‘Scream all you want.. no one will hear you.’ They’ll only think we’re having fun. You’re not going to win this one—accept it.’
Lisa kicked her legs furiously in reply. ‘This isn’t a joke, Tino.’
‘What’s your problem? Are you still worried about Arianna? Or are you more worried about being alone with me?’
Lisa gave a short, scornful laugh. ‘Yes, I am worried about Arianna—but as for you?’ She looked at him with disdain. ‘I couldn’t give a damn about you.’
Dropping her to the ground, he held her at arm’s length, the tension flaring between them. ‘No need to descend to the language of the gutter, young woman.’
‘To describe you?’ Lisa couldn’t believe she was shouting. ‘I’d say it’s absolutely necessary.’
‘And if I told you Arianna and I aren’t a couple?’
‘I’d be happy, relieved—for her. And I’d still want to go back to the villa. No contact between us other than for business, remember that, Tino?’
‘So, we shouldn’t do this, for instance…’
The breath shot out of Lisa’s lungs as he dragged her close. Feelings exploded out of her. And it wasn’t the fact that Tino was kissing her that went storming through her brain, it was the fact that she loved it. He felt good, better than good. Making rough, animal sounds, she moved passionately against him. But as he moulded her even closer to him she hated him—hated him for making her want him so badly it hurt, so badly her legs were giving way beneath her.
She came to her senses abruptly. Bond Steel’s future depended on her, and this was how she behaved? Tino was only playing games with her, and while she was distracted his troops were swarming all over her business.
She started fighting him then. She fought his mouth, his lips, his tongue, and she grappled with his hands, making sounds of fury in her throat. But he had her bound so tightly against him, she could hardly breathe, let alone break free. And then, just when she felt she had no more fight left in her, he let her go, and stood back.
‘So this is your idea of persuasion?’ he said.
‘It’s a lot more honest than kissing you back.’ Turning her face away from him, she held her forehead with her hand. ‘I can’t believe I’m in this position. I hate you so much.’
‘No,’ Tino countered steadily. ‘What you hate is the way I make you lose control.’
‘I know what I mean.’
‘Dangerous ground, Lisa. You know what they say about hate.’
‘Don’t flatter yourself!’
‘I don’t.’
Lisa made an angry sound. ‘So, I’m stuck with this for the next week?’
‘If you mean me.. then, yes, you are.’
‘Well, don’t ever try that again,’ she warned. ‘And don’t give me that look either. I’m warning you…I mean it, Tino.’
‘Of course you do.’
Tino knew what was at stake for her, Lisa realised, and, like it or not, she was tied in to this. Tino Zagorakis held the fate of Bond Steel in the palm of his hand, and she had to play by his rules, or risk losing everything.
He stood watching her, slouched on one hip. ‘Do you know what you need?’ His voice had turned low and mocking.
‘No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.’
‘You need someone to say no to you, Lisa—someone who can curb your headstrong ways.’
‘Headstrong?’ She’d never put a foot wrong in all her adult life—and no one in his right mind would call her headstrong. No one would dare. ‘And I suppose you think you’re man enough for the job?’
‘I know I am.’
The sardonic murmur made Lisa shiver with desire. She had to fight it, fight him. ‘I’ve had enough of this. I want to go back.’
‘Not a chance,’ he said flatly. ‘We are going to enter into negotiations Greek style.’
‘What are you talking about? Greek style?’ Ancient tableaux of partly clothed men and women captured in various poses of sensual indulgence sprang into Lisa’s mind. She was prepared to go a long way to secure the deal, but not that far.
‘We’re going to get properly acquainted before we sit round a table.’
‘Properly acquainted?’ Her throat squeezed tight. ‘Why? I don’t want to.’
‘Bad luck for your company.’ He shook his head.
‘No—stop…wait a minute.’ To Lisa’s relief he stopped walking and turned around.
‘So, we’re agreed?’ he said. ‘No more talk of business today?’
She muttered two words grudgingly: ‘All right.’
‘That’s good, Lisa.’
Did he have to make it sound as if she had achieved something monumental?
‘That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?’
Lisa confined herself to a glare.
‘There can be no possibility of a deal until I find you more biddable.’
‘Biddable?’ That was too much! ‘So, now you’re resorting to blackmail?’
‘Blackmail?’ Shaking his head, Tino made a sound of disappointment with his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He was teasing her, taunting her—baiting her. ‘No, not blackmail, Lisa. You see, if you respond well, I will be fair. But if you are determined to remain wilful and contrary, then you will have to be tamed.’
‘Tamed? I’d like to see you try.’
‘Is that a challenge, Lisa?’
