The Greek's Pregnant Lover (14 page)

Neo took good-natured umbrage because he
hadn’t
realized, though.

Zephyr just put his arm possessively around Piper’s waist and enjoyed himself.

He received more good wishes at the surprise reception than he had over the entire course of his life. There were even gifts—appliances and the usual suspects in wedding presents as well as donations in all their names to area shelters that catered to families with children and to the foster care system.

“It’s so perfect,” Piper said in a tear-choked voice.

“I have always said we hire the best,” Neo said smugly.

“Without doubt,” Zephyr agreed.

The employees within earshot smiled, some laughed, and some even returned the compliment.

By the time he led Piper into their apartment a few hours later, an unfamiliar warmth suffused Zephyr’s being.

“That was so nice of them,” she said as she kicked off her wedding-white shoes.

“Neo was as surprised as I was.”

“You had no idea they were planning anything?”

“None at all.”

“Cass was shocked Neo’s PA was in on it. She thought Ms. Parks hated her.”

“I’ve often wondered if Ms. Parks is even human, but hate Cass? Who could? She’s almost as sweet as you.”

“You’re being sappy again.” Piper removed the short veil and tossed it toward the sofa. “I like it.”

“And I like the idea of finding out what is underneath your wedding gown.”

“Dress…it’s a wedding dress. My wedding gown is ten times fancier. I feel like a modern-day royal in it.”

“What was the name of the gown’s designer again?”

“I didn’t tell you and I’m not about to.” She walked right into his arms. “I know you’d try to look it up on the designer’s Web site.”

“Smart, too.” He cuddled her close. “Is it any wonder I wanted you for the mother of my children?”

“It’s a good thing I got pregnant unexpectedly then, isn’t it? You weren’t going to do a thing about it.” There was something in her tone he could not quite place.

“You know why.”

“Yes, but I think we’re both getting the long end of the stick on this marriage.”

The relief he felt when she said that was all out of proportion.

“Even though I don’t…” He didn’t finish the thought, curiously unwilling to speak the words denying his love aloud.

So much for his vaunted honesty.

She shook her head, putting her hand up as if she would stop the words from coming out. “Don’t say it. Not today. Not right now. I
do
and that’s all that matters this minute.”

It was not that easy. He knew it, but he could not deny her. “I need you.” That had to be enough.

“Yes.” With a flirtatious smile that masked something deeper, she put her hands behind her back. “More than you’ve ever wanted any other woman.” Then he heard the sound of a zipper lowering.

His entire being took notice of that tantalizing sound. “In every way, you are unique in my life.” That truth was one he could give her without apology.

“That is enough,” she said as if she’d read his mind earlier.

“Is it?”

“Yes,” she said fiercely. “Isn’t it?” she almost demanded.

He nodded, unable to do anything but agree. “Yes. Enough. We are good together.”

She did a little shimmy with her torso and her dress loosened. “We are
great
together.” The white chiffon slid forward and down her arms. As it fell, it revealed the top of a baby-blue corselet that pushed her delicious breasts into mouthwatering prominence.

“Amazing.”

“Together?”

“In every way.”

She smiled that enigmatic smile women had been using on men since time immemorial and shifted her body just so. Air whooshed out of his lungs as the dress fell in a puddle of demure white chiffon at her feet, uncovering the rest of her scandalous unmentionables. The strapless corselet stopped just shy of her hips, leaving the tiny blue satin triangle of the thong she wore below it completely exposed. Her sheer stockings were held up midthigh with matching garters.

She turned in a slow circle, giving him a delectable view of her bare backside framed by the thin strings of her thong, tied together in a perfect little bow right in the center. Looking back over her shoulder, she winked and blew him a provoking kiss.

“You’re an agent provocateur.”

She gave that perfect peach of a bottom a little wiggle. “I try.”

Once she was again facing him, she struck a pose that would have made a 1940s film vamp proud. “You like?”

“I—” His voice broke off in an embarrassing sound he refused to call a squeak. He cleared his throat. “I
adore
.
Yineka mou
, you are my favorite fantasy come to life.”

“You’ve got a thing for pregnant women in sexy lingerie?”

“I’ve got a
thing
for you looking like a perfectly wrapped gift just waiting to be opened.”

