Gorgeous Greeks: Playing Her Games

CHAPTER FOUR

NIK SCANNED HER in silence. The irony was that his original plan had been to do exactly that. Take her to bed. She was fun, sexy and original but the longer he spent in her company the more he realised how different her life goals were from his own. By her own admittance, Lily wasn’t the sort to emotionally disengage in a relationship. In the interests of self-protection, logic took precedence over his libido.

‘It’s time I took you home.’

Far from squashing her, the news appeared to cheer her. ‘That’s what I was hoping you’d say. I promise you won’t regret it. What I lack in experience I make up for in enthusiasm.’

She was as bright as she was pretty and he knew her ‘misunderstanding’ was deliberate.

‘Theé mou, you should not be saying things like that to a man. It could be taken the wrong way.’

She sliced into a tomato. ‘You’re taking it the way I intended you to take it.’

Nik glanced at the bottle of champagne and tried to work out how much she’d had. ‘I’m not taking you to my home, I’m taking you to your home.’

‘You don’t want to do that. My bed is smaller than a cat basket and you’re big. I have a feeling we’re going to get very hot and sweaty, and I don’t have air conditioning.’

Nik’s libido was fighting against the restraining bonds of logic. ‘I will give you a lift home and then I’m leaving.’

‘Leaving?’ Disappointment mingled with uncertainty. ‘You don’t find me attractive?’

‘You’re sexy as hell,’ he drawled, ‘but you’re not my type.’

‘That doesn’t make any sense. You don’t like sexy?’

‘I like sexy. I don’t like women who want to fall in love, settle down and have lots of babies.’

‘I thought we’d already established I didn’t want to do any of that with you. You don’t score a single point on my checklist, which is exactly why I want to do this. I know I’d be safe. And so would you!’

He decided he didn’t even want to know about her checklist. ‘How much champagne have you had?’

‘I’m not drunk, if that’s what you’re suggesting. Ask me anything. Make me walk in a straight line. I’ll touch my nose with my eyes closed, or I’ll touch your nose with my eyes closed if you prefer. Or other parts of you—’ She gave a wicked grin and leaned forward. ‘One night. That’s all it would be. You will not regret it.’

Nik deployed the full force of his will power and kept his eyes away from the softness of her breasts. ‘You’re right. I won’t, because it’s not going to happen.’

‘I do yoga. I’m very bendy.’

Nik gave a soft curse. ‘Stop talking.’

‘I can put my legs behind my head.’

‘Cristo, you should definitely stop talking.’ His libido was urging logic to surrender.

‘What’s the problem? One night of fun. Tomorrow we both go our own ways and if I see you in the office I’ll pretend I don’t know you. Call your lawyer. I’ll sign a contract promising not to fall in love with you. A pre-non-nuptial agreement. All I want is for you to take me home, strip me naked, throw me onto that enormous bed of yours and have sex with me in every conceivable position. After that I will walk out of your door and you’ll never see me again. Deal?’

He tried to respond but it seemed her confusing mix of innocence and sexuality had short-circuited his brain. ‘Lily—’ he spoke through his teeth ‘—trust me, you do not want me to take you home, strip you naked and throw you onto my bed.’

‘Why not? It’s just sex.’

‘You’ve spent several hours telling me you don’t do “just sex”.’

‘But I’m going to this time. I want to be able to separate sex from love. The next time a man comes my way who might be the one, I won’t let sex confuse things. I’ll be like Kevlar. Nothing is getting through me. Nothing.’

‘You are marshmallow, not Kevlar.’

‘That was the old me. The new me is Kevlar. I don’t understand why you won’t do this, unless—’ She studied him for a long moment and then leaned forward, a curious look in her eyes. ‘Are you scared?’

‘I’m sober,’ he said softly, ‘and when I play, I like it to be with an opponent who is similarly matched.’

‘I’m tougher than I look.’ A dimple appeared in the corner of her mouth. ‘Drink another glass of champagne and then call Vassilis.’

‘How do you know my driver’s name?’

‘I listen. And he has a kind face. There really is no need to be nervous. If rumour is correct, you’re a cold, emotionless vacuum and that means you’re in no danger from someone like little me.’

He had a feeling ‘little me’ was the most dangerous thing he’d encountered in a long while. ‘If I’m a “cold, emotionless vacuum”, why would you want to climb into my bed?’

‘Because you are insanely sexy and all the things that make you so wrong for me would make you perfect for rebound sex.’

He looked into those blue eyes and tried to ignore the surge of sexual hunger that had gripped him from the moment he’d laid eyes on that pale silky hair tumbling damp round her gleaming wet body.

