Lissa dropped her gaze from Takis’s impenetrable stare. ‘The next day, the headline on the local newspaper was something along the lines of Singer’s Sex Romp with Star-Struck Groupie and there was a photo of me, half-naked and in a compromising position with Jason on the bonnet of his father’s Rolls-Royce.’
She had felt mortified and used when she’d realised that Jason had set her up. ‘It was bad enough that I had been humiliated in my home town, but worse was to come. A tabloid newspaper got hold of the photo and they published an interview with Jason in which he said that I was an obsessed fan who had stalked him and begged him for sex because he was famous.’
Takis frowned. ‘I assume the guy lied because if he had admitted that nothing happened between you there would not have been a scandalous story and he wouldn’t have got exposure in the national press.’
‘That’s exactly it.’ Something loosened in Lissa’s chest, like a knot that had been tightly tied unravelling. ‘It was a fantastic publicity stunt for Jason. Radio stations started playing his music and he was even offered a place on a reality TV show.’
‘Why didn’t you deny the story and demand that the newspapers retract it?’
‘I didn’t know who to make a complaint to. And, anyway, no one would have believed me. My own grandfather didn’t.’ She grimaced. ‘When Pappoús saw the picture of me in the papers he was furious and accused me of bringing shame on the family. He said my behaviour could damage his reputation, the reputation of the company. Not once did he question if what had been written about me was true. I was still at school, for heaven’s sake. But he was so ready to believe the worst of me, so I let him.’
‘You should have been able to count on him to defend you,’ Takis said in a clipped voice. Lissa wondered if he was talking from experience.
Pappoús’s failure to protect her when she had needed his support had been the most hurtful part of the whole unedifying episode. In her mind Lissa heard her grandfather’s coldly condemning voice.
‘You always want to be the centre of attention, just like your father. I never liked him, and I was disappointed when your mother married him. He won a few prizes for showjumping, but he didn’t have the work ethic to succeed in business, and you take after him.’
Lissa realised that Takis was waiting for her to continue. ‘A result of my unwanted fame was that my photograph was spotted by a scout for a model agency. Their client was a well-known cosmetics company. Sirène were looking for a fresh face to launch their new brand, and they chose me. The brief was a sassy, city girl with an attitude, so I acted the part to convince everyone I was that girl.’
She shrugged. ‘I went to parties and met loads of handsome men, but I wasn’t interested in any of them. Everyone was playing a game, trying to get noticed and desperate to boost their profile. I was a model for a famous brand and that made guys want to be photographed with me. In the world of celebrity there is no such thing as bad publicity.
‘Whenever a scandalous story about me appeared in the tabloids, my grandfather called to say how ashamed he was of me. The only times he phoned were to give me a lecture and tell me that I would never amount to anything. I realised that I could get Pappoús’s attention by behaving badly. But he had no right to judge me,’ she said bitterly. ‘He never knew the real me.’
Takis leaned forward in the chair and his grey eyes glittered beneath his thick lashes. ‘So who is the real Lissa Buchanan? Why weren’t you interested in any of those other men you met at parties?’
‘There was no spark,’ Lissa admitted. ‘I never felt attraction, awareness, whatever you want to call it...until I saw you at my sister’s wedding.’ She looked away from him. ‘But I was wrong.’
He frowned. ‘In what way?’
‘I thought you felt the spark too. But just now when we...’ She felt her face burn. ‘It was fairly obvious that I didn’t know what to do. The earth didn’t move for you...so I must have been mistaken to think you desired me.’
Takis swore. ‘The issue was that I desired—desire—you too much.’ At her puzzled look, he said roughly, ‘I have never lost control like that before. The world didn’t just move, it spun off its axis. I was impatient, desperate, and they are not words that I have ever used, let alone felt.’
He stood up and raked his hand through his hair. ‘Why did you choose me as your first lover? Did you get swept up in the romance of the wedding and mistake the sexual attraction between us for love?’
