“But you obviously put your finger on some other things last night,” she answers, busting up into laughter again.
I roll my eyes before shutting them. “I’ve got class in a couple of hours, but it’s nap time now,” I mutter as I drift off to the sounds of Cass listing off all the things I might have put my fingers on last night.
* * *
The regret takes about twenty-four hours to set in. An email from Nate doesn’t help matters any.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Hey Mess. What’s going on in Greece? Mom said your classes are hard. You can do it though, you’re the best student in the family. Mom and Dad would have crapped their pants if I’d ever gotten grades as good as yours.
I met this guy the other day who’s with Anderson and Blakely here in DC. They’re one of the biggest accounting firms in the country, and he said they use a lot of forensic accountants. I asked if you could send him your resume, see if maybe they’ll have any internships next summer, and he told me definitely. They’ve hired a couple of people out of Chicago University’s program in the last few years. So, get that to me ASAP. We want to send it to him while he still remembers.
You suck,
Nate
I stare at the screen, the guilt galloping around my insides like a herd of wild horses. I’m risking it—my future. I’m risking it for a hot guy in Greece. It’s a cliché, a stupid, adolescent thing to do. But it feels like so much more than that. When I look in his eyes, touch his skin, when he smiles at me or calls me princess, it feels like it’s real, like it’s so much more than a fling on an extended vacation.
The deal is, I don’t do many things for myself. Sure, I’m majoring in accounting because I chose it, but I chose it in part because it’s something that would make my family proud, would earn enough so my parents don’t have to help me after school, would give me the resources to help them if they ever needed it. I picked Chicago University not because it was my first choice—that was actually a school in Colorado where I could learn to ski—but because it gave me the best scholarship. I didn’t want my parents to have to borrow money to send me to school.
I do lots of things like that—I follow the rules, and I work hard to keep my family happy—and I don’t mind, because my parents and my brother are my favorite people in the world. They’ve earned my best, so I make sure to always give it to them. But every once in a while I wish that I could do something for me. Something that I didn’t have to choose to please them, or to prove anything, or to be practical. Coming to Greece was sort of supposed to be that thing, but when I decided to take an extra full load of classes, and do a half-time internship I didn’t really think that I’d taken the joy right out of the whole thing.
Now there’s Niko, and he’s like a big, two hundred-pound muscle-bound package of joy. He makes me feel things no one ever has. He makes everything seem more—more colorful, more intense, more fun. Like I’ve been living a life in pastels, and he’s suddenly come and thrown a rainbow of vibrant colors over everything. I’m not sure that pastels will ever be okay again. I’m not sure that I can give this up. I’m not sure that I care about the rules anymore.
I’m about to close up the computer when my phone chimes, and speak of the devil, there’s Niko’s name.
Niko: Hey beautiful. I’m thinking about you.
Me: Sweet talker.
Niko: I hope you aren’t regretting our rule breaking.
Me: Are you?
Niko: Absolutely not. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. I wish I could see you though. I’m stuck at a family thing right now—my nephew’s birthday.
Then he sends me a picture of him with a tiny baby lying on his chest. My ovaries explode.
Niko: This is my second cousin, Andrea. She’s three weeks old. I’m her godfather.
Me: You’re so much sexier with a baby on your chest.
Niko: I’ll take her with me everywhere from now on.
Me: Until she gets a dirty diaper anyway.
Niko: Well, that killed the mood. Lol.
I send him a picture of me lying in my bed, surrounded by my schoolbooks.
Niko: And that brought it right back. Can I see a closer shot of those shorts you’re wearing? Damn.
Me: rolling eyes. Perv.
Niko: Seriously? I’m a guy. Your shorts are tiny. And you’re not wearing a bra.
Me: How the hell can you tell that from a photo?
Niko: It’s a special talent.
Me: I may need to see more of your special talents.
Niko: I am so happy you said that. Oh shit. One of my sisters is screaming for me. I’ve got to go play soccer with her kids. See you tomorrow?
Me: Yes. Have fun with your family.
Niko: Not as much fun as I’d have with you, princess. I’ll be dreaming about you.
Me: Good night.
Niko: Sweet dreams.
* * *
School has gotten rolling and the coursework is piling up. Between the part-time internship and the full-time class load I haven’t had a second to breathe in days. Niko and I see each other in passing at the office, and we’ve texted more, so things aren’t uncomfortable, but I don’t know if we’ll actually ever have a repeat of the night on his boat. If I had time to be sad about that I would be, but I’ve slept about five hours a night since then, and I’m lucky if I get to eat twice a day much less three.
I’m walking out of my last class of the day when I hear my name being called from across the lawn. I turn around and see Niko jogging toward me, a big basket of some sort in one of his hands.
“Hey,” he says when he reaches me, his hair mussed from the breeze, and his jaw darkened with a day’s growth of stubble. Stupid, sexy stubble.
He lifts his glasses and rests them on top of his head. “I’m glad I found you. Cass told me what time you got out, but I don’t know the campus that well and all the main office would tell me was that the business majors are on this side of the complex.”
“What are you doing here? Is there some emergency at the office you need me to help with?”
