She stirred slightly. “Food would be good.”
“What do you like to eat?”
A shrug. “Anything. Whatever.”
“Pick something in particular.”
She lifted her head from his shoulder and shook it. “Why?”
“Well because….” He paused, unsure what he or she meant. “You should eat something you like.”
“You know, Sebastian,” she said. “Most people eat whatever is handy. Most people do not have chefs or whatever on hand to call up whatever they fancy. You do know that right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Most people don’t even bother with favorites. When you eat what you can get you’re just grateful for it.”
“By most people do you mean you?”
Another shrug. “I’m talking generally.”
“Well then tell me what you would like.” She sighed, a soft utterly feminine sound, and something else occurred to Sebastian then and he sucked in a shocked breath. “I don’t even know your name. I’ve spent all afternoon in between your creamy thighs and I don’t even know what your real name is.”
“You call me Kleftisa,” she said. “What does it mean?”
“Thief.”
“Like kleptomaniac?”
“Exactly. So your actual name, what is it?”
“Why do you want to know?” she asked. “Kleftisa seems fine to me, and it’s true, so why not?”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
And Sebastian paused because he could think of no reason he needed to know her name. What was this between them—apart from absolute madness—a chance encounter. It was a few days perhaps of crazy sex before he let her go and settled back into normality. He gritted his teeth and tried to order his thoughts. He was so fucking confused. Everything was up in the air. Too much pleasure too quickly. What did he expect? But then too he felt an overwhelming need to get her to comply with his demands. It was his way. Ordering the world exactly how he liked it and his thief was not going to get a pass on that. “Because I would like you to tell me.”
She was silent for long seconds and he thought she was going to deny him, but finally she spoke. “It’s Penny.”
Penny. It suited her. “Penny what?”
“Just Penny.”
He sighed, knowing that was all he was going to get. “Okay. Just Penny, pick something.”
“Can I have chicken? And potatoes, and salad, and then chocolate cake?”
“Of course.”
“And lots of icy cold water.”
“Of course.” She looked shocked at his easy agreement and Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Did you imagine I was going to lock you in the bedroom and feed you bread and water?”
“I didn’t imagine at all. You’ve given me no time to. All we’ve done is fuck non stop.”
“That is true.” He picked up his Blackberry and called through to his chef. The intercom was just across the way but Sebastian didn’t want to move and jostle her. She was curled so perfectly around him and she was so warm. “Twenty minutes or so, okay?”
“Okay.”
He dropped the Blackberry and resumed his stroking up and down her arm. Her skin was so soft, so creamy. Once again he was struck by her beauty and for the first time he allowed himself to consider what had brought her to this point. Stealing to survive. She could be doing so much more. She was full of secrets, he could practically see them teasing around the edges of her. With his head unclouded by desire for once, he wanted to know exactly what those secrets were. Why do you care, his mind whispered. This was just a fuck, a fling, a mad moment. He considered the questions plaguing him but had no answer to give. He wanted to know simply because he wanted to, and always that had been enough for him. He wanted, he did, and he got. That was the way he’d lived his life for so long. That was why he was so phenomenally rich. Could he not treat this the same way? As a problem to be explored. “Will you tell me something?” he began.
She stiffened slightly and he paused his strokes. “If you tell me something first.”
Always the negotiation. “Then ask.”
“Is this normal for you, Sebastian? Do you do this often? Accost a woman and then fuck her senseless for days on end?”
It was like she’d read his mind. “You know it’s not normal. Nothing about this,” he waved a hand between them, “is normal. I touch you and it’s like a spark to a flame. It makes no sense, none. And I’ve never been in the position of having to accost someone as you put it. Most women come to my bed without me having to negotiate.”