Forbidden Flames

Chapter Seventeen

Orion

T he journey to Santorini had been fucking painful. The tension was so suffocatingly thick between Emmy and me, I doubted any of my knives would be able to cut through it, and they could cut through a lot.

She sat on the opposite side of the jet, avoiding looking my way or making conversation, but she didn’t need to. Her face asked a million questions she didn’t dare speak.

I remained silent, working on my phone and avoiding looking in her direction. The reckless part of me was burning with the need to know how my words affected her. The quickening of her breath and the burning spark in her eyes had told me she was drowning with need as much as I was. But the rational part of me repeated that it didn’t matter because nothing could come of it anyway.

When Atlas asked me to look after her, he didn’t mean I could have her down on her knees, her hands behind her back, her pretty little face covered in her tears, and my cock deep in her mouth.

But what a sight that would be…

The journey to the resort had been just as painful, if not worse. Not only did Emmy continue to give me the silent treatment, but we were also forced together in the back fucking seat on our transfer and the heat radiating from her bare skin was driving me batshit crazy.

She’d worn a black dress that fell to her mid-thigh and only seemed to push her breasts further in my face. It was tight around her waist, showing off her delicious curves, and the straps were so thin they might as well not even have been there.

There was too much fucking skin on show and she was too damn close.

In a single movement, I could have bent her over the back seat, her little panties slid down her ankles, and I could have what I’d been dying for since I first saw her.

I wouldn’t, obviously, but I could…

My self-control had never been so tested. My knuckles were turning white indefinitely from how hard I’d been clenching my fists these last few weeks.

Then, because two painful experiences weren’t enough, and just to send me flying over the goddamn edge, the hotel had only reserved one suite for us, despite Avery requesting two when she called ahead. One . When I requested another, the concierge said the hotel was now fully booked. Of course, it fucking was. By that point, I was certain I had a permanent scowl line on my forehead.

I didn’t even want to come on this trip. Between Avery running around like an excited puppy half the time, Jonah being a suck-up to get on my good side, that is when he could be bothered to look up from his phone, and Emmy just… Well, being Emmy, it was li ke a nightmare come true.

The only reason I agreed to come was because of that fuckface, Miles. The bastard decided Doug wasn’t getting him results quickly enough, so he hired someone else, someone who doesn’t work for De Luca Securities.

So, until Doug found out who was hired and offered them a shit load of money to drop the case, I was playing Superhero Orion again and whisking Emmy out of the country so the bastard didn’t find her in the meantime.

I never hated Atlas more in my fucked-up life.

My phone ringing pulled my attention away from Emmy and Avery laughing at the bar, who’d both spent the last hour driving me crazy while they sipped pi?a coladas and perfected their Mamma Mia impressions. Moving further down the hallway, I saw Doug’s name light up the screen. “Doug, tell me you have something.”

“Caleb Marshall,” Doug said.

I pinched my brows, the list of things pissing me off lately was getting longer. Caleb Marshall was a pain in the ass. “For fuck’s sake.”

I heard Doug sigh on the other end of the phone. “Listen, Orion, you know as well as I do, Caleb isn’t gonna drop this. Especially when he finds out it’s us asking.”

Like I said, the list kept on goddamn growing. Caleb used to be my Doug until I found out he was using my systems to hack into the government and get revenge on every cop who assisted in having his father sentenced, planting evidence and lodging incriminating stories so they’d each get sacked.

When the FDA started tracing back to where the reports were being lodged, they traced it back to De Luca Securities, rather than Caleb, and the company got in a whole load of shit for it.

What my employees did in their own time was their business, I didn’t give a fuck. But mess with my company? He was lucky getting fired was all that happened to him. Besides, if he was stupid enough to get caught, he was too stupid to be working for me.

“Change of plan. Find Miles.”

“I’ll keep you posted” is all Doug said before shutting off the call.

I didn’t believe the whole making amends act for a minute, and just because Atlas couldn’t get his hands dirty in this, didn’t mean I couldn’t. The bastard would regret the day he ever met Emerson Fields by the time I was done with him.

He thought prison was his worst nightmare. Wait until he meets me.

Emmy awkwardly flipped on the light switch to our room and shuffled inside, anxiously rubbing her hand up her arm as she looked between me and the bed.

I refrained from smirking. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights and it was fucking adorable.

I could put her out of her misery and say I’d sleep on the floor, but that would require me to be a much more selfless man. And even though it was going to be a pain in my ass sharing a bed and not being able to touch her, I was taking what I could get.

