She trembled with anticipation—her mouth drying as she watched him. He was very...well built, and so highly aroused the sight of him made other parts of her moisten. He knelt on the bed and looked at her. He was a hot, experienced, sexually demanding man and right now he was motionless again—thinking.
The sexual suspense was almost killing her.
‘How do you want...?’ She trailed off. She had such little experience, she had no idea what to suggest.
‘You have a list in mind?’ he teased with a half-smile. ‘’Cos I do.’
‘You go first, then,’ she muttered in a low voice, blushing—and then blushing harder as she realised she blushed all over.
‘Oh, glykia mou,’ he chuckled. ‘This first time I’m watching every moment flicker over your beautiful face.’ He braced himself over her, running his hand down her side in a manner both soothing and stirring as he looked into her eyes. ‘I want to see everything, feel everything...’
She felt a flash of vulnerability but he pressed closer and she could see him too—into those brown eyes that she knew had such depths. Right now, she saw desire and humour and the sharp bite of hunger.
‘Then do what you want,’ she whispered.
He kissed her into softness and stirring heat again. She couldn’t believe this was happening. He overwhelmed her—his size, his heat, his musky scent.
‘Breathe,’ he muttered, gently probing her tightness. At the catch of her breath he hesitated and gave her a searching look.
‘It’s been a while,’ she mumbled, burning with both desire and insecurity.
Another emotion flared in his eyes—hotter than ever. ‘I know.’
He knew? How—because she was so desperate? Because she barely knew what she was doing?
‘Relax. Kiss me.’
He lifted her, nudging her legs further apart so she could take him more easily. Then in one smooth movement he kissed her and thrust deep at the same time. She cried out with the shocking pleasure of it and clutched his hips to keep him there.
‘Okay?’ he growled.
‘Mmm-hmm.’ She was almost delirious with the delight of it—he felt so heavy, she so full.
And it didn’t just feel good, it also felt right. For the first time she actually understood why people liked this so much. He muttered something she didn’t understand and crushed her closer.
And this was what she’d wanted most of all—him with her as completely as anyone could be. He moved, watching her, kissing her, riding her swiftly to that point beyond thought. It was unbearably awesome. She gave herself up to complete hedonism, not caring about anything but the demands of her body—driving her hips in the way instinct dictated she must. His breathing roughened, the glitter in his eyes sharpened.
‘Ettie.’ He huffed her name harshly and pumped harder.
She curled about him more tightly still, screaming as she came harder and longer than she could bear. She heard his roar of need and felt the sudden, full force of his lust unleashed. He slammed into her. Again, then again and again until they collided, interlocked, shaking together for a sublime moment of eternity, lost in that realm of total ecstasy.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t believe.
‘We’re doing that again,’ he muttered rawly. ‘Now.’
* * *
The dog was gone. Rubbing his sleep-fuzzed head, Leon glanced at the empty basket with a frown. Ettie must have woken early and taken him for a walk. Leon wished she’d woken him—he’d have gone with her. Or better still, delayed her a little longer. His body was hard and ready—despite the aches from the full-on, all-night best sex of his life. His curiosity was fully aroused too. For the first time in a long time, he wanted to know more about a woman.
He paced the penthouse, running his hand through his hair again, aching for her return. One night wasn’t going to be enough. He’d guessed they’d be good together, but he’d not imagined quite how hot. He grimaced wryly at the condom wrappers littering the bedroom floor. They’d barely bothered with sleep. After that first intense experience, he’d lifted her into the shower and taken his time to soap her up—easing away the last of her shyness and exposing the sly humour he’d seen fleeting snatches of. He’d held off letting her get off until she whispered something she wanted him to do and learned she knew a few curse words too. Hell, in that moment he’d have done anything she asked. She was generous and sweet and funny and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her everywhere until she came all over again.
Half an hour passed and still she didn’t return. A prickle of foreboding slid down his spine. Why hadn’t she come back? The full quota of staff would be on shift by now and she hadn’t wanted to be seen by any of them.
He stilled, irritated. Was he actually worried about her? And the damn dog?
