The Greek's Acquisition (6 page)

He inhaled sharply and focused on persuading her to spend the remainder of the evening with him. ‘I confess I was hoping to take the elevator to the top.’

Dimitri’s sexy smile made Louise’s pulse race. ‘That would be sensible, as there are well over a thousand steps,’ she said gravely. ‘And actually the only way to reach the summit
is
by lift.’

‘So, that’s settled. But first would you like dessert—or more champagne?’

‘No, thank you,’ she assured him quickly. Her appetite had disappeared and she had struggled to eat the first two courses. As for champagne—she had already drunk way too much. That had to explain why she felt so peculiar. It was as if the bubbles had exploded inside her and filled her with a wild, reckless energy.

But deep down she knew it was Dimitri, not the champagne, that was making each of her nerve-endings feel ultra-sensitive. She felt fiercely alive, and was so intensely aware of him that throughout the meal she had kept darting little glances at him, drinking in his handsome features.

It was a relief when they left the restaurant and she took deep breaths of fresh air, grateful for the gentle breeze that
cooled her hot face. The Eiffel Tower dominated the skyline, its giant metal structure illuminated by light projectors so that it appeared to glow gold against the inky-black sky.

The famous landmark was a popular attraction, even late at night, and there was a short queue waiting for the elevator. The young couple standing in front of them had clearly been caught up in the romantic atmosphere of Paris and were wrapped in each other’s arms.

It must be wonderful to be so in love, Louise thought wistfully. The couple’s unrestrained passion reminded her of those few days on Eirenne years ago, when Dimitri had kissed her with fierce hunger and she had eagerly responded to him. Heat surged through her and she could not bring herself to look at him or at the kissing couple. In desperation she stared at the ground, as if she was utterly fascinated by the tarmac beneath her feet.

They rode the lift to the second level, and then another elevator whisked them to the top of the tower. Louise heard Dimitri catch his breath as they stepped out onto the walkway.

‘I hope you have a head for heights. We’re over a thousand feet up.’

He laughed. ‘It feels as though we are in the sky. The view is amazing.’ He stood close beside her and stared through the wire cage that enclosed the walkway. ‘Is that the Arc de Triomphe down there?’

Louise nodded. ‘The lights of the city sparkle like jewels, don’t they? I love the way they are reflected in the river.’

The night-time view over Paris was breathtaking. But there was another reason why she was finding it difficult to draw oxygen into her lungs. The few other visitors who had come up to the top level had walked around the other side of the tower, and it felt as though it was just her and Dimitri standing on the top of the world. She had never felt
so aware of a man in her life. Her eyes were drawn to his sculpted profile and a tremor ran through her, making the tiny hairs all over her body stand on end.

The breeze was stronger this high up and the air cooler. She drew her pashmina round her shoulders and caught Dimitri’s attention.

‘Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’m fine.’

‘Liar,’ he said softly, ‘you’re shivering.’ His eyes were shadowed in the darkness, but Louise could feel his intent gaze. Far below the lights of Paris blazed, but for Louise nothing existed but the sultry heat in Dimitri’s eyes. All evening she had been agonisingly aware of him, and now she could no longer fight the fire surging through her veins.

‘Come here.’

His voice was suddenly rough and deep, caressing her senses like crushed velvet. Her breath caught in her throat and she could not move when he slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. The warmth of his body immediately enfolded her and the sensual musk of his aftershave swamped her senses. She could feel the thud of his heart beating at the same frantic pace as her own and she stared up at him, her eyes wide and unguarded.

Dimitri muttered something beneath his breath. He had wanted to kiss Louise all evening, and now the temptation of her moist, slightly parted lips was too strong for him to resist. He dipped his head and slanted his mouth over hers. He remained poised for timeless seconds while their breath mingled. Then he captured her lips in a feather-soft caress, slowly at first, gently. She tasted of champagne, and the feel of her soft mouth beneath his made his heart pound.

She made a little choked sound and stiffened, but he tightened his arms around her, drawing her inexorably
closer to him. Wildfire excitement shot through him when she opened her mouth so that he was able to explore her with his tongue.

Molten heat was coursing through Louise, suffusing her entire body with delicious warmth. Her breasts felt swollen and heavy and her nipples tingled as they were crushed against Dimitri’s chest. She was conscious of a throbbing sensation deep in her pelvis—a restless ache that drove her to press her hips against his rock-hard thighs.

