“Do you want me to go sleep on the sofa?” Her voice sounded strangled as she rolled back onto her side of the bed.
He flung his arm out and caged her. “Try and I’ll bring you back here.”
“Careful, Stergios,” she teased. “You’re on my side of the bed.”
“This is not a laughing matter, pethi mou. Get any closer and I’m going to touch you.” His voice thickened. “Take you. And nothing is going to stop me.”
“I’ll take my chances,” she said in a husky purr.
“You didn’t want to share a bed, remember?” She shivered when she heard the shaky restraint in his low, masculine voice. “Because we don’t have a relationship, you said.”
That had been weeks ago when all they shared was the knowledge that they were going to be parents. She had wanted more from Stergios. Some indication that she was more to him than the mother of his child. Now they were taking the first steps together toward a new life.
“But if you think we’re going to have a sexless marriage,” he said in a rough tone, “then you are out of your mind.”
She felt the flicker of a smile on her mouth. “I thought your interest was fading because I wasn’t going to be an easy conquest and just tumble into your bed.”
“Fading?” He repeated the word in a choked voice. “Every day I want you more but I don’t trust myself around you. I have been in agony all these weeks.”
“You hide it well.” She curled into him and pressed her mouth against his throat.
She felt him swallow hard as the tension vibrated from his clenched muscles. “Jodie, if I touch you, I won’t be gentle.”
“The doctors have said it was safe,” she reminded him as she curled the tip of her tongue against his skin. “You heard them yourself.”
“They don’t know how I am around you.” His voice wavered.
“But I know you will keep me safe.” She arched her spine, pressing her breasts against him. “You will make me ache, Stergios, and you will take me to the edge of pleasure. You will make me surrender until I scream your name, but you will never hurt me.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE ATMOSPHERE CRACKLED between them and Jodie thought he would pounce. That was what she wanted. She needed to feel the lust that was coursing through his veins and colliding with the hard masculine aggression. But Stergios took her by surprise when he claimed her lips with a slow, wet kiss. She moaned as he explored her mouth with the wicked flick of his tongue.
Jodie couldn’t contain the growing need pulsating inside her. She caressed his strong body, her touch urgent and greedy. She liked how Stergios’s muscles bunched as her fingers swept along his washboard abs. He hissed as her nails raked along his bare back. It was only when she slid her fingertips beneath his waistband that Stergios broke the deeply seductive kiss. She watched the sinful glow of his eyes as she clenched his buttocks.
Stergios’s movements were lightning-fast as he grasped her wrists. He held her hands above her head, her fingers knocking against the wood headboard. Excitement tore at her chest as Stergios pinned her to the mattress.
His grasp was firm as he hovered above her. She lifted her head to kiss him but he would not allow it. She whimpered with frustration as she struggled to break free.
“Patience, pethi mou,” he said with the twist of his lips.
Patience? She had not shared his bed for months. Her lips stung and her skin tingled for his touch. Her breasts felt heavy and full as she began to pant. She rocked her hips to alleviate the insistent throb. Couldn’t Stergios sense her raging need? Of course he could.
“Is this payback?” she asked in a stuttering breath as he licked a path to her cleavage. “Because I made you wait?”
She felt his smile against her breast. “Would I do something like that?” he purred.
“Yes!” she said through clenched teeth.
He nipped her skin with his teeth. “I want to bury myself deep into you,” he grounded out. “Hard and fast but I won’t. I don’t want to hurt you.”
His words made her shiver with anticipation. She would break his restraint, she decided as she wrested for control. The straps of her slip fell down her shoulders, revealing her breasts, as she tried to pull her wrists from his strong hold. But Stergios would not let go. From the determined gleam in his eye, she knew he would not surrender to the lust stampeding inside him.
Stergios dipped his head and captured her tight nipple with his mouth. Jodie closed her eyes and tipped her head back as she mewled with pleasure. Desire flooded her as he continued this sensual torment. She bucked against Stergios, begging for more.