by Tee, Marian
"I just need to feel you this way. And..."
His knees bumped into hers under the table, and her breath caught. "I-Ioniko." But this time, there was the softest little whimper, and he had to close his eyes as he fought back a shudder. Fuck. He let go of her hand and moved back to his seat, knowing that if he didn't maintain some distance between them, he might forget they were in a wholesome burger place and start touching her the way his already aroused body was demanding him to.
"Ioniko?"
He took one last deep calming breath, and when he opened his eyes he found her staring at him. She looked more than a little wary, but then she wetted her lips...fuck, fuck, fuck.
"Don't do that, Schuyler mou." Ioniko's tone was ragged.
"I'm s-sorry." To her credit, she didn't play coy at all. "I wasn't thinking. I just..." Her voice became small. "It really wasn't intentional."
He managed a strained smile. "I know, koukla mou. But it doesn't change a thing, so...try not to seduce me too much---" A little gasp. "If you don't intend to see things to the end."
Schuyler's face was now a picture of guilt. "I'm sorry," she repeated in a much smaller voice.
Ioniko grimaced. "It's fine. You do not need to apologize. I know I should be the one who's sorry. I am usually more in control than this, but..." His lips twisted. "You're the hottest little thing I've encountered in recent years---" She started shaking her head, but when he mockingly shook his head back at her, she stopped what she was doing and a giggle escaped her.
"Whether you believe me or not, it's best we play it safe for now, ne?"
"How?"
"Shall I try boring you to death by talking about my work?"
Her eyes lit up. "I'd love that."
"A man boring you to death?"
She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. But..." She looked hopeful and uncertain at the same time. "You're really going to tell me about your work?"
"Everything that's not confidential..." Ioniko blinked when she took out her iPad. "You're going to start working?"
"I thought I'd take notes while you talk," she admitted guiltily. "Is that okay?"
"I should've seen this coming," he acknowledged dryly.
"Please say you don't mind."
"Only if you say please again."
"Please."
"Again."
"With more feeling."
"Um...pleeeease?"
He leaned forward, and seeing this, she leaned forward as well. It was obvious that she thought he was about to tell her some huge, exciting secret about the corporate life, but instead...
His voice dropping to a notch, he murmured, "Say it again---"
Her eyes widened.
"But this time, say it like you're begging me to fuck you."
A strangled laugh escaped her even as she almost fell out of her chair at the way she so quickly reared back. "Ioniko!"
And because he saw her brows starting to furrow and her face told him she was feeling obliged to protest and scold him off...
Ioniko cleared his throat and pretended not to see her frown. "So, most days, I begin by waking up at..."
* * *
He relived the memory of that afternoon over and over when he was back in his hotel suite. The way her eyes sparkled. The way her breath audibly caught every time he tempted the Fates by touching her hand or bumping his knees into hers. And when he started remembering the way he had succumbed to the urge of trapping her legs between his under the table...
Fuck.
The way she looked at him then. The way her tongue slowly slipped out. The way her legs started trembling between his.
Fuck, he thought again as he felt his cock stir under his pants and start poking against the tight fabric in its demand for relief.
He had asked Schuyler to spend the rest of the day with him but hadn't been surprised to have her reject it with some obviously made-up excuse about work. He could've tried changing her mind and he knew he would've succeeded if he had. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she wanted him as much as he wanted her, and he had more than enough experience to use such knowledge to his advantage.
But he had not. Something was still holding him back, something that made him want Schuyler to submit to him willingly and not because he had seduced her into it.
* * *
Another early-morning call to Katya the next day, followed shortly by a check on Schuyler's Instagram, confirmed pretty much what he expected: Schuyler was still hell-bent on avoiding him. But what he did not expect was to find her with another girl when he came knocking on her apartment door.
"You're exactly what she said," the blonde declared. "You are unbelievably hot---"
Schuyler's gasp cut the other girl off, but he had heard more than enough, and Ioniko smiled.
The blond girl - whom he soon learned was named Sara - continued talking even as Schuyler scrambled to get rid of her.
"Ignore her. She's leaving."
"I am?"
"Yes. You are."
"But---"
"No buts. Go."
"Sheesh. Sex-starved much?"
Schuyler quickly waved him to come in, and as he soon as he did, she slammed the door shut on Sara's face.
"Your friend's quite interesting, koukla mou."
"She's certifiably insane, too, so just ignore anything she says."
Mm. Did that mean the part about Schuyler being sex-starved was a mere joke? He glanced back at her and once again caught his beautiful little doll staring at him.
"I had a feeling you'd keep avoiding me," he commented silkily.
"Can you blame me? I can't even figure out why you noticed me in the first place."
"I already told you---"
"I'm different, yada, yada, yada, but it just doesn't seem enough, and that's why your liking me will never make sense---"
"But it does." And her conviction otherwise baffled him. How could she not realize she was the kind of gem men in his position would take the most extreme risks to possess?
