by Kendrick, Sharon; Lawrence, Kim; Crews, Caitlin; Milburne, Melanie
He smiled down at her. ‘All right? Not seasick yet?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I’m pretty good on boats normally. Although, I guess I shouldn’t speak too soon.’
‘You’ll be fine. The weather forecast is good.’ He glanced back at the jetty. ‘How’s Emily getting on with Loukas?’
Allegra cocked her head. ‘Are you trying to set them up or something?’
He gave a shrug. ‘If it happens, it happens.’
‘He doesn’t look the type who needs a hand in that department,’ she said. ‘Who is he? He’s seems familiar, but I’m sure I haven’t met him before today.’
‘He keeps a low profile—or tries to,’ Draco said. ‘We met at university. I was doing a business degree and he was doing computer engineering and software development. He’s designed some of the most sophisticated security systems in the world. So secure, most government agencies such as MI5 and the FBI use his software.’
Good luck, Em.
‘So is he on the lookout for a wife?’ Allegra asked.
He gave her one of his crooked smiles. ‘Not Loukas. His parents divorced when he was a young child and apparently it was one of those acrimonious, “use the kid as a weapon” ones. He doesn’t talk about it and I know better than to ask. Both his parents have remarried and subsequently divorced, his father several times over. One thing I do know, he will never get married himself. It was hard enough getting him to agree to come to our wedding. You’d think I’d asked him to have a lobotomy.’
‘Did you tell him it was a marriage of—?’
‘No.’ The tone of his voice underlined the word. ‘We’re close but not that close. No one is that close to Loukas. No one.’
Allegra chewed at her lip, watching the sun swallowed by the blue lip of the horizon. Why hadn’t he told his best friend? Was it really because Loukas was a bit of a closed book himself? Why not tell his friend the truth? Or had he done it to protect her from anyone pitying her? ‘I told Emily.’
‘I know.’
She glanced at him in surprise. ‘You do?’
Draco’s expression was amused rather than annoyed. ‘I figured you would. She’s a nice girl. Seems to have her head screwed on.’
‘Did you let on you knew she knew?’
‘No.’
‘I’m sorry, but I couldn’t lie to her,’ Allegra said. ‘Everyone else, yes, but not Em. She would’ve figured it out anyway. She knows I’m not the sort of person to fall in love on a whim. But don’t worry, she won’t tell a soul. She’s fiercely loyal and completely and utterly trustworthy.’
‘Good to know.’
There was a little silence broken only by the slap of the water hitting the sides and hull of the yacht.
‘Do you want to take the wheel for a while?’ Draco asked.
‘I don’t know… I might run into another boat or something.’
‘There’s no one else out here. Come on. Stand in front of me and I’ll steer with you.’
Allegra moved to stand in front of the wheel and he came in behind her, his arms either side of her body, his hands resting on top of hers where she was gripping the steering wheel. Who knew steering a yacht could be such a turn-on? The warm, hard presence of his body behind her made every nerve in her core jump up ready for duty. His broad hands almost completely covered hers, his fingers long, strong and so very capable. Deliciously, dangerously capable.
She could feel him against her bottom cheeks, the rise of his flesh an erotic reminder of what was to come. She shivered when he moved closer, his stubbly jaw grazing her cheek when he leaned down to help her navigate a larger than normal wave. The rocking motion of the yacht pushed her further back against him, sending her senses into overdrive. ‘I want you,’ he said.
‘I would never have guessed.’
He gave a soft laugh. ‘Minx.’ He tongued the cartilage of her ear, the sensations rippling through her like waves. ‘But then, I’ve wanted you since that night in London.’
Allegra shuddered when his teeth tugged on her earlobe. ‘Funny, but I didn’t pick up that vibe.’
He moved his mouth to the sensitive spot on her neck just below her ear. ‘What vibe are you picking up now?’
‘I’m thinking the honeymoon is about to start.’
He turned her so she was facing him, his eyes gleaming like high-gloss black paint. ‘I need to drop anchor.’
