‘I will make you mine, Serena, and the only place for that is in my bed.’
She couldn’t fight him any longer. Being in his arms, his bed—it was all she wanted, all her body craved.
‘Then take me there,’ she teased, shocking herself, but enjoying the sexy look Nikos gave her. Would it be so bad to give in to what raged between them when they were to be married?
He stood back from her, his heavy gaze sweeping down her body, lingering on her breasts for just long enough to send heat hurtling through her. Again he took her hand and led her through the apartment to the only room she hadn’t yet seen. His bedroom.
He opened the door, revealing a masculine space dominated by a large bed, bathed in the glow of golden light coming through the balcony windows.
He drew her into the room and looked down at her. Slowly he pulled his tie undone, tossing it to the floor, where it was soon joined by his jacket. She looked at the shirt, so white against his dark skin, and willed her eyes to stay open instead of closing in pleasure.
She remembered how his chest felt. How the hair there enabled her fingers to glide across his muscles. But most of all she remembered the firmness, and she ached to touch him again. She reached out and spread her fingers over his chest, relishing the feel of his arms pulling her to him, holding her there.
‘I need you,’ she said softly, not daring to look into his face in case her love shone out.
Instead she concentrated on opening one button of his shirt, then, when she didn’t meet any resistance, another and another, until she could slide her hand inside. The groan of pleasure escaping him encouraged her further.
His fingers struggled briefly with the zip on her dress and she stifled a nervous laugh.
‘I want to see you,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I want to see all of you.’
Seconds later the bodice of her dress loosened as he unzipped it, and then the pale green silk slithered down, leaving her naked apart from her panties and dainty sandals.
She resisted the urge to cover herself with her arms. She’d never stood so blatantly naked before him, always shielding herself from his gaze, anxious because of her innocence. It took great effort to remain under the scrutiny of those sexy blue eyes without covering herself as they devoured her hungrily.
A guttural growl of Greek words rushed from him as his gaze lingered on her. Before she could ask what he’d said his fingers caressed a blazing trail down her arms, stroking all the way to her hands, then her fingertips. He lightly lifted her fingers and brought each in turn to his lips and kissed them, and all the while his gaze, heady and deep blue, held her face, making her blush with desire.
‘You are a goddess,’ he said, kissing along one arm until he came to her shoulder.
Her whole body was on fire, her breasts tender and full, yearning for his touch. But still he kissed her shoulder, teasing and tormenting her as she’d never known before. Then slowly the fiery trail of kisses moved downwards and she gasped in pleasure, hardly able to stand.
‘A goddess who is all mine,’ he said huskily, and each word was interspersed with kisses, pressed enticingly against her, moving down between her breasts until she ached for him to kiss them.
His head moved lower, his kisses now on the soft swell of her stomach, and she plunged her fingers into his hair, closing her eyes.
‘Nikos...’ His name rushed from her lips on a wave of pleasure and she pressed them tightly together in case she said more.
‘Such a beautiful body.’
His kisses moved down over her stomach, lingering as his hands skimmed her bottom, the sensation almost unbalancing her. She felt his warm breath against the silky panties that left little to the imagination and fought hard to remain standing.
Just when she thought she might collapse onto the bed behind her his fingers trailed down her thighs and towards her ankles.
‘I intend to savour every part of it.’
* * *
Nikos looked up at Serena, her face so flushed with desire. The blood pounded harder around his body. He took a deep breath, fighting to regain some kind of control. He wanted to push her onto the white covers of the bed and lose himself inside her until the madness she evoked stopped—but he couldn’t. This time he had to take it slow, had to keep a tight rein on the desire that burned inside him, because this was different from any other time.
He didn’t known how or why. All he knew was that this was the woman he was going to marry, the mother of his child, a woman who’d unlocked something deep inside him that he couldn’t yet acknowledge. From the moment he’d met her she’d changed him somehow, but he couldn’t analyse it now.
Whatever it was it had the potential to be painful, the capability to be render him helpless, just like the hurt that had crushed him as a boy, and he never wanted to put himself in the firing line of that kind of pain again.
He stood up and looked down into her face, saw the nervousness in her eyes and felt as if his chest was being squeezed. ‘This is what you want?’
Her big green eyes blinked rapidly, then she smiled up at him and his heart seemed to stop.
‘Yes,’ she whispered softly, tilting her chin and pressing her lips against his in a tormenting and lingering kiss. ‘Yes, it is. I want you, Nikos.’
He pulled her against him, wishing he wasn’t still clothed so that he could feel her soft skin against his. A groan of desire escaped him as her feather-light kisses teased his senses, pushing him to the edge of his control.
He took her face between his hands, holding her at just the right angle, and kissed her until she murmured against his lips. Then he slid his tongue between them, deepening the kiss.
He closed his eyes against the exquisite pain of having her all but naked in his arms and having to exert control, trying to consider her condition. It was torture. He could feel her hardened nipples pressing against his chest, with only his partially open shirt between them, and as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer still, he had to hold back the urge to allow his desire to get the better of him.
He let go of her face, kissing her harder and deeper. His hands skimmed down the curve of her back, making her arch even closer, then he held her, pressing her against him. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more—much more.
He grasped her thighs, lifting her off the floor until she wrapped her legs about him. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she kissed him deeply, her sighs of pleasure rushing into him, entwining with his. Slowly he walked the few paces to the bed and, with a steadiness that tested all his strength, lowered her onto the white covers. Then he hooked his fingers inside her panties and pulled them down, not taking his gaze from her face as she smiled seductively at him, passion making her uninhibited.
The golden glow from outside was the only light in the room. Every curve of her delicious body was bathed in soft amber and he inhaled deeply, trying to keep his rush of lust under control.
She slithered up the bed, away from him, but he caught her ankle in a firm grip that made the breath rush from her lips.
‘Now these,’ he said, and unfastened the tiny straps of her sandals, inwardly cursing as his fingers fumbled with the delicate buckles.
She propped herself up on her arms and watched him. As he dropped the second glittering sandal to the floor she reached for him. He knelt on the bed, his body over hers, and kissed her, wishing he could touch her, but his arms had locked, supporting his weight. He didn’t want to hurt her.
Her heated kisses became frantic, her breath fast, as her fingers continued what they’d started earlier and she opened his shirt, pushing it over his shoulders. He shook with the effort of restraining his control.
She kissed down his neck, over his shoulder, her hands tugging at his shirt until it was tight around his