by Maya Blake
His hands speared into her hair, imprisoning her for the invasion of his tongue as he took the kiss to another level.
His first kiss over two weeks ago had been a pure threat and the two that followed a show of mastery. This kiss was different. There was hunger and passion behind it, but also a gentleness that calmed her roiling emotions and slowly replaced them with a different sensation. Need clamoured inside her; a need to be closer still to his magnificent body; a need to dig her hands into his back and feel him shudder in reaction.
His groan was smothered between their melded lips as she dug her fingers even deeper. Power surged through her when he jerked again.
One hand dropped to her bottom and yanked her lower body into his groin. His erection was unmistakable. Bold, thick and hot, it pressed against her belly with insistent power that made her heartbeat skitter out of control.
She wanted him. Above and beyond all sense, she wanted this man. Her willpower, when it came to the chemistry between them, was laughably negligible.
But she couldn’t give in. Couldn’t…
The gentleness she’d sensed in him was false, she reminded herself fiercely. The bottom line was that in a few short weeks he would walk away. Leave her and her family devastated.
‘I’m losing you. Come back, anjo,’ he murmured seductively against her mouth. He ran his tongue over her lower lip and her knees weakened.
When he cupped her bottom and squeezed, she desperately summoned all her resolve and pushed against his chest. ‘No.’
He raised his head and she saw behind the wall. He was as caught in this insane chemistry as she was. A little part of her felt better.
‘I can change your mind, Inez. Regardless of what I intend for your father, what is between us is undeniable.’
‘Do you hear yourself? You think I should forget everything else and sleep with you just because you made me feel a certain way?’
‘That’s generally the reason why men and women have sex.’
‘But we’re not just any man and any woman, Theo, are we?’
He stiffened, and a hard look entered his eyes. ‘Are you saying that you’ve been in love with every man you’ve slept with?’ he queried.
She froze and prayed her humiliation wouldn’t show on her face as she tried to stem the memory of Constantine’s treatment of her.
His cruel rejection was still an ache beneath her breastbone.
‘Inez?’ Theo interjected harshly.
‘My past relationships are none of your business.’
His slightly reddened mouth twisted. ‘Far be it for me to request to be lumped in with your other lovers, but isn’t it a touch hypocritical to apply one criteria to me that you haven’t done with one of your lovers, in particular?’
‘If you’re referring to Constantine, let me assure you that you have no idea what you’re talking about.’
His hand tightened around her waist. ‘Then enlighten me. Why did he dump you?’
Inez broke free. ‘We weren’t compatible.’
‘Or he found out the true reason you were with him and wanted nothing to do with you?’
‘No. That wasn’t why…’ She screeched to a stop as the words stuck in her throat.
‘So what was it? Did you really love him or did you convince yourself you did in order to achieve your aims?’
She bit her lip as he shone a light on the stark question. Had she blown her feelings out of proportion? Constantine had been charismatic, yes, but he’d never created the decadent chaos that Theo created in her.
When she’d imagined love, she’d always imagined passion, hunger and a keen pleasure even the slightest thought of that special someone brought. She’d believed herself in love with Constantine and yet she’d never experienced those emotions.
Well, she most definitely wasn’t feeling them now.
‘I believed my emotions were genuine at the time. But he didn’t. He believed I was using him to further my father’s campaign.’
‘What did he do?’ he asked. She looked into his eyes and fooled herself into thinking she saw a thawing of the hardness there.
‘He made painful digs at me whenever he gave interviews. He made the tabloids call my character into question…much the same way you’re doing now.’
He dropped his hand. ‘It’s not the same—’
‘Yes, it is. Look Theo, I just want to be left alone to do my time.’
He paled. ‘You’re not in prison, Inez.’
She put much needed distance between them. ‘Am I not? How else would you describe my presence here?’
* * *
Theo watched her walk away and curled his fists at his sides. The urge to call her back was so strong he forced himself to exhale slowly to expel the need. Her reference to her presence under his roof as a prison sentence had stung badly.
But hell, the truth was irrefutable. He’d forced her to make a choice, and no amount of dinner dates or designer shopping sprees would gloss over the fact that he’d set the tabloids on her as a way to dismantle her father’s campaign.
Witnessing her clear distress just now had made his chest ache in a way that confused and irritated him.
Perhaps he needed to step up his agenda, end this dangerous game once and for all and move on with his life.
His brothers would certainly agree. He’d been avoiding their calls for the best part of a fortnight, replying only by email and with curt one-liners that he knew would only go so far before something gave.
He gritted his teeth against the prompt to deliver a swift killing blow to Benedicto da Costa.
His own ordeal hadn’t been swift. It’d been long and tortuous. The punishment should fit the crime. Any hesitation on his part now merely stemmed from the afterglow of the chemistry between him and Inez. He freely admitted that theirs was a strong and potent brand, more intense than anything he’d ever experienced before.
It was messing with his mind, the same way the thought of her ex-lover had made him see red for several long seconds. But there was no way he was letting it impede his goal.
Which meant he had to come at this problem from another angle.
He swallowed the acrid taste in his mouth at the thought that Inez had put him into the same class as Constantine Blanco.
