Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“Oh, Christos, this is so romantic. I didn’t think you’d do anything like this.”
Christos hadn’t thought he would, either, but Tristan’s comment that morning about how women dreamed of their wedding day had made him think about their wedding night and making it into a romantic fantasy. It had taken less than twenty minutes on the phone to get everything as he wished it to be.
“After all the trouble you went through planning our wedding, it was the least I could do.”
He set Ava on her feet in the luxurious suite that he’d rented for the night.
They’d leave in the morning for Paris for their two-week honeymoon.
But tonight they were in Athens at one of the five-star properties his family owned.
The owner’s suite was large, with the best marble flooring imported from Italy, priceless works of art adorning the walls and Louis XIV furniture.
Beautiful, opulent, yet it all paled compared to the woman in his arms.
She danced around the room, her strawberry-blond hair fanning out around her. There was a restless energy about her that underscored the fact that, even though he could hold her in his arms, he never really understood her.
“You’re staring at me,” she said, coming to a stop in front of the balcony doors.
“I know.”
“Usually I’m the one who does the staring,” she quipped.
“You’re effervescent tonight. I can’t seem to stop looking at you.”
The lighting in the room was dim and candles flickered on all the surfaces. Pale-pink rose petals made a trail on the floor to the bedroom.
“Am I?” She tipped her head to the side, giving him a seductive look from under her eyelids.
He nodded. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since I came back into your life.”
“I’ve been waiting for this moment since you left my life. I can’t believe today has been real.”
“Come over here and I’ll prove it.”
She smiled over at him in a dreamy way that he thought meant she might be a little buzzed from the champagne she’d drunk at their reception. She’d danced with Theo and with him, but no one else. It was as if she were sending him a direct signal that she was his.
“Moro mou, come here.”
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll kiss me and I’ll forget that I want this night to last forever.”
“I promise it’ll last forever,” he said, wondering if that was the truth.
His erection strained against his zipper now that they were alone and he knew that he was going to have her.
At last. Well, if the first time didn’t last forever, he’d make it up to her the second time he took her.
He didn’t plan on sleeping much tonight anyway.
She didn’t say anything but kicked off her high heels and walked toward him in that sexy dress she’d changed into before they’d left the reception. The skirt danced around her legs and she put an extra swivel in her hips.
“Ava…”
“Christos….”
“Stop teasing me.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“You know you are.”
“Why don’t you stop me?”
“Because you don’t want me to,” he said.
She stopped. “You’re right, I don’t. I want to tease you until you can’t sit there and beckon me. Until that passion you do such a good job of hiding forces you to come to me—”
He lunged for her, pulling her tight to his body. Holding her by her hips as his mouth found hers. He plundered her lips, pushing his tongue deep into the cavern of her mouth, swallowing her gasp and tasting that champagne he knew she was buzzing from.
He didn’t lift his head until she was clinging to him.
“Like that?”
“Just like that. I’ve missed being in your arms,” she said, curling herself around him.
He lifted her into his arms again, carrying her over the rose-petal path to the bedroom.
She kept one hand at the back of his neck, her long fingers toying with the hair there.
Every nerve-ending in his body was focused on one thing, one purpose.
And each brush of her hands against him aroused him more.
He set her on the bed in the middle of the rose petals and stepped back. He reached for the dimmer switch on the wall, turning it so a low, ambient light filled the chamber.
He kicked off his shoes, toed off his socks and shed his jacket, tossing it toward the padded chair in the corner of the room.
He wanted this to be a slow seduction, their first time together in so long, but he couldn’t stop his body. It was as if a red haze had come over him and all he could see was Ava and her soft curves.
All he wanted was to feel her naked skin against his and the welcoming warmth of her body wrapped around him. He wanted to plunge deep inside her and take her until time dropped away. Until there was nothing but the two of them and the kind of passion he’d never found with anyone else.
“Christos, are you coming to bed?’
