Page 42 of Greek's Temporary "I Do"

Ruthlessly shoving that thought aside, he slowly began to undo the remaining buttons on his shirt, his gaze never once leaving her. He took in every detail, every line of Helena’s body, the way her breath moved her chest, the way that the silk dress hung off her shoulder, exposing a stretch of unmarred, perfect skin he wanted to lave with his tongue.

As he shucked the shirt from his shoulders, Helena came to kneel on the bed, drawing the silky dress from her body and throwing it aside. She was glorious in her thong and nothing else, her eyes on his, hot, urgent and expectant, the restlessness of her arousal all he wanted to ever see her dressed in.

‘You’re magnificent,’ he said. ‘And I am undone,’ he finished in Greek.

The yearning in her gaze softened and somehow that hit him harder than anything else that they’d shared up until now. He felt his heart trip, a warning sign he could not pay heed to.

He crossed to the bed, flicking open the clasp on his trousers, toeing out of his shoes and there, barefoot and barely dressed, Helena looked at him as if she were starving, and damn if it didn’t make him feel like a god.

Kneeling at the edge of the bed, Helena reached for him, her hands landing on the waistband of his trousers, gently batting away his hands, her fingers exploring with no shame or embarrassment, simply pure desire that humbled him.

Slowly, she drew the zip down, each tooth grating on his exposed, raw and as yet unsatiated desires. Her gaze was on her hands, but he wanted to see her eyes. He reached down and lifted her chin with his forefinger. The sapphire blue of her gaze was clouded with untamed passion.

‘You don’t have to do that, agápi mou,’ he said, looking down into features that drew his heart into a quicker rhythm, but when her lips pulled into a line of wicked intent, it stopped altogether.

‘I know,’ she replied, and slipped the trousers and his boxers from his hips and helped him out of them before tossing them to the side.

Her hands returned to his hips, to gently caress the hard length of his arousal. His cock bucked against her hand as she wrapped her fingers around the length of him. Malákas, he was too ready for this. He was about to pull back, when she guided the head of his penis into her mouth and all thoughts disappeared from his mind in a heartbeat.

It was heaven and hell combined. The soft, wet heat of her mouth encompassed him and this time he did pray to every conceivable god in the known universe. He felt such intense pleasure—heightened only by the knowledge that being with her, joining with her would be even more incredible.

Her tongue swiped the head of his penis and he couldn’t hold back the growl of pleasure that burst from his chest. Her hands cupped his backside, and she took him so far into her mouth he was unable to prevent the thrust of his hips—a primal response born of a need so powerful he no longer was sure he could control it.

But when she mewled her own desire-drenched response he could have cried out to the heavens. She was going to be the death of him, but it was a death he would welcome with every ounce of his being.

Her cool fingers against his skin were a contrast to the heat of her mouth, darkness and light, fire and ice—everything about them clashed and contrasted, but all he wanted was her. He gently pulled himself back, unable to resist the lure of finally joining with her, and he reached into the nightstand, where he was sure he would find a condom.

Helena’s eyes were glazed with heady desire, clearing only a little when she saw what was in his hands.

‘I’m...’ she started, before clearing her throat and trying again. ‘I’m on contraception.’ She bit her lip, the first sign of hesitation he’d seen in her since they’d first kissed. ‘I don’t want anything between us,’ she confessed.

His heart jerked again. And he took a moment. This was a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. He’d never shared himself like that with another woman. Never. But Helena’s request floored him. He wanted to give it proper thought, needed to, because the raging urge of his desire was scaring him enough.

‘I can show you my test results,’ he offered eventually, seeing the sincerity and want in Helena’s face. ‘All negative. If you’re in any way—’

‘I trust you.’

Her words ricocheted through his heart and into his soul. It was the most precious gift he’d ever been given.

Helena was nervous right until the moment she saw her words land on him. As if they’d settled into his skin, his body, and formed a cord between them, tying them together. A part of her wanted to deny it as much as welcome it—because of what it meant. Of what it would mean for tomorrow and the day after and the day after that. Because they didn’t have those days. Not really. They only had this.

As if he’d understood her chain of thought, he came to her, gathered her into his arms and kissed her with a passion that would deny tomorrow—deny the future if he could. He kissed her all the way back until she lay on the bed, surrounded by him, encased in his arms, embraced by his hands and imprisoned not by his body but by his passion. She relished it, because it was not a cage of oppression but bonds of safety and security. She knew that, whatever they shared, he would take care of her, protect her, put her first. He would see her and know her, the deepest truth of her, and that was all she needed, she assured herself, before he nestled between her legs and slowly, exquisitely, entered her, inch by delicious inch.

Her head tipped further back into the mattress as the way he filled her undulated across her entire body. Her hips rose to welcome him further, her chest pressed against his, her fingers wrapped around the forearms braced either side of her head as they joined in a way that made her question where he ended and she began. Her breath filled her chest and she was full...full of him, of her, of them, of joy and passion and fear and future loss, but, above all, love. And love was what pushed her over the edge into the second orgasm that swept her away into bliss.

Helena opened her eyes as the sun stretched its first rays across the line of the sea and cursed herself for having fallen asleep. They only had so much time together and she hadn’t wanted to waste a single moment.

She turned in the bed to find Leo on his side, looking down at her, his gaze soft for just a moment before he hid it behind something much more enticing. His hand reached across her stomach, wrapped around her side and pulled her across the bed so that she was nestled into his side. She laughed, unable to help herself, relishing this side of his autocratic nature, relishing his possessiveness.

While it had been unspoken, while they’d not said it out loud, she knew that this was all they would have. This was all it could ever be. Leo wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, risk the reputation of the company that he had given so much to, that had cost him so much. And really, ensuring Incendia’s survival would take all her focus. And if she hid behind these excuses of their day-to-day responsibilities, rather than facing the painful truth that Leo just might not want more than this time, she allowed herself dishonesty. Because if this was the reward, she would take it with both hands. And it would be enough, she told herself. It had to be.

Shoving her thoughts aside, she looked up at the man staring back at her. The close cut of his beard was just a little softer than yesterday, the lure of it so great that she reached up to run the palm of her hand across his jaw.

He indulged her touch, letting her hand drift down the long, thick column of his neck, over the broad curve of his shoulder and across muscular traps and delts that she delighted in. He let her explore his body that morning, her fingers pressing and smoothing over every inch of him, as if she could commit this to memory and live on it for the rest of her life.

He let her lead their erotic dance, as she rolled him onto his back to straddle his hips, finding just the right pace, the right pressure point. She felt as if he might have looked on her with something like awe, but was unwilling and unable to hold on to that thought as yet another orgasm rocked them both into such sweet oblivion.

He gathered her in his arms and took her into the large en suite bathroom. White marble veined with grey and green, gold fittings and a dark wood so rich it hummed with warmth made it feel even more luxurious. He turned on the shower, hand beneath the water until he was happy with the temperature, and when he was, he drew her beneath the spray.

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