Hidden Truths (Truths and Lies Duet Book 1)

by Nikki Ash

  “Kostas!” she cries out, the need making her fussy.

  “Yes, zoí mou?”

  “I need you.”

  Her breath sucks in sharply when I press slightly into her. Our eyes meet, and though hers are wild and frantic, they’re begging me to erase whatever fuckface who hurt her before. Fucking gladly. I thrust into her deep, loving the way her eyes bulge in shock. My lips meet hers and I kiss her deeply, keeping my hips still so she’ll adjust to my size.

  I kiss along her cheek to her ear. When I nibble her lobe, her cunt clenches around me.

  “Ahhh,” I croon against her ear and then nip at her throat. Her body tightens around me once more. “You like being bitten as much as I like to bite. What a match made in hell we are, woman.”

  I slide my palm to her hip, gripping her tightly. Possessively. I’ll never let her go. Not now. Not after I’ve had her as mine.

  One of her hands claws at the rocks as though she’s trying to get away, but we both know she loves being in my grip.

  “Do you believe Pluto was hurting Proserpina now, my wife?”

  “Kostas,” she whines.

  “He couldn’t let her go,” I murmur, clutching her hip hard enough it’ll certainly bruise. “But he would never hurt her.”

  “You think?” she chokes out. “You think he loved her?”

  “I think she loved him too.”

  She moans and digs her nails into my shoulders when I thrust hard. Again and again. Her slick juices provide the most delicious lubricant. I want her coming with me, though, and with rocks digging into her spine, I don’t know if she’ll reach that height by my dick alone. My hand slides between us and I rub at her throbbing clit, loving the way she clenches around me with each rub. It doesn’t take long until she’s squirming and screaming my name. As soon as she comes, I buck into her wild and hard. When my nuts seize up, I latch onto her neck with my teeth and growl against her flesh as my release floods inside her. My hips flex a few more times until she’s milked every ounce of cum from my dick. Feeling boneless, I relax against her and kiss her neck.

  “I’m going to have to carry you up those motherfucking stairs, aren’t I?”

  She laughs, breathless. “That’s what good husbands do.”

  “What if I’m a bad husband?”

  “Save being bad for when we make it to the hot tub on the deck. Then you can be the bad husband all you want.” Her fingers thread into my hair, making my softening cock twitch back to life. “Now carry me out into the ocean so we can swim. I have about four hundred rocks that need removing from my ass.”

  Sassy fucking girl.

  Talia

  The eggs are frying in the pan, the bacon is sizzling in the oven, and the bread is toasting in the toaster. While I move the eggs from one side of the pan to the other, my eyes are stuck on the window just above the stove. The one that overlooks Agia Fotia Beach. The crystal clear blue water turns darker and darker the farther out it goes until it’s the darkest shade of blue-black. Not quite black, but not blue either. The perfect mixture of dark and light.

  It reminds me of my life. In Italy, it was the lightest shade of blue. The shallow parts of the ocean, where you can see. Where it’s safe. My mom. Alex. School. My friends.

  Here, in Crete, I’m swimming in the black waters. The darkest, deepest part. Where you can’t see inside the water. Where it’s dangerous. Aris. Niles. Ezio.

  And then there’s Kostas. He’s the blue-black. The mixture. Not quite dark, but not light either. He’s the part just after the shallow waters, where you step down and are shocked by just how deep it is, but you’re still able to stand. Your head is just above the water, and you can still breathe. It’s the best part of the ocean. The water is warm, and you’re fully emerged. You’re comfortable. Far enough out to make you feel like you’re dangerous, but still knowing you’re safe.

  That’s what Kostas does to me. He makes me feel safe.

  “Your eggs are burning,” a deep, throaty voice says from behind me, bringing me back to what I was doing. Kostas’s hands encircle my waist, and his lips find my neck. Nibbling on the sensitive part of my flesh. I find myself leaning into him, soaking up his warmth, his depth. “Good morning,” he rasps before stepping back and leaving me alone in the shallow end, where it’s cold. I used to like the shallow end. It was safe. Now, I suddenly find myself craving deeper, warmer waters.

