The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire (10 page)

And yes, right now, she did see him.

Ioniko was dressed in nothing but black board shorts, leaving the rest of his naked and beautifully sculpted body exposed for anyone to admire. He had an equally gorgeous face and the always-present wicked gleam in his green eyes only made him more attractive.

He might only be a few years older than her, but there was no mistaking the wealth of experience he possessed as well as the raw strength and power contained in his lean muscular form.

Here was another tall, dark, and handsome Greek billionaire – and somehow she had failed to appreciate the fact.

Ioniko slowly released her and Mairi collapsed back into her chair. “I am a patient man,” he murmured. “But I do not plan to wait forever. I
will
make my move eventually.”

“You make this sound like a chess game and you’re off to capture a pawn.” She reached for her coffee, thinking a little caffeine could help keep her senses alert.

“It is a game – all this is a game but you are no pawn. You’re the sexiest queen I’ve ever seen and I’ve wanted to fuck you since forever.”

Because Ioniko had always been on his best behavior during their past meetings – and now Mairi knew he had just been biding his time – the words were a complete shock to her, making her hands shake and causing her to accidentally spill scalding hot coffee on her bare legs.

“Ow!”

Ioniko reacted with lightning speed, scooping Mairi up in his arms and taking her to the whirlpool bath nearby. He placed her inside gently and turned the taps on. In seconds, cold water blasted the reddening skin on her thighs.

Tears stung her eyes, but Mairi did her best to blink them away. If she had found the strength
not
to cry over Her Greatest Mistake, then she was not going to cry over this either.

“You can cry, you know,” Ioniko said quietly.

She shook her head furiously.

She looked like an adorable kid doing her best to pretend she was an adult, and somehow that only made Ioniko want to take her in his arms and promise her that he would protect her against all the evils in the world.

Ioniko could not think of any other woman that would make him feel this…
nice
or this protective. But then, most other women were made of sterner stuff than Mairi. There was just something stubbornly fragile about her – even though he knew the words did not make sense. It was as if every time she spoke, every time she looked at him or did something – it was as if Mairi was telling the world she had her rose-colored glasses on and she was
never
going to take them off.

Mairi breathed a sigh of relief when the pain started to recede.

“Good job,” he said approvingly.

She grinned. “Yay me!” He laughed – and the sound of it made her suspicious. She said with a sinking heart, “You know, don’t you?”

“It was a very cute story.”

Mairi made a face. “Suuuuuuure it is – if I weren’t 24 and a teacher to boot!”

Laughing, he carefully scooped her out of the tub. “I’ll have the crew dry your dress. But for now, change into something else. There’s brand new stuff in the guest bedroom.”

Mairi was still smiling when she changed into a fresh bikini before covering herself up with an oversized black terry robe. Ioniko was as big a flirt as his sister had let on, but he was a
nice
flirt. She could see them being friends, just not---

She pushed the thought away. She was
not
going down that road. She would get over Her Greatest Mistake and when she did, she could start again. This time, she would be more careful as she searched for
the
Greek billionaire she was meant to live happily ever after with.

A few more minutes passed before she finally made her way out to the deck. “Ioniko?” She climbed up the short flight of stairs that led to the VIP living room. She turned – and instead of Ioniko, she found another Greek billionaire.

“You?”

Damen Leventis stood in the center of the room, a dominating force dressed in an expensive suit, dangerous tension vibrating from his profile. He took off the dark shades hiding his gaze and Mairi gulped at the sight of his silvery gray eyes, which were blazing with fury.

He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yes. Me.”

Jealousy of the most vicious sort made him inhale sharply, struggling to stay in control as he watched Mairi ascend the last step and come inside the room. He hated the fact that she had on another man’s robe and was in another man’s yacht, and he fucking hated hearing another man’s name on her lips.

“How did you get here?”

“I granted him entry to board.” Ioniko suddenly appeared on the other doorway, which connected the VIP room to the main deck. For long moments, he had managed to keep himself still behind the tinted glass door, waiting and watching to see how Mairi would react to Damen Leventis’ presence.