Emmy stared at me dumbfounded as I stripped to my boxers and peeled back the sheets of the bed. Her tongue darted out to swipe her bottom lip and her breathing quickened, making her exposed chest heave and her tits bounce.

Her eyes trailed down my body, soaking up my form with appreciation, and a spark of arousal glinted in those mischievous irises. Her cheeks flushed as her gaze traveled to my boxers, lingering on my confined semi-hard cock.

I was only a man, after all, and when she was looking at me like that…

She licked her lips again, and an involuntary groan vibrated through my chest. “Unless you’re planning on doing something about it, I suggest you stop provoking it.”

Her eyes flickered back to mine, the flush on her cheeks deepening before she quickly plastered on her poker face.

“Why have you taken your clothes off?” she blurted out, and it took everything not to laugh at the uncertainty in her tone.

My brow quirked. “Do you sleep in your clothes?”

She frowned. “No, but—”

“Then there’s your answer.”

“Asshole,” Emmy muttered, turning on her heels .

I slid into the bed and unlocked my phone, checking through my emails as Emmy went into the bathroom to change. It was only a few hours since I changed Doug’s instructions, but I was restless with the need for results. Besides, better to concentrate on this than…

Just as I finished texting Atlas with an update, the bathroom door swung open, and Emmy wandered out looking like an angel dripping in sin. She was dressed in a skimpy, black lace babydoll that fit snugly in all the right places, while the sheer lace across her chest did nothing to hide her perky tits and pink nipples. Her chestnut hair fell freely down her back, swaying gently as she made her way to the bed.

My cock instantly stiffened, becoming painfully hard as my gaze locked onto her and the sway of her hips. My hands fisted the sheets, my fingers itching to rip the provocative material off her and sprawl her bare over this bed. It’s like the goddamn oxygen had been sucked out of my lungs, my body now functioning solely on the red-hot fever pulsing through my veins.

This was going to be fucking torture.

My mouth dried, and I felt like a fourteen-year-old who just found out about porn for the first time. She was getting her revenge for earlier, and it was proving to be wildly successful. Her lips drew into a victorious smirk when she caught me gawking at her, and my scowl returned.

“What,” my voice sliced through the air like a whip, “the hell are you wearing?”

“Pajamas.” She shrugged innocently, looking at me as if I’d just asked the stupidest question I could think of.

I took a deep breath, praying to Lucifer for some restraint as she slid in beside me. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Tesoro .”

She leaned over me to switch off the lights, her breasts now shoved in my face and my mouth practically watered. They were so close I’d be able to dart out my tongue and swirl it around her hardened nipples, letting the taste of her skin invade my mouth.

I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to devour the sight of her and mold her tits into my hands, to see her back arched on this bed as I lifted her babydoll and dragged my tongue along her delicious, creamy flesh.

Goddammit, Emmy.

I had practically ground my back teeth into fucking ash, my control slipping with every passing second she was leaning over me like this. The heat of her body was burning into mine like a feather of flames, doing nothing to stop the desperate hardening in my boxers.

I clenched my fists harder under the sheets, restraining them from gripping her waist and forcing her on top of me, to have her straddling me as her warm core rubbed against my cock.

Just as my tether threatened to snap, she fell back to her side of the bed with an absentminded sigh and sprawled her body along the mattress. I squeezed my eyes shut, my pulse in overdrive and blood rushing to my ears. Anticipation lingered at the base of my spine, and warmth coiled in my stomach with such severity it was all I could do to ignore it.

Just go to sleep, De Luca .

But I couldn’t, because I was so damn aware of her body next to mine. Despite the size of the California king, Emmy was still too close.

Her scent crept into my lungs, blurring the usual sharp edges of my impenetrable control and her presence burned into me like it was setting a flame against my skin.

The room was deafeningly silent, only the occasional sound of our overlapping breaths filled the room.

My eyes stayed shut, my jaw tight, and I was consciously trying not to fall off the edge of inevitable destruction, but Emmy wouldn’t stop fucking tossing and turning, reminding me with every movement that she was right there .

Practically naked, a hair’s breadth away, and smelling like sweet, edible vanilla.

I was going to kill Atlas. I swore to Lucifer.

“Stop it,” I bit out when she shuffled for the umpteenth time.

“I can’t get comfortable,” she sighed, her hand slamming against the pillow to fluff it up.

“Try,” I snapped.

I couldn’t relax with her fidgeting; it was making every cell in my body concentrate on how close she was.

