The Shy Bride (10 page)

“I have already stripped, or hadn’t you noticed?”

“Don’t be smart. You know what I want.”

“Ah, you wish equal disrobing?”

“Well, you’ve just got those small briefs left and they
don’t look like they’re very comfortable.” She did her best to appear like his comfort was all that concerned her. Of course, the innocent hunger in her eyes sort of ruined that.

Nevertheless, he looked down at himself and had to agree with her assessment. His briefs did not look comfortable, not with the way his hardness was trying to press out of them. The fabric was stretched thin trying to cover the length of his rigid penis and he had to wonder how much longer they would be able to do so. Though he was not sure he wanted to remove them just yet.

Leaving them on was a mental boundary for him. The last barrier between him and the untouched channel between her legs.

Instead of answering, he stalled for time by running a hand up the inside of her thigh.

She shivered, letting her legs drift farther apart. “Everywhere you touch feels so amazing, like I’ve got electric currents running under my skin and your fingers are the conductors.”

“I like making you feel electrified.” He let his fingertip dip into the honeyed warmth of her passage and had to stifle a growl of pleasure. She was soft, silky and wet.

Everything he so desperately needed.

Neo’s fingers breached Cass’s vaginal entrance for the first time and her brain emptied in a red haze of desire.

Everything they had done so far was new for her, but this was in its own class. Having him touch her there made her feel like she belonged to him on a primal level. And although he was the one doing the touching, that didn’t stop her from feeling like he belonged to her, too.

A wholly alien sense of possessiveness washed over
her even as she shifted again to give him better access to her most feminine place.

He touched her like he couldn’t get enough and that was more stimulating than the caresses themselves. It made her feel wanted for something other than her talent at the piano. For the first time in her memory.

This was no friend having pity on the hopelessly innocent. Neo wanted her and every touch of his hand or mouth showed just how much.

As did the erection seriously tenting his briefs. She wanted to see his male member, she really did, but couldn’t seem to remember how to make her mouth work to remind him of that fact. She couldn’t take her eyes off his body.

He chuckled, a dark and sexy sound that only increased the arousal pulsing powerfully through her body.

“How does this feel?” He pressed one finger inside her. She wondered how anything bigger was ever going to fit because she felt stretched with that single entry.

“Full,” she got out breathlessly.

“Do not worry. You will stretch to accommodate me.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

“You’re a lot bigger than your finger.” But that finger felt so good.

“You’ll be thankful for that later.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she gasped out between panting breaths as his finger caressed her interior.

He pushed a little farther inside and she felt a flash of pain. Making a noise of dissent, she tried to arch away.

“Shh…relax. This is your hymen and it must be breached for our intimacy to be achieved.”

“I’m not a Victorian maiden. I know that, but it hurts.”
It was unsettling the impact a little pain marring her pleasure could have on her. She would have to trust him to know what he was doing.

But she was acting on instinct, too.

“I want you inside me when the last barrier to my virginity is crossed.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

He smiled and nodded.

“As you wish.” He got up. “I need to get condoms.”

“Where are they?”

“In the guest room.”

He really never had sex in here. For some inexplicable reason, Cass was really pleased about that fact. Sex in his bed was for her and her alone. The newly developed streak of possessiveness in her nature rejoiced.

He was gone less than a minute, returning with a small box that he tossed onto the bedside stand. He’d already taken one of the small, square foil packets out of it and was tearing it open.

“Watch me. Next time, I want you to do this.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re bossy?” she asked even as part of her thrilled at his instruction. It wasn’t as if she wanted to look anywhere else.

“Demanding. Assertive. Pushy. Stubborn. Difficult. Perhaps bossy once or twice.”

She huffed out a laugh. “I have a feeling I’ll be using all those and more.”

“No doubt.” He pulled his hand away. “Now I make love to you,
yineka mou.”
The Greek in his accent was thick and strong.

She didn’t correct his semantics. She didn’t want to.
Right now, for the first time, she needed to feel like they were making love. Even if it was just sex. Between friends.

And then, as impossible as it might seem, she realized in that moment it was because she
did
love him. She didn’t know how it had happened so quickly, or even if the feeling was real, but she felt a depth of feeling for him she had not felt in any form since her parents’ deaths.

And wasn’t this exactly what he had warned her against? Mistaking sexual feelings for real emotion? Only it did not feel like a mistake. And she had to wonder if the sex could feel so good and right for her without some emotion attached.

She wasn’t about to ask him, but it was a topic she would explore with some of her online friends. Ones who had more of a life than she did and might be able to give her the insight she needed.

For now, she just concentrated on how it felt to have Neo joining their bodies. It wasn’t all joy and yet rather than making her irritable as she’d feared it would, the pain felt even more intimate than the pleasure.

An indelible marking on her soul that would connect her to him for the rest of her life.