Allegra linked her arms around his neck and gave him a sultry smile. ‘I can think of something more fun we can do instead.’
He smiled and pressed a brief, hard kiss to her mouth. ‘Go below and I’ll be with you once I’ve got things up here under control…’
* * *
Allegra descended to the main cabin where a bar, sofas and large-screen television were located. There was a kitchen off that with a separate dining area, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a top-end-of-town restaurant. The master bedroom—one of four bedrooms on board—was big enough to sleep a football team as well as their support staff and sponsors. Maybe even some fans.
She was no stranger to luxury accommodation, but Draco’s yacht was beyond anything she had seen before. Butter-soft leather sofas and ottomans, Swarovski light fittings and lamps and knee-deep, cream-coloured carpet. Polished timber woodwork and Italian marble in the wet areas such as the bathrooms. There was even a hot tub on the upper deck and a spa bath in the main bathroom. A bottle of champagne was in a silver ice-bucket with two glasses beside it, left by Draco’s staff, along with their luggage, which had been unpacked and stored in the hand-crafted built-in wardrobes in the master suite. There was a supply of gourmet food in the fridge and pantry, both cooked and fresh ingredients, as well as a wine fridge with enough wine and champagne to host a cocktail party for a hundred guests.
Allegra couldn’t look at the king-sized bed without a shudder of excitement. The same shudder of excitement she’d felt when Draco had said he’d wanted her when he’d run into her in London six months ago. She’d thought he’d been mocking her for sitting there so long, trying to make her glass of wine last the hour, trying not to check her watch and chew her lip and nails until they bled. But behind that glinting black gaze he had been sizing her up for himself. What had stirred his interest? Was it that he’d seen her as a convenient bride, a single woman on the wrong side of thirty who he’d assumed would stumble over herself with gratefulness when he offered for her?
But his motives had been far more honourable than that. Why had he done that? He was effectively saving her father’s business and her, too.
Allegra sat down on the cloud-soft mattress and sighed. Why was she fussing over the fact he wasn’t in love with her? People had sex without being in love all the time. It wasn’t a prerequisite these days, even for marriage. Lots of people enjoyed a workable marriage with companionship and mutual respect holding them together. Romantic love didn’t always last, anyway. The limerence period in a new relationship at best lasted two years. After that the relationship settled into the bonding phase…if it was going to, that was. Draco surely wouldn’t let theirs go on for half so long?
It wasn’t as if she was in love with Draco. But what if she succumbed to that lethal charm? She had already told him more than she’d told anyone about herself. It was as if her carapace had melted away. She actually liked him. As in really liked him. Liked his company, his smile, his dancing eyes, his body.
Dear God, his body.
The sound of his footsteps coming down to join her was enough to set her pulses off like thoroughbreds at the starting gate. Why hadn’t she thought to buy some sexy lingerie? She’d been so determined to resist him but how long had that lasted? One kiss and she’d all but begged him to take her. One kiss! What if she was hopeless in bed? What if she couldn’t orgasm with him? What if she took ages and ages, and he got fed up, and she had t
o pretend. and then she would be embarrassed and feel under even more pressure next time and—
The door of the bedroom opened and Allegra jumped off the bed as though she’d been shot out of a cannon. ‘Erm… I think I’ll have a drink. Would you like champagne? I feel like some, don’t you? This is a good one. Wow… I’ve been to the vineyard. It was amazing, so picturesque.’ She fumbled with the foil around the top of the bottle, sudden nerves and shyness assailing her.
Draco came over, took the bottle from her and placed it back in the ice-bucket. He put his hands on her waist, his expression as tender as she had ever seen it. ‘You’re nervous.’ He said it as a statement, not as a question.
Allegra pulled at one side of her lower lip with her teeth, her cheeks feeling as if someone had lit a fire under them. ‘It was probably a fluke down at the beach. I might not be able to do it again.’
