by Maya Blake
Despite the hunger building within him, he pulled away a fraction because he couldn’t continue without telling her.
‘Do you know how beautiful you looked when you finished dancing, framed against the window with joy on your face and the sunlight in your hair? Do you know how much I wanted you, watching you dance like that?’ he breathed against her mouth.
Her breath caught, and the sound transmitted straight through him.
‘I...’
He pressed his mouth to hers again. ‘I want you, Sage, so much,’ he repeated, unwilling to accept that hesitation on her face.
Her breathing fractured. It was all he could do not to drag her out of the room and upstairs, claim her immediately, and to hell with niceties. But that innocence he’d caught glimpses of right from the beginning stayed his hand.
He pulled his fingers from her hair. ‘Do you want me?’ he demanded when she remained silent.
Her stunning eyes darkened, attempted to shift from his. He tracked her gaze, refusing her the option of denying what she felt. ‘Tell me,’ he insisted.
‘I...can’t. This isn’t a good idea.’
The thought of rejection, of what was standing in his way, tightened his gut. ‘Because your brother disapproves of us?’
She frowned. ‘No...’
‘Are you going to allow him to dictate your life?’
‘That’s not what I’m doing. I’m saying no because—’
‘You like to cut your nose off to spite your face? Are you really going to deny that you are as hungry for me as I am for you?’ His gaze dropped to her ripe mouth, damp with his kiss, then lower to the chest that rose and fell sharply with each breath she took. ‘You want me almost as much as I want you. Continuing to deny it is frustrating the hell out of both of us. So let’s be adult about this, shall we?’
‘And just scratch this momentary itch and to hell with everything else that’s important? I don’t just give in to my base instincts because the need is there. We don’t even like each other. You’re an overbearing control freak.’
‘And you’re too blindly loyal for your own good.’ He wanted to close the gap between them because even that tiny distance was driving him nuts. ‘We each have our flaws, but I’m willing to overlook them for a chance to experience this insane fire between us. Maybe you should too. Maybe just this once take what you want for yourself and—yes, to hell with everyone else. Are you brave enough to do that?’
The look she gave him was alarmingly resolute. ‘You can’t dare me into sleeping with you.’
In that moment it felt as if he’d never negotiated so hard for anything. ‘I’m daring you to give yourself permission to find pleasure in something you desire. Like you do with your dancing.’
She started to shake her head.
He brushed a kiss across her mouth, mercilessly tempting her. ‘Touch me,’ he pleaded.
Her fingers fluttered beside her thighs. The need to feel those fingers against his skin grew into an unbearable ache inside him. ‘Now, Sage.’
Her chin rose in that damned but adorable challenge that made his blood stir. ‘You can’t make me.’
With a smile that felt decidedly feral, he breached that last gap between them. Taking care not to touch her, he planted his hands on the glass either side of her head and pulled back until their lips were a scant inch apart. ‘I am staying right here, Sage. You can touch me. You can kiss me. Or you can leave. Your choice.’
She made a tiny sound, one he wanted to believe was a sign of her impending surrender. ‘You don’t play fair.’
Had he not been caught in the grip of the strongest craving in his life he would’ve smiled. ‘No, I don’t. But, if it helps, know that I’ve never wanted anything more than I want you right now.’ The words echoed through him, startling him for a moment with their stunning truth.
Along with it came the realisation that the unsettling void that had existed inside him since the loss of the necklace had abated without him being aware of its absence.
Xandro didn’t want to think it was her doing. Or even attribute it to the need to keep the truce he’d struck between them, although he was enjoying the peace. So much so, he hadn’t read Archie Preston’s last three reports on the possible whereabouts of Ben Woods and where he might surface next. Nor had Xandro granted his security chief’s request for a meeting. There would be time for all of that later.
For now, he concentrated on the woman before him, saw the effect of his words in the quickening of the pulse hammering at her throat.
He wanted to taste that agitation. But he locked his knees and hung onto his control. Time dragged. The minute that passed was an eternity. Their frantic breaths mingled, the turbulence of their emotions twisting in the air around them.
Her hand coming up to rest on his chest felt like the greatest benediction. And yet it triggered an even deeper hunger. Immediately he wanted more. Her hands, her mouth, her legs wrapped tight around him. He stayed put, staring into her stormy eyes, willing her to take him. Her other hand joined the first, the tentative exploration of his chest causing his stomach to clench tight.
A rough sound exploded from his throat. She inhaled sharply, but whatever she read in his face spurred her on. She trailed her fingers over his shoulders, then wrapped them around his neck.
‘Yes.’ An encouragement he couldn’t hold back.
She blinked, and her gaze dropped to where she was caressing him. He watched, curious and turned on and insanely absorbed by her courage and innocence. He wasn’t prepared for her to lean forward and press her lips against the pulse at his neck, the exact same way he had been dying to kiss hers a moment ago.
His knees threatened to buckle, the hands planted on the glass curling into tight fists. ‘You’re driving me insane, Sage.’
She made that inciting little sound again. Then repeated her campaign to annihilate him by nipping at the skin below his jaw with her teeth. His guttural groan brought a saucy smile to her face. His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you enjoying your power?’
