He growled softly, ‘Where do you think you’re going?’
Sidonie stopped and looked at him. He had that look again, and it sent tremors of excitement into her blood. ‘Inside?’ she said hopefully, already imagining the huge bed.
Alexio shook his head and as he did so moved his seat back. ‘No time. I can’t wait. Take off your knickers.’
Sidonie’s eyes went very big when she saw Alexio’s hands go to his belt. He started undoing it. They were going to do it here. Right now. Heat washed up through Sidonie and her hands shook with need as she did as she was bid, sliding her panties off and down her legs.
When they hit the floor of the car Alexio reached for her and brought her over to straddle his lap. Sidonie’s heart was out of control as Alexio dragged her dress down to bare one creamy white breast, its nipple already hard and pouting flagrantly for his mouth and tongue.
She groaned out loud when he surrounded it in sucking heat and clasped his head. Her hips were already grinding gently against his lap and the hard bulge she could feel there, still constrained by his trousers. Feeling frustration build, Sidonie reached down, lifting up slightly, and almost wept with relief when she could feel Alexio’s naked arousal pushing against her where she ached.
When he thrust up and into her their mingled breaths were harsh in the quiet of the small space. Sidonie could feel the steering wheel digging into her back, the gearshift against her knee, but she didn’t care. Her body rose and fell against Alexio’s. They were both so turned on and ready that their mutual completion shattered around them in minutes. Sidonie could only sag against him afterwards, her mind a blissful blank of nothingness.
* * *
As dawn broke over the eastern side of the island and bathed the western edges in a pink glow Sidonie lay awake, w
ith her cheek resting on Alexio’s chest. Despite their frantic coupling in the car as soon as they’d got back, their hunger for one another hadn’t been dented.
She knew he was awake too because she could feel the tension in his body. The master bedroom of the villa, despite its vast airiness, felt like a cocoon around them. Sidonie never wanted to leave this place, or this man. For a second she resented the inevitable intrusion of reality and responsibility—and then felt immediately guilty when she thought of Tante Josephine. Of course she couldn’t expect her aunt to deal with the debts incurred by her mother.
Sighing deeply, Sidonie snuggled closer to Alexio, hating how a shiver went down her spine, as if someone had just walked over her grave.
‘What’s wrong?’
Sidonie shook her head against him and whispered, ‘Nothing.’ Everything, she didn’t say.
A question she’d wanted to ask him for days rose up within her and, longing for a diversion from her own thoughts, she lifted her head and rested her chin on her hand against his chest.
He looked at her and she almost smiled at the wariness of him. As if she were some kind of unexploded device.
‘Can I ask you something?’
A small smile played around that gorgeous sexy mouth. ‘Do I have a choice?’
‘Not really,’ Sidonie said cheerfully, and then, ‘Why did you turn your back on your inheritance to make your own way?’
She’d asked him the question that first evening in his apartment but he’d deflected it easily. Now his face became inscrutable, and Sidonie prepared herself for another brush-off, but to her surprise his chest rose and fell in a deep sigh. As if he was giving in.
He said carefully, ‘You do know that if I tell you I’ll have to kill you?’
Sidonie nodded with mock seriousness. ‘I know. However, I feel like I’ve packed a lot into my twenty-three years, so I’m prepared to go if I have to.’
Alexio took some of her hair between his fingers and caressed it, saying, ‘Such a pity...but if you’re positive...?’
Mock resolute, Sidonie said, ‘I’m positive.’
Joking aside, Alexio lifted one shoulder and said, ‘It’s really not that exciting.’
‘I’m intrigued. It’s not many people who would turn their back on an Onassis-sized inheritance.’
Alexio grimaced. ‘The size of the inheritance was vastly exaggerated...’
Sidonie stayed quiet.
With clear reluctance Alexio told her, ‘I am my father’s only son. Even though my half-brother grew up with us, my father used to taunt him every day that he would not receive a cent from him. I always resented my father’s lack of generosity and the way he wielded his power over everyone else. But I saw how it forged in my brother a will to succeed and prosper on his own. I envied him because he wasn’t constrained like I was. Bound to my father’s expectations. My father used to pit us against each other all the time, me and my brother.’
Alexio grimaced.