VAMPIRE:Vampire Guardian Series: Paranormal Mystery Vampire Alpha Male Romance (New Adult Contemporary Paranormal Royalty Fantasy Romance Collection))
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But I wanted this to be about her pleasure not mine. I was more than willing to wait and let her know. "No my little treasure, today is all about you. I want you to know just how much I adore you, I desire you and I want to give you all the joy I can." I groaned as I looked down her body, now fully exposed to the elements and feasted my eyes. "You are beyond beautiful; you are Aphrodite come to life." With that I turned to that beloved body and began to make love, slowly and carefully, paying attention to every inch of her. The sun beat down on us; the birds screeched overhead, almost drowning out our cries of passion. We had all the time in the world, alone together.
Jasmine
Every touch had filled me with such longing it had been difficult not to reach out for him. But it was what he wanted and I was often too caught up in the intense pleasure he ignited to argue about it. Even now he continued to quietly run his hands up and down my body in soft caresses as we lay spent and exhausted. Several hours had passed since we began our long slow lovemaking, nestled on the beach grass as the soft sunshine caressed our bodies. We had both drifted off to sleep along the quiet empty beach and now I woke with a feeling of contentment I had not known for years. This man, this sometimes mysterious sometimes transparent man had come into my life just a few short weeks ago.
True, we had known each other for over two years before we met. But I couldn't believe that this vibrant, enormously sexy man was the same smart elegant business tycoon I had been emailing all this time. The man I traded witty remarks with about literature and baseball, as well as helped track down Brock for all those lengthy discussions about The Project. The man whose every touch had left me breathless yet had not allowed me to even so much as touch him as I felt him harden until I thought he would burst his jeans. He was a man known in business circles for his steely self-control under pressure, but I had never thought it would translate to his private life in quite this way. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, either.
The walk down the beach to his "beach house" was beautiful. The sun was sitting low in the sky and painted the beach in pastels as we made our way along a flagstone path to a tiny white cottage along the cove. It was welcoming and felt very private. I recognized it, which meant we were on the island of Skorpios. "I thought that Christina had sold this island to a Russian," I said as were turned into the white walled cottage.
He smiled. "Yes, she and I decided to put that rumor around so I could have somewhere private to retreat to when I needed it." The fact he had chosen to take me to this most private of places said so much about both Antonio and this growing connection between us. So if he could take me into his confidence so easily, why then did he still hold himself back when we made love? I could only remember my mother's refrain and trust that in time he would tell me everything.
The next few hours were filled with a quiet joy as we roamed the island, toasting to each other with the local wine he produced and enjoying the simple pleasures of this little retreat. By evening we were off again, returning to Athens and the work he and Brock faced to help the beleaguered refugees of a war torn country. The days flew as we worked our connections, Janie and I often pitching in for whatever was needed so that secrecy was maintained. I could see that Janie and Brock were closer than ever. However I began to wonder if the magic moment for Antonio and I had come and gone. He was still as tender and caring as ever, but somehow we never found the time to be alone.
I took to wandering the streets in the afternoon and would often end up in a little taverna just around the corner from our hotel. I liked it because it was quiet though I knew in the evenings it was probably filled with the locals drinking and eating the little meat pies that were the taverna specialty. Behind the bar, Chrissie reminded me of home and was always a sympathetic ear. I may speak Greek like a native, my knack for languages always comes in handy, but it was good to hear the familiar sound of my own tongue.
We were closely the same age and she had lived in Athens for about a year now. It didn't take very long before we became friends, hooking up after she was done for the day. Especially on those days that Antonio seemed too occupied with work and The Project to even stop for dinner. "I wonder if he is avoiding me," I told her on one of our late night talks. Although I had been careful not to name names or mention anything about The Project, I had told her how I came to be here and all about the day on the island with Antonio. "It is as if he knows he has me and now he doesn't want me."
She shook her head, her pixie cut of bright red hair caught in a halo from the street lights as we walked and talked. "I doubt that Jasmine. I think it has more to do with being so much older than you. Have you talked with him about this?" I knew what she meant. I was well aware that he was 15 years older than me but when we were together it just didn't seem to matter. At least, it didn't until now. Could he be having second thoughts about getting involved with me because of the age difference?
Antonio
The work had begun to take over every aspect of my life. I found I had little energy for Jasmine outside of the daily work on The Project. We had so little time to put this together and we knew that with fall coming soon these people were going to need shelter. Of course, I had a far flung empire to attend to as well. I thought that Jasmine understood, but I could see in her actions that she only saw that I was keeping my distance.
How could I explain what a distraction it was to have her stand next to me? I couldn't afford that distraction and so the only way to stay focused was to put aside any thoughts of touching her, loving her, holding her body close to mine again. There would be time enough for that once our main objective had been reached.
A few weeks passed and I could see she was spending time at a local taverna with an ex-pat that ran the bar. The girl was good company for her and I was glad she had made a new friend. I had my concerns at first that this girl was some spy placed to keep an eye on our operations. I had her checked out and all seemed in the clear.
