A Perfect Love: International Billionaires VI: The Greeks (15 page)

A sharp crack of laughter ruffled against her breast before he leaned back and ripped his shirt over his head. “You have me, Tam,” he said, a wry twist on his mouth. “As always.”

Before she had time to think of what this meant, her attention was caught by the breadth of his shoulders and the gleam of his skin. She’d seen him swimming many times during the last few weeks. This was different, though. His nakedness was hers now, hers to touch and stroke and inflame.

When she touched him, he took in a deep breath, but remained silent.

She took this as encouragement to keep going. His skin was hot, almost steamy. The pads of her fingers slid down, across his biceps to his elbows. Before she let herself stop in shivery fear, she drifted her hands across his pectorals to his tight nipples.

He sucked in a quick breath, then went still once more.

The tuft of hair between his nipples was glossy, soft. She followed the line of hair down his stomach, watching her fingers with fascination as they explored her lover’s body for the first time. Exactly as he had, she let one finger slid under his shorts, reveling in the next quick breath he sucked in. Enjoying the heat of his slick skin.

“We have too many clothes on.”

Glancing up at his rough statement, she met eyes black as midnight and yet lit with a fiery glow.

“Take all your clothes off, Tammy,” he demanded.

Another shiver quivered in her heart. Not only at the demand, one she’d never heard from any man, but also because he’d finally, finally said the nickname she’d never thought to hear from his lips again.

“I’ll do it if you do.” She pushed away the yearning in her heart with her quip.

His mouth quirked. “
Eláte.
”

Come with me.

Come by me.

Come to me.

She wanted to blurt,
come into me
, but she didn’t have the guts. Instead, she stood in a rush. Wobbling on shaky legs for a minute, Tamsin rocked at the blast of awareness shooting through her as Rafe rose to stand beside her.

She was going to have sex with a man for the first time.

Should she tell him?

“What is it?” His voice came low, yet insistent. “Are you having second thoughts?”

Tam looked at him. Standing still and tense, his hand stopped at the button of his shorts. He towered above her, the tops of his shoulders gilded with the white light of the moon, his face shadowed, only the line of his tight jaw showing his emotions.

“No.” Her own hand went to her shorts. “Not at all.”

She wasn’t having sex. She was making love to this wounded man. This was her gift to give and she couldn’t imagine giving it to anyone except him.

Not that he would ever know.

She would never tell him of her love, of her gift. And she knew enough about virginity and sex to know the likelihood of him figuring anything out was slim. Taking her courage in hand, she unbuttoned her shorts and pushed them down, along with her panties. She let them drop to her feet, and stepped out of them.

And stood before him.

She was proud of herself, of this moment. She wanted to present herself as a woman, fully grown, ready to be his mate.

“Tam,” he inhaled. “Tammy.”

Forcing herself, she looked into his eyes, but his gaze didn’t meet hers. It flitted over her naked body, seeming to drink in her entire being.

“
Eísai ómorfi̱
,” he breathed.

He thought she was beautiful. Tears filled her throat, but she managed to husk out, “I want to see you, too.”

A sudden grin lit his face, as he pulled a condom from his pocket.

The action stopped her cold. “You planned this?”

“No, I…” He dropped his head, shielding his expression. “I’ve been walking around with a condom in my pocket from the moment we got here.”

His husky confession should have made her angry. Instead, she found a strange sort of amusement running through her. “You were so sure of me?”

A crack of laughter came from him. “Hardly.”

“Then…”

“I dreamed.” He lifted his head and met her gaze.

Everything inside her melted. “Okay.”

He puffed out a relieved breath.

Chuckling, she ventured a tease. “You can’t put it on unless you take everything off.”

He gave her another grin. “Whatever you want,
kardiá
mou
.”

His hand flicked and his shorts dropped.

Now it was her turn to breathe in deeply. She knew what naked males looked like. She’d seen pictures in school, she’d changed enough of the twins’ diapers, and she hadn’t been clueless about the Web.

Still, nothing prepared her for having a fully grown, naked man in front of her.

A man with an erect penis. A very big erect penis.

Were they all this big?

A shiver went through her once more and this time she could safely say there was a bit of fear running in it.

“Hey.” His smile faded as he reached for her and brought her against the length of his body. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she whispered on the hot skin of his chest.

“Don’t lie, Tam. Not now.”

An echo of old pain made her tense, but he began stroking his hand along her back, soothing away the ugly memories.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

His command ringed through her. Should she confess her virginity now? Would he think the less of her and maybe even laugh at her naїveté? She didn’t want to be laughed at, she wanted to win this, rule this. She wanted to be his equal.

She grasped at the first thing that popped into her mind. “You’re really big.”

