The Cinderella Seduction: A Suddenly Cinderella Novel (Entangled Indulgence) (12 page)

At her mention of the twins, his expression soured. “Yet another great shame.”

She picked up her cup and forced down a sip of the sweet coffee. Only Stefanie no longer hungered for sweets. Since Nick, all her cravings were for the spicy. “I don’t mind being behind the scenes.”

Orchestrating a fabulous party from the sanctuary of the kitchen must be a lot like directing a play, or so she thought. Still, if she were honest with herself, she had to admit it felt nice, flattering, to have someone—Nick—appreciate not only her food but
her
.

He nodded. “As the eldest of four and the only male, I am used to being, as you say, at front and center. It can become wearying. I used to beg my parents for a baby brother to even the odds.”

Stefanie bit her lip against admitting she’d read his Wikipedia entry as well as sundry press clips. “You’re lucky. Big families are the best,” she said, feeling wistful once more.

“I think so as well.” His gaze turned serious once more, his irises darkening. “You want children someday, do you not? Forgive my impertinence, but I see the way you look at Mara with such…longing.”

Stefanie felt more than unmasked. She felt stripped bare. She’d always envisioned herself as the matriarch of a big, boisterous family, a husband and kids all congregating in her huge, homey kitchen, impatient to taste “Mom’s” latest creation. Since Pete, she’d started thinking she might have to settle for being a single auntie to her friends’ children.

Nick reached across the table and took her hand again. “I didn’t mean to pry—or to make you sad.”

“I’m not sad,” she insisted even though she suddenly was. “It’s just… Yes, I’d love to have kids, lots of them,” she admitted, straining to speak past the lump in her throat.

His fingers firmed about hers. “Before Mara, I never thought I wanted a family. I valued my freedom above all else. But her coming into my life has changed everything. I hope to give her a brother or sister someday should the right woman come into my life and I into hers.”

Could she be hearing him right? The same man who’d once given two female mud wrestlers twenty thousand dollars each to put on a “private” match wanted to settle down? But the Nick she knew was not that man. He was not a player, not anymore. If she’d had any doubts that he’d changed, the sincerity she saw in his eyes and heard in his voice put them to rest.

The server’s reappearance saved Stefanie from answering. Looking between them, she asked, “May I get you anything else?”

Yes, a crystal ball
. Overwhelmed, Stefanie shook her head. “No thank you. Everything was wonderful,” she added quickly.

More so than any flirting, the intimate conversation had bound them, or so it seemed to Stefanie. Nick and she came from different worlds, lived on separate continents, and were currently at cross-purposes, and yet she suddenly felt as if she were staring into the face of her soul mate.

Nick looked up to the server. “We are ready for the check.”

Chapter Seven

The walk back to Stefanie’s was a quiet one.

They reached Nick’s parked car just as a church bell tolled the midnight hour, “pumpkin time,” or so the fairy tale told. Flickering flames from the Gaslight-era-inspired streetlamps played upon his profiled features, making him seem princely indeed.

He gestured toward her house on the other side of the street. “I will see you to your door.”

Stefanie knew what that meant. At the very least, he was going to kiss her. More than likely he was going to ask her to invite him inside. She
wanted
him to kiss her. She wanted to invite him inside, not for a few minutes or an hour but for the night—all of it. And yet the lovely dinner hadn’t erased the facts. He was still the CEO of Costas International, still the man to whom her father owed 2.5 million dollars, who might very well choose to ruin them. He would be going home to Greece on Thursday—for good. Given those circumstances, how could she possibly go to bed with him? Even though she wanted to—a lot.

She reached for her strength. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary.”

He frowned. “I am Greek. You are a woman under my protection. It is necessary.”

He was an alpha male to his core as well as absolutely swoon-worthy. By now Stefanie knew better than to argue. “O-okay.”

They cut across the sidewalk to her front steps. Holding back for her to ascend ahead of him, he set a steering hand on the small of her back. The heat from his palm was searing, the gesture one of possession, claiming.

She reached the porch on shaking legs. Floorboards creaked as Nick stepped up beside her. His hand slipped away.

Feeling its loss, she turned to face him. “Thank you again for dinner. I had a lovely time.”

The words scarcely did justice to the emotions roiling inside her—sadness and arousal, temptation and fear. The latter was as much for herself as for her father. Unlike Pete, unlike any of the men before him, if she wasn’t careful, Nick could break her heart.

“Thank you for accompanying me.” He hesitated. His stark gaze searched hers in the shadows. A rare look of uncertainty weighted his handsome features. “Stefanie?”

“Nick?”

He swallowed hard, setting off a ripple along the corded column of his throat. “I should like very much to kiss you.”

Stefanie’s heart beat so soundly she felt as though it might break through her chest, not because a kiss was out of bounds so far as her seduction mission went, it wasn’t, but because she finally acknowledged exactly where kissing Nick would lead—bed. Lifting her gaze to his, all pretenses of staying in control flew out the proverbial window. There was no way you could want someone the way she wanted him and still be in charge, at least she couldn’t. The game she’d played this past week was on par with messing around with firecrackers, fun for the moment but ultimately bad for you, even dangerous. And yet for once in her life, this once, she couldn’t resist putting caution on the back burner—and turning the front burner up to high, not for Acropolis Village or even her grandfather’s legacy but for herself. After twenty-eight years of being an ugly duckling, it was finally time to embrace her inner swan.

