It made no sense for a man like him to agree to such a thing, the same way it made no utter sense for the billionaire to be attracted to me in the first place.
And yet he did want me, and he did say yes, so can you blame me for wanting to kiss him? I just needed to show him how much his agreement meant to me. And anyway, it was only meant to be the briefest of smacks…
But…
Yeah right.
This was Ioniko, after all, and suffice to say, the guy didn’t do smacks.
His surprise was evident the moment our lips touched, but after another moment he recovered and took complete control, one hand tightening around my waist while his other hand drifted up.
In the next moment, he held my hair in a fist, and my entire body tightened at the primitive possession of his touch.
Another moment, and he was guiding my head, angling it in such a way that he was able to deepen the kiss as his lips parted mine open, and I could only whimper and yield. His tongue drove inside my mouth, and my toes curled. I had never thought that my first kiss could be this impossibly hot and exciting, and my arms tightened involuntarily around his neck as his tongue started stroking the inner contours of my mouth.
I could feel myself getting dizzy, and my nails dug into his back. Just a kiss, and it was so, so good. How can a kiss be so good it made me feel like I was starting to float—
His head lifted.
And that was when I realized the reason why I felt like was floating was because I had forgotten to breathe.
We were boarding his private jet four hours later, and Ioniko still wasn’t letting me forget that his kiss had me breathless and nearly unconscious. From the time we had lunch at a Greek taverna to the time we strolled about the city, Ioniko’s thoughts had just been awfully plain for everyone to see.
While he hadn’t actually said a single ungentlemanly word about it, and he wasn’t exactly strutting like a peacock that had successfully wooed its mate, he was also radiating so much masculine satisfaction that he had me torn between laughing and cringing, and I didn’t know whether to throw myself in his arms or hide under a rock.
“Will you please quit it?” I begged him as soon as the captain and his co-pilot returned to the cockpit.
He only smirked, not even having the decency to pretend he hadn’t any idea of what I was talking about. Gaaaah. He was being such a shameless jerk about this, but my attraction to him just kept growing, and I could only shake my head and silently pray to the heavens. He’s too perfect, God. Why did you have to create such a man and have him torture me?
Although Ioniko excused himself to conduct a couple of business calls as soon as the jet was airborne, I no longer felt as uncomfortable or overwhelmed the way I had during my first flight. Since we were flying with the same crew, I felt just a bit more relaxed and was able to return smiles more easily when the cabin attendants welcomed me back.
“We have been apprised of your condition, Ms. Mathers,” Hilda said, “so please rest assured that we will do our very best to make the flight as comfortable as possible.”
Condition?
“We have more than ample supplies of heat pads and painkillers,” Fotini added, “and we’ve also replenished our stock on drinks that are known to be natural remedies for your condition.”
I finally understood what they were talking about and felt my cheeks heat up in response. “Um, thank you. I’m sorry you had to be so troubled—”
Hilda quickly shook her head. “It was actually quite cute,” she revealed with a smile. “I’ve been working for Mr. Vlahos for some years now, and he’s never made any special requests on behalf of a female guest’s before.”
“And the way the boss looks at you, Ms. Mathers…” Fotini’s giggle betrayed her youthful awe of her billionaire employer. “He’s so obviously smitten, ma’am.”
“He’s just being considerate.” Or so I tried to convince myself even as their words had me squealing and cartwheeling in my mind. Smitten. They thought Ioniko Vlahos was smitten with me.
Oh, if only.
We had been flying for over two hours when Ioniko found me yawning and nodding off in my usual seat at the lounge.
“Sleepy?” he asked as he scooped me off the chair.
“I can walk—”
“But then I’ll have no excuse to hold you.”
“Like you really need an excuse.” But Ioniko only smirked at this, and I found myself with bigger problems to tackle when I realized where he was taking me.
“Uh….” This was his room, not mine.
“Relax, koukla mou. I haven’t forgotten you are having your monthly flux—”