Secret Seduction (9 page)

Then the three new men broke off and started walking towards the ticket booths.

“Three of them are buying tickets,” she said as she kept her eyes glued to the other two.

“Damn it!” She chanced a glance at Jason’s face and realized he was watching her closely. Turning her eyes back to the two original men, she watched as they each broke off.

“Quick, one’s coming this way.”

He grabbed her arm so fast, she thought she heard a slight pop. Then they were sprinting out of the airport and down a street, running past the crowded shops and tourists.

She was out of breath when he finally stopped several blocks later, just on the outskirts of town.

“What now?”

“Shh.” He pulled her closer, back into the darkness of a doorway. She couldn’t hear anything but herself breathing heavily.

“What?” She whispered.

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Neither do I.”

“Good.”

“Great!” Neither of them moved. His eyes darted down to her mouth and she remembered the feel of his lips there. Why was she thinking about him in this way while they were in danger? Her heart skipped and she could feel her pulse vibrating under his view as his eyes wandered down her neck.

Then a young boy rolled by on a bike that was much too big for him and they jumped apart quickly, looking at each other like they had been caught stealing candy.

Jason turned and started to pull her along the road again. They ate up the ground quickly, putting as much distance between them and the airport as they could.

“How are we going to get to Rome now?” she asked as they walked past rows of houses.

“There’s always a ferry,” he said, looking over at her.

“A ferry? Does it leave from around here?”

“No, it connects through Igoumenitsa.”

“How do you know that?”

He tapped his head, “Great memory. I studied the ferry schedule while you were shampooing your hair.”

“Well, how do we get to Igoumenitsa?”

He stopped and looked around, thinking. She stood there and watched people come and go in a small market area. She noticed a sign and knew just enough to understand what it said.

“How about we rent a scooter?” she said, pointing to a large sign. Underneath it sat a half dozen scooters in different bright colors.

He looked over his shoulder, then looked back to her and smiled.

As it turned out, they could only take the scooters halfway to Igoumenitsa. They had to be returned in a small town there, no later than that evening. But it would get them out of town and halfway to their destination, which was about four hours away in a car that could travel normal speeds. The scooter’s top speed was thirty-five.

“Why don’t we just rent a car?” she asked, thinking about the long trip ahead of them.

“Where is your sense of adventure?” he asked, smiling at her. “Besides, this was your idea, remember?”

They ended up having to also purchase shatterproof sun glasses after the scooter guy informed them in broken English that it was required on all motor bikes. Katie had a bright purple helmet and Jason’s was red. She thought he looked even more handsome in the funny looking helmet which made his head look as big as ET’s.

When she told him this as they were getting on the bike, he just laughed and asked her if she had looked at herself lately. She bent over and, seeing herself in the side mirror, realized her helmet appeared three times bigger than her head.

Jason drove and she held on to him as they made their way slowly out of Petra. They headed towards the mouth of the gulf and the large bridge that she’d seen yesterday, hovering over the canal. The massive, white bridge hung in the air, supported by hundreds of large, thick cables. She wasn’t normally afraid of crossing bridges, but on the scooter she felt more exposed. Tucking her head into Jason’s back, she closed her eyes for most of the two-mile trip across the gulf’s choppy waters. She let out a large sigh of relief when they hit the other side. Looking over her shoulder, she could admire the beauty of the bridge, now that she was no longer under the large cables and over the cold, dark waters.

They took their time traveling over the hilly landscape on the wide highway as cars zipped by them quickly. The traffic lessened once they hit the side highway and Katie could finally sit back and enjoy the weather. It was warm and the breeze felt wonderful on her face. Jason had stuffed their backpacks into the side compartments on the scooter, so when she leaned close and held onto him, there was nothing between them. She enjoyed molding her body against his and marveled at the feel of his tight stomach against her hands as she held on. She could feel his body rise and fall with his breathing and wanted to stay in this position forever.

At one point she brazenly explored the muscles along his stomach and chest. He pulled over, and turned to look at her.

“If you keep doing that, I’m going to crash.” He tried to lean over and kiss her, but their large helmets clanked together, and they both laughed.

Another hour later and her butt cheeks had gone numb, and she couldn’t feel her toes or her hands.

“Can we stop soon?” she said over the roar of the other cars, passing them quickly.

“How about lunch?”

They stopped in the small town of Stanos and enjoyed a very small, local cafe. The food always seemed so much better in some of the “off the map” places.