Lissa shook her head. ‘I don’t believe in love at first sight. How can you fall in love with someone when you know nothing about them? When you know nothing about yourself? I am not the party girl the tabloids made me out to be, but I spent a long time pretending to be that person, and the truth is I don’t know who I am,’ she admitted.
She met Takis’s gaze and said candidly, ‘When my grandfather died, I made the decision to take charge of my life and make choices that feel right for me. I chose to have sex with you because I wanted to.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘And because you are incredibly attractive and sexy, and you promised me one perfect night.’
Takis looked faintly stunned for a few seconds, but then he walked over to the bed and took her hands in his, drawing her to her feet. ‘A promise that I have every intention of fulfilling,’ he said softly. ‘Will you allow me to make love to you with the consideration and care that I should have shown you the first time, Lissa mou?’
Her foolish heart skipped a beat to hear him call her his Lissa. She wasn’t his and never would be. But everything she had told Takis was true. She was on a journey of self-discovery and curious to explore her sensuality. Instead of replying to his question, she lifted herself up on to her toes so that her face was almost level with his and pressed her lips to his mouth.
He immediately took control of the kiss and made a muffled sound in his throat as he slid his tongue between her lips and explored the moist interior of her mouth with mind-blowing eroticism.
Lissa had not entirely believed Takis when he’d told her that he had lost control because he’d wanted her too much. But now the spark blazed into an inferno and his passion scorched her. His mouth and hands were everywhere on her body; his lips moved over her jaw and cheek before sliding up to explore the sweet spot behind her ear, while his fingers gripped the top of her dress and tugged it down to her waist.
He cupped her bare breasts in his big hands and rubbed his thumb pads over her nipples, making them instantly hard. Lissa was desperate for him to replace his fingers with his mouth. She flushed with embarrassment when she realised that she had spoken out loud.
Takis gave a throaty laugh. ‘Patience, koúkla mou. Good things happen to those who wait.’
‘I don’t want to wait,’ she muttered. ‘I want you.’
He muttered something incomprehensible as he stripped off his trousers and tumbled her down on to the bed, removing her dress completely. His body was a symphony of sleek, bronzed skin and impressive musculature, and he was unashamedly aroused. Anticipation sent a quiver through Lissa when he skimmed his hand over her stomach and pushed her thighs apart. He claimed her mouth again in an intensely sensual kiss that drove every thought from her mind, and she gave herself up to the exquisite sensation of Takis gently parting her womanhood and sliding a finger into her slick heat.
His caresses soon had her body clamouring for more, and the ache low in her pelvis became an insistent throb that she instinctively knew only his complete possession would assuage. But when she tried to pull him down on top of her, he laughed softly and shifted his position so that he was kneeling over her. She snatched a breath when he bent his head and kissed his way along her inner thigh, higher and higher until he flicked his tongue over her ultra-sensitive clitoris.
Lissa made a choked sound and gave up trying to tug his head away from between her legs. She ran her fingers through his luxuriant black hair and arched her hips towards his
mouth as he pleasured her in the most intimate way imaginable. Takis reawakened her desire with his wicked tongue, and she curled her fingers into the satin sheet as pleasure built inside her and became an unstoppable, irresistible force. It was too much, not enough, she wanted more, wanted... Bliss.
She came hard against his mouth and gave a sharp cry as her orgasm made her shake from head to toe. But her body sensed there was something more than this sweet delight, something even better.
As if he’d read her mind, Takis lifted his head and murmured, ‘That was just a taster, koúkla mou. And you taste like nectar.’ He donned a condom with a swift efficiency that reminded Lissa he had done this countless times with countless women. She wished that she were more experienced and knew how to pleasure him.
But her insecurity dissolved when she saw the hunger glittering in his eyes. ‘Tell me if it hurts and I’ll stop,’ he murmured as he positioned himself between her thighs, and she felt the swollen tip of him press against her opening. This time there was no sharp sting, just a wonderful feeling of fullness as he eased slowly forward. It felt so unbelievably good. She realised that she had been holding her breath, and when she relaxed and her eyes met his, it was like the final link of the connection between them. Body and soul, except that Takis had insisted he did not have a soul.
