Sold (4 page)

“Loved it.” She smiled. “How are your
parents?”

“Mitera,” he said using the Greek name for
mother, “as always thinks I’m too thin and not old enough to be on
my own.”

Christy laughed. “And what are you now,
thirty-three?”

“Thirty-six.” He shook his head. “She has
never stopped being overprotective.”

“That’s right, you’re five years older than
me,” Christy said. “What about your father?”

“Patri won’t retire,” Zach said. “He’s still
chief editor at their hometown paper.” He glanced at her. “How is
your grandmother?”

“She’s a hundred and one now.” Christy
smiled. “Nothing can stop her.”

The distance between the hotel and Milonas
wasn’t far, and within ten minutes Zach was pulling the car up in
front of the nightclub. Immediately a valet opened Christy’s door
and helped her step out of the car. She held her dress and her coat
down with one hand as she stood. The black coat was the length of
her dress, and her dress was so short she was concerned about
flashing her black panties at anyone who might be standing
nearby.

“Mr. Nikas.” The valet stood at attention,
showing extreme respect to Zach as he walked around the car and
handed the valet his keys. “Is there anything else I can do for you
tonight?”

“This will be fine.” Zach slipped a tip into
the young man’s hand.

“Thank you, Mr. Nikas.” The valet jogged
around the car and climbed in.

Zach placed his palm at the base of Christy’s
spine and even through the coat she shivered at the contact. The
moment they entered the club, the hostess approached them and
showed pleasure at seeing Zach and was polite to Christy. The
blonde hostess helped them out of their coats and took them before
she escorted them to a corner table with a view of the harbor.

The interior of the nightclub was elegant and
rich in design and furnishings. Crystal lights winked from the
ceiling at different levels, looking like stars across a black
velvet sky. The lighting was low, the atmosphere romantic.

When Zach had pushed in her chair he took his
own seat and settled back in it, watching Christy. She felt warm
beneath his gaze and tried not to show how much he unsettled her...
And how much he turned her on.

She wanted him to kiss her like he used to.
Taste him and drink in his masculine scent.

He was even sexier than she remembered. She
wanted to slide her hands over his chest, shoulders, and biceps
like she used to and feel his hard muscles as they flexed beneath
her palms. His short black hair needed to be mussed and she knew
just how she would like to do it.

She would massage his back the way he liked,
and rake her nails down his spine. He had taught her many things
that he loved, with the exception of what had come between them.
But he had pleasured her more than any man had since.

No one could ever measure up to Zach
Nikas.

A server showed up at the table, knocking
Christy out of her fantasies. The elegant woman had skin as fine as
brown silk and eyes almost as dark as Zach’s. She had a lovely
smile as she looked at Zach.

“What may I get for you, Mr. Nikas?”

“We’ll have a bottle of the Hirsch Vineyards
Chardonnay,” Zach said.

The server nodded and smiled again. “Right
away, Mr. Nikas.”

“Thank you, Brandi,” he said and then she
gave a little bow and left.

Zach turned his attention fully to Christy.
His gaze locked with hers. “I’ve thought about you a lot over the
years.” He said it like he meant every word of it.

“Well, I told you already, I’ve thought a lot
about you, too.” Christy smiled. “It’s hard to believe it’s been
eight years.”

“So tell me, Christy.” He leaned back. “What
did you learn from your research?”

“I learned that it isn’t so freaky, just
kinky.” She thought back to what she liked about the things she’d
seen and read. “Losing control is appealing. Not to just anyone. To
someone who is like you are, Zach. Strong, outgoing, accomplished,
passionate about what you do and like.”

He studied her as if examining every word she
said and filing it away.

“Do you do it much?” She squirmed a little in
her seat as she asked the question. She wasn’t sure she wanted to
know the answer.

“I have played with a lot of women,” he said.
“It’s a part of the date for me, if I feel a connection with the
person. It doesn’t happen with everyone.”

