The Greek's Virgin Temptation. Susan Stephens
THREE
‘SO YOUR FIRST memory is...?’
‘Staring at a brass poker while having my nappy changed,’ she joked, ‘but I’m not sure you want to hear that.’
He laughed. ‘Moving on. Let’s try for something else.’
‘Okay, then... I’m in a dark room, crawling on the floor...’
‘Crawling in your bedroom?’ he prompted.
‘No, I don’t think so.’ She screwed up her face as she thought back. ‘It doesn’t smell nice and there are empty bottles on the floor. It’s sticky. I remember picking up a cigarette butt, though I didn’t know what it was at the time. There was a lipstick stain on the end of it that made me think of my mother. I put it down again because it smelled nasty. And now I remember I was hungry... I wanted something to eat, and I’m cold—’
‘Okay.’ Shocked, he cut her off. ‘Why don’t we leave it there? I didn’t mean you to relive a time when you were frightened and alone, and I apologise for pushing you. You must think me insensitive.’
‘No, I think you’re curious,’ she said.
‘This isn’t a joke.’
She smiled ruefully. ‘You’re telling me. Or maybe I embellished the tale to keep your interest a little longer so the party could continue...?’
‘I don’t believe that for a minute,’ he said, springing to his feet. ‘Come on...let’s go.’
‘What have I done wrong?’
‘Absolutely nothing,’ he told Kimmie firmly. ‘You’ve done nothing wrong.’
What about his uncle? What about his agreement to at least consider the suggestion that he, Kris, should get married and settle down?
He’d never found himself in a situation where scruples overruled his natural instinct to seduce, but by the time Kimmie had finished relating this first chapter of her life, where she’d clearly had a less than ideal childhood, he was committed to protecting her from further harm, and nothing else.
‘So? How did I do?’ she asked as she stood too. ‘Are my stories good enough to keep your interest so we can let the party continue?’
‘They’re pretty good,’ he said, feeling a pang of anger and pain on her behalf.
‘Are you ready for the next instalment?’
‘Honestly? Not right now.’
‘I’ve bored you,’ she said immediately.
‘Far from it.’ Having appeared so feisty when they’d first met, she now seemed vulnerable in the extreme. Cupping her face, he stared into her eyes. ‘You’re quite the survivor, Kimmie Lancaster.’
‘And more than a match for you,’ she assured him with gusto.
‘Of that I’ve got no doubt,’ he said as he released her and stood back.
He could buy anything on a whim, do anything at a moment’s notice, but he couldn’t match Kimmie. She was unique in a world of grasping insensitivity and he’d be a fool to let her go, but she was clearly a free spirit and he doubted anyone could tame her. That she’d been hurt so badly today had only added to her determination never to be tied down. There wasn’t a chance she’d fall into his arms and marry him just because it suited his uncle. To produce the longed-for heir would be a lot harder than Uncle Theo imagined if Kris decided on Kimmie.
* * *
She’d killed any hope of seduction stone dead, which was good, Kimmie thought. Anything done in the heat of the moment while her emotions were all over the place could only be something to regret. Digging deep into her memory bank as, for some reason, she’d been tempted to do with a man she’d probably never see again, was as futile as dancing wildly on the beach.
When Kris pulled her into his arms, it was a total surprise. The kiss came when she least expected it, and was not what she expected from him at all. There was no pressure, no force, no sudden lunge; he just dipped his head and seduced her with his lips, his mouth lightly against hers. Drugging her with almost gentle kisses, her lips were tingling when he pulled away and she definitely wanted more. Her body urgently demanded more as Kris moved on to lace his fingers through her hair and lowered his head again, almost as though he’d heard her body’s demands. The feeling was sensational, and allowed him to control the teasing kisses and deepen them at will. With each careful penetration her body ached, and he lengthened the kisses until the two of them were bound in a single unit of pleasure. This made her long for a far more intimate invasion, one that would make sensation consume her so she forgot everything else.
Pressing her body against his, she soon realised that Kris’s mastery was everything she’d ever hoped for in a lover, and had given up any expectation of finding. Mike had always put himself first, and had been impatient with Kimmie’s innate fear of intimacy. It was only extremely reluctantly that he’d agreed to Kimmie’s request that they not sleep together until their wedding night. She should have known then that they were heading for disaster.
‘You’re shivering,’ Kris noticed. ‘Has something upset you? You can’t expect me not to feel desire when I’m holding you so close. Are you having second thoughts?’
‘None.’ She was strong. She’d told Kris more about her early childhood than she’d ever told Mike. Even though she hardly knew him, Kris encouraged while Mike dictated—another piece of darkness that had crept up on her silently. Having braced herself for the wedding night, thinking if she could just jump that hurdle everything else would be all right, she knew now that Mike would never have been committed to their marriage. Naively, she’d thought he’d be a good partner, managing the business side of her work while Kimmie painted up a storm. Dreams were just that, she concluded. Childish fantasies. But this was different. Matching her strength against an equally firm-minded man was invigorating, not wearisome or depressing, and the one thing she badly needed to reinvigorate was her pep.
But that didn’t mean losing her grip on reality. She knew nothing about Kris—where he called home, or if he had a family. He might have come from anywhere and could go back there just as fast.
‘You’re not married?’ she asked suddenly.
‘No, or even remotely entangled,’ he reassured her.
* * *
To the deep regret of Uncle Theo, Kris mused silently, and he’d had no plans to change the status quo at the moment, though he did want Kimmie. Bringing her so close he could feel her heart racing against her chest, he sensed her hunger and also her fear. He was so much bigger than she was, though ironically they fit together perfectly. But his main concern was that she had never properly answered his question as to whether she was frightened of sex and, despite her passionate response to his kisses, he felt a hesitation deep inside her, which made him doubly determined not to overwhelm her.
Overwhelm Kimmie? With a lifetime of control under siege, he was the one under pressure. He’d never experienced anything like it. The urge to claim her was eating him up inside. How could anything happen this fast? He didn’t know her. She was a girl on a beach who had told him a few troubling stories. She could be lying about everything to win his sympathy in an attempt to trap him, and she wouldn’t be the first.
‘Kris?’ she said, arranging the scarf she’d tied around her bikini so it covered her a little more. ‘It’s your turn to frown. I’m happy to go back.’
‘No. There’s no need to do that.’
She shrugged. ‘The party will be winding down soon.’
Her voice was soft and musical. She was used to being hurt and that touched him. Turning her face to the sun, she closed her eyes as if to shut out the reality of a turbulent day. It was more than he could stand. He had to sample the smile on her kiss-bruised mouth. One kiss