“In a minute.” Hell, he didn’t think a minute was going to be enough time to bring him down. All he could smell each time he breathed was her perfume. All he could taste lingering in his mouth was her. All he could see was Ava.
He told himself to take it slow but slow wasn’t in his programming with this woman. She was pure feminine temptation and he had her in his arms. He stepped purposefully toward her.
She sat up. “Wait! I forgot I have something special to wear tonight.”
“The choker I gave you earlier would be fine but anything else is a waste of time.”
“Please, Christos. It’ll just take a second.”
He nodded. He could deny her nothing tonight; she was so radiant.
“I left word for our bags to be unpacked.”
“I can find what I want to wear. Will you wait for me out there?”
He complied and then paced the outer room until she called him back.
She was wearing some silky thing that made her so desirable he barely noted what it was.
He crossed the room and took her face in his hands, staring down at her and then lowering his mouth.
He tried to harness his passion this time so he didn’t overwhelm her.
But the need that had been riding him since—hell, since he’d seen her at that boarding school in Florida—slipped out of his control.
His hips thrust against her as his hands slid down her back, finding the hem of the nightdress and pulling it up until he could caress her soft skin. Her thighs were firm and smooth and, as he caressed his way higher, he encountered only the smooth flesh of her buttocks.
He groaned deep in his throat, running his finger along the curves of her flesh, exploring her thoroughly. She said his name, a breathless gasp that told him she was right there with him. And then he traced his way between her legs.
“Christos…”
His name falling from her lips was exactly what he wanted to hear. “Loosen your top, Ava. Bare your breasts for me.”
She shivered in his arms. Her mouth found his and kissed him just as deeply as he had her a moment earlier. When she drew back she took his bottom lip between her teeth and nipped at it.
Her hands went behind her back to the tie that held the bit of silk up. The movement thrust her chest forward. His eyes narrowed as the fabric slowly parted from her body, slipping away from her skin. “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked, teasing him now.
He left off caressing her and caught her wrists in one of his hands, holding them behind her back.
He lowered his head and pushed the fabric fully down from her chest with his other hand.
And then he stared down at her breasts, creamy and full, their tips hard and straining.
He couldn’t resist the invitation to take one nipple in his mouth, suckling at her.
Her legs moved restlessly, one of them coming up to wrap around his hips.
He released her wrists and ran one fingertip around her aroused flesh. She trembled in his arms. Her fingers drifted down his back and then slid around front to work on the buttons of his shirt. But he was too impatient to wait for that. He set her on her feet and ripped his shirt open.
He growled deep in his throat when she leaned forward to brush kisses against his chest. She bit and nibbled, bringing him to the brink. No way could he wait another second.
He pulled her to him and lifted her slightly so that her nipples brushed his chest. Holding her carefully he rotated his shoulders and rubbed against her.
Blood roared in his ears. He was so hard, so full right now that he needed to be inside of her body.
The skirt of her nightgown bunched between their bodies and he shoved it out of his way.
He caressed her smooth thighs. She was so soft. She moaned as he neared her center and then sighed when he brushed his fingertips there.
He slipped one finger into her and hesitated for a second, looking down into her eyes.
She bit down on her lower lip and he felt the minute movements of her hips as she tried to move his touch to where she needed it.
He was beyond teasing her or prolonging anything. He needed her now. He carried her to the bed and fell on it, bringing her down on top of him before rolling over so she was beneath him.
He looked down into her face. Her eyes were closed for a second as she shifted her hips and rubbed herself against him.
“Hurry, Christos.”
He didn’t need her to ask twice. Reaching between their bodies he freed himself and covered her with his body. Their naked loins pressed together and he shook under the impact.
Now. He adjusted his hips, positioning himself, and then entered her with one long, hard stroke.
She moaned his name and her head fell back, leaving the curve of her neck open and vulnerable to him. He bit softly at her neck and felt the reaction all the way to his toes when she squirmed in his arms and thrust her hips back toward him.
A tingling started in the base of his spine and he knew his climax was close. But he wasn’t going without Ava. He wanted her with him.