Indulgence Read online

  Zoey licked her lips. “You are a naughty man. I’m fine.” She tucked her feet underneath her and slid her hands on her lap. Their knees touched, causing a jolt of awareness to spike.

  “You could sue, and then where would I be? Here you were, nice enough to bring me a treat I won, and you had to work for it. I should pay you for your troubles. How much?”

  “I’m fine. Really, no need to pay me, you saved me a trip to the gym. Who knows…I may find myself hiking every time you order from us.”

  Khristos pulled her from her spot onto his lap, his hands finding purchase on her curvy hips. A soft sigh left her mouth in anticipation of what he’d do—say, next. “I’d turn you over my knees and spank your sexy ass if you attempted that insanity again.”

  His erotic words left her feeling tingly. The edge of danger in his tone—promise of retribution falling from sensual lips, ignited her darkest fantasies. Leaning back, her body came flush with his ripped physique. A body she wanted to map inch by gorgeous inch, with her tongue. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” She drew in a ragged breath, nearly suffocating in their supernova chemistry.

  Damn, the man had moves like a trained professional in seduction. She wanted nothing more than to strip naked and let him take her right there, give in like her friend demanded that she do. Rational thought fled and then came swamping back. Her list of things to accomplish, greater achievements, flickered, dimming with each caress of his thumb grazing her hip. If his fingers came into contact with her bare flesh, no doubt he’d singe her, brand her forever. “I-I should get back to work.”

  “Hmm, didn’t take you for the running type, Iliahtida.”

  Her heart thudded at his endearment for her, momentarily stunning her. When her mind unfroze, she shifted off his lap, but not before feeling his blatant arousal. “I’m not running, just getting back to work. It is a business day.” The words tripped off her tongue. Her hair cascaded over her face, eclipsing him from her view, as she slid her heels back onto her feet.

  He made no movement to speak of. Zoey stood and grabbed her purse. “I hope you enjoy your treat. Thanks again for the foot rub. It was hands down the best I’ve ever received.” By her calculations, she bet she’d make it to the door in a dozen or so steps. His molten gaze followed her as she backed her way out his office. The man of her dreams quirked a brow and stood, all six-feet-and-four inches of god-on-a-stick moved with animalistic precision toward her, overtaking her, caging her against the door before she had a chance to open it and flee.

  “Did you think I’d let you go without seeing you down myself?” He leaned over, licked the seam of her lips, groaned and plunged in, forcing her to give herself to him. Like the Red Sea, she caved to him, allowing him purchase, her hands winding around his neck, an itch to wrap her legs around his waist seizing her. Khristos grabbed her thigh, preventing her from doing so, at the same time holding her hostage against his arousal while his mouth went on a rampage of epic proportions, consuming her.

  “Iliahtida, you taste divine. Damned addictive, like your fancy chocolates.” He growled into her mouth, and then plunged his tongue in again.

  She let out a whimper, her body wanting more than the heavy liplock. Work, what was work? Zoey ran her fingers up his chest, tugged his tie loose, fisted her fingers in his shirt, and ripped, popping the buttons off. The hunger he woke in her, demanded satiation.

  Khristos took control, wrapped her legs around his waist, the heat of her sex meeting the strained erection beneath his trousers. Strong arms held her tightly, and brought her up and down against him. Silk panties met steel covered by cotton. The friction caused her legs to tremble. Their breathing hastened. Zoey threw her head back. He covered her mouth with his as she screamed. Cream drenched her panties, her empty cunt pulsated in need of fulfillment, but sang, as sweet relief pulsated through her. He fisted her hair in his hand and groaned into the side of her neck, his dick flexing against her under his trousers.

  The smell of sex scented the air. Khristos dropped her leg, allowing her to slide down over his rigid cock. Flush against him, she felt the pulsating member empty inside his pants. What she wouldn’t have given to see—to stroke—to taste. When she chanced a glance up at him, she assumed she’d see embarrassment in his face. Sexy blue-green eyes flicked over her, making her embarrassed about how she surely appeared.

  “None of that. You are beautiful in pleasure. Damn if you don’t take me back to adolescence, rule-breaking, hardcore making out without penetration. I’d forgotten how fun teasing could be.”

