Chapter 12
Bianca
Breathe. Breathe. I can barely breathe . Since Costi re-entered my life, I’m telling myself to breathe more and more.
Seeing him, all of him. Every single inch of him. I can’t even think straight.
I never expected to see Costi jerking off. Sure, I’ve often wondered about it. Okay, I’ve thought about it a lot over the years, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened between us earlier.
Even my most private parts are blushing. It was so damn hot the way he stroked himself, biting his lip, staring at me.
It’s imperative I get out of here.
But first, I need to find a room where I can take my own shower and change out of these wet clothes.
I’m frazzled as I move through the house, slowly opening doors until I find a guest room on the other side of the house with a bathroom.
I step inside and lock the door, double checking that it’s indeed locked.
In a flash, I rip off my clothes and step into the shower, appreciating the hot spray of water as it lashes my skin. My mind wanders to Costi in the shower. The corded muscles of his thighs. The way he bit at his bottom lip as he jerked off.
My insides blaze, and a throbbing emerges between my legs. I’m so hot, thinking about the way Costi pleasured himself with no embarrassment. How he continued as I stared at him like a voyeur.
How his eyes locked onto mine, his hand gripping his massive dick as he stroked it. All while I watched.
My nipples pebble, but I shake the thoughts away. I will not touch myself to illicit thoughts of Costi. Especially here. For all I know, he has hidden cameras placed strategically around his house.
As soon as I’m done washing myself, I dry off and wrap the green towel around my body, staring at the soggy pile of garments on the marble counter. I pad across the bathroom’s tile into the bedroom and open each ebony dresser drawer, hoping I’ll find something to wear. They’re all empty. So is the massive walk-in closet. For a moment, I debate whether the sheer ivory curtains on the tall windows could be fashioned into something suitable. Perhaps the lemon-yellow quilt on the platform bed.
I cross the soft carpet and open the door to my bedroom, peeking my head out. “Costi, hello,” I yell. “I need some clothes.”
I really didn’t think the whole jumping off the boat thing through very well.
“Costi,” I call out again.
No answer, so I leave the safety of my room, traipsing down the wide hallway, hoping I don’t run into Costi pleasuring himself again. This time, I might not turn him down.
“Feel better?” Costi says, fully dressed in linen pants and a loose white shirt that only has a few buttons buttoned.
“I do. Do you?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“Yeah, it was definitely…” he pauses before saying, “pleasurable.”
My cheeks heat as his gaze drops to my towel. “I’m sorry about walking in on you like that. I just didn’t know where I was going, and well…” I’m rambling. I stop talking, staring up into Costi’s dark eyes. “Do you have my things?”
He licks his lips. “I kind of like the sexy towel look you have going on. Makes a man wonder what’s beneath.”
“Oh, yeah?” I say, breathier than intended. “Maybe this can be my new prison garb?”
“Maybe you need to relieve yourself like I did.” His thick lashes drop a notch as he takes in my body, making it sizzle. “Let some of that tension out, so you’re not so grumpy.”
If he doesn’t stop, I might just drop the towel and do it. “I’m sure you’d like to watch, wouldn’t you?”
It’s like I threw a match and lit something explosive. A sexual charge crackles through the air, threatening to leave me nothing but ashes.
“Do it,” he rasps, his brown eyes nearly black. “Let the towel go and we’ll find out.”
Wetness pools in my core, and I squeeze my thighs together to stop the ache. “No. Just give me my things.”
“You didn’t take your bags when you jumped off the boat?”
“Obviously not.”
“You’re lucky I did.”
Those words and this damn throb between my legs piss me off. “I’m lucky? Oh, you having my things after kidnapping me from my home makes me lucky ? Of course, I guess the next thing you’re going to say is I should be grateful, huh?”
He pushes off the wall, stepping closer. “Actually, you should be on your knees thanking me.”
“For what?”
He turns from me. “Forget it. Let me get your things so you can get dressed.”
I say nothing. I don’t follow him either. I bet Costi would love for me to get on my knees and thank him for kidnapping me.
What planet is he from?
Does he believe the crap that comes out of his mouth?
When he returns with my bag, I snatch at it. “So, how long until I get handed over to Bishop?”
Costi yanks on the handle of the bag, tugging me closer. “You’re not.” And then his full lips fall down over mine, erasing any distance between us.
He drops the bag and pulls me closer.
I scramble to get my hands into his thick hair as his body hardens against me. I’m dangerously close to ripping this towel off, so I push against him and break the kiss. “What do you mean? You’re not handing me over to him?”
“Bianca, I can’t tell you what’s going on, but you have to trust me.”
“Trust you?” His audacity irks me. “Trust the man who took me from my home? The man who never kept in touch with me when he promised he would?”
“What?”
Tears fill my eyes. “Nothing.” I grab the bag off the floor and take off down the hall, slamming the door to the guest room.
Trust him? I don’t think so, buddy.
Trust the man who promised me he’d always protect me? He’s not protecting me now; he’s looking to collect a bounty on me.
I rummage through the bag and dress in jean shorts and a red blouse. Costi said I can roam the house, so I will. I step out of my room, checking the hall, making sure Costi is nowhere to be found. He stays out of sight as I move through the house, getting the lay of the land. It’s gorgeous, no doubt. The rooms are airy with high ceilings and tall windows. Any other circumstance and this would be my dream home.
It even has four columns on the back patio, overlooking an ice-blue pool that looks like it’s falling off the side of a cliff. The ocean in the distance calls to me. Its sapphire color looks inviting, but I don’t plan to go back into the water soon.
I memorize the layout of the house. It just might come in handy. The kitchen is in the center, with the living room and library off to either side. The glass wall highlights the furniture-filled patio, overlooking his infinity pool that I bet looks even better at night.
My mind, for one quick second, imagines Costi and I swimming at night, his arms around me as he pulls me in close.
God, that kiss. What happened earlier was even better than our first. There was more passion. More burn. More everything.
I’ve never been kissed like that before. Like he had an overwhelming hunger needing to be satisfied.
“Enjoying the view,” Costi says from behind me.
“It’s perfect.” I spin around to face him.
He looks the same as earlier. He still has that hunger in his eyes, like I’m a five-course meal and he wants to savor every dish.
It throws me off-kilter. Makes me nervous and excited all at the same time.
No, I will not develop some lame version of Stockholm Syndrome. I shake my head. No falling for him.
“Bianca, I didn’t mean to upset you earlier. But you have to trust my plan.”
“Does your plan involve me being handed over to Bishop?”
He doesn’t answer right away, probably stalling to find the perfect answer. “Yes, it does.”
“Then I trust nothing.” I step out onto the patio, walking further away from his house.
He doesn’t follow, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
I don’t trust him.
But I don’t trust myself around him either.
Because all I want to do is rip his clothes off.