  Clicking the stove and oven off, I move the pan of eggs off the heat and take the bacon out of the oven. Grabbing the toast out of the toaster, I make us both a plate of food and set them on the table, along with two coffees and orange juice.

  “Good morning,” I say back.

  Kostas finds his seat first, and when I’m about to sit across from him, he grips the curve of my hip and pulls me into his lap.

  “Kostas!” I squeal at his playfulness. He situates me so I’m sitting bridal style with my arm around his neck. Taking a forkful of eggs, he brings them to my lips before he takes the fork away and takes the bite of food, moaning dramatically.

  “Give me some!” I smack his chest, and he chuckles darkly. The sound does strange things to my body. He piles some more onto his fork and this time slides the fork past my lips.

  “I have some business I need to take care of today,” he says, taking a piece of bacon and running it along my bottom lip before I take a playful bite, nipping at the tips of his fingers. He growls lowly but also smirks playfully. The perfect mix of blue-black.

  “How long will you be gone for?” I ask, picking up a piece of bacon and feeding it to him. He takes the entire slice into his mouth like the damn caveman he is.

  “I should be back by dinner time. Adrian will be around watching you.” He pulls my face toward his and traps my bottom lip between his teeth before he licks across my flesh. “Behave, and I’ll take you to dinner when I return.”

  After cleaning up after breakfast, I throw on my bathing suit, a pair of cut-off jean shorts, and flip-flops, then head down to the beach for a walk. With Kostas renting us this home, the beach we’re on is private, cut off from the rest of the world. With the only sound coming from the waves crashing against the shore, it’s serene and peaceful. My own little piece of heaven.

  Unrolling the towel from the bag I’ve packed, I lie down on it and pull up my Kindle app on my phone so I can get some reading in. The sky is shining down, and the wind is whipping around my face, calming my heartrate, and before I know it, my eyes are fluttering shut.

  Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

  My eyes pop open, and for a second I forget where I am. That is until I feel the salt sticking to my limbs and remember I’m on the beach in southeast Crete.

  Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

  Grabbing my phone from where I left it next to me, I answer the call without looking to see who it is. “Hello.”

  “Talia, cara mia. How are you? How was the funeral?” My mom. I spoke to her briefly after I was almost taken so she knew I was okay. She cried and begged me to come home, but she knew it wasn’t happening. I haven’t spoken to her since the funeral, and I know she’s concerned about Kostas. More about his reaction than how he’s handling his feelings toward his mother’s death. I haven’t brought my mom up to him, and he hasn’t either. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Eventually, I’m going to want to visit my mom, or have her visit me, so I imagine I’m going to have to broach the subject and see where he stands, but right now, it’s too soon. His wound is still too deep.

  “It was okay,” I tell her. “Sad, of course. How are you? How’s Stefano?”

  Mom breathes out a sigh, her telltale sign she’s about to tell me something I’m not going to like. “We’re okay. But…we…umm…received your bill for your classes for next semester.” The classes I signed up for just before I was taken to Crete and told I would be marrying Kostas.

  “I’ll go online and cancel them,” I say, each word getting caught in my throat. “I don’t want to waste your money when we know I won’
t be back.” And I won’t be graduating. Tears of hopelessness fill my eyes.

  “I looked online,” Mom says. “Did you know there’s a college near you in Agios Nikolaos?”

  My chest blooms with hope. I didn’t even think to look at colleges here. I was too busy fighting off psycho rapists and potential kidnappers.

  “I can email you the info,” she adds.

  “That would be great. Thank you, Mom.” I miss her so much. Her hugs and kisses. Her comfort.

  We talk for a few minutes about the school, and the more information she gives me, the more I want to check it out. After we hang up, I click on the email she sent and browse the online catalogue. It has all the classes I need to finish my degree. Now it’s just a matter of convincing my thick-headed husband to let me go.

  And then an idea blooms…

  The door slams shut, and I quickly light the candles I found at the market to create a romantic ambiance. Standing, I run my sweaty palms down my tiny black dress—another find at the market—and quickly fluff my hair as I wait for Kostas.