"It doesn't."
He saw in her eyes what she expected him to say and was amused by it. "We're not going to do that."
"Do what?"
"Argue by saying 'it does' and 'it doesn't back and forth." After all, it was something only couples who were silly in love that did such things and---
"I'm sorry, Ioniko, but I really don't think we're going to suit---"
The words, uttered in such a sober tone, were like a sudden punch to his guts, and he stared at her in disbelief. "Parakalo?" Excuse me? Was she actually tying to play with him? Manipulate him?
"Um, what does that---"
"You think we don't suit," Ioniko gritted out, "simply because I'm unwilling to say 'it does' and 'it doesn't'?"
"All of that...translated to just one word in Greek?"
He knew she was trying to make him laugh, but he was far from impressed. It had finally occurred to him that there was a chance he had completely misread the signals...the way he had, once upon a time, thought a certain woman would come to choose him over all others...but hadn't.
"If I somehow misunderstood," Ioniko said stiffly, "and you are truly not attracted to me---" His jaw clenched. "Then there is no need to make up lame excuses about it."
If she didn't want him back, then so fucking be it.
He waited for her to answer, but for a few moments, all she did was stare at him, and he wondered savagely if it was because she had a hidden sadistic streak that wanted to prolong his torment---
"Dude."
Hearing her call him this now felt like a fucking insult. Maybe that was all he was to her? A fucking dude?
"I can't believe you're making me say this---"
"If it's going to be another lie---"
"But I'm attracted to you. I'm really attracted to you, okay?"
He stiffened.
"I mean, of course I would be. Duh. Do you think I'm made of stone?"
He wanted to believe her, but fuck if he wasn't exper
iencing his first bout of insecurity in years.
"I swear to God, on my grandparents' graves, on your ancestors' graves...please say you get it now because this is getting really embarrassing?"
It was that last note of appeal that finally got to him, and out of nowhere he remembered how he had once teased her...
Say it like you're begging me to fuck you.
And he realized that this was how she would look and sound if that were to happen.
The tightness in his chest gradually eased, and even as she kept on denying the attraction between them, it no longer worked. Because she had begged. A girl like Schuyler would only have used such a tone with a girl she both wanted and trusted, and he was that man.
So it should've kept getting better from there, but instead he found himself back in hot water. Just when he finally had her in his arms and he finally experienced her delicious softness against his, just when he could finally savor her body against his, Schuyler also had to choose that moment to start dropping one bombshell after another at him.
"...I don't want to fall in love with you."
Coming from nowhere, the words completely took him by surprise, and Ioniko's hands automatically loosened its hold on her waist. "I see." He saw the flash of pain in her eyes, and his own gaze immediately became veiled. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He should've expected this to come up sooner or later between them.
"I'm betting you wouldn't want it either."
The quiver in her voice decided it for him, and he said evenly, "You would be right." Crushing her hopes like this was better than making her wait for nothing.
"Ouch, but expected..."
His lips tightened as he realized that this was how she liked to cope: making jokes to hide her pain, even though anyone would have an easy time seeing through them.
"So that being said and with you knowing what you know now...if I ask you to forget you even know me, would you?"
"No." Fuck no. A selfless man would have said otherwise, but it was too late for that. At this point, she might as well ask him to cut off one of his limbs.
"I thought so, which is why...I'd like to try going out with you---"
The words stunned him, and his lips curved. "I'd like that, too---"
"And with other guys as well."
All feelings of pleasure instantly vanished. "Parakalo?"
"If it helps, you can date other women, too---"
"I only want you." Was she fucking serious?
"I just think it's better this way---"
"I am not in the habit of sharing my woman with anyone else." Ioniko's anger had him speaking between clenched teeth. "And I do not appreciate being manipulated---"
"You know it's not like that."
And yet she was not backing down, he realized in disbelief. "You truly will not change your mind?"
"I can't."
"Then there is nothing left to say."
He turned away angrily and stalked off even as a part of him waited the whole goddamn time for her to call him back. But she didn't, and he slammed the door shut behind him. Fuck. FUCK. FUCK.
Ioniko called his sister as soon as he got back to his suite and told her tersely that he had to leave for Athens.
"All of a sudden?"
"No." It was true. Somewhat. He could've rescheduled his meetings easily, but now there was no reason to.
"Does Schuyler know?"
"She doesn't need to." He had intended to take her with him, but obviously nothing like that was going to happen, and the thought made him want to smash something into pieces, his rage remaining dangerously close to the surface even when he had already boarded his jet.
If she was so fucking determined to have other men in her life, then she was welcome to start her own fucking harem. He wanted no fucking part of it, and he no longer had any desire to have anything to do with her.
To hell with her.
And he almost had himself convinced that he had gotten Schuyler out of his system...until he got Katya's message and found out that his own sister had fucking betrayed him by opening a Tinder account on Schuyler's behalf.
