Page 25 of Pregnancy Clause in Their Paper Marriage

Now,rightnow, upstairs, and then... She tilted her chin, let her gaze flash challenge. ‘Why not?’

The answering smile he gave her made her stomach swoop and her toes curl. Why not, indeed.

The ride upwards was utterly silent, an expectation building that felt like a pressure in her chest, a loosening between her thighs. Her heart was starting to race with treacherous excitement, her palms turning damp with nerves.

This was happening. This was actually happening.

Christos stepped aside so she could leave the elevator first, and then he strode down the corridor, to the suite at the end. He didn’t just have the key; he knew where the room was. Had he been in there before she had? Or after? She hadn’t actually seen him enter the hotel, Lana realised, just in the lobby. What had he done?

‘Have you already been in the room?’ she asked.

‘Maybe,’ he replied, and swiped the card, opening the door so she stepped in first. She glanced around the suite, and saw, at least, there were no romantic rose petals on the bed. Therewasa bottle of champagne chilling, so, clearly, he had been here. She didn’t know how she felt about that, but before she could so much as think about it, he’d put his hands on her shoulders and was turning her around, slowly but purposefully, so she was facing him, a look of intent darkening his hazel gaze.

Her breath caught in her chest. In the same slow, deliberate way, he backed her up against the wall. She hit it with a gentle thud, surprise slamming through her with far more force. This was not what she’d expected, either.

Christos slid his hands from her bare shoulders to frame her face, fingers splayed across her jawbone, in a caress that felt achingly tender.

‘I’m going to kiss you,’ he said. ‘Okay?’

Wordlessly she nodded. His mouth settled on hers, their first kiss ever, soft as velvet, tender at first but then with demand, with knowledge, with urgency. His tongue traced her lips as he deepened the kiss and she felt as if a hand had plunged right into her chest, shaken everything up, left her both gasping for air and wanting more.

He pressed against her, so her back was flat against the wall, the hard length of his arousal fitting into the juncture of her thighs, thrilling her, shocking her, because already, one kiss in, and he very clearly wanted her. A lot.

And she didn’t know what to do with that information.

She put her hands on his shoulders, more to brace herself than anything else, but then he laid his hands on top of hers and drew them up, so they were straight above her head, against the wall. She stared at him with shocked eyes as he pressed the entire length of his body, from fingertip to toe, against her, every inch of her covered by every inch of him.

It felt like a complete physical and emotional overload—once she might have felt trapped by the hard body against hers, but right then she simply felt covered, and not just covered, but shielded. Protected, and even known. And that sensation shook her to her very core. She closed her eyes as he rocked his hips against hers, in the same sort of gentle movement that he’d pressed his hand against her last night, and in the same way she felt herself go boneless with wanting, her breath ragged with need.

Amazingly, his breath was even more ragged than hers. That, she realised, she hadn’t expected. At all.

Christos drew his hands down from hers, sliding them all along her body before anchoring them on her hips. Touching her was exquisite agony, and he wanted her to know it. He wanted her to know how much she affected him.

He’d spent several hours last night in her guest room, an ache in his groin as well as his heart as he’d thought about all she’d said—and revealed. She thought she needed to be in control in the bedroom, because she hadn’t been before, with that utter jerk of a guy who Christos could hardly bear to think of. Being in control made Lana feel safe, and he understood that. And yet, Christos had realised while lying alone in bed, he’d given her all the control last night. He’d made sure she was calling the shots, giving her consent at absolutely every juncture, and she’d still felt...used. It was a word that did not sit well with him. At all.

That was when he’d realised that maybe Lana didn’t want so much to feel in control as to seehimlosing it. Not being calculating and cold the way that jerk of a boyfriend had been, but needing and desiring her completely. She needed to see and believe that he wanted her so much it drove him crazy, because it did. Last night he’d kept his own self-control tightly leashed. He’d never shown her how much he desired her, had been entirely focused on her pleasure, thinking, genuinely believing it was the way to make this work between them.

But maybe it wasn’t. And tonight, he was trying something else. With his hands on her hips, he slowly drew her dress up to her waist, and a gasp escaped her. She was wearing sheer black stockings and black lace garters, sexy as hell. Christos pushed against her a little more, like a question, and another gasp escaped her, her head falling back against the wall. He kissed her throat, reaching around the back of her dress to drag the zip down. The dress slithered from her shoulders and then with one restless shrug, it pooled at her feet.

He eased back to look at her—black lace bra and pants, those sheer stockings, stilettos,garters. ‘You’re killing me,’ he told her on a shaky breath, and she let out an unsteady laugh.

‘I was actually going to change. I have a very respectable negligee—’

‘Later.’ He was kissing her again, from her mouth to her throat to the delightful vee between her breasts, her skin silken against his lips, his hands still on her hips, anchoring him against her. Her hands roamed across his back, and then slid under his shirt, against his heated skin. That touch alone nearly undid him. A groan escaped him, and her eyes widened as she looked at him, a silent question.

‘I want you so much,’ he told her. ‘I know this is just the beginning, but I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to hold out, to be honest.’

It was a somewhat humbling admission, but he thought it was one she needed to hear, and in any case it was true. He felt just about ready to explode. ‘Really?’ she exclaimed dazedly, her face flushed, pupils dilated, and he let out a shaky laugh as he slid his hand along the bare, silky skin between her panties and stocking, pulling her leg around his hip and thrusting against her with delicious intent.

‘Really.’

Her breath was coming in pants now as she rocked back against him. ‘Well, I guess...’ she whispered as she continued to move. ‘I guess that would be okay.’

‘Good.’ If he’d wanted to romance her a little more, well, too bad. This was what he needed—to be inside her, hard and hot and fast. He hoped it was what she needed, too.

He guided her hand to his belt. ‘Undo it for me,’ he managed in a rasp. ‘Please.’

Her fingers trembling a little, she fumbled with the buckle, and then, with a snick of leather, he was free. She pushed down his trousers, her fingers barely skimming the length of him, but it was enough to almost make him lose control.