He kept on kissing her and kissing her, his mouth moving hungrily over hers, demanding a response which she gave unresistingly.
Stupid
, taunted a voice in her head,
weak and pathetic. Where is your pride?
But she ignored the voice, pushed it to the back of her mind while her body capitulated to his exquisite seduction, and she slid her hands to his shoulders as he deepened the kiss to something so erotic that she trembled in the circle of his arms.

Voices shattered the magic and snapped Louise back to her senses. People were heading towards them along the walkway. She pulled out of Dimitri’s arms, breathing hard. Her mouth felt bruised, and she lifted her fingers to her lips and felt their swollen softness.

Dear heaven, what had she been
thinking
? All evening she had been haunted by memories of their brief affair years ago, but that was no excuse for her to fall into his arms. Life had moved on—
she
had moved on—and the past was history.

‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ she whispered, dismayed to realise she was shaking from the firestorm of passion he had evoked in her.

‘But you didn’t stop me.’ His eyes glittered, and his smile was faintly mocking, but the hand that gently brushed a tendril of hair back from her cheek shook slightly, and Louise
realised with a jolt that he was no more in control of his emotions that she was.

She shivered again—a combination of reaction to his kiss and being deprived of the warmth of his body. But this time he kept his arms by his sides.

‘We should go.’ His voice was suddenly terse.

They were both silent as the lift whisked them back down to the ground. It was nearly midnight, Louise saw when she glanced at her watch. She was glad when Dimitri hailed a taxi. She was still stunned by that kiss, mortified when she remembered how she had responded to him. She should have given him the big freeze, hung on to her dignity. But instead she had melted in his arms as if she had spent the past seven years missing him—which she certainly had
not
, she assured herself.

They had barely discussed the sale of Eirenne, she remembered as she stared out of the taxi window.
Why
hadn’t she stuck to business over dinner? And what had induced her to agree to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with him when she knew full well that it was one of the most iconic venues in Paris, the city of lovers? The romantic atmosphere was no excuse for the fact that she had practically eaten him. She felt hot with shame when she recalled how she had clung to him.

The taxi drew to a halt and she climbed out onto the pavement after Dimitri, frowning when she realised that they were not at her apartment—which was where she had assumed they had been heading. She glanced at the grand front entrance of a well-known hotel and then at him, her eyes questioning.

He gave her a level look. ‘Do you want to join me for a drink? We can continue our discussion on the possibility of me buying Eirenne.’

Persuading him to buy the island was the only thing that
mattered—the only realistic chance of saving her mother. Yet Louise knew it would be the height of stupidity to accept his invitation when he was looking at her with an intent expression in his eyes that made her blood pound in her veins.

So why didn’t she bid him goodnight and climb back into the taxi? Why did her mind keep replaying his kiss? She stared at him, knowing she should refuse to join him but unable to bear the thought of leaving him. After tonight she would probably never see him again.

She shivered—but not because she was cold.

Dimitri’s eyes darkened. He caught hold of her hand and lifted it to his mouth, grazing his lips across her knuckles. ‘Come with me?’ he murmured, in a voice as rich and sensuous as molten chocolate.

She gave up the fight with herself and nodded her assent, feeling beyond words, beyond the boundaries of common sense. Dimitri paid the taxi driver and, still holding Louise’s hand, led her into the hotel. She had a vague image of an opulent lobby: elegant pillars, ornately patterned marble floor and extravagant gold décor. They entered a lift. Moments later they arrived at the top floor and walked a short distance along a corridor until he stopped and ushered her into his suite.

‘What a beautiful room,’ she murmured, desperate to break the silence and bring an element of normality into an increasingly unreal situation.

The suite was a luxurious blend of pale grey velvet carpet and silk wallpaper, with cushion-filled sofas and soft furnishings in duck-egg-blue. Through an open door Louise saw that the colour scheme was repeated in the bedroom, but the sight of a vast four-poster bed made her quickly look away.

‘I spend too much time in hotels to appreciate them.’
Dimitri shrugged out of his jacket and dropped it over the arm of a sofa before walking over to the bar. He took two glasses, filled them, and strolled back across the room to hand one to Louise. ‘A nightcap—Cointreau,’ he explained.

She really did not need any more alcohol, but it seemed safer to sip the drink than to make eye-contact with Dimitri. The orange-tasting liqueur was sweet, but with a subtle heat that elicited a delicious warm feeling inside her—yet she could not seem to control the tremors that were making her body shake.

‘Please—have a seat.’ He indicated the two-seater sofa.

Louise stared at it and froze as she pictured herself sinking against the cushions and Dimitri sitting down close beside her. She was desperately aware of his lean, hard body, and now that he had discarded his jacket she could see the shadow of dark chest hair beneath his white silk shirt.