  There’s a crash and a bang and then a “Fuck!” followed by “Talia! Why the fuck is it so dark in here?” Kostas enters the dining room and stops in his place. The brightness of the candles hit his eyes and I can see the irritation in them. He’s had a bad day. And my heart sinks. This isn’t going to go over well.

  “What’s all this for?” he asks, taking in the candles and dinner and me in my dress.

  “Surprise.” I shrug, attempting to smile even though my nerves are getting the best of me and my entire body is now trembling. “I made you dinner.” I lift the metal lid, exposing the chicken parmesan, pasta, and broccoli. Kostas eyes me speculatively but doesn’t say a word, sitting in his seat.

  “It’s Italian,” I tell him, taking his lid off, and then filling his glass with an Italian white wine I found.

  “It smells good,” he says with a small smile. “Thank you.”

  I sit adjacent to him and we begin eating in silence. When I can’t take it anymore, feeling as if this night is going to shit, I break the silence. “How was your day?”

  His fork, which was halfway to his mouth, stops, and he sets it down. His jaw ticking. “Talia, what is this all about?” he asks, waving his hand over the table and ignoring my question.

  I could lie and tell him this was just my way of being romantic, but something tells me that Kostas will appreciate my truth more than my lie. “I spoke with my mom today,” I say, watching his face for any reaction. His hazel eyes go the tiniest bit darker, and his teeth clench together. Both signs he’s not a fan of my mom. Both signs it’s probably best to keep her out of our conversation for the time being.

  “And?” he prompts dryly.

  “There’s a college—”

  “No,” he says, cutting me off.

  “You didn’t even let me finish!” I screech, already losing my patience.

  “I don’t need to. You’re not leaving me, ever. End of conversation.”

  “Well”—my eyes narrow on his, hitting him with my fiercest glare—“if you would let me finish, I was about to say the college is in Crete.”

  Kostas’s eyes soften a notch, and I take in a deep breath.

  “I only have one year of school left. I’ve already completed three years, and I would really like to finish. It would mean a lot to me.”

  I wait with bated breath for him to say something. Anything. But when he finally does, I want to reach over the table and choke him.

  “We’ll see.”

  We’ll see? We’ll see? Is he freaking serious right now?

  “That’s what my mom used to tell me when I was a child and she didn’t want me to throw a temper tantrum over her telling me no.”

  Kostas lifts his gaze from his plate, raising his brows slightly, and then goes back to eating, as if that look is the end of the conversation.

  “That’s it?” I hiss. “You have nothing else to say? Just ‘we’ll see?’”

  Kostas drops his fork onto his plate, and it makes a loud clanging sound that causes me to flinch. “I’ve had a shit day, and the only thing I want to think about right now is sinking my cock into your tight cunt and getting lost in you. But you made this dinner, so I’m trying to enjoy it so I don’t hurt your feelings. So, yes, Talia. ‘We’ll see’ is the only answer you’re getting from me right now.”

  I’m not sure whether to gasp at his dirty words, or swoon over the fact that even after he’s had a bad day, and the last thing he wants to do is sit at this table and eat dinner with me, he is just for the sake of my feelings.

  Leaning across the table, I blow out the candle, then stand, making my way around the table and extending my hand. “How about we skip the dinner and move onto the dessert?” I hit him with my most dramatic Marilyn Monroe wink, and Kostas grants me the smallest smile.

  With our hands entwined, I walk us outside and onto the deck where I’ve already turned on the hot tub and have the jets and bubbles going. Kostas stands near the edge, eyeing me with lust-filled eyes as I shimmy off my dress, leaving me in only a super-tiny white bikini that barely covers the important parts.

  “Did you wear that anywhere other than under that dress?” he asks, his lids hooded over. For a brief moment I want to lie and tell him I have, just to see what he’ll do, but instead I go for the truth. My goal is to calm him down, not rile him up more.

  “Nope, only for you.” I saunter over to him, adding a bit more sway in my hips, and he groans lowly, liking what he sees. “Your turn.” He’s dressed more casual than usual, in a button-down shirt and dress pants. No tie or jacket. And he’s barefoot. He must’ve taken his shoes off at the door.