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
A second text came in, with Katya cheerfully informing him that Schuyler's photo had already scored more than a dozen swipe-right matches through the app.
His Schuyler.
Meeting another man.
Or more than one man even.
Men who had every chance to steal her away from a moody son of a bitch like him.
Just imagining it sobered him up, and he wasted no time in calling his sister and ordering her to get rid of Schuyler's account on the dating app. But rather than obeying him - which she rarely did, even when she was young - Katya instead passed the phone to Schuyler, who then enraged him further by choosing to hang up on him.
While she was not exactly holding a gun to his head, the writing on the wall wasn't exactly difficult to read either, and for one long moment, Ioniko seriously considered ending things then and there. He wasn't used to being backed into a corner, and if it had been any other woman...
If it had been anyone else but Schuyler, goddammit...
"Come join me in Athens," he heard himself say, "and we'll talk."
And she said...yes.
* * *
It took only a short amount of time for Ioniko's staff to make travel arrangements on Schuyler's behalf and ensure that the red carpet was rolled out the moment she stepped out of her apartment. After that, it was merely a matter of waiting, and at one point, his instincts correctly prompted him to give her a call. He had sensed that she might be feeling overwhelmed by how fast things were moving, and when she answered his call, the tremor in her voice proved him correct.
Most women would have been thrilled to bits at being flown first class to meet him, but here he was, practically ordering a woman to stay in her seat to keep her from escaping.
Why did she have this kind of hold on him?
He brooded over it while waiting for her plane to land, but hours had already passed and he hadn't a single plausible answer to give himself. All he knew was that he needed to keep her by his side, and when he finally saw her, Schuyler staring at him in dumbstruck silence because she hadn't expected him to be waiting outside her first-class suite...
Ioniko wanted to yank her close in a crushing embrace. Eísai díkos mou. The words repeated over and over in his mind as he stared at her. You are mine. And when she stared back at him---
Ah, koukla mou.
She might want to date other men, but her eyes told him...
"You look like you want to kiss me."
She sputtered and choked over this, of course, but her protests fell on deaf ears as Ioniko twined his fingers with hers and kept her close. He could sense her unease growing even as she gasped in surprise upon realizing they were boarding his private jet, and her tension lingered even as they traded words that were half-barbs, half-coquetry, and his jet took off for Athens.
He could practically taste her fears and pain, and he realized that none of it was ever going away until they addressed said issues together.
"Speak to me, koukla mou."
And so she did. And he listened. And watched.
Did she know that while her words were asking one thing, her gaze was telling him something else?
Her words told him she wished to keep him at a distance while her gaze told him she wanted to be his. It made no fucking sense, and it was only her earnest insistence that nothing would happen in those "dates" that was keeping him in check.
"Do you agree then?" she asked afterwards.
"It depends on one last thing."
"You've got a condition of your own?"
His gaze bored through hers. Did she seriously think he would let her call all the shots?
A moment later, Schuyler appeared to realize how close she was to being throttled, and she said quickly, "Go on."
"What about our dates?" he demanded right away. "Do I get to kiss you? Touch you?"
The wo
rds had her squirming in a telltale manner, but she still persisted in resisting, saying stubbornly, "We'll see."
Brave words, Ioniko thought, but they were completely rendered useless by the way her eyes had become clouded with yearning the moment he started talking about kissing her.
It's no use, Schuyler mou. You want me. And the knowledge was enough to restore his good mood, and even though he couldn't quite keep himself from smirking, he did manage to keep his tone courteous as he asked Schuyler if she wanted a tour of the jet.
By the time he had to walk Schuyler to her room, however, he was unable to resist teasing her a little and bent down as if to kiss her. He felt her stiffen, heard her catch her breath, but she sounded more excited than afraid, and he almost smiled as he simply whispered good night into her ear.
He felt her dazed gaze follow him as he walked away. Good. He wanted her aching for him, and in time, she would come to understand that he was the only man capable of making her feel that way.
Ioniko headed back to his study to put in a few more hours of work. After, he walked back down to Schuyler's room, intending to ask if she wanted to have coffee with him---
And that was when he heard it.
Or rather, that was when he heard...her.
Ioniko stiffened.
No fucking way---
But then he heard it again.
A moan.
The kind that only sensual pleasure could elicit.
Ioniko was in his bedroom in a flash, and he barely had time to unzip himself before he was jerking himself off. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The sound of her moan played over and over in his mind as his balls started to tighten. Fuuuuuuck. His eyes squeezed shut, and a vision flashed in his mind, of Schuyler arching off the bed as she pleasured herself, and that was it for him.
A harsh groan escaped Ioniko as he started to cum.
He couldn't remember the last time he had pleasured himself like that, but one thing he knew was that it had never been this good, and he found himself doing it again in the shower. Afterwards, he planted himself outside her door, and when she finally came out---