She shouldn’t have come here, she thought frantically. She felt helpless, like a fly trapped in a spider’s web. But to be fair she was not afraid of Dimitri but of herself, her reaction to his brooding sensuality.

Her glass was still half full. Not wanting to appear rude, she swallowed the rest of her drink and felt it burn a fiery path down her throat.

‘Look, it’s getting late. I’m not sure there’s much more I can tell you about Eirenne. I haven’t been back there since we …’ She faltered as memories of the passionate night they had spent together on the island flooded her mind. ‘Since we were there seven years ago. Perhaps you would be good enough to phone me when you have made a decision?’ Panic made her talk too fast. ‘Thank you for dinner. You’re leaving tomorrow, so I guess we won’t have a chance to meet again,’ she finished in a choked voice.

She did not notice the faint flare of impatience in
Dimitri’s eyes—did not know that the betraying tremor of her lower lip had made his gut clench.

‘You little idiot,’ he said roughly. ‘Do you really think I can let you walk away from me?’

Her eyes flew to his face and she caught her breath at the hard glitter in his olive-green gaze. Time stopped. Her heart was thundering so hard that her ribcage jerked erratically. He drained his glass and set it down on the table. She waited, barely able to breathe, as he walked towards her with determined intent.

‘Louise,’ he said, in a low, a sexy growl that made her skin prickle. ‘Come to me,
pedhaki
.’

A warning voice clamoured inside her head. But she was deafened by the thunderous beat of her heart and with a little cry went into his arms. The world exploded.

T
HE
room tilted as Dimitri seized Louise in his arms and sank down on the sofa, pulling her onto his lap. His dark head swooped and he captured her mouth in a searing kiss that destroyed any idea she might have had of resisting him. This was what she had yearned for all evening, she admitted silently. No man had ever excited her in the way Dimitri did, and she had no self-protection against the sensual onslaught of his lips and the bold thrust of his tongue into her mouth as he explored her with hungry passion.

His hands roamed feverishly over her body and traced the length of her spine, before he cupped her nape and tugged her head back so that he could deepen the kiss. It became flagrantly erotic. He moved his other hand to her shoulder, slid a finger beneath the narrow strap of her dress and drew it down her arm, lower and lower, slowly exposing her breast.

The air felt cool on her naked flesh, but Dimitri’s touch was warm as he curled his hand possessively around the soft mound. Sensation arrowed through Louise as he trailed his lips down her throat and found the pulse thudding frantically at its base. The brush of his thumb-pad across her sensitised nipple made her catch her breath.

She was on fire for him. Molten heat flooded between her legs and she gave a little desperate moan when he
slipped his hand beneath the hem of her dress and stroked her taut, trembling thighs. Higher and higher his fingers crept, inching towards where she was frantic for him to touch her. She was lost in a swirling sea of sensation where nothing mattered but that she follow the dictates of her body, which was begging for sexual release. Her sensible self had deserted her, and she was gripped by an urgent need for Dimitri to relieve the pressure that was building inside her.

He discovered the strip of bare flesh above the lace band of her stocking-top and made a primitive growl deep in his throat. The sound was raw and it triggered a throb of white-hot desire in Louise. And then his hand was at the junction of her thighs, and he eased the edge of her French knickers aside so that he could run his fingertips up and down her moist opening.

He eased her back so that she was half lying across his knees, with her head resting against the cushions. Glancing down, she saw the whiteness of her bare breast above the crumpled black silk of her dress. Her nipple was taut and erect, and she shivered in anticipation as she watched him lower his dark head. The feel of his lips closing around the hard peak sent starbursts of sensation through her. Caught up in a maelstrom of pleasure, she squirmed in his lap and felt the solid ridge of his arousal beneath her bottom.

Without conscious thought she opened her legs a little, enabling him to slide his finger into her feminine heat. The feel of him inside her drove her instantly to the brink, and she arched her hips so that he could slide deeper, gasping when he rubbed his thumb-pad lightly back and forth across her clitoris.

This was what he had wanted to do ever since Louise had walked back into his life four days ago, Dimitri acknowledged. When she had faced him in his office in Athens—a
gorgeous siren in her short scarlet skirt—he had fantasised about spreading her across his desk and making hot, urgent love to her. For the past seven years she had hovered on the periphery of his mind like a lingering melody. But the flesh-and-blood woman was a thousand times more beautiful than the image of her that had occasionally flitted into his thoughts.