His cock bobbed against her stomach as if agreeing with her words. Tam had a sudden urge to giggle which would have made her appear to be about sixteen.

His hushed laugh came from above her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll be perfect together.”

They’d been perfect together from the start. She’d fit perfectly in his arms. Their mouths had touched and created perfection. Even the words they shared had communicated in a perfect way.

Their hearts had once been perfectly matched, too.

All that was gone and she grieved deep inside. Yet she had this moment, this perfect moment with Rafe. In this one area, she wanted to still be perfect with him.

Lifting her head, she kissed his collarbone, then his jaw. “Lie down.”

He met her gaze, his black eyes like shiny stones glittering in the moonlight. She thought he might disagree or take command. Instead, he kneeled in front of her and stretched out.

Male beauty at her feet.

They stared at each other; a silence filled with memories and dreams and reality blurring together. As she watched, he ripped the silver package open and slipped the condom on.

Slowly, carefully, she came down on him, relishing the warmth of his body, the silk of his skin, the hardness of his muscles and penis. Lying on top of him, she kissed his cheek, his nose, finally his mouth.

The movement of their bodies started like a soft wind that soon turned into a raging storm. Tam’s thoughts and emotions were swept away, leaving only her aching body and heated blood. She’d thought having sex would be about doing it right, and making it happen, but the only thing she could hold on to was her lover and her heart.

“Tammy,” he panted in her ear, his hand tight on her hips. “It’s time.”

Deep inside, she shook. This was Rafe, though; this was her love. Planting her hands on his shoulders, she raised herself up to stare into his face. His jaw was tense, his cheekbones stark. His mouth was taut with need. A shimmer of sweat lay on his brow.

“Take me,” he cajoled. “You know what to do.”

No, she didn’t.

Yet somehow, she did.

Deep inside her a womanly core blossomed. Her hand reached back and took him.

Hot. Hard. Male.

“
Nai
,” he groaned as his head went back.

Tamsin placed him at her entrance.

And took him.

O
ne more acceptance
.

A bright blast of happiness exploded inside Tamsin as she stared at the computer screen. Or perhaps happiness wasn’t the word. Perhaps the word was astonishment.

One month ago, when her determination to make her own way had been all-consuming, she’d doggedly sent in over twenty applications to every Greek university and several online colleges. She’d figured if she could be accepted into only one, she’d be satisfied and on her way.

Of the twenty, nine had responded so far and every one of them had sent her an acceptance. Of course, it was too late to start this fall, but all of the entrance departments wanted her to start after the New Year, and four of them had even offered her help with covering the costs.

She was smart.

She could get a degree.

She could be something more than the boys’ sister.

More than Rafe’s lover.

“Tam.” Isaák’s excited voice forced her to jerk her gaze away from the newest acceptance letter. “Look at me!”

Closing the laptop, she smiled as her brother galloped down the diving board and splashed into the pool. The early-afternoon sun shone bright, hazing the yellow-and-blue tiles with a golden glow.

“I can do better than that,” Aarōn scoffed as he lurched out of the water. “Watch me.”

Another gallop. Another splash. Titus barked at the side of the pool, his yips of joy echoing in the air.

A tear of regret and fear and anticipation ripped at her heart. Her boys were growing so fast and she loved them so much. For a moment, she wanted to stop time, tell it to come to a standstill so she could relish the love binding her to her brothers.

Not only this love, Tam. Be honest.

Sucking in a breath, she threw another cheerful smile at Aarōn as he ran by, water dripping from his red swimsuit. His skin, like his brother’s, was deeply tan from the month of Greek sun. When he smiled back, his dark eyes danced with happiness and complete fulfillment.

To the boys, everything was settled.

They loved Tam. They loved Rafe.

Therefore, Tam should love Rafe.

Which she did.

Her heart tore straight through, but the knowledge wasn’t new, wasn’t surprising. What was new and surprising was that maybe, just maybe, Rafe loved Tam.

Maybe.

“Hey.” A deep voice startled her out of her reverie and she turned to find her other love leaning on the arch separating the patio from the family room.

“Hey, yourself.” She was glad for the sunglasses shielding her eyes from his because she didn’t want him to see her torn heart. This past month had been an endless dream of sunny, happy days with the boys laughing and playing, and dark, delicious nights filled with this man’s heat and desire. And all the time, she’d hid some part of herself from the twins, another from Rafe, and much from herself.

She only wanted to love. She didn’t want to think.

He wore a plain white T-shirt and his usual tan cargo pants. Barefoot, he padded to her side and without a glance at the boys, dipped in to nip at her neck.

“Stop.” Leaning away, she shot a frown toward the pool. “Aarōn and Isaák.”

