She reached for a strawberry and popped it into her mouth, sinking her teeth into the red flesh and hanging on to the little green stalk at the end.
Nico hadn’t been on a date in over a year. At least. But he’d never been on a date like this—not one that had him laughing and relaxed, enjoying himself like he’d known the woman for years instead of mere hours.
This isn’t a date. You have no idea what she really wants from you.
“Could you teach me a Greek swear word?” she asked. “I have to admit, I don’t know much Greek at all.”
“I think everyone knows malaka.” He tore off a piece of bread and used a knife to put some cheese on top.
“I want a funny one. I collect them,” she said, wriggling her fingers over the fruit bowl again. “Like Pokémon.”
“I’m fond of Ái ston kóraka, which translates to ‘go to the crows,’” he said. “But it’s like telling someone to go to hell.”
“Go to the crows. I like that!” She looked up at him suddenly. “Thank you for doing this.”
“For what?”
“Taking me for a drink and then bringing me here to the beach, and for all this.” She swept her hand over their picnic. “I really don’t deserve it, since I punched you in the face.”
“You were only trying to protect yourself.” He understood it far more than she could possibly imagine because self-preservation was something Nico had learned at a very early age. “I’m just glad that guy didn’t get your wallet in the end. There’s nothing worse than trying to get new ID and credit cards issued when you’re supposed to be enjoying a vacation.”
“Well, I certainly am enjoying myself now.” She leaned back on her forearms and squinted up at the endless sky. “I feel like I’ve landed in paradise.”
He shouldn’t have gotten warm and fuzzy feelings from her gratitude. She was still the sister of a man who might be trying to swindle him. But Nico would be lying if he said he wasn’t feeling pretty damn good right about now.
“Do you ever feel like you just want to be someone else for a day?” she asked.
He had thought about it many times as a young boy. What would it be like to be someone who had a mother and father? Someone who was born into a loving home? How might his life have turned out differently?
How might he have turned out differently?
“I am who I am,” he said, shoving the memories aside.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to…escape for a day? To have a clean slate—no past, no baggage. No consequences.”
Was this her way of saying that she wanted nothing to do with her brother’s business proposal?
“What would you do with your one day of escape?” he asked.
“This.” Bianca/Marianna’s body stretched out on the towel beside him, the water droplets having evaporated into the hot air. “Exactly this.”
“Talking about foreign swear words and eating cheese?”
She laughed. “Yes. Good conversation and good food. Good company, too.”
It was, actually. The best company he’d shared in some time. Probably because he only left his house when absolutely necessary, these days. He’d retreated further and further into himself the past year. He hadn’t thought about escaping his isolation, because it was a construct of his own making.
But now, spending the afternoon with a beautiful woman and feeling more human than he had in a long time, he understood her desire completely.
“We probably shouldn’t stay out too long,” he warned. “You look like you’re going to get burned if you’re not careful.”
Who the hell was he right now? Since when did he worry about other people like that?
“I have some sunscreen.” She reached into her new bag. “I don’t suppose you’d mind getting your hands dirty? I won’t be able to reach my back.”
Lord help him.
You can handle a little sunscreen.
“Sure.” He reached his hand out, and she gave him the bottle. When she turned and swept her dark hair over one shoulder, his breath caught in his throat.
The line of her back was perfection—like she’d been created by an artist’s brush. Her shoulders were softly curved, her waist coming in to create a subtle dip over where her hips flared back out. The strings on her bikini created gentle little indentations in her skin. Her body was soft and luscious. Curves was his catnip—he loved the look of full breasts and a round ass.
This is not the time to get excited. Just put the sunscreen on her and think un-sexy thoughts.
But the second his hands smoothed over her back, spreading the white lotion, he was lost. He massaged it into her skin, not missing the soft little gasp that came when his hands skated around her sides, trying to make sure she was protected without feeling her up. He wanted so badly to bring his hands around to her front, to push his palms up under the thin fabric covering her breasts so he could feel every inch of her. To see if she was as wet behind the bikini bottoms as he hoped she would be.
But she hadn’t asked for it. And they were in an open space. A public space. It wouldn’t be appropriate to touch her here, even if she did want it. The thought sparked an idea.
“If you feel like going for another swim, we can go back to my place,” he suggested.
“You have a pool?” She turned her head, her dark eyes catching his. His question had been designed to feel her out, to see if she would react to the sparks between them. And the hungry expression in her eyes told him she most definitely had. “I would love that.”
“Let’s finish our lunch and then we can head back,” he said.
You’re inviting trouble into your home. She’s still lying to you.
But right then, with her lips pulling up into a seductive smile and her eyes sparkling, he didn’t feel a single part of his intuition stirring. Perhaps she was simply a woman looking for an escape. A one-time vacation fling.
And if that’s that she wanted, then he was the guy to give it to her.
