Nine Months To Tame The Tycoon by Chantelle Shaw, Annie West

CHAPTER NINE

HEDID. THATNIGHT and every night after that. And Cora didn’t for a moment think of objecting.

What they shared left no room for false pride. Strato might have used outlandish tactics to get her aboard his yacht, but she wanted to be here. She wanted him and relished the woman she became with him.

It wasn’t that he’d changed her. It was more that with him she was free to be herself as never before. There was no judgement, no expectation.

All Strato demanded was honesty. After her past experiences it had taken her a while to believe that, but it was true. Her honest responses, physically and in conversation, were never dismissed and always welcomed. It made conversations stimulating and lovemaking unique and special.

In return, Strato was straightforward to the point of bluntness. He had a way of telling her exactly what he’d like to do with her sexually that made her pulse skyrocket and her body throb in anticipation.

The only exception to his forthrightness was that he rarely spoke of his past and then in only the most general terms, so Cora learned not to raise the subject, respecting his desire for privacy.

She’d moved from her guest stateroom to Strato’s vast suite with its enormous bed. It was the most comfortable bed she’d ever slept in. Or maybe it was because she was always exhausted from exertion and pleasure when sleep claimed her.

For a lazy hedonist Strato had so much energy! And not just for sex. Every day they explored, either an island or underwater.

Yesterday it had been a sunken ancient temple, an amazing place she’d never visited. Exploring it with him had felt special. As if they shared something remarkable. Afterwards, as they dined on the deck, and later as Strato gathered her close, Cora had felt herself soften. Not just physically as her body shaped itself to his, but mentally.

Strange as it might once have seemed, she liked Strato.

And he...

No, she wouldn’t go there, second-guessing his feelings. They were more than halfway through their month together. When the time was up they’d go their separate ways. Strato was an amazing lover but he’d made it clear their relationship was time-limited.

No long-term ties. No happy-ever-after.Those had been his conditions from the first.

Now though, four weeks seemed an incredibly short time. She couldn’t imagine going back to her island, or to another research project, and never seeing Strato again.

Cora rolled over and stared at the space beside her, ignoring the dull feeling of disappointment like a lead weight in her middle.

She’d known Strato wasn’t still in bed. If he had been they’d have been touching. Either spooned together or with her sprawled across his chest in what had become one of her favourite positions. Head on his shoulder, arm and knee across him as if to stop him moving away.

They were always touching. Even when they weren’t making love. Strato was the most tactile person she’d met. She loved the connection. The brush of his fingers across her arm as they shared some new discovery. The weight of his hand at her breast or waist as he slept.

You’ll miss him when you leave.

You miss him now, waking up to find him gone.

What will you be like in eight days’ time, knowing you won’t see him again?

Cora frowned as she focused on the dented pillow. What would life be like without Strato?

Less exciting. Less pleasurable. Less...warm.

There was something about sharing with him, not just sex, but small things like her joy in a glorious sunset and her weakness for sweet pastries, or big things like her hopes of working permanently in research at a marine reserve. He listened and understood. She had that with her father but there were things she couldn’t share with her dad that, to her surprise, were easy to discuss with Strato.

And though he wasn’t one to talk about himself, he sometimes told her snippets about his business interests that fascinated her. The complexity of the corporation astounded her, as did the suspicion that he ran it all from aboard his yacht. Clearly he delegated, but there’d been enough video conferences and hours when Strato was shut in his study to convince her that the stories about him as a louche playboy didn’t paint the whole picture.

She knew him so well yet there was so much she didn’t know. So much she wanted to understand.

Cora pushed back the sheet and swung her legs out of bed. It was early but she wouldn’t get back to sleep.

It had been a mistake getting into the habit of falling asleep with Strato. Now it felt wrong, trying to sleep without his solidly muscled body beside her.

She smiled. Maybe she could convince him to come back to bed.

Strato pulled on the handles of the rowing machine, feeling the stretch of muscles in a pleasing rhythm that would, eventually, exhaust him.

Eventually but not soon. He’d woken with Cora spooned against him, her buttocks cushioning his morning erection and his hand at her plump, perfect breast.

He grimaced and pulled harder on the machine, feeling tension rack his shoulders, torso and legs.

He’d been about to wake her for dawn sex as he usually did, when he realised what had begun as a delicious treat had become habit. Each day he woke and reached for her. Not simply because of his almost permanent state of readiness these days, but because he was becoming addicted to giving her pleasure.