“They aren’t stupid.” He nuzzled along the side of her throat. “They know what’s going on.”

She’d made it clear to Rafe she wanted to keep their lovemaking between themselves. He’d agreed at first, completely. The fact had ironically hurt her. But during the last two weeks, he’d started to touch her at the dinner table, or bring her to his side with a strong hand, or sneak a tug at her nipples when they swam in the pool.

The boys were smart. She’d caught their sideway squints and the quirky smiles. She hadn’t known what to say or do. So she’d said and did nothing.

“We decided—”

“Decisions can change, Tam.” Straightening, he sat in a chair beside her. “You know that.”

“Sure.” She gazed into his dark eyes trying to figure out what decisions he was talking about. She hoped, dreamed that perhaps it was more than merely a decision about PDA. “But—”

“No buts.” He flicked a finger at a buzzing bug, his mouth turning down. “The boys know and I’m tired of pretending it’s not going on.”

She almost blurted out—what is
IT
?—then the ding of the laptop receiving an email interrupted her thoughts.

“For you or me?”

Tam flipped open his laptop. “For me.”

Along with their lovemaking, there’d been an ease in his restrictions and a building trust. She no longer had him staring over her shoulder as she used his computer to check her own email and send out her applications.

The implied trust sat like a small seed of hope in her heart.

A seed that had steadily grown during the days and weeks.

His chuckle weaved through her hope. “I’m beginning to think my staff has forgotten about me.”

“Right,” she tsked. “Not if the hundred-plus emails you get a day has anything to say.”

“That’s about half the emails I usually get.” He eased back in his chair and clasped his hands on his stomach.

She eyed him and took a chance. “You don’t appear to be too upset about it.”

“I’m not.” Abrupt surprise clouded his eyes.

The air stilled around them and Tam forced herself not to smooth it over. More than anything else—the boys’ future, her future, their future—she wanted Rafe’s future to be what it should be.

He didn’t want to be a mover and shaker.

She’d seen it in every glower he gave to his business email, every time his mouth tightened when he went into his office here at the house. She’d seen it in the tenseness of his body the two times he’d left to drive back to Athens to take care of critical business.

He was supposed to be a doctor.

He was supposed to heal people.

He was supposed to be happy at work.

Still, she couldn’t fix this for him. He had to find this knowledge in himself. To her grief, during the last month, she hadn’t seen him move toward this realization.

Until now.

His eyes slashed closed, dark lashes masking the clouds of indecision. When he reopened them to stare at her, the black was impenetrable. As if the cloud of doubt had never been.

To mask her frustration, she clicked on the email. A yelp she couldn’t stop burst from her mouth.

“What?” His voice held a tinge of amusement.

“I…I…”

“Got another acceptance.”

Jerking her head around, she stared at him. “How did you know?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” His broad shoulders shrugged, but his dark eyes danced. “Maybe by checking my own laptop every once in a while.”

“You looked at my email?” Outrage mingled with annoyed affection as she watched his mouth quirk into a grin.

“Just like you check mine?”

“I don’t open—”

“Tam.” One long finger tapped on his forehead. “It doesn’t take a sneaky jerk to open an email when he can easily read the
You have been accepted
in the subject line.”

“Okay.” She slumped out of her outrage back against the rattan chair.

Keeping his hand up, his fingers straightened one by one as he talked. “I have counted not one, not two—”

“Rafe.” A flush of amusement and embarrassment heated her skin.

“Not three. Not four.”

A laugh escaped her and she threw her head back, her hair falling across her shoulders. When she lifted her head to meet his gaze, she caught the sizzle of sex in his slanted eyes. The ever-present lust between them rose like a phoenix reawakened.

This was all so new—the sex, the lust. She relished every second of kissing, every moment of touching. To her great relief, he’d never questioned her on her virginity the first night, nor her inexperience in the following encounters. She’d been secretly pleased at how he responded to her touch, how he appeared to revel in every move she made toward him in the bedroom. She was his equal, at least in the bedroom.

“How many?” His question shot across the space between them with quiet intensity.

She shifted her fingers on the keys of the computer. “This one would make it ten.”

“Ten.”

“Yes.” She couldn’t make sense of what was on his face or in his eyes. Was he happy for her? Was he proud? Impressed? Or perhaps he didn’t think it was a big deal. Or didn’t want to think of her going off and doing something more than what she did here for the boys and him. “I, uh, will probably go to the one who offers the most financial help.”

“There’s no need for that.” A frown furrowed his brows. “You should choose the best and go there.”

The confused blur inside her ratcheted up. “Of course I need to think of finances.”

“No, you don’t.”

