Читать книгу The Holiday Escapes Collection - Сандра Мартон - Страница 46

‘AREyou serious?’ Caroline gaped at Charlotte. ‘How could your own sister do that to you?’

‘I know.’ Charlotte sighed sadly as she watched Emily bend down with Janie to watch a bug climb up a stem of grass. ‘I still can’t quite believe she’d go that far, but I guess that’s drugs for you. Our father was exactly the same. One taste and he was lost.’

‘I can lend you some money if you’re short,’ Caroline offered.

‘No, I’ll be fine. I got paid yesterday, but thanks anyway.’

Caroline gave her hand a squeeze. ‘You’ve never really given up hope on her, have you?’

Charlotte’s mouth twisted. ‘She’s all I have, apart from Emily.’

‘But stealing is a crime whether it’s your family you’ve stolen from or not. What if she’s taking other people’s money to feed her habit?’

‘She already has,’ Charlotte said, her expression now grim. ‘But she couldn’t have picked a worse person to steal from.’

‘What do you mean?’

She turned to look at her friend. ‘Stacey took a man’s wallet the other night, but it wasn’t just any ordinary everyday sort of man.’

Caroline’s eyes widened with intrigue. ‘Uh-oh, this is sounding scary. Who was it? Somebody famous?’

‘Even worse.’

‘Who?’

Charlotte took an uneven breath and said, ‘It was Emily’s father.’

‘Emily’s father?’ Caroline almost fell off the park bench. ‘You mean he’s here in Sydney? I thought you said he lived in Greece.’

‘He does, but he’s here for a month. He’s one of the major sponsors for the exhibition. I was going to tell you, but didn’t know how to broach the subject.’ She let out a despondent breath and continued, ‘Stacey gate-crashed my function the other night and of all people happened to choose Damon Latousakis’s wallet to steal.’

‘Oh, no…’ Caroline gave her a concerned look. ‘Are you going to tell him about Emily?’

‘If you had asked me that a couple of days ago I would have said a resounding no…but now I’m not so sure.’

‘Why?’

‘I didn’t think he deserved to know after the way he treated me back then. He refused to believe me when I told him I suspected I was pregnant. I called him several times when I found out I knew for sure but he hung up on me every time. I tried writing to him but the letters came back unopened. I even emailed him but he must have deleted each one without reading it. But now I can’t help feeling I should have tried harder…I gave up after a few weeks but maybe I should have kept in contact until I finally got through to him.’

‘Do you think he’ll make trouble?’

‘He’s a billionaire, Caroline. He would only have to lift his little finger to make trouble. He could have a top-notch legal team assembled before I could even say the word custody.’

‘Oh, God, this is terrible.’

Charlotte’s expression was wry. ‘Believe me, it gets worse.’

‘How can it get any worse?’

‘He wants to see me.’

‘You mean like on a date or something?’ Caroline asked, then as realisation dawned she added, ‘Oh, my God! You went out with him the other night!’

‘I had to, Caroline,’ she said. ‘He practically blackmailed me into it. He knew it was my sister who took his wallet and threatened to press charges if I didn’t agree to see him.’

‘You should have told me.’

‘I’m sorry…I wanted to but I was so upset I couldn’t think straight. I thought it best to keep things as quiet as possible. I thought I could handle it better that way, but now…’

‘Now?’ Caroline probed.

Charlotte checked on the girls before she turned to look back at her friend. ‘Damon wants us to spend some time together, as friends.’

‘Yeah, well, didn’t anyone ever tell you that you can’t truly be friends with an ex?’ Caroline said. ‘There are always issues, the biggest one, of course, being sex.’

‘I know and I don’t believe him for a moment but I thought if I spent some time with him I might be able to somehow build up enough courage to tell him about Emily. I need to establish trust between us. He still thinks I’m guilty of theft and Stacey certainly hasn’t helped my cause, but if I can show him I’m worthy of his trust he might not be so angry when he finds out he has a child.’

‘You’re going to have to work damned hard to build enough of a bond between you now to deliver that sort of bombshell.’

‘I know…’ Charlotte felt her stomach quake at the thought.

