Chapter 078

So much for his brilliant intelligence. Viktor had thought he was so smart,

finding a loophole around his promise. Passing her in their race down the dune, he’d felt triumphant, his body tight, knowing he all but had her in his

arms.

Then there was a scream, and she’d flown past him. She was such an

accomplished snowboarder that she’d had no problem handling the textural

differences between snow and sand. And she’d seen the source of the

scream, the injured boy, half a second faster than he had. It was enough to

make any man feel slow. Stupid and slow.

Which was exactly how Viktor had felt pacing the tent of the boy’s

family as his uncle, a doctor trained in Marrakech, worked on the boy’s

ugly compound fracture with his limited instruments at hand. Viktor had

looked down at the sobbing boy, wishing he could do more than order a

helicopter on his satellite phone, wishing they didn’t have to wait so long,

and most of all, dreading the long, jarring journey the boy would face

traveling to the hospital in Marrakech.

After Ahmed was loaded on the helicopter with a stretcher, Viktor had

evaded the tearful thanks of Ahmed’s family. Shoulders tight, he returned to

the tent where Lyra waited—not for his seduction, but for her freedom.

The whole afternoon, from start to finish, had left the acrid sourness of

failure in his mouth.

And then—Viktor had tasted the sweetness of Lyra ’s lips against his.

She’d reached her hands around his shoulders, lifting up on her tiptoes,

and he’d just stared down at her in shock, telling himself he was completely

misreading the situation. Lyra , the inexperienced virgin, wouldn’t make the

first move.

Why would she kiss him? He was a man who stood for nothing and no

one. She was an angel who knew how to fly.

I intended to lose the race. Because I wanted you to seduce me.

He heard a soft sigh from the back of her throat. Saw her close her eyes.

And she pressed her soft, trembling lips to his.

He didn’t immediately respond. He was too amazed. But when she grew

shy, and started to draw away, a growl came from the back of his throat.

Closing his eyes, he roughly pulled her back against his body and returned

her kiss with force, with all the passion and longing he’d tried so hard not to

feel. He let himself feel it—all of it—and desire overwhelmed him as it

never had before.

Her lips parted as he deepened the kiss. She returned his embrace

awkwardly, hungrily. And it was the best kiss of his life.

Outside the tent, he heard the rising wind flapping and rattling against the

heavy waxed canvas. But he was lost in her. Her lips were so soft, her body

so womanly, her soul so pure. As he ran his hands down her back, over her

loose cotton shirt, he felt the press of her breasts against his muscled chest.

Her brown hair now tumbled down her back in waves, tangling in his

fingers.

It could have been hours or even days that he kissed her, standing with

her in his arms, holding her body tightly against his own. He flicked her

mouth lightly with his tongue, guiding her lips, teaching her to kiss. His

tongue brushed against hers, luring her to explore further. With a sigh of

pleasure, she leaned towards him, her arms tightening around his shoulders.

Lyra . So reckless. So beautiful. She had such strange power. She made

him want things he shouldn’t want.... Made him feel things he didn’t know

he could still feel....

Lifting her into his arms, never ending their kiss, he carried her to the

four-poster bed he’d shared with her in painful chastity for two nights. As

he laid her back against the mattress, he looked down at her beautiful face.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” he said hoarsely. “Tell me to leave you be.”

He held his breath, as if waiting for a verdict of his life or death. She

shook her head slightly. His heart twisted.

Then her full, pink lips lifted into a tender smile. Her brown eyes

shimmered, glowing with desire, and she reached up for him, pulling him

down against her in clear answer.

He felt her body beneath him, and knew he’d never again suffer the

agony of sleeping beside her without being able to touch her. Because

nothing on earth would stop him from taking her now.

Cupping her face, he kissed her passionately, stretching her back against

the bed. His hands moved up and down her body until he finally reached

beneath her cotton shirt. He felt her trembling hands stroke his bare chest

beneath his own ripped shirt, torn into bandages on the dune. Her satin-soft

fingertips ran along his flat belly and bare chest, and he gasped at the

amazing sensation. He kissed down her throat, and his fingers were

suddenly clumsy as he tried to unbutton her shirt, finally popping off the

buttons in his desperation to feel the warmth of her skin against his own.

Yanking her shirt off her body, he threw it to the carpet and was

mesmerized by full breasts barely contained within a lacy black bra. He

sucked in his breath. Distracted, he didn’t notice her tugging on his T-shirt until suddenly it was pulled off over his head. He felt the exploratory touch

of her fingertips over his flat nipples and down the light dusting of black

hair that pointed like an arrow down his muscled body.

Lyra . Was this really going to happen? His heart was in his throat as he

looked down at her. Here, now?

Outside, the hot wind howled against the tent as he kissed her deeply,

pushing her down beneath him, against the soft pillows. He cupped his

hands over her bra, feeling the weight of her breasts beneath his hands. He

pushed her legs apart with his knee, grinding himself slowly against her,

with only fabric separating them. She trembled as he liberated one large

breast completely from the bra, watching the rosy nipple pucker and harden

beneath the warmth of his breath before he suckled her.

In a single movement, he unclasped the bra and tossed it aside. Leaning

back over her, he felt her shiver as he slowly kissed down her neck.

Pressing her full breasts together, he kissed the crevice between them,

licking her skin.

He felt her fingers tangle in his dark hair as she gasped, clutching him to

her. He kissed down to the soft curve of her belly, feeling her tremble,

feeling the damp heat of her skin. He slowly pulled off her linen pants,

lingering against her thighs and the secret hollow beneath her knees. He

removed his cargo shorts. Wearing only his silk boxers, which at the

moment were uncomfortably tight, he slid his hips between her legs.

Instinctively, she swayed as he rocked himself against her, back and forth

over her lacy black panties. He heard her intake of breath as her hands

clutched his shoulders, holding him against her.

His lips lowered to suckle a full, pink nipple. He lightly squeezed her

breast, pushing her nipple more deeply into his mouth. He heard her soft

muffled gasp as he ran his tongue in a swirling motion, nibbling and

sucking, as his hand toyed with the other nipple. And all the while, he was

slowly grinding himself against her, with only the thin separation of silk

between them.

Her hands suddenly gripped his hair. “Stop.”

Viktor sucked in his breath as he pulled back. His body ached as he

held himself in check, looking down at her. It would kill him, but if she

wanted him to stop....

Lyra reached up, running her hands down his bare chest, to the edge of

his silk boxers. She looked up, her cheeks red, her eyes bright. “I want to see you. To touch you.”