Half-naked.

Close and half-naked.

Emmy grumbled something beside me, shuffling again before turning onto her side and facing me.

Silence, again.

Despite the moonlight softly spilling through the curtains, creating a wave of fluorescent silver rippling onto the bed sheets, it was too dark to see much. But that only forced my other senses to come alive, heightening the electricity running over my skin and setting me on edge as I felt Emmy’s eyes linger on me.

“Go to sleep,” I groaned, my jaw tightening again.

She drew in a deep breath. “I can’t,” she said. “My mind is… and what you said… and us, here… My brain is working overtime.”

“Don’t, Emmy.”

My chest tightened. I couldn’t get into this right now. Not here. Not with us stuck in this bed together.

Being close to her and not being able to have her, it was a stab in the fucking chest every passing moment and, rather annoyingly, I only had myself to blame.

“But—”

I cut her off. “Don’t.’’

“Orion, I—”

I covered my face with my hands, muffling the impatient groan that rocketed through my chest.

“Goddammit, Emmy,” I hissed through my teeth. “Not now.”

And just when I thought pigs had started flying and she finally listened, I felt her soft, delicate hands peel mine away from my face. She gazed down at me through her long, thick lashes and my muscles tensed at the contact.

Though it was dark, I could see the outline of her heart-shaped face and her tongue gently wet her lips. Her breathing quickened, matching my overexcited pulse, like a harmonic melody for our own twisted fairytale.

“It isn’t just you,” she said softly.

“Emmy—”

“You’re not the only one burning.”

“We can’t—”

She cut me off again. “I want you too, Orion.”

The moonlight cascaded her features, amplifying the sensual fullness of her lips, and the sharpness of her cheekbones. Her piercing blue eyes shone luminous and daring, challenging me to hear the words she spoke.

Our breathing became harsh as our gazes remained locked, and all I wanted to do was wrap my hand around her throat and watch how those precious eyes darkened with pleasure as I felt the softness of her body press into mine. To hear her cry my name in breathless whimpers as I forced her body to shatter into tiny little pieces and her eyes became blinded by stars.

My blood pounded in my ears and the tension in the air grew thicker, hotter, heavier.

For a stretched-out moment, neither of us moved. Instead, we watched each other as the moonlight weaved between us, her minty breath fanning my cheek, and the silence uttering the thoughts we weren’t sharing.

I can’t.

I shouldn’t.

You’re not the only one burning.

I want you too, Orion.

“Ori—”

“Fuck it.” I was going to hell anyway.

My mouth crashed against hers, raw desire took over and rid my thoughts of anything but Emmy.

A low moan vibrated against my lips as I rolled over her and pinned her under my body. She snaked her arms around my neck, holding me firmly against her.

My tongue traced her lips, demanding entry to the forbidden fortress I’d been ordered to stay away from. They parted, and I groaned at the intoxicating taste of her against my tongue. Forbidden things always did taste sweeter.

Her hands dug into the back of my hair, holding onto me like I was the lifeline that stopped her from drowning. My palm wrapped around her neck, gripping it between my fingers, but not tight enough to cut off her air.

We were kissing like we were starving and the other person was the only one who could relinquish our hunger.

Needy. Wild. Feverish.

And I couldn’t get enough.

She tasted like fucking sin. Like every dark thought I’d ever had. And if this was what sinning was, my soul could burn in the depths of Hell for eternity. I didn’t give a fuck.

My hand trailed down her babydoll before scrunching up the ends and raising it up her stomach. I greedily caressed her, taking note of every curve on her soft skin before cupping her breasts and pinching her nipples with the pads of my fingers.

“Orion.” My name sounded perfect on her lips .

I kissed my way down her neck, wanting to trace every inch of her body with my tongue, and fighting the urge to leave marks against her soft skin to warn every fucker who looked at her she was mine.

Mine.

But then I stilled.

Just like that, a bucket filled with ice-cold water washed over me, reality hitting me like a fucking kick in the back and dropping me to my knees.

She wasn’t mine.

She couldn’t be mine.

The realization came tumbling down like a meteoroid tunneling to the ground, sobering my lustful thoughts. If I took her, I’d never let anyone else have her. She’d be mine forever, simple as that. There’d be no going back, not for her, not for me.

But that was a dream where she wasn’t my best friend’s fucking sister.