And then, incredibly, before she realised what he meant to do, he had picked her up and put her over his knee! And before she could recover from that, he exclaimed, ‘Theos! You would send me mad!’ And let her tumble to the ground as if her naked flesh had scorched him.
Wiping a hand over his eyes, Tino looked as if he couldn’t believe what had happened. Scrambling to her feet, Lisa couldn’t believe it either. She didn’t know whether to rail at him, or laugh, and the longer they stood staring at each other, the more she wanted to laugh.
Tino was clearly stunned that a moment of passion had brought him to the point where he had almost put her over his knee and spanked her, while she was surprised the idea excited her so much. She had to think fast. She couldn’t let this drive a wedge between them or it would be the end of the deal. ‘We both need some cooling-off time.’ Nervous laughter bubbled out of her, but Tino’s expression stopped it dead.
What was this turning into? Tino stared at Lisa hard. He had never come close to losing control before, but right now his senses were raging. In an ideal world, sex between them would have been fun—explosive—but the courtly dance of civilised behaviour stood between them. That and his determination to bring her to heel. But he realised now that where the thought of subduing a woman physically was anathema to him, the thought of spanking Lisa as a prelude to something else was overwhelmingly appealing.
‘Are you all right?’ His voice sounded gruff in his ears.
‘All right?’
He braced himself for the explosion he was sure would come, but when she held his gaze her eyes were sparkling brighter than he’d ever seen them…
She wanted him.
He kept his face neutral, though right now his mind was in turmoil. He was relieved to know he hadn’t frightened her, but this wasn’t a game to him any more.. or, if it was, the rules had just changed, because he wanted Lisa Bond more than he had ever wanted anything in his life before…and that made him deeply uneasy.
CHAPTER FIVE
FOR a few seconds the air between them crackled with intensity. It wasn’t just Tino who had been carried away, Lisa realized; she had been too. The thought of a physical tussle with a man as strong as Tino ending in something that didn’t involve violence was going to play on her mind for a long time to come. If she could trust a man enough…if she could trust Tino enough…if it could be safe. She’d never been with a man before, had always been so scared. Now, all she felt was aroused and very tempted.
‘I’m going fishing,’ Tino said brusquely, breaking into her thoughts. ‘Are you coming with me, or not?’
Lis
a glanced down at her salt-caked self.
‘We can get some things for you down at the port.’
‘Wait,’ she called as he started down the path. ‘What are you talking about? What things?’
He stopped, and turned around. ‘Sun cream, a hat…nothing to get too excited about. Come on, then—we’ve wasted enough time.’
‘Can we talk business on the boat?’
‘You never give up, do you, Lisa?’
‘No.’
He stopped so abruptly she almost bumped into him. ‘Do you need forty hours to convince me?’
‘Of course I don’t.’
‘Then what are you worried about?’ He started off in the direction of the harbour again.
‘I’m not worried,’ she shouted after him.
‘Really?’ He lengthened his stride. ‘Cold-blooded son of a bitch,’ Lisa muttered as she hurried after him.
The local store stocked most essentials, and a straw hat with a wide brim was soon found for her, as well as some high factor sun cream—two bottles.
‘You’re very fair-skinned,’ Tino said as he pressed them into her hands. ‘You must use plenty.’
Lisa bobbed her head, still mutinous. Gazing out to distract herself from Tino’s mannish sweep of the store, she saw his yacht towering over the local boats. At least, she presumed it must be his. It was a sleek white colossus amidst all the tiny fishing vessels. ‘That’s an impressive business perk,’ she said when they left the shop.
‘I’m glad you like it.’
He was right. She didn’t need forty hours to convince him, and when would she get another opportunity to take a cruise on a billionaire’s yacht? Lisa was surprised by how childishly excited she was at the prospect. She was even a little impatient when Tino stopped outside another shop and steered her inside.
At the local bakery and general food store, when greetings had been formally exchanged with the beaming host, a wicker basket, not dissimilar to the one Stella had been carrying, was handed to them over the counter.
‘Our picnic,’ Tino explained, taking charge of it.
‘Our picnic?’ Lisa frowned. Didn’t billionaires carry chefs on their yachts these days?
When Tino walked straight past the gangway to the Stellamaris Odyssey, she halted at the foot of it.
‘What now?’ he grated, turning round.
‘But, I thought—’
‘Oh, dear—your bottom lip is trembling, Lisa.’
She probably did look like a child whose promised treat had just been snatched away—that was how she felt. ‘I didn’t want to go fishing in the first place,’ she pointed out, pretending not to care.
‘Does this look like a fishing boat?’ Tino gazed up the sides of his sleek white yacht.
‘No, of course not, but I thought—’
‘You thought?’
He made it sound like a breakthrough.