  After removing his shirt and pants, and setting them on the lounge chair, I reach for his briefs. Hooking them around my thumbs, I pull them down slowly, bending with them until my face is eye level to his dick. And holy hell, is it a nice dick. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen—Aris doesn’t count because he never gave me the opportunity to take a look before he brutally shoved it inside me—so I have nothing to compare it to. But Kostas’s is neatly trimmed and smooth. He’s already hard, and a tiny pebble of pre-cum is lingering on the tip of his mushroom head.

  According to my Cosmopolitan article online, the key to giving good head is to tease, so that’s exactly what I plan to do.

  I back up until I’m at the edge of the hot tub, and then I step down inside, taking a few seconds to adjust to the hot water. I pat the edge of the porcelain, indicating for Kostas to join me. Once he’s sitting on the edge, with only his feet in the water, I spread his thighs and grip his shaft lightly with my fingers. He watches me intently but doesn’t say a word as I lift up until I’m hovering over the top of his dick and then take him all the way into my mouth. Remembering the article said to use tongue, I run my tongue along his smooth skin. He tastes like a mixture of salt and soap.

  “Jesus, woman,” he groans. His fingers weave into my hair, but he doesn’t push down. Instead, he grips my hair tightly and lifts my chin so I’m forced to look at him. “Keep that up and your ‘we’ll see’ may be upgraded to a maybe.” He smirks devilishly, and my thighs clench in need.

  He releases my hair, and I go back to what I was doing. My tongue darts out and swipes across the tiny slit of his swollen head, the saltiness of his pre-cum hitting all of my senses. I lick and suck. Taste and tease. And then wrapping my lips around him, I take him all the way down. Kostas groans, then pulls me off his dick, my lips making a popping sound from the saliva.

  “I wasn’t done,” I whine, at the same time Kostas growls, “Need to be in you. Now,” as he lifts me by my hips and drops his body into the water. His hand finds the material of my bottoms, and with one tug, he yanks them off my body and pulls me directly onto his dick, filling me to the hilt.

  “Fuck. Yes.” His head goes back, and his eyes close. His hands are still holding on to my hips, but he doesn’t move, seeming content to just sit here with his dick buried inside
me.

  After a long beat, his head lifts, and his eyes meet mine, reminding me of the ocean this morning. Warm honey around the edges with cool shades of green mixed in. Dark meets light. Dangerous meets safe.

  “Ride me, baby,” he demands, and even though I have no clue what the hell I’m doing, I do exactly what he asks, suddenly wanting—no, needing—to please him. Not so he’ll say yes to me going to school. Not to calm him down after his shitty day. I need to please him because pleasing him means pleasing myself.

  With my hands firmly gripped onto Kostas’s shoulders, I begin to ride him. Up and down. Side to side. I get lost in the feeling of Kostas deep inside of me. He nuzzles his face into my hair, biting and nibbling on my neck. And then his thumb is at my clit, and with a couple of swipes to my already swollen nub, I’m exploding around him. My head falls onto his shoulder, and he takes over, his fingers digging into my hips as he pumps into me from the bottom until he finds his own release.

  “Congratulations, zoí mou, you just earned yourself a definite maybe.”

  Kostas

  School. She wants to go to fucking school. It’s like she forgets who I am. The enemies who lie in wait, desperate to grab something precious to me and tarnish it. Talia is a good girl. Sheltered despite being born to a shady Nikolaides. I’m the bad guy…whom she fucks. So the lines are blurred for her and the threat is confusing at best.

  She doesn’t understand what’s out there.

  What they’d do to her if she slipped from my grip.

  Fuck.

  But what am I supposed to do? Keep her holed away like a fucking princess in a castle?

  Yes.

  Of course that’s what I’ll do because she’s safer that way.

  Irritation churns in my gut. It’s hard to stick to my guns with her because then she prances by in her tiny shred of a bathing suit, flashing me her fuck me eyes, and I’m giving in to her.

  She makes me weak.

  Weak never felt so fucking amazing.