  “You need to lighten up, then. Always the businessman, so serious?” Zoey shied away from him as he reached under her skirt and ripped the satin material drenched in her release.

  “A souvenir.” He cupped her ass. “I can’t wait to mark you here.” He gripped the firm globes.

  “I, uh, have to get back to work.” He sensed her withdrawal and tugged her forward for a sweet parting kiss. The man made her want to throw everything to the wind and run away with him for the rest of her life, like some damned unrealistic Disney movie.

  “What’s brewing between us is far from over. I’ll let you run back to the safety of your shop this time, next time you won’t be so lucky.”

  An animalistic smirk crossed over his face, so quick she almost missed it. The dark desire etched across his entire being trailed after her as she fled for her very life out of his office. Granted, moving past the door against which he’d given her the best orgasm of her life wasn’t hard, he merely opened the door, giving her room to flee like the hounds of hell were trying to suck her down into the belly of the sin-riddled underworld, promising untold pleasures if she’d give in.

  “Iliahtida.”

  Zoey craned her head around to see what he wanted. The sight of him leaning against the archway, a certain stain on his pants and not a care in the world, turned her on. She quirked a brow in his direction.

  “Remember my promise. Use the stairs at your own risk, both up and down.” A devilish grin spread across his face as he ducked back into the office, shutting the door behind him.

  “Well, damn. The man is definitely more than I can handle in one sitting.” She mumbled to herself as she followed the wall signs to the elevator. When she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the bay doors, she had a miniature meltdown. Hair mussed, lips kiss swollen, tiny abrasions peppering her skin from his delicious stubble. The marks made her pause to remember each deliberate swipe, meant to knock her to her knees. She ushered herself into the spacious room, fought off the rampant fantasies of elevator sex from her mind, and counted down each level as she rode to the lobby.

  No sign of the wicked witch as she took a hesitant step out. A security guard waved at her.

  “Love your chocolate raspberry truffles. Come back soon.”

  “Always love a happy customer. Stop in and I’ll give you a box of new treats I’ve drummed up.” She winked at the guard, slipped on her sunglasses, then exited the building.

  Chapter Three

  “You must be some kind of stupid.”

  Khristos looked up from his computer to see his little sister propped against the doorway to his office, with her hip hugging the door. “Who’s watching your shop if you’re here to antagonize me?”

  “It’s seven in the evening. You know, if you’d open the blinds, you’d see the sun is setting and it’s time to go home, you workaholic. Lysandros is just as bad as you are. I just left his office.” She stepped into his office, set a container down on his desk, and dropped onto the couch. If she knew what activity he’d recently done on said couch, she’d jump up quicker than shit.

  “I actually took the entire morning off. I’m just catching up now. So why am I all kinds of stupid?” He opened the top of the steaming container. His stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him he needed to eat. “You spoil me, and good, Lysandros is taking being responsible better than I’d have ever imagined. Dad retired at a good time and made our brother step up, instead of lett
ing him live off the trust fund.” The aroma of his favorite dishes made his mouth water. Dolmades, grape leaves stuffed with rice, onions, and ground lamb took up one section. Psito, leg of lamb roasted with potatoes, filled the rest of the plate.

  “If I didn’t, you’d both waste away, be glad he didn’t hear you call him by his first name. He’s on this ‘call me Maximos’ kick right now. Plus, being the bachelors you are, Mom would kill me for not feeding you. Dad would be disappointed. So, gonna tell me why you fired Suzanne? She cried to Mama, who called to grill me, and I didn’t have an answer or time to get into it with her. And, is that a hickey on your neck? Don’t tell me you’re gonna revert to your player ways again.”

  “I hardly look emaciated.” He opened the plastic cutlery packet she’d brought and dug into the delicious food. After a bite, he looked up. “Suzanne is not professional, and really, after today, I decided I’d rather have to answer the fucking phones myself, than deal with her snobbish attitude. You could always come back and work for me, sis.”

