“You did?”
“Why do you think I wanted it so much?”
“Oh,” she said again, not having any other words. He pulled out slowly, abrading torn tissues, but causing a jolt of pleasure to go through her all the same.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” Maybe more than.
And then he was moving, swiveling his hips and hitting a spot inside her that sent jolt after jolt of electric sensation through her body.
“So good,” she fairly groaned, though the soreness had not gone entirely. She felt a muted spiral of pleasure and she wanted more but wasn’t sure how to make it happen.
He sat back and tugged at her wrist until he had her own hand placed palm down on her belly just below her belly button. He pulled until the tip of her middle finger just brushed her clitoris.
She cried out at the surge of sensation that tiny touch caused.
“Keep it there,” he instructed and then he started moving again, faster this time. And with every body-jarring thrust, her fingertip caressed her center of pleasure.
That muted spiral became a tornado and she felt orgasm claim her in shattering convulsions.
Finally, she went limp from the quakes and aftershocks and only then did she feel him stiffen above her.
He yelled something in Greek as he climaxed, and then he looked down at her. “Amazing, yineka mou.”
She would have to ask him what yineka mou meant, but not right now. All she wanted to do in this moment was bask.
He quirked a brow at her, his face reflecting satiated pleasure.
“Mind-blowing.”
His smile was as good as the kiss that came after it.
CHAPTER TEN
NEO lay next to Cassandra and watched her sleep. He had insisted she soak in a mineral bath after their lovemaking, and then had tucked her into bed, where he had served her a late supper instead of seducing her into round two as his body had urged him to do. Now she slept and he remained awake, shocked at his own behavior.
Since when did he pamper his sex partners, much less actually sleep with them?
He was not a selfish lover, but he shied away from any form of intimacy, spoiling with anything but extravagant gifts included. This friends-with-benefits situation was a dangerous thing, he realized.
Cassandra deserved a little coddling. No doubt about it. And perhaps that was all this urge to pamper, coddle and care for was about. He saw a dearth in his precious friend’s life and was determined to fill it.
She’d received little enough of it in her life even though common sense might say she should have gotten more than her share. But no one in the brilliant musician’s sphere had seen the price she paid for her music as anything other than what had to be done.
Her mother had been an invalid, and yet rather than giving the small child Cassandra had been extra love and attention to make up for that, she’d been thrown into a world of public performance that clearly terrified her. Worse, she’d been forced to stay there.
Neo might have grown up on the streets, with a short stint in an orphanage, but he knew that wasn’t acceptable behavior for a family. He could not regret her father was dead, or Neo would be tempted to beat the man. Not that her manager was entirely safe. The temptation to destroy the man was strong, but Neo would rather focus his energies on helping Cassandra regain certain elements to her life.
Like travel.
She had seemed so excited at the prospect of going to Dubai, and even Napa Valley with him. He would never have thought she enjoyed travel so much, being as connected as it was to her public performing.
But apparently the incredibly talented pianist had found one thing to enjoy on her concert tours. Experiencing new places.
He was determined she would know that joy again.
He would look at his schedule in the morning to see when they might plan the trip to Napa Valley. It would have to be soon, because if he ended up going to Dubai, it would be in the next month. And chances were good on that trip. He wanted to take Cassandra. He wanted his new friend to experience all the delight life had to offer.
Including, but not limited to, devastating sex.
And maybe he would find her a new manager, one who saw Cassandra as a person, not a meal ticket. Or at least was very good at pretending so.
Cass woke in a strange bed for the first time since her father died and she stopped travelling for her music. It was a comfortable bed with soft sheets and duvet of perfect weight. She could easily snuggle down and go back to sleep, a sense of warmth and safety enveloping her.
Until her brain supplied just whose bed she had woken in.
Neo’s!
She could still smell him on the sheets. That yummy aftershave he wore and a scent she would forever associate with sex. She reached out, but found the sheets beside her empty. They were still warm from another body, though. Neo had slept with her.