“Yes. I could have.” She paused. “I could still.”
Nikos tightened his hands into fists, cracking his knuckles. A flood of unwelcome emotion swept through him.
He remembered watching Anna in the dance club, the way she’d swayed against Sinistyn, gyrating beneath the flashing lights. He remembered the way the skin on her taut belly had glistened, how her low-slung jeans had barely covered her hips as she swayed.
No other man but Nikos should touch her. Ever.
Especially not Victor Sinistyn. How could Nikos allow Anna to throw herself away on a man like that? How could he allow his son to have this man for a stepfather?
There was only one way to make sure that never happened. She would agree to his proposal.
He had to convince her.
“Why don’t you give the ring to Lindsey?” Anna said sweetly as she rose from the table. “I’m sure she’d be more than willing to marry you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go home and feed my son.”
Home.
He had a sudden image of her in bed, and he relaxed. Bed was a place where they’d always understood one another very well. A slow smile spread across his lips. Once they were home he would take her in his arms and she would not be able to deny him anything...
“I will take you home,” he said.
“But I left your car at the club—”
“That will be arranged. The fastest way to get to my estate is on the bike.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re afraid to be that close to me again?”
She tossed back her hair with a deliberate casualness that didn’t fool him for a second. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Good.” He rose from his chair, reaching out for her hand. “Let’s go.”
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes wide as the sea, then with obvious reluctance gave him her hand. It felt small and cool in his own. “Fine,” she said with a sigh. “Take me.”
Oh, he intended to.
But she hung back, glancing back at the table. “What about the ring? Are you just going to leave it?”
Nikos shrugged. Since the jewelry hadn’t worked, it was of no further use to him. All he could think about now was that her skin felt warmer by the second. He yearned to touch her all over, to feel her hands on his body.
“Is everything all right, Mr. Stavrakis?” the waiter asked nervously behind him. “I hope there was no problem with your dinner?”
His eyes focused on the young waiter who’d served Anna earlier. He looked scared, holding a platter of dirty dishes on his shoulder.
“Your tip’s on the table,” Nikos replied abruptly. Then he turned back to push Anna out of the restaurant.
He heard a loud gasp, and the clatter of dishes falling to the floor as the waiter saw the ring, but he didn’t wait for thanks. All he could think was that he had to get Anna home and in his bed. Within minutes they were roaring down the highway on his motorcycle.
* * *
The moon was full, casting shadows over the sagebrush and distant mountains. Anna clung to Nikos on the back of the motorcycle, her dark hair whipping wildly around her face as they sped across the wide moonlit desert.
She tightened her grip on his narrow waist, pressing her body against his. He was driving like a bullet, and the wind was cold against her bare arms and back. But that wasn’t the reason she was shivering.
She was burning like a furnace, lit up from within.
She knew why Nikos was driving down the highway as if all the demons of hell were in hot pursuit. She’d seen it in his dark eyes. She’d felt it in the way he’d touched her. In the way he’d taken possession of her hand and pulled her from the casino.
He was going to make love to her. Until she couldn’t see straight. Until she couldn’t think.
Until she agreed to marry him.
She felt beads of sweat break out on her forehead, instantly wiped away by the cool desert wind.
It terrified her how badly she wanted him in return. She was barely keeping herself in check. She was afraid she’d give in.
To sleeping with him.
To everything.
Had anyone ever defied Nikos for long? Was it even possible?
She shivered again.
“Cold, my sweet?” Nikos asked in a husky voice as they pulled into the ten-car garage. Turning off the engine, he set the kickstand and gently took her hand, pulling her off the bike. He ran his fingers down the inside of her wrist as he pulled her close. “You won’t be cold for long.”
She backed away. “I—need to go feed Misha,” she gasped out, and hurried down the hall. She was surprised and relieved beyond measure when he didn’t follow her.
Afterward, as she closed the nursery door, leaving a well-fed, slumbering baby behind her, she was just congratulating herself on escaping her fate when she heard his voice.
“I shouldn’t have called you a bad mother. It’s not true.”
She whirled around to see Nikos step forward in the moonlit hallway, his face half hidden by shadows.
Gulping a breath, she looked down at the floor. “Nikos!”
He came closer and lightly brushed her wind-tangled hair off her shoulders. “I’m sorry I said it. You are good with him.”
She knew that his brief kindness was part of his plan to wear her down, but unfortunately it was working. Those were words she’d been so desperate to hear, especially from him.
Damn! Biting her lip, she threw a look of longing at the guest bedroom the housekeeper had assigned her. It was only ten feet down the hall, but it might as well have been a million miles away as he took her in his arms.
He stared at the way her teeth rubbed against her lower lip. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, lightly tracing his finger against her cheek. “And so wild. So much passion behind that prim, dignified secretary. For all those years I never knew.”
She started to tremble. She had to get out of here. She had to escape. She was already perilously close to giving in.
Swallowing, she tried to pick a fight. “Where’s Lindsey tonight?”
“I have no idea. I fired her.”
“You did—what?”
“She was never my lover, Anna. She fed you lies out of some deluded hope that she might be someday. But she was never my type.”
“What’s your type?” she retorted feebly, trying to hide her shock about Lindsey.
He blinked, then shook his head, giving her a predatory smile. “Arrogant Russian-born women with black hair, cat-shaped eyes and a tart mouth.” He leaned forward to breathe in her hair, whispering in her ear. “I remember the sweet taste of you. Tart and sweet all over, Anna...”
She struggled not to remember, not to feel anything as his voice washed over her senses. “Lindsey really wasn’t your lover?”
“Since that first night we were together you’ve been the only one.” He ran his finger gently along her lips. “You’re the mother of my child. I need you, Anna. In my home. In my bed.”
Oh, my God. She was dizzy with longing, unable to speak.
“You are meant to be my wife.” He kissed her softly on the forehead, her cheeks. “It is fate.”
“But I—I don’t want you,” she managed, her heart threatening to jump out of her rib cage.
“Prove it,” he whispered. Encircling her body with his strong arms, he slowly traced his hand down her bare back. She could feel the warmth of his skin, the strength of his hand.
“I don’t,” she insisted, but her voice was so weak that even she didn’t believe it.
He backed her up against the wall between a large plant and a Greek statue in the wide, dark hallway. “Are you sure?”
The only thing of which she was sure was that the strain of not reaching for him was causing her physical pain. She flattened her trembling palms against the wall as he gently ran his hand through her tangled dark hair. His fingers brushed against the sensitive flesh of her earlobe. He traced lightly down her neck.
“I always get what I want, and I’ve never wanted any woman like I want you...”
Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her. His lips were gentle and oh, so seductive. Pressing her hands against his chest, she willed herself to resist. To remember the cruel way he’d humiliated her before.
I won’t give in this time. I won’t...
But even as she made token resistance she felt her body surrender. Her head leaned back as his tongue teased her, as his lips seared her own. She felt her mind, soul, everything float away until only longing was left.
“No!” With her last bit of willpower she pushed him away. She tried to push past him toward her room, but he blocked her. She stumbled over her high-heeled sandals, kicking them off as she turned and ran down the hall. He pursued her, as single-minded as a wolf stalking a deer. She raced outside, banging the door behind her.
In the courtyard, dark clouds had spread across the sky, and she could smell coming rain. Silver threads of moonlight laced the sky, barely holding back the storm.