He lifted her chin with the tip of his finger, holding her gaze with his. ‘No one’s keeping time here, agape mou. You can take all the time you need. We don’t have to even do this tonight if you don’t feel up to it. It’s been a long day.’
‘Don’t you want to…?’
Draco’s thumb brushed back and forth over her cheek like a metronome. ‘Of course I do, but not if you don’t feel in the mood.’
I’ve been in the mood for you since I was sixteen.
Allegra lowered her gaze to his mouth. ‘I don’t have any nice lingerie…’
He smiled. ‘Do you really think I’d even notice? What I want to see is you. All of you.’
She shivered at the smouldering look in his eyes. The look that said ‘I want you’. The look that spoke to her female flesh like the sun does to an orchid. Ripening it, opening it. Making it bloom and swell and release its scent. She placed her arms around his neck, moving closer so her body touched his from hips to chest. ‘Make love to me…please?’
His mouth came down to cover hers in a kiss that spoke of deep, primal male longings only just held in check. Draco’s lips moved against hers in a soft exploration, his tongue parting her lips with a gentle glide that made her skin prickle in delight. He courted her tongue, driving her senses wild with escalating need. She whimpered her desire into the warm, minty cavern of his mouth, her hips pushing against his with the need for more stimulation. His hands went from her waist to settle on her hips, holding her against his pulsing length. The eroticism of it thrilled her, awakening every nerve in her body, every sense on high alert.
Draco deepened the kiss with a bolder thrust of his tongue, a movement that made Allegra’s inner core respond with a burst of feminine moisture, that instinctive, involuntary response that signalled her readiness, her eagerness, her desperation. One of his hands peeled away her dress as though he were removing cling film. It pooled at her feet and she blindly stepped out of it, her mouth still clamped to his. Her hands moved to undo the buttons of his shirt, her fingers struggling with the task in her excitement. With every button she undid, she placed her mouth to his skin, breathing in the intoxicating scent of him with that hint of lime and leather and late-in-the-day man.
He unclipped her bra and gently cradled her breasts in both his hands, his mouth moving from hers to glide down with blistering heat to her décolletage and over the upper curves of her breasts. The graze of his stubble made her insides clench with need, the glide of his tongue over her flesh evoking a murmur of approval from her lips. Draco’s mouth opened over her nipple, drawing on it with light suction, the nerve endings responding with a frenzied dance of excitement she could feel right down to her core. He kissed the outside of each breast, then the undersides, and then her cleavage, his bristly face on the soft slopes of her flesh sending shivers of reaction all through her body.
Had anyone ever paid this much attention to her breasts in the past? Had anyone touched them with such gentleness? Cradled them and worshipped them? Treated them with such respect?
Draco’s mouth came back to hers, subjecting it to another pulse-tripping exploration, his tongue mating with hers in a dance that made her ache for him become unbearable. She moaned her ‘rescue me’ plea into his mouth, her hands fervent, desperate on his body. She set to work on his belt and trouser fastening, sliding her hands over his flat abdomen, her palms and finger pads tickled by the prickle of his masculine hair.
He took over for her, shrugged off his shirt, unzipped his trousers and stepped out of them, his shoes and socks. Allegra couldn’t help feeling touched he had left her knickers on until he was completely naked first. It showed a sensitivity she hadn’t experienced with other partners. Only when he was fully naked did his hands go to her hips, gently sliding her knickers down her thighs so she could step out of them.
His gaze moved over her body, the desire in them ramping up her own. She pressed herself against him, her senses thrilling at the hard jut of his erection against her belly.
Draco moved her backwards towards the bed, laying her down and coming down alongside her, one of his hands on her abdomen deliciously close to the throb of her need. ‘I don’t want to rush you,’ he said.
Rush me! Rush me!
Allegra was beyond words; all that was coming out of her mouth were breathless gasps and moans when his hand moved lower. She sucked in a breath when he brought his mouth to her belly button, swirling his tongue into its shallow pool until her back was arching off the mattress.