The gyros were some of the best she’d had so far, the meat juicy, with just the right amount of spices. They actually watched the man make fresh pita bread in front of them as they waited. Then he’d carved the lamb meat off a large spit which held the chunk of meat over the flame. The grilled onions and peppers were caramelized to perfection.

They sat in the cafe, enjoying the locals and food for almost an hour, then hit the road again. Katie groaned when she sat back down on the seat. Her butt hadn’t quite recovered yet, and she was sure that by the time they got to where they were going, it would be bruised.

It took them another three hours at the scooter’s maximum speed to get where they were going. They had almost an hour before sunset after turning the scooter and their ET helmets back in. They started walking the streets of Ioannina, a large town on the shores of a large lake. There were several other towns around it, making it feel more like a large city than individual towns. As they looked for someplace to stay for the night, she realized how badly her butt and legs hurt from the day spent on the back seat of the scooter. She’d stretched as much as she could, but she was still sore from sitting in the same spot for too long.

They walked along uneven stone roads. After she’d stumbled for the third time, Katie wondered how Jason wasn’t tripping all over the ground.

“Pick your feet up, Katie.” He grabbed to steady her.

“I’m trying!” He stopped and she could tell that he was looking at her.

“Come on, I think there is someplace we can stay just down here.”

“Not another flour closet,” she smiled. “I refuse to sleep on sacks of anything.” He chuckled.

“No, I think I see a bed and breakfast sign.

An hour and a hundred dollars later, Katie sank down under the lukewarm water in the bathtub and realized how wonderful it felt not to be walking, riding a scooter, or traveling anymore that day. Her muscles slowly relaxed under the warm water and she closed her eyes.

The room was small and they were going to have to share a bed. She smiled at that and was happy she was going to sleep in a soft bed again tonight. What could be better?

Then her mind wandered to what Jason had done to her last night. Her cheeks heated and she started questioning if he had gotten any pleasure from it. She didn’t know much about what guys wanted, but her friends had always talked about their boyfriends around her like she had known, like she had experienced everything they had. She had always kept quiet when they talked about their sex lives, and she had never once let on that she was not only inexperienced, but still a virgin. She’d always kept herself for one man, and he was sitting in the next room, waiting for her to get out of the bath. She thought about what he had done last night and knew she needed to take matters into her own hands to please him in the same manner tonight.

Less than half an hour later, she walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a large towel and found a small cart with silver plates sitting in the middle of the room with the most wonderful smells coming from it. She lifted a lid and saw a large square of pasta covered with some kind of breading. Dipping her finger in it, she tasted and closed her eyes to the richness.

She heard a noise and opened her eyes to see Jason staring at her again.

“What?”

“What? What?”

“Are we really going to keep doing this?” She set the lid back down, keeping the food warm.

Then he smiled quickly and said, “They didn’t have strawberries and cream.” He shook his head in disappointment and walked into the bathroom without another word, as she blushed to the roots of her hair.

Quickly getting dressed in her light shorts and t-shirt, Katie sat back down in front of the television to watch the news as she ate her dinner.

Less than ten minutes later, Jason walked back into the room. He was dripping wet with a dark pair of boxers on and was using the towel to dry his hair. She’d seen him like this a million times; after all, they’d been roommates once. He hadn’t made a point of walking around in boxers in front of her, but she’d always found an excuse to be in his room when he’d come out of the shower. But seeing him like this after what they had done was different.

His sandy hair was pushed back away from his face, the water making it look darker than it was. He hadn’t shaved, so he had a full day’s growth going, which only gave him a more dangerous look. She’d always admired his muscles. He had taken years of Judo and she loved the way they rippled down his stomach. He didn’t have much hair on his chest and she found that very sexy. She wondered if he would be as smooth and hard as he looked. Last night he hadn’t even removed his shirt. His boxers hung low on his narrow hips and she could see the sexy V his hips made, pointing to the one place on him she’d never dared imagine on him.

“What?” he asked, and her eyes jumped back to his face.

“What? What?” she asked, then was shocked to realize the game they were playing, and it dawned on her what he’d probably been thinking about her. She blushed right down to her toes. He’d been looking at her earlier the way she was looking at him just now.

The room was quiet as they looked at each other. What could she say? Should she say anything? She was no good at sex games. She’d never… well … never.