Moistening her lips, she admitted, “I’d like that, too.”

He reached out, cupping her cheek in the cradle of his big, square palm. His gaze fastened on her mouth. A smile played about the corners of his. “I had hoped you would agree.” His thumb flicked over her bottom lip, stroking the curve as he had back at the restaurant, but this time there was no pretense of powdered sugar, only the honesty of desire. Using the bridge of his knuckles, he tipped up her chin. “I have wanted to do this since the night I first met you standing in this very doorway.”

Despite the heat, Stefanie shivered. She started to answer…God knew what, but before she could, Nick’s mouth descended. Lips, soft yet firm, claimed hers. A knowing tongue stroked across the seam of her lips, teasing them apart. For once Stefanie didn’t stop to second-guess herself. She opened. He tasted of anisette and desire, yearning and experience. Neither Pete nor any of the few men she’d dated before him had ever kissed her anything close to this.

The kiss deepened. Their tongues touched, tangled, sparred, their heavy breaths filling the porch. Like a thirsting woman suddenly given water, Stefanie drank him in, her arms twining about his neck, her hand sliding into his soft, thick hair.

His heat and hardness brushed her lower belly, and instead of drawing back, she ground against him. Nick groaned, the vibration echoing inside her. His arm cinched about her waist, his other slipping lower to shape her buttocks. She chafed her aching breasts against the hard plane of his chest, her firmed nipples pressing against the thin lace of her bra. A damp throbbing began between her thighs, thighs that no matter how dimpled, she suddenly badly wanted to bare and open. As if reading her mind, he settled a hand there and gently squeezed.

Laying her hand atop his, Stefanie lifted herself against him.

Nick jerked back as though she’d burned him. Taking hold of her upper arms, he held her away from him. “Forgive me, Stefanie, I did not intend to so lose control.” He pivoted to peer over his shoulder.

She followed his gaze out to the street. Other than the lights of a passing car and a few porch lanterns left on, the block looked to be bedded down for the night. If one or two neighbors spied on them from darkened windows, she was past caring.

“We’re not exactly disturbing the peace.” Cupping his jaw, she drew his face back to hers. “Even if we were, I wouldn’t care.”

“But I care. You deserve to be treated with the utmost respect, not pawed in public.”

She smiled, his Old World ways striking a tender chord within her. Emboldened by the knowledge that he wanted her,
really
wanted her, she told herself that tomorrow would take care of itself. For once in her life, this once, she was prepared to live for and in the moment. “In that case, would you like to come inside for a drink?”

A shuddering breath was his first answer. “I would like…whatever will permit me to delay saying good night to you.”

Smiling through her heart’s fierce fluttering, she teased, “Even if I only have milk to offer?”

It wasn’t far from the truth. The two bottles of Retsina she’d bought had been drunk at the other night’s dinner and the dusty bottle of ouzo had likewise been drained of its last drop.

A smile skated across his mouth. “I love milk.” He reached down for her hand, lifted it, and brushed his lips across her knuckles.

The caress, tame compared to the kiss they’d just shared, nearly dropped Stefanie to her knees. Her breath catching, she said, “Calcium is…good for you.”

A flash of white teeth answered that statement. “That is good. I will need to keep up my strength.” There was no mistaking the smile in his voice—or the promise in his words.

She turned away, fumbling inside her bag for the key, shivering as Nick nibbled her neck. Key in hand, she fitted it to the lock. The latter was old and likely rusted, the wooden door swollen from the heat, and Nick’s nuzzling a dizzying distraction against which she was powerless to defend. It took several tries, but she finally heard the confirming click. A twist of the knob took them tumbling inside.

She’d forgotten to leave a light on. The door fell closed behind them, blanketing them in blackness. And then Nick’s hands were everywhere—her face, her breasts, her belly. Spanning her waist, he lifted her as though she were made of feathers and swung her into his arms. Keys slipped from her fingers and struck the wood floor. Her hands found the tops of his shoulders. She wound her arms about his neck. Everywhere their bodies touched he was hot and hard, moist and muscled.

Carrying her through the foyer, he passed the staircase and entered the kitchen.

He set her down upon the counter’s edge, the granite hard and chilly. Hands on her knees, he parted them and stepped between. The feral gleam in his eye made her feel entirely desired and entirely safe. “Unless you object, I am going to make love to you now.”

Stefanie didn’t object.

Bracing his fisted hands on either side of her, he leaned in and kissed her again—hard. Bruising and deep, primal and passionate, Nick’s kiss was a sensual assault that accepted nothing less than her complete submission. Stefanie gave it. Caged by his strong arms, caught between his body and the wall, she moaned into his mouth, not because he was hurting her but because she loved it.

“God, I can’t wait to have you.” He lifted his hands from the granite, reached between them, and began tugging at the buttons fronting her dress.