“You do seem to enjoy unwrapping me.”

“I would have to be insane not to.”

She sighed happily and licked her lips in what he would swear was an unconscious motion, despite her obvious attempt to provoke, and that just made the action all the more maddening. “I’m not a supermodel, Zee, but you have a way of making me feel like I could be.”

Then that made them even, as she had a way of making him feel like a superhero. He put his hands out to her. “Come here.”

She shook her head, the curls she’d put in her silky blond hair swaying against her shoulders. “Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“You are wearing too many clothes.”

“And you don’t want to unwrap me?” he teased.

“Another time.”

“You want me to undress for you.”

“You know I do.”

He did. If he had a tendency to unwrap her like a gift, she made no bones about the fact she got a lot of pleasure out of watching him undress.

He didn’t have to do anything corny, like try to emulate a male stripper. Simply removing his clothes in his regular, methodical way could get her color up and turn her breathing erratic.

So, that was what he did. First, slipping out of his jacket and letting it lie where it fell on the floor. His tie came next, then the dress shirt that felt as constricting as a straightjacket.
He toed his shoes and socks off, then his slacks slid down his hips with a single shake before he stepped out of them. There was already a dark wet spot on the front of the black briefs that barely contained his erection, but he did not remove them.

They’d played this game before.

He put his arms out, offering himself for her pleasure. “How’s this?”

“You’re still wearing one last bit.” A knowing smile teased her bow-shaped lips. She liked that last barrier to full disclosure.

“It’s less than you.”

She put her hand against her chin as if she was thinking that over. Then she shrugged and bent forward, giving him a tempting view of her breasts pressed so provocatively against the top of the corselet.

She stopped with her hands on one of her garters and looked up at him, sensual invitation glowing brightly in her azure eyes. “Did you want to do this?”

He did, oh, yes, he did. Without answering, he crossed the distance between them and then dropped to his knees in front of her. Gently, he brushed her hands away. “Mine.”

“Yes, my caveman. Unwrap your very personal wedding pressie.”

He slid the garter down her leg, caressing her shapely limb through the soft stocking as he did so. He did the other leg before returning to the original stocking to roll it down her thigh, over her calf and slip it off her perfectly shaped foot. “So beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was as hushed as his had been.

He removed her last stocking and then caressed up and down her legs. “Your skin is silkier than the stockings.”

“Can’t talk,” she stuttered out as her knees tried to buckle.

He wrapped an arm around her waist to help her stand. “Is that bone in your corset?”

She’d worn this type of thing before and he’d loved it, but the stiffened fabric had never had anything unyielding sewn in its lining to give it form like the sexy number she had on right now.

“Metal. They’re metal stays,” she managed to say between panting breaths.

He wrapped his hands around her corseted waist, unexpectedly turned on even more by how it felt. “We’re courting danger here. If I come in my briefs, blame your too-tempting self.”

“You like the lingerie that much?”

“For the first time, I’m tempted to leave your sexy bits on while making love to you.” There had been times he had not had the patience to get undressed, but he had never before wanted to keep an article of clothing on her while coupling their bodies.

“Whatever you want.”

And damn if that didn’t excite him even more.

“But this has to go,” he said as he tugged the tie on the back of her thong and pulled the now useless triangle of silk away from her body.

He didn’t wait for her to demand equal treatment before removing his own briefs, careful not to catch himself on the dark fabric stretched to capacity. Piper teased him about being oversized, but he thought he was just the right proportion for the tight heat that waited for him between her legs.

She reached out and caressed his length in one long stroke. They both shuddered at the contact. “Want you,” she whispered wantonly. “Want this.” She squeezed.

He groaned in preorgasmic pleasure. “You need to stop if you want that inside of you before it explodes like a Roman candle.”

“More like Mount Vesuvius and I know you, you won’t go soft. Not when you’re like this.”

“You’re trying to kill me with pleasure.”

She laughed, but the sound stuttered as he returned the favor, sliding his fingers between the wet folds of her sex. He tested the moisture and heat of her vaginal opening, pushing his middle finger far inside her and pressing right against the G-spot he’d spent a good long time acquainting himself with on previous occasions of intimacy.

“Oh, yes, Zee, right there.”