Slowly walking back indoors, he turned over the dilemma in his mind. By the time he reached his suite and changed out of his swimming trunks, a smile was curving his lips.
An hour later, he watched her descend the stairs, her duffel bag slung over her shoulder and an overnight case in her hand.
‘Did Teresa tell you to pack your swimming gear?’
She regarded him warily. ‘Yes. But I thought we were just taking the boat out?’
He shrugged. ‘I thought you would welcome the opportunity to sunbathe away from the prying lenses of the paparazzi? There are several decks on the yacht that you can sunbathe on. Or we can swim in the sea, dine alone under the stars. Would you like that?’ he asked, then felt a jolt at how much he wanted her to answer in the affirmative. In the past, he’d never taken the time to seek out what pleased his girlfriends beyond the usual gifts and fine dining. It was why he operated his relationships on a strict short-term basis with as little maintenance as possible.
Inez was far from low maintenance. And yet he found himself even more drawn to her.
She glanced pointedly over his shoulder. ‘I’ll think about it and let you know.’
His unsettled feelings escalated. He reminded himself that they were heading for his boat. She liked his boat. Perhaps she would relent enough to forget that she was angry with him. Forget about Blanco and forget that she was being blackmailed.
Theo was still debating why her feelings meant so much to him when he pulled up at the marina.
* * *
‘You’ve been smiling ever since we set sail.’
Her voice was full of heavy suspicion. Theo’s smile widened as he tilted his face up into the sunshine. ‘Have I? It must be the weathe
r.’
‘The weather has been the same for the last month,’ she replied sourly.
He slowly lowered his head and captured her gaze with his. ‘Then it must be the company.’
A delicate wave of heat surged up her neck into her cheeks, making him wonder, as he had more than once these past two weeks, how she could have been involved with someone like Blanco and still blush like a schoolgirl.
Theo had looked into Constantine Blanco and had not been surprised to find that he was cut from the same cloth as Benedicto. It was perhaps why Da Costa had chosen to ally himself with the younger man politically. He’d sent his daughter to spy on Blanco and had been double-crossed in the bargain.
Theo’s smile slipped as he recalled her hurt when he’d thrown her relationship with Blanco at her. He reached for the glass of wine that had accompanied their late afternoon meal and took a large gulp.
The guilt tightening in his chest since her accusation at the pool squeezed harder.
What the hell was going on with him?
‘Have you decided whether you’re selling the boat or not?’ she asked.
In the sunlight, her black hair gleamed like polished jet, making him burn to feel its silkiness beneath his fingers.
He stared into his drink. ‘Maybe. I’ll have to weigh up practical usage versus the desire to hang on to something beautiful.’
‘But you’re a billionaire. Isn’t collecting toys part and parcel of your status?’
‘I wasn’t always a man of means. In fact my brothers and I worked our backsides off to achieve the level of success we enjoy now.’ His smile felt tight and strained.
‘Your brothers…Sakis and Arion…’
He looked up in surprise. ‘You’ve been playing around on the Internet, I see.’
She raised her chin. ‘I thought it wise to learn a little bit more about my enemy.’
The label grated. Badly. ‘What else did you try to discover while you were rooting around my family tree?’
‘Your brother Sakis had some trouble with a saboteur on one of his oil tankers.’
He nodded. ‘We dealt with that quite satisfactorily.’
‘And now your brother Ari is engaged to the widow of the man who tried to throw your company into chaos?’ She frowned.
A reluctant grin tugged at his mouth. ‘What can I say; we thrive on interesting challenges.’
‘You also seem to make enemies with the people you do business with. So far you’ve led me to believe it was my father who wronged you. How do I know it’s not the other way round? That you’re not here because you deserved everything you got?’
The stem of the wine glass snapped with a sickening crack. Even then it took the cold wine seeping into his shirt to realise what he’d done.
The top part of the glass landed on the table, rolled off and smashed onto the deck.
Inez gasped. ‘Theo, you’re bleeding!’ She surged to her feet and sprang towards him.
‘Stop!’
‘But your finger…’
‘Is nothing compared to what will happen to your foot if you take another step.’
She glanced down at the broken glass an inch from her bare foot and glanced back at his bleeding forefinger. Anguish creased her pale features.
‘Sit down, Inez,’ he instructed tersely.
‘Please, let me help,’ she implored.
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed a napkin and formed a small tourniquet around the gaping wound. ‘It’s not deep but will need to be cleaned properly. There’s a first aid kit behind the bar.’
She nodded, slipped on her sandals and dashed for the bar. Theo stood and moved from the dining table to the wraparound sofa to give the crew member who’d arrived on deck room to sweep up the broken glass. He glanced up as Inez rushed back and set the kit on the coffee table.
Her eyes were turbulent with worry as she glanced from his face to the blood-soaked napkin.
‘Are you going to stand there staring at me all evening? I’m bleeding to death here.’
With a hoarse croak, she jerked into action. She carefully cleaned the wound with antiseptic and applied gauze before securing it with a plaster. All through the procedure, she darted quick, apologetic glances at him.