Ideally he would like to carry her into the bedroom and undress her slowly, take his time to explore every inch of her delectable body before he indulged in a leisurely sex session. But there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening when he was more aroused than he could remember being for a long, long time, he thought derisively. Louise’s little cries of delight as he pleasured her with his fingers were fast sending him out of control.

She was breathing heavily, twisting her hips restlessly so that her bottom ground against the hardened shaft that was throbbing unbearably beneath his trousers. He felt an unexpected tug of tenderness as he studied her flushed face and the tendrils of damp hair that clung to her cheek. He controlled his own hunger and concentrated on bringing her to orgasm, moving his fingers faster in and out of her slick wetness and at the same time capturing her pebble-hard nipple in his mouth, caressing it with his tongue.

She gave a keening cry and bucked convulsively as her internal muscles tightened and relaxed again and again, each spasm making her shudder. Her head was thrown back, her golden hair spilling over the cushions, and Dimitri could not resist claiming her parted lips in a fierce kiss. He remembered how wildly responsive she had been on Eirenne. Sex with her had been amazing. He had never known another woman to be as passionate or such a generous lover.

‘Ise panemorfi,’
he murmured huskily. She was so beau
tiful. He was impatient to settle himself between her thighs and thrust his erection into her velvet softness.

He gripped the hem of her dress to push it up to her waist. But something was wrong. She was staring at him with an expression of horror in her eyes, and she caught hold of his wrist to prevent him from lifting her skirt.

‘What is it,
glikia mou
?’ he demanded raggedly, breathing hard as he struggled for control.

‘Oh, God! What am I
doing
?’ Louise choked, not realising that she had actually spoken the words out loud.

The sound of Dimitri’s voice had shattered the sensual web he had wrapped around her and reality had reared its ugly head. She glanced down at herself, sprawled on Dimitri’s knees with her legs open and the top of her dress pulled down, exposing her naked breast. Her jutting, reddened nipple seemed to taunt her, and self-disgust rolled over her with the force of a tidal wave.

Ise panemorfi …
Dimitri had often murmured those words to her on Eirenne, and the memory of their brief affair and his lies made her feel sick with shame. ‘Come to me,’ he had said tonight—and she had immediately thrown herself at him, forgetting how he had hurt and humiliated her seven years ago.

His eyes narrowed, but his voice was carefully controlled. ‘What
we’re
doing hardly requires an explanation, surely?’ he drawled. ‘I want to make love to you, and I assume from your response to me that you want it too.’

Scorching colour tinged Louise’s white face at his reminder of what a fool she had been. With trembling fingers she jerked the strap of her dress back into place and scrambled off his lap, swaying a little when she discovered that her legs felt like jelly.

‘You invited me here to discuss Eirenne,’ she reminded him shakily. She was horrified that for a few reckless minutes
she had forgotten the reason why she had accepted his invitation to come up to his hotel suite. Without specialist treatment in America her mother would die. And if Dimitri did not buy back his family’s island Louise feared she had little chance of raising the money to pay for Tina’s medical costs before time ran out.

‘Have you reached a decision?’ she demanded.

‘Not yet,’ Dimitri replied curtly, struggling to hide his irritation that Louise had called a halt to their passion to talk about business. He ached low in his gut, and it was hard to think about anything other than his burning need for sexual release.

Doubts crept into his mind. Was she one of those women who liked to play games? He had met a few in his time—calculating women who used their sexual favours as a bartering tool in exchange for expensive jewellery or designer dresses.

He stared at her with mounting anger. ‘You never did tell me why you’re so anxious to sell the island—or why you are prepared to let it go at a knock-down price.’ His eyes fell on the diamond pendant sparkling between her breasts and he could not prevent the ugly suspicions growing in his mind. ‘Why do you need a large amount of money in a hurry? Are you in debt?’ He ignored her sharp denial and continued relentlessly, ‘I find it hard to believe that your job as a museum guide pays enough for you to be able buy valuable jewellery and designer clothes.’

‘My dress was a present,’ Louise told him coldly. ‘I didn’t pay for it. And I’m certainly not in debt.’

She was furious at his accusation, but the hard glint in his eyes warned her that he did not intend to drop the matter of why she needed to sell Eirenne. She was on dangerous ground, because she could not allow him to find out that she needed the money for her mother.

She stared at him, searching her mind frantically for a believable reason why she had offered to sell him the island. ‘I admit there are a few things I need to pay for,’ she muttered. ‘I want to clear my student loan. And my car is ten years old and the garage has advised me that it won’t cope with another winter.’ Both of those statements were true, but she could not reveal to Dimitri that they were not her main priority right now.