The flash of emotion in her eyes upon seeing the other man told Ioniko everything he needed to know.

She cared for Leventis.

That was more than enough to make Ioniko move. He wanted Mairi and he was never one to back off a challenge. She might have feelings for Leventis now, but there was no saying it could not change.

Mairi shook her head in confusion. “Are you friends?” A light bulb clicked inside her brain and she stumbled back, her eyes suddenly wide with fear. “Oh my God---”

Damen tensed at the fear darkening Mairi’s gaze. “What is it? Did this bastard hurt you?”

“Fuck you, Leventis. It’s obvious that you were the one who hurt her.” Ioniko started towards Mairi but stopped when she took another step back. Perplexed and concerned by the apprehension on her face, he asked, “Mairi?”

Her head went from Ioniko to Damen and back again. Maybe other women would consider this scenario a dream come true, but
not
her. This was way out of her comfort zone. When they took a step towards her simultaneously, she shrieked. They froze.

“What the hell’s wrong?” Damen demanded.

“You two are the ones wrong! I don’t do
this
, okay?”

“This?” Ioniko echoed.

She gestured to them wildly. “You two. Me. No way.”

One, two, three seconds passed before Ioniko and Damen exchanged dawning looks of understanding.

And then slowly, they started to laugh.

Oh drat.

So they weren’t thinking of having a ménage with her?

“No,” Damen said blandly, correctly interpreting the reason why Mairi was suddenly cringing and unable to meet his gaze – or Vlahos’ for that matter. “We are
not
the kind of men who share our women.”

“Which means you have to choose, Mairi – me…or Leventis?” Ioniko crossed his arms over his chest, and side by side he and Damen looked like Greek warriors waiting for a slave to choose whom she wanted to belong to.

She shook her head. “I
don’t
want or need to choose.”

“Bullshit.”

Mairi’s head snapped up at Damen’s furious reply.

“Why did you run away that night?” he demanded. “Do you know how worried I was when I couldn’t find you? I thought something had happened to you!”

“Something did happen,” she cried out. “
You
have a betrothed!”

Damen froze.

“Your mother told me and I heard you two talk and you didn’t say a thing to deny it. You have been betrothed since she was fifteen and you took my virginity even though another girl’s been wearing your ring!” She waited for him to speak, but of course he didn’t and she said bitterly, “Now you know why I left.”

The defeat in her stance made Damen flinch because it was not like Mairi to be like that. He had known her for over a day, but even in that short span of time he fucking knew Mairi was like a goddamn sun that kept shining.

“I want you in my life, Mairi.”

The words stunned her, and even though she didn’t want to admit it, the words made hope unfurl its leaves and start to blossom inside her again. “You do?” Mairi whispered.

“I know it sounds fucking crazy, but there’s something about you that I can’t get enough of. I never stopped thinking about you these past two weeks. I wanted to fix things but you didn’t take my calls---”

“You called once!”

“You didn’t let me visit---”

“You tried once!”

“You didn’t reply---”

“You texted me once!”

“Those were all things I have
never
done for any other woman but you!” he snapped, his hand slashing the air in an expansive gesture of frustration. “Do you think it’s
easy
for me to do any of those when all my life it’s always been the other way around?” He looked at Ioniko with contempt. “And I still fucking want you, even if you are here with him.”

Ioniko said evenly, “I trust Mairi’s judgment. I’m sure she’ll eventually see that she will be happier in my bed than in yours.”

“You will
never
touch her!” Damen spat.

“Careful with your tone, Leventis. I can easily order you off my yacht.”

Realizing in a panic that the two were close to coming to blows, she protested, “Stop!” Their gazes swung back to her, barely suppressed rage evident in their tense forms.

Swallowing, she looked at Ioniko first. “I’m so sorry I got you involved in this.”

