She shivered at the imagery, the heat of it, the promise, but she bit into her lip to stop herself from saying that she too wanted that. That she wanted everything he wanted. That she was utterly and completely in his hands.
‘All that time, I stopped us from having sex,’ he muttered, his hands now shifting to her thighs, one creeping higher, beneath the loose fabric of her shorts, all the way to where her leg met her body and resting there, before his fingers began to draw invisible circles, making her shiver. ‘I didn’t want to rush you, to pressure you. Yet now, all I can think about is the fact other men have had you, have worshipped you, and I have not. Do you have any idea how that feels?’
Intellectually she knew it was a gross double standard, given he’d lived whatever the opposite of celibacy was, but that didn’t stop it from touching something deep inside of her. His jealousy. His possessiveness. Would he feel that if, on some level, he didn’t care about her? Or was it all just about ego and ownership?
Before she could answer that, his hand had crept down a little, his finger finding her underpants and pushing them aside, then pressing against the heat of her sex.
His eyes latched to hers, a question in their depth, and he moved slowly. So slowly, as though he was giving her every opportunity to object, to tell him to stop. But she didn’t. While she wasn’t ever going to beg him—pride was on the line, after all—nor would she put a stop toanythingthey were doing, because it all felt too damned good.
It was Theo who moaned as he pushed a finger into her wet, warm core, brushing against the muscular wall so that Annie bucked her hips in pleasure.
‘You are so wet,’ he ground out, shaking his head a little. ‘And still you refuse to ask me to take you?’
She bit into her lip, speech beyond her.
‘It is a shame, Annie, because I would love my cock to be here, instead,’ he pushed his finger in harder, faster and she cried out at the sharp sense of invasion—the welcome feeling of having any part of him inside her. She wanted to tell him she wanted that too, but whenever she opened her mouth to say it, she held back. They were playing a dangerous game, and if Annie were to concede so early, to give away her power, she knew she’d live to regret it. He was trying to break her. He was trying to get her to admit that no matter what he said or did, she would fall in with his plans, that she would be his again, and she instinctively knew she had to fight that.
‘Since when do you need a handwritten invitation?’ she muttered. ‘Are you telling me you make every woman you sleep with beg for you?’
‘Oh, no, Annie, this is just about you,’ he said, confirming her thoughts. ‘I wantyouto beg for me. I want you to admit that you still want me. I want the woman who acted like I meantnothingto prove herself wrong…’
‘I’ve told you,’ she moaned, as he moved his finger faster, and tilted her head back, eyes clinging to the ceiling as a wave of pleasure spread through her body. ‘I—can’t—’
‘You can’t what?’
Pleasure built, intense, fast, hard. ‘Beg me, Annie,’ he said, pulling his finger out, so she whipped her head forward, staring at him, heart racing. ‘All you have to do is ask me to take you, and I will make you feel better than you’ve ever known possible.’
The throb in her gut demanded that of her. She needed him; what was the harm in admitting it?Please.Such a simple word and yet when she opened her mouth, it wouldn’t come out. He stared at her, his own cheeks slashed with colour, so she knewhe wasn’t unaffected by this, that it was taking a degree of willpower all of his own.
‘Please,’ she said, and then, added quickly, ‘stop. Stop now.’
His eyes widened with surprise and his lips clamped together to form a grim line, but he did what she’d said, every part of him growing still, and then Annie’s heart sank as he pulled his hands away from her, his chest moving though with the force of his breathing.
‘Is this really what you want?’ she asked sadly, her heart heavy. ‘Do you need to demean me, by hearing me beg, because five years ago I had the nerve to break up with you?’
‘I don’t give a shit that you dumped me, Annie. That’s always been your prerogative.’
She tilted her chin, ignoring the way pain seemed to slice through her.
‘It’s your reason for ending it that I think pathetic. To leave someone, when you are grown woman, because your mummy and daddy don’t think he’s good enough? It’s my own fault, but I did think better of you.’
She flinched.
‘I was wrong. You’re just as superficial as them. What is that expression about apples and trees?’
She glanced sideways, trying to catch her breath. It was a body blow, even though he’d used a few short words.
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I know that you were a coward then, by not standing up to your parents, and you’re a coward now, for not admitting how much you want me. You live your life with your head in the sand—I’m disappointed in you, Annie.’
She ground her teeth, trying not to react, but she could feel her emotions spiralling out of control. Given the choice between anger, and showing how hurt she was, she firmly chose the former. ‘Seriously, Theo, just go to hell.’
He leaned closer then, his eyes locked to hers, somber and intense. ‘Are we not both already there, Annie Leonidas?’
Chapter Seven
AWEEK AFTERarriving on the island and Annie was in the worst mood of her life—and it didn’t take a genius to work out why.