He stiffened.
Aww. The poor man thought she was laughing at him. Shaking her head, she placed a gentle, soothing hand on his chest. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at the way you went all Neanderthal on me.” In a deep, gravelly voice, she said, “You come. You follow.” She raised laughing eyes to him. “Got it?” He didn’t answer, but the flush in his high-boned cheeks told her he did.
“Will you come with me then?” he asked stiffly, unwilling to let her know that he didn’t know what to do with her laughter. Her amusement was contagious, tempting him to smile, but he didn’t allow himself to do so.
She said meekly, “Yes, Master.” She paused.
Nik noticed her hesitation. “What is it?”
She gnawed at her lip. “I’m sure you’re not a serial killer and all, but...is it okay if I take a photo of us together and send it to my friend? Just to be on the safe side.”
Nik hesitated a fraction before nodding. It should be safe, he thought. Even if she did have his photo, she wouldn’t have any way of discovering his identity. His security team had made sure that not even Google had any of his photos in its databases.
Daria beamed. “Thank you.” She took out her phone, swiped on the screen, and brought her hand up. “Come closer,” she told him when he only stood stiffly next to her. When he only moved an inch, she shook her head with a laugh. “Haven’t you ever taken a selfie before?”
“No.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?” She tugged him close, then tugged on him again, closer and closer until their sides were pressed against each other. “There.” Her voice was a little breathless as she spoke. Daria had only wanted them close enough to fit in one photo, and they were, but she had failed to count on the effect of his proximity on her body.
Her gaze flickered towards her phone, and with its front-camera on, the screen displayed her flushed cheeks and the way her beautiful stranger was smirking.
He knew she was affected!
She blushed harder.
Nik was mesmerized. He had never caused a woman to blush before, or at least he hadn’t noticed having done so until now. Before this woman, he hadn’t paid much attention to the other sex.
The way her entire body started trembling again made it hard for Daria to take a photo, her fingers constantly failing to hold the phone at a proper angle.
“Let me,” her Greek offered huskily.
She let him take the phone from her without a word, but instead of taking the photo right away, she was surprised to have his arm curve around her waist just as he moved back. He pulled her against him, her back pressed against his chest.
That was when she felt it, the unmistakably hard and throbbing shape of his arousal, and her eyes widened—-
Click.
Her eyes widened even more in horror as she thought about the kind of face she had made in the photo. And when she heard him chuckle behind her, she knew he had done it deliberately. “Oh my God, you—-” She whirled around and smacked him on the chest, and his chuckle turned into a rusty-sounding laugh.
She laughed with him until her gaze fell on his arousal.
Daria stopped laughing and started choking.
Sheesh, that was huge.
And God, was it growing even bigger?
Nik watched her gulp and choke at the sight of his erection. The longer she stared at him, the more aroused he was, and when she raised her eyes to his, Nik was amused to find alarm in her gaze. He told her mildly, “You only have yourself to blame for it.”
She could see he wasn’t even joking, and curse it, but the way he was so serious about everything just made him hotter in her eyes. It also made her want to keep doing outrageous things because, for some reason, having this man go wild for her gave Daria a huge high.
Her gaze moving back to his erection, she wetted her lips once more as she heard herself ask, “What are we standing here for?”
It was the last thing she was able to say. It was his turn to tug, and with one hard yank, she stumbled against him, her breasts once more flattening against his chest. Another hand drove deep into her dark tresses and pulling her head close, he covered her mouth with his.
Her toes curled at the kiss, and they curled even harder when she heard him mutter against her lips, “Behave or I’ll fuck you here.”
Nik meant every word. Exhibition had always been distasteful for him, but for this woman, he was beginning to realize that the lines between what he did and didn’t despise tended to blur.