‘Turnabout is fair play,’ he growled. Then he was plucking her off the floor and settling her firmly in the middle of the bed.
With barely bridled patience, she watched him reach for his trousers. Heart pounding, she followed the hand lowering his zipper. Moments later he was naked.
Her mouth dried as she struggled to take in his sheer magnificence. Muscles, sleek and powerful, flowed in perfect symmetry, a body without a spare inch of flab culminating in the impressive, jaw-dropping sculpture of his aroused manhood.
One sleek lunge and he was beside her, his hand on her hip drawing her close before arranging her beneath him.
For the longest time, Christos stared down at her without speaking, that torturous caress up and down her body driving her steadily insane as his eyes pinned her to the bed.
When she tried to raise her head, eager to kiss him, he drew back.
‘Not yet. A few rules first.’
She slicked her tongue over needy lips. ‘Wh-what?’
‘I want to see your beautiful eyes at all times, glykia mou,’ he stated roughly, one hand cupping her breast and mercilessly torturing her nipple. ‘And when I’m deep inside you, the only word from your lips will be my name. You can choose to whisper it or scream it. But I want to hear it.’
He lowered his head and flicked the tip of his tongue across her nipple, and stars burst across her vision. ‘Christos...’
‘Ne, just like that,’ he growled, then sucked the tight peak into his mouth.
Pleasure arched her back, her fingers spiking through his hair to hold him close as the madness encroached further.
The hooded gaze he kept on her as he explored her flesh added a decadent edge to her pleasure. Pleasure that intensified even more when he trailed his lips down her body.
Her eyes widened and her heartbeat doubled when she realised what he meant to do. ‘Christos...?’
His answer to that hesitant question was to decisively draw her thighs apart, trail his stubbled jaw over the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs, all while those infernal eyes devoured her every expression. And just when she was certain her heart would beat itself straight through her ribs, he lowered his head and delivered the most carnal of kisses.
Her sharp cry echoed in the cave, the sound lingering for an age as if to impress upon her what was happening.
‘Thee mou,’ he muttered roughly. ‘You taste exquisite.’
Her every last thought melted away, her full attention centred on the sublime pleasure he delivered. Over and over he tortured and teased, until her vision hazed. Until she screamed as bliss smashed through her in the most sublime climax she’d ever experienced.
Her breath was still choppy and her body trembling with aftershocks when he captured her wrists, kissed her palms, before caressing his way back up her body.
Peripherally, she saw him reach for a condom, tear it open and glide it on.
The heavy, delicious weight of him sharpened her focus, her eager gaze devouring every inch of him as he settled between her thighs.
‘Christo, you have a body to rival Aphrodite herself,’ he declared, his face a taut mask of arousal. ‘I can’t wait to claim you.’
‘Then don’t wait,’ she replied, fresh hunger urging her to wind her arms around his neck, her body eager and open. He’d already introduced her to oral pleasure for the first time. Despite the faint but lingering voice of caution, she was desperate for more. To hoard as much of this experience as she could.
Because it wouldn’t last? She shied away from the answer.
‘Your breasts are a work of art,’ he rasped huskily, before bestowing more kisses on them.
Just when she was on the verge of begging for more, he reared up onto one elbow. Alexis held her breath as his hand slid down between their bodies, and she felt his broad head brush her feminine place.
The lock of hair falling over his forehead didn’t diminish the fierceness of the gaze pinning her in place as, with one sure, powerful stroke, he entered her.
‘Christos!’
‘Yes, yineka mou. My name on your lips while I take you...again and again,’ he rasped, jaw locked tight as he inhaled audibly.
For the longest suspended moment, he held himself inside her. Then, when a whimper finally broke from her, he withdrew and thrust back inside.
Raw, unfettered pleasure unravelled from her core. She was unaware her fingers dug into his shoulders until he hissed in pleasure. ‘That’s it, Alexis. Mark me. Show me what I do to you.’