Then his phone rang, breaking the spell. He walked across the room, tossing the wet towel on the chair, something he knew drove Katie nuts. Before he could answer the phone, she was across the room, grabbing the towel before the water could soak into the chair’s material, ruining it.

He watched her with a wicked smile, “Hello?”

She glared at him as she started to fold the wet towel, so she could hang it.

“What?” He almost dropped the phone. “No! She’s here. No, I swear. Yeah, okay. No, I don’t think that would be wise. Yeah, you do that. Bye.”

“What?” she asked looking at his face.

“Well, it appears you’ve been kidnapped and a ransom of ten million dollars has been demanded from your family.”

“
W
hat!” she grabbed for his phone just as it rang again.

He handed it to her willingly, then walked over to where his food sat.

“
Hello?”

“Katie! Thank God!” Her father’s familiar voice sounded distant. Hearing him for the first time in over a year did something to her. She realized what kind of pain he must have gone through, what he must be going through now.

“Dad?” She walked to the window, trying to control her emotions. There was a buzzing in the back ground and she hoped the reception would be better by the window. “Dad, can you hear me?”

“Yes, honey. I’m so glad to hear that you’re okay. We’re on our way there. Our flight lands in less than two hours. Where are you?”

“We’re just outside of Ioannina; we missed the flight to Italy.” She didn’t think that worrying her father with all the small details would gain her or him anything. She noticed that Jason’s eye brows shot up at her small omission.

“What’s all this about me being kidnapped?”

“Probably just someone’s sick joke. Ric and I will land soon. Honey, get to Rome as quickly as you can, and please be careful.” She heard her dad say something, most likely to her brother, than he was back, “Ric says to stay there, we’re going to try to come to you.”

“No, Dad,” she said, knowing it wasn’t safe where they were, that the men were looking for them. Jason had told her it was only another few hours to Igoumenitsa, and from there they could grab the ferry to Italy. They had plans to head out first thing in the morning. “We’ll meet you in Rome in…”

She looked over at Jason, and he said, “Around three days, just to be safe.”

“We’ll meet you in Rome in three days. I’ll give you a call then.”

“Okay, just stay safe and try to stay in contact, okay?”

“Sure, Dad. Give Ric my love.” She closed the phone and started pacing the floor.

Now she was feeling guilty. She hadn’t even called her father once in the last year. She’d missed Christmas, his birthday, father’s day, her birthday. What kind of daughter had she been over the last year?

She had called and left a message for her brother Ric once, just after she’d arrived in Europe. It was on the day he’d married Roberta Stanton. Roberta had been the police officer assigned to help her brother find out who had murdered his assistant and stolen a bunch of artwork from his art galleries. She felt bad that she hadn’t attended their wedding, but she had known her mother would be there and she couldn’t handle seeing her.

She had apologized in the message for not being there for them, but explained how she’d needed more time to work things out. She loved her brother. Knowing he was the only one who would stand by her had made her want to distance herself from him even more. Finding out that he was her half-brother didn’t change the way she felt about him.

She’d cried that night after leaving the message for him. She knew that her brother had found happiness with Roberta and was very happy for them both. But then the sadness had consumed her, and she found herself sinking into the darkness of her mind again. So the next morning she’d moved on to a new destination on her trip. Exploring and meeting the locals was keeping her mind from her family troubles.

Jason watched her pace the floor from his chair, his dinner left untouched, and he could tell she was working herself into a mental state, blaming herself for everything, no doubt. The television was still on the international news channel, but the volume was off. He watched as a picture of Katie flashed across the screen, so he walked over and turned up the volume.

“…Katie Derby, daughter of socialite Kathleen Derby and oil tycoon Rodrick Derby the Third, and biological daughter of Damiano Cardone, head of Europe’s mega business, New Edges. Miss Derby was last spotted in Alimos, just south of Athens, wearing a light green windbreaker and dark jeans, and carrying a black backpack. Miss Derby made headlines last year when it became known about her mother’s…”

Katie walked up and flipped off the television, “I won’t do this again.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, chewing her bottom lip. He knew she only did that when she was really stressed out. Walking over to her, he nudged her so that her back faced him and he started rubbing the stress from her shoulders. He knew her weak spots, he knew her ticklish spots, he knew everything about her. After all, they’d been best friends forever and he knew every detail about her. Just as she knew everything about him.

Looking at the back of her head, he remembered a scene from a few years ago. They had just moved into the tiny two bedroom place together, and he’d been dating Kimberly at the time. Katie had gone out a few times with his friend Tom, a relationship he didn’t condone.