Sweat beaded his brow as he worked harder, forcing his body to the limits. As if a gruelling workout could obliterate his craving for Cora.

The desire for sex he could understand. But this was more. He liked being with her. Even arguing some point of disagreement, he felt energised as he hadn’t for years. As for pleasing her, physically, or with some treat like the dive yesterday to the temple, he spent more and more time thinking of ways to make her smile.

Strato frowned as he hauled on the handles.

His month with her wasn’t turning out as expected. It was becoming complicated.

You don’t do complicated, remember? Not in your personal life.

Personal complications equated to emotional engagement.

Strato had devoted the last couple of decades to ensuring he never made the mistake of getting emotionally involved. Because he knew the risks that came with that. The danger. He’d vowed that no one else would suffer that danger, that devastation, with him.

‘I thought you might be here.’

He halted, heart hammering, as Cora walked barefoot across the gym.

Her hair was pinned up in a haphazard arrangement that made him want to see it spill around her shoulders and back. But it wasn’t her hair that snagged his attention. She wore an ultra-short tank top, or perhaps it was a sports bra, and a pair of shorts. Brief shorts that clung. Different from the ones she usually wore. Between the two garments was a swathe of smooth skin and a narrow waist.

His breath slid out in a sigh of approval that snatched in sharply as she bent to drape a towel over a bench near the window. The view from behind dried his mouth. Long, toned legs and tight, perfectly rounded buttocks.

Strato released the handles and the rowing machine stilled.

‘What are you doing?’

Good one, Doukas! Asking the obvious is a sure sign you’ve lost the plot.

‘Same as you. Exercise seems a good way to start the day.’ She smiled as she bent into a long, slow stretch, though her eyes didn’t meet his. Instantly he wondered why.

Maybe she’d missed him, waking to find him gone. Maybe she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Yeah, and maybe you’ve got a one-track mind.

Strato grabbed his towel and rubbed his face, neck and arms.

Cora followed the movement and he felt a spark of excitement.

He pushed aside the notion that had disturbed him only seconds ago—that his involvement with this woman was getting too complex and he needed to pull back. Now he was faced with the reality of her, all his years of pursuing pleasure told him there’d be no pleasure more complete than what he’d experience with her.

He planted his feet on the floor and rose, watching her eyes widen before she turned her head and apparently concentrated on the stretch to her toes.

Strato suppressed a smile. She was supple as well as strong and he appreciated both.

He was always cautious with lovers, given his superior size and power. Yet Cora met him as an equal, revelling in the male strength he always sought to harness. Her size, taller and more robust than most women, though far smaller than him, made it feel as if she were designed specifically to please him, or he her.

That was why sex felt so good. They...matched.

Strato made an executive decision not to pursue that thought further.

Because the implications might make him uncomfortable and he had more pressing concerns.

He slipped his hand into his pocket and found the condom he’d put there. These days he had them on him at all times. Cora tempted him even in the most prosaic of places, including yesterday on the floor of his walk-in wardrobe.

He’d followed her in there to grab a fresh T-shirt and had accidentally brushed against her, inhaling that intriguing scent of hot, honeyed woman. Abruptly hunger had consumed him. Consumed them. They hadn’t made it as far as his bed, mere metres away. Their coupling had been hard and furious, then slow and sweet. Thinking of it made his groin ache and tighten.

‘Where are you going to start?’ He slung his towel over his shoulder as he approached.

Cora shot him a sideways glance then slowly straightened. When she stood she barely had to tilt her chin to meet his eyes and Strato liked that. He was sick of bending double to kiss a woman.

‘Maybe some Pilates work.’ She looked around the room. ‘I’m not really into weights.’

‘No, not weights. Something more holistic, I think.’ His thoughts raced ahead and so did his pulse.

‘You have a suggestion?’ Cora turned, expectation in her expression. Could she read his mind?

‘I have. If you’ll put yourself in my hands.’

Her gaze dipped to his mouth and, remarkably, Strato felt his chest tighten, his throat constricting. Her eyes met his, shimmering golden brown.

‘Why not?’ She paused. ‘I’m always happy to take advice from an expert.’

She moistened her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue and Strato felt as if she’d swiped that moist tongue across him. She’d done that last night, so effectively he’d shattered far too quickly. He shuddered at the erotic memory.

