by Maya Banks
Refusing to think about that, Kelly pushed open her front door, wincing slightly as the door jammed on a pile of magazines. ‘Sorry.’ She shoved at the door. ‘I’ve been trying to throw them away.’
‘Trying?’
Kelly stiffened defensively. ‘I find it hard, throwing things away. I’m always scared I’ll get rid of something I might want.’ Stooping, she gathered the magazines, looked hesitantly at the recycling box and then put them back down on the floor. ‘And some of these magazines have some really interesting articles I might want to read again some day.’
Alekos was looking at her intently, as if she were a fascinating creature from another planet. ‘You always did drop everything where you stood.’ The faint amusement in his eyes was the final straw.
‘Yes, well, none of us are perfect, and at least I don’t deliberately try and hurt people,’ Kelly snapped—then gasped in horror as he smacked his forehead hard on the doorframe. ‘Oh—mind out! Poor you—are you OK? Are you hurt? I’ll get you some ice.’ Sympathy bubbled over until she remembered she wasn’t supposed to feel sympathy for this man. ‘These cottages are old. You need to bend your head coming through there.’
Rubbing his fingers over his bronzed forehead, he grimaced. ‘You need to warn people before they knock themselves unconscious.’
‘It’s not a problem for anyone under six foot.’
‘I’m six-three.’
She didn’t need reminding. He towered over her, all broad shoulders and pumping testosterone.
Unsettled, Kelly took a step backwards. ‘Yes, well, you should have been looking where you were going.’
‘I was looking at you.’ His irritable tone implied he was less than pleased about that fact, but for some reason his reluctant confession really cheered her up.
The fact that she could still make this man miss his step gave her a ridiculous sense of feminine satisfaction. Maybe she wasn’t thin and blonde, but he still noticed her whether he wanted to or not.
But satisfaction was short lived as she realised his wide shoulders virtually filled the hallway. Sexual awareness and a cloying, dangerous heat spread through her cosy cottage. Trapping a man like Alekos in this confined space was like putting a tiger in a small cage: fine if you were on the other side of the wire.
Frightened by how quickly her composure was deserting her, Kelly dumped her keys on a pile of unopened letters, wondering why being with him instantly made her think of sex. Their relationship hadn’t just been about sex, so why was she suddenly thinking about nothing but it?
Probably because her sex life had been so unfulfilling since they had parted, she thought wistfully. Suddenly she wished she hadn’t been so choosy over the last few years. If she’d had an active sex life, maybe she wouldn’t be feeling this way.
Maybe that nagging ache wouldn’t be present.
The truth was she’d poured her energies into her teaching, ignoring that other side of herself, pretending that it didn’t exist.
But it did exist.
It was as if just seeing him had flicked a switch inside her, reminded her what she was missing.
Too aware of his physical presence in her tiny hallway, Kelly walked through to the kitchen.
Alekos followed, this time bending his head to avoid the threat of the low beam. ‘This house is a death trap.’
‘For some, maybe. Perhaps it senses who is welcome and who isn’t. It presents no threat to me whatsoever.’
But he did. Oh yes, he did. Just by being within a metre of her, he presented a threat.
It had always been like this between them. That searing awareness, an almost primal reaction that neither of them had ever felt before. The connection had created a fierce maelstrom of emotion from which neither of them had escaped unscathed. It had been scary, she admitted, to realise that such passion existed. Even now it was there, simmering between them like the precursor to a deadly storm. It didn’t matter what had happened; she was learning to her cost that sexual attraction was no respecter of logic. ‘Wait here. I’ll get the ring.’
He glanced around the tiny room. ‘Are you going to offer me coffee?’
‘Why?’
His smile was barely discernible. ‘Because it would be hospitable?’
‘And hospitality is so important to you Greeks, isn’t it? You’ll leave a girl standing alone on her wedding day, but if you turn up uninvited in her home four years later you expect a cup of coffee and a slice of baklava.’
‘I’ve never seen you angry before.’
‘Stick around.’ Kelly filled the kettle violently, squirting water down her front. ‘On second thoughts, don’t stick around.’
‘Greek coffee, please.’
‘I hate Greek coffee. You can have tea.’
He eyed the pot she’d abandoned on the work surface that morning. ‘If you hate Greek coffee, why are you drinking it?’
Kelly stared at the offending pot, feeling her face redden. She could hardly tell him that she’d started drinking it because it had reminded her of the happy times they’d spent in Corfu, and that now she actually liked it. ‘I—I—’
‘It pleases me that you haven’t turned your back on everything Greek.’
Making a point, Kelly turned her back on him; maybe it was childish but she didn’t care. Pulling open a cupboard, she winced as a packet of rice fell on her head. Replacing it, she reached up and gingerly pulled out a jar of instant. ‘This is what I usually drink,’ she lied, removing the top with a twist of her wrist. She hadn’t opened the jar for at least six months and the granules were stuck together. Gritting her teeth, she chipped at them with a spoon and then tipped them into a mug.
Observing this performance from beneath lustrous dark lashes, Alekos removed his jacket and slung it over the back of a kitchen chair. ‘You always were a terrible liar.’