Though he was slow and careful entering her, it still hurt and tears leaked down her temples. He leaned down to kiss them away and whisper soothing Greek in her ear. She didn’t know what he was saying, but the tone comforted her and caressed the ragged edges of her spirit.

Once their pelvises touched, he stopped moving completely, giving her time…? She thought that must be it because the sweat beads formed on his forehead told their own story about the cost such patience had on him.

“I feel so connected to you,” she whispered as their gazes joined as intimately as their bodies.

His eyes closed and he whispered what sounded like no.

“No?” she asked, unaccountably hurt.

“Ne.
Yes,” he hissed. “It is Greek.”

“Oh.” Good.

“You make me lose my English.” She thought that might be one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her.

“Is it always like this?”

His eyelids lifted, revealing a gaze gone dark with passion. “No. It is never like this. Not for me.”

She wanted to say something to that, but didn’t know what. He was not declaring love or even an intent for something long-term; he was simply acknowledging that this moment was special. For all she knew, she was his first virgin.

“Zephyr told me it would be phenomenal.” Neo’s voice was strained, like the toll from remaining still was getting heavier.

“Sex with a virgin?”

“Sex with a friend.”

“Oh.”

“Indeed.”

“But I already knew it would be like this with you.”

“You did?”

“Why do you think I wanted it so much?”

“Oh,” she said again, not having any other words. He pulled out slowly, abrading torn tissues, but causing a jolt of pleasure to go through her all the same.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes.” Maybe more than.

And then he was moving, swiveling his hips and hitting a spot inside her that sent jolt after jolt of electric sensation through her body.

“So good,” she fairly groaned, though the soreness had not gone entirely. She felt a muted spiral of pleasure and she wanted more but wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

He sat back and tugged at her wrist until he had her own hand placed palm down on her belly just below her belly button. He pulled until the tip of her middle finger just brushed her clitoris.

She cried out at the surge of sensation that tiny touch caused.

“Keep it there,” he instructed and then he started moving again, faster this time. And with every body-jarring thrust, her fingertip caressed her center of pleasure.

That muted spiral became a tornado and she felt orgasm claim her in shattering convulsions.

Finally, she went limp from the quakes and aftershocks and only then did she feel him stiffen above her.

He yelled something in Greek as he climaxed, and then he looked down at her. “Amazing,
yineka mou.”

She would have to ask him what
yineka mou
meant, but not right now. All she wanted to do in this moment was bask.

He quirked a brow at her, his face reflecting satiated pleasure.

“Mind-blowing.”

His smile was as good as the kiss that came after it.

N
EO
lay next to Cassandra and watched her sleep. He had insisted she soak in a mineral bath after their lovemaking, and then had tucked her into bed, where he had served her a late supper instead of seducing her into round two as his body had urged him to do. Now she slept and he remained awake, shocked at his own behavior.

Since when did he pamper his sex partners, much less actually
sleep
with them?

He was not a selfish lover, but he shied away from any form of intimacy, spoiling with anything but extravagant gifts included. This friends-with-benefits situation was a dangerous thing, he realized.

Cassandra deserved a little coddling. No doubt about it. And perhaps that was all this urge to pamper, coddle and care for was about. He saw a dearth in his precious friend’s life and was determined to fill it.

She’d received little enough of it in her life even though common sense might say she should have gotten more
than her share. But no one in the brilliant musician’s sphere had seen the price she paid for her music as anything other than what had to be done.

Her mother had been an invalid, and yet rather than giving the small child Cassandra had been extra love and attention to make up for that, she’d been thrown into a world of public performance that clearly terrified her. Worse, she’d been forced to stay there.

Neo might have grown up on the streets, with a short stint in an orphanage, but he knew that wasn’t acceptable behavior for a family. He could not regret her father was dead, or Neo would be tempted to beat the man. Not that her manager was entirely safe. The temptation to destroy the man was strong, but Neo would rather focus his energies on helping Cassandra regain certain elements to her life.

Like travel.

She had seemed so excited at the prospect of going to Dubai, and even Napa Valley with him. He would never have thought she enjoyed travel so much, being as connected as it was to her public performing.

But apparently the incredibly talented pianist had found one thing to enjoy on her concert tours. Experiencing new places.

He was determined she would know that joy again.

He would look at his schedule in the morning to see when they might plan the trip to Napa Valley. It would have to be soon, because if he ended up going to Dubai, it would be in the next month. And chances were good on that trip. He wanted to take Cassandra. He wanted his new friend to experience all the delight life had to offer.

Including, but not limited to, devastating sex.

And maybe he would find her a new manager, one who
saw Cassandra as a person, not a meal ticket. Or at least was very good at pretending so.