‘You insisted we must go out on your boat, Tino—’
‘No one in their right minds would call the Stellamaris Odyssey a boat, Lisa.’
‘Oh, well, excuse me! What am I supposed to know about billionaires’ toys?’
‘This is the woman who owns a jet talking?’
‘I don’t own a jet; my company owns a jet.’
‘Forgive me—I understood you owned Bond Steel?’
‘Most of it,’ she admitted tightly.
‘In my opinion a day out on a luxury yacht is nothing special. I use it for business, and for impressing clients. You don’t need to be impressed, do you, Lisa?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Excellent, because I’ve got something rather different planned for you.’
Now he was making her nervous…the sexual tension was still crackling. Craning her neck, Lisa tried to see past him. Whatever craft they would be using had to be here somewhere, she reasoned, but the last boat in line after the Stellamaris Odyssey was a modest blue and white fishing boat. ‘Do you mean that?’
‘What’s wrong with it? Or is my poor fishing vessel not good enough for you, Your Royal Highness?’ He gave her a mock bow.
Holding herself firmly in check, Lisa took one last longing look at the Stellamaris Odyssey.
Following her gaze, Tino smiled. ‘Oh, no, Lisa, that would be far too self-indulgent. I’m sure you agree that lean and mean is the best way to do business. You do still want to do business with me?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘In that case, come along—the galley on the fishing boat is rather primitive, and we don’t want our wine getting warm.’
It was fun. She hadn’t expected that. The day she’d moved in with her father, five-star luxury had become the norm—and even a five-star norm could become boring after a while. Not like this… This was special. The sun was warm on her face, and the breeze tasted salty and fresh…
While Tino took the helm, Lisa stored their provisions in the simple galley before joining him on deck.
‘I hope you found the ice. I had someone from the yacht bring it over in a bucket.’
‘Don’t worry—our wine is now in that bucket.’ She wasn’t going to let him run away with the idea that she was still disappointed. ‘Are you going to tell me where we’re heading, or is that still a secret?’
‘No secret—somewhere special…somewhere private.’
Private? How well did he intend them to get to know each other? Lisa’s heart started pumping. ‘How much more private does it get? This is your island, isn’t it?’
‘Why don’t you wait and see?’
Tino was right. The tiny cove they sailed into was completely secluded, and the only sound apart from the rolling surf was the beat of a thousand wings as birds rose in a cloud as they approached. The boat puttered in with its engine idling, and when she leaned over the side Lisa could see tiny fish swooping in vast shoals beneath them. ‘Come and see this,’ she called excitedly, forgetting the state of their relationship.
Cutting the engine, Tino joined her at the rail. ‘We’ll have to swim ashore. I can’t take her in any closer.’
‘What about our food?’
‘I’ll just drop anchor.’
Lisa turned to watch Tino pad across the deck. He looked like no businessman she’d ever seen before. The ones she was used to dealing with were somewhat lacking on the strong-tanned-leg front…and on the muscular-torso front too.
‘Food?’ he reminded her when he came back.
‘What? Oh, yes, the food.’
‘Well? Where is it?’
‘In the galley.’
‘So, go and get it.’ He folded his arms.
It seemed compliance was her lot—for now, Lisa accepted grimly.
‘There’s a waterproof ice-box in the galley,’ Tino called after her as she hurried off. ‘Fill it up with our provisions, and then attach the rope you’ll find on the shelf. When you’ve done that, give me a shout, and I’ll carry it up.’
‘I can manage.’
‘I’ll carry it up.’
She turned and they stared at each other unblinking.
‘I’m just going to check the lobster pots to see if I have a treat to take home for Stella,’ he told her steadily, ‘and then I’ll come down and get the ice-box and carry it up for you.’
When Tino returned he was as good as his word. Leaning over the rail, he carefully lowered the ice-box as close to the sea as the rope would allow. He let it drop the last couple of feet and then sprang onto the side-rail. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you up.’ Crouching down, he reached out to her.
Take his hand? Not in a million years.
‘Have it your way.’ He straightened up, balancing easily on the narrow rail as the boat rocked to and fro.
‘You mean I’ve got to dive in…from up there?’
‘Unless you’d rather go to the stern and climb down the steps.’
‘No. This is fine for me.’ Thrusting her hand into Tino’s, she let him help her up.
‘You’d better take this off before yo
u try to dive in.’
Lisa gasped as he tugged off her wrap. ‘That’s pretty slick. How many times have you done that before?’
‘Do you care?’
‘No, of course not.’
Arcing away from her with a grin, he dived backwards into the sea. Breaking the surface, he shook his hair out of his eyes. ‘It’s your turn now, Lisa. Don’t worry, I’m here to save you.’
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