Sometimes it felt as if she was the experienced one, not he, evoking responses so profound they stunned him.

Not because Cora used sexual tricks. It was that, with her, none of this felt stale or second-hand. Everything was fresh and...

Strato sucked in a sharp breath.

Meaningfulwas the word that came to mind. But that wasn’t possible.

There was no hidden meaning here. It was pure sexual chemistry at its best. As he was about to prove.

‘Excellent.’ He took Cora’s hand, his fingers brushing her wrist where her pulse thudded fast. ‘Over here.’ He drew her to the window beyond which the blue-green sea extended towards the distant mainland.

Strato planted her right hand on the large pane of reinforced glass. Her breath hitched as her eyes caught his in a smoky sideways stare that shot heat to his groin.

‘Now what?’

He moved behind her, taking her left hand and planting it on the glass in front of her, then he put his hands on her hips, fingers gripping hard, and tugged her back towards him.

He heard a sigh. Hers or his?

‘Comfortable?’

She nodded, then shuffled, hips wriggling, till she came up against him. ‘Very.’

Witch!He heard her breathless laugh and grinned. He slid one hand round her hip and down to cup her mound and instantly she pushed into his touch.

‘You like that?’

She nodded and when she spoke she sounded breathless. ‘You really think this will give me the workout I need?’

Strato bent forward and nipped the side of her neck. ‘Count on it.’ His other hand moulded her breast, discovering her nipple already peaked hard. It was one of the things he liked about Cora. She was always as eager for him as he was for her.

She gave another little wriggle of her hips against him and Strato’s patience for this game waned. He tucked both thumbs in the waistband of her shorts and dragged them over lush hips and down till they fell at her feet.

His gaze fixed on her bare buttocks, perfect as a peach. ‘Now that is naughty,’ he murmured. ‘Not so much as a G-string to preserve your modesty.’ He was already shucking his shorts and tearing the condom wrapper.

A gurgle of laughter reached him. ‘I didn’t think it was my modesty you were interested in.’

She’d be surprised. He loved her naked. But he was almost as aroused seeing her buttoned up, or zipped up, in the case of that wickedly tempting swimsuit.

He slid a palm over the pale globe of her buttock then down between her legs, finally encountering slick folds.

‘Aren’t you going to take off my top?’ Her voice sounded stretched and he could relate. He felt as if his groin were caught in a vice, gripping harder and harder.

‘Next time,’ he growled as he slid his other hand up her ribcage and under the tight fit of her top. Something like relief engulfed him as her breast filled his hand. That was better. That was what he needed.

‘More,’ she demanded, pushing into his hands. ‘Give me more.’

‘I’ve created a monster,’ he teased. ‘First you pretend you don’t like me and now you’re insatiable.’

‘You like it. You know you do.’

She was right. Strato couldn’t remember delighting in anything more than being with her.

Cora didn’t pry or connive for a permanent position in his world. She accepted him as he was. There was no evidence now of hesitation, or of the calculation he’d read in other lovers.

It was as if she didn’t give a damn for his money.

Or sense the darkness at the heart of him.

As if that darkness didn’t exist.

Strato shivered at the heady illusion.

It had been a long, long time since he’d experienced anything like it.

The powerful realisation tempered his hunger with rare tenderness. He bent his head, feathering kisses across her bare shoulder, trying to slow the surge of need building in his loins.

Her hair tickled him but he couldn’t bring himself to let her go long enough to release it. He loved Cora’s long tresses, soft and enticing, but not as enticing as her almost naked frame, backing up into his groin, hips circling.

‘Stop teasing, Strato!’

He smiled against her skin. This feisty woman really could be imperious. That called to something inside him. As did her sense of humour and her generosity.

‘Well, if you’re sure you’re ready...’ He bent his knees and guided himself to her, pausing to give them both a moment to anticipate what was to come. Then with one long, sure thrust he went deep, embedding himself. Her heart pounded beneath his hand and he felt the hot, slick grab of her muscles around him.

For a second they were still, as if the glory of their union took them both by surprise. As if this wasn’t simply about two aroused bodies seeking ecstasy but two souls finding each other.

Strato grimaced and let his forehead rest against Cora. He breathed deep and strived for sanity. From the age of eight his life had been firmly rooted in reality. No flights of fancy. No cosy fantasies. No sentiment.