But then I let it slip one night, when I was exhausted from the day, that I had looked Chrissie up to make sure it was safe for Jasmine to be around her. "I just wanted to keep you safe my little flower," I said as I reached up to caress her face. "We don't know who is listening in and who isn't." The nickname was from our time on the island and it had been abandoned in the last few weeks in our urgency. But we were almost done and I treasured this time with her. Maybe I should have been using it more.
"I know you see her as a friend," I explained," but I just had to be sure." I should have known saying this to her was a mistake. She exploded in anger and we had our first real argument. "You did what? How could you even consider this without at least letting me know?" Jasmine was not a woman to be crossed or have games played behind her back. She certainly was not one to be left in the corner while I took care of matters.
I had underestimated her, and knew I would have to make it up or face the consequences. It took time and plenty of talk to get things back to a point where we each understood the other. But I knew I couldn't wait until The Project was complete. I had to woo her back and now.
Jasmine
I couldn't believe he would have his people spy on Chrissie. It smacked of not trusting me, of manipulating people and worst of all, me, behind my back. I held my ground, insisted that he promise never to do something like this without telling me first again. I cooled down enough to have relented on my initial reaction to stomp out of the room and his life. I was beginning to see that Antonio was a complicated man, with many sides to him. The question remained; did I see myself coming to love all of those many sides? And did he actually care for me or simply want me around? Some days it was hard to tell.
The next afternoon, after spending quite a few hours at the "offices" in the suite of hotel rooms Brock and Antonio had rented for their operations center, I was ready to spend some quality time with an American girl's point of view. Janie and Brock were pretty much inseparable these days and although I still love her like a sister it was hard to find time alone with Janie
right now. But Chrissie had become more than just a sounding board; she was the younger sister I had never had. Some days she was the younger and wiser sister, so I headed out for a bite to eat and a glass of wine at the taverna where she worked.
As usual for this time of day it was quiet and she was doing cleanup when I walked in. She smiled, poured me a glass of wine and put down her cloth to chat. I really needed someone to talk to but I wasn't sure how much I could say. As I described our meltdown of the night before, her expression was one of care and attention.
"Am I over reacting here Chrissie? Relationships can be hard enough without having an overbearing billionaire boyfriend checking out everything I do." She smiled and shook her head. As usual she had a different perspective then I did, and one that I needed to hear. "No, he may care and you may not like the way he shows it, but he does in the end listen to you. Believe me, I know the difference, I have been there."
I knew she was referring to her psycho ex-boyfriend Gene. She had revealed her reason for being in Greece one night to me when we were going through the "let's compare boyfriends" part of our friendship. A suave looking man with charm to boot and a killer mentality she had run to Greece to escape his fists. He had been "pushed" into joining the Marines when he killed a man with his bare hands in a bar fight one night.
The local cops had taken as much of him as they could stand and saw an opportunity to rid themselves of bad blood in the town. But he jumped ship in San Francisco, charmed his way across the country and finally ran into Chrissie. He had been a customer at the high end bar she tended in New Orleans. At first she was taken in by his smooth act and good looks, but she quickly figured out he was bad news.
The problem was she couldn't seem to shake him. When the opportunity came to head out to Greece with some friends she left her job, put her belongings in storage and never looked back. That was almost a year ago and she still checked out every stranger who walked into the taverna where she tended bar. She was taking no chances.
But for all his rough upbringing Antonio was not like her Gene, though I wouldn't want to have to engage in battle with Antonio from across a boardroom table. He was ruthless in business, but with me he was all hearts and flowers. In fact, he was so much so that this latest move had shaken me. But I could see her point, he wasn't plotting against me – he was being protective of me. He had heard me when I let him know loud and clear that this wasn't acceptable behavior and I felt sure he understood that I would not forgive him if he did it again.
"I know he cares Chrissie, but there are times when I wonder if he is capable of actually loving me." She looked at me in puzzlement. "He treats you well, takes you everywhere and even takes you to his island refuge. What is missing?"
I looked at her with a feeling of desperation that I knew I wasn't hiding. "Sex is what is missing Chrissie; the kind of love making where we both let our guard down. He may have touched me, and his kisses drive me wild, but he hasn't actually made love to me yet."
She looked down, trying not to let me see her grin. "If you doubt you attract him you are crazy girl," she said. "But he may need the right time and place. He was madly in love with Johanna and it devastated him when she died."
Her remark helped me put it all in place. I thought back to the day I had heard that Johanna Stavros had died. She had been one of Janie's idols; a sophisticated worldly editor married to one of the richest men in the world. She worked as an editor at New York's most prestigious book publishing house because she loved the work, certainly not because she needed the money. Their late blooming love had been the stuff of legends. I groaned in despair.
"Wow, I had somehow never connected it up in my mind. He was married to one of the most brilliant women of our century, a woman who grew up in diplomatic circles, published her first book at 19 and was married to one of the most powerful politicians. Many thought she would never marry again after he died, but then she met Antonio. Her death was tragic. How on earth can I even compare?"
Chrissie reached out to me and took my hands. "You don't need to Jasmine; you just have to be you. That is who he loves and wants to be with. I've seen you two walking down the street pass the taverna and he is a man in love. Just give him a chance to let you know. He has seen a lot in his life, he may have a different timetable then you do."
