by Kait Gamble
There wasn’t much she wouldn’t let him do. The thought should have shamed her, but nothing was stopping the thrill that Nikos was able to incite.
In reply, she held his gaze as she went to work on his shirt buttons. Nikos helped with tearing motions that quickly divested himself of his clothing and sent them into unknown parts of the room.
It took him seconds longer to undo and kick his trousers off. Nikos took moments more to put on a condom, then he sank into her. His eagerness and enthusiasm added to her own excitement.
He plunged deeply, his stroke long and grinding when their hips met. Kendra met him thrust for thrust as well as she could, considering she was pinned between him and the soft sofa. She had little to no leverage. Not that it mattered. Nikos was able to spark pleasure through her system without any help on her part.
Wrapping her leg around his hip, she opened herself up, anchored herself to him as if she never wanted to let go.
And she didn’t. Kendra knew that without these men there would be a very large void in her life. One that she would only fill with work and just about anything to distract her from the aching hole they would leave behind.
She couldn’t think about that now. Not with Nikos doing such delicious things to her.
He held her gaze, probing the depths of her eyes just as well as his cock did her pussy. As if he could read her thoughts, he kissed her, redoubling his efforts and igniting the first embers of her orgasm. It started in her toes, curling them and contracting the muscles in her legs as it spread upward until her entire body bowed under his in a delicious contortion as her inner muscles gripped him.
Nikos grinned as he slowed his thrusts, drawing out her pleasure.
Jaw slack, Kendra rode the waves of pleasure, enjoying it immensely and wanting to bring him the same.
“One more, agapi mou. Come for me one more time.”
Nikos pushed himself up, holding himself off her torso, changing the angle of his thrusts. Somehow letting him reach deeper with each dragging stroke of his cock. Kendra felt every ridge of it as it slid past her sensitized skin, quickly building her up to another knee-knocking, sublime climax.
She wanted him to come with her this time. Kendra propped herself up on one elbow to lick his nipple while she trailed her hand over her stomach to tease herself and him where their bodies met.
He groaned again, biting his lip as she toyed with her clit and grazed his erection while he drove into her.
“Minx,” he hissed, pushing hard and deep. He came with a hoarse shout as he pulsed inside her. The sensation triggered her own orgasm and, with pleasure exploding in her system, she cried out his name.
After a long moment, Nikos’ arms gave out leaving him nowhere to go but to be half sprawled on top of Kendra.
Not that she minded. There was little that was better than the feeling of Nikos warm and spent against her.
“I‘m squashing you.”
He tried to shift aside, but Kendra held on to him. “No, I like it.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Though the pleased smirk belied his words. Nikos ran his lips along her chin and down the column of her throat. “But I wouldn’t give up a chance to be skin to skin with you for anything.”
She didn’t want to acknowledge it, but Kendra couldn’t deny that she felt the same way.
Arching against him, she sighed happily. “I really should think about getting ready for the shoot.”
“Not yet. A few more minutes.” From the heavy lids of his eyes, she would wager that in a few more minutes he would be fast asleep.
“You work too hard. You shouldn’t have rushed back.”
He scoffed. “I wanted to be here with you. What else could I do?” Stretching deliciously against her, Nikos forced a smile. “I just need an espresso or two and I’ll be fine.”
Was that how he usually got through the day? It was awful. But was it really that different from her usual routine of smoothies and coffee?
Rolling her eyes, she just let herself relish the feel of him against her while she could.
All too soon there was a knock at the door an instant before it swept open.
Nikos reacted swiftly, jumping up and shielding her naked body with his own.
Whoever had just walked through the door was definitely getting an eye full. Kendra quickly wrapped the sheet around them both just as Dmitri walked into view with a tray of what was presumably breakfast.
A sly smile spread over his lips when he saw them. “Morning, Kendra. Nikos.” There was no judgment, no censure, just amusement. “I’m sorry I was gone so long. I had hoped to be back before you woke, but I got held up.”
“That’s fine.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks, knowing that she was turning as pink as a teenager who had just been caught playing doctor.
“Relax, kotenok.” He pressed a kiss to her hot cheek, as if to prove that he was fine with catching her naked with another man in the living room, obviously in the afterglow of sex. “I’ve brought some food and coffee. And if Nikos had bothered to give us a bit of a heads up, I would have brought him something as well.”
Nikos shrugged. “I called room service. Someone should be here with my order soon enough.”
Dmitri nodded as he put everything down on the coffee table before eyeing them both. “Need a minute?”
“That would be great.” Nikos bundled her close and ushered her to the bedroom. “Are you okay? You’re trembling.”
Kendra forced herself to take a long fortifying breath. “I feel like I was caught cheating or something.”
He wound his arms around her. “You truly are innocent, aren’t you?”
Kendra barely heard the question. She was still trying to get over her reaction to Dmitri’s and Nikos’ non-reaction. Was this what it was like in their world? This just drove home how she didn’t belong in it.
