‘I’m not sure,’ Rio said huskily, and he knew he was getting to her.
‘I am.’ He smiled down at her, saw her lips part, heard the ragged breath she drew in.
‘What will happen afterwards? When we come back?’
‘You want to spend more time with me, agape mou?’ Her eyes widened in shock as she realised where she’d inadvertently led the conversation.
‘That’s not what I meant.’ The defensiveness of her tone couldn’t hide her confusion—or the attraction she was clearly fighting.
‘I will spend most of my time working in Athens and you will be here with Xena.’ He tried to put her mind at rest as well as tell himself what would happen. It was far more than having work to do; it was putting the temptation she aroused in him out of his reach. Give her the space Xena had told him she wanted, the distance he sensed she still needed.
‘That’s it? Nothing more?’
He smiled, using the charm he was renowned for. ‘Xena and Mother are still there, still watching.’ She frowned up at him, her lips pouting in an inviting way. ‘Step into my embrace, Rio, and kiss me.’
Rio’s eyes widened with shock and she stayed very still for a few seconds. She wasn’t going to provide the evidence of being in love, the kiss that would seal their deal and convince his sister and mother.
‘Kiss me, Rio.’
She hesitated then slowly moved towards him. He put his arms around her, holding her gently at her lower back as she put her arms up around the back of his neck, her sun hat dangling loosely from one hand on his back.
Lust leapt to life within him as he brought her body against his, the shock on her face leaving him in no doubt she’d felt it too. Her breathing was deep and slow as they moved closer, bodies pressing together, her eyes darkening and locking with his.
Seconds later he claimed her lips, the sweetness of them almost taking his breath away. He tightened his hold on her, pulling her closer, giving himself up to the intensity of the kiss. Rio murmured with pleasure and he kissed her harder, deeper, slipping his tongue into her mouth, demanding so much more from her. Passion exploded, and he forgot it was meant to be part of an act. Desire crashed over him, reminding him, if he’d needed it, how much he wanted Rio.
Without thought for anything else, his hands slid down her back to the curve of her bottom. Her arms tightened around his neck as he moulded her against the hardness of his erection. She groaned with pleasure, making him even harder as she moved against him, tormenting and exciting him.
Being temporarily engaged to this woman was not going to be a hardship at all.
* * *
Rio could hardly breathe and certainly couldn’t think as hot pleasure rushed all around her, awakening the woman within her. The fear of being kissed by a man, of being held close against his body after Hans had tried to force himself on her, was swept aside by raw desire.
But wasn’t that dangerous?
She shouldn’t want to allow herself the pleasure of Lysandros’s kiss, or the sensation of sparks of desire shooting around her as she felt the evidence of his need for her. She shouldn’t want more than the kiss, but the desire was too powerful to resist. He was too powerful to resist.
He pulled back from her, whispering against her lips, intensifying the surge of pleasure pulsing through her so wildly. ‘A kiss such as that would convince even me that you still desired me.’
‘I was doing it for Xena.’ She pushed herself away from the temptation of kissing him again, of giving in to the pleasure of his caresses, of needing to feel his body pressed erotically against her.
He laughed. A sound so sexy she shivered. ‘Then I do after all believe you. You will do anything for Xena.’
‘I meant it,’ she said, stepping back from him, disengaging her heated body from his, acutely aware of the danger he presented to her uninitiated body. She needed to be far more careful. She had to resist his potent charms, his seductive caresses and his passionate kisses.
‘In that case, we will return to Xena’s villa so that you may pack for our romantic weekend aboard my yacht.’
‘We are leaving straight away?’ Did he really mean to whisk her off right now? How could she spend any more time in his company when she’d just reacted like that to his kiss?
‘What about Xena?’
‘She and my mother have much planning to do while we are away spending time alone—keeping up the pretence of being in love.’
That determined and powerful authority had returned to his voice. At least that was easier to deal with. It was far more preferable, leaving her with more control than the hard-to-resist seduction he’d just proved he was more than capable of—and which she’d proved she was far from able to resist.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE GENTLE ROCKING of the yacht had drawn Rio from her sleep. Sleep that had been hard to find the previous night with her body still humming with the need that kiss outside his mother’s villa had evoked. A need that had only intensified during the evening as she and Lysandros had dined aboard his yacht. Every time his eyes had met hers, she’d seen the flames licking higher, making the air crackle with sexual tension, making her want to be kissed again.
The warm evening air had been heavy with desire and it had scared Rio. Scared her because she’d wanted to act on it, wanted to take herself back to the moment after the recital when she’d teasingly asked Lysandros to take her to dinner, to spend the entire night with her.
She’d wanted that same thing last night. Had wanted it so much but was thankful that, despite the desire in every look he’d given her, he hadn’t acted on it. He hadn’t tried to touch her in any way. When Lysandros had insisted she take the large and luxurious master cabin alone, she’d been grateful. He’d saved her from herself and as soon as she’d shut the door she’d locked it, not against Lysandros but against the urge to go back to him and allow the passion between them to ignite—fully and completely.