Never before had doing the right thing felt so wrong.

Nik cursed under his breath and rose to his feet. ‘We’re leaving.’

‘Good decision.’ She slid her hand into his, rose on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. ‘I’ll be gentle with you.’

With her wide smile and laughing eyes, it was like being on a date with a beam of sunshine. He felt heat spread through his body, his arousal so brutal he was tempted to haul her behind the nearest lockable door, rip off that dress and acquaint himself with every part of her luscious, naked body.

Vassilis was waiting outside with the car and Nik bundled her inside and sat as far from her as possible.

All his life, he’d avoided women like her. Women who believed in romance and ‘the one’. For him, the myth of love had been smashed in childhood along with Santa and the Tooth Fairy. He had no use for it in his life.

‘Where do you live?’ He growled the words but she simply smiled.

‘You don’t need to know, because we’re going back to your place. Your bed is almost big enough to be seen from outer space.’

Nik ran his hand over his jaw. ‘Lily—’

Her phone signalled a text and she dug around in her bag. ‘I need to answer this. It will be Brittany, checking I’m all right. She and Spy are probably worried because they saw me go off with you.’

‘Maybe you should pay attention to your friends.’

‘Hold that thought—’

Having rebound sex. She mouthed the words as she typed. Speak to you tomorrow.

Nik was tempted to seize the phone and text her friends to come and pick her up. ‘Brittany was the girl in the blue dress?’

‘She’s the female version of you, but without the money. She doesn’t engage emotionally. I found out today that she was married for ten days when she was eighteen. Can you believe that? Ten days. I don’t know the details, but apparently it cured her of ever wanting a repeat performance.’ She pressed send and slid the phone back into her bag. ‘I grew up in foster homes so I don’t have any family. I think that’s probably why my friends are so important to me. I never really had a sense of belonging anywhere. That’s a very lonely feeling as a child.’

He felt something stir inside him, as if she’d poked a stick into a muddy, stagnant pool that had lain dormant and undiscovered for decades. Deeply uncomfortable, he shifted in his seat. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘I thought as we’re going to have sex, you might want to know something about me.’

‘I don’t.’

‘That’s not very polite.’

‘I’m not striving for “polite”. This is who I am. It’s not too late for my driver to drop you home. Give him the address.’

She leaned forward and pressed the button so that the screen closed between him and the driver. ‘Sorry, Vassilis, but I don’t want to corrupt you.’ She slid across the seat, closed her eyes and lifted her face to his. ‘Kiss me. Whatever it is you do, do it now.’

Nik had always considered himself to be a disciplined man but he was rapidly rethinking that assessment. With her, there was no discipline. He looked down at those long, thick eyelashes and the pink curve of her mouth and tried to remember when he’d last been tempted to have sex in the back of his car.

‘No.’ He managed to inject the word with forceful conviction but instead of retreating, she advanced.

‘In that case I’ll kiss you. I don’t mind taking the initiative.’ Her slim fingers slid to the inside of his thigh. He was so aroused he couldn’t even remember why he was fighting this, and instead of pushing her away he gripped her hand hard and turned his head towards her.

His gaze swept her flushed cheeks and the lush curve of her mouth. With a rough curse he lowered his head, driving her lips apart with his tongue and taking that mouth in a kiss that was as rough as it was sexually explicit. His intention was to scare her off, so there was no holding back, no diluting of his passion. He kissed her hard, expecting to feel her pull back but instead she pressed closer. She tasted of sugar and sweet temptation, her mouth soft and eager against his as she all but wriggled onto his lap.

The heavy weight of her breasts brushed against his arm and he gave a groan and slid his hand into her hair, anchoring her head for the hard demands of his kiss. She licked into his mouth, snuggling closer like a kitten, those full soft curves pressing against him. It was a kiss without boundaries, an explosion of raw desire that built until the rear of the car shimmered with stifling heat and sexual awareness.

He slid his hand under her dress, over the smooth skin of her thigh to the soft shadows between her legs. It was her thickened moan of pleasure that woke him up.

Cristo, they were in the car, in moving traffic.

Releasing her as if she were a hot coal, he pushed her away. ‘I thought you were supposed to be smart.’

Her breathing was shallow and rapid. ‘I’m very, very smart. And you’re an amazing kisser. Are you as good at everything else?’

His pulse was throbbing and he was so painfully aroused he didn’t dare move. ‘If you really want to come home with me then you’re not as smart as you look.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘Because a woman like you should steer clear of men like me. I don’t have a love life, I have a sex life. I’ll use you. If you’re in my bed it will be all about pleasure and nothing else. I don’t care about your feelings. I’m not kind. I’m not gentle. I need you to know that.’