Chapter Four
As the sun hung low on the horizon, Marianna followed Nico back to his place. She carried the towels and her bag, and he had the picnic basket with their leftovers. It was impossible not to feel like this was some kind of fantasy she’d fallen into, as their bare, sand-covered feet fell in time with each step.
Her phone buzzed as Nico held the gate for her. A text from her brother.
DANIEL: Hey, meeting is going well. I’ll be another couple of hours. I’ll call as soon as I’m on my way back.
Perfect. She could barely contain her grin.
“Good news?” Nico asked.
“My brother ditched me for dinner.”
“And that’s cause for a smile?”
“It is if you feel like hanging out with me some more.”
Nico had made her comfortable. Their lazy afternoon mixed with the pleasant sensation of a belly full of fruit and bread had lulled her into a sense of security. Maybe she was meant to have waited for this moment. How many women got to lose their virginity on a Greek island with a man like Nico?
His yard stretched out like the grounds of a palace, perfectly manicured and lush. Trees dotted the yard, and the pool was huge and blue. Intricate mosaic tiles seemed to shimmer beneath the water’s surface, beckoning her.
Romantic and private location, check!
Only, he hadn’t responded to her cheeky comment implying that she wanted to stay a while. She placed the towels on a banana lounge beside the pool. “You’re not sick of me yet, are you?”
Nico’s eyes roamed over her, hungry and inviting. “I really wish I was.”
Was he holding himself back? “Why?”
“Because I have a feeling that we’re aren’t going to stop at swimming.”
“Fine by me.”
They’d been dancing around it all afternoon, her nudging them in that direction and him pushing them away. The way he’d touched her when she asked for help with her sunscreen had practically set her on fire. He was attracted to her, she could
feel it in her bones. And it was so foreign to her—like nothing she’d ever experienced before. In his eyes, she might be a woman deserving of love. Of sex.
She might not be in the “too hard” basket for once.
She made her way down the steps, letting the lap of the water wash the sand from her feet. She wasn’t sure what else to say. She’d left her comfort zone in the dust the second she’d gotten into his car. All she could do now was pray to God that he followed her lead.
Marianna had always been “well-behaved” by doing what she was told and studying hard and taking the advice of others. But where had it gotten her? She was twenty-four, had never known the touch of man, and spent most of her time in the alternate reality of academia. Goddammit, she was lonely. And unsatisfied.
And she was sick of missing out.
“You’re playing with fire, little koala,” he said.
The nickname made her smile. It was a hint of familiarity between them—no matter how false—that made her feel like maybe this wasn’t some sleazy one-time hookup. It allowed her to pretend for a moment that they really were lovers, that they were two people who’d stolen away for a naughty afternoon of mutual pleasure and fantasy.
“Good,” she whispered. “I’m ready to get burned.”
…
Nico had a decision to make…well, with his head, anyway. His dick was already on board. Bianca/Marianna’s motives appeared to be innocent. She’d asked nothing of him yet. Not for information about his work or personal life, nor about his home, security, or anything else of value.
And he’d be lying if he said this afternoon hadn’t been immensely enjoyable. There was something captivating about her, something that called to a part of him so charred and so ruined he thought it would never stir again.
But she summoned his desire like nobody else.
His body pulsed with the need to have her. She swam close to the edge, her long, dark hair floating in the water around her. As she bobbed in front of him, her bikini clinging to every delectable curve.
“Why are you so ready to get burned?” he asked.
She looked him dead in the eye. “I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. This holiday is supposed to be about…expanding my horizons. I’ve spent all my life devoted to my studies, and I recently realized that I’ve missed out on so many things. I don’t go out, I don’t party or take risks or chase the things I want. And while I very much enjoy learning, I want to learn about more than syntax and morphology and phonetics and phonology and—”
“I understand.” He watched her closely. “I think we have a lot in common.”
“I doubt that,” she replied. “But I can’t allow myself to watch my life go by. If I died tomorrow, I wouldn’t want to regret my decisions.”
There was something utterly charming about her. Something disarming, too. He normally went around with a shell covering him, an impenetrable barrier that caused people to bounce off him and change their course. But not her. She was so absolutely open. Too open.
It would hurt her one day, if she wasn’t careful.
He found himself being dragged to the pool as if by some invisible force. He wanted this too, far more than he’d wanted anything for a long time. And lust was starting to override his usual suspicions. Perhaps what she said was the truth: she was here to have a good time. Let down her hair.
In the water, their height difference was erased. She swam over to him and grasped his shoulders.
“Will you please kiss me?” she asked. “I’m already far enough out of my comfort zone, and I’m quickly running out of moves. And I’m so nervous I might start spouting facts again.”
He threw his head back and laughed. Genuinely. For the first time in what felt like forever.
“How could I possibly refuse, when you make such an enticing offer?” He snaked a hand around her waist and dragged her close. She couldn’t quite touch the bottom here, but he could. The soles of his feet were planted firmly against the blue tile. So he moved them to the side of the pool, pinning her against the wall.