As he stared at her, he felt a different sort of jolt run through him. One he hadn’t been aware he was missing until he felt it.
Care. Concern. Fear for him.
When was the last time anyone besides Ari and Sakis had felt like that about him? When was the last time his own mother lavished such attention on him? Inez slid him another worried glance and his breath shuddered out.
‘Calm yourself, anjo. I’ll live. I’m sure of it.’
She exhaled noisily and her agitated pulse pounded at her throat. ‘Sinto muito,’ she said in a rush.
‘Don’t apologise. It wasn’t your fault.’
‘But…if I hadn’t accused you of…’
‘You’re operating in the dark and want to find out the truth. I respect that. But I can’t tell you what my business with your father is until I’m ready. You have to respect that.’
‘But…this…’ She glanced down at his finger and shook her head. ‘Your reaction…the claustrophobia and the touching thing…I can’t help but fear the worst, Theo,’ she whispered.
Against his will, his chest constricted at the anguish in her voice. He wanted to comfort her. Wanted to take that look of anticipated pain from her face. He wanted to kiss her until they both forgot why she was his prisoner and why he was beginning to dread the day he had to set her free.
He swallowed hard.
‘Let’s make a deal. For the next twenty-four hours, no talk of your father or the reason why I’m in Rio. Agreed?’
Her mouth wobbled and her teeth worried her bottom lip as she glanced back at his finger. Her eyes were no less turbulent when they rose to his but he saw determination flare in their depths. ‘Agreed.’
* * *
Theo stood at the railing on the third floor deck and watched her swim in the pool on the second deck the next morning. She moved like a water nymph, her long black hair streaming down her back as she scissored her arms and legs underwater.
He gripped the rail until his knuckles turned white but still he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
‘I’m waiting for an answer, Theo,’ came the weary voice at the end of the line.
Theo sighed. ‘Sorry, remind me again what the question was.’
Ari grunted with annoyance. ‘I asked you why I couldn’t have one peaceful breakfast without opening the papers to find you wrapped around some poor girl. Seriously, my digestive system has sent me a stern memo. Either I treat it better and not subject it to such images or it goes on permanent vacation.’
Theo heard Perla, his soon-to-be sister-in-law, laughing in the background.
‘The answer is simple. Don’t read the papers.’
Ari sighed. ‘How long is this going to go on for?’
‘Everything should be signed, sealed and delivered in a week or two,’ he responded, rolling his shoulders to ease the tension tightening his muscles. Another sleepless night, plagued with nightmares. He’d given up on sleep somewhere around three a.m.
‘You sound very sure.’
His grip tightened around the phone. As he’d lain awake he’d briefly toyed with the idea of ending this vendetta sooner. And he’d been stunned when the idea had taken firm hold. ‘I am.’
‘And nothing you’re doing down there will affect the wedding? Don’t forget it’s in two weeks. If you can prise yourself away from that piece of skirt for long enough—’
‘She’s not a piece of skirt,’ he snarled before he could catch his response. Ari’s silence made him hurry to speak. ‘I’ll be at your wedding.’
‘Good, since you’ve missed most of the rehearsals, I’ll send you the video of what you need to do. Make sure you get it right; we’ll do a quick rehearsal when you get here. I’m not having you mess things up for Perla.’
He followed the curvy, sexy shape underneath the water and held his breath as Inez broke the surface and rose out of the pool. Dripping curves and sun-kissed skin made his body clench unbearably. He wanted to trace every single inch of her with his hands, his mouth, his tongue. ‘Oh, and tell Perla I’m bringing a guest.’
His brother muttered a curse and relayed the message. Theo heard Perla’s whoop of delight. ‘The love of my life grudgingly agrees but suggests that perhaps, next time, you could be courteous enough to give us a heads-up sooner?’
‘Next time? You mean you’ll be getting married for a third time?’
He hung up to more pithy curses ringing in his ears and found himself smiling. Without taking his eyes off the figure below, he descended the spiral staircase and walked towards the bikini-clad goddess reaching for the towel on the shelf next to the pool.
Her back was turned and he slowed to a stop as the sight of her tiny waist and curvy hips made blood rush through his veins. Lust twisted through his gut, hard and demanding.
Hell, this was getting unbearable.
He threw his cell phone on the breakfast table and watched her jerk around to face him. The towel she was holding to her hair stilled.
‘Hi.’
‘Good morning. Enjoy your swim?’
‘It was very refreshing,’ she replied huskily, her eyes following him warily as he strode towards her. ‘So, what’s the plan for today?’ she asked.
I want to haul you off to my bed and keep you underneath me until we both pass out from the pleasure overload.
He wrenched his gaze from her full breasts, lovingly cupped by damp white triangles, and concentrated on breathing. ‘We’re headed for Copacabana. We’ll stop for something to eat then head back tonight. Or if you want we can stay on the boat and leave in the morning?’
She thought about it for a second and nodded. ‘I’d love to draw the boat in the moonlight.’
‘Then that’s what you shall do.’
Her gaze turned puzzling, weighing.
‘What’s on your mind?’ he asked.
She shook her head slightly and slowly folded the towel. ‘Sometimes I feel as if I’m dealing with two people.’