There was a long, loaded silence and then her gaze slid to his mouth. ‘Okay, I get it. No fluffy kittens in this relationship. Message received and understood. Can this car go any faster because I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on in my life before.’

She wasn’t the only one. His self-control was stretched to breaking point. Why was he fighting it? She was an adult. She wasn’t drunk and she knew what she was doing. Logic didn’t just surrender to libido, it was obliterated. All the same, something made him open one more exit door. ‘Be very sure, Lily.’

‘I’m sure. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Unless you want to be arrested for performing an indecent act in a public place you’d better tell Vassilis to break a few speed limits.’

Lily walked into the villa she’d cleaned earlier, feeling ridiculously nervous. In the romantic setting of the restaurant this had seemed like a good idea. Now she wasn’t quite so sure. ‘So why did you hire a contract cleaning company?’

‘I didn’t.’ He threw his jacket over the back of a chair with careless disregard for its future appearance. ‘I have staff who look after this place. Presumably they arranged it. I didn’t give them much notice of my return. I don’t care how they do their job as long as it gets done.’

She paced across the living room and stared across the floodlit shimmer of the infinity pool. ‘It’s pretty at night.’ It was romantic, but she knew this had nothing to do with romance. Her other relationships had been with men she knew and cared about. This scenario was new to her. ‘Do you have something to drink?’

‘You’re thirsty?’

Nervous. ‘A little.’

He gave her a long look, strolled out of the room and returned moments later carrying a glass of water.

‘I want you sober,’ he said softly. ‘In fact I insist on it.’

Realising they were actually going to do this, she suddenly found she was shaking so much the water sloshed out of the glass and onto the floor. ‘Oops. I’m messing up the floor I cleaned earlier.’

He was standing close to her and her gaze drifted to the bronzed skin at the base of his throat and the blue-shadowed jaw. Everything about him was unapologetically masculine. He wasn’t just dangerously attractive, he was lethal and suddenly she wondered what on earth she was doing. Maybe she should have taken up Spy’s offer of rebound sex, except that Spy didn’t induce one tenth of this crazy response in her. A thrilling sense of anticipation mingled with wicked excitement and she knew she’d regret it for ever if she walked away. She knew she took relationships too seriously. If she was going to try a different approach then there was surely no better man to do it with than Nik.

‘Scared?’ His voice was deep, dark velvet and she gave a smile.

‘A little. But only because I don’t normally do this and you’re not my usual type. It’s like passing your driving test and then getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari. I’m worried I’ll crash you into a lamppost.’ She put the glass down carefully on the glass table and ran her damp hands over her thighs. ‘Okay, let’s do this. Ignore the fact I’m shaking, go right ahead and do your bad, bad thing, whatever that is.’

He said nothing. Just looked at her, that dark gaze uncomfortably penetrating.

She waited, heart pounding, virtually squirming on the spot. ‘I’m not good with delayed gratification. I’m more of an instant person. I like to—’

‘Hush.’ Finally he spoke and then he reached out and drew her against him, the look in his eyes driving words and thoughts from her head. She felt the warmth of his hand against the base of her spine, the slow, sensitive stroke of his fingers low on her back and then he lifted his hands and cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. ‘Lily Rose—’

She swallowed. ‘Nik—’

‘Don’t be nervous.’ He murmured the words against her lips. ‘There’s no reason to be nervous.’

‘I’m not nervous,’ she lied. ‘But I’m not really sure what happens next.’

‘I’ll decide what happens next.’

Her heart bumped uncomfortably against her ribs. ‘So—what do you want me to do?’

His mouth hovered close to hers and his fingers grazed her jaw. ‘I want you to stop talking.’

‘I’m going to stop talking right now this second.’ Her stomach felt as if a thousand butterflies were trying to escape. She hadn’t expected him to be so gentle, but those exploring fingers were slow, almost languorous as they stroked her face and slid over her neck and into her hair.

She stood, disorientated by intoxicating pleasure as he trailed his mouth along her jaw, tormenting her with dark, dangerous kisses. Heat uncurled low in her pelvis and spread through her body, sapping the strength from her knees, and she slid her hands over those sleek, powerful shoulders, feeling the hard swell of muscle beneath her palms. His mouth moved lower and she tilted her head back as he kissed her neck and then the base of her throat. She felt the slow slide of his tongue against supersensitive skin, the warmth of his breath and then his hand slid back into her hair and he brought his mouth back to hers. He kissed her with an erotic expertise that made her head spin and her legs grow heavy. With each slow stroke of his tongue, he sent her senses spinning out of control. It was like being drugged. She tried to find her balance, her centre, but just when she felt close to grasping a few threads of control, he used his mouth to drive every coherent thought from her head. Shaky, she lifted her hand to his face, felt the roughness of his jaw against her palm and the lean, spare perfection of his bone structure.