It fell open. Air-conditioning brushed the tops of her breasts. Caught up in kissing him, Stefanie scarcely registered him unhooking the front clasp of her fancy new bra. His sharp intake of breath had her dragging her mouth away and looking down.

The lace cups fell away and her breasts spilled free. He took her in his hands. “You are beyond beautiful,” he said softly, thumbs flicking over her nipples.

A wave of pleasure washed over her. Stefanie shuddered. Before now, she’d thought of herself as big and not much more. But now she looked at herself, really looked, striving to see what Nick saw. While she was indeed big-busted, she was also pleasingly firm and prettily shaped. Coral-colored nipples stuck out as if begging for his touch. Nick gave it, rolling her between his thumbs and forefingers. Intense pleasure struck her, not only in her breasts but everywhere, in her whole body.

He bent his head and fitted his mouth over one throbbing peach point. Heat hit Stefanie—again, everywhere. She gasped and arched against him, seeking to bring them closer. As amazing as his mouth felt on her breasts, she craved his kisses and touch lower. A lot lower.

It was as if Nick divined her thoughts yet again. Taking a step back, he took hold of the hem of her dress. Gliding his palm upward toward her waist, he ferried the fabric with him. Chilly air touched the tops of Stefanie’s bared thighs, the gooseflesh a stark contrast to the heat pooling inside her.

Looking down, he murmured, “So very pretty,” and traced the top of her Victoria’s Secret panties with a single, teasing finger.

Stefanie thought she might die on the spot, not from embarrassment but from anticipation. “Please,” she whispered, arching upward, her touch-starved body begging for release.

She didn’t have to say more. Sliding a hand between her thighs, he palmed her through her panties. Musk rose up between them. Stefanie didn’t need to look down to know that she was wet, her arousal seeping through the silk.

He stilled his stroking. “Do you trust me?”

A sob caught in her throat. “Y-yes.”

It was true. The billionaire playboy of tabloid and entertainment blog infamy was not the same man with whom she’d spent the past week. The Nick she knew was a loving father and now a tender lover.

It was herself she no longer knew. Gone was the ugly duckling, the Cinderella sans fairy godmother and ball. In their place was a swan, a fairy princess, a woman both desired and desirable. Primal power poured through her, sexual energy thrummed.

She smiled down at him. “I’m glad you like my underwear.”

White teeth flashed in the near darkness. “I like you.” Looking away, he grabbed the thin strip of lace and silk and drew it down to her ankles. His dark head shot up. “You are a woman of many surprises.”

He rubbed a knuckle along the narrow queue of curls bisecting her mons, and the painful waxing Macie had talked her into suddenly seemed worth it.
So worth it
.

He followed the line downward to the cleft parting her inner lips, and Stefanie caught her breath. “So responsive,” he murmured, grazing her slit.

The intimate touch carried Stefanie to the edge of the counter and the brink of orgasm. Wetness dampened her inner thighs. Everywhere he touched her, her flesh frissoned. “More, please, I want…more.”

Nick gave it. Slipping in her slickness, he slid a finger inside her. A second followed. Rhythmic scissoring nearly sent her over the edge.

Stefanie wasn’t wet; she was drenched. She lifted herself against his hand, her bottom leaving the counter. But Nick refused to be rushed. With his other hand, he found her clit. Slow circles brought him to her throbbing center.

He dragged her to the counter edge and dropped to his knees. His dark head brushed her lower belly as he angled his mouth to her sex. Beyond shame, Stefanie spread her legs to make room. The bottoms of her feet anchored to the shelf of his broad shoulders. She leaned back on her palms and prepared to give herself up to the pleasure.

But Nick seemed determined to draw out the torture, scattering petal-soft kisses inside one thigh and then the other. Deft fingers spread her. Warm breath fell upon her sensitized flesh. The point of a tongue probed her, teasing her clit. She jumped, her buttocks clenching against the counter as he drew the moisture from her slit.

“You taste like honey,” he murmured, licking damp lips.

He fluttered his tongue until Stefanie was sure she would die of pleasure. Only she didn’t die. She exploded. It was once more the Fourth of July, only the fireworks were all from within. Her engorged sex rocketed, setting off a starburst of spasms that seemed to travel all the way to her womb. Keening sobs tore forth from her throat.

“Nick!” She raked her nails over his scalp and lifted against him.

Finally the salvo faded. Breathing hard, she tugged down her dress, and then looked to Nick resting back on his heels on the floor. Sweat dampened his shirt, molding the material to his broad shoulders and muscled back.

“You’re amazing,” she said, though she suspected that wouldn’t exactly come as news to him.

She might be the nearest thing to naked, but Nick hadn’t dropped so much as a button. As much as she had always fantasized about a man putting her first, right now she didn’t want chivalry. She didn’t want to be relegated to a pedestal—or a kitchen counter. She wanted sex. With Nick. Sweaty, all-consuming, mutually satisfying sex. As amazing as his mouth and tongue and fingers had felt, as satisfying as her climax had been, she still ached to draw down the zipper of his jeans and take him inside her.