He brushed his thumb right over the swollen nub of her pleasure and she squirmed and squealed. “Right
there, ne
?”

“Is this where the Greek endearments start?” she gasped out.

“They never stopped,
yineka mou
.”

“What does that one mean? Cass seems to like it a lot.”

“If you can think about Cass right now, I’m doing something wrong,” he mock-growled.

Piper rode his hand with jerky movements. “Just tell me.”

“My woman. Literally, now,
my wife
.”

“You’ve always been more possessive than you wanted to admit.”

“It’s my Mediterranean blood.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning up for a kiss that he didn’t hesitate to give her. After several seconds spent in that pleasant pastime, she nuzzled his neck. “Make love to me,
husband
.”

L
EAVING
their wedding finery in piles on the floor, he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom with long, rapid strides. Once there, he changed his mind about using the bed and detoured to the armchair in the corner.

He sat down and then maneuvered her so she straddled his thighs.

She looked at him with passion-glazed eyes as she rubbed her wet, swollen nether lips against his achingly hard length. “Mmm…”

“Put your hands on the arms of the chair and don’t let go,” he instructed.

“But—”

“You said anything I wanted.”

A sensual little laugh from her sent shivers of sensation through him. “I did.”

When her hands were where he wanted them, he pushed up on her hips until she was spread open for him and completely accessible to his touch, but unable to pleasure herself without his cooperation. The fact she allowed him to control their lovemaking like this had his heart rate in the stratosphere and his sex harder than steel.

Her trust awed him, but all he wanted was to give her the maximum amount of pleasure possible. He began with her
face, first trailing his fingertips along her cheekbones, jawline and then her lips. “Gorgeous.”

She smiled, her lips parted on short panting breaths.

He kissed her, not deeply, just to let her know how much he loved that pretty curve of her mouth. Then he traced over where his fingertips had touched with his lips, then the barely there scrape of his teeth and finally laving each sensitized bit of flesh with the tip of his tongue.

He moved to her neck, caressing every susceptible spot on her nape, shoulders, upper back and chest he had spent so many hours discovering over the past months. She shivered as his fingertips skated over a particularly vulnerable spot between her shoulder blades.

“You play my body better than Cass plays the piano,” Piper said on a low moan.

“I am obsessed.”

“I believe you.” She moaned again as his thumbs slid down inside the corselet and swept back and forth over her turgid nipples.

He kept up the caress, until they were such hard points they felt like pebbles against the pads of his thumbs. “Did it excite you to wear this under your demure little wedding dress?” he growled.

“You know it did.” She loved wearing sexy things just for him, things no one else could see or know about but that he would discover when they were alone together.

“I remember the first time you left your panties off during the workday.”

“You went ape-crazy when you realized that night in the hotel room.”

He had and she’d laughed at him, at both his shock and his excitement, but not meanly. Only in pleasure of a secret shared, a bit of joke for his amusement.

This delectable outfit outdid the panty-free escapade by leaps and bounds.

She moaned and nodded as his mouth found that spot where her shoulder and neck joined that turned her into mush. “I was ready to make love long before the surprise reception was over.”

“How did I get so lucky to end up with such a naughty woman?” he wondered out loud.

“I was never like this before.” Her breath hitched as he gently bit down on the spot he enjoyed tormenting so much.

He lifted his head and looked at her. “No, this side of you is all mine.”

“You’re so possessive.” She took a deep breath, clearly trying to gain control on her rampaging emotions. “Are you sure you don’t have any dragons in your ancestry?”

“No mythical creatures, but maybe a conqueror or two. I am Greek.” He had continued the caress of her nipples and breasts with his thumbs. It was enough stimulation to arouse, but not enough to satisfy and he knew it.

“You are incredible. Now, please…just…
please
, stop teasing me.”

“I am not teasing you.” No, he had every intention of following through on the promise of his touch. “I am driving you to the same frenzy of need roiling inside me.”

“I’m already there.”

“No, but you will be soon.”

He arched up with his hips and used the steel rod between his legs to caress her intimate flesh.

She arched and cried out as his head brushed right over her swollen clitoris. “I want you inside me!”

“Soon.” Before she had a chance to complain, he grabbed her corselet-covered waist and shifted her so the opening to her body was poised directly where it needed to be. He brought her down and surged up all in one movement, which elicited a scream of pure pleasure from her and a matching agonized groan from him.