She slid her fingers into his hair and felt his hand slide down her spine and draw her firmly against him.

She felt him, brutally hard through the silky fabric of her dress, and she gave a moan, low in her throat as he trapped her there with the strength of his arms, the power in those muscles reminding her that this wasn’t a safe flirtation, or a game.

His kisses grew rougher, more intimate, more demanding and she tugged at his shirt, her fingers swift and sure on the buttons, her movements more frantic with each bit of male muscle she exposed.

His chest was powerful, his abs lean and hard and she felt a moment of breathless unease because she’d never had sex with a man built like him.

He was self-assured and experienced and as she pushed the shirt from his shoulders she tried to take a step backwards.

‘I’d like to keep my clothes on, if that’s all right with you.’

‘It’s not all right.’ But there was a smile in his voice as he slid his hand from her hips to her waist, pulling her back against him. His fingers brushed against the underside of her breast and she moaned.

‘You look as if you spend every spare second of your life working out.’

‘I don’t.’

‘You get this way through lots of athletic sex?’

His mouth hovered close to hers. ‘You promised to stop talking.’

‘That was before I saw you half naked. I’m intimidated. That photo didn’t lie. Now I know what you look like under your clothes I think I might be having body-image problems.’

He smiled, and she felt his hands at the back of her dress and the slow slither of silk as her dress slid to the floor.

Standing in front of him in nothing but her underwear and high heels, she felt ridiculously exposed. It didn’t matter that he’d already seen her that way. This was different.

He eased back from her, his eyes slumberous and dangerously dark. ‘Let’s go upstairs.’

Her knees were shaking so much she wasn’t sure she could walk but the next moment he scooped her into his arms and she gave a gasp of shock and dug her hands in his shoulder.

‘Don’t you dare drop me. I bruise easily.’ She had a close-up view of his face and stared hungrily at the hard masculine lines, the blue-black shadow of his jaw and the slim, sensual line of his mouth. ‘If I’d known you were planning on carrying me I would have said no to dessert.’

‘Dessert was the best part.’ They reached the top of the stairs and he carried her into his bedroom and lowered her to the floor next to the bed.

She didn’t see him move, and yet a light came on next to the bed sending a soft beam over the silk covers. Glancing around her, Lily realised that if she lay on that bed her body would be illuminated by the wash of light.

‘Can we switch the lights off?’

His eyes hooded, he lowered his hands to his belt. ‘No.’ As he removed the last of his clothes she let her eyes skid downwards and felt heat pour into her cheeks.

It was only a brief glance, but it was enough to imprint the image of his body in her brain.

‘Do you model underwear in your spare time? Because seriously—’ Her cheeks flooded with colour. ‘Okay so I think this whole thing would be easier in the dark—then I won’t be so intimidated by your supersonic abs.’

‘Hush.’ He smoothed her hair back from her face. ‘Do you trust me?’ His voice was rough and she felt a flutter of nerves low in her belly.

‘I—yes. I think so. Why? Am I being stupid?’

‘No. Close your eyes.’

She hesitated and then closed them. She heard the sound of a drawer opening and then felt something soft and silky being tied round her eyes.

‘What are you doing?’ She lifted her hand but he closed his fingers round her wrist and drew her hands back to her sides.

‘Relax.’ His voice was a soft purr. ‘I’m taking away one of your senses. The one that’s making you nervous. There’s no need to panic. You still have four remaining. I want you to use those.’

‘I can’t see.’

‘Exactly. You wanted to do this in the dark. Now you’re in the dark.’

‘I meant that you should put the lights out! It was so you couldn’t see me, not so that I couldn’t see you.’

‘Shh.’ His lips nibbled at hers, his tongue stroking over her mouth in a slow, sensual seduction.

She was quivering, her senses straining with delicious anticipation as she tried to work out where he was and where he’d touch her next.

She felt his lips on her shoulder and felt his fingers slide the thin straps of her bra over her arms. Wetness pooled between her thighs and she pressed them together, so aroused she could hardly breathe.

He took his time, explored her neck, her shoulder, the underside of her breast until she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her and he must have known that because he tipped her back onto the bed, supporting her as she lost her balance.

She could see nothing through the silk mask but she felt the weight of him on top of her, the roughness of his thigh against hers and the slide of silk against her heated flesh as he stripped her naked.