Her answer was a shaky inhalation before one hand curled over his nape and fisted his hair. He met her kiss because he couldn’t not. Because his hunger had reached breaking point.
Their lips met in a crash of fire and desire. She opened for him and he ruthlessly claimed. The first touch of her tongue against his threatened to wipe him out. Unable and unwilling to resist touching her any more, he wrapped his hands around her waist, pinned her against the glass and gorged on her. They kissed like ravenous animals until the barest edge had been satisfied.
He traced her delicious frame, relearning curves he had explored many times in his imagination. He cupped her full breasts, his thumbs sweeping over her tight nipples. She jerked against him, a sweet groan squeezing through their lips to softly echo around the room. And because he craved it again, he repeated the action.
‘Oh.’ She sighed against his mouth.
‘God, you’re so responsive.’
‘Xandro...’
He dropped his forehead against hers. ‘Why does the way you say my name turn me on so much?’
Her eyes widened, a blush staining her cheeks at his charged words. He laughed under his breath. ‘Did I shock you?’
‘I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of an answer. You know exactly what you do.’
He laughed again then leaned down to taste her lips. And, just like that, desire erupted again, volcanic in its power and might. Satisfaction punched through him when she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and opened up to him. Banding his arms around her, he lifted her off her feet.
‘Wrap your legs around me,’ he commanded.
The journey to his bedroom took longer than anticipated, on account of needing to stop and kiss and caress her in an attempt to satisfy the hunger coursing through him. By the time he kicked the door shut behind them, he was poised on the edge of madness. It was why he tumbled them onto the bed, and reached up to tug the elastic band from her hair.
Thick, lustrous curls spilled in fiery waves onto his pillow. He slid his fingers through the vibrant strands, the act of finally exploring that part of her she’d kept restrained shockingly easing an ache he wasn’t even aware resided in him until that moment.
‘I’ve pictured you like this, your flaming hair spread over my white sheets, your beautiful body beneath mine. And now here you are.’ Fingers locked in her hair, he kissed her again.
With her legs still wrapped around him, he only needed to lower himself a fraction to settle his hardness between her thighs.
Despite the layers of clothing between them, her heat surrounded him, driving him another desperate inch to the edge of his endurance. With control fast waning, he tore himself away from her, sitting back on his heels. ‘I want you naked.’
Her breath stilled, the beginnings of apprehension flitting over her face. He captured her hands, kissing her knuckles before resting them on his thighs. ‘Nothing is going to happen here that you don’t want, pethi mou. But I fully intend to make you mine.’ He was aware that his voice contained an implacability that risked a resurgence of her stubbornness. But he also knew he would use every weapon in his arsenal to keep her exactly where she was.
He was so intent on plotting that he didn’t hear her response. The look on her face, however, indicated that his diabolical scheming might be unnecessary.
‘Say that again,’ he slurred thickly.
‘I want you, too.’
Simple words. And yet so powerful, so debilitating to his control that he froze for a stunned second before the promise of pleasure triggered frantic movement. He pulled his T-shirt over his head then disposed of hers. The blush staining her cheeks travelled lower with his avid scrutiny of her sun-kissed skin. Words of praise, unfamiliar words, far removed from those he normally bestowed on a lover, crowded his tongue.
He wasn’t sure why he withheld them. Perhaps he already felt too exposed now he’d realised that his reason for having Sage in his life in the first place, had shifted into something else. That the clanging need to retrieve the necklace no longer burned as fiercely.
He still wanted his ruby necklace back but, through Sage, he’d revived old memories of his mother and her love of music and dancing that had allayed his immediate anxiety over the missing jewellery.
That knowledge, along with the unfamiliar sensation of being on the edge of his self-control, had him more than rattled. So in silence he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her yoga pants and drew them down with less finesse than he usually employed. But when she lay almost bare before him, her sensational body framed against his sheets, he couldn’t hold back his words any longer. ‘You are breathtaking,’ he extolled in a voice he barely recognised as his own.
She shifted, a mixture of innocence and confidence in her womanhood that tossed another layer of arousal over him. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to sustain this level of temptation for much longer, he reached behind her and unhooked her simple satin bra. Full, beautiful breasts spilled free, and he fell on them with a decidedly unsophisticated eagerness. He laved the sweet tight peaks, shamelessly feeding on her tortured groans as her back arched off the bed and her nails dug into his skin.
‘Xandro,’ she gasped, her movements growing more frantic with each caress of his tongue. He closed his eyes, losing himself in her sounds and scent. Releasing one breast, he trailed his hand over her silky-smooth midriff, then lower until he reached the edge of her panties. He delved beneath, eagerly searching for that tight bundle of nerves and her feminine core beneath. The moment he touched her there, she bucked wildly beneath him. Craving more of that unfettered response, he circled her faster, firmer, while trailing his mouth across her belly.
‘Come for me, pethi mou,’ he growled against her skin.
* * *
Sage couldn’t believe it was possible to experience so much pleasure for this long without erupting in a ball of flames. Dear God, she couldn’t believe she was here in his bed, shamelessly aroused sounds spilling from her throat.