I hugged her. "You are so right." I turned and headed out the door, my heart beating faster with the delight of this conversation. She looked up at me in surprise. "Where are you heading in such a hurry?" I looked back at her, a smile in my heart. "To tell that man he can have all the time in the world. Because you are right, he is so worth it." With that I headed back to the hotel, determined to show Antonio that I was there for him, regardless of how much time he needed to be sure.
Antonio
I had been working on some legal documents for the last two hours, but somehow my mind kept returning over and over to Jasmine. I had done more than just hurt her with my checking up on Chrissie. She felt I had betrayed her trust. I knew that I had to find a way to show her that she could trust me and I knew that in order to do that we needed to be alone. But the island was too far out of reach, we had so much moving so quickly on The Project and I was right in the middle of several big deals with my shipping companies. I could not be that out of reach, but my yacht might be the perfect middle ground.
I had just called to have it made ready when she walked in the door. As she always did, she took my breath away just by walking in the room. It had been years since I had been this happy with someone, and I wanted to make her as happy as she made me. When she walked up to me and threw her arms around me, desire began to course through me like a storm about to break on shore.
"Let's get away from here my little flower," I said to her, loving the little term of endearment that had grown between us. I nuzzled her neck, kissed her face in a dozen places and then whispered, "I want to be alone with you, and really make love to you."
A slow smile crept across her face, like watching the sun rise from the beach on Skorpios. She carefully took my face in her hands and said, "I can think of nothing I would like to do more," then kissed me deeply and slowly. I could feel the heat rise between us as the kiss continued, our tongues in a fast ballet of desire. We didn't even hear Brock walk in the door and probably would have continued right there on my desk if I hadn't heard the sound of his chair being moved. I looked over as he grinned at me.
"Don't you have a couple of hotels here in town you could take that to? Or even that big boat of yours?" I grinned and looked down at Jasmine, flushed with desire. As much as I wanted her, I also wanted to make love to her in the right place and time. Some things just can't be rushed.
You're right," I told him and then turned back to my beloved. "I have called ahead to have dinner waiting for us at my yacht tonight, are you okay with that?" After last night's argument I did not want her to feel I was doing anything behind her back, not even her own seduction. But I could see that her thoughts were already in parallel with mine as she smiled mischievously up at me. "Why Mr. Stavros," she purred in her best kitten voice mocking me, "what on earth could you be up to inviting me to your big hard yacht?" We grinned at Brock as we walked out; he smirked right back.
The yacht was just as I had ordered, with dinner laid out on a white tablecloth and all the servants ready to disappear the moment I dismissed them. If something urgent came up, the captain knew to call me. But it had better be a country in revolt to interrupt tonight, and they knew it.
I looked across at Jasmine sipping her wine, her hair a golden halo as it fell below her shoulders. I wanted to crush my hands in her hair and bury myself in her sweet scent. This was the woman I had been waiting for the last few years, and I realized that she wouldn't wait forever. I couldn't ask that of someone as beautiful and young as Jasmine. I reached across and took her hand, turning her wrist to kiss the inside of it. She groaned and when I looked up she gave me such a look of pure desire I gave up all resistance.
As one we stood up and I swept her into my arms. I intended to head for the bedroom but we never made it that far. I pushed her against the wall and slid my hands under her dress as the other hand feverously tore off the buttons of her dress and enveloped her breasts in one move. Her hands were moving just as fast, tearing off my shirt like it was the wrapping on a Christmas present long awaited. It took seconds for us to get rid of the rest, as impatient as we were to touch and taste it all.
Our mouths were everywhere, mine on her breasts, her thighs and finally her sex, unable to stop. By now her dress lay in tatters across the floor, her bra had been flung across the room and her panties were a shred of satin under the table. Then it was her turn as her mouth found my cock and I was almost undone. But I knew right then and there that I had to feel her surrounding me, all of me. I wanted to be inside her and not just her mouth. I understood that she wanted us to truly let down the barriers and make love without reservations. It was as if I had been waiting for the signal.
Jasmine
He was hot inside me, as if I had become a part of a volcano. His body was all long hard muscles and scars, so many scars. I traced them with my fingers then my tongue as we slowly began to rock back and forth, my legs wrapped around his hips and my back still hard against the wall. We moved slowly then faster, always in synch and building in intensity. Every time I thought we had gone as far as we could, he would slow us down, and then take it back up even higher. I reached orgasm after orgasm, letting the passion of the moment carry me with him to new heights. All the while I could see he was watching me, making sure I was lost in the pleasure of the moment just as he was.
When we finally climaxed together I screamed and clawed his back like a wild woman. As we lay on the floor together after, sweaty and laughing quietly, he explained the stories behind the many scars. They were honestly won, some while he was boxing as a young man to earn his keep while he began his business. Others were from different adventures he had years back, when he was living in dangerous countries establishing mines, creating shipping opportunities for his companies and always it seems taking risks. My love is a man who is larger than life in more ways than one, I thought as I drifted off to sleep in his arms.