Disliking the uncertainty, he showered and dressed, but once downstairs he stopped some distance from the concierge desk. Ettie was in her uniform—filling out that crisp monogrammed T-shirt and parading the prim black trousers that on her embodied sexiness. She hadn’t seen him; she was too busy pacifying a puce-faced resident.
‘I’m so sorry that happened.’ She sent the resident her most charming smile. ‘Don’t you worry, I’ll straighten it out with George—he doesn’t need to know most of it.’ She picked up the box on the desk. ‘How about we get Joel to come up and help you lift the dresser back into place?’
It was Saturday. Was she supposed to be working? Even if she was, why hadn’t she bothered to wake him and say goodbye? Anger burned beneath his skin, but he turned to leave, fishing out his phone as it pinged with a message.
At the sound of an almighty clatter he glanced back. She’d dropped whatever it was in that box. Now she was flushed in the face and completely avoiding looking in his direction. Which meant she’d seen him. Her obvious discomfort eased the chill in his bones. So she felt awkward? Good. So she should.
She’d sneaked out early this morning and was now attempting to act as if nothing had happened. While he could respect her need to keep her private life private, he wasn’t going to ignore her. And where was Toby? He almost missed the sleepy thing.
Ettie wasn’t butter-fingered. Ever. Yet she’d just dropped an entire box of old cutlery, creating the loudest crash ever heard in the lobby. And Leon Kariakis was here to witness it. Of course he was.
Perspiration slicked over her skin. She couldn’t look at him, but she could still see him from the corner of her eye and apparently he was busy scrolling through some vitally important message on his phone. At least he wasn’t laughing at her openly.
She’d woken up stupidly early this morning and got hit right in the head with the reality hammer. He was fast asleep beside her—a vision of hot, sleepy sex-god—and she instantly realised how completely out of her depth she was. The one and only other time she’d woken next to a man, it had turned into one of the worst days of her life. Her ex had rejected her in the most humiliating, personal of ways the morning after. And then he’d done it all over again in public. The last thing she needed was to hear even any of that horror again from Leon.
She’d lain there frozen, becoming more and more terrified of the moment when he’d wake and see her in the cold light of day and realise his mistake. Sleeping with the sexually clueless concierge girl?
Her blood had iced at the prospect of the inevitably awkward—or worse—goodbye that would ensue. She couldn’t bear to have any discussion or polite platitudes.
In the end she hadn’t been able to stand the anxious torture. She’d slipped from the bed, wriggled into her dress and run—taking Toby with her before he barked his need to go outside. She’d been terrified of bumping into someone she knew in the lift. Of course, it stopped before the basement, ending her chance to escape to the staff locker room unseen. Jess had entered with her trolley. She’d stared at Toby and then at her.
‘You should we
ar your hair loose more often.’ Jess had smiled brightly after a horribly silent moment. ‘It looks lovely. I didn’t realise how long it had got.’
That was because Ettie couldn’t afford to get it cut. And Jess had been lying—it didn’t look lovely, it hadn’t even been its usual wavy mess, but totally tangled, mussed-up bed-hair. That model had been seen exiting Leon’s apartment only the other day in that supposed lift-ride of shame...and now she was doing the same? She pushed away the public humiliation. It wasn’t worse than the horror she’d escaped years ago.
But she just couldn’t face Leon. Her skin almost blistered with embarrassment at the thought of awkwardly extricating herself from his apartment. Because the last thing she could remember from the night before was his throaty laughter as he’d taken her apart again at some insane hour of the morning and now she couldn’t work out if he’d been laughing with her or at her. She’d been his light relief for the night. And hardly his toughest challenge...in fact she’d been so easy she’d almost come in the taxi.
He wouldn’t want a repeat. He’d probably been feigning sleep and just hoping she’d leave quietly, right?
But with every step she took, the tenderness between her thighs reminded her of his skilful passion, as did the sensitivity of her skin at her collar from the gentle grazes from his evening shadow...
One night only.
And she was not letting anyone know. Ever.
And she was not going to be able to look him in the eye again either. Ever.
Naturally, it was at that exact moment that he walked up to her desk.
‘Where’s Toby?’ he asked briskly.