A Deal with Demakis

She had always meant for Ms. Havisham to kill Spike. But ever since she had begun the actual sketching, the story had taken on a life of its own. And the man staring at her with liquid desire in his gaze, with a tenderness that threatened to pull her under, it was him.

He had changed the course of her story and that of her own life.

How was she supposed to remember that this was just sex when he made her heart ache for more, when he looked at her as though she was the most precious woman in the world?

How was she supposed to walk away when it was time?

She threw her hands around his neck and kissed his jaw, choking back the tears catching in her throat. She breathed her thanks into his skin, explored the tangy taste of him with her tongue. The depth of emotion roiling inside her scared her.

She took a bracing breath, willing her heart to slow down, willing her mind to take control, willing herself not to ruin this glorious moment with this wonderful man with unwanted fears.

Only then did she realize the absolute stillness that had inched into Nikos.

He was so rigid in her embrace that she wondered if he was even breathing. Pasting a smile on her face, she pulled herself back and looked into his eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered, forcing a levity she didn’t feel into her tone. “Talking about my stories and sketches always makes me emotional.” As cop-outs went, it was a good one.

She pressed her mouth to his, not waiting to see if he believed it or not. Because the desire she felt for him, the need that was already unraveling inside her—that she understood and she used it to root herself in reality.

With a groan, he dragged her closer until her aching sex rubbed against his erection.

She instantly parted her legs and moved over the hard ridge, wanton hunger rising to the surface. Her time was limited with him. And it made her desperate.

She tugged her T-shirt off with trembling fingers. He threw his head back and laughed. A gravelly sound that abraded her skin. Rising to her knees, she attacked the band of his black trousers. But he stilled her hands on them.

His large hands holding her immobile, he licked her collarbone. That small, almost-there-but-gone point of contact, her whole body gathered behind it. “I want to see all of you this time.”

She nodded, her mouth dry. She slid from his lap, her skin tingling at his continued perusal. “I want to see you, too. On the bed,” she added, forcing the words past the thundering beat of her heart.

He stood up from the chair and neared her. His smile cut grooves in his cheeks, making him look deliciously divine.

“What? I’m being outspoken, demanding what I want from life, from you.”

“I can see that. And you look gloriously beautiful doing it.” He ran his finger over the edge of her pink bra, and she willed herself not to step back. It was easy to speak the words, but to match her actions was something else altogether. Because she would always be amazed that he could want her, that the blazing desire in his eyes was for her. “Did you just think that up?”

“It’s like my subconscious speaks up every time I am near you. You probably think the bed is boring but—”

He covered the distance between them and picked her up. She tucked her hands around his neck and pushed herself closer. “Nothing with you is boring, Ms. Nelson. Although, I think we can make it interesting.”

He threw her on the bed, and Lexi thought she would expire from how soft the sheets were. “What do you mean, Mr. Demakis?”

Unbuttoning his dress shirt, he prowled to the other end of the room and grabbed a champagne bottle from the ice bucket.

Lexi moved to her knees. The dark desire in his gaze sent a tingle from her head to toe. “You should know I’m not much of a drinker.”

He shrugged off his T-shirt and took a sip of the champagne. “Who said you will be drinking it?”

With his other hand, he reached around her back and unhooked her bra, while his tongue found the exact spot on her neck that drove her out of her skin and licked it. His hands tugged down her shorts and panties next.

She was naked and twin strips of color blooded his cheekbones. “Never say you’re not beautiful again, thee mou.”

One hand snaked around her waist, his long fingers cupping her buttocks. Her nipples grazed against his chest. Throwing her head back, Lexi groaned, shivering all over.

He kissed her mouth, his tongue swirling the tender inside, licking, nipping, her hands roaming his back, desperate for more. His fingers sank into her hair and pulled her face up for his scrutiny. “Do you trust me, Lexi?” he whispered against her skin.

Lexi nodded, no words coming to her mouth.

“Then close your eyes.”