“Let’s just get some robes on and have some breakfast.” She had a long day ahead of her and already her head was getting messed up.
Nikos snagged her hand and tugged her toward him. “Are you all right?”
Not really. “Yeah. Just conflicted and confused, I guess. I need a moment to get my head on straight for the shoot.”
Though his eyebrows furrowed, he nodded. Nikos quickly found the robes and helped her into one before putting the other on himself.
Kendra hurried to the door, but stopped when he said, “Things have a way of working out. Sometimes all it takes is a little faith.”
She wished she could believe that.
When she walked into the living area, Dmitri was at the window on the phone. He waved her toward the table. Next to it sat a cart laden with food that Nikos must have ordered. Curious to see if their ideas of breakfast were the same, she lifted the domes one by one.
Under them she found an assortment of fruit and pastries, coffee and tea. Kendra quickly grabbed a flakey, deliciously buttery croissant. Holding it between her teeth, she flipped through a stack of newspapers that had been delivered with the food. She found it quaint that they chose to flip through them as well as get the latest news on their phones or tablets. Kendra had noticed that it seemed to be a quirk with many people that stayed at the hotel.
She bit straight through the croissant when she reached the third. It was a tabloid probably brought up for her. But on the front was the glaring headline—That’s not Kiki Brandt. That’s my sister.
She barely caught a glimpse of the photos on the cover of herself, Nikos and Dmitri exiting the hotel together before she crumpled the paper in her hands.
Charlie. It had to be. Who else would come up with that headline? This was her latest get-rich scheme?
Gritting her teeth, Kendra fought the urge to run to her phone to scream at her sister. Charlie had no idea what she’d put at risk. Not that she ever did. All she could think of was making a quick buck.
Blood rushing in her ears, Kendra quickly flipped through the other papers to see if there were any others, but thankfully there were
none. She had to get it out of there, then she would take Charlie to task.
Had Dmitri noticed anything?
A quick glance at him proved fruitless. He seemed to be engaged in a serious conversation, but when he turned to catch her watching him, he smiled and it seemed genuine. Surely, if he thought she was capable of such deceit, he wouldn’t have come back let alone have smiled at her.
And the guilt came back in waves.
Her grip on the paper loosened a little. Maybe it was time to come clean? She could just put the paper down, they would see the glaring headline and she could explain the circumstances. They would understand, surely.
Or they would see a conniving, grasping woman who wanted their money so badly she was willing to lie about it. Willing to sleep with them both and wouldn’t choose between them because she was doing nothing more than hedging her bets.
The description made her cringe inwardly. For two men like them, it was probably an easy conclusion to leap to since they more than likely dealt with women who filled that description on a daily basis.
The very real possibility that they would consider her one of them constricted her chest and cramped her stomach as she balled the paper in her hands once again.
This was getting too stressful. Too real.
Kendra cared about them. What they thought of her mattered. There was no way she could make everything she had done look other than self-serving, because it was. It would all turn out for her benefit, wouldn’t it?
Her stomach rolled. No matter what she felt for them, all her lies would eventually ruin any chance she had with either man. And that hurt more than anything else. Made everything that she wanted to accomplish from those lies pale in comparison.
She had been an idiot thinking that everything would work out for her this time. When did it ever?
Berating herself for having been such a fool, she kicked herself mentally. She had actually thought her life was finally getting better and now Kendra couldn’t think of a way out of the hole she had dug for herself. There was nothing she could do to redeem herself in their eyes.
“Kendra? Is something the matter, kotenok?” Dmitri closed the distance between them with only a few steps to cup her cheeks.
He could obviously see what was clearly on her face. She was panicked and freaking out over the jumble of emotions that were coursing through her.
“Last day jitters,” she muttered. Last day, indeed. It was probably the last time she was going to see either of them looking at her with any sort of affection in their gazes.
He hummed understandingly. “Everything will be fine. Wonderful, in fact.”
If he only knew.
She muttered something, Kendra wasn’t sure what. She was numb and couldn’t hear anything past the roaring of blood in her ears.
Taking a big step back, she avoided his gaze as she mumbled, “I’m going to take a shower and get ready for the shoot.”
“Of course.” Dmitri pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Relax. Everything will work out. I promise.”
Kendra tried her best not to wince outright at his sweet words.
After hurrying back to the bedroom, she grabbed the first items of clothing she could find then headed to the bathroom.
Nikos stepped out just as she came within arm’s reach of the door.
“All yours.” He smiled and stepped aside, but must have caught the tension in her, because he stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Is everything all right?”
She didn’t look up from the open vee of the robe and the still wet skin glistening there. “Just tense. I’ll be out in a minute.”
She lifted her gaze when he hesitated.
Unconvinced, he frowned but let her pass. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
Nope. Nothing he could do. “Thanks.”
Slipping past him, she rushed into the bathroom as quickly as she could and shut the door.
