He breached the gap between them and caught her face in his hands. His eyes glowed with a fire she wanted to believe was pride. But then he angled his head and kissed her, and her every sense coalesced into pleasure. He didn’t let up until the need to breathe drove them apart.
This time the look in his eyes when their gazes met was one of pure predatory hunger. Sliding his hand down her arm, he laced their fingers and tugged her to the door.
‘Come. Let’s go and get this day over with so I can begin kicking your ass into gear,’ he drawled with unabashed relish.
‘Just remember, I kick back.’
He laughed. ‘How soon you forget yourself. Insubordination of any kind will only make things worse for you.’
‘How did I know you’ll try to get your way with threats?’
‘Those aren’t threats, glikia mou. They’re golden promises.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
REBEL WAS STILL hiding a smile that threatened to split her face when they returned to their suite. The look in Draco’s eyes as she walked away to take her shower could’ve buckled steel.
All through the day as they mingled with guests whose names she forgot almost as soon as Olivio made introductions, she felt the weight of Draco’s hungry stare. Not that he left her side for more than a few minutes at a time. By the time they returned to their suite to get ready for the gala, Rebel was sure she would spontaneously combust if he glanced at her one more time.
But he did more than glance at her when she emerged from the dressing room at a few minutes to eight.
‘I’m good to go,’ she addressed a tuxedoed Draco, who was nursing a small whisky as he gazed out into the Tuscan night.
He turned. He froze. His scrutiny was thorough, taking in every inch of her white Greek-style gown, cinched in at the waist and collared at the throat with gold metal. At her wrists her favourite gold bangles clinked as she moved nervously beneath his intense...increasingly frowning gaze.
‘Draco...?’
‘Thee mou, you look breathtaking,’ he rasped.
‘Maybe next time, lead with that, instead of the frown?’ she suggested with a nervous but pleased laugh.
He discarded his drink on a nearby surface and came towards her, the frown still in place. ‘I’ve seen the guest list. More than half of them are male sports stars with overblown egos and the impression that they can have anything, or anyone, they want.’ He captured her hand, his grip tight. ‘Just remember, you’re my fiancée. I’ll kill anyone who dares to make a pass at you.’
Rebel had ceased trying to fight the insane chemical thrill that his touch and his words brought. She was firmly immersed in whatever was happening between them. So what if a part of her had taken more than a moment or two during the day to wonder what it would be like to be truly engaged to Draco? That was the part of her she needed to control.
Now that she’d decided to fight all out for her dreams, she couldn’t afford to get emotionally tangled with Draco. Walking away from this charade without emotional loss was imperative. The physical side, the potent chemistry that wrapped them in its own formidable force field, she could handle. And as she’d seen with so many of her friends and acquaintances, the chemistry didn’t last for anyone, once explored.
‘Well, I hope you’ll keep the bloodletting at a distance. I don’t want my gown ruined,’ she replied.
Exhaling, he muttered something under his breath about her mouth, then tugged her after him to the door.
The ballroom holding the gala was themed like the rest of the villa—an exhibition of marble and Carla Nardozzi. The event, purportedly to raise money for children’s sports in Third World countries, was in danger of being overshadowed by the Olivio and Carla Nardozzi Show.
The woman in question, dressed in a white and silver gown that moulded every inch of her skin from throat to feet, her face impeccably made up and her hair caught up in her signature chignon, glided forward on her father’s arm to greet them. Compliments were exchanged, but Rebel noticed Carla’s gaze barely stayed on her before it returned to Draco. And this time there was no disguising the keen interest in the younger woman’s eyes. An unpleasant sensation coiled inside Rebel.
‘Carla told me what you did this morning,’ Olivio said, his gaze on Draco. ‘She was lucky to have you there to intervene for what I’m sure was just a misunderstanding with Tyson. But I owe you my thanks nevertheless.’
Draco’s gaze hardened. ‘It wasn’t a misunderstanding. And Arabella was there too. In fact, she stopped the situation from escalating.’
Carla laughed. ‘Hardly. I had things under control.’