Gritting his teeth, Sakis forced back control into his body, if only temporarily, because he knew he was fighting a losing battle. But it was a battle he was perfectly willing to surrender.
The warm, sexy body undulating beneath him blew his mind. While half of him declared himself insane for waiting this long to give in to the sp
ellbinding attraction, the other half rejoiced at waiting. It was clear Brianna wouldn’t have given in under normal circumstances.
Something had happened today at the café. He didn’t know what and couldn’t pinpoint it but the simple meal had taken an unexpected turn, had shaken him in a way that had left him reeling.
She’d felt it too; he knew it. Whether it was the reason she’d ended up here, he didn’t know, but he intended to grasp this golden opportunity with both hands.
Her inner muscles tightened again and he nearly lost it. The swollen temptation of her roughly kissed mouth parted on a breath and he groaned. Sweet heaven, everything about her blew his mind, but never in a thousand years had he dreamed the sex with her would be this great, this intense.
She breathed his name again, as if now she’d given herself permission to use it she couldn’t say it enough. That was okay with him...more than okay. The sound of his name on her lips was a potent aphrodisiac all by itself.
He was leaning down to take those impossibly delectable lips again when he saw it. Buried beneath the cascade of her hair was an elegant scroll across her left collarbone.
She surged blindly up at that moment, impatient for his kiss, and her hair fell away.
‘I refuse to sink’, the tattoo read. And beside it was a tiny etching of a soaring phoenix.
He already knew she was brave beyond words. The glimpse of her life she’d shared with him had alerted him to a not-so-rosy past, perhaps a harsh childhood. Sakis was struck again by how little he really knew of her. Nevertheless, he knew he didn’t need to dig to find out she had a core of integrity that had remained unblemished, despite whatever adversities she’d faced.
The knowledge jolted something deep and alien inside him. Shockingly, he desired her even more. He bucked into her and revelled in her hitched breathing. But he wanted more; felt an unrelenting need to touch her in the way she’d touched him tonight.
‘Open your eyes, pethi mou,’ he demanded hoarsely.
Slowly her lids parted, displaying exquisite turquoise eyes drenched in desire. ‘What?’
‘I want you to see me, Brianna. Feel what you do to me and know that I appreciate you more than you know.’
Her mouth dropped open in wordless wonder. Unable to help himself, he kissed her again. Then all too soon the climax that had been building inexorably surged with brutal force. He spread her thighs wider and pumped hard and fast inside her.
Her cry of ecstasy echoed his own minutes later as he came in a torrent of dizzying pleasure.
He waited until their breaths had returned to normal before he brushed aside her hair and looked closely at the tattoo. Slowly, he let his finger drift over it, telling himself he’d imagined it, when she stiffened.
‘This is interesting...’
The invitation to confess was blatant.
But Brianna couldn’t open that can of worms. Not after she’d already opened so much of herself that she was sure Sakis could see straight through her by now. God, how had she imagined that she could just live in this moment, satisfy the clawing need then walk away?
With just a handful of words, Sakis had split her heart wide open.
I want you to see me... You’re my anchor, Brianna... I appreciate you more than you know.
‘Brianna?’ The demand was more powerful.
She scrambled to find a reasonable explanation. ‘I got it after I left my...my last job...’ She stopped, her heart hammering as she realised that she was highly emotional from their love-making and really shouldn’t be talking.
‘Most people take a holiday between jobs. But you got a tattoo?’ Scarily, his curiosity had deepened. ‘And a symbolic one, at that. Did you feel as if you were sinking?’ His fingers drifted over the words again, and despite her roiling emotions she shivered with fresh need.
She forced a laugh. ‘I guess I’m not most people.’ Stop talking now. Stop. Stop. Stop! ‘And yes, I felt like I was sinking. For a while I lost my way.’ God, no...
His fingers touched the phoenix then he brushed it with his mouth. ‘But then you triumphed.’
She let out a shaky breath. ‘Y-yes.’
‘Hmm, we’re agreed on one thing—you’re not most people. You’re exquisitely unique.’ His hand drifted down, paused over her breast then trailed lower to touch the scar on her hip. ‘And this?’