Kendra turned on the shower and sat on the toilet to try to figure out what she was going to do now. As far as she could tell, she was royally screwed. No matter how she turned it over in her head, there was nothing she could do to redeem herself. What she thought would be a passing fancy on their part—on hers—had turned into something more. They were planning ahead and they had her playing a part in their futures. She was beginning to imagine what life would be like with them continuing to play a part in it.
Never in a million years had she thought she could be with anyone like them and now she could be. If she hadn’t lied her ass off to get in their lives in the first place.
It was all so absurdly ironic and laughable that all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. The last thing she needed was to end up a tear-stained, puffy mess.
That was if she even made it as far as the shoot. Kendra couldn’t help the thoughts of fleeing that flitted through her mind. She could easily sneak out through the bowels of the building and back to her apartment to hide. But what good would that do? Was there anywhere in the world where they wouldn’t find her? And after what she had done to them, would anything stop them? Kendra knew if someone had done to her what she’s was doing to them, there would be no forgiveness.
She smoothed out the paper so she could take a closer look. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. The headline still made her cringe, so Kendra flipped straight to the article.
After a quick skim, she breathed a little easier.
While it came out and said that she was a fraud, there was no named source and the newspaper itself wasn’t exactly a fountain of credible information. Still, the idea was out there now. Kendra didn’t need that gaining traction.
She spent a few seconds just taking in the photos of herself, Nikos and Dmitri before crumpling it up again and throwing it in the bin. She dropped the robe and stepped into the shower, hoping that it would clear her head a little, but not even the toiletries made her feel any better.
She dried off, slipped into her clothing before pulling her hair back into a ponytail. The stylists were going to have to worry about her face and hair anyway. Kendra just couldn’t muster the strength or will to care.
Dmitri was nowhere to be seen when she walked into the living room. Nikos was dressed in another perfectly tailored suit as he nursed an espresso and flipped through a newspaper.
He looked up and smiled. “Feeling better?”
Not one bit. “Still tired.”
“I suppose Nikos and I have something to do with that.” Dmitri strode in with a coffee of his own and stood across from Nikos. But the smirk on his face told her that he thought he had more to do with it than the handsome Greek currently glaring at him.
“We shall see what happens tonight,” Nikos murmured. He gave Kendra a wink before he stood. “Shall we get going?”
“I’m ready whenever you are.” All she needed was to pick up her purse…
Where was it?
Dmitri picked it and the phone that had fallen out of it up. It must have fallen out when she’d slung it aside the night before. And of course it chose that exact moment to ring.
To his credit, Dmitri didn’t even look at the screen before handing it to her—thankfully, since it was Charlie and her name flashed on the screen as clear as day.
Knowing she couldn’t talk to her without unleashing all the anger and frustration she was holding on to, Kendra swiped the screen to reject the call. She was aware of the looks the two men gave each other as she stuffed the phone into her purse and forced a smile, as lackluster as it was.
“Shall we?” She aimed the question at the wall.
“Kendra?” Nikos stepped between her and the wall. He bent to look her in the eyes. “There’s something we should talk about—”
Panic exploded and she shook her head, blurting, “I need to focus.” Kendra bounded for the door before they could say anything else.
She rushed down the hall as fast as she could, not that she could get away from them. The men’s long strides ate up the dista
nce easily.
The elevator ride was silent. Awkwardly so. Kendra kept her attention fixed on a spot directly in front of her unwilling to look at either of the devastatingly handsome men in the small space with her. Their presence blotted out everything else. The sheer force of their masculinity caused her knees to wobble.
Or it could have been the fear that any second now she was going to cry out the truth and lose both men forever that made her limbs feel like jelly.
Kendra led the way out of the elevator when they reached the lobby. She was ready to make a blind rush outside to the curb, but made herself slow down. She needed to breathe.
In the back of the car, she closed her eyes and tried her best to de-stress. As if that was possible when she was pressed thigh to thigh with Dmitri and Nikos. They seemed to be content to let her be, but Kendra could sense the tension thrumming in them as well. How could she not when she was in such close proximity?
Chapter Twelve
When they arrived, not a word was spoken as they filed out of the car and onto the shoot.
This time it was a white winter wonderland, Kendra’s perfect dream world. She’d always loved the snow and the set was astounding. The stage was set with trees and the ground covered in fake snow that glittered like the diamonds she was sure to be putting on soon.
Her mood lightened a little just looking at it. It was as though they had plucked the fantasy out of her head and made it real. Not that it was possible. Who would know this was what formed in her mind when she thought of her happy place?
It was serene, pristine and utterly beautiful.
She took a moment to just soak it all in before her now-familiar team of makeup and hair people arrived to sweep her away.
Dmitri grazed her hand with his while Nikos smiled encouragingly.
Nikos had a lot riding on this. He might have played it down, but she knew that he had to have pulled some major strings to get her the job. She didn’t want him to feel as if he’d misplaced his trust, even if it was in Kiki and not her. It was something that was within her control and she would make sure that he wouldn’t be let down.