It was as if she’d been uncaged and handed the keys to nirvana. She wrapped her legs around him, raised her head and claimed his mouth in a shockingly carnal kiss as he increased the tempo.
Dear God, she’d never felt anything like it. Suspected she never would again. But that was an issue for another day. The moment hot torrid Greek words started falling from his lips, she gave up the need to hold back. She met him thrust for thrust, his turbulent eyes and the hand locked on her hip urging her higher and higher until pleasure exploded in a shower of lights.
Her raw scream bounced off the walls before returning to wrap itself around them, as Christos locked both hands in her hair. Despite his thrusts slowing, the intensity of his lovemaking remained. She realised why when, after she’d caught half her breath back, he delivered another tongue-tangling kiss, raised his head and commanded roughly, ‘Again. I want to feel you come again.’
* * *
Thee mou, she was like a drug. One he couldn’t resist. Not that he wanted to in that moment.
She was an amazing revelation, even more so than he’d anticipated based on their chemistry alone.
For starters, there was that curious mixture of shy and bold, of innocence and carnal greed; it was a lit fuse to his libido. He’d seen her reaction to his pleasuring of her with his mouth, felt her quiet shock and knew she’d either never experienced it before or had found any previous attempt sorely lacking. Her subsequent reactions had given credence to this suspicion. Whatever she’d shared with previous lovers, it had not been the real thing.
He was primitive enough to enjoy that knowledge. Hell, to even revel in the possibility that she’d never known anything like what they’d just experienced together. What they could experience while they were on Drakonisos. Perhaps even further into the future?
No.
This...peculiar and faintly overwhelming sensation was because he hadn’t had a woman in over a year, nothing more. Besides, that kind of dependency was what he shied away from. It only brought chaos. Trouble. Heartache. Attachments that turned people into vicious versions of themselves.
He was past that kind of behaviour. He’d orchestrated this altered version of their agreement with his eyes wide open. He wasn’t about to let emotion—however incredible and potent—cloud his judgement.
But...
While he was here, while this was happening, holding back would only be depriving himself. He pushed inside her once more and let loose the groan locked in his throat. She truly was sublime, his wife.
His wife...
‘Christos.’ Her voice was sex-soaked, wrapped in temptation, feeding his hunger.
He let go of all other thoughts. And indulged his feelings to the fullest.
And when she cried out in ecstasy once more, he was right there behind her, blinded by a unique kind of pleasure that branded his very soul. That he knew would be unforgettable once he rose from this bed and put it all behind him.
Still he gathered her close. Kissed her temple with a gentleness unlike him. And when she sighed and melted into his arms, he found himself exhaling, a curious peace settling over him.
That peace was still in place when he woke at dawn, used the rudimentary facilities he’d had built into the cave a decade ago then gently roused the drowsing woman he’d made love to for the second time only an hour ago.
‘Wake up, Alex
is. There’s one more experience to enjoy,’ he said, trailing his lips over her smooth cheek.
She smiled without opening her eyes. ‘I thought we did that last night?’
He found himself chuckling—and when was the last time he’d done that? ‘This one is time sensitive.’
Drowsy chocolate-brown eyes flecked with gold opened to meet his. The soft pleasure in them caught him sharply, threatening to pierce the hard shell he deliberately kept in place. The urge to stay where he was, remain in this moment, grew stronger.
Then, vitally, he managed to remind himself of the reasons that shell couldn’t be allowed to crack. After that it was easier to rise, to reach for the swim shorts he’d tossed there a few minutes ago.
‘We’re going swimming?’ she asked, propping herself up on one elbow before gliding her fingers through her tousled hair.
Despite their very recent encounter, Christos found himself growing hard all over again.
‘Eventually. What comes before that you’ll have to get up now or you’ll miss.’ He forced himself to leave the sleeping area before he succumbed to temptation. Before all those risky little thoughts creeping in found fertile ground and sprouted roots.