He was so powerful, so dominating. She wasn’t ready to let go of her fears and be intimate with him, despite the burning need for him. The decision to spend a night with him after the recital had taken weeks to come to and Hans’s attempt on her had taken her so far backwards she needed to start again. She couldn’t allow herself to be carried away by a heady kiss. She needed to find again the woman who’d seductively kissed Lysandros that afternoon at the recital.
That would take time to rediscover and, no matter how charming Lysandros was, she couldn’t do anything until she was completely ready.
‘Rio?’ As if conjured up by her imagination, Lysandros’s voice sounded from the other side of the door, making her heart pound erratically.
She opened the cabin door, looking into his handsome face. Her breath caught at the image he created as he stood there dressed more casually than she’d ever seen him but looking just as lethal as he did in his designer suit. The effect he had on her was so profound she couldn’t say anything.
‘I have arranged a special breakfast for us as we are supposed to be newly engaged lovers.’ His dark eyes held a hint of mischief, a smile playing around his lips. Was that why he seemed more devastatingly handsome, more charming than normal, because he was smiling instead of betraying the hard-edged businessman she knew he really was? Was the smile and charm part of the act? Of course it was. She chastised herself for thinking otherwise.
‘Very thorough.’ Rio finally found her voice and joined in with the game he was playing, wondering what his crew thought about their separate sleeping arrangements. It certainly wouldn’t look like they were lovers, and as he must have brought so many women to his yacht, she was sure they’d never occupied separate beds. ‘But won’t it have undermined your engagement plan as we spent the night apart?’
‘Are you saying you would rather share my bed?’ A wicked grin slipped over his face, sending her pulse rate soaring, setting her cheeks on fire.
‘No,’ she said quickly. Too quickly, if the look on his face was anything to go by. She blushed, remembering how he’d made her feel last night. How she’d wanted nothing more than to share his bed. ‘But I’m sure it’s not what you normally do when you have female guests aboard.’
‘True.’ He stepped closer, the spark in his eyes leaving her in no doubt the desire for her was still there and that he was enjoying her embarrassment. ‘You are my fiancée and, as far as anyone else is concerned, we are waiting until we are married to share a bed, are we not?’
‘N-no one will b-believe that.’ She stammered over her response as an image of her sharing a bed with this handsome Greek filled her mind. She couldn’t allow herself to imagine such things. ‘Not when you are known for being such a...’ She struggled for the right word.
‘Playboy?’ he offered, amusement mixing deliciously with his seductive voice. ‘You, agape mou, have stolen my heart, made me turn my back on my bachelor playboy ways. What is so unbelievable about that?’
‘I doubt many people will believe I’ve made you change.’ She had to keep him at a distance, had to stop this light flirting. She wasn’t the same woman who’d once been ready to give him her virginity, her love. ‘What matters is that Xena believes it. I don’t really care what anyone else thinks.’
He had the nerve to laugh at her and that sexy laughter almost unleashed the desire she was so determined to keep hidden. As if sensing her turmoil, he smiled at her, setting free his lethal charm. ‘Breakfast, agape mou? A romantic breakfast for lovers?’
Could she do this? Act as if they were lovers? A newly engaged and happy couple? It had been everything she’d secretly wanted—once. She wasn’t at all sure she could keep her heart from being broken, but she had to do this. For Xena. If it wasn’t for the accident having wiped out Xena’s memory, she wouldn’t even be in Greece, let alone on this yacht with Lysandros. Whatever else she did, she had to remember that. ‘Fine. I will be ready in five minutes.’
She used those five minutes to steady her heartbeat and compose herself. She needed to maintain a prickly hostility towards him, bury the attraction she was fighting. He had to believe there wasn’t or couldn’t be anything between them. It was the only way to keep her heart unscathed and play the role of temporary fiancée.
She picked up her sunglasses and sun hat and with renewed determination left the safety of the cabin. The sheer luxury of the yacht still amazed her as she walked up onto the deck. She recalled Xena’s pride that he’d turned an ordinary shipping business into one that supplied the rich and famous all around the world with luxury yachts, and being here, in this almost fantasy setting, she could understand how it had become so successful.
‘You look very beautiful.’ The soft seductive purr of his voice as he took her hand, guiding her towards the stern of the yacht, sent a flurry of butterflies all through her. He was taking the role of a man in love with his fiancée very seriously, playing it out to perfection. How she longed for it to be real, to be able to go back to the recital and never leave to meet Hans, never go through that life-changing moment.
‘You mentioned breakfast?’ The teasing note in her voice was so unlike her that she couldn’t help but blush. What was she doing, flirting with him? None of this was real. His proposal. Even the beautiful ring she wore. It was merely a temporary arrangement, one he’d already decided would end the moment Xena recovered her memory.
Yet despite knowing this, her attraction to him was getting stronger each day. She was in danger of losing herself, her heart to him. But she couldn’t do that, not when she had no idea how he would react if he knew why she’d stood him up, why she’d ended their relationship so abruptly. He was a man who’d avoided all emotional involvement, so surely wouldn’t want to deal with that kind of revelation, not when she’d need his support, his strength to make it.