Tom was a lot like Jason, but Tom had a cocky attitude that Jason had never had. Tom thought he was good looking, he thought that all the girls liked him, and it showed.

Jason only put up with his friend going out with Katie because he knew Katie didn’t have much dating experience. He just wanted her to get out there, but after their fourth date, Jason sat her down and had the talk. He could tell that Tom was getting bored; he liked the faster girls. And Katie, well, he knew she was just tolerating him.

“Katie, Tom just isn’t right for you.” He sat across their small living room and gave her that look, the one that says, ‘I’m trying to break it to you gently.’

“Oh, I know that.” She’d tucked her feet up under her on the couch. They had just settled down after their double dates and Kimberly was waiting for him in the next room. He didn’t like her sleeping over, but she was determined and he tolerated it.

“Jason, I’m not falling for him.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve just been having fun.” She moved to turn on the television set, no doubt to sit back and watch an old TV show.

“Besides, I met this totally cute guy in my Physics class yesterday.” Katie gave Jason a look of excitement.

He knew she was lying then, he could see it in her eyes. She had been having fun with Tom, but there had been something else she wasn’t telling him, something he still didn’t know about to this day. A few days after that, Tom broke it off with Katie and she had acted almost relieved. It had made him question whether there was someone else she was attracted to.

Looking at the back of her head, he could tell that was the case now, that she was keeping something from him. “Kat,” he said to her back.

“Don’t, I’m not in the mood to hear the speech right now.” She rolled her shoulders, something she’d always done, but this time, he couldn’t help focusing on how soft her skin looked on her neck.

He could feel the tension radiating from her. Knowing a simple back rub wouldn’t take her mind off her family, he dipped his head and ran his lips along her soft skin. She froze. He pushed her hair to the side as he continued to run his mouth up and down her delicate neck, tasting her, enjoying the feel of her vibrating in his hands.

“Jason?” it was a whisper.

“Just relax, you smell and taste so good.”

“Oh, my…”

He ran his hands down her arms, then when he’d enjoyed every inch of her neck, she turned to face him, and she just looked at him.

Her hands came up to his hair and pulled him down to her mouth. He could feel her fingers flex and relax while holding him close.

“God, Katie.” He ran his hands downwards and then started back up under her light shirt, playing with the soft skin just underneath as she ran her hands over him lightly.

He pulled her closer so he could feel her every breath, and to his delight, she rolled her head back, exposing her long neck.

He felt her breathing as his fingers lightly played over her ribs, upward, until finally, he cupped her and moaned at the sheer pleasure he found. Toying with the tight bud, he circled it slowly until she moaned in return. Taking his time, he slowly reached over and did the same to her other nipple. Then he bent his head and lifted her shirt as he ran his tongue slowly over her, following the same pattern.

She leaned farther back, her hands behind her, supporting her weight. Jason rolled them onto the bed without removing his mouth from her heated skin. Now she was sprawled out for his pleasure. He’d quickly removed her shirt and tossed it on the floor. Looking down at her, he watched as her eyes fluttered opened.

“Jason?”

“Shh, you’re beautiful. So beautiful. I’d never imagined.” He dipped his head and licked his way around her soft skin. Her hands went back to his hair, holding him to her as she moaned in pleasure. She was very vocal, and he was enjoying hearing the sexy little sounds emanating from her. Running his hands slowly up and down her soft legs, he pushed them open a little wider as his fingers brushed over the tender spot just below her soft cotton shorts. He felt her tense and slowly moved his hand away until he felt her relax again.

Then he ran his fingers under the top of the shorts, pulling them down as he kissed the newly exposed skin. Looking up to gauge her reaction, he saw her eyes, watching him. The dimples on either side of her smile flashed and he saw her dark eyes close slowly on a moan. Taking the hint, he pulled her shorts down, exposing her to his view for the first time in full light.

“Beautiful.” He kissed her flat stomach, running his fingers across her belly, until he finally cupped her softly. Her back arched off the bed and her hands gripped his head as he bent to taste her just there.

He slid one finger in, enjoying the gasps and moans as she moved her hips to the motion. He found the noises she was making totally exotic. He knew she was tight so he stretched her, placing two fingers inside her slick heat, slowly circling and toying until he could tell she was building and ready to explode. Looking up, he watched her and knew he’d never forget the look of Katie during a peak.