She heard the breath hiss through his teeth as she moved lower. Heard him swear softly as she flipped open the button of his trousers, slid the zip and freed him.
She ran her hands over him, loving his body, savouring each moment as she took him in her mouth, first the tip and then as much of him as she could. He gave a harsh groan, both hands braced against the doorframe, as she explored him with the same intimacy with which he’d explored her.
‘Selene—’ His voice was ragged, his hands unsteady as he lifted her, kissed her hard and backed her towards the bed.
They fell, rolled, and rolled again until she was straddling him. He slid her skirt up her thighs, his hands urgent, his eyes dark with raw need as he wrenched her panties aside. She lowered herself fractionally, held his gaze as she paused and then took him in, took him deep, felt her body accommodate the silken power of him and saw the effort it took him not
to thrust, to stay in control.
His eyes closed. His jaw tensed. His throat was damp with sweat, his struggle visible in every gorgeous angle of his sexy face, but she didn’t want him to struggle against it. She wanted him to let go of that control and she wanted to be the one who made him do it.
‘Stefan...’ She murmured his name, leaned forward and licked at his mouth, her body hot and tight around his until he moaned and caught her hips in his hands, trying to slow her down.
She grabbed his hands and pushed them upwards, locking them above his head. He could have stopped her, of course. He was infinitely stronger. But either he was past defending himself or he realised how badly she wanted to take charge because he didn’t fight her, just let her hold him there as she slid deeper onto his hard shaft.
‘Wait—you have to—’
‘Can’t wait—’ She was past waiting, or slowing down, or stopping or anything else, and so was he. When he thrust hard and deep she felt the power of it right through her body, felt the first fluttering of her own release and then his.
They exploded together, the ripple of her orgasm stroking the length of his hard shaft and taking him with her, on and on, until she collapsed on top of him, spent and stunned.
Weak and disorientated, she tried to roll away from him but he curled his arms around her and pulled the covers over them both.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
It was the first time he’d held her like this.
The first time their intimacy had continued after sex.
Drugged with happiness, Selene smiled but didn’t say anything. She wondered if he even realised what he’d just done. If not, then she didn’t want to risk spoiling it by pointing it out.
He cared for her. She was sure of it.
It was true he hadn’t actually said that in as many words, but he’d shown it in a million ways. He’d come after her and rescued her from the island. Then, when she’d escaped from him, he’d made sure she was all right. He’d got her a job and had people watching her so that her father couldn’t get to her. And when she’d suggested they end their personal relationship and just focus on the business side of things he’d dismissed the idea instantly.
‘I think you might just have killed me,’ he murmured, turning his head to look at her.
His eyes were a dark, velvety black and she stared at him and felt something shift inside her.
‘I love you.’ She said it softly, without thinking, and immediately wanted to snatch the words back because he tensed for a second and then lifted his hand and stroked her hair gently.
‘Don’t say that.’
‘Even if I mean it?’
‘You don’t mean it. You just feel that way because I’m your first lover. And because you had five years to build me up as a hero in your head.’
‘That isn’t—’ She was going to say that wasn’t why she loved him, but she didn’t want to risk ruining the moment, so she simply smiled and closed her eyes, keeping her thoughts to herself. ‘Let’s go to sleep.’
But she was awake long after he was, staring into the darkness, telling herself that if she kept saying it maybe a time would come when he wanted to hear it. When he might even say it back.
* * *
After a blissful week at the spa on Santorini they flew back to Athens and Stefan was sucked back into work, spending long hours in the office and travelling while Selene focused all her attention on the launch of her business.
She missed the intimacy of their suite on Santorini, missed the time when they’d been able to focus only on each other. She wondered if he’d suggest going again, but he was buried under work and the next time she flew to one of his hotels she did it alone.
Of course ‘alone’ never really was alone, because if he couldn’t be with her himself then Stefan made sure Takis was with her. Her protection was something he wouldn’t delegate to anyone else and she was touched by the evidence of how much he cared for her. It was there in everything. From the way he held her, confided small details of his life growing up, and from the way he made love to her.