“Mr. Playboy, eh? Do you think you’ll ever
settle down?” she asked.

“I have no problem settling down.” His eyes
met hers and they were full of meaning. “When I find the right
woman, I will.”

She bit the inside of her lip before she
spoke. “When I saw what you had—gags, blindfolds, cuffs, and so
many other things…I didn’t know what to think. And then the
pictures of the bound women…and some of the equipment you
used…”

“I’ve added a lot of play toys since then,”
he said. “It might frighten you off again… But it is a passion for
me.”

She swallowed. “Control is a passion for you,
too, isn’t it,” she stated.

“Yes it is, Christy.” He gaze was dark,
intense. “Control my way.”

“I am not into the master slave thing
though,” she said.

“Don’t worry about that. It is not my thing
either.”

“I think I can handle whatever you’ve got.”
What was she saying?

His lips twitched as if he was holding back a
smile.

At that moment, the server brought over the
bottle of wine, showed it to Zach and poured just enough for him to
taste. When he accepted it, the waitress poured them each a glass
and left the bottle.

“To the auction.” Zach said with his sexy
smile as they toasted.

From the first sip of the wine, Christy knew
it was an expensive one. It was an amazing wine with an incredible
flavor.

“When I saw that you were being auctioned
tonight, I had to come.”

Christy’s eyes widened. “You knew?”

“I had every intention of winning you
tonight.” Zach raised his glass to his lips. “That Henry Hawthorne
never stood a chance.”

Christy’s lips parted and she stared at him
with complete and total surprise. “You planned this whole
night?”

“Right down to having you sitting here with
me and having a drink.” He swirled the wine in his glass, holding
her gaze with his own. “When I opened the program to your
picture…let’s just say that I had to see you. I had to have
you.”

She bit the inside of her lip before she
spoke. “You always did like to control the outcome of everything
that came your way.”

“And I still do.” He took a drink of his wine
before setting down his wine glass. “Does that bother you?”

“Strangely, no.” Christy studied him,
remembering what it had been like when they had dated. “With you…I
liked how you always took charge. I always felt safe and secure,
and loved by you.”

“Yes, I loved you.” His expression grew
serious and her stomach pitched as he echoed her statement in the
past tense. “You tore my heart apart when you left.”

“It was hard for me, too.” She started to
reach for her hair, automatically wanting to twirl it around her
finger, but put her hand back in her lap.

“You still do that.” He reached across the
table and grasped a lock of her hair and let it slide through his
fingers. “It’s still spiraled from you doing that earlier
tonight.”

“You watched me?” she asked.

The corner of his mouth quirked. “From the
moment you walked in with the blonde and the redhead. I couldn’t
take my eyes off of you.”

“Is there anything else I should know?” she
shook her head. “I don’t suppose you watched me shower, too.”

“As a matter of fact I did.” He gave a sexy
grin.

She pretended to act indignant, but she knew
he could tell she hadn’t seriously considered him actually doing
just that.

“Mr. Nikas, is there anything else I can get
for you?” the server asked as she stopped at their table.

“That will be all for tonight, Brandi.”

She gave him a brilliant smile, bowed, and
left.

“You must come here a lot.” Christy followed
Brandi with her gaze. “Everyone here seems to know you.”

“They’d better know me.” Zach gave an amused
smile. “I own the place.”

As many times as she had been surprised
tonight, she may as well have left her mouth hanging open. “You own
Milonas?”

He gave a slight nod. “And Passero’s,
downtown.”

“I love Passero’s. It’s a great restaurant.”
Christy leaned back in her chair. “When you said you were in the
restaurant business, I had no idea.”

“Unless you would like some dessert or more
wine,” he said, “why don’t we go to my place for a nightcap?”

Thoughts of being alone with Zach, totally
and completely alone, sent tingles down her spine.

“I’d like that.” She set her wine glass on
the table and her fingers ached as she uncurled them. She hadn’t
realized she’d been holding it as tightly as she was.

