by Sarah Morgan
‘But you’re still hurting. Of course you’re hurting. You brush it away like dust on your sleeve but we both know you haven’t left it behind. You’re carrying it with you into everything you do—your business and your relationships. It’s the reason you work so hard and it’s the reason you don’t get involved with women. It’s the reason you don’t have a family. You’re afraid of losing what you love.’
Her insight shocked him. ‘I really don’t—’
‘I was the one who opened the wound. I pushed you and pushed you and suggested it was just because you were fighting over business—as if you could be that superficial.’
Stefan, who had spent his life being exactly that superficial was floored. ‘Selene—’
‘I’m sorry.’ She flung her arms round him and hugged him tightly.
He stood immobile, the feel of her softness against him driving the breath from his body. And there was that smell again. The smell of her soap that always drove him wild. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth to try and hold back the rush of feeling.
He couldn’t remember being hugged by a woman except as part of foreplay. He stood rigid, unsure what to do next. ‘I should probably get back to my meeting.’
‘Couldn’t they have the meeting without you? We could go somewhere private.’ Her voice was muffled in his chest. ‘We could have fun and do a few more things on my list.’ She was still hugging him, her body warm against his, her arms wrapped around him.
‘If we’re doing things on your list why do we need to be private?’
‘Because most of them involved getting naked with you.’
Stefan gave an incredulous laugh. ‘You are the most confusing woman I’ve ever met.’
‘I’m the least confusing woman you’ve ever met. I’m honest about what I want.’
‘And what do you want?’ He forced himself to ask the question even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.
‘I want quite a lot. First I’d like you to help me with my business.’
‘I thought you didn’t want my help?’
‘It was incredibly stupid and childish of me to say that. Of course I want your help. I’d be mad to turn it down, wouldn’t I? You know more about business than anyone and although candles make you wince I know I have a viable business. But I have no idea how to make it reality. If you’re still prepared to help me, I’d be grateful.’
Stefan relaxed slightly. Business was the easy part. ‘I’ll help you.’
‘I’m prepared to work as hard as I have to. I’m excited about it.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘I’ve given up the job in the taverna—they only took me on because of you so I felt bad taking a job from someone else. I want to concentrate on my business and if you could loan me enough to live on while I get everything off the ground I’d consider myself fortunate. But I will pay you back. It’s a loan, not a gift. No more money tied in a thong.’
Stefan lifted his brows. ‘That is a creative way of keeping money in one place.’
‘With hindsight it wasn’t such a clever idea. My father found it.’
The thought horrified him. ‘It’s a good job you ran from him when you did.’
‘It’s a good job you turned up when you did. Thank you for that, too. And I was very impressed that you managed to land a boat on that side of the island without sinking it. That will go down in Antaxos legend, I can tell you.’
‘I don’t understand how you could have lived with that man all your life and escaped unscathed.’
‘I’m not unscathed. I dreamed of heroes. It made me unrealistic. I created a mythical person who could defeat my father and leave him grovelling with apology—’ She frowned. ‘Come to think of it, you did leave him groveling.’
‘But there was no apology.’
‘That would have been asking for a miracle.’ Her hand was resting on his chest. ‘Aren’t you going to ask me what else I want apart from help with my business?’
‘Go on.’
‘I want to be with you. I want to go on dates like normal people. I want to have lots of sex.’
Stefan breathed deeply. ‘You shouldn’t say things like that—’
‘I’m just saying it to you. I know I’m asking a lot because you don’t normally date women. This is the part where you tell me you’ll break my heart, you don’t want happy-ever-after and that the longest relationship you’ve ever had lasted three courses over dinner.’ Her arms slid round his neck. ‘And this is the part where I tell you I just want to have fun with someone I trust. I want to explore the chemistry with someone I feel safe with. I want to make love with you the way we did that night at the villa and this time I don’t want to have to rush off in the morning.’
Heat spread through his body. ‘Selene—’
‘But if you’d rather go back to your meeting...’ Her finger trailed down his neck. ‘Or if being hugged is making you uncomfortable and you’d rather go back to living your life in an isolated bubble, that’s fine with me. Actually it’s not fine with me, and if that’s what you decide you’ll probably find I’m just as persistent as you are when I want something.’
He caught her hand in his. ‘You’re driving me crazy.’
‘Good. Because I haven’t slept since that night at your villa. I’ve turned into a sex maniac. If you could do something about that, I’d appreciate it.’ Her fingers tangled with his. ‘Look at it this way—if it doesn’t work out you can just dump me and move on. Isn’t that what you always do? It’s never caused you a problem before. What’s different this time?’
His collar was constricting his throat and he extracted himself from her arms, yanked at his tie and flipped open the top button of his shirt. ‘Your first instinct was probably the right one. You should stay away from me. I’m not good for you.’
‘Maybe you are. And maybe I’m good for you. But if we don’t do this we’ll never find out.’
* * *
‘I know that this product is special. It’s a luxury. A treat. Something to make a woman feel pampered. If we sell it in supermarkets as an everyday item, it loses its appeal. It’s a high-end product. I thought maybe if we made it exclusive to your spa hotels to begin with it might add to the feel that this is a superior product.’