Emmy’s brows pinched together as she looked at me, confusion mixed with yearning written into the curves of her features. She reached out to me, a careless attempt to bring me back to her, to our cloud-nine moment, but I sat up on my knees before she could.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, shuffling onto her elbows. Her breathing was heavy, panting from the oxygen I had just stolen from her.

So badly I wanted to sink into her, to give us what we both wanted. My body yearned for it; my cock screamed for it. And it would be so damn easy to let reality wash away and give into her, let my wanting of her carry us into the night.

But I couldn’t.

It wasn’t right to Atlas.

I palmed my face before running my hands through the top of my hair and let out a frustrated breath, ignoring the hurt on her face.

Pressing my lips together, I reluctantly laid back down beside her and gave her my back. “Go to sleep, Emmy.”

Eventually, I heard her release a frustrated huff before settling back down into the bed and turning away from me, muttering something about me being a confusing asshole before her breathing slowed.

I fucking hate Atlas.

“Theon should be arriving any minute now.” Avery grinned, her brows wagging at Emmy.

Theon can fuck off.

Emmy quickly glanced at me, reading my face for any kind of reaction, but I kept my expression hard as always.

It was two days later, and Avery had been yapping on all day about Jonah’s friend, Theon, coming out to visit since we arrived. Avery had been selling him to Emmy every chance she got, and though it pissed me off, I couldn’t say shit about it .

I had looked into him, though.

Call it jealousy, I don’t give a shit. I needed something to focus on other than Emmy and the black piece of string she tried to argue was a bikini.

She might as well be wearing a thong and fucking nipple covers. And with the devious smirk she’d given me when she came out, she knew exactly what she was doing.

She is challenging me.

I was ready to throw her over my shoulder, storm her back to our room, and burn the fucking thing. And with the way the men around the pool were eye-fucking her, I was still seriously considering it.

But then she’d win this little game we seemed to have begun playing.

So instead of giving in, I did a little digging on Theon Aetos, the fucker my sister was trying to set Emmy up with.

Theon was the CEO of The Aetos Group, a real estate company his grandfather had founded when he moved to America eighty-three years ago. Since then, the business was passed to Theon’s father, Evan Aetos, and was now in the hands of Theon.

Theon had been a typical trust fund kid. It was a wonder he graduated from Trinity, a private high school in New York with an annual price tag of over $50,000. After managing to sleep with half of New York, regularly dry out the most prestigious bars, sail around the Atlantic Ocean in his father’s yacht, three stunts in NEOVIVA—a rehabilitation facility in Switzerland for the rich who liked to pretend their children were at a spa weekend instead of detoxing from alcohol and drugs—and blowing his trust fund on ridiculous penthouse parties, the bastard still somehow managed to graduate with a 4.0 GPA.

“You’re going to totally hit it off,” Avery continued, airing her paper fan in front of her face. “He’s in the area viewing real estate, and when I told him I was here with a single friend—” Avery’s eyes flit to me, a mischievous glint surfacing “—he wanted to meet you.”

Emmy smiled, flicking her hair over her shoulder and exposing her neck. The movement acted as a reminder of how I’d had my hand wrapped around her throat and tongue trailing down her skin two nights ago. “I’m looking forward to it.”

My jaw tightened and I forced myself to look away from her. “I’m going to the bar,” I announced, already halfway there before I could acknowledge any response.

As I stepped out of the scorching Greek sun and into the shaded corner of the hotel's poolside bar, I let out the heavy breath I’d been holding for the last two days.

Slamming my phone on the marble counter, the first thing I noticed was the sun setting over the caldera, casting hues of orange and pink across the panoramic horizon, creating a backdrop even a cold bastard like me could appreciate.

The bar itself had whitewashed walls and vibrant blue accents echoing the colors of the island. A calm breeze carried the scent of salty sea air, mingling with the faint smell of grilled seafood .

I took a seat on a high stool, feeling the cold metal beneath me rake goosebumps up my spine, a stark contrast to the blaring heat away from the shade.

Dressed in a crisp white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, the bartender merely nodded at me, as though he could tell I was in no mood for a conversation. “What can I get you?”

“Whiskey, neat.”

Forty minutes later, I was on my third drink and watching Emmy chat to Theon around the pool, who coincidentally appeared shortly after I headed to the bar.

Looking just like the photo Doug forwarded, he’s got this kind of average, boy-next-door look. He’s hardly a head turner, yet that doesn’t stop Emmy from grinning up at him with her big doe eyes.

My eyes narrowed on his ordinary features, there was nothing remarkable about his face. Except that it was begging to be punched for even looking at Emmy.