Cass woke in a strange bed for the first time since her father died and she stopped travelling for her music. It was a comfortable bed with soft sheets and duvet of perfect weight. She could easily snuggle down and go back to sleep, a sense of warmth and safety enveloping her.

Until her brain supplied just whose bed she had woken in.

Neo’s!

She could still smell him on the sheets. That yummy aftershave he wore and a scent she would forever associate with sex. She reached out, but found the sheets beside her empty. They were still warm from another body, though. Neo had slept with her.

Memories of strong arms holding her, a tender kiss on her lips and a whispered “Good night,
yineka mou”
warmed her.

She could barely wrap her mind around the fact he had slept with her—all night long, much less her lascivious memories of the night before.

Sitting up in the Ralph Lauren white T-shirt Neo had lent her to sleep in, she felt only tiny twinges in muscles used so differently from her normal exercise regime. The mineral bath had helped. A lot.

She bit her lip on the smile Neo’s insistence she soak in the enhanced hot water brought to her face. He’d been so sweet, but she intuited he would not thank her for saying so.

He’d taken such good care of her, but what had really surprised her was him carrying her to
his
bed after the bath. She’d assumed that if she was staying over, she would do so in the guest room. But that wasn’t what happened.

He’d brought her to his bed. Without the slightest hesitation or discussion.

And though she’d never once slept in the same bed as another person, she had rested deeply, waking only once in the wee hours of the night. Rather than being bothered by the body wrapped so protectively around hers, she had reveled in the experience, knowing it might not ever happen again.

She didn’t think Neo made a habit of sleeping with his mistresses. No doubt he’d made an exception for her because it had been her first time.

He really was a nice man.

“What’s put that smile on your face?” the man himself asked from the doorway, dressed immaculately and obviously ready for work.

“You,” she admitted.

His brows rose.

“Really. You’re a very nice man, Neo Stamos, billionaire business mogul.”

He shook his head. “Don’t let my contractors hear you say that.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Dora has breakfast waiting for you when you are ready.” Cass looked around, but did not see a clock. “What time is it?”

Neo flicked a glance at his watch. “Seven-thirty.”

“You look ready to go to work.”

“I am. I woke late, but have a meeting I must attend.”

“Can I return to my house today?” she asked, fearful of the answer. She couldn’t help noticing, he had never mentioned Cole Geary calling the night before with the all clear.

“Yes, of course. Cole’s team finished the installations before dinnertime yesterday.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

He shrugged, but the skin over his sculpted cheekbones went a burnished hue. “I was enjoying your company.”

“Ditto,” she hastened to assure him. “I certainly don’t mind, but it would be good to get back to work on my composition.”

“Get done what needs doing by Friday.”

“There goes that bossy gene again.”

“Ahazard of spending your time around business moguls.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

“Just so you don’t expect to always get your way.”

“Just so you don’t expect me not to try.”

She laughed, feeling more free than she had since her initial decision to stop performing. “What’s happening on Friday?”

“We’re flying to Napa Valley after dinner and staying for the weekend.”

Shocked to her pink, bare toes, she jumped out of the bed. She hadn’t let herself hope he meant it about travelling together, but hadn’t he told her at least once he did not say things he didn’t mean? “You’re serious?”

“I’ve instructed my pilot to book both takeoff and landing slots and Miss Parks to rent a house for the weekend.”

“All since waking up?”

“I texted them both last night, after you fell asleep.”

“But it’s such short notice.”

“Money—”

“Talks and the rest of the world listens.” She shook her head in disbelief. He gave her so much and didn’t seem to even realize it. “You’re amazing! Thank you!”

He accepted her enthusiastic hug without a glimmer of
hesitation, but kept his kiss swift. “I cannot afford to get sidetracked by your too-alluring lips this morning.”

“You find my lips alluring?”

“Most definitely.”

“Good to know.” She was feeling positively giddy and it showed in her voice.

“You think?”

“Sure, knowledge is power,” she said cheekily.

“So they say.” His eyes travelled down her T-shirt-clad body, the heat factor increasing steadily until he gave her a look that singed her to her toes. “Know this, if I did not have to attend this meeting, I would be taking you back to bed and touching you until you screamed.”

“Wow. Maybe we can try that scenario in California this weekend.” Yes. Please.

“Consider it done.” He took a deep breath. “I am leaving now. Do not be intimidated by Dora. She is my housekeeper, therefore not a stranger.”

It said a lot about how much she trusted
him
and how comfortable she was in Neo’s home that his words actually settled inside her with truth. “Got it. Not a stranger.”

“Will you be okay with her driving you home?”

“Surely that’s not in her job description?”

He shrugged. “I thought you would be more comfortable with her than my usual driver.”

“So, you do use one.”

“When necessary, yes. I like driving though.”

“And you like being on time. Go.”

