THE TYCOON'S REBEL BRIDE(29)
THE TYCOON’S REBEL BRIDE
40
MAYA BANKS
SILHOUETTE DESIRE 1944
THE ANETAKIS TYCOONS
“You didn’t fire them, did you?” she asked uneasily.
“Rest assured I know exactly where the blame lies,” he gritted out.
She bent down to collect her bags and walked around him toward the couch.
“Taking off from your security team was a foolish thing to do, Bella. Did I not
impress upon you the need for them? What were you thinking?”
She turned and regarded him thoughtfully. “I had my reasons,” she said simply.
He threw up his hands in exasperation. “What reasons?” he demanded.
She smiled. “Nothing you would approve of. I didn’t stay long, and I took
precautions. The very nice cabdriver looked out for me quite well, and the saleslady
never left my side. Well, except when she went to get me shoes.”
Theron’s face went gray. “Cabdriver? You entrusted your well-being to a
cabdriver?”
“Relax,” she said with a grin. “He was a perfect gentleman. He drove me to the
department store and waited for me until I was through.”
Theron swallowed and looked as though he was fighting to keep his temper in
check. Hmm. Theron losing his cool. That might be worth the price of admission.
“Why did you leave without your security team? What was so important that you
would risk yourself in this manner?”
She held up her shopping bag. “I needed a dress for the party tonight.”
He drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes and then reopened them. He strode over
to where she stood and gripped her shoulders. “A dress? You gave me the fright of my
life for a dress?”
He shook her as he spoke and she gripped his waist to keep her balance.
“It wasn’t just any dress,” she murmured as she tried to keep the smile from her
face. She probably shouldn’t bait him as she was, but making him lose his composure had
suddenly become her mission. “I could hardly meet my future husband in anything but a
truly spectacular dress.”
“You are the most infuriating, frustrating woman I’ve ever had the misfortune to
meet,” he growled.
And then he crushed her to him, slanting his lips over hers in a forceful kiss that
took her breath away. She moaned as his hands gripped her arms then slid over her back
like bands of steel.
He tasted her hungrily, like a man starving, as though he couldn’t get enough.
Tingling awareness snaked up her spine. Her breasts throbbed, and her nipples became
taut points, pushing at his chest.
The sounds of their kiss, hot and breathless filled the room. One of his hands
slipped to the waist of her jeans, and he yanked at her shirt until it came free. Then he slid
his fingers over the bare skin of her lower back, right where her tattoo rested. He traced
patterns over the small of her back as though he was aware of what was there.
Eager to taste him, she traced his lip with her tongue until he reached out to duel
delicately with his own. Warm. So masculine, he tasted of strength, of heady power.
She lost herself in his arms, melted against his mouth. Her pulse sped up and
bounced erratically. How she craved him.
His hand crept higher until it collided with her bra strap. He fumbled over the
clasp and then he froze.
Generated by Foxit PDF Creator © Foxit Software
http://www.foxitsoftware.com For evaluation only.
THE TYCOON’S REBEL BRIDE
41
MAYA BANKS
SILHOUETTE DESIRE 1944
THE ANETAKIS TYCOONS
With a muffled curse, he broke away, his breaths coming hard and ragged. His
eyes blazed like an out-of-control fire, and then he dropped his hands from her body like
she’d burned him.
He swore again, a mixture of Greek and English and then ran a hand through his
hair.
“Theos mou! We can’t…not again. This mustn’t happen again. I’m sorry, Bella.”
He held up his hands and then backed away. He paused at the door, his motions
haphazard, like he was drunk. Then he turned to stare at her, his eyes still burning with
unresolved desire.
“Your security team goes everywhere with you. Are we understood? From now
on, they even go to the bathroom with you.”
She nodded, unable to do anything more. She was shaking too badly. As he left
her hotel room, she gripped her arms and rubbed up and down to make the chill bumps go
away.
“You can deny it all you want,” she whispered to the empty room. “You want me
every bit as much as I want you.”
Nine
T heron rubbed the back of his neck in an effort to relieve the enormous tension
that gripped him. Isabella still hadn’t arrived, and he felt equal parts relief and
disappointment.
He glanced around the ballroom of the Imperial Park Hotel, taking in the guests