

  The rush was the best yet. With a groan that stemmed from his soul, he shut his eyes and gave in to it. It was a long time before reality descended on him again.

  * * *

  Brianna’s arms tightened around Sakis as their breaths returned to normal, fear clutching her heart.

  She’d spilled her guts to him about her mother. He’d been outraged on her behalf. He’d shown her sympathy that had touched her soul and made her realise that, while she’d forgiven her mother for an addiction she hadn’t been able to conquer, it was the pain of her abandonment when she was clean that hurt the most.

  But Sakis had readily admitted forgiveness was a rare commodity to him.

  She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter. Come Friday, when her time ran out, she would be out of here. Greg had taken to sending her hourly reminders of her deadline. To stop Sakis from getting suspicious, she’d put her phone on silent and zipped it out of sight in her jacket pocket.

  But her imminent departure wasn’t the reason she’d given Sakis a glimpse into her past.

  It was because she’d desperately wanted him to see her—not the ruthlessly efficient personal assistant but her, Brianna Moneypenny, the person who’d started life as Anna Simpson, daughter of a crackhead, and then had taken her grandmother’s maiden name and forged a new identity for herself.

  She’d bared herself to Sakis, and now she felt more vulnerable than ever.

  His stance on betrayal remained rigid. If he ever found out about her past, he would never forgive her for bringing her soiled reputation to his company.

  ‘I can hear you thinking,’ he said, his voice a husky muffle against her neck.

  ‘I’ve just had sex with you on your desk. That merits a little bit of thinking time, don’t you think?’

  ‘Perhaps. But, since it’s going to be a familiar feature in our relationship, I suggest you get used to it.’

  He heard her sudden intake of breath. Rearing up, he rested on his elbows and speared her with a probing look. One she couldn’t meet for long before she settled her gaze on the pulse beating in his neck. ‘The word “relationship” frightens you?’

  She willed her pulse to slow, forcing the hope that had no business fluttering in her chest to die a swift death. There could be no future between them. None.

  ‘Not the word, no, but I think this is going a little too...fast. We only started sleeping together last night.’

  ‘After eighteen months of holding back. I think asking for restraint right now is asking for the impossible. I’ll need several weeks at least to take the edge off.’

  She looked into intense green eyes. ‘You warned me at my interview, conducted across this very desk, not to even dream of getting involved with you.’

  He had the grace to look shamefaced, but even that look held a lethal charm that doomed her. ‘It was so soon after Giselle; I was still angry. Everyone I’d interviewed reminded me of her. You were the first one who didn’t. When I found myself getting attracted to you, I fought it with everything I had because I didn’t want that nasty business repeating itself.’

  Unable to resist, she slid her fingers through his thick hair. ‘She really did a number on you, didn’t she?’

  His smile was wry. ‘I’m not beyond admitting I was blinded to her true nature until it was much too late.’

  ‘Wow, I’m not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed that you’re fallible.’

  He straightened and picked her up from his desk as if she weighed nothing. ‘I never claimed to be perfect, except when it comes to winning rowing championships. Then I’m unequalled,’ he boasted as he started to stride across the office.

  ‘Modesty is such a rare and beautiful thing, Sakis.’

  His deep, unfettered laugh made her heart swell with pleasure. ‘Yes, so is the ability to state things as they are.’

  ‘No one will accuse you of being a wallflower. Wait, where are you taking me?’

  ‘Upstairs, to get you therapeutically wet and soapy in my shower.’

  ‘I think you’re taking this therapy thing a bit far. Sakis, put me down. Our clothes!’ She wriggled until he let her slide down his body to stand upright.

  ‘Leave them.’ He keyed in the code for his turbo lift.

  ‘Absolutely not. No way am I letting the cleaner find my knickers and stuff all over your office floor!’ She ran back and started gathering them. ‘And don’t just stand there, pick up your own damn clothes.’

  With a husky laugh, Sakis followed and picked up his discarded clothes. Then, because she really couldn’t stand to leave them, she gathered the strewn papers and placed them back on the desk. When his mocking laugh deepened, she rounded on him.

  ‘Next time, you pick them up yourself.’

  He caught her to him and smacked her lightly on the bottom. When she yelped, he kissed her. ‘That’s for disobeying me again. But I like that you admit there’ll be a next time.’

  She looked up and her gaze caught his. For the first time, she glimpsed a vulnerability she’d never seen before in his eyes. As if he hadn’t been sure she would let anything like what had happened occur between them again.

  Desolation caught at her heart. She would pay a steep price for letting this thing continue but the need to be with him in every way until she left was too strong. Going closer, she raised herself on tiptoe and kissed along his jaw.

  ‘There’ll be a next time only if I get to go on top.’

  * * *

  Sakis jerked awake to the sound of a phone buzzing. Beside him Brianna was out cold, worn out from the relentless demands he’d made of her body. The same lethargy swirled through him, making him toy with the idea of ignoring the phone.

  The buzzing increased.

  Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he started to reach for his phone, but realised the ringing was from Brianna’s.

  Getting off the bed, he hunted through their discarded clothes until he located the phone in her jacket pocket.

  Palming it, Sakis hesitated again. Relief coursed through him when it stopped ringing. But, almost immediately, it started to buzz again. With an impatient sigh, he pressed the button.

  ‘Anna?’ A man’s impatient voice, one he didn’t recognise. Not that he had first-hand knowledge of the men who called Brianna, of course... A spike of intense dislike filled him at the thought of anyone who’d been given the permission to call her...Anna?

  Sakis frowned. ‘You’ve got the wrong number. This is Brianna’s phone. Who is this?’

  And why the hell are you calling at three a.m.?

  Silence greeted his demand. A moment later, the line went dead.

  Sakis pulled the phone away and searched for the number. It was blocked.

  Dropping her jacket, he went back to bed and set the phone down on the bedside table. He tucked his arms beneath his head, unable to stem the unease that spiralled through his gut.

  He had no grounds to suspect anything other than a wrongly dialled number. It could
be pure coincidence that another man had called his lover demanding to speak to Anna.

  And yet, Sakis was still awake two hours later, unable to shake the mild dread. When the phone pinged with an incoming message, he snatched it up before it could wake her.

  With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he slid his thumb across the interactive surface. Again the number was blocked but the words on the screen iced his spine:

  Just a friendly reminder that you have three days to get me what I need. G.

  CHAPTER TEN

  IT’S NOTHING. YOU’RE blowing things out of proportion.

  Sakis repeated the words over and over as he pulled the handles of the rowing machine in his gym just after six o’clock. Right this moment he’d have loved to be doing the real thing but this wasn’t the time to jump in his car and drive to his rowing club, no matter how powerful the temptation.

  He smothered the voice that suggested he was running away from the truth.

  What truth?

  He didn’t know what the text on Brianna’s phone meant. Sure, the easiest thing would’ve been to wake her up and demand an answer. Instead, he’d got up, returned the phone to her jacket pocket and high-tailed it to the gym.

  He yanked on the row bars and welcomed the burn of pain between his shoulders and the sweat that poured off his skin. He tried to ignore the question hammering through his brain but the truth of his actions was as clear as the scowl he could see in his reflection in the gym’s mirrors.

  Are you invested in this? When he’d blurted those words out last night, he’d been stunned by the need to hear her answer in the affirmative. Because in that moment he’d realised just how truly invested he was in having Brianna in his life and not just as his personal assistant. Even now, with suspicion warring with his new-found intentions to trust more and judge less, the thought of not having her around made a red haze cloud his senses.

  You have three days to get me what I need...

  Was it a professional request? Who would be making such a demand of her professionally?