His arms were strong and muscled, and made her think about all the times she’d lain against his hard body, marvelling that this man was with her.
‘Whereas you were a master of deceit. You could make love to a woman as if she was the only thing in your world, and then walk away the day of our wedding without so much as a goodbye.’
‘Why did you sell the ring?’
Her mind was so firmly locked in the past that it took her a moment to shift to the present. They were having two different conversations, and she could feel the heat boiling under the surface of his bronzed skin. The same passion that had characterised their relationship now had a different focus. He simmered like a volcano waiting to erupt, his attention focused on her in a way that made her heart pound.
He was so physical, she thought weakly. The most physical man she’d ever met.
‘Because I no longer have any use for it. It’s just a reminder of a very bad decision. I’ll get you that ring and then you can leave, preferably smacking your head on the way out.’
Her hands shaking, Kelly made his coffee and pushed it towards him, feeling a pang of guilt as the liquid sloshed over the sides. It went against her nature to be so inhospitable to a guest, but he wasn’t a guest, was he? He was an intruder. And it was her nature that worried her. She knew herself too well to lower her guard. She didn’t dare lower her guard, even for a moment. She was too aware of him for that—too aware of her reaction to him. It appalled her to realise that she could still find him shockingly attractive after what he’d done to her. She should not be noticing those thick, dark eyelashes or the dark stubble on his hard jaw. And she definitely should not be noticing the way his expensive shirt emphasised the width and power of his shoulders. Instead she should remember how it had felt when all that leashed power had been focused on the destruction of their relationship.
Alekos paced the length of her kitchen, which for him took no more than three strides. Clearly it wasn’t enough to relieve his simmering
tension because he turned impatiently, dragging his hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration that was pure Mediterranean male. Or maybe not, Kelly thought wearily: the gesture was pure Alekos.
‘That ring was a gift, and yet you were prepared to sell it to a stranger.’ The words erupted from his throat and she stared at him in genuine amazement.
‘Why would I keep it?’ The ring weighed heavily against her chest. ‘Do you think it holds some emotional meaning for me?’
‘I gave it to you.’
‘Payment for sex.’ She wasn’t going to let herself think it had been driven by anything else. ‘That was all you ever wanted from me, wasn’t it? All you think about is sex. Every minute of the day. That was all we ever shared.’ Her reference to their passionate physical relationship made his eyes darken, and Kelly licked her lips, wishing she hadn’t taken the conversation in that direction.
Mistake, she thought with a flash of panic. Big mistake.
‘Not every minute. Every six seconds, is the opinion of experts.’ Prowling restlessly around her kitchen, he looked brooding, virile and disturbingly male. ‘Men think about sex every six seconds. Which leaves us five to think about other things.’
‘Which for you is making money.’
‘Are you short of money? Is that why you sold it?’ Eyes stormy and menacing, he crossed the kitchen again, closing in on her.
She wasn’t afraid of him, she told herself, gripping the work surface with her hands; she definitely wasn’t. But there was something about his raw, elemental brand of masculinity that stirred her in a way that came close to terrifying. Being near him gave her a feeling she’d had with no other man and she didn’t know if it was good or bad.
Bad, she thought, sucking air into her lungs. Definitely bad.
He was right in front of her now, legs spread apart, unapologetically male, his aura of rough sexuality sending the temperature in the room soaring to dangerous levels.
Her body aching with a need she’d suppressed for far too long, Kelly shoved at his chest with the flat of her hand. ‘You’re invading my personal space, Alekos. Get away from me.’
‘I’ve spent the last five seconds thinking about coffee,’ he said silkily, ‘which means I’ve now moved onto sex.’
She was stupid, stupid to have mentioned sex to this man.
She didn’t want to think about sex while she was in the same room as him. It was the one topic they should have avoided. The most dangerous.
But it was already too late.
The heat was spreading through her pelvis, slow and insidious, stealing through her like smoke from a fire. And the fire was raging, curling inside her, ready to burn up everything in its path.
Fighting that reaction, Kelly pushed past him, but he caught her arm and hauled her against him. Their bodies collided with an almost fatal inevitability, and in that single, highly charged instant he read her body. As sure as if he’d stripped her naked, he knew what she was feeling. He’d always known, even before she’d known herself.
That intimate knowledge hovered between them, as acute as it was unwelcome.
Without warning, his mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding. She was dragged back four years, sucked back into a time when passion had ruled thought, when the world had been a perfect place, and when the only thing that had mattered was being with this man.
For a moment she melted. She couldn’t breathe or think.
Swamped, Kelly struggled to free herself and dragged her mouth from his. ‘No!’
She heard him draw a ragged breath, his eyes blazing into hers as he tried to focus. ‘You’re right.’ His usually accentless English was thickened and pronounced. ‘It is crazy.’
‘I don’t—’ Her mouth was burning. Her body was on fire.
‘Neither do I.’
If either of them had stepped back, they might have stood a chance.
Instead their mouths collided again with almost brutal force. The raw chemistry that exploded between them was so intense that for a moment she couldn’t help herself.
