The Return of Antonides: Christmas at the Castello(25)

And then he heard it again. A little louder.

Definitely not imaginary.

Lukas shoved himself up and yanked on a pair of jeans, the better to  disguise the lingering evidence of arousal. Then he put his game face on  and padded barefoot to the door.

A glimpse through the security viewer confirmed his worst fears-Holly,  hair mussed, in shorts and an oversize T-shirt, shifted from one foot to  the other, raised her hand to knock again, then let it drop to her  side, fingers twisting. Once more she half raised it, then cradled it in  her other hand, turned and started to walk away.                       
       
           



       

He didn't even hesitate. Lukas jerked open the door. "What's wrong?"

She spun back to face him, eyes wide, her mouth opening in a soundless O  as she met his gaze. He saw her throat work once, then again.

"What's wrong, Holly?" he asked again, doing his best to keep his voice  calm, steady, the exact opposite of his hammering heart. "What do you  need?"

She dragged in a breath, then straightened her shoulders. Her gaze never left his. "You."

Lukas hadn't heard right. He gave a shake of his head. "What?"

"That's right, Lukas. Make me repeat it." Her mouth twisted. "You, damn it. You."

As she came back toward him, her breasts jiggling beneath the soft  cotton of her shirt, Lukas caught his breath. She wasn't wearing a bra.  He remembered what it was like to slide his hands under her shirt, to  stroke her there. His fingers curled into fists. He dragged his gaze  upward, which turned out to be just as bad. She had devilishly kissable  lips.

"For what?" his voice rasped. Because if this had to do with fixing a  light or some other damn household emergency, he was going to shoot  himself.

"What do you think?" She stopped barely a foot from him, looking up  into his eyes, hers challenging him the way she always had as a kid. He  didn't think of her as a kid now. He hadn't thought of her as a kid for  years. All he really thought was how much he wanted to take that extra  step, haul her into his arms and feel those soft breasts against his  bare chest, press the fierceness of his desire hard against her.

"Holly." He shut his eyes and ground his teeth in frustration.

"Mmm?" Why the hell did her voice sound almost like a purr? Was that her breath he felt against his collarbone?

"Holly!" he protested, strangling on her name.

Her hand came up, went flat against his chest and pushed. He took a step back into his apartment. Holly followed.

"Holly," he warned. "Don't start something you're not going to finish."

"I intend to finish." She sounded almost fierce and she was still close  enough that he felt her breath on his bare chest. "Why did you ask me  to move in?"

He shrugged. "Why not? I've got space. I need a gallery manager. I figured you could do that."

"I have no clue how to manage a gallery."

"Then why did you take the job?" he demanded. She wasn't the only one who could push. Two could play this game, damn it.

"Because it gave me an excuse." Holly edged even closer. "We want an  excuse, don't we, to get what we really want?" Her voice was soft,  enticing, and just a little edgy.

Lukas's breath caught in his chest. Her eyes were deep pools of  midnight, so deep he felt he could fall straight into them. "What do you  mean, what we really want?" he said roughly. Since when had they ever  wanted the same thing?

"I told you what I want." He could hear his heart beat in his chest. "You."

There was no doubt what she was talking about now. Bed. That was what she was talking about. Sex. Lukas frowned.

"Don't you act like you don't want me, Lukas Antonides! Don't you dare  try to pretend you were just doing me a favor, giving me a roof over my  head!" She poked a fierce finger into his chest. "Because that isn't  what this is about. Is it?"

Lukas's jaw tightened. "So, you just want to go to bed? Have sex? And then what?"

Holly shrugged "I don't know. If it's good, maybe we could do it again?" She looked almost hopeful.

And Lukas almost laughed. It would be good. He had no doubt about that.  But he still didn't move. "Say we do," he said almost conversationally,  which was a far cry from the way his body was clamoring to do just  that, "go to bed. Have sex. More than once," he clarified. "What then?  What's the point?"

Holly's eyes went wide. "What's the point? It's sex, for heaven's sake!  That is the point! We go to bed-multiple times, if necessary-and we get  it out of our systems. Once and for all!"

"Get it out of our systems? Sex?" He stared at her.

"Not sex," Holly said hotly. "Each other!"

Not likely, Lukas thought. If he could have got Holly out of his system, he'd have done it years ago.

"You won't even have to break up with me," she went on cheerfully.  "It's perfect. We can have a six-week affair. Then we go our separate  ways. I head off for the far side of the world, and you do whatever  you're planning to do next. Simple. See?"                       
       
           



       

Lukas saw. He thought she was completely out of her flaming mind. It made him furious at the same time it made him desperate.

"You think that'll work?" Pardon his skepticism.

"Of course it will work."

If she were taller, she would have been nose to nose with him now. As  it was her breasts were within a millimeter of touching his bare chest.  He caught a whiff of citrus scent, enticing him further.

He lifted a hand and touched her cheek, ran his finger down it to  linger at the point of her chin. She held herself absolutely still,  didn't even seem to be breathing. He wanted her breathing. Panting.  Eager. Desperate for him.

He bent his head just as Holly lifted her hands and laid both against his chest.

It was like being branded. Lukas's jaw tightened. Everything else did,  too. His nipples beaded under the touch of her palms. She rubbed them  over him experimentally. He swallowed a groan and lowered his mouth to  hers.





CHAPTER EIGHT

THE KISS BEGAN SLOWLY, almost gently, echoing the kiss of long ago, as  if Lukas were leashing his passion, keeping everything under tight  control.

Then his tongue touched hers. And Holly could taste him on her lips.  Instinctively, hers parted to give him entrance, wanting more. The kiss  became harder, more urgent, almost desperate.

It felt exactly the way she felt-the way she had been trying not to  feel for so long that it was a relief to not have to try to resist. She  wanted what Lukas wanted-to touch, to taste. More than taste-to devour.

Of their own volition, her hands slid up the hair-roughened muscular  expanse of his chest. She felt tiny nubs beneath her fingers, tweaked  them and heard him groan. Holly swallowed his groan, darting her tongue  between his lips to touch his teeth even as his tangled with hers. His  hands, hard and warm and calloused, slid beneath her T-shirt, drawing  her even closer, claiming her.

It wouldn't last, Holly knew that. It was desire. Lust. Passion. It was  sex, just as Lukas had said. And it would run its course. It wasn't  love. For it to be love, it had to be mutual. It had to knit together  two people, create a relationship, make them better and stronger  together than they were apart. They had to want that.

Lukas didn't. He'd made it clear more than once.

Love was what she'd had with Matt-a sense of completeness that they had  shared. A bedrock of enduring love that worlds-galaxies-could be built  on.

This was a shooting star.

But what was wrong with a shooting star? It was short and sweet and  stunningly beautiful. And when it burned out, as Holly knew it would, it  couldn't possibly hurt more than losing Matt had. And she would have  the memory of Lukas. She would never have to wonder.

And wasn't that better than no star at all?

She assured herself it was. And she promised herself she wouldn't get  burned. It was just pointless to keep denying the attraction. Everything  she'd believed in when she'd married Matt hadn't prevented her from  losing him.

She wasn't counting on keeping Lukas. She was going into this with her eyes open. It would be fine.

Still, when Lukas growled, "What are we waiting for?" into her ear, she  felt a shiver of panic. But the feel of his lips on hers fed her  desire, and she stopped fighting it and gave herself over to the need.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his jaw.

Lukas lowered her to the bed, then settled next to her, a hand braced  on either side of her. His eyes were dark, and yet she could see the  hunger in them. And when he lowered his head and kissed her again, his  mouth hot and hungry, Holly met his kiss with a hunger of her own.