Sunlight bounced off her hair, turning the edges a deep, burning-brick shade. Her hips brushed against his as she kicked, keeping herself afloat and him on the edge of insanity.
“You really want me to kiss you, Bianca?” Her false name was the last thing between them. But now he understood why she’d chosen it. She was trying something new, pushing herself out of her comfort zone.
They were simply two people wanting to find escape in one another.
“Yes. Now, please.”
He lowered his head to hers, brushing his lips over her mouth in the briefest whisper of a kiss. “Like that?”
She shook her head. “Not like that.”
This time their kiss was deeper. He used his tongue, gliding it against hers while he slowly devoured her. The sun beat down on his back and shoulders, a contrast to the cool water lapping at his body. He found that contrast in her, too. The fierceness in her grip against the soft fullness of her body. The gentle moan in the back of her throat against the increasing pressure of her kiss.
“Like that?” he asked.
“More.” She bit down on her lip, her eyes black and wide. “I want you to love me, Nico.”
“I don’t do love.”
“Not that kind of love.” Her cheeks flushed, and she lowered her gaze, shielding herself with water-coated lashes. The droplets glimmered. “I want you to love me with your body, not your heart.”
Fucking hell.
“My body?” He moved closer, using his hips to wedge her harder against the wall of the pool. “Like this?”
He slipped one hand under the water and skimmed it along her thigh until he found the crook of her knee. Her breath stuttered. Gently, he lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist, seating himself against her heat. His cock throbbed, blood rushing to fill him so he was harder than he’d ever been. He held her, pinned her like a butterfly to a specimen board.
“Yes.” The word hissed out of her like steam escaping a kettle. “Like that. Just like that.”
“You really want to do this?” he asked, his lips brushing softly over hers. “With a stranger?”
“This is exactly what I’d hoped for.” Her nostrils flared. “And I can say yes in just about any language you want.”
He chuckled against the side of her neck, and she shuddered. So responsive. He brought his lips to her neck and sucked in the taste of perspiration and salt and chlorine. The scent of something long forgotten, but deeply familiar dancing in his senses. Sunscreen and perfume.
“English is fine,” he growled into her ear. “Tell me what you want.”
“For you to be inside me.” Her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper, ragged and desperate. “I want you to fill me.”
He slanted his lips over hers, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She tasted of the strawberries from earlier and something delightfully feminine. When he rolled his hips against her sex, she mewled and lifted her other leg up, so she had them both wrapped around him. “What a dirty mouth you have.”
“Please,” she whimpered, doing her best to thrust against him in the water.
He held her ass in his hands, holding her still so he could rub against her. His cock was fully hard now, and aching. He wanted nothing but to tear her bikini bottoms to one side and drive straight into her. But from the gasps that were coming harder and faster now, from the flutter of her pulse at her neck, she was ready to come simply from this contact.
“That feels so good.” She screwed her eyes shut, her pouty little mouth in a perfect O shape. “Oh my god…”
A tremor rippled through her, making her thighs clamp around his waist. Yes, she was close, and he hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff. For some reason, this ratcheted his desire up even further. Her body was so ripe, so perfectly curved and wonderfully pliable. He rolled his hips again, and this time her gasp was sharp. She was close.
“Oh…” Her head dropped forward against his shoulder. She
was like a rag doll in his arms, her weight buoyed by the water and his hands.
“I think you’re on the edge, little koala.” He ground against her, delighting in the quiver of her thighs. “And then you’re going to come again when I get you out of your bikini.”
“I don’t know…” Her breathing was heavy and warm against his skin. “I’m not sure…”
“I am.”
Who knew that dry humping—or in this case wet humping—could be so sexy. He’d thought it an activity best left to fumbling teenagers. But now, with her in his arms, he fully understood the appeal. Sexual energy poured through him as he moved her hips in the water, rubbing her up and down his length.
“That’s…oh my…” Her words faded in and out, an incoherent jumble of pleasure sounds that had him ready to blow right on the spot. “Yes!”
Who the hell was he right now? Nico never had trouble hanging on. He prided himself on his stamina on the off occasion he chose to indulge. But this curvy Australian had him desperate and horny like he hadn’t been in years.
She shook, her body jerking and causing water to slosh over the edge of the pool. “Nico!”
The way she cried his name…fuck. It made him want to roar, made him want to tell the whole world she was his. She came apart in his arms, her face contorted with pleasure while his cock jerked and protested being left out of the action.
Soon. Soon.
She needed to come down first. A satisfied little hmm vibrated against his shoulder where her lips moved, at first softly and then harder. She was kissing his skin. Then nibbling, her teeth sending super-fine pinpricks of excitement through him.
“That was…” She sighed.
“Wonderful.”
She lifted her head, eyes hooded with desire, though a cheeky smile pulled at her sweet lips. “I was going to say new.”
“No other man has made you come like that?”
She looked at him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face like she wanted to say something important. “No, not like that.”
Beauty and the Greek Billionaire Page 4