Million Dollar Mistake

Oh damnit to hell, Raven thought, I climaxed. I climaxed against him. Against
Nicholas. Against the man I never want to see again in my life. Raven kept her
head down, pretending to make herself presentable. I can’t face him. I can’t look
up. She could pretend she was four years old again and hiding in the closet
amongst Mommy’s clothes, thinking no one could see her.
“I never should have agreed to—look, Raven, there’s no excuse for my
behavior. I’m so…”
His voice, that deep southern drawl that made women want to spread their
legs and whistle Dixie in surrender flowed from his lips. He continued to
apologize until all the power and sweetness of her coming froze inside her. She
could feel ice crystals forming in her heart to replace the heat of her emotions a
few moments before. How could she face him? Pride finally came to her rescue
and she looked up. He looked distressed. And, she was glad to see—still turned
on and frustrated as hell, even as he expressed his regret. Raven summoned all of
her acting abilities and managed a sophisticated shrug before saying in a light,
bored tone—
“No problem, darling. I’m just sorry it wasn’t good for you”—she leaned
forward and nipped his bottom lip with her teeth before leaning back to say—
“because it certainly was for me.” Her effort was rewarded when he stood as if
turned to stone. “Now help me down before someone discovers what we’ve been
up to.”
Automatically, he helped her off the table, before leaning over to pick up her
sweater from the floor. She took it and draped it over her shoulders before
saying, “Thanks, darling.”
Then she turned, grasped a pool ball in her hand and rolled it against the
remaining ball on the table. The ball hit and the striped ball raced toward the
pocket, dropping down with a swish. Raven straightened and looked back over
her shoulder. “My game, I believe.”
Then using every bit of skill she possessed, she turned and sauntered toward
the door. She glanced back at Nicholas, still standing at the pool table. Her voice
dropped to a husky growl, “I really enjoyed playing with you, Nicholas. Perhaps
we can do it again some time.”
Heart aching, eyes burning with tears she refused to shed, she opened the door
and stepped through.
In the hallway, the misery swamped her as she moved toward the stair,
praying to reach the sanctity of her room before she shattered. She raced down
the upstairs hall, not stopping to breathe until she’d fumbled her way into her

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bedroom and flung herself on her bed. Turning over onto her back, she gazed up
at the ceiling she’d recently gazed upon with Nicholas by her side. Tears spilled
over and ran down her cheeks onto the satin comforter, but she scarcely noticed.
She was caught by a more painful fact.
She was head over heels in love with Nicholas Demetrious.

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Chapter Eight
When Raven woke up the next morning lying on top of the covers, she was
exhausted, freezing and still wearing her clothes from the night before. She’d
cried herself into a fitful sleep, complete with visions of knights, all of whom
looked like Nicholas, fighting fierce dragons dressed in sexy little black dresses
as their fiery anger scorched his shining armor. The dreams were almost as hot
as she and—
“Oh my God,” she groaned as she sat up, shoving her hair back from her face,
allowing herself to remember last night with Nicholas, groaning again as
thoughts and emotions flooded back. His touch, his clever mouth, the weight of
his body on hers, the sheer fact that she’d found herself completely lost in him
renewed her hunger for the black-hearted louse.
Black-hearted didn’t even come close to describing him, she decided. How
dare he flirt with Lorianne and then make love to her? She wasn’t used to
playing second best to anyone, especially not a little mouse like Lorianne.
Although she had to admit, that little mouse seemed equipped with some sharp
teeth. Under different circumstances, she might even come to like her.
The thought crept into her head that Nicholas had been more searched out by
Lorianne than the one doing the searching, but she pushed it away. Logic has no
place in emotion. She’d prefer to stew and call Nicholas names than cut him any
slack. He didn’t deserve any. If there was any justice in the world, the damn man
had gone to bed with a hard-on the size of Montana and didn’t sleep a wink all
night long. Flinging her hair back, she smiled. Somehow a physically frustrated
and aching Nicholas made her feel a lot better.
Raven slid off the bed and headed for the shower, tossing clothes as she went.
Stepping into the spray, she sighed and let herself think of Nicholas once again.
It wasn’t just the skill of his lovemaking or even the possibility of take-no-
prisoners sex that had him planted in her mind. It was as much his sense of
humor, his temper, his surprisingly harebrained ideas, plus the vulnerability and
yearning he showed at unexpected moments that kept him in her thoughts—and
in her heart, if she was honest with herself. How strange to realize that instead of
being the restrained man she’d thought him all these years, he’d been capable of
completely losing control and making love to her on a pool table, of all places.
Raven squeezed soap into her hands and started to wash her torso, but the
feelings the action evoked were still too potent to face. Her touch reminded her

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of Nicholas—his long fingers dancing over her skin, teasing her into letting go
as he opened her emotions, as he encouraged her release. Starting to sweat at the
memory, Raven snarled, “Damn,” then yelped as she turned the hot water to ice
cold.
A bit later, having taken the coward’s way out by using the house intercom
and requesting breakfast in her room, she descended the stairs knowing she’d
have to face her nemesis sometime. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the
drawing room and straight into Nana and Lorianne who were deep in
conversation on the sofa in front of the fire. There was no sight of Nicholas.
“I agree, it sounds promising. Frustrating, but promising,” Nana said, patting
Lorianne’s hand. “You need to keep—” She broke off as she noticed Raven.
“Oh, hello, Raven. We missed you at breakfast. Did you have a good night?”