Ioniko breathed hard at the words. “And I am sorry that you are choosing this bastard over me.” She started to speak, but he shook his head. “You did nothing wrong – and it is not over between us. Don’t think I’m giving you up. I am simply respecting your decision – for now. But know this, Mairi - he does not deserve you.”

“And you do?” Damen asked coldly.

“At least I do not lie about being unattached.” Ioniko smiled mirthlessly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it is best that I leave the two of you to work out your differences.”

The door swung shut behind Ioniko’s back silently, leaving Mairi and Damen staring at each other.

Everything she had ruthlessly buried in the deepest recesses of her memories suddenly came back in a rush, and she nearly fainted at the way her heart was close to bursting with happiness. Damen Leventis wanted her in his life. Her Greek billionaire had missed her, had not been able to stop thinking about her – had chosen
her.

Lesson 9

To catch a Greek billionaire, you must be prepared to be hurt.

He said: That makes you sound like a masochist.

She said: Good thing you’re very much a sadist. We’re the perfect pair.

(He said: Note to editor – make sure this book is rated for mature readers. I do not want my daughter to read this and start having ideas.)

“Please don’t tell me we ran out of gas.” Mairi was the first one to break the silence that had developed between her and Damen the moment they were aboard his sailboat, which he had anchored next to Ioniko’s yacht.

She had been terribly impressed to see Damen in action behind the steering wheel, but now, with the winds dying down and the engine suddenly shutting down in the middle of the Mediterranean, Mairi was starting to feel faint. She had watched a lot of movies that took place in marooned and lost ships and none of them had happy endings.

“Damen?”

He shook his head. “I simply ran out of patience. I’m too hungry for you.” He extended his hand.

Her eyes widened. “
Now
?”

Damen’s face became shuttered. “Does it feel too soon?”

“I…no…”

“Did you perhaps forget about my touch and how it felt to be in my arms after spending time with Vlahos?”

Before she could answer, Damen had her trapped between his body and the wall. “Damen---”

The rest of what she wanted to say was swallowed by his hard and possessive kiss. All her emotional defenses were shattered by that kiss, the heat and passion that she could only feel in Damen’s arms coming back to her with a vengeance.

With a little cry, she curled her arms around his neck and surrendered herself to Damen’s kiss, her tongue moving as insistently as his, needing more of his taste, wanting more of his dominance.

“Did he make you feel like this when he kissed you?” Damen growled against her lips, jealousy driving him crazy. Mairi was his but he still had this insane urge to storm back into Vlahos’ yacht and beat the other man for even thinking about Mairi.

She shook her head, whispering, “We
never
kissed.”

He looked at her intensely. “You do not have to lie.”

She said with a tremulous smile, “I’m not. I couldn’t even think of kissing another man but you---”

“Mairi.” It was all he could groan before he was kissing her again. He knew her words were true and it blew him away, the way she really did seem to want him and only him even though she could have another man – another fucking billionaire – to take care of her.

“I need to have you now, Mairi.”

Mairi said simply, “Yes.”

She closed her eyes as Damen lifted her in his arms and brought her to the bedroom below deck, savoring the feel of having him embrace her again. She only opened her eyes when she felt herself being lowered on the bed. The room was decorated in darker shades of brown and gray, its appeal a mix of masculine and utilitarian.

Damen was swiftly removing his clothes and then sheathing his already erect cock before joining her in bed. “We’ll burn them,” he muttered as he also made short work of her robe and bikini.

Her eyes widened. “But they’re new---”

“Doesn’t fucking matter. I don’t ever want to see you wearing clothes bought by another man. You’re mine Mairi, and I’m the only one who has the right to cover and uncover your body.”

She wanted to tease him at how possessive he sounded but there wasn’t any time, with Damen hungrily kissing her again. Her arms and legs wrapped around him as she kissed him back, loving the familiar feel of his hardness pressing down on her body.

Mairi moaned when he started kissing her neck, her shoulders, and her breasts. He paused to smile devilishly at her, and she smiled back in dazed pleasure. But that smile soon turned into another moan when he cradled one breast and started sucking its nipple.