Her restraint broke and she started rocking against him
with pure intent. He met her thrust for thrust until they climaxed together, their bodies caught in the rigor mortis of
la petite mort
for long seconds of bliss so complete, his vision went dark at the edges.

She collapsed against his chest, breathing so hard he got a little worried. He immediately started working on the ties of the corselet, getting it off of her faster than he was sure she’d managed to get into it.

The red marks where it had pressed into her skin were sexy, but he shook his head. “No more corselets or corsets, either, not until after the baby is born.”

She fluttered her hand at him, so sated her eyes were mere slits of presleeping exhaustion. “Whatever.”

“Thank you. You give the best gifts.”

“I try,” she slurred against his chest.

She was sleeping by the time he carried her to the bed and tucked her between the sheets, wrapping her securely in his arms.

Piper woke the next morning with a not-so-pleasant feeling of nausea. She groaned and swallowed convulsively as the sensation grew acute when she tried to sit up. She fell back on the bed, but that didn’t help. Neither did Zephyr’s big arm landing over her middle.

“Ugh…get off, Zee.”

“Huh?” He sat straight up in bed, giving her a look of intense inquiry. The man was almost inhuman sometimes. “What is the matter?”

“The baby is finally making itself felt.”

He frowned. “You look pale. Are you okay?” His brain seemed to catch up with his mouth and he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Morning nausea.”

His expression cleared instantly and he jumped out of the bed with entirely too much energy. “I read about that. There are
several recommendations, but the most popular is flat ginger ale and soda crackers. I’ve got some in the kitchen on standby.”

“You’ve got flattened ginger ale on hand in the kitchen?” she asked, for the moment her incredulity winning over the morning sickness.

“Of course. It’s Canada Dry, so there’s actually ginger in the beverage. That’s what is supposed to help. I’ve got the necessary inventory for the other suggestions as well, but let’s try the crackers and pop first.”

“Fine.”

He was gone less than a minute before returning with a small package of saltines and a glass of amber liquid. “Take small sips and eat at least five crackers slowly before trying to sit up again.”

She did and was thrilled when her next attempt to get out of bed was met with a much more mild form of queasiness. “It helped.”

“Good. Now that you’ll be sleeping with me every night, I can make sure you have what you need in the morning to keep from feeling too ill.”

She smiled at his reiteration that there would be no more nights spent apart. “You’ve gotten spoiled to having me available for your nightlong cuddle.” For a man who had never had a serious relationship, he was a professional cuddler.

“And I can watch over you.”

“Right. This minute, you can watch me take a shower, or join me for one. Your choice.”

She wasn’t the least surprised when he was right behind her stepping into the decadently spacious glassed-in cubicle.

They spent the day enjoying their newly married status and packing for Greece. Everything was rosy until Zephyr had the realization that morning sickness might translate to airsickness. He paced their living room before dinner, reiterating his litany of worries and hinting that maybe they should change their plans.

That was not going to happen.

“I never get nauseated while flying,” she tried to assure him.

“But now you have morning sickness.”

“Which appears to be limited to mornings, for which I am very grateful.”

“I’m thankful for that as well, but we cannot be sure—”

“And we can’t prevent it happening by worrying about it, either.”

“We should never have planned this wedding blessing in Greece.”

Oh, he did not just go there. “You told me that you always expected to get married in Greece, no matter who you ended up married to.” And she wasn’t letting him lose that dream. Full stop. Period.

“Well, yes.”

“And you know it is something I want, too. It just feels right, Zee. Besides, no way are we cancelling our plans now. Half my family is already there and your mom is dying to see you for the first time in decades.”

“But—”

“I’m going to be fine. I promise.” Man, if he was this bad now, what was he going to be like in the delivery room?

He’d probably demand the good drugs early. Which, come to think of it, was not such a bad thing.

“You cannot promise such a thing.”

“I can. You’ll be with me, so I know I’ll be fine.”

“I do not share your confidence.”

“That’s too bad, but we are not postponing the wedding blessing until I have to waddle down the aisle with a watermelon for a belly.”

“Fine, but we will take a supply of soda crackers and flat ginger ale.”