‘It doesn’t hurt,’ she assured him. ‘Don’t stop.’
He withdrew from her almost completely and then thrust again, a little harder this time, making her gasp as she realised how powerful he was. He filled her, completed her, took her over with each measured stroke as he set a devastating rhythm.
Reality faded, and Lissa decided that if none of this was real, if Takis’s big body driving into her was simply an erotic dream, then it did not matter if she arched her hips to take him even deeper inside her and wrapped her legs around his back so that they moved together in perfect synchrony. Each thrust took her closer to a place that hovered frustratingly out of reach. Her breaths came in sharp pants, and she dug her fingers into his shoulders.
Sensations were building to a crescendo deep within her and tiny ripples of pleasure began to ripple out from her central core. Takis slipped his hand between their joined, sweat-slicked bodies and found her hidden pleasure zone. One flick of his thumb and simultaneously another powerful thrust of his body drove her to the edge. He kept her there for seconds that seemed to last for eternity before he gave a final twist of his hand, and she shattered.
The intensity of pleasure was beyond anything Lissa had imagined she could feel. As the shudders of sexual rapture slowly subsided, she realised that Takis had not finished. He started to move again, supporting his weight on his elbows as he set a pace that was wilder than before. Faster. Harder.
Her body welcomed each thrust of his steel length and impossibly she felt her desire stir again. She gloried in his possession and held nothing back. She was his. The words were a litany inside her head, and she whispered them into his mouth when he claimed her lips once more and kissed her deeply. He reared above her, his jaw clenched and his eyes gleaming hotly, and then he gave a savage groan as his big body juddered, and Lissa trembled beneath him as she followed him into the fire.
For a long time afterwards he remained on top of her and their bodies were still joined. His mouth was pressed against her neck and she felt the thunderous beat of his heart gradually slow. Eventually, he moved across the mattress to deal with the condom. His silence stretched Lissa’s nerves and she wondered if there was a protocol she should follow. Her inexperience of the situation made her tense and turned Takis into an ominously silent stranger.
‘You were right.’ Her voice sounded over-bright.
He turned towards her and propped himself up on one elbow. ‘About what?’
‘You are good at sex.’
‘I would take that as a compliment, except I know you have nothing to compare my performance with,’ he said with amusement.
She quickly lowered her lashes to hide the emotional storm raging inside her. ‘Well, I wasn’t disappointed.’ She strove for the same cool tone that he had used, as if she could convince herself that she was unaffected by the passion they had shared.
Takis lifted his hand and brushed her long fringe off her face. ‘Neither was I disappointed. But I knew I wouldn’t be. At Jace and Eleanor’s wedding I don’t know how I kept my hands off you, and later when I drove you back to the hotel...’
A dark flush ran under his skin. ‘I don’t usually come on to a woman so strongly. The truth is that I had desired you before we ever met. For a while, your face was on billboards everywhere, department stores, airport lounges, and whenever I turned on a TV it seemed that there was an advert showing the face of Sirène. You. Beautiful, sexy...every woman wanted to be like you and every man wanted you.’
‘They wanted who they thought I was. My image was created by a PR agency and accepted without question by the media. Until you, no one ever asked or cared who I really was.’
Takis frowned. ‘But then, quite suddenly it seemed, your photograph was replaced with that of another model on adverts for the cosmetics brand, and there were rumours you had been dropped as their representative.’
Lissa shifted up the bed and leaned against the headboard. She knew it was ridiculous to feel shy after what she and Takis had done but she pulled the sheet over her breasts.
‘My contract with Sirène was for three years, but I became ill a few months before it was due to finish. I lost a lot of weight, and there were other unpleasant symptoms. I felt anxious a lot of the time and my body would tremble uncontrollably. The tabloids jumped to the conclusion that I was a drug addict.’
‘Are you fully recovered from your illness?’