Can’t you persuade the lover who bought you your dress to buy you a new car?
Dimitri thought grimly. Louise had confirmed his suspicions about her. Clearly she was the type of woman who was prepared to sell herself for personal gain—just has her mother had done. It was stupid to feel surprised or disappointed, he told himself. In many ways it made things easier, because even knowing what she was he still wanted her. And she wanted him to buy Eirenne. It felt good to know that he had the upper hand, that he was in control of the situation.

He got up from the sofa and smiled to himself when he saw a tremor run though her as he stood in front of her. ‘So there
are
financial reasons why you’re desperate to sell the island,’ he murmured. ‘Why didn’t you say so from the start?’

‘I’m not desperate,’ Louise lied shakily, catching her bottom lip with her teeth as an image of Tina’s painfully thin face flashed into her mind. She
was
desperate to help her mother, she acknowledged silently. She would do everything possible to raise the money for Tina’s treatment.

‘No?’ Dimitri idly wound a honey-blond curl around his finger. ‘So are you saying you
didn’t
come up to my suite in the hope of persuading me to buy Eirenne?’

Louise stiffened. Dear God, what did he mean by
persuading
? Did he think she would …? The gleam in his olive-green eyes caused her heart to miss a beat.

‘Because I
am
open to persuasion,
glikia mou
,’ he drawled.

His voice lowered, and it was so deep and soft that it seemed to whisper across Louise’s skin like a velvet cloak, enfolding her and drawing her to him. She could not look away from him, and her breath hitched in her throat when he lifted a hand and smoothed her hair back behind her ear. The feather-light brush of his fingertips on her neck sent a quiver through her, and she could feel the hard tips of her nipples straining beneath her silk dress, practically begging him to touch them.

From somewhere deep inside her a tiny voice of common sense pointed out that it would be madness to sink into the sensual web he was wrapping around her. Becoming involved with Dimitri would bring so many complications. But the sultry gleam in his eyes was mesmeric, inviting—inciting all sorts of exciting fantasies in her mind. Maybe she
could
persuade him to buy the island, whispered a voice in her head. Would it really be so wrong to do
anything
to save her mother’s life?

She could not tear her eyes from his. He was standing so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek, and she ached for him to close the gap between them and slant his mouth over hers.

She swallowed. ‘I should go.’ Her voice emerged as a tremulous whisper.

‘Why not stay?’

There must be a good reason. Probably dozens. But his sexy smile decimated her ability to think logically.

‘I want to make love to you.’ Dimitri’s voice thickened with desire. He did not understand what it was about this woman that made his body ache, made him shake like a testosterone-fuelled youth anticipating his first sexual experience. All he knew was that Louise was like a fever in
his blood, and the only cure was to possess her and find the sweet satiation his body craved.

He pulled her into his arms and his heart slammed against his ribs when he felt the tips of her nipples pressed against his chest. ‘I want to take you to bed and undress you, slowly. I want to lay you down and kiss every inch of you—your mouth, your breasts, between your legs,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘And then I want to take you and make you mine, and give you more pleasure than you’ve ever had with any other man.’

His voice was like honey sliding over her, and his words made Louise melt. She was conscious of liquid warmth between her thighs, and the throbbing ache that had only been partially appeased when he had pleasured her with his hands now clamoured for his complete possession.

He cupped her chin and stared into her eyes. ‘I’ve been honest with you. I’m not ashamed to admit how much I desire you. Now I’m asking you to be honest too.’ There was no hint of softening on his arrogant features, and he spoke firmly, decisively. ‘If you don’t want to be with me tell me now and I’ll take you home.’

No other man had ever made her weak with sexual longing, Louise thought. Yet the desire blazing in Dimitri’s eyes also made her feel powerful. He had awoken feelings inside her that she hadn’t felt since she was nineteen. It was as if her sensuality had been on hold for the intervening years, but with one kiss he had aroused a level of need in her that only he could assuage. It was her choice whether to stay with him or leave.

‘Dimitri …’

He tightened his arms around her. ‘You know you want me, and I am burning up for you.’

The raw urgency in his voice allayed her last lingering doubts. She wound her arms around his neck and tugged
his head down. Words were beyond her. Seven years ago he had been her first lover, and there had never been anyone else. Undoubtedly she had lost her sanity, but she could not deny her body one more night of pleasure with him. However, a sense of self-preservation held her back from telling him that her need was as great as his, and instead she reached up on tiptoe and kissed him.