“Good idea. A Valium might be a good idea as well.”

He stared at her in shocked disapproval. “You cannot take a Valium. It might hurt the baby.”

“I wasn’t thinking of the antianxiety meds
for me
.”

The next morning was a repeat of the one before it, with the exception that after settling her tummy, Piper and Zephyr got ready to attend Neo and Cass’s wedding.

It was a beautiful ceremony in one of Seattle’s most traditional cathedral-style churches. Cassandra was a gorgeous bride in a gown with a long train and Neo looked exceedingly handsome in his tailored tuxedo. Zephyr stood up for Neo and one of Cass’s first musical protégées acted as her attendant. Neo had invited his housekeeper and doctor. Cass had invited her new agent and a couple of her other former students. Other than Piper, there were no other guests at the formal wedding.

Unless you counted Cass’s online friends, who were watching via the live feed from the camera placed on a tripod with a view of the aisle and altar.

Afterward, they all attended an intimate champagne brunch in a private room at one of Seattle’s finest restaurants. Piper drank sparkling grape juice and enjoyed herself immensely.

Cass was so incredibly happy, so obviously in love and so very clearly certain of Neo’s love that it brought tears to Piper’s eyes. Neo didn’t leave his bride’s side for even a moment between the ceremony and when they left for his penthouse several hours later.

The next day, they were just as sweet. Neo held his brandnew wife’s hand in their seats side-by-side on the company jet, while they waited to take off for Greece.

Since Zephyr had Piper’s hand firmly clasped in his, she couldn’t even work up a little emotional jealousy at the other woman’s good fortune in being so obviously loved.

Zephyr might not love her, but if there was a difference in the way he treated her from the way Neo treated Cass, Piper could not see it. Maybe one day, that lack of love would show itself in ways that would hurt, but it wasn’t now and Piper wasn’t some drama queen who borrowed trouble from what might happen.

“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

Piper didn’t even try to respond to her mother’s question immediately. It was her first time alone with her parents since meeting up at the swank hotel Zephyr’s secretary had arranged as their home base for the week of the wedding.

They were supposed to be relaxing together in the living area of Piper and Zephyr’s palatial suite while Zephyr took a conference call in their bedroom. Afterward, they were going to have dinner together since the following night, Zephyr and Piper would not be available because they would be dining in his mother’s home.

“It’s not exactly a secret, Piper,” her dad said when she didn’t answer right away. “Why else would a billionaire marry you on such short notice?”

“Because he wants to?” she asked, feeling a little piqued her dad would put it that way.

“Does he love you, honey?” her mom asked.

“I love him, very much.”

“That’s what I thought. Did you get pregnant on purpose? Nothing good ever comes of machinations like that.” Her mother sounded like a Victorian matron, not a modern woman with a daughter who was not only well past the age of making her own choices, but also already married and divorced.

“I did not,” she replied hotly, seeing no reason to pretend she wasn’t offended. “I would never do something like that and you should know me well enough to realize that.”

Her mom frowned. “It was a legitimate question.”

“No, it wasn’t. And what is this, the Spanish Inquisition? I thought you were happy for me. That’s how you sounded on the phone. Why all the questions now?”

Her dad made a point of looking around the luxurious suite and then back at Piper. She wasn’t sure what that was supposed to signify, maybe more of the whole “what would a billionaire see in you except his baby” thing?

“I’m worried about you, baby.” Her mom gave her that look that all mothers knew and all daughters cringed from.

“Don’t be.” She could not believe this. The church ceremony was in less than forty-eight hours and her parents were pulling some kind of skewed intervention. “Zee is really good to me.”

“But is he good for you?” her dad asked in that old military officer-in-charge voice she’d dreaded since she was a child.

“Of course he is. How can you ask that?”

Her mom reached out and squeezed Piper’s shoulder. “Money isn’t everything.”

“You think I am marrying him for his money?
Did you even meet him?
”

“Of course we met him. You introduced us.”

“I was being sarcastic, Mom. I just can’t believe you think money is the only thing Zephyr has to offer me. Or if it was, that I’d be interested. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I’ve built a successful business after having my career trashed. I haven’t gone through a string of loser boyfriends since Art. There’s just been Zephyr and he’s the most amazing man I’ve ever known.”