Playing by the Greek's Rules (Puffin Island 0.50)

‘What makes you think that?’

‘Because a woman like you should steer clear of men like me. I don’t have a love life, I have a sex life. I’ll use you. If you’re in my bed it will be all about pleasure and nothing else. I don’t care about your feelings. I’m not kind. I’m not gentle. I need you to know that.’

There was a long, loaded silence and then her gaze slid to his mouth. ‘Okay, I get it. No fluffy kittens in this relationship. Message received and understood. Can this car go any faster because I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on in my life before.’

She wasn’t the only one. His self-control was stretched to breaking point. Why was he fighting it? She was an adult. She wasn’t drunk and she knew what she was doing. Logic didn’t just surrender to libido, it was obliterated. All the same, something made him open one more exit door. ‘Be very sure, Lily.’

‘I’m sure. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Unless you want to be arrested for performing an indecent act in a public place you’d better tell Vassilis to break a few speed limits.’

* * *

Lily walked into the villa she’d cleaned earlier, feeling ridiculously nervous. In the romantic setting of the restaurant this had seemed like a good idea. Now she wasn’t quite so sure. ‘So why did you hire a contract cleaning company?’

‘I didn’t.’ He threw his jacket over the back of a chair with careless disregard for its future appearance. ‘I have staff who look after this place. Presumably they arranged it. I didn’t give them much notice of my return. I don’t care how they do their job as long as it gets done.’

She paced across the living room and stared across the floodlit shimmer of the infinity pool. ‘It’s pretty at night.’ It was romantic, but she knew this had nothing to do with romance. Her other relationships had been with men she knew and cared about. This scenario was new to her. ‘Do you have something to drink?’

‘You’re thirsty?’

Nervous. ‘A little.’

He gave her a long look, strolled out of the room and returned moments later carrying a glass of water.

‘I want you sober,’ he said softly. ‘In fact I insist on it.’

Realising they were actually going to do this, she suddenly found she was shaking so much the water sloshed out of the glass and onto the floor. ‘Oops. I’m messing up the floor I cleaned earlier.’

He was standing close to her and her gaze drifted to the bronzed skin at the base of his throat and the blue-shadowed jaw. Everything about him was unapologetically masculine. He wasn’t just dangerously attractive, he was lethal and suddenly she wondered what on earth she was doing. Maybe she should have taken up Spy’s offer of rebound sex, except that Spy didn’t induce one tenth of this crazy response in her. A thrilling sense of anticipation mingled with wicked excitement and she knew she’d regret it for ever if she walked away. She knew she took relationships too seriously. If she was going to try a different approach then there was surely no better man to do it with than Nik.

‘Scared?’ His voice was deep, dark velvet and she gave a smile.

‘A little. But only because I don’t normally do this and you’re not my usual type. It’s like passing your driving test and then getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari. I’m worried I’ll crash you into a lamppost.’ She put the glass down carefully on the glass table and ran her damp hands over her thighs. ‘Okay, let’s do this. Ignore the fact I’m shaking, go right ahead and do your bad, bad thing, whatever that is.’

He said nothing. Just looked at her, that dark gaze uncomfortably penetrating.

She waited, heart pounding, virtually squirming on the spot. ‘I’m not good with delayed gratification. I’m more of an instant person. I like to—’

‘Hush.’ Finally he spoke and then he reached out and drew her against him, the look in his eyes driving words and thoughts from her head. She felt the warmth of his hand against the base of her spine, the slow, sensitive stroke of his fingers low on her back and then he lifted his hands and cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. ‘Lily Rose—’

She swallowed. ‘Nik—’

‘Don’t be nervous.’ He murmured the words against her lips. ‘There’s no reason to be nervous.’

‘I’m not nervous,’ she lied. ‘But I’m not really sure what happens next.’

‘I’ll decide what happens next.’

Her heart bumped uncomfortably against her ribs. ‘So—what do you want me to do?’

His mouth hovered close to hers and his fingers grazed her jaw. ‘I want you to stop talking.’

‘I’m going to stop talking right now this second.’ Her stomach felt as if a thousand butterflies were trying to escape. She hadn’t expected him to be so gentle, but those exploring fingers were slow, almost languorous as they stroked her face and slid over her neck and into her hair.

She stood, disorientated by intoxicating pleasure as he trailed his mouth along her jaw, tormenting her with dark, dangerous kisses. Heat uncurled low in her pelvis and spread through her body, sapping the strength from her knees, and she slid her hands over those sleek, powerful shoulders, feeling the hard swell of muscle beneath her palms. His mouth moved lower and she tilted her head back as he kissed her neck and then the base of her throat. She felt the slow slide of his tongue against supersensitive skin, the warmth of his breath and then his hand slid back into her hair and he brought his mouth back to hers. He kissed her with an erotic expertise that made her head spin and her legs grow heavy. With each slow stroke of his tongue, he sent her senses spinning out of control. It was like being drugged. She tried to find her balance, her centre, but just when she felt close to grasping a few threads of control, he used his mouth to drive every coherent thought from her head. Shaky, she lifted her hand to his face, felt the roughness of his jaw against her palm and the lean, spare perfection of his bone structure.

She slid her fingers into his hair and felt his hand slide down her spine and draw her firmly against him.

She felt him, brutally hard through the silky fabric of her dress, and she gave a moan, low in her throat as he trapped her there with the strength of his arms, the power in those muscles reminding her that this wasn’t a safe flirtation, or a game.