He was standing on the shore, willing those same thoughts of permanence and possibilities away when he heard her behind him. The compulsion to see her, drench himself in her presence and beauty, propelled him to face her. She’d copied his style and was dressed in a sea-green-and-white striped bikini with a matching sarong, and flip-flops on her feet. Her long hair was gathered over one shoulder, and as she lifted a hand to toss the heavy strands back his gut tightened all over again, that drugging sensation threatening to steal over him again as hunger clawed through him. To counter it, he waved a hand at the small hill a short walk away.
‘That’s where we need to be in the next five minutes.’
She followed his gaze, then nodded. ‘Okay.’
He knew it was foolish but still he held out his hand. Watched her eyes darken and her cheeks flush with pleasure as she placed hers in his.
Their walk was companionably silent, Christos again privately commending her for not filling it with chatter. But not talking meant he was even more painfully aware of how her delicate hand fitted into his, how sexily she moved and, most control-shredding of all, the distinct stamp of his scent on her body.
Primitive urges rose again. And as they crested the low hill, all he could think about was how soon he could claim her again. How indelibly he could stamp his possession on her.
He knew he hadn’t done a good job of hiding his reaction when, reaching the spot he’d chosen and turning to her, he saw her eyes widen. Unable to resist, he dragged her close, slid his hands into her hair and devoured her lips for one long minute.
Only the reminder of why he’d brought her here made him stop.
Reluctantly drawing back, he dropped to the dew-dampened grass and tugged her down in front of him. She settled down between his spread thighs and as he drew her back against his chest, he secretly revelled in her jagged breathing.
Appeased that he wasn’t in this madness alone, he pointed to the eastern horizon. ‘Watch,’ he murmured in her ear, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.
The sunrise was an exquisitely drawn-out symphony of light and colour, a slow, seductive dance of beauty and awe.
He felt her breath catch as golden light blossomed over the horizon like a hesitant flower, bathing the lush greenness of the island in vivid colour as dawn gave way to day.
‘Oh, Christos. It’s beautiful.’
‘Ne,’ he agreed, his voice gruff.
Her hands settled on his thighs as they watched the spectacular sunrise. And as the sun’s heat washed over him, so did that moving sensation in his chest. The one that seemed determined to sink its profound claws into him. The one he felt almost inclined to...give in to. Again.
But hadn’t he sat on this very hill as a child, engulfed in anguish because he’d dared give in to his emotions? Wasn’t it in this very spot that he’d sworn never to allow himself to feel the vulnerability of love ever again?
The reminder was abrasive. Enough to make him tense.
‘Christos?’ Alexis started to twist around, to seek his gaze. ‘What’s wrong?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m reminded why I used to come here.’
Warm fingers found his. ‘Tell me.’
‘I wanted to feel...something other than anger at my parents. Something other than...’ He paused, feeling raw and exposed.
‘Pain? Despair? Hopelessness?’
He glanced down at her, saw that kinship in her eyes once again. She understood. Of course she did, considering her situation. ‘Yes,’ he admitted after a stretch of silence, his fingers rubbing at the tight spot in his chest. ‘It felt like this was the only place I could escape it.’
‘I’m glad you could, if only for a while.’
Silence reigned again and he felt the tightness loosening, his breathing becoming freer.
‘This was special. Thanks for sharing it with me.’
Somehow his lips found her temple, delivered a lingering kiss on her smooth skin. ‘To answer your questions, I’ve never shared the cave with anyone. Nor this view of a Drakonisos sunrise. So yes, Alexis, you’re special.’
He watched her inhale shakily, striving for composure. But his own admission had tilted the ground beneath him. So he rose, the beauty of the sunrise gone for him. ‘Come.’ He held out his hand without looking down into her face. ‘One last thing before we return to the villa.’
