Claimed by the Sicilian Tycoon (Criminal Seduction #3)(31)

When Andros came he did so with a groan, tearing his lips from her. Lyra sucked in a shocked breath as his come exploded over her, spurting onto her hand, her belly, her breasts. It felt…she swallowed…it felt good. She liked it, liked having him on her, and it made perfect sense in her mind to run a hand along her body and feel his sticky come on her skin.

“Jesus, Lyra,” he groaned. “You make me come so hard.”

“Good,” she said. “Good.”

They kissed again. This kiss was relaxed, replete, and Lyra loved it, gloried in it.

“Presents?” Andros asked when they came up for air, and she laughed. So happy. So content.

“Gimme, gimme.”

It took a few minutes to get cleaned up and then they were back on the floor, Lyra in her vest and shorts again, Andros with his shirt back on—though buttoned up wrong, she noted with satisfaction. He pulled her against him so that she lay between his legs, against his chest. It was an intimate gesture, she thought, more so than the sex they’d just shared. His arms were wrapped around her belly, his mouth nuzzling her neck, but there was no heat in it, just a man enjoying his woman.

What a scary thought.

“Which one will you open first?” he asked, placing a kiss on her bare shoulder.

“The smallest first.” She leaned out of his arms and picked up a little silver bag, tipping the contents into her hand. The box was small, black, and had a familiar logo on it. An iPhone. Wow, she’d seen and played on a few in her time but had never thought to own one. It was the latest model and was sitting in its own little silver case.


“So I can contact you,” Andros said. “I have pre-programmed my personal number.”

“Of course. It’s really pretty.”

He frowned. “It is not meant to be pretty.”

“Still is, though.”

The next box was larger still but bore the same logo. Lyra almost squealed when it opened up to reveal her very own laptop. “A Mac?”

“So I can contact you,” he said. “By email if necessary. This building has Wi-Fi.”

She grinned. “Of course.”

The other two bags held more tech, a tablet and an iPod. It was pre-loaded with a bunch of music and Lyra scrolled through the songs, unable to believe what she was seeing. Penny had an ancient iPod, one of the first gen that they’d found in a market for a few quid. It hadn’t been working but Penny had managed to sort it out. Only this one was brand new, it all was, and as Lyra took it all in she couldn’t help but work out how much it had all cost…and inevitably how much she could sell it all for when the time came.

“So I can contact you,” Andros said.

“On an iPod?” she asked, ignoring her own mercenary thoughts.

He grunted.

“This is all so thoughtful.”

“You need things to do,” he said with a shrug. “When I am at work. There is much you can do with this.”

“Sure is,” Lyra agreed, though in truth she had other plans for her days whilst Andros was absent. No need to tell him that, though. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said, pulling her back into his arms and nuzzling her neck again. “There is one more gift.”

“Is it more tech?”

“No.”

“A poodle?”

“In this apartment?”

“Point taken.” She twisted around so that she knelt before him. Placing a kiss on his jaw Lyra shot him a sultry look. “Tell me.”

“I will show you instead.”

He leaned across her and grabbed the suit jacket she had had pulled off him just a half hour ago. He was always in suits, Lyra thought, and wondered exactly what Andros would look like in jeans and a tee. Or even in sweats and not much else.

“Wear jeans tonight,” she said as he reached into the pocket of his jacket.

“Sorry?”

“You said we were going out? That I could choose where, seeing as how the chicken was so good?”

“I did.”

“Let’s go to that sushi bar you mentioned and you wear jeans.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “Why?”

“Because you’ll look gorgeous.”

“I have no casual clothes here.”

“Then perhaps you should bring some? Leave them here I mean,” she suggested, then held her breath as Andros paused to give her a look she couldn’t quite decipher. She hadn’t been back to his home since the first day. Their entire affair was being carried out in this little apartment overlooking London. Lyra didn’t mind. She hadn’t expected to be welcomed into his actual life, but it made sense to her that he should bring a little bit of himself into the world he’d created for her.

“That is a good idea,” he said after a moment, and she released the breath, a weird relief shooting through her. “I will have some delivered tomorrow. Now, this is for you.”

He passed across a box. It was long, thin, blue, and was stamped with a name even Lyra recognized. “Andros,” she whispered, her heart suddenly giving a little thump.

“Open it,” he commanded.

She did so with shaky hands, and the moment the present inside was revealed Lyra’s little heart thumps became big heart thumps. It was a necklace. Perfect in every way, it was platinum maybe, or even white gold, and the diamonds…Lyra swallowed unsteadily as she took in the many, many diamonds threaded throughout the delicate chains that made up the necklace. They winked and sparkled and screamed their opulence at her.