  He ate while his sister snorted, unbraided her long, black hair, and stared him down. She wanted more information, and appeared determined enough to wait it out to get what she came for. The little gossip knew better, if he even mentioned liking a female for more than a quick fuck, the little traitor would run to mama and then a wedding would be planned. Ignoring her, he continued to enjoy dinner. A crinkling bag caught his attention.

  “Ah-ha, thought that would get your attention. I may or may have not brought some karydopitas.

  “You play dirty. You know I love those almond cakes soaked in honey.”

  “Tell me what I want to know, and maybe this can be all yours. Besides, I didn’t give Lysandros any. You get all the dessert, so long as you dish. You know you want this, why make yourself suffer by watching me eat every single piece in front of you.” She wiggled the bagged dessert.

  “You should show more gratitude to the big brother who’s made sure you have gotten everything you’ve ever wished for.” Playing the gratitude card normally worked in his favor. His sister opened the bag and popped a piece of the treasured dessert in her mouth. “You are so cruel to me, sis.”

  “Spill it. Give me something to tell our ma so she’ll back off.”

  “I see how you are. Feeding me is a form of extracting information. Fine.” He put down the fork and pushed the empty plate into his trash bin. “Suzanne had explicit orders to bring an expected guest visiting, up the elevator, and instead made my guest climb twenty-three flights of stairs.”

  Dareia’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide as saucers. “No way she’d flagrantly disobey a direct order from the King of Kings.”

  Khristos shrugged. “She did, and now she’s jobless. Thanks for dinner.”

  “We are so not done with this convo. I see shirt buttons on your floor, a hickey on your neck and a box from that chocolate shop sitting on your counter. My skills of deduction tell me you’re seeing the pretty chocolate shop owner you’ve been drooling over since you bought me my pastry shop.”

  Poker face time. Khristos smirked at her so-called deductive skills. “Pretty wild imagination you have there.”

  “Deflecting, are we? Now, I know for a fact you definitely like her, as in a lot. You wouldn’t fire just anyone. And…you only bought that location for my shop because it was close to her and me, I…know how you work.”

  “You are too nosey, brat,” he growled, and accepted the baggie in her hand.

  “Come on. You have to want more than this. We’re all proud that you’ve done so well for us, provided for us when Pa retired. We both know, if I’d asked him to finance my store, he’d have made me jump through hoops, and I’d have lost the location. You think outside the box, where he thought a pastry shop was a waste of time, you gave me a chance. You deserve more than buying and selling businesses. Don’t you want a family of your own? Kids? I know I’m not ready, but I’m only twenty-two to your thirty-five, and Lysandros is only twenty-five and a man-whore.”

  “This is exactly why I don’t include you and Ma in on my dating habits. I have one nice cup of coffee with a girl and you both start talking kids and a family.”

  “Coffee? Is what they call it now?” She pointed to his destroyed shirt in the trash and the buttons he’d missed on the floor. You have to tell her, you know, that we’re related. She feels threatened by me, that much is perfectly clear.”

  “Quit meddling.” He devoured the dessert and crushed the bag in his hand. Standing, he pitched it in the trash and held his hand out to her. “Let me take you home.”

  “No need. I drove. I have a hot date tonight, and I really need it.” She pressed her hand on his chest to ward him off. “Today’s been insane, and there is no way in hell I’m going to give you information to scare off someone who will possibly give me the best night of my life. He’s a good guy, we’ve been seeing each other for months, this is just our first private date. You taught me how to protect myself, how to judge the character of a man. So, you don’t get to get in way of what may happen tonight.” She kissed him on the cheek and slipped out before he could grill her on who, where, and what back-up plan she had in case of emergency.

  Great, now he’d worry all night about her safety. Hell, she felt more like a daughter to him than a sister, since he’d pretty much raised her as his kid. The little girl trailing after him in everything he did. His cell buzzed.

  I will text you when I get home safe. I know you’ll obsess over me if I don’t. Kisses.

  Good, he’d be waiting with his shotgun for her call. As he saved his work and shut off his computer, he ignored the phone ringing on his desk. When his personal cell began to ring, he realized he couldn’t ignore his ma. She’d come find him and then he’d be in deep shit, even as a grown-ass man. One thing you didn’t do was send your ma’s call to voicemail. “Hey, beautiful.” Plastering on a pleasant tone wasn’t as easy as it seemed, especially when he was stressed out.