He sensed her confusion but ignored it. The moment she stood, he led them to the edge of the hill. Reading his intention, she clamped her fingers around his.
‘Wait. You’re not suggesting what I think you are, are you?’ she asked, peering over the edge into the swirling water below.
The smile he flashed her felt hard around the edges. ‘It’s barely twenty feet.’
‘You go ahead, then. I’m most definitely not jumping,’ she stated firmly.
‘Stepping off the edge is always daunting. But the experience is all the more exhilarating for it,’ he muttered against her lips. Then wondered whether the words were meant for him more than for her.
The slight widening of her eyes said she’d recognised the acuity of it too. His world tilting just that little bit more, he slid his arm around her. ‘Say yes, Alexis.’
Her arms slowly trailed up his shoulders, her eyes wide and apprehensive. But then her chin lifted, and her gaze grew bold. ‘Yes.’
He caught her to him, that devilish hunger demanding another taste of her. He was gratified when she fell into him, her lips clinging to his until they parted once more.
Her fingers meshed with his, her eyes growing shiny with anticipation. Without giving her a chance to rethink, he grasped her more firmly. And jumped.
For a moment in time, every trace of anguish and disquiet from his past melted away. A fierce, incandescent joy engulfed him as the clear waters of the Aegean swallowed them both.
At first, a million bubbles obstructed his view of her. Then it cleared. He spun to his left and saw Alexis, equal joy on her face as she smiled. Keeping them submerged for a little while longer, he pulled her close, wrapped both arms around her, then stole another kiss from her smiling lips. Her legs tangled around his waist, wrapped tight, and she kissed him back with equal fervour.
The need for oxygen forced them to resurface. But Christos wasn’t prepared to let her go. Arms still tight around her, he kicked towards shallower water and the large rock jutting out from the sea a short distance away.
Waves splashed around their knees as he pushed her against the smooth surface of the rock, need pummelling him.
‘How was that?’ he asked, as he slowly pulled on the strings of her bikini top. Her gaze dropped to his hands, and, despite the explicit wa
y they’d devoured each other last night and this morning, a hot blush suffused her face.
‘Exhilarating,’ she said. Her husky voice curled around his senses and he barely suppressed a groan as he divested her of her bottoms, then yanked off his swim shorts.
The sun was already a little higher in the sky, bathing the rock and Alexis in golden light. He stepped back for a moment to savour her in this place that meant so much to him, before, sanity disappearing, he planted his hands on either side of her head.
Her moan when their bodies melded together was music to his ears. And a minute later, when her slick, warm body welcomed his groaned thrust, it spelled a certain doom he knew would alter his world irreparably.
* * *
Alexis took him inside her, and it felt as if she’d found home. A home she wanted to stay in forever. She’d suspected her heart was in danger long before last night, that it wasn’t just the island weaving its magic on her. But it was last night that had sealed her doom.
The warm security she’d felt in his arms. Perhaps it was the fateful but brief conversation they’d had somewhere in the lost hours that had reinforced that belief.
‘You never told me the last time you used this cave,’ she’d said, her hand trailing over his chiselled chest.
‘I come here every time I’m on the island, but as a child, it was my sanctuary. A place I could let my imagination run wild. Now I’ll see it differently.’
‘Why?’
A pause, long and deep and breath-stalling. Then, ‘Because you are here.’
Four little words that had lodged a lump in her throat. That had terrified her with the need to hold them close inside the heart she suspected didn’t wholly belong to her any longer. Her hand had fisted over his steadily beating heart and she’d fought back foolish tears as she’d drifted off to sleep.
And when he’d woken her a short time later and transported her to heaven once more, a very resigned part of her had accepted that the heart she’d guarded so tenaciously was no longer safe.
CHAPTER TEN
ALEXIS DRESSED FOR Costas’s party with equal parts anticipation and dread. Luckily for her, the dread had been given little room to grow over the past few days, but especially in the frenzied hours leading up to the festivities.
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