Her breath shivered out of her. ‘Y-yes. I want this.’
He plunged into her, perhaps a little more roughly than he’d intended, but his need was too great. Watching her breasts bounce with each thrust, Sakis wondered if a heart had ever burst from too much excitement, too much need.
Because, even as he took her to the brink, he realised it wasn’t enough
. He’d never get enough of Brianna. But this... Theos, this was a brilliant start. Later he would pause to examine his feelings a little bit more, reassure himself exactly what he was dealing with and how best to handle the strange feelings inside him. Because something was happening to him. Something he couldn’t define.
As his brain melted from pleasure overload, he let his hands drift upward in a slow caress. His fingers grazed her scar and a feeling of primitive rage rose through him at the person who’d done this to her. If he hadn’t received Brianna’s reassurance that justice had been done, he’d have hunted the culprit down and torn him apart with his bare hands.
Overwhelming protectiveness—another alien feeling he had to grapple with. Gripping her nape, he forced her up to receive his kiss as he surged one last time inside her, felt her spasm around him and let go.
The rush was the best yet. With a groan that stemmed from his soul, he shut his eyes and gave in to it. It was a long time before reality descended on him again.
* * *
Brianna’s arms tightened around Sakis as their breaths returned to normal, fear clutching her heart.
She’d spilled her guts to him about her mother. He’d been outraged on her behalf. He’d shown her sympathy that had touched her soul and made her realise that, while she’d forgiven her mother for an addiction she hadn’t been able to conquer, it was the pain of her abandonment when she was clean that hurt the most.
But Sakis had readily admitted forgiveness was a rare commodity to him.
She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter. Come Friday, when her time ran out, she would be out of here. Greg had taken to sending her hourly reminders of her deadline. To stop Sakis from getting suspicious, she’d put her phone on silent and zipped it out of sight in her jacket pocket.
But her imminent departure wasn’t the reason she’d given Sakis a glimpse into her past.
It was because she’d desperately wanted him to see her—not the ruthlessly efficient personal assistant but her, Brianna Moneypenny, the person who’d started life as Anna Simpson, daughter of a crackhead, and then had taken her grandmother’s maiden name and forged a new identity for herself.
She’d bared herself to Sakis, and now she felt more vulnerable than ever.
His stance on betrayal remained rigid. If he ever found out about her past, he would never forgive her for bringing her soiled reputation to his company.
‘I can hear you thinking,’ he said, his voice a husky muffle against her neck.
‘I’ve just had sex with you on your desk. That merits a little bit of thinking time, don’t you think?’
‘Perhaps. But, since it’s going to be a familiar feature in our relationship, I suggest you get used to it.’
He heard her sudden intake of breath. Rearing up, he rested on his elbows and speared her with a probing look. One she couldn’t meet for long before she settled her gaze on the pulse beating in his neck. ‘The word “relationship” frightens you?’
She willed her pulse to slow, forcing the hope that had no business fluttering in her chest to die a swift death. There could be no future between them. None.
‘Not the word, no, but I think this is going a little too...fast. We only started sleeping together last night.’
‘After eighteen months of holding back. I think asking for restraint right now is asking for the impossible. I’ll need several weeks at least to take the edge off.’
She looked into intense green eyes. ‘You warned me at my interview, conducted across this very desk, not to even dream of getting involved with you.’
He had the grace to look shamefaced, but even that look held a lethal charm that doomed her. ‘It was so soon after Giselle; I was still angry. Everyone I’d interviewed reminded me of her. You were the first one who didn’t. When I found myself getting attracted to you, I fought it with everything I had because I didn’t want that nasty business repeating itself.’
Unable to resist, she slid her fingers through his thick hair. ‘She really did a number on you, didn’t she?’
His smile was wry. ‘I’m not beyond admitting I was blinded to her true nature until it was much too late.’
‘Wow, I’m not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed that you’re fallible.’
He straightened and picked her up from his desk as if she weighed nothing. ‘I never claimed to be perfect, except when it comes to winning rowing championships. Then I’m unequalled,’ he boasted as he started to stride across the office.
‘Modesty is such a rare and beautiful thing, Sakis.’