His empathic statement slammed into her and she suddenly turned angry. What was he saying? That he’d pay this bill like every one of the others? Or that because she was sleeping with him, he’d do this for her?

“I’ll hire you.”

“What?” Shock ricocheted inside.

“I’m always in need of smart, organized people.” His finger drummed with impatience on his other hand. “You’re not starting this fall, right?”

“Um. Right.”

“Then you’ll have the fall to save and once you begin your studies, we can work around your schedule.”

He thought she was smart. Organized. He thought she should go to the best school. A wash of joy so intense it caught in her throat welled up. This had to mean something, right? This had to mean he’d put their past behind and looked at her as who she really was. Someone a person could trust. Someone worth loving.

The words of love bubbled underneath her tongue.

He gazed at her, his expression bland. “You agree?”

“What would I be doing?”

“I’d have you start in human resources so you could get a sense of the entire company.” His black gaze held nothing but polite interest and her love snuck back down her throat.

“I see.” She wanted to know about his company. Unwillingly, she’d been intrigued when they’d visited and although she knew he didn’t belong there, it was a part of him. A big part. “I guess that sounds fine.”

“Good.” He glanced away, watched as the boys tussled in the water.

Good? All he could say was good?

“Hey, Rafe.” Aarōn lunged to the side of the pool, a big grin of welcome on his face. “Come in and swim with us.”

With a matching grin, his uncle stood, whipping his T-shirt over his head and shoving down his shorts.

“Ha!” Isaák laughed beside his twin. “You already have your swimsuit on. You were planning on joining us, weren’t you?”

Rafe’s dive into the deep end of the pool answered the question. The boys whooped and hollered as they dived to meet him in the water. He rose, the water glistening on his shoulders. Throwing his head back, he laughed as the twins pounced on him.

Good. He said everything was good.

She had to believe it. Wanted to believe it.

Her mobile buzzed in her pocket. Tam jumped. She hadn’t received a phone call since they left London. Out of habit, she kept the phone near to keep track of the boys’ events on her calendar and to make notes about what they needed for the kitchen.

The phone buzzed again.

She slid it open. The number wasn’t one she knew. It could be a college calling instead of emailing.

“Hello?”

Aarōn’s scream of delight echoed in the background and Tam absently watched as Rafe threw her brother over his shoulder.

“Tamsin.”

She froze at the familiar voice. The insides of her heart shrank into a pit of horror.

“Tamsin?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“It’s Haimon.” The oil in the voice threatened to choke her throat. “We need to talk.”

I
f it was possible
, he appeared even worse than the last time she’d seen him in the hospital.

Sallow skin enveloped the dark patches under his eyes. Haimon’s hand shook as he grasped the water glass in front of him. A black button-down shirt did nothing to disguise his weight loss. But most troubling to Tamsin was the feral look in his eyes.

“You appear well.” He coughed into a napkin before smiling, his teeth as yellow as his skin.

She stifled the impulsive reply that he didn’t. Then the awful smog of guilt overtook her. She and the boys
were
well: happy, fed, content. This man, who’d been part of their family for so many years, was clearly not. Forcing a smile back, she reminded herself she’d given him everything they had and even more importantly, this man had damaged Rafe and his family irreparably.

She shouldn’t feel guilty. She should feel angry.

Instead, panic slid along her skin, making her shiver.

“How are the boys?”

She jerked herself straight and kept the smile on her face. “They’re good. They like Greece.”

“Of course they like Greece,” the old man huffed. “They are Greek.”

An unsettled hush fell over the wooden table. The lone waiter in the Sparti taverna Haimon had told her to meet him at, lurked behind the shabby red curtain separating the dining area from the kitchen. The smell of grease wafted through the smoke coming from the one other patron’s cigarette.

“Yes,” she stated. “They like it here.”

His eyes narrowed and something fevered flashed across them. “Happy with all of Vounó’s money, eh?”

“Money has nothing to do with their happiness.” Anger surged, wrapping around her panic. “They were happy before Rafe came into their life.”

“Rafe, is it?” he scoffed. “You’ve fallen under his spell again. Stupid girl.”

The comment would have hurt her once. Not now. Tamsin absorbed the knowledge with relief. She didn’t care about this man’s opinion anymore. This should make it easier to deal with whatever Haimon demanded. And she knew there would be demands. “When we met last, you knew I was going to let the boys be with him. It’s why I gave you the money.”

“Speaking of money.”

Tam kept her gaze steady. She’d known, deep within, what this was about. She was just glad this was all it was about. “I gave you everything we had.”

The man across from her snorted. “Don’t take me for a fool. You are living in the million-dollar home of a billionaire.”

“The home isn’t mine—”