‘But I guess if he fell in love with you, you might be in with a slim chance,’ Caroline mused.

‘I’m not sure what he feels but I do know he wants to resume our affair. He’s been very up front about that.’

‘What about you? Do you still have feelings for him?’

Charlotte looked back at her little daughter and sighed. ‘I think I hated him for several months after I left Santorini, especially when he stubbornly refused to acknowledge my attempts to contact him. But as soon as Emily was born I’ve thought about him every day since. I look into her eyes and I see him. And now that I’ve met him again it’s made me realise I’ve been in denial about my feelings all this time. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped loving him, not for a moment.’

‘Then you’d better get him to fall in love with you again and fast,’ Caroline advised. ‘Otherwise you stand to lose not just your heart but your daughter as well.’

‘Can’t I come wif you, Mummy?’ Emily asked as Charlotte prepared to leave Caroline’s house on Monday evening to meet Damon. ‘Please? I’ll be berry good.’

‘No, not this time, darling.’ She bent down to her daughter’s level and kissed the tip of her nose. ‘You and Janie need an early night.’

‘But I’m not tired.’ Emily pouted at her.

Charlotte brushed a fingertip underneath her little daughter’s dark-as-night eyes. ‘You’ve got shadows bigger than saucers under here.’

‘But I miss you.’

Charlotte felt her heart contract. ‘I know, baby, but I have to see a special person tonight.’

‘Who?’ Emily’s thumb crept up to her mouth. ‘Auntie Stacey?’

‘No…someone I knew a long time ago.’

‘Is it my daddy?’

Charlotte stared at her daughter speechlessly. How on earth had she guessed?

‘I want to see him too,’ Emily said. ‘Janie sees her daddy lots and lots and he gives her presents and everyfing.’

‘I know but Janie’s daddy lives nearby. Your daddy lives in another country.’

‘Why doesn’t he send me a present?’

‘Your mummy is going to be late.’ Caroline came to her rescue as she wandered past with an armful of folded towels. ‘How about you and Janie have a nice warm bath with lots of bubbles?’

Emily’s face brightened as she followed Caroline down the hall. ‘How many bubbles?’

‘Oh, gosh, trillions and trillions.’

Charlotte gave her friend a grateful smile. ‘I’ll pick up the girls tomorrow from crèche.’

‘Have a good time and don’t forget to wear something outrageously sexy,’ Caroline said with a little wink as she shouldered open the bathroom door.

As soon as Charlotte opened the door of her flat she knew her sister was inside.

‘OK,’ she said, shutting the door with a snap. ‘Come and face the music. You’ve really done it this time. I swear to God, Stacey, I could throttle you.’

Stacey slunk out from the bathroom, her hollow face and darkly shadowed eyes sending a shockwave of concern through Charlotte in spite of her bristling anger.

‘I’m in trouble…’

‘Damn right you are,’ Charlotte said, pushing her concern aside. ‘How could you do that to me? Stealing from your own sister, for God’s sake! How can you do this after what Dad put us all through? Mum gave up all hope because of what he did and now you’re doing the very same thing!’

‘There are people after me.’

‘I assume you mean the police?’

‘No…’ Stacey folded her stick-thin arms across her sunken chest. ‘I owe money to some people…a lot of money. I paid back what I could—that’s why I transferred the funds from your account into mine. I’m sorry, but I had no choice. I’m frightened, Charlie. If I don’t pay it all back they’re going to come after me.’

Charlotte swallowed against her rising fear to stiffen her resolve. ‘I can’t give you any more money. I want to help you but I don’t trust you. For all I know, this could be another ploy of yours to get your hands on more drugs.’

‘I don’t want any more money from you,’ Stacey said. ‘I just need to lie low for a few days. Can I stay here? Please?’

Charlotte blew out a sigh. She knew she was going to regret it but what other choice was there? ‘All right, but you know the rules. No shooting up, no men and no smoking inside. Got that?’

‘I’m sorry, Charlie…about the clinic…I really wanted to go, but the dealer was making threats…’

‘I’m not even going to waste my time pleading with you to go. I haven’t got the money now, in any case.’

‘I’ll go back on a methadone programme. I promise.’

