Chapter 23
With the phone still in her hand, she moved into the salon Theron had entered. This was a beautiful house in an affluent Athens neighborhood. Theron had bought it to share with his new bride. Unfortunately that new bride was supposed to have been Julia, not Cassidy. And it was decorated to Julia’s taste. He also owned a penthouse in the center of Athens; it had been his bachelor pad. They could not go away until he had settled the business with Costas, so he had decided that the new house would do for their wedding night. Cassidy tried to hide her shutter of distaste. She despised Julia’s house.
Theron handed her a fresh glass of champagne. “Th-thank you, but I think I’ve had enough to drink already.”
“All you had were a few sips. He wrapped a warm arm around her waist. “We will toast each other and our future together before we adjourn to our bedroom.”
Cassidy tried to wrap her mind around the fact that he wanted to go to bed already. It wasn’t even dark out yet. Should she tell him she was a virgin? But with all her riding, horseback and motorcycle, would the membrane still be intact?
She didn’t want anything to ruin their first time together. That was certainly not the way to start a marriage. Especially since the marriage wasn’t based on mutual love. Yesterday’s meeting with his attorneys proved that.
It didn’t feel right to virtually disinherit Zio, but she had never considered Dolmides’ money anything she was entitled to, so she wasn’t really taking anything away from Enzio. Plus she had The Scorpion’s Tail and Pegasus Ranch to leave to her son. She would always take care of him, no matter what.
What had really bothered her was the clause that in case of divorce any children born of the marriage would stay with Theron. She would never sign away any child of hers. Theron was not happy, but finally he agreed that they would have shared custody in case of separation and/or divorce. The attorneys presented her with the documents to sign right before Massimo came to pick her up. Fortunately Michael Harris, that nice man she met at the embassy in April, had arranged to have an interpreter there to make sure everything was kosher. But she still couldn’t help feeling insulted.
She had finally admitted to herself that she was in love with Theron, but he was only interested in fulfilling the business arrangement he had made with her “father”. Although he had made it clear that having sex with her was a benefit he was going to make use of. Often. Maybe once he knew her better he would learn to love her. In spite of the fact her parents had disposed of her at birth, she knew she was capable of love and worthy of love in return. Now all she had to do was prove that to Theron.
He had told her he had never been in love. He didn’t believe in it. Cassidy was going to keep her fingers crossed and hope he changed his mind. Soon!
It would really suck to be in love with someone who would never love her back. It would gnaw at her gut and rot out her brain. She would turn into a loveless zombie.
She took another sip of the champagne. Theron leaned forward; his tongue took a leisurely lick at the corner of her lip. Then he withdrew. “There was a drop.” he grinned.
The breath caught in her throat as she stared into his dark mysterious eyes.
He took her glass from her lax hand and placed both glasses on a side table. “Theos!” He buried his fingers into her hair. Drew her body close. His kiss had an edge of desperation to it as her lips parted for the invasion of his tongue. “Pame sto krevati. Let us go to bed!”
Cassidy didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She couldn’t think. Just react. She pulled his head down and joined her lips to his. Her tongue now the invader. Her hands left Theron’s hair and massaged his shoulders. She squirmed closer to his body. The huge bulge pressing into her belly almost caused her to stop in shock. Almost.
“Se thelo, I want you!” He moaned against her lips.
Good thing she had his broad shoulders holding her up since her knees had the stiffness of a rubber band. Good thing lack of stiffness wasn’t a problem Theron suffered from, she mentally giggled.
A clunk was heard as Theron’s jacket hit the floor. Desolation swamped Cassidy as his lips left hers. Her lips tried to follow his, but he wouldn’t let them. He began kissing her chin and followed up with nuzzling the hollow under her ear. Once again her fingers dug into his shoulders, looking for a means to hold her liquefying body upright. Her fingers went to his necktie and started fumbling with it.
A choked sound erupted from Theron as he stopped kissing her. “You are strangling me, agape mou. One would think you have never taken off a man’s tie before.”
