A Diamond Deal With the Greek

Over the next hour, he set a blistering place, his commands bullet fast and relentless.

‘Faster!’ he shouted over the sound of the treadmill.

‘Lower!’ he boomed from behind her as she sank into another excruciating squat.

‘Damn it, lock your elbows.’

‘Damn it, they are locked!’

He leaned over the weight bar vibrating with the tension in her triceps. ‘Are you being smart with me?’ he snarled.

‘I don’t have a single smart left in me, Drill Sergeant,’ she ground out.

Their eyes met. Battled. Then his stormy grey eyes moved over her sweat-drenched body as she lowered the bar and pressed it back up.

‘Ten,’ he rasped, without taking his eyes off her bare midriff. ‘Nine,’ he supplied helpfully after another shredding lift.

‘Draco...’

‘Eight.’

‘Stop,’ she gasped.

‘Seven. Stop counting?’

‘Stop...staring.’

‘No.’ His gaze moved to her breasts and his breathing altered. ‘Six.’

‘Grrruuuugh!’

‘Is that even English? Five.’

‘I hate you!’

‘I hate you back. Four.’ He squatted and brushed back the wet tendrils at her temple. ‘Three.’

‘You’re...touching me, Draco. You want me to fail,’ she panted.

‘Never. Almost there, glikia mou. Two.’

Pain rippled through her body as lactic acid surged through her system. ‘One!’ she shouted.

He stood over her and took the weight from her trembling grip.

Rebel stood and shook her hands, relief pouring through her wrists and biceps as her pumping heart settled. ‘Piece of cake.’

Draco came up behind her, and held a bottle of water to her lips. She drank thirstily, then, just because she could, she relaxed against him, rubbed her back against his front.

His breath hissed in her ear. ‘Why do you drive me crazy like this?’

‘Umm...you make it too damn easy?’

Dropping the bottle, he flipped her round. ‘Thee mou, your mouth!’

‘Is all the workout you need?’

With a pained grunt he smashed his mouth on hers. Strong arms banded her waist and she linked her arms around his neck as he picked her up and walked forward to the martial arts area. Her body hit the mat none too gently, but Rebel didn’t care. Draco was kissing her and her senses were on fire. This time when he parted her legs, she welcomed him, holding her breath until he rolled his hips against her.

‘Oh!’ She thrilled to the shudder that rolled through her.

‘Damn, you’re so responsive,’ he groaned against her mouth.

‘Complaint?’

‘Compliment.’

‘Okay. Proceed.’

He consumed her, each lick, bite and pinch twisting them higher, until they broke apart, desperate for the sweet sustenance of oxygen. Weaving her fingers through his hair, Rebel just gloried in the weight of him and the hand sliding up and down her calf.

‘Arabella?’

‘Drill Sergeant?’

His mouth stretched against her cheek. Her heart flipped over at the thought that she’d made him smile. Turning her head, she stole a kiss. He groaned again. ‘We can’t do this here.’

‘In this room, this villa, or this country?’

‘Definitely not in this room. I’d prefer a different bed and a different villa to one owned by Olivio Nardozzi. How would you feel about leaving a day early and switching to a different country?’

‘What about Olivio?’

A hard smile curved his lips. ‘My wanting to be alone with you away from this place should serve as a further convincer.’

Her breath shuddered. ‘And do you?’

He fused his mouth to hers in a hard kiss. ‘Enough to put my pilot on standby to leave immediately after the gala tonight.’

‘So...where would you take me?’

His nostrils flared as his eyes darkened. ‘I have homes in most of the major sports-orientated cities around the world. But wherever you want to go, I can make it happen.’ He leaned down and brushed his growing stubble against her cheek before placing an open-mouthed kiss on the racing pulse at her throat.

‘Do all your homes have what I need to train?’

‘Of course,’ he murmured.

‘What about Greg?’

His head jerked up, blazing eyes piercing hers. ‘Who’s Greg?’

‘My trainer.’

He relaxed a touch. ‘Get him to send me your training schedule. I’ll take care of you until your dry-land drills are over. He can take over again when we get to Verbier.’

Her heart leapt. ‘You’re coming to the championships?’

‘You’re my fiancée. How would it look if I’m not there by your side?’