“Good,” he said. “We have a little catching
up to do.”

His home was so close to his nightclub that
they could have walked. He lived in a house in a nearby exclusive
community, which meant he was doing quite well. The fact that he
owned Milonas and Passero’s made that perfectly clear.

It would have made her uncomfortable if it
weren’t for the fact that it was Zach, someone she had known well
and had loved.

He took her coat when they entered his home
and closed the door behind them. He set the coat aside then took
off his own, as well as his suit jacket.

Low lighting greeted them and she took in his
home as they passed through the spacious foyer. To her left a
staircase swept up to the second floor and just past that was a
formal dining room. To her right was a formal sitting room.

They walked through an archway and into a
large common room. It was casual and relaxed looking, with
overstuffed leather furniture and a built-in entertainment unit
with a huge flat-screen TV. This room was more like the Zach she
knew.

Through a doorway on the right she could see
the sleek lines of a modern kitchen. A hallway led away from the
common room, probably to guest rooms or a home office.

He laid the coats and jacket over the back of
the chair as if impatient to rid himself of them, and then he
brought her into his arms.

The move surprised her, yet at the same time
it didn’t. She had wanted him to kiss her all night. The way he’d
looked at her at the nightclub, she had the impression he’d been
thinking the same thing.

Being in his arms was better than she
remembered and when he brought his mouth to hers, his kiss was more
amazing than the countless kisses she had imagined.

His kiss was searching, as if he was
remembering her taste and the feel of their mouths together. She
felt like she’d been transported back to the time when everything
between them was amazing and fresh and new.

As he drew away, he cupped her face in his
hands and studied her. Her lips were moist from his kisses and she
almost begged him to kiss her again.

He slowly rubbed his thumb over her cheek.
“It almost doesn’t seem real having you here with me.”

“It feels like a dream.” She put her palms on
his chest, feeling his heat through his shirt as she moved her
palms up to his shoulders. “I’ve imagined this, imagined being with
you again.”

He continued caressing her cheek with his
thumb as his dark eyes looked into hers. “I can’t remember a time
when I didn’t think about you when I was with another woman.”

She looked at him with surprise. “Do you mean
that?”

“There have been a lot of women in my life,
Christy.” He brought his face closer to hers. “None of them were
you.”

The thrills that went through her belly
caused a spiral straight to that place between her thighs. Even
after all of these years, she knew him well enough that she didn’t
have to question what he just said. Zach Nikas didn’t say anything
he didn’t mean.

“I guess we aren’t waiting for the weekend at
the resort,” she said softly.

“This will make that weekend all the more
exciting.” He grasped her hair in his hand and pulled her hair
back, causing her to gasp. “Are you sure you want to be here with
me tonight, Christy? Last chance.”

“I want to stay.” She winced at the harshness
of how hard he had pulled her hair. Yet at the same time it had a
good sting to it.

And the mastery in the movement… He was
already taking control of her and it turned her on so that her skin
felt on fire.

He brought her to him for a hard kiss,
nothing like the gentle reunion of moments before. This was harsh,
forceful. He pinched her nipples hard through her dress and bit her
lower lip, causing tears to sting her eyes.

She loved it.

The kiss was wild, hungry. He reached behind
her and drew down the zipper of her dress. It fell in a silken
caress down her body and around her feet, leaving her in her black
bra and matching panties along with thigh-high silk stockings and
her high heels.

He grabbed her by her ass and brought their
bodies flush together. His cock was hard against her belly and
knowing that he was as turned on as she was, sent an ache between
her thighs. She held onto his biceps, digging her fingers in as if
to hold on for safety from a coming storm. He moved his hand to the
clasp of her bra and unfastened it.

Heat warmed her as he stepped away and took
her bra with him and then he tossed it on the couch. He cupped her
breasts and she sucked in her breath as he pinched her nipples
again, harder this time, and she bit her lower lip to hold back a
cry.

“Take off your heels.” He stepped back and
crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, Christy.”