‘Sweetheart, I know exactly how it was for you. I felt every ripple of every one of your orgasms, so don’t pretend that it was anything less than pleasant.’
Angel knocked his hand away, dying somewhere inside. ‘Like I said, you’d know so much more than me. I’m sure the novelty won’t last long.’
Leo calmly replaced his hand, taking a firmer grip on Angel’s jaw. ‘On the contrary,’ he drawled, ‘I don’t see this novelty fading for some time. You’re all fire underneath that angelic exterior, and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of it. This is only the beginning.’
With that, he dropped his hand and stepped back. Angel thought for a split second that she saw some chink in his composure, and it had her heart beat hard in response. But then he looked at his watch and said crisply, ‘The stylist will be here at noon, followed by someone to give you some beauty treatments. We’ve got our first public outing tonight, Angel—a ball to celebrate my taking over Parnassus Shipping as CEO. It should be fun for you. It’s at the Grand Bretagne, where you’re more intimately acquainted with the dirty sheets. I’ll be back later. Wear something appropriate for your first viewing as my mistress.’
He ran a finger down her hot cheek. ‘I’m looking forward to stirring things up with you by my side.’
CHAPTER SIX
AS LEO sat in a meeting in his new boardroom later that day, to his utter chagrin he found he wasn’t concentrating on the discussion—which didn’t disturb him too much; he was already two steps ahead of everyone else in the room. All he could think about was Angel and last night. And how she’d looked this morning when she’d come into his room, the lurch he’d felt in his chest when he’d seen her hesitation. How hard it had been to stand there and see her softly flushed face, those huge blue eyes, and not rip her robe from her body and spread her underneath him again.
His body was tight with arousal even now—not a state he welcomed in the middle of the day, surrounded by work colleagues, and with Ari Levakis looking at him with a small frown. Leo smiled.
But it was futile. He kept getting flashes of moments: when he’d thrust into her for the first time and heard that telltale indrawn gasp, how tight she’d clamped around him, how sweetly she’d opened up for him, allowing him to sink deeper and deeper. How her skin had tasted, like sweet musk and crushed roses.
Like sweet musk and crushed roses? Leo gave himself an inner shake. He had to get it together. Angel Kassianides was a piece of work.
For a moment that morning he’d thought that he’d seen something achingly vulnerable in her face, and it had made him close up inside. Close up against the inevitable attempt of a woman to turn intimacy into something emotional. But then, when he’d walked over to her, she’d been composed and cool. So much so that he knew he’d be a fool if he trusted any of her reactions for a moment.
She was his mistress, she was his, an
d the thought of the evening to come, when he could parade her in public and know that he was her only lover, was tantalising in the extreme.
Angel sat beside Leo in the back of his car later that evening. Her throat ached with a huge lump. She hated the fact that she was so raw about what had happened. All day she’d not been able to get out of her head the coolness Leo had subjected her to that morning. Right now, she didn’t think she could ever let him touch her again, but just then, as if to mock her assertion, she felt a big hand close over hers, where it lay on her leg, and her blood started to speed up.
‘You look beautiful tonight.’
Angel exerted iron control over her emotions and turned slowly to face Leo, not a hint of her inner turmoil showing on her face. She smiled and it felt brittle. ‘Well, you paid enough for it.’
Leo’s eyes were dark, with those golden lights lurking in their depths, already undoing some of Angel’s rigid control. She left her hand lax in his, even though she wanted desperately to pull away. His dark tuxedo elevated his appeal to another level. And he just said, softly now, while shaking his head, ‘Money has nothing to do with true beauty. And you are, Angel, truly beautiful.’
Leo found that he was saying the words with a reverent sincerity that he couldn’t help. When he’d walked into her room earlier he hadn’t known what to expect. His heart had beaten a curious tattoo, and he’d found that his chest had been tight with anticipation. She’d been standing at her window, slender back to him. He’d seen many women, in many beautiful gowns for his pleasure, but none he’d ever seen had taken his breath away before they’d even turned around.
The dress was floor length, and a deeply turquoise colour. Silk. Apart from that Leo hadn’t known much, because he’d felt dizzy with lust. It draped and fell in such a way as to turn her into some sort of goddess creature. Her hair was twisted up and held in place by a flower of a similar colour to the dress.
Disgusted with his reaction, he’d had to call her name to get her to turn around, and she’d done so, so slowly it had had the effect of a striptease on his body, even when she was fully clothed!
Her breasts were lovingly caressed by the silk of the dress, the deep V between them a shadow of promise. Her head had been high, chin tipped up in a gesture that had seemed almost defiant. It had been all Leo could do to stand still and extend an autocratic hand, gesturing her to come to him. And when she’d walked, and the soft silk had swirled around her body—
Leo came back to the present and shifted uncomfortably in the back of the car.
For a second the cool and controlled woman suddenly looked slightly unsure. And Leo reacted. What was he doing, all but drooling over her like this? His hand tightened on hers for a second, and he felt the small delicate bones, the slight roughness of her skin that hinted at the work she’d been doing, and his chest tightened again for a second.
He thrust aside all the nebulous feelings he didn’t understand, and asked, ‘How do you think your father will react to seeing us together when he gets the papers tomorrow? Because this is going to be all over the world, Angel…’
Angel shivered and tried to pull her hand away, but Leo held it tight. She hated him in that moment. Really hated him. The only thing stopping her from trying to jump out of the car as it idled at a set of lights was the memory of the ecstatic phone call she’d had from Delphi earlier, telling her that she would be marrying Stavros in a month’s time. And also the surprise that Angel had felt at Leo acting on his word so soon.
Her voice was unaccountably husky, with all the confusing emotions rushing through her. ‘I think you know very well how he’ll react. He’ll be apoplectic. He’ll be utterly humiliated.’
Leo lifted a brow, speculation all over his face. ‘Will he, though, Angel? Or have you and he planned exactly this all along?’
Hating feeling so cornered and mistrusted, Angel hit back. ‘What if we have? You’ll never know, will you?’
Leo moved close and Angel arched back, but it was no good. Leo’s hand came out and caressed the back of her neck. His other hand came up and cupped her silk-covered breast. She hadn’t been able to wear a bra, and she was horrified to feel her nipple peak and thrust against the silk. His thumb moved lazily against her nipple and Angel bit back a moan. How could he have this effect on her?
‘I’ll know, Angel, because from now on, until I’m bored with you, I’ll know every move you make. So any plans you and he have cooked up will be futile.’