So when Cora angled her body, pushing back against him, hips circling needily, Strato shoved aside the outlandish thoughts and set about giving her what she wanted.

First with his hand between her thighs, till she trembled and cried out, her inner muscles convulsively clutching him. Then, when her sighs had died, unleashing his own need, powering fast and hard till the view of sea and sky blurred and exquisite sensation filled him.

On the cusp of losing himself, he knew a moment’s hesitation, an atavistic warning that this was something other than simple sex.

Then it was too late and Strato lost himself in bliss and Cora’s welcoming body.

Later, when finally they could make their bodies move, he carried her to the spa on his private deck. She slumped in his arms, her head tucked beneath his chin as he stared out at another magnificent new day.

Occasionally she snuggled closer, nuzzling his throat or shifting her weight on his thighs, and heat drenched him. Not heat from the spa or even residual heat from sex, but something deep in his gut.

Strato frowned. They had just over a week left together yet he was no nearer being ready to let her go. With any other partner he’d be impatient to end their liaison.

Why not now?

‘That’s what I meant to ask you. You keep distracting me and I keep forgetting.’ Cora moved as if to draw back from him, probably so she could meet his eyes, but he tightened his embrace. He was comfortable like this, enfolding her against him.

‘What did you forget?’

‘Something my father said.’

‘Is there a problem with the hotel bookings?’ According to his information, that had gone smoothly. The boat chartered to take guests from the mainland and back had even become the unofficial public ferry for the island while the government-funded one was repaired.

‘No. That’s fine. Everyone’s busier than ever with all these guests. The businesses along the harbour are reporting increased income too.’

‘So?’ He slid a finger up her throat and around the back of her ear where she was particularly sensitive and was rewarded with a quiver of response.

‘Do you know an organisation called Asteri?’

Strato stilled. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘The bulk of the bookings are from your company, but my father mentioned someone from a place called Asteri also reserved quite a few rooms.’

‘So?’

Once again Cora shifted as if to look up at him, but he held her where she was.

‘I wondered if that’s you too, under a different name.’

And there he’d been, congratulating himself on the fact that Cora didn’t pry.

Strato chose his words carefully. ‘I don’t own a company called Asteri.’ He paused, seeking a change of subject to distract her. ‘Surely you and your father are happy to have bookings from a range of places.’

‘Oh, we are. And now there’s transport to the island again, we’ve had more private bookings. The season is looking to be our best ever. Thank you, Strato.’ She turned to plant a kiss at his collarbone.

‘You’re welcome.’

He didn’t refer to the fact that was the only reason Cora was here, because he’d presented her with a deal too good to refuse.

As for the question about Asteri, it wouldn’t be disastrous if she learned about his involvement. Except it was something Strato kept strictly private. Only a very trusted few knew of his links to the organisation.

Because it was the one thing in his life that he felt strongly about. Even building his uncle’s company into a mega-successful corporation wasn’t as important as Asteri.

If the press became aware of his involvement, there’d be endless curiosity and possibly someone, finally, would dig up the past he preferred to forget.

‘Strato? Are you okay?’ Brandy-coloured eyes held his and it felt, remarkably, as if it wasn’t a throwaway question. It felt as if Cora really was concerned. As if she tried to see deep inside him.

‘Never better, Coritsa.’ Deliberately he brushed his hand over her bare breasts and watched her shiver. Yet still her gaze held his.

The potency of that look, and of his yearning response, hit him like a blow. Almost as if he wanted to share things with Cora that he’d never shared with a soul, not even his well-meaning aunt or the experts who’d probed him.

His breath jammed and backed up in his cramping lungs.

He refused to go there. Not ever again. It was unthinkable.

Which meant something had to change. He’d created a hothouse atmosphere, alone on the yacht with Cora. That was why he was plagued by unfamiliar thoughts about sex becoming something more. And about unburdening himself.

They needed a distraction. Then Cora wouldn’t have time for curiosity.

Strato slid his hand past her soft belly to the curls between her legs. She gasped, thighs opening instantly for him, and he smiled his approval.

He did like this woman. So much.

But he couldn’t afford to let her upset his well-ordered life or unleash old hurts.

‘Remind me to tell you later about the surprise I have for you.’ Then, before she could question him, he took her mouth and seduced her all over again.