He puts his free arm around my shoulders and starts walking, herding me along with him. “No. In fact, you aren’t coming into work today.”
“What? Why not?” Shit. I’ve screwed something up and he has to fire me. No, no, no.
He pulls me against his side and squeezes my shoulder. “Stop imagining horrible things.” How did he know? “You’ve been working too hard and I can tell you don’t eat or sleep enough so I brought you food and we’re going to have a picnic and spend the afternoon together.”
I stop and pull away to stare at him. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”
“Don’t I have work to do?”
“Again, nothing that can’t wait.”
He gives me a soft smile. “I haven’t seen you except in the hallway at the office for days. You promised you’d break the rules with me some more. I’ve come to collect. Play hooky and let’s enjoy the sun for a few hours.” Then he leans down and gives me a soft, sweet kiss on the lips, and I’m done for. Plain and simple. He didn’t buy me an expensive gift, or take me to some ritzy party. He showed up at my school, with food, and asked to spend the day with me. It’s absolutely average, and stunningly special at the same time.
I kiss him back, lingering a moment longer than he did, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck where I feel the short, silky hair that curls up along his hairline. “I would love nothing more than to spend the day with you,” I say.
“Is that only because I have food?” he murmurs, gazing into my eyes.
“Of course,” I answer, without missing a beat.
We both laugh and he puts his arm back around me as he leads me to the parking lot.
* * *
I’m in my bra and underwear on the deck of Niko’s boat. He motored us out to open water, set anchor, and we’ve been basking in the sun
shine eating pita, cheese, olives, grapes, and chocolate for the last two hours. Since the trip was a surprise, I didn’t have my swimsuit, but the bra and panties are working fine. Better than fine if Niko’s undivided attention is any indication.
He strokes a hand up my side as he hovers over me, resting on his elbows to one side while I lie on my back. Sunglasses are covering my eyes and I’m trying to get a tan.
“You’re blocking my sun,” I mumble sleepily.
“Mmm,” he answers, licking around my belly button and setting off little sparks in my core. “You’re going to get burned. I’m saving you from looking like a lobster.”
I wiggle under his mouth and hands. “I’m going to be the pastiest, palest person in Greece.”
His lips reach my chest and he pauses. I lift my sunglasses up an inch and squint at him as he stares at my breasts in the peach satin bra.
“Niko?”
“What? Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” He licks his lips and my heart races.
“You’re not going to let me get a tan, are you?”
He pushes up, his bare chest flexing as he climbs over me, trapping my hips between his knees. My heart keeps up its ridiculously speedy rhythm and the air in my lungs rushes out with a sigh as I look at him above me.
He’s a Greek man, so his chest isn’t bare the way most of the popular male models are these days. But he has just the right amount of hair, warm and silky, swirling around his pecs, then racing in a line down the center of his torso to the swim trunks he wears low on his hips. I can’t stop myself from reaching out to run a finger along the trail that makes its way from his breastbone to his belly button.
His voice is rough when he grabs my finger and holds onto it. “I don’t see pasty. I see peaches.” He softly strokes my breasts over the smooth satin. My nipples pebble and I moan quietly. “And cream,” he continues, caressing my stomach with the flat of his palm. He plants his hands on either side of my head, looking down at me with a heated stare. “Come below deck with me so I can get that pretty skin out of the sun.”
I swallow, knowing there’s a very comfortable bed below. Am I ready for this? It’s not the actual act itself I’m worried about, it’s what it will mean to me afterwards. I’m in grave danger of falling for this Greek tycoon, and if his kisses are any indication, he’s going to rock my boat and then some. Will I be able to keep my heart safe if I sleep with Niko? I doubt it. Can I live with that? I’m not sure.
“Tess,” he whispers as he leans down and plants tiny kisses along my jawline. “No pressure, we’ll only do what you want, but I need to hold you. I want to feel you. I’ve been dreaming about you in my arms for days.”
Whatever willpower I have dissolves like salt in water. “Yes,” I gasp. “Yes.”
Below deck we fall onto the double bed that’s built into the cabin. It takes up most of the space, with a small galley left for a kitchenette.
Niko’s kisses start off slow and soft. We lie on our sides, facing each other, simply breathing in the same air, gazing into each other’s eyes. He gently cups the back of my head to draw me closer and dusts his lips across mine. Soon his tongue slips out and I take it into my mouth, sucking as he moans and crushes his lips against mine. We deepen the kiss, tongues tangling and breaths coming faster, harder.
“You’re gorgeous,” he pants as he slips his thumb under the fabric of my bra and teases my nipple. I spear my fingers into his thick hair and pull him closer, craving the feel of his skin on mine, wanting nothing more than to absorb him, make him part of me.
Soon he pushes my bra aside and his mouth meets my nipple. He sucks, swirling his tongue around the areola at the same time. I gasp from the electricity that shoots through me. Like a live wire that runs from my breast through my heart and then down to my core. While he plumps the breast he’s sucking with one hand, his other presses against the seam between my legs, nudging my thighs apart.
Through the tiny round window that illuminates the cabin, I can see slivers of us. His hand, my flesh, his hair, my pink nails. The sounds of our breaths mingle with the soft murmur of the sea outside and the occasional call of a gull overhead. The combination of sights, sounds, and caresses is erotic, deep and sensual in a way it’s never been with another man.