She couldn’t look at him, but the gentleness of his voice calmed her. ‘I did. This way.’
He led her down the steps to the platform at the end of the yacht, climbing into the small boat and turning to look up at her. She hid her confusion over her emotions behind a question. ‘Where are we going?’
He quirked a brow at her as she finally found the courage to look into his handsome face. That sexy devil-may-care smile tugged at the attraction she was desperately trying to ignore. ‘Breakfast awaits.’
With his help, she stepped into the small boat, the motion of it unsteadying her, but not as much as Lysandros did as he held her arms, drawing her close to him. She looked up at him, that spark it was so crucial to ignore zapping between them, stronger than the sunshine sparkling on the sea around them.
‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ she said, her voice far too husky for her liking. She couldn’t do anything other than look into his eyes.
‘Neither was I.’ His eyes, dark and heavy with the same kind of desire she’d seen yesterday in the moments after they’d kissed, pierced into her soul. Her breath caught audibly and she bit her teeth into her bottom lip.
‘I meant the wobble of the boat,’ she quickly defended herself, but from his slow smile he was as aware of that desire as she was—and how it had made her feel.
* * *
The temptation to slide his fingers into Rio’s hair, to brush them against the softness of her cheeks and taste the sweetness of her lips, as he had done yesterday, was almost impossible to resist. The memory of that kiss still burned on Lysandros’s lips, and the heady desire, which had rampaged through him as he’d held her against him, surged forward again.
That kiss should prove to Rio they were good together. For him, it had rekindled all the desire for her he’d been keeping in check on each date they’d enjoyed. It had brought it all back. Stronger than ever—and harder to resist.
‘Then we had better get to shore.’ He focused his mind on the task at hand instead of the memory of how she’d felt in his arms, against his body.
‘Yes, I think that would be a good idea.’ Her voice remained husky as she moved away from him, sitting down in the boat. He turned his attention to starting the motor and getting them to the beach. At least that was a normality that would take his mind off how she made him feel.
As the little boat moved quickly across the water Lysandros watched Rio, taking in her long, slender, tanned legs, still bemused by the fact that she’d chosen white shorts and a loose-fitting red-and-white-striped blouse. Any other woman he’d spent time on his yacht with would have emerged clad in the skimpiest of bikinis, even at the beginning of the day. It seemed that Rio wanted to conceal herself, but that didn’t prevent him imagining her in a bikini.
‘Here we are,’ he said as the small boat pulled alongside the purpose-built jetty at the end of the beach, fighting the surge of heated lust as that image burned in his mind.
‘This looks very secluded.’ She stepped out onto the jetty, looking around the small sandy cove, appearing in awe of her surroundings. ‘And very beautiful.’
‘This is the perfect beach on which to have breakfast.’ It was also a beach he’d never taken another woman to, and for reasons he couldn’t yet fathom, that felt right. Everything about being with Rio was uncharted waters and he wanted this weekend to be the same.
For a moment she held his gaze, questions showing in her eyes, obliterating any of the desire he thought he’d seen earlier. Was she suddenly nervous of being here with him? Was the thought of being alone with him too much?
He sensed the need to tread carefully around her. If he was ever going to find out why Rio had abruptly changed her mind about dating him, he needed to be even more patient and gentle than before.
He still didn’t understand it. One minute she’d been alive with joy at the recital, flirting playfully with him, letting him know she was ready to take their relationship further. Ready to be his—all night. Then it had all changed.
What had happened after she’d left him
to meet the conductor? What had happened to make her stand him up? No message. Nothing. He’d never been stood up before and had tried to call Xena, not knowing how to deal with it. But Xena hadn’t known—at least, not that night.
He needed to know why, what she felt for him, then and now. For some reason, one he wasn’t yet ready to explore, it mattered to him what Rio thought. He wanted to reassure her that the undeniable attraction that hummed in the air around them whenever they were together was right on so many levels.
‘My goodness,’ she gasped in surprise as she saw the picnic laid out ready for them. ‘When did you do all this?’
‘A member of my crew set this up a short while ago.’ That was the kind of reaction he’d hoped for when he’d planned this romantic picnic breakfast on a deserted beach.
She looked around the beach as if searching for that crew member. She was afraid to be alone with him. Was it because she didn’t trust him or because she didn’t trust herself? Was the attraction he was certain she felt for him the same attraction he felt for her, too strong to resist?
‘And this is a private beach?’ There was a definite tremor in her voice, a clear hint of anxiety.
‘I had the distinct impression you would rather our romance and engagement were played out as little as possible in the public eye, so coming here like this seemed the perfect solution.’ His motivation for this had been so far from that and guilt stabbed at him. All he’d wanted had been to resume where the kiss had ended yesterday. Take it to the passionate conclusion it had promised.
‘Thank you.’ Her voice was throaty and incredibly sexy.
He sat on the edge of the white blanket that had been spread out in readiness for them, opening the picnic basket, taking out waffles, fruit and the flowers he’d requested. Rio stood for a second, watching, before kneeling on the blanket. He could sense her suspicion, feel her wary gaze on him.
Seducing His Convenient Innocent Page 7