“I hav-haven’t.” She blushed furiously. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!
“Do not be so anxious to rid yourself of me. I have not had the opportunity to change my will, so you are not yet my beneficiary.” He laughed hoarsely. He watched her face closely as he removed his tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons on his shirt. “You are the most amazing woman. You not only still blush at an age when all the women I know have left blushing far behind, but you do it so often and so well.” He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her bottom. “I can not wait to see if you blush all over or just in your face.”
Her face flamed as hot as a sun flare. Then Theron kissed her again and she forgot all about the blood flow to her face. She could feel the blood flow to his cock as it pressed against her belly. With all the blood down there will it be as bright as one of my blushes? Cassidy wondered. She hoped so.
Once again his lips traveled over her face before homing in on her ear. Her fingers played with the chest hair peeking out from the opened buttons. Tension built. She wanted to touch his flesh, but her fingers felt thick and clumsy. The buttons wouldn’t slip through their holes. Cassidy wanted to touch his skin. She had to touch his skin!
While his tongue swirled around the rim of her ear she grabbed the edges of his shirt and yanked. The sound of ripping material and popping buttons echoed through the large room. Theron pulled away a stunned look on his face. Cassidy took advantage of the distance and yanked the white shirt down his bronzed shoulders. Damn! She stomped her foot in frustration. The damn shirt wouldn’t come off his hands.
A slow sexy smile lit up Theron’s face. “My little firecracker is turning into aghrio yineka.” She blinked her frustration at him. “My wife is a wild woman.” He tugged at the sleeves of his shirt and threw it across the room. The white cuffs and gold cuff links remained on his wrists.
He scooped Cassidy up in his arms, and took the stairs two at a time. He didn’t stop moving until they had entered the master bedroom. With the door firmly closed in back of him, he allowed her body to slowly slide down his front. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, her lips playing with the pulse thrumming through his throat.
He had to slow down. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. Big mistake. He could smell her. Not just the light flowery scent from her shampoo, but her. Her inner essence. He did not think it was possible but he instantly became harder. And still the blood went zinging through his body, making him more aware of her than he had ever been of anyone before.
He hoped he would live to survive the night.
He reached behind his neck and released her fingers from their grasp. He brought those tiny fingers to his mouth and kissed every one of them before he choose one to suck on.
Her eyes closed as she leaned into his body.
Whoever thought having a wife could be such sweet torture. He wanted to throw her on the bed, lift her bridal skirts, and sink himself deep into her. Would it be wrong the first time to rush it? To thrust and pound. Pound and thrust. Take his satisfaction quickly. Release his tension. He could slow down the second or third time. See to her needs later. Be a better lover, later.
No, that wouldn’t work. She was an American woman. American women always demanded “satisfaction guaranteed”.
Theron stopped sucking on her finger and removed it from his mouth. He took a deep breath. He had to slow down. He couldn’t treat her like a woman
he met in a bar and took in the coat room; eager for the encounter, but not caring for tomorrow. Cassiopeia was his bride. He would wake up with her beside him in his bed in the morning and for many mornings in the foreseeable future. The last thing he needed was a woman who felt badly used.
He had to take it slow. Build her anticipation until she reached the same pinnacle he was so tensely balanced on.
The lightest touch passed over his chest muscles and headed down. Theron shivered in delight. His mouth captured her lips. He made love to her mouth with a ferocity he had never achieved with a mere kiss before. He ripped himself away from her.
He stood half naked while his bride was still fully dressed and intent on relieving him of his pants. It was time to regain control before he tore the white dress off of her and tossed her onto the floor. That simple dress that had hinted at the lovely body beneath it, but didn’t flaunt it. That dress had taunted him from the first moment he saw her in the church courtyard.
He wanted to push her against the wall, lift her until her legs wrapped around his waist, and push himself into her. But that wouldn’t be right.
