She instinctively reached out and grasped his arm. He jerked to a stop, his gaze going to where she held him, then back to her face.
‘Arabella, I’m not thinking very rationally right now,’ he rasped. Residual fury vibrated off him, emotional aftershocks that threatened to bury her the longer she stayed this close.
‘I know, and I’ll be quick. I just wanted to say, if you can help it, don’t let this eat you up too much.’
‘As long as that bastard is sniffing around her, it’ll eat me up.’
‘But—’
His hand shot out to grip her arm, the other coming up to hover over her mouth. His thumb slid across her mouth. ‘Enough, glikia mou. I don’t want to think about Blackwell any more. So enough. Okay?’ Bleak eyes searched hers, pleading.
At her nod, he dropped his hand. And replaced it with his mouth. Shock held her still long enough for him to delve between her lips. Then pure, unadulterated sensation took over. Her moan rose up from her soul, excavating every yearning she’d tried to suppress since Wednesday night. Her hands gripped his bare arms, the fierce joy of touching him somewhere else besides his nape and face piercing her. She strained up, plastering her needy, super-charged body against his, and earning herself an answering groan in return. One hand trailed the length of her back to her behind, then splayed open to drag her even closer. She ground against his erection, her nerves tingling, the secret place between her legs dampening, readying itself for this man...
This man who didn’t belong to her.
He nipped at the corner of her bottom lip just as she jerked away from him. They parted and she was left with a coppery taste in her mouth. Draco’s eyes zeroed in on the spot, a hiss issuing from his lips. ‘Arabella mou...your lip.’ He reached out. She danced out of his way.
‘It’s okay, I’m fine.’ She licked at the spot again, and he groaned.
‘Sweetheart, let me—’
‘No. You can’t do this, Draco.’
He stared at her for a frozen second, his breath shuddering in and out. With another curse, he threw his head back and closed his eyes for a brief moment. Exhaling one last time, he stared straight at her. ‘No. I guess not. But next time, tell me which body part you want me to cry on before I go thinking everything is available to me.’
‘How about we agree right now that none of it is available to you?’
His gaze dropped to her mouth. ‘So I get your words and nothing else?’
‘Wasn’t that what you wanted?’ she replied.
A stiff smile twitched one corner of his mouth. ‘Thanks for the reminder.’
He strode out of the room with long, angry strides. Rebel waited till she heard the faint sound of running water before she hurried to the dressing room. She swapped her trainers for heels that would elevate her attire back to smart casual. Combing out her hair, she sprayed perfume on her wrists before grabbing her bag and slipping out onto the terrace. She reclined on the shaded lounger, willing her racing pulse to subside as she plucked her phone and earphones from her bag. Cranking up the music, she tucked up her legs to her chest.
Much as she’d have liked to escape the suite totally, she didn’t want to risk running into Olivio or any of his guests without Draco in case the agitation bubbling beneath her skin showed. If Draco wanted to stay, he would need his acting skills to get them both through tonight and tomorrow.
Rebel grew drowsy as her pulse finally calmed and her thundering heartbeat stopped roaring in time to the music.
The feeling of a soft blanket being draped over her roused her from sleep. Draco sat on the twin lounger, his eyes a lot less volatile than they’d been. In fact, he looked downright solemn and perhaps even a touch contrite.
‘How long have I been asleep?’ she asked around a dry mouth.
He handed her a cool drink, which she accepted and sipped gratefully. ‘Long enough for your cycle of crazy music to play three times.’
So just over two hours. ‘It’s not crazy music. It calms me down.’ She bit her lip as she said it, wondering if she would unwittingly set him off.
But he remained seated, his gaze steady on her. ‘I owe you an apology. You were trying to help and I...took advantage.’
A knot she hadn’t acknowledged unravelled inside her. ‘You warned me you weren’t thinking rationally. I should’ve let you go, not insisted on saying my piece.’
His mouth twisted. ‘Your piece, brief as it was, was very welcome. It saved the shower wall from getting a pounding.’
‘Yikes. Not sure you’d have come off without serious battle scars, what with all that marble.’
He grinned, then sobered after a few seconds. ‘While you were asleep, I spoke to Olivio. He won’t discuss his business with Blackwell, but it turns out he’s not staying at the villa. I guess Olivio wasn’t prepared to risk one of us walking out.’