Selene stopped talking, aware of the twelve people in the room all watching her. It should have felt daunting, but only one person interested her and that was the man who lounged at the head of the table. Stefan hadn’t spoken a word since the meeting began and yet it was obvious from the body language of everyone in the room that his opinion was the one that mattered.
He’d removed his jacket. On the surface he was no different from anyone else, and yet he throbbed with authority and power. Even without speaking he commanded the room and Selene felt something stir inside her.
He was shockingly handsome, those dark lashes framing eyes that looked at her with raw sexual promise.
Imagining that mouth on hers, she lost the thread of her speech.
He smiled, and the fact that he so clearly knew what she was thinking infuriated her and at the same time made her insides turn to jelly.
She didn’t want to be that predictable, but she loved the fact he could read her. She didn’t want him to be so sure of her, but she wanted him to know her. She wanted that intimacy.
‘Exclusive,’ she said firmly. ‘That’s the approach I think we should take. By making it hard to get, people might want it more.’
His eyes held hers. Amusement danced there, along with something infinitely darker and more dangerous.
There was an expectant silence. Heads turned to Stefan and finally he stirred.
‘It’s a high-risk strategy but I like it. Put it into five of our hotels to test it and if it’s successful we’ll roll it out across the whole group.’
Selene felt the
tension ooze out of her. She’d presented her ideas to a commercial task force put together by Stefan and they’d discussed everything from packaging options and advertising to demographics and market forces until her brain was a blur.
‘Start exclusive.’ Adam, head of Ziakas Business Development, picked up one of the candles and nodded. ‘I can work with that. Jenny?’
Jenny was head of public relations for the Ziakas Corporation. ‘Yes, our campaign should focus on the luxury element. We’ll invite a few journalists for pamper days—they can share their experiences. Spread the word. Create demand. I’ll have some companies pitch ideas.’
By the time the meeting eventually finished Selene had been on her feet for almost four hours, but she’d learned so much and her head was buzzing.
‘We’re done here.’ Stefan rose to his feet, dismissing everyone, but as Selene closed her laptop—her brand-new laptop—he stopped her. ‘Not you.’
Finally the room cleared and it was just the two of them left alone.
‘So...’ Stefan strolled round the table, his attention focused on her. ‘By making it hard to get, people might want more? I can confirm that’s the case. Do you have any idea how much control I had to exercise today?’
Shaken by the look in his eyes, she swallowed. ‘Did you?’
‘Yes. Normally I like to pace during a meeting. Sitting still drives me mad.’
‘So why did you?’
‘Because you look disturbingly hot in your suit and I’ve been aroused for the entire meeting. Not comfortable.’ He slid his hand behind her neck and drew her face to him. ‘Are you wearing stockings under that skirt?’
‘Maybe. Possibly.’ Her heart was pounding. ‘So you would have said yes to anything? Does that mean you thought my ideas were rubbish?’
‘No. It means I thought your ideas were excellent but you talk too much.’ His eyes were on her mouth. ‘You had me sold in the first ten minutes. You could have stopped then and I could have taken you to bed and avoided this prolonged torture.’
‘I needed to convince the rest of your team.’
‘You only needed to convince me. I’m the one who counts. And now I’ve had enough of talking about candles.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘I’m all burnt out.’
‘Very funny. Are you laughing at me?’
‘I never laugh at business. You have a good product. A product you believe in. You should be proud, koukla mou.’
‘You shouldn’t call me that when we’re working. I don’t want people to think this is favouritism.’
‘I don’t care what people think, but just for the record I can tell you that everyone who works for me knows I’m incapable of favouritism.’ He slid his fingers into her cropped hair. ‘I like it like this.’
‘So do I. It was a bit of an impulse but now I’ve got used to it I think it suits the new me.’ She was so aware of him, her body stirring at the memories of how it felt to be with him, and her heart went crazy as he curved his hand around her face and kissed her gently.
‘Pack up your things. We’re leaving on a market research trip.’
‘What sort of market research?’
‘You want to sell your product in my exclusive hotels. You’ve never even stayed in one. So we’re going to take your Seduction candle to a hotel and see how it performs in a field test.’
She gave a gurgle of laughter. ‘Where?’
‘Santorini. You once told me you didn’t know Greek Islands could be beautiful. I’m going to broaden your education. It’s time you experienced sex against a backdrop of dramatic views and spectacular sunsets.’
‘What? Right now?’
‘Yes, now. We’re going to spend time alone together. Just me, you—’ he kissed the top of her nose ‘—and your candle.’
‘And my soap. Don’t forget the soap. It’s a useful addition to the range.’
‘How can I forget the soap?’ His hands slid into her hair and his mouth hovered close to hers. ‘I smell it on you and it drives me crazy because it makes me think of you naked in my shower.’
‘You have a focused mind, Mr Ziakas.’
‘I do indeed. And right now it’s focused on you.’
* * *
They flew to Santorini in his private jet and Selene was dazzled by her first views of the stunning volcanic island with its pretty whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches overlooking the sparkling Aegean Sea.