She’d missed this.
She’d missed him.
Missed the feel of his mouth. The touch of his hands. Kelly kissed him back hungrily, her mouth every bit as greedy as his, her tongue every bit as bold. But there was anger in her kiss too, and as she felt his response to her she thought, just look at what you’re missing: just look at what you gave up.
He muttered something in Greek, so shaken that she felt a vicious rush of satisfaction.
Yes, she thought, it was good and you threw it away. You threw this away.
Purring in her throat, she licked at the corner of his mouth, the caress dangerously provocative. She had no idea what was pushing her—desire? Pride? Revenge? All she knew was that she wanted to be with him again. Just this once.
Without breaking the kiss, Alekos powered her back against the work surface, jabbed his fingers into her hair and gripped her head. Her fingers were locked in the front of his shirt, dragging him closer. They kissed as if it were their last moment on the planet, as if the future of civilisation depended on their desire for each other, as if they had never parted.
Kelly was so turned on she ignored the thought that this was really, really stupid.
His touch was as skilled as she remembered—his kisses as bone-meltingly perfect.
Yes, she was angry with him—blisteringly angry—but that just seemed to intensify the emotions that flared between them. Anger was just another fuel to stoke a fire that was already white-hot. She didn’t want to feel like this, but sex had never been the problem between them, had it? Maybe that was why she’d given it up, she thought as she dug her fingers into the hard muscle of his shoulders. She’d known it could never be like this with anyone else. Celibacy had been preferable to disappointment.
‘Theé mou, we should not be doing this.’ He growled the words against her throat and she gasped and slid her leg around his, unwilling to let him go.
‘You’re right. We shouldn’t.’
‘You’re angry.’
‘Boiling mad.’
‘I’m furious that you sold the ring.’
‘I’m furious you’re giving it to another woman.’
‘I’m not!’ He jerked her head back, his gaze black and intense, his voice thickened by the swirly, sultry atmosphere. ‘I’m not giving it to another woman.’
‘I hate her. I hate you.’
He breathed in deeply. ‘I probably deserve that.’
‘You definitely deserve it.’ But her hands were on his belt and she heard the breath hiss through his teeth as her fingers brushed against the hard, rigid length of him.
‘If we do this, you will hate me even more than you do already.’
‘Trust me, that isn’t possible.’
His hand slid up her thigh, hooking her leg higher. ‘In that case, there is no incentive to stop.’ He groaned as his fingers touched bare legs. ‘You’re wearing stockings?’
‘I always wear stockings for work.’ Does she wear stockings, Alekos? Does she do this to you? Does she make you feel this way?
‘Stockings under that prim black skirt.’ The prim black skirt hit the floor. ‘The whole teacher-outfit thing really turns me on.’ He dragged the clip out of her hair, silencing her gasp of pain with his mouth. ‘Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t meant to hurt you.’
‘You always hurt me.’ Her hair was all around them and she could feel his hands buried into the soft mass, his fingers biting into her scalp. ‘In the scheme of things, a little more pain doesn’t count.’
‘I know I was a complete bastard.’
‘Yes, you were—still are. And now could you please just—?’ Rocking her hips against him, she sank her teeth into his lip and Alekos took her mouth hungrily, his hands now locked against her
bottom.
‘No other woman has ever made me feel the way you make me feel.’
The words sent a thrill of satisfaction through her. ‘But I’m sure you’ve kept looking.’
He buried his face in her neck. ‘You were never this wild four years ago.’
She was never this desperate. Kelly’s eyes closed. ‘Don’t talk.’
His answer was to weld his mouth to hers again and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe or stand upright. Her hands closed over his shoulders, but what began as a need for support, ended in a caress as her fingers slid over hard, male muscle.
‘Kelly...’
‘Shut up.’ She didn’t want to talk about what they were doing. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to think about it. Her teeth gritted, she ripped his shirt so that she could get to his chest, hair tickling her fingers as she slid her hands over the hard muscle of his chest. His tie still hung between them but she ignored it, too absorbed by his body to bother undressing him.
To have sex with Alekos was to understand why her body had been invented.
His eyelids were lowered, his eyes half-shut as he watched her. It was a look of such raw, sexual challenge that she shivered.
Later, she thought, I’m going to really regret this.
But right now she didn’t care.
He was probably lying about the ring. He was probably going to give it away, but she was going to make sure that he didn’t forget her, Kelly thought as she trailed her mouth over his jaw, feeling the roughness of stubble graze her lips. Other women had sex with men they didn’t know. She’d never done that; for her, sex had begun and ended with this man.
She was achy, needy, and when he backed her to the table and lifted her she just gave a groan of assent, closing her fingers around the glorious velvet length of him.
‘Alekos...’
‘I need to taste you, I need to...’ Muttering something in Greek, he ripped at her shirt, tore at her bra and fastened his mouth over her breast.
Kelly’s head fell back, the heat of his mouth like a brand. She squirmed as hot, liquid pleasure pumped through her veins and he lifted his head and devoured her mouth again, both of them crazily out of control.