He shook his head and then grabbed her and placed a hard, lingering kiss on her lips. Then he spun on his heel and left the bedroom.

She put her fingers over her lips. “Wow.” She spun in a circle. “Just wow.”

Dora turned out to be a Greek woman in her mid-fifties with salt-and-pepper hair worn in a neat bun. She had a kind smile and the apparent desire to feed the nations. The breakfast she laid out for Cass was big enough to feed an army.

When she said so, the older woman grinned. “One day That One,” she said, tilting her head toward the door as if Neo were still in the apartment, “will settle down and give me some
bebes
to cook for.”

The image of little boys with green eyes and dark hair teasing a sister into eating her dinner so they could all leave the table to play flashed through Cass’s mind. It filled her with a longing she thought she had long ago conquered. “He’ll make a wonderful father.”

“Not that he knows it.” Dora rolled her eyes as she poured Cass a cup of aromatic coffee. “Men!”

Cass laughed. “I don’t have much experience with the species, except my manager.” And Bob was less a man in her mind than the nagging voice of business.

Neo’s bossiness didn’t really bother her, but when Bob got overly demanding, she felt borderline bullied. One thing was for sure, if he could have cajoled her into returning to the stage, he would have done it. Goodness knew he kept trying.

He’d played every guilt card in the deck. At least twice.

“You are the pianist. Mr. Neo told me. I enjoy your music.”

“Thank you.”

“You will have to slow down when you have children. Two CDs a year.” She shook her head.

“I doubt I’ll ever have children, but I would not mind cutting back on my composing for their sake if I did.”

“Why should you not have children?”

“Some people never find that special person to spend their lives with. I wouldn’t wish myself on a child as a single parent, either.” Not with her limitations. It wouldn’t be fair to the child.

“So, you’re a little shy. I’ve read your biography. Not everybody likes to be the center of attention. You’ll make a wonderful mother. You mark my words.”

Cass just smiled, hiding how much she wished the other woman’s words weren’t just wise, but were prophetic. Only Cass knew how impossible such dreams were in her life. “Neo said you would drive me home this morning.”

“Yes. He did not think you would like going with his driver, or so he said.”

“That’s right. Strangers can intimidate me.”

“Yes, I’m sure. It has nothing to do with the fact his driver is a very attractive young man. No. Of course not.”

Cass was startled into laughter. “I do not think Neo is the jealous type.”

Dora made a noncommittal noise and then told Cass to eat her breakfast.

Cole Geary was waiting for Cass when she arrived at her house.

She was amused to discover that Dora had no intention of leaving Cass alone with a man. The older woman’s traditional values were showing. Cass was only surprised Dora didn’t seem to think less of her for so obviously spending the night with her employer.

Cole walked Cass through all the changes, which
were
pretty unobtrusive. Getting used to the alarm system was going to be the hardest part.

“Strange to look out through a window and realize the glass wouldn’t shatter if a neighbor kid hit a ball at it.”

“You get used to it,” Cole said.

Dora nodded. “Mr. Neo’s got a glass partition around his balcony that’s supposed to stop bullets. It’s got to be cleaned just like any window.”

“It’s top-quality shatterproof material.” Cole sounded proud of that fact. “The same stuff they used during the president’s acceptance speech.”

“He takes his safety seriously,” Cass remarked.

“He has to.”

Cass felt an internal shudder at that reminder. “Sometimes, I forget he’s such a successful tycoon.”

Cole looked at her like she’d lost her mind, but Dora’s smile was clearly approving.

Once they’d finished the tour of the new security measures and programmed her palm print into the biometric locks, Cass offered the other two coffee. Cole declined due to another appointment. Dora accepted, offering to make the coffee while Cass changed into fresh clothes for the day.

As Cass was dressing for the second time that morning, it occurred to her she may well have made a second friend.

The phone rang that night just as Cass was getting ready for bed. It was Neo.

“Dora said Cole walked you through the changes.”

“Yes. They’re better than I expected. They even painted all my window trims the same color they were. You can barely tell the difference.”

“I told you.”

“It’s not nice to rub it in when you are right, Neo.”

“You did not mind me being right about how good intimacy between us would be.”

She choked out a laugh. “Jerk.”

“Seriously? You just called the great Neo Stamos a jerk?”

“I was teasing, oh, Mr. Greatness.”

His laughter was rich and warm.

“Were you late for your meeting this morning?”

“Naturally not.” He paused. “But I did not have time to do my usual preparations.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You do not sound so.”

“What do you expect? I impacted the great Neo Stamos’s schedule. That’s pretty impressive.”

“Proud of yourself, are you?”

“Absolutely.”

“I feel the same.”

“You do?”

“You can ask that after the honor you did me last night?”

“Was it such an honor?”

“Very much so.”

“So, um…you haven’t had a lot of experience, with virgins I mean.”