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breath, just waiting, waiting, conscious of his leashed power and superior strength and wondering how this could possibly work out well despite his skill.
Braced for discomfort, she was surprised by his gentleness and care.
She’d expected him to thrust, but he entered her slowly, carefully, and she held her breath, the feeling of warmth and fullness taking her by surprise. She felt him pause and then his mouth brushed hers as he kissed her gently.
‘Relax and open your eyes. I want you looking at me. If I’m hurting you, I want to know.’
She opened them.
Her heart slamming against her chest, Selene stared up at him, her gaze trapped by his. It was clear how much each slow, purposeful stroke was costing him and Selene slid her hands over his shoulders, feeling tension under hard, sleek muscle.
And then he did thrust, as if he could no longer help himself. He thrust deep and she held her breath because it felt like too much.
Buried deep inside her, Stefan sensed the change in her and paused, his breathing uneven and his eyes darkened to a dangerous shade of black. ‘You feel incredible,’ he said thickly. ‘Tell me you’re OK—say something.’
But she couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find any words to express what she was feeling. All she could do was move and when she did that the breath hissed through his teeth.
‘I’ll take that as an indication that I’m not hurting you.’ He groaned, dropping his mouth to hers. His kiss was raw, passionate and hotly sexual, the skilled slide of his tongue winding the excitement tighter and tighter until Selene was aware of nothing except the building tension in her body.
Each controlled thrust of his body was designed to draw the maximum response from hers until the ache inside her grew agonising, her need for him a ravenous hunger that swept away sanity. Heat engulfed her as he drove her towards the peak with a smooth, expert rhythm and then her body tightened and she was launched into an entirely different world, a world that consisted of nothing but her and this man—just the two of them, blended in every way that mattered. Overwhelmed by sheer physical excitement, she was trapped in a vicious cycle of pleasure that sent spasm after spasm of pulsing ecstasy through her thoroughly over-sensitised body and drove him to the same point.
It was the most perfect moment of her life.
And when she finally emerged from that suspended state of erotic intensity, Stefan kissed her gently and rolled onto his side, taking her with him, stroking her hair away from her face with a hand that wasn’t quite steady.
‘That,’ he said hoarsely, ‘was incredible.’
Dazed, Selene kept her face against his shoulder, but he gave a low laugh and forced her to look at him.
‘You’re not hiding from me.’ He stroked her flushed cheek with gentle fingers, his gaze searching. ‘Are you OK?’
Lifting her head, Selene tumbled into that dark gaze. ‘I feel amazing,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s better than champagne.’
Humour in his eyes, he drew her head to his and kissed her. ‘Much better than champagne …’
Still dazed by her own shocking reaction to him, Selene closed her eyes.
She’d been worried her dream wouldn’t live up to expectation, but it had.
He made her feel utterly desirable, irresistible and beautiful, and she’d never felt like that in her life before—had never imagined it was possible to feel like this. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘Thank you for making it special.’
He muttered something inaudible in Greek and lowered his forehead to hers. ‘I am now officially addicted to your body.’
Selene smiled up at him, feeling like a cross between a goddess and a seductress. ‘I think I’m possibly addicted to yours, too.’
‘Good. In that case I’m going to break one of my unbreakable rules and keep you here for another night.’
That statement was a reality check. A dark cloud passing in front of the sun. A reminder that this part of her life hadn’t officially started yet. Soon. ‘I can’t do that. I have to go home.’ Disappointment thudded through her and he lifted his head and frowned.
‘Why?’
‘I have to get back to Antaxos.’
‘I thought you wanted to assert your independence?’
‘I do. And to do that I have to go back to Antaxos.’ She told herself that was her decision. She was going back for her mother, not her father. And nothing, not even the thought of going home, was going to spoil this moment. Her active mind quickly spun a scenario where she was living here with Stefan, spending her days with her body tangled with his.
She stared up at him, wondering if he was imagining the same thing, but his handsome face was inscrutable.
‘Returning home isn’t asserting your independence. It’s regressing.’
‘It’s just a temporary thing.’ She’d kept her plan secret, protected it as carefully as a mother would her child, desperate for it to grow, but all her defences were ripped away after the intimacies they’d shared. ‘I have to get back to the island before my father returns and discovers I’ve gone. If he knows I came to you it will be difficult for me.’
‘Returns?’ There was a sudden tension in his shoulders. ‘You mean he isn’t there?’
‘No. Once a year he spends a week on Crete. That’s how I was able to get away.’
She wondered why they were spoiling the moment by talking about her father.
She wondered why he was suddenly so still. Why his expression was guarded.
‘So you were hoping to return and leave again without him knowing?’
‘Of course. Why do you think I came to you? Why do you think I dressed as a nun? He never would have let me leave had he been on the island. I’ve planned this for so long—you have no idea.’
‘Why go back at all? Stay here with me.’
The invitation was so tempting. ‘I can’t do that. There are things I need from the island—’ Years of playing a part stopped her revealing that final secret part of herself. It was how they lived. Pretending that this was normal. Keeping up the show for the outside world. ‘Important things. But I don’t plan to stay for any time at all. I have to be away again before he returns.’
‘Because you’re afraid he won’t want you to leave? Stand up to him.’ His tone cooler, Stefan eased himself away from her and sat up. ‘Show him you’re a grown-up and he might treat you that way.’
Missing the intimacy, Selene sat up, too. ‘You don’t know my father.’
‘I know that being independent means taking responsibility for your actions and owning them. There is no reason to hide this from him. Tell him you’re with me. Show him you’re not afraid.’
She was afraid. She’d be a fool not to be and she wasn’t a fool.
Selene thought about what happened when someone stood up to her father and she thought of her mother, alone and vulnerable on Antaxos.
‘I can’t do that. Not yet.’ The magic had gone so she slid from the bed.
She felt different.
She felt beautiful.
She was aware of herself in a way that felt new. And she was aware of him. Of the way he watched her as she picked a dress from the clothes he’d bought her. Of the way he looked, his eyes hooded and his jaw shadowed by blue-black stubble.
‘Come back to bed. I’ll fly you back to Antaxos later if that’s what you want. We’ll pick up whatever it is you need and