He moved his mouth down to the heart of her, preparing her by kissing her folds, stroking his tongue over her labia before separating her gently with his fingers and anointing her with his tongue in tantalising strokes and flickers that triggered an explosion of sensations that shook her like a rag doll. She bucked and arched and whimpered and cried as her flesh burst into a song that reverberated throughout her body until it finally subsided, leaving her in a languid, limbless state.
Allegra reached for Draco, stroking her fingers along his length, silently urging him to enter her body. After a moment, he eased back from her touch. ‘What do you want to do about condoms? Are you on the pill?’
‘I take a low-dose one to regulate my cycle.’
‘Maybe we should use protection for the time being.’
It touched her that he’d given her a choice, not just gone ahead without consulting her on protection. He reached for a condom in a drawer beside the bed and sheathed himself. He came back to her, angling his body over hers so she didn’t have to take his full weight.
That was another thing that struck Allegra about Draco. How many times had partners climbed aboard, so to speak, with little or no consideration for her comfort?
He smoothed her hair back from her face, his eyes dark and eager but with that element of concern that spoke of a man who didn’t take consent for granted at any stage of the encounter. ‘It’s not too late to stop if you’d rather not do this.’
Allegra fisted her hands in the thick pelt of his hair. ‘If you stop now, I’ll never forgive you. I want you. Want, want, want you.’
His slanted smile made something in her stomach swoop. His mouth came down and covered hers in a drugging kiss that escalated her desire to another level that had her panting, writhing, wriggling to get the friction she craved. Finally, Draco came to her entrance, gliding into her with a smooth, thick thrust that made her gasp in relief and excitement. Her body welcomed him, squeezing him as if it never wanted him to leave. He moved his body within hers, deeper and deeper, gradually increasing his pace but making sure she was with him all the way.
Allegra was more than with him. She was a part of him. Consumed by the sensations ricocheting through her from the top of her scalp to the tips of her toes. Each thrust created friction against her, but not quite enough. It was like being suspended on a precipice, dangling there with the abyss beckoning. She whimpered and arched her hips, trying to position herself so she could fly.
Draco slipped a hand between their bod
ies and caressed her intimately, stroking his clever fingers over the swollen heart of her femininity until she broke free and flew and flew and flew. Fireworks, flashes, fizzes and floods coursed through her flesh. Her mind emptied of everything. It was as if, in those frantic moments, she’d become only flesh and feelings. Feelings that swept through her, flinging her out the other side just in time to sense Draco’s final plunge.
He tensed above her, his breathing ragged, his guttural groan when he spilled making the surface of her skin tinkle and tingle with goose bumps. She held him during the short but savage storm, gripping his taut buttocks, holding him to her until he finally sagged as the waves of pleasure faded away.
Allegra couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so close to another person. The skin-on-skin contact wasn’t new, nor was having sex. The tangled limbs, and the sweat-beaded bodies and the crinkled bed linen were not foreign to her, either.
But the sense that her body had spoken to his, responded to his as it had responded to no one else, made her realise this wasn’t just sex. What they had done was make love. Draco had worshipped her body, not exploited it. He had caressed it, not coerced it. He had respected it, drawing from her a depth of passion she had never given to anyone else. She hadn’t been capable of it with anyone else. Her body had never wanted anyone like it wanted him. It was as if she was programed to respond to his touch and his touch alone.
Draco leaned his weight on one elbow and used his other hand to stroke her cheek. His eyes held hers in a gentle tether that made her feel even closer to him. It was as if he had glimpsed who she really was and liked what he saw. ‘You were wonderful.’
Allegra gave him a shy smile. Silly to be feeling so shy after what they’d just done, but still. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve had too many complaints from lovers.’
He idly curled a strand of her hair around one of his fingers, the slight tug on her scalp making her shiver in delight. ‘It’s nothing any man should take for granted. What pleases one woman might not please another. Communication is the key and, of course, respect.’