Not for her. Not for his bride. His wife. She was such a strong woman she brought big men to their knees and yet she was so fragile. He had to make their first time together special for her. She was like no other woman he had ever known. He looked at her and saw innocence.
While it was true Cassidy had already been married, and also true she already had a baby, none of that gave him the right to treat her with disrespect. She deserved consideration, kindness, tenderness; even if he couldn’t give her the love she had been denied her entire life. He wished he could, but he was not a loving man.
Cassidy dipped her hands into his waistband and cupped his fine bottom. The man was driving her crazy. Stop and go. Stop and go.
Theron pulled from her and Cassidy was ready to scream, until he gently held both her hands behind her back in one of his as he nuzzled her neck. She never knew a tongue could make a woman feel so wanton. Or so frustrated. Her panties were wet and he hadn’t touched her. Not really. Not how she wanted him to touch her.
He had given her a few burning kisses and now this torture.
There had to be something she could do to get him a little more motivated. For the first time in her life she wished she had more hands on experience with men. She moved her body snug against his and gave a little, she hoped, seductive wiggle against him. His groan excited her as his erection grew larger against the softness of her body.
Finally his free hand began unzipping her gown. Her skin cried for contact with his so desperately it itched and she knew instinctively the only way to relief was to rub it all over him. For hours!
“Theos!” He breathed as the sheath pooled around her feet and he saw what she had hidden under the virginal dress all day. His eyes glowed with approval.
She had found the most exquisite lace set of strapless bra and matching panties in a lavender shade the saleswoman had assured her was the same color as her eyes. Cassidy searched for stockings with lavender ribbons woven into the lace tops.
The lust in Theron’s eyes made all the time spent searching for the perfect lingerie worthwhile.
Chapter 24
With a growl, Theron lifted her out of the puddled dress and carried her over to the bed. He tossed her down in the center and quickly joined her. He kissed her deep and long. Then he lifted his head and shoulders and gave her the sexiest smile she had ever seen “You surprise me. I had expected bridal white. I have decided, agape mou, that purple is the hottest of colors. From now on whenever I see it, I shall think of you. If you want my attention, just wear purple. Do not bother with red; it is overdone and after seeing your pearly white skin next to this purple, red would be a severe disappointment.”
“Don’t worry, red will never touch my body. It clashes with my hair.” Was that breathy voice really her? “It would be a total turn off.”
His fingers snapped open the front closure on her bra. He stared at her breasts. “There is nothing about you that could ever turn me off.” The sound of his voice disappeared as that magical tongue of his swirled around one nipple before moving on to suckle the other.
After an eternity of kneading, suckling, and nipping, he started inching lower. Her breasts missed the attention, but the gentle breeze from the paddle fan overhead kept the moist nipples delightfully puckered and awaiting their new master.
On his journey south he encountered the heart shaped amethyst belly ring she wore the first time he had seen her. He gently lapped around the ring before laving the little innie button the jewelry showcased. This special attention caused Cassidy to arch off the bed, her fingers clutching the duvet beneath her.
Once again his lips and tongue were on the move. The lacy panties weren’t an obstacle. He just worked his magic through them. Cassidy wanted to feel his mouth directly on her skin. She had heard women talking about this. She had read explicit scenes in romance novels. She knew men liked to do this, and the women enjoyed it even more, but was he doing it right? Weren’t the panties supposed to come off? She wanted to help him. Her shaking hands tried to remove the dratted panties.
He looked up with a big grin. “No, pyrotechnia mikros, leave them. I want the pleasure of removing them myself.”
“Ohhh! I can’t take any more. I want you now,” Cassidy gasped as she dug her fingers into his thick hair and tried to drag his head up to hers
His only response was a smug sounding grunt and his finger creeping under the panty leg. At the touch of his skin on her swollen nub, her fingers left his hair and starting clawing at his shoulders. With a wild roar and absolutely no finesse, he ripped the delicate panties off her and threw them aside.
He reared up to a kneeling position between her legs. “Ah, Theron? Shouldn’t you take off your trousers?”