‘I wish I could believe you, I really do, but I haven’t got time to even listen to your empty promises. I’m meant to be meeting a friend at seven and here it is a quarter to and I’m not even dressed.’

‘Sorry…’ Stacey slumped to the sofa and stared down at her hands.

Charlotte could feel her anger melting. ‘Try and get some rest and we’ll talk in the morning,’ she said gently. ‘Emily’s staying at Caroline’s. I might be late, so don’t wait up.’

‘Is this the same guy as the other night?’

‘Yes…but we’re just friends.’

Stacey gave a cynical little grunt. ‘That’s what they all say.’

Damon was waiting for her in the bar when she arrived, flustered and with heightened colour, her chestnut hair half up and half down as if she’d just got out of bed, but somehow on her it looked incredibly sexy, not the least bit messy.

‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ she said, meeting his eyes briefly. ‘It was one of those days.’

‘How about a drink to settle your nerves?’ he suggested.

She lifted her chin at him. ‘I’m not nervous.’

He smiled and watched as the colour in her cheeks delicately spread. He lifted a finger and stroked it along the rosy curve of her face. ‘Yes, you are.’

Her mouth twisted ruefully as she slipped on to the bar stool beside him. ‘All right, I admit it. I am.’

‘You do not need to be nervous, Charlotte,’ he said. ‘This evening is to re-establish a friendship between us.’

She looked at him with wide uncertain eyes. ‘Do you think ex-lovers can ever truly be friends?’ she asked.

He looked down at her upturned face, his gaze lingering on the soft bow of her mouth. ‘Who knows?’ he said, meeting her gaze once more. ‘I had every intention of giving it a try, but as soon as you walked in I wanted to take you upstairs and—’

She put a finger up to his lips to stall his speech. ‘Don’t, please…this is hard enough without you tempting me like that.’

He captured her finger and, bringing it up to his mouth, pressed his lips against it. ‘So you are tempted?’

She drew in a husky little breath. ‘A bit…’

‘Only a little bit?’

Her lips curved upwards in another twisted smile. ‘OK, a lot.’

He brought her finger back up to his mouth and sucked on it, his eyes still holding hers.

Charlotte felt the tug of desire between her legs, heat exploding like a burst of fuel-driven flame. How could she have ever thought they could simply be friends? It was impossible with this need pulsing between them. She could feel it in the air as it tightened around them. She could see it in his eyes as his pupils flared and she could feel it in his touch. The touch her body remembered so well it positively ached to feel it again.

‘Damon…’

‘No.’ He used the same tactic she had done to stop her from speaking, his finger making her lips buzz with sensation. ‘Listen to me. We have a past that will not go away. I can feel it like a living breathing entity between us.’

‘I can’t give you what you want.’

‘Yes, you can,’ he insisted. ‘You can relieve me from this torment of longing. We were so good together. We can be so again. I know it. I feel it every time I touch you.’

‘Damon…’ She took a breath to prepare herself. ‘There’s something you should know…’

‘I know all I need to know,’ he said. ‘You still want me. We can never be just friends, Charlotte. There is too much passion between us.’

‘We can’t have a future unless we deal with the past.’

‘The past is in the past, Charlotte. I do not want to revisit it again. I believed you to be guilty of a crime you still say you did not commit. I want to believe you are incapable of lying but I think it best that we leave it at that. It bears no relevance to what is between us now.’

Charlotte felt the crushing weight of her guilt press against her chest. She could hardly breathe for the unbearable load of it. She was deceiving him at this very moment.

‘This is a second chance for us,’ he said. ‘I was wrong to cut off all contact with you. I see that now. It was born out of anger and pride and it served no purpose. I should have listened to your explanation. I owed you that at the very least, but I was too damned proud.’

‘Damon…I don’t know how to tell you this, but—’

‘Do not say you hate me, for I do not believe it,’ he said, interrupting her.

‘No, I don’t hate you, but I…’ She swallowed the rest of her words.

‘I know you are uneasy about us resuming our relationship,’ he said. ‘You were hurt before and no doubt still feel vulnerable, but I will try not to rush you, even though it is killing me.’

