Bartered (The Encounter #1)(34)

“How about we save this conversation for a later date? I truly don’t want to spend the rest of my night pondering such a question.”

My, why was he acting odd? Could it be that the magnificent Hugo Xavier felt a pinch of envy because I was fawning over Luca de Medici? That surely tickled my fancy.

“Well, shouldn’t we say hi? You still need to introduce me. This is just so exciting.”

“Really, Isobel.” The slashing look he gave me made my smile even wider.

Pretending to look exasperated, I thought of teasing him a little. “Oh, calm your arse down. Would it make you feel better if I told you that I think you’re sexier than him?” A playful smile tugged at my lips.

“I might, if you meant it.” He definitely hadn’t bought it.

“Well…” I trailed off, “let me think about that.”

Seeing him reacting this way was making me all sorts of wicked. A man with his looks and power could do as he pleased, but here he was, acting like a cute, handsome fool for me.

“Witch,” he muttered under his breath before he unceremoniously cupped his hands on the sides of my head and kissed me right in the middle of the party. It wasn’t one of those hasty kisses which seem sweet and gentle. This one meant ownership, making it known to the rest of the people around that we were here together and couldn’t get enough of one another. Because, yes, I couldn’t get enough of his drugging kisses. Because, yes, I was guilty of taking pleasure in letting the rest of the women here know he was with me.

He drove me crazy. He drove me to the point of madness. Yet, with one kiss from him, everything went blurry.

The kiss went on and on. Just when I thought this couldn’t possibly keep on like we were some lovesick fools right in the middle of the yacht, Hugo broke the drugging spell himself, eyeing me like he’d want me for a meal right this instant.

He wiped the traces of my lipstick off his lips with a quick swipe of his thumb. “Don’t move a muscle. My cock is hard, and unless you want the people of Monaco to know what you do to me, you’d better stay put.” He gave me his notorious, teasing grin.

“Was that really necessary?” I gave him a mock scathing look because I couldn’t very well hide the damn fact that his hardened length had excited me quite a bit. In fact, the very thought of it had already gotten me bothered, wet, and heady.

“I believe so. You needed a good reminder of where your desires should be aimed.” He cocked his head to the side before thrusting his hips a little towards my navel, making me shiver like a bitch in heat. “Now look at you. You look thoroughly kissed by your dashing man.”

He was being so possessively cunning that I couldn’t help smiling at his persistence. “You’re truly insane.”

“Amongst other things.” He winked at me before we stayed awhile in our tight-knit positions, waiting for his rock hard beckoning to subside.

Once the conundrum of his erection was put to rest—indefinitely—he brought me towards Jacques and the rest of the people who surrounded Luca.

“You’re hurting my eyes, Isobel.” Jacques grinned at me as he gave me a thorough head to foot inspection.

“Lovely to see you again, Jacques.” I beamed at him, just a tad struck at his gorgeousness. “Where’re your friends Callum and Stella?” I observed that those two weren’t here tonight.

“Those two might not be partying for good,” he sort of yelled into my shoulder as the music started to beat a tad loudly for my delicate sense of hearing. “Stella’s expecting their first born,” he informed me with a look of pride in his eyes.

He was a great friend. Whomever would be truly happy for their friend, even though he’d just lost a good party buddy, was a great friend.

Glancing to my left side, I saw that Hugo was in a deep conversation with Julien when another man entered my small space.

“There’s no f*uking reception.” The man sounded displeased as he shut the screen off his phone.

“Don’t be so dramatic. Drink a little, wait it out. I’m sure it just needs a little break from you.” Jacques playfully responded before giving me a wink. “This man used to be the wildest in our brotherhood.” He tapped the guy on the shoulder to get his attention before he lifted his head and two vivid, piercing, bluer-than-blue eyes snapped onto my face, catching me off guard. “Dimitris Kosta.”

Oh. Bloody. f*uk. I froze like the insipid ninny that I was again. “You’re him. You’re Blasphemous.”

He looked so confused that he even gave Jacques a questioning look before he tried to laugh it off as if I wasn’t the major weirdo onboard. “You’ve seen the film, then, I take it?”

“More than I care to admit,” I said, a tad breathless as I gazed at him with full-on admiration. I was obscenely obsessed with the movies. I couldn’t for the life of me fathom how such a lucky woman could choose between two men in her life. The passion the movie had ignited in me always left me wondering why Damen and I couldn’t be as consumed as those lovers were in the movie.

Dimitris looked somewhat pleased. “That was my last film.”

“I know.” How sad that it was, but rumors were circulating that his family life was demanding so much more of him that he needed to cut his ties with the film industry or he’d lose his inheritance.