  “Suzanne is such a sweet girl, I can’t for the life of me, figure out why you’d do something so mean as to fire her. Your brother wouldn’t have done that, ya know.”

  He’d be too busy trying to fuck her again, and then when he tired of her high-maintenance ass, and her sleeping-up-the-ladder ways, he’d dump her on her pampered ass.

  “Ma, she wasn’t a good fit for me, okay? I plan on hiring through a top-notch agency.”

  “You two could’ve had something beautiful, she comes from a good family, is gorgeous, we’ve known her family for for years, and I dreamed of being a grandmother by now.” His mom sighed in dejection over the phone.

  Khristos gritted his teeth and fought off the throb beginning to take up permanent residence in his brain. “I’m sorry for your loss, Ma. I’m sure those imagined grandkids already have names and plans in that overactive head of yours.”

  “Such a smart aleck boy. Don’t patronize me, I will still beat your butt with a spoon.”

  “Duly noted, Ma. Is there anything else? I’m trying to leave my building now. Don’t want to talk and drive at the same time.”

  “We’re having brunch Sunday with your sister, her date, and Suzanne’s parents. I’d hoped you and Suzie could make up and give me my dream. As the oldest, I wish you’d be ready to find a good woman and give me grandbabies before I die.”

  “Ma, you’re not departing this world anytime soon.” He wanted to say, Not in this life, or the afterlife. Please stop meddling in my love life. “I promise you one day you’ll have your grandchildren, but that day is not today, tomorrow, or even in the next six months. I’d love to do brunch, but you’ll have to cancel on Suzanne and her parents. I have no desire to sit at a table with that manipulative woman, her equally manipulative mother, and her uptight father.”

  “Hmm, I’ll consider canceling on them. Gotta go, another call coming in for me. Kisses.” His mother disconnected before he could reply. The pile of documents on his computer sat ready to be leafed through, signed, marked up with chan
ges or completely rejected. Three women in his life, his mother, sister, and the woman he wanted, no burned, to make his. All three drove him bat-shit crazy.

  Twice, he picked up the flirty business card with chocolate-covered strawberries on it to call the woman consuming his every thought. Zoey brought a unique zeal, an optimistic zest for life that he found utterly refreshing. Being around her exuberant innocence made him wish he wasn’t so jaded. Not that he thought her life was a cakewalk, since she’d blurted out her business woes.

  In a way, her attitude toward life made him more attracted to her. A woman who didn’t balk at hardship but pressed forward, one who relied on herself, turned him on something fierce. With that thought, he poured himself a nightcap, downed the burning amber, and then closed his eyes.

  Unrelenting pounding on the door tore Khristos from a damn good dream. Squinting, he looked up to see the sun’s blinding rays beating through his office windows. He stretched his arms and ran a hand over his five o’clock shadow to relieve the itch. “Come in.” Blinking in rapid succession failed to clear the fog. Lysandro breezed in and clapped him on the back.

  “You need to learn to answer your phone. Dariea told me you didn’t call her when you got home. You know how she worries.” His brother set a cup of coffee in front of him.

  “I was working. Lost track of time and slept. You do the same thing all the time.” He yawned and accepted the hot drink. “What is it with you guys? I can get my own shit.”

  “Yeah, you fired your assistant. Who’s going to get your dry cleaning, order your food and take care of you now? Not that fine-ass Ice Queen you employed.”

  “So you bought me coffee and brought my dry cleaning to me?”

  Lysandro laughed. “No. I brought you a new temporary assistant who picked up your dry cleaning and coffee. I’m just the delivery guy this morning.”

  Khristos growled. His brother caught the sound and quirked a brow. The thought of the younger man entering his domain, even by proxy, to get his coffee, set his teeth on edge. Going to Indulgence was his only downtime in the morning. Plus, after yesterday, he’d imagine Zoey might feel abandoned or whatever women felt like, after the explosive chemistry between them. “Where is this new assistant?”