“Woman, you are driving me mad!” He looked so cute with his hair standing up wild, a cockeyed grin on his face.
Before Cassidy could grab at his zipper, the pants were already hitting the floor with a loud thump. Her breath caught somewhere between her second and her third rib when her eyes beheld her new husband’s powerful shaft. “I-I-I don’t think we’re going to fit,” she whispered.
He moved back onto the bed and leaned over her, the tip of his engorged penis touching her wet entrance. “Do not worry, my love, I am quite certain we will fit perfectly.” Theron’s pleased smile lit the corners of her heart.
His lips devoured hers a moment later and inflamed her to higher heights. Tentatively, she ran her hands over his rippled ribs. How on earth did a self-made, multi-billionaire have time to develop abs like these. Her hands lovingly stroked up to his chest. Good solid muscles twitched against her palms. Those did not come from shuffling paper. Even his arm muscles were well cut. You didn’t achieve muscle definition like that just by lifting a gold pen.
Mmmm, his tongue was as well developed a muscle as the rest of him, she thought as once again his head disappeared between her thighs. He placed her legs over his shoulders. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but he had definitely taken her to another plane of existence. Cassidy, in awe, listened to the sweet sounds they made.
They were so intertwined, Cassidy wasn’t sure what parts belonged to her and what was Theron.
He was the only flavor she could taste. She had sampled the nectar of his mouth. The unique mix of Theron and her became the scent perfuming the room. It was a scent that could carry her to heaven. Their essences blended together.
Soon they would be one.
But for now. Wow! She was gasping for breath.
His tongue massaged the swollen bud of her womanhood. Once again her back arched off the bed as he nipped her. Down there! Before her spine could touch the mattress his warm finger entered her. Every thought scattered as she flew to pieces.
Theron’s talented tongue licked and stroked. Another finger entered her. Stretching Cassidy’s tight muscles. And still his tongue licked and s
troked. Stroked and licked. His teeth nibbled at the most sensitive part of her. She had never realized that part was so sensitive.
Her heart pounded. “Ohhh,” her breath came out in gasps. “Theron, I need you to kiss me.”
“Soon, agape mou. Soon.” He lifted his head just enough for her to see the heat in his eyes. Then he returned diligently to the task at hand, and mouth.
“Ohhhh, Theron, I need you! Now.” Her breathing picked up speed. Her fingers pulled at his hair. “Right now!” She finished with a scream.
Theron rested his head on her knee as she fought for breath. His smile reminiscent of the cat that had lapped up all the cream. “Pyrotechnia mikros mou, tell me, did you see fireworks?”
“It’s a good thing we’re not on your mountain top any more. I would be lost in the sky, full of stars like the Cassiopeia of legend.”
Theron’s smile became even smugger as his fingers started drawing circles on Cassiopeia’s thighs above the lacy tops of her stockings. He had to be inside her soon. The erotic feel of her silk clad legs wrapped around his head had almost sent him over the edge. But first he wanted her to have a night like she had never had before. He wanted to wipe her dead husband and all other men out of her mind. After tonight he wanted to be the only lover her body knew. The only lover her body remembered and responded to.
“Oh no! I can’t believe I haven’t taken off my boots or stockings.” She sounded genuinely shocked, and it made him grin.
She lifted her free leg in the air. Knee straight, purple boot pointed. Who ever thought cowboy boots could add an extra dash of sexy? His gorgeous little wife did not need any help in that department, but Theron gazed appreciatively from his place on the bed where he waited with bated breath to see what his surprising little bride would do next.
She had seemed so shocked with every move he had made. He didn’t know why she felt she had to put on this innocent act, but he couldn’t wait to see where it would lead them. No woman was this naturally sexy. He had always chosen experienced women for his affairs. There was a lot to be said for experience. He did not like games. He liked his sexual partners to be honest and straightforward. But her innocent pose was hard to resist.
The Counterfeit Bride Page 14