His brown hair fell into unkempt short waves, giving him a laid-back, beachy vibe. Fucking hipster.

He was a standard height, probably around six foot two. Looked like he’d missed a few gym sessions, too. Alcohol and drugs would do that to you.

Emmy was laughing with him like he was a world-class comedian, and every time that melodic sound sang from her throat, I wanted to cut out his goddamn tongue. I refused to believe he was that fucking funny.

“Something bothering you, brother?” Avery popped up out of God knew where like a freaking cat and sat beside me, forcing my attention from Emmy.

My brows furrowed as I side-eyed her. “No.”

I took another sip of my drink, ignoring the knowing twinkle in her eye. Nothing good ever happened when she looked at me like that.

“I can see the way you look at her, you know.” She signaled her hand to the bartender who nodded in understanding and poured her another glass of white wine. “You aren’t fooling anyone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mumbled, taking another swig. I had no interest in discussing this right now, I was too busy imagining all the ways I could kill that surfer wannabe for chatting up Emmy, and this conversation was interrupting my plans.

Call it naiveté, or plain stupidity, but I was hoping for once Avery would take my reluctance to discuss something as a sign to drop the issue.

Avery rolled her eyes. “Oh, please,” she scoffed, swiveling around in her chair to face me head-on. “Playing dumb doesn’t suit you, Orion.”

I set down my glass and rubbed the back of my thumb over my forehead. “I don’t remember asking you to join me, Avery,” I retorted, pissed that she was calling me out. It was easier to ignore things when people quit fucking bringing it up. “Shouldn’t you be playing matchmaker right now?”

She chuckled, a look of triumph flickering over her face. “I knew it.”

I frowned. What the hell was she talking about now? “Knew what? ”

She fell back against her chair, sighing contently like she’d just won a game I didn’t know we were playing. “That bringing Theon to meet Emmy would bother you.”

I half laughed. “You think I’m threatened by that tool?”

I twisted my head over my shoulder, the sight of Emmy smiling up at Theon on a sun lounger making my blood run cold.

Jealousy infected me and ran an icy chill down my spine like a cluster of spiders scraping down my skin, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think my skin was turning an envious shade of green.

My fists curled and I turned to face Avery. She shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t know, are you?”

“There isn’t anything between Emmy and me.”

Avery’s eyes flickered to my hands and the corners of her lips tugged. “I’d be more likely to believe that if you weren’t seconds away from shattering that glass between your fingers.”

I didn’t look down. I didn’t need to. I could feel the strain of my hand around the glass, and Avery was right, it was likely seconds away from breaking.

I’d let go of it if I could, but it was the only thing stopping me from dragging Emmy away from that socialite wannabe.

With a deep sigh, Avery continued. “If Atlas is the reason you’re holding back, he shouldn’t be.”

My head whipped to face her, my brows now in my hairline as I looked at her in disbelief. “He’d hate me, Avery,” I almost snapped. “He’s like a brother to me, I couldn’t betray his trust like that.”

Avery paused and nibbled on her lip, appearing deep in thought as though she was considering whether she should share what was on her mind. Either that, or she decided to drop the matter. But this was Avery I was talking about, so that wasn’t happening.

Right on cue, she released her lip.

Her expression turned serious as she puffed out her chest and sat straight, like she was preparing to tell me something that was going to piss me off.

“Atlas can’t hate you for being with Emmy, Orion,” she said. “Because it would make him a hypocrite.”

I blinked, pressed my lips together, and took a deep breath. My grip on the glass tightened, reflecting my hold on my sanity. “And why is that, Avery?”

Don’t say it.

The glass started to feel fragile beneath my hold. The tension started building between my fingers, the pressure increasing like a taut string on the brink of snapping.

Regret was already clouding Avery’s features, but she persevered. “Atlas and I…” she trailed off.

Don’t fucking say it.

“You and Atlas what?” I snapped.

“Used to be together,” she rushed out in a single beat.

Suddenly, with a sharp crack, the glass succumbed to the force of my grasp. The sound of shattering was sharp, cutting through the air like Avery’s sudden revelation .

There was an instantaneous shift in my hand, a transformation from solidity to chaos. The once smooth surface fragments into jiggered pieces, glinting in the light as they scattered in all directions.

The sensation would be startling if the cascade of remnants wasn’t such a reflection of the realization in my mind.

I’d been refraining from Emmy, feeling like a shitty friend to Atlas for wanting his sister, when it turned out I didn’t fucking need to.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”