She gave him a little smile in spite of her anguish. ‘You only have two speeds, Damon: fast and faster.’

He grinned at her. ‘You know me so well, agape mou, even after all this time.’

‘Excuse me, Mr Latousakis.’ A hotel employee approached them. ‘The meal you requested is now ready in your room.’

‘Thank you,’ Damon said.

Charlotte raised her brows. ‘We’re eating here? At the hotel?’

He took her hand and helped her from the stool. ‘I hope you do not mind. I wanted us to be alone.’

She nervously followed him to the bank of lifts. She had been expecting a public restaurant and a dance floor with other couples, not a private intimate meal in his penthouse suite. Resisting him was going to be a whole lot harder without an audience to restrain her desire to be in his arms again.

He opened the door for her and she stepped in to see fragrant flowers in every corner of the room, candles flickering and a bottle of French champagne sitting in an ice bucket beside the table, which was set for two.

‘You’ve gone to so much trouble…’ She looked around her in amazement. ‘I don’t know what to say…’

He pulled out a chair for her. ‘Come and sit down and we will enjoy the meal the chef has prepared specially.’

Heat coiled in her stomach at the look in his eyes as he took the chair opposite. He was so dangerously sexy when he looked at her like that. She had no defences to withstand the temptation of his smile, let alone his touch.

He served their meal from the dishes set on a trolley beside the table, each movement of his hands reminding her of how those long fingers had known every inch of her body.

She had given herself so freely to him. Her lack of experience had not been an issue; she hadn’t even mentioned it until after they had made love. Her body had felt no discomfort in receiving him the first time; she had felt as if she had been made for him and him alone.

‘You are very quiet,’ Damon remarked once their entrée and main meal was over.

‘Sorry…I was miles away.’

‘I am boring you?’

‘No, of course not…it’s just that…’

He reached for her hand and held it in the warmth of his. ‘Shall we dance?’

‘Dance? Here?’

He pulled her to her feet. ‘You loved to dance, Charlotte, remember? You always moved in my arms as if we were one person.’

She sent her gaze downwards. ‘I haven’t danced in years…’

He flicked the switch on a remote control and the soft strains of a romantic ballad filled the air.

She felt his arms come around her and her feet moved in time with his, her body so close to the warmth of his, she felt her heart begin to increase its pace.

‘See?’ he said, his deep voice a sexy rumble against her breasts. ‘You fit so well against me.’

Charlotte gave herself up to the music and the feel of his body moving in time with hers. It was like stepping back in time, her whole body acting as if the past had not happened. Her arms looped around his neck, which brought her even closer to his growing erection. She felt it harden against her and when she looked up into his eyes she knew there was no way she would be able to resist him, audience or not.

His hands were like hot brands on her hips, his muscled thighs moving against and between hers as they moved together until she was almost mad with the need to feel him fill her. She could feel her body seeping with the sensual silk of womanly desire, her nipples tightening in anticipation of his touch as his hands moved from her hips to settle just below her breasts.

His mouth swooped down and covered hers with a searing kiss of passion, his tongue stroking through the parted curtain of her lips in search of hers. She flicked her tongue against his, tentatively at first and then with increasing confidence as she felt the pulse of his reaction. His mouth was a burning pressure on hers, the movement of his hands as they found her breasts making her gasp with pleasure.

‘You are wearing too many clothes,’ he growled as his fingers found the zip of her dress and slid it downwards.

‘So are you,’ she said and began to undo the buttons of his shirt, lingering to press a hot little kiss as each part of his chest was exposed.

He groaned when she got to his belt and, lifting her, carried her to the bed, joining her in a tangle of limbs and half-discarded clothes.

Charlotte put her hand over his as he reached for her knickers, which only just covered the seam of her scar. ‘Can we turn the lights down?’ she asked.

He frowned. ‘But I want to see you—all of you.’

‘I’m not as slim as I used to be…’

‘You look wonderful to me,’ he said.

‘Please, Damon.’

He reluctantly reached across to dim the lights. ‘All right, but next time I want to see every inch of you.’