‘It’s stunning. I didn’t even know places like this existed.’
‘Did you never travel anywhere with your father?’
‘No. He liked to give the impression of being loving and protective, keeping us out of the media glare, but in reality he just didn’t want us to cramp his style. I think he probably stayed in places like this all his life, but without us.’
‘This’ was the Ziakas Hot Spa, an exclusive hotel consisting of individual private suites nestling into the hillside overlooking the Caldera.
‘I never imagined anywhere as romantic as this existed,’ Selene murmured as she walked onto their private terrace and stared across the sea.
‘You surprise me. Your brain appears to have infinite capacity for dreaming.’
‘I know. It’s what kept me sane. But this...’ She sighed happily and picked up a card from the table placed in a strategic position overlooking the sea. ‘This place even has...’ She read the card and looked at him in astonishment. ‘A pillow menu?’
‘Duck as the starter, goose as the main, hypo-allergenic for dessert.’ Smiling, he stripped off and dived into their private pool, soaking Selene in the process.
She stood there, gasping, showered in droplets. ‘Thank you. Now I’m wet.’
‘Good. Join me.’
‘We’re in public.’
‘We are not in public. This is their best suite and it isn’t overlooked. And I am the boss.’ He gave her a slow, wicked smile. ‘No one will dare disturb us, and if they do you have a choice of over seven different pillow types with which to assault them. Are you going to join me voluntarily or do I have to fetch you?’
She put down the pillow menu. ‘This is my work suit. It’s wet.’
‘I’ll buy you another. You have to the count of three to get naked. One—’
‘But—’
‘Two—’
Selene toed off her shoes and wriggled out of her skirt and jacket.
Stefan groaned as he saw her stockings. ‘You’re killing me.’
‘Good.’ She slid the stockings down her legs slowly, enjoying his reaction. ‘By the way, I’m keeping my underwear on.’ As she held her breath and jumped in she thought she heard him mutter ‘Not for long...’ but the cool water closed over her head and felt blissful on her heated skin.
She surfaced to find him right next to her.
His hand was on her hip and then her waist, and a fierce stab of excitement shot through her body and pooled in her pelvis.
I love you.
The words flew into her brain but for once she managed to stop her thoughts popping out through her mouth because she knew this one would send him running.
Instead she stayed still and savoured the contrast between the cool of the water and the heat of his mouth.
She was here. She had now.
That was enough.
Behind them, the setting sun was dipping down to the sea, but neither of them noticed the spectacle that drew tourists from all over the world. Their focus was on each other.
Her mouth was as urgent as his, her hands as desperate to touch and explore, and this time it was all the more exciting because she used the knowledge he’d given her. When she ran her tongue along the seam of his sensual mouth he groaned and tried to take possession, but she held back just a little bit, enjoying the feeling of power that came from knowing she was drivin
g him crazy. But holding back only worked as long as he allowed it, and when he clamped his hand on the back of her head and held her for his kiss it was her turn to moan. His kiss was deliberate and unashamedly erotic, each skilled slide of his tongue a tantalising promise of things to come.
When he closed his hands over her bottom and lifted her she instinctively wrapped her legs around him. Her sensitive skin brushed against his solid, muscular thighs and she realised she was naked—that somehow in the heat of that kiss he’d removed the last of her clothing and she hadn’t even noticed. But she noticed now, felt the heat of him brush against her, and the contrast drove her crazy. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, felt resistance and hard muscle beneath sleek bronzed skin.
‘I want you.’ His eyes were so dark they were almost black, his voice a low growl. ‘Here. Now.’
Maybe had she been more coherent she would have worried about the danger of being spotted, but she was beyond caring and simply moved her hips against him in a desperate attempt to relieve the ache between her thighs.
When his hand slid between her legs she gasped against his mouth. The gasp turned to a moan as his fingers explored her with all the intimate knowledge that had driven her wild the first time. His breathing was harsh and shallow, tension etched in his features as he turned her mindless.
And then he shifted her slightly and surged into her. He was hot, so hot in contrast to the cool water, and it felt so impossibly good that she sucked in air and stopped breathing.
‘Cristos—’ His voice was hoarse, his mouth warm on her neck as he struggled to breathe, too. ‘You feel—’
‘Don’t stop. Please, Stefan—’ The need in her was so primal she could do nothing but move her hips.
With a soft curse his fingers tightened on her, his grip almost painful. ‘Just—wait—’
‘Can’t—’ Eyes closed, she arched into him, took him deeper if that were possible, and he groaned and gave in to it.
He felt smooth, hard, powerful, and the excitement spread through her until there wasn’t a single part of her body that couldn’t feel him. She tried to rock her hips but his hands were clamped on her, holding her, limiting her movements, so that he was the one who controlled the rhythm. He was merciless with each stroke until the orgasm ripped through her and she sucked in gasping breaths, only dimly aware that he was gripped in his own fierce climax. And then his mouth was on hers and he kissed her through the whole wild experience, swallowing her cries, her gasps, words she wanted to speak but couldn’t until the whole thing was nothing but a blur of sexual pleasure.