Claimed by the Sicilian Tycoon (Criminal Seduction #3)(18)

“I won’t and I disagree. The mystery is probably more important than ever. We don’t want you getting bored, now do we?”

“I doubt any man could get bored with you.”

She sighed. “No, you’re probably right, and a lot of them would jump at this offer.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed. “But I do not take mistresses.”

“Then I’ll be your first. I like that idea.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“We can learn together as we do this.”

He scowled at her words, not liking the way she was trying to maneuver him, but then he realized exactly what she was insinuating, and his heart seemed to skip a beat. “Then…I would be your first protector? You have not done this before?”

She smiled, that dimple peeking out all over again. “Indeed you would. I like that too. It feels right.”

“It feels like madness,” Andros said, compelled into being completely honest. “Madness in many ways.”

“This sort of thing so often is,” she agreed. “What else was that last night if not its own little bit if insanity?”

“I want you, Lyra,” he grated. “I will not deny it. But on my terms. To see you when I want to see you.”

“You’re missing the point, Andros. That’s exactly what a mistress is,” she said. “Someone tucked away just for you.”

Just for you. He scowled some more because the idea of Lyra being completely his for as long as he wanted…already it was growing on him, was a pervasive thought.

“I need to think about this,” he said. “To consider it.”

“Fine,” she said. “I’m going to take a shower. I feel sticky. Maybe while I’m gone you can have a think about what you’d like me to do? How crazy this is going to become.”

She got up and stalked towards the door, his shirttails swishing around her thighs. Her tanned, trim thighs.

Tanned?

A red head?

The two did not match. Nothing f*cking matched, he thought. She was contradiction on top of contradiction.

But how he wanted her.

“Oh by the way,” she said, halting at the door. “I used your tooth brush.”

He sighed. Time to make some calls.





Chapter Nine



The water was amazingly hot on her sticky skin. Lyra braced her hands against the wall of the shower as it pounded down on her back, sighing a little as she did so. She’d set the showerhead on massage mode, and damn, it felt good.

She tilted her head back, letting the water clean her face, as well as clear her head. She hadn’t lied to Andros, she had felt sticky, but the shower was more of an escape method than anything else. A chance to think. Because it seemed now, the morning after the night before, that everything was happening so fast. Of course, she’d expected that, planned for it—really, it was all going as she wanted, but her feelings? Well, she hadn’t factored them into the equation that was the trouble.

She scrunched her eyes tightly shut as she remembered the nonstop sex. He was amazing. Like no one she’d ever had. Not that there had been a lineup of men—Lyra was no virgin, still…

She shivered as she recalled his long, thick cock pumping inside of her, his tongue licking along her clit. He’d exhausted her to the point where she’d simply passed out. And this morning her muscles were stiff, her head spinning slightly. She wanted more.

More. More. More.

And that was the weird thing, because Lyra had known she’d want him. Had known from the moment she set eyes on his picture. She just didn’t expect to want him this much. He was her mark. In the end, he was there because she needed money from him. Money to help others, to make a vital difference. He was a third of a puzzle that once complete would change many lives. That was the upshot. She needed him to do as she asked. Only as his mistress would she get the opportunity to ask him for the money she needed.

Dating him on and off was out of the question. So if he refused?

She sighed as she stepped out of the shower, and grabbed one of the super soft, perfectly white, towels. She knew the layout of his house now. Had already picked out the various knickknacks that could be taken and pawned if need be. But she did not want to go that route. She wanted him, wanted to have fun with him, wanted to please him and be pleased in return.


An honest transaction.

Just like a prostitute.

She smiled as she wiped away the condensation from the full-length mirror, knowing full well that many people would probably view her actions in that light. Lyra didn’t care though. This was about doing right for others as well as getting something she wanted. If it felt right to her, felt okay, what did it matter what others thought?

Except Penny and Rachel.

Well yes, their opinion mattered, but they were never going to find out what she was up to. She’d get the money for The Point and that would be that. There’d be no need for them to find out exactly what she was doing in her free time, and it wasn’t like this thing between the two of them would last for very long. Andros was a f*cking billionaire. He moved in circles all of his own. No doubt he’d get bored of her after a month or two. But what a month it would be!

She padded into the dressing room and helped herself to one of Andros’ tee shirts. They were all perfectly arranged, row after row of cotton. She snorted a little as she imagined her own closet. Likely he had a maid though, so whatever.