Charlotte felt the thrill of his urgent arousal as he came back over to her, his hands tearing at her clothes as she tore at his, their bodies straining to join in the most intimate of all embraces. She ached with the need to feel him inside her, the heavy pulse of desire like the beat of a primitive tribal drum, reverberating throughout her body.

His mouth moved to her breast and sucked hard, the rasp of his tongue making her toes curl and her back arch in response. He moved to her other breast, his hands stroking her belly and moving lower until he found the secret heart of her, his fingers stroking into her slippery warmth until she was writhing with pleasure. She felt her body begin to tingle with the first waves of release but it wasn’t enough. She reached for him, her fingers shaping his turgid length, his agonised gasp inciting her to increase the pressure until he was struggling to contain control.

He grasped at her hand but she pushed him with her free one until he was on his back, his chest rising and falling as she began to move her mouth from the flat taut plane of his abdomen in teasing little wet kisses until she came to the pulsing heat of him.

He groaned again when she licked at his swollen length, her tongue tasting him before she opened her mouth over the satin-covered steel of his body, drawing him in with stroking and rolling movements of her tongue.

‘Enough!’

He pulled her away from him and flipped her on her back, rummaging quickly for a condom and applying it before driving into her with such urgency she cried out in sheer relief that he was finally where she most wanted him. His movements were hard and fast but she was with him all the way, her body rocking against his as it climbed towards the pinnacle of release it craved.

‘I am going too fast,’ he said breathlessly against her mouth.

‘You’re not going fast enough.’ She urged him on with her body, rising to meet each forward movement of his.

Suddenly she was there.

Her whole body tightened and then exploded, splintering into a thousand tiny pieces, each one of them shivering with the aftershocks of pleasure.

She felt his explosive release hard on the heels of hers, every muscle in his body tensing before he let go with a deep primal groan. They lay still intimately entwined, basking in the afterglow of deep contentment.

Damon eased himself up on his elbows to look down at her. ‘I had planned to take things slowly but you made it impossible. Your body excites me like no other.’

‘You’re pretty exciting too,’ she said, reaching up to stroke his jaw with her hand.

He captured her hand and pressed a soft kiss to the middle of her palm. ‘Have you had many other lovers since me?’ he asked.

‘Why do you ask?’

His eyes roved her face, lingering on her mouth before returning to her blue gaze. ‘It is selfish and chauvinistic of me, I know, but I was hoping you have not.’

Her expression contained a hint of reproach. ‘I’m sure you haven’t been celibate for the last four years.’

A little frown tugged at his forehead. ‘No…’

‘Have you been in love with anyone?’ she asked, trying to ignore the pain his confession had evoked.

He shook his head. ‘No. I have not allowed myself to feel that way about anyone.’

Charlotte felt hope begin to rise in her chest. Did he still feel something for her?

His eyes gave nothing away as they connected with hers but she could feel his body thickening inside her.

His hands began to explore her breasts, his thumbs reacquainting themselves with the rock-hard pebbles of her nipples, his hot moist mouth moving down to suckle on each of her breasts until her head was spinning and her ears ringing with the pleasure of having his strong arms around her and his lips and tongue playing havoc with her senses all over again.

Damon pulled away from her breast and looked down at her with a quizzical expression. ‘What’s that noise?’ he asked.

‘What noise?’ she asked dizzily, her mind still reeling from his sensual onslaught.

‘It sounds like a mobile phone on vibrate,’ he said.

Charlotte felt her stomach lurch in panic. It was late and the only people who would be calling her at this hour would be either Caroline or Stacey.

‘Um…I’d better answer it.’

He looked at her incredulously, his body pulsing with need inside hers. ‘Now?’

‘It might be my sister,’ she said and eased herself out of his embrace.

She walked on unsteady legs to her evening bag but the phone had stopped vibrating by the time she got to it. She stared at the screen as a message icon appeared. She pressed the key to display the text and her heart came to a stumbling halt when she read what was there.

Emily hurt—but don’t worry—have taken her to the Children’s hospital—C xox

Charlotte hadn’t even noticed that Damon had come to stand beside her until she heard his deep voice ask in a tone that demanded an immediate answer, ‘Who is Emily?’