‘I have an overactive thyroid. It’s a lifelong condition, but it is controlled with medication and I have regular check-ups with my GP.’
‘Did you hope to return to modelling?’ Takis asked.
‘I was offered another contract, but my grandfather had died, leaving Eleanor as head of Gilpin Leisure. I jumped at her offer of the position of assistant manager at Francine’s hotel.’
Lissa gave him a wry smile. ‘You look surprised. I didn’t get the job through nepotism. While I was modelling, I also studied hospitality management. Eleanor gave me a trial period, and I have shown that I can run the hotel successfully. My grandfather refused to give me a chance,’ she said bitterly. ‘But I proved him wrong. When Eleanor married Jace she appointed me as general manager of the hotel.’
She fell silent, feeling embarrassed that she’d probably bored Takis with her life story. He’d admitted that he had desired her when he’d seen photos of her as a beauty model. She had been his fantasy woman...he must have been disappointed when he’d discovered that she was a virgin.
He swung his legs off the bed and did not say anything as he stood up and walked into the en suite bathroom. Lissa stared at the door, which he’d shut behind him, and wondered if he was giving her a subtle message that it was time for her to leave.
She stood up gingerly and picked up her dress from the floor, to discover that the silk lining was caught in the zip and no amount of tugging would free it. Takis walked back into the bedroom and lifted his brows in silent query when he saw her clutching her dress.
‘I don’t know what happens next.’ She bit her lip. ‘I was going to go back to my room.’
‘What happens next is that you are going to soak in the bath I have run for you.’ His smile made Lissa’s heart perform a somersault. The wolf looked almost gentle. ‘I thought you might be feeling sore.’ He held out his hand to her, and after a brief hesitation she placed her fingers in his and allowed him to lead her into the bathroom.
The bath was a huge, sunken affair, filled to the brim with foaming, fragrant bubbles. ‘First we went in the pool, and now I am to have a bath. I’ll look like a prune,’ Lissa joked to disguise her uncertainty as she s
tepped into the tub. The mirror revealed that her usually sleek bob was dishevelled, and her mascara was smudged. It was a far cry from when she had been the glamorous face of Sirène.
She looked different and she felt different. It wasn’t just the slight tenderness between her legs; she felt as though she had been set free from the rules she’d imposed on herself because she’d needed to prove that she was better than her grandfather’s opinion of her. There was a whole great mess awaiting her in the morning, she thought ruefully. But the way Takis was looking at her made her forget everything and focus on him when he joined her in the bath.
‘You have never looked more beautiful than you do right now.’ He gently touched the red patches on her breasts where his beard had scraped her. ‘Your skin is so pale, and I have left my mark on you.’
Not only on her skin, but she did not tell him that she would never forget him. Perhaps every woman remembered their first lover, she thought. But then Takis kissed her and she stopped thinking. He drew her down into the foaming water and picked up a sponge, which he slid over every inch of her skin, paying particular attention to certain areas of her body until she was trembling with longing.
She gasped when he slipped his hand between her thighs and his fingers unerringly found her molten heat. Her own hands were not idle, and she enjoyed making him groan when she touched him, tentatively at first, but she became bolder and circled his thick shaft with her fingers.
‘Enough,’ he growled. He lifted her on to his lap so that she was straddling his thighs and her pelvis was flush with his. His lips paid homage to her breasts as he entered her with a hard thrust. Water sloshed over the sides of the bath, and the bathroom floor was flooded by the time he scooped her into his arms and carried her through to the bedroom.
* * *
Lissa wished the night would last forever. But when the first glimmer of light in the sky heralded the dawn, she studied Takis’s autocratic features, which were softer in sleep, and stole one last kiss from his lips before she slid out of bed. He had insisted that he only wanted one night with her, and she could not bear to stay there, only for him to remind her of that. She held her breath when he stirred, but he did not wake up, and she quickly pulled on one of the hotel’s bathrobes, gathered up her dress, underwear and shoes and let herself out of the penthouse.
Nine Months to Tame the Tycoon--An Uplifting International Romance Page 6