“Niko,” I cry out as he slips his hand inside my panties. I grab his wrist and stop him.
“I’m sorry,” he gasps. “Tell me what to do. I’ll stop if you want.”
I don’t want him to stop, but I’m overloaded, and I’m scared. Scared to lose my heart.
“No…I don’t know.” I shake my head from side to side and try to collect my thoughts.
He cups my cheek and looks at me with such care and warmth my poor overworked heart nearly bursts.
“It’s okay, we don’t have to do anything. I can just hold you.”
“I want you,” I answer. “So badly.”
He grins. “The feeling is mutual.”
I play with the hair on his chest while we whisper, following the little curls and patterns.
“I’m scared. I’m falling for you and if we do this—”
“If we do what?” he asks, a wicked smile on his face.
“If we have sex,” I clarify.
“Mmhm,” he rumbles from deep in his chest.
“I’m afraid you’re going to break my heart.”
His smile drops like a rock in a deep pool. He blinks at me once, twice, then his eyes drift closed and he lays his head alongside mine, his mouth next to my ear.
When he speaks his breath is hot and I shiver from head to toe.
“Oh, beautiful Tess. You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”
I shake my head and feel his tongue dart out to touch my earlobe.
“Trust me, the only one who’s at risk of a broken heart here is me,” he says. “I’m falling for you so hard it feels like I’m drowning some days.” He lifts his head and watches my face, gently moving a lock of hair out of my eyes. “And I’m ready to give up and let the water take me.”
Niko
Tess smiles, a knowing, cunning grin, then she pulls my mouth to hers and kisses me like there’s no tomorrow. I’ve gone and done it. Given her all the power. Told her that she can wreck me if she chooses. And it’s okay. Because I’ve waited my whole life for this—for her. For something that I chose. Something that I will have to work for, every day. Something that is all mine.
Before long we’ve stripped off our remaining clothes and she’s straddling my lap on the edge of the bed, her hot, wet center wedged against my raging hard on while I alternate between devouring her juicy mouth and sucking on her ripe tits.
She thrusts her hips against me and I nearly burst right then. “I want to be inside of you,” I growl.
“Please,” she answers. I reach into the side table and grab a condom. She takes it from my hand and does a very sexy tear of the foil with her teeth, eyes on me the entire time.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask as she reaches between us to roll it on.
“Please,” she repeats.
“You’re the best fucking intern I’ve ever had.”
Her laughter is like a burst of sunshine in a rainstorm; fast, bright, and utterly beguiling.
I take advantage of the break in action and roll her under me. Her thighs part and I settle myself between them, my hunger for her roaring to the surface with demands that I pump, hard and fast.
I draw back and she shifts to align us, then I push in. It’s the hottest, sweetest thing I’ve ever felt.
“Jesus,” I grunt when she wiggles underneath me.
“You have to move,” she gasps. “I need you to move.”
Never one to ignore a woman’s request, I start to move, in and out, savoring every thrust, every retreat, every tiny breath that escapes her as she develops a rhythm with me.
My balls tighten even more, and I know I won’t be able to hold on long. “Tell me you’re close, baby.”
“Yes,” she answers. I rea
ch between us and press my thumb to her clit, and she flies apart, convulsing around me like a velvet vise. I follow right behind, my orgasm like a damn semi-truck that’s lost its brakes. It’s hard and fast, and long, and when it’s over I can hardly move, much less think.
I roll off of her and lie there, my heart pounding like I’ve flat out sprinted for days.
She tucks herself into my side and I trail a fingertip along her back, unable to speak for a few moments.
“Wow,” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I reply.
When I think my legs won’t give out on me I get up and dispose of the condom, stopping to look at myself in the mirror of the head. My hair is a jumbled mess, and I need a shave already, but my eyes are bright, and I can’t help the smile that won’t subside. I scowl at my reflection for a moment, trying to contain the adrenaline that’s pumping through my veins. But I can’t. And I know why. As frightening as it is, and as much as I never thought it would happen to me, I know what this is. I’ve found the thing that my life was missing, the something deeper, something better, something more that I’ve been craving. I’ve found it and now I can’t lie, I won’t lie. I have to admit it, to myself, if not to anyone else yet.
I’ve fallen in love with Tess Richardson.
* * *
My boat becomes a sanctuary for Tess and I. We spend every possible moment there, and on the days we can’t meet up, I feel this grating sense of dissatisfaction, as if something is fundamentally incomplete with my life.
I’ve just had one of those days today. It started with meetings with our legal department about the quarterly audits. For some reason the American IRS is giving us crap about our records for shipping in and out of Los Angeles. By lunch I’d moved on to a personnel dispute between my second cousin Raoul and his ex-girlfriend, Nina. My father insists on keeping all family personnel issues handled by family. So this one won’t be going to H.R. But it is proof positive that you shouldn’t fuck people you work with, and a reminder about my tenuous situation with Tess that makes me more than uncomfortable.
The Heir: A Standalone Greek Billionaire Romance Page 13