It was supposed to be just a kiss.
But the magic he’d woven from the moment he’d stepped into the room and asked to stay was always going to lead to this. She wasn’t so far gone as to believe what was happening was written in the stars, but there had been an inevitability powered by the chemistry between them. This might be a mistake she’d regret in the morning. Their worlds were too different for anything more than a brief collision of lust to be sustained. But in this moment nothing had felt so good.
She cried out as his fingers increased their decadent pressure. Driven out of her mind with desire, she sank her nails into the only solid thing she could find. Xandro’s shoulders. He groaned and muttered something indecipherable. A moment later her panties were tugged from her body. And then his mouth replaced his fingers.
Shock threatened to supersede pleasure. Her head jerked off the pillow, her face flaming. ‘No... I...’
Turbulent grey eyes locked on hers, daring her to deny the act he was determined to deliver. ‘Come for me,’ he insisted again, and then pressed his mouth against her needy core in a bold, possessive kiss.
Her unravelling was wild, unfettered and immediate. Sensation piled upon sensation as he stroked her with his tongue. Minutes passed. The burst of light across her vision slowly faded and her shameless pants reduced to heavy breaths. Then a different sensation suffused her as he kissed his way up her body.
‘Incredible,’ he murmured against the corner of her mouth.
Sage was certain the tail end of her climax was drawn out just by his deep voice alone. Another shiver rippled through her when she heard him rip the condom open. She opened her eyes to the sight of a gloriously naked and magnificent Xandro crouched above her.
He really was the perfect male specimen. Big and unapologetically male, the fierce intent blazing in his eyes snatched her newly regained breath away. One hand fisted her hair, the other clamped on her hip. Eyes locked on hers, Xandro thrust steady and deep inside her.
Her hoarse cry tangled with his gravel-rough groan. When he was buried to the hilt inside her, they both stilled, the earthshaking moment of their union demanding a little time to assimilate. And then he was moving, stretching her, filling her again.
The sensation was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
Again Xandro muttered something in Greek, hot and heavy against her neck, as he penetrated her. Increasing the rhythm, he set them both on a journey that left her clinging to him, her heart threatening to beat itself out of her chest. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, he slid his hand beneath her, angling her hips to meet his thrusts.
‘I love the way you tremble against me like this. Mine. All mine,’ he rasped in her ear.
Sage would never know if it was that possessive throb in his voice that sent her over the edge. She had a feeling it was everything about him. His magnificent body, the raging fire in his eyes, the words she couldn’t understand, the sheer animalistic power of his thrusts.
She fell off the edge of the world with a searing scream that triggered his own release. Convulsions rippled through them in endless waves of bliss. And when he collapsed against her, sweat from his body mingled with her own, sealing them even tighter together.
They stayed locked like that, catching their breath.
Inevitably, of course, reality crept close. The moment he left the bed to head to the bathroom, unwanted thoughts began to crowd in.
What had she done?
With the itch scratched, would they return to being strangers who snapped at each other when they were in the same room? Or would that be too much to even bother with—?
‘Thee mou, we’ve barely finished making love and already I can hear you thinking loud enough to wake the dead,’ he rasped as he slid back into bed and tugged her close.
She bit her lip. ‘I can’t help it.’
He propped himself on one elbow and stared down at her with eyes that were still stormy
from their sexual high. ‘Maybe I should dedicate all my time to keeping you completely distracted then,’ he mused.
‘How on earth will your empire survive in your absence?’
‘I’m ace at multi-tasking.’
She believed him. He’d just proven that he was supremely skilled at everything he undertook. The simple—although in hindsight it was never going to be simple—kiss she’d planned had turned into so much more. Now she was torn between leaving Xandro’s bed and begging him to do it to her all over again.
‘Don’t overthink it, Sage.’ His tone was a touch graver. Perhaps in warning?
‘That’s easy for you to say,’ she replied, her mounting agitation hard to contain.
‘It isn’t,’ he said. ‘I’m having a hard time understanding why you’re like a drug in my blood.’
Any feminine power she could’ve garnered from that admission was wiped out by the fact that he engendered the same feeling in her. Perhaps more. ‘Because I’m not your usual type?’ she tossed out.
‘Yes,’ he admitted without hesitation.
A twinge flared from the vicinity of her heart. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’
‘It’s supposed to tell you that this was as irresistible for me as it was for you and ease whatever anxiety is going on inside you.’
Despite cautioning herself not to overreact, her heart lurched.
‘Unless you’re regretting it?’ he added, his eyes narrowing on her face.
She slowly shook her head. It might have been a temporary aberration but, ‘No, I don’t regret it.’
Satisfied with that, he rolled over and tugged her close. With her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest, a little of Sage’s anxiety diminished, enough for her to conclude that this after-sex thing wasn’t so bad. She’d return to her room eventually, of course, but for now there was nothing wrong with enjoying the moment. The voice that warned her that these excuses were getting easier to accommodate was ruthlessly suppressed as she closed her eyes and basked in the sensation of his hand rubbing her back and hip.