Читать книгу Modern Romance November 2019 Books 5-8 - Dani Collins - Страница 13

MONEY MAKES THE world spin.

I swallowed my champagne, careful not to choke on it as I dispassionately observed the guests indulging in the revelry of my sham of a wedding.

Money had made this happen, and in the exact time frame I’d requested it.

Money had put that smug smile on Yiannis Petras’s face.

Money had made the family, decimated by my grandfather’s fall from grace, rally together for the sake of enjoying the rejuvenated fruits of my labour.

I’d seen first-hand how the lack of it could cause backbiting and untold strain. Ostensibly solid marriages crumbled under the threat of diminished wealth and influence. I’d seen it in my parents’ marriage. It was why I’d never have freely chosen this route for myself.

My gaze shifted to my brand-new wife.

Had money influenced her agreement to this fiasco?

Was she getting a cut of the hundred million euros?

Of course she was. Had she not proclaimed herself a true Petras?

For those seconds as she’d hesitated at the altar I’d entertained the notion that she shared my reluctance, had imagined the merest hint of resistance in her eyes.

Her words had put me straight.

A cursory investigation had revealed that while she’d graduated from Skypos University with a major in Arts, she’d done nothing with her degree for the last two years. Her father’s daughter through and through, sitting back and taking the easy route to riches.

So what if outwardly she wasn’t what I expected?

I snorted under my breath at this colossal understatement. Calypso Petras…ochi, make that Calypso Xenakis…was beyond a surprise. She was a punch to my solar plexus, one it was taking an irritatingly long time to wrestle under control.

Even now my senses still reeled from what I’d uncovered beneath her veil. She was far from the drab little mouse I’d assumed.

‘I believe there’s a rule somewhere that states you shouldn’t scowl on your wedding day.’

I resisted the urge to grind my teeth and faced my brother. ‘You think this is funny?’

‘This whole circus? No. I believe that ring on your finger and the look on your face makes it all too real.’ Neo affected a mocking shudder intended to rile me further.

It worked.

‘I’m talking about your implication that my… Calypso.’ Thee mou, why did her name sound so…erotic?

Neo’s eyes widened before glinting with keen speculation. ‘If I recall, I didn’t give you any specifics.’

There was a reason Neo was president of marketing at Xenakis Aeronautics. He could sell hay to a farmer.

My fingers tightened around my glass. ‘You deliberately let me to think she was…unremarkable.’

She was quite the opposite. Hers was the confounding kind of beauty one couldn’t place a finger on. The kind that made you stare for much longer than was polite.

Neo shrugged. ‘No, I didn’t. And don’t blame me for the dire state of your mind, brother,’ he answered.

The low heat burning through my blood intensified. And while I wanted to attribute it to this conversation, I knew I couldn’t. Ever since I’d pulled that hideous veil off her face and uncovered the woman I’d agreed to marry a different irritation had lodged itself deep inside me. One I wasn’t quite ready to examine.

But that wasn’t to say I was ready to let Neo off the hook for…

For what?

Making obfuscating observations about Calypso Petras that had made me dismiss her from my mind, only to be knocked off-kilter by her appearance?

Granted, she still wasn’t my type. Her eyes were too large…much too distracting. They were the type of turquoise-blue that made you question their authenticity. Framed with long eyelashes that begged the same question. And then there were her lips. Full and sensual, with a natural bruised rose hue, and deeply alluring despite the absence of gloss.

The dichotomy of fully made-up eyes and bare lips had absorbed my attention for much too long at that altar. And it had irritated me even further that since our arrival at the reception those lips had been buried beneath a hideous layer of frosty peach.

But it hadn’t stopped me puzzling over why the two aspects of her initial appearance had been so at odds with each other. Or why she’d seemed…startled by our very brief kiss on the altar.

False innocence wrapped around her true character? A character that contained more than a little fire.

My mind flicked to other hints I’d glimpsed over the last few hours. While I was yet to discover what lay beneath the layers of the wedding gown, there were more than enough hints to authenticate her voluptuousness.

Yet to discover…

The peculiar buzz that had been ignited during that fleeting kiss notched up a fraction, the fact that the brief contact still lingered on my lips drawing another frown.

‘Your new wife is looking a little…unhappy. Perhaps you should see about fixing that?’

About to state that I had nothing to fix, that her happiness was none of my concern, I found my gaze flicked to the table. Despite the picture of poise she was trying to project she looked pale, her eyes flitting nervously. A quick scrutiny of our guests showed she was the object of several stares and blatant whispers.

A helpless prey in a jungle of predators.

My feet moved almost of their own accord, the niggling urge to reverse that look on her face irritating me even as I moved towards her, effectively silencing the whispers with quelling stares.

Regardless of how this union had come about, rumours couldn’t be allowed to run rife. This was how undermining started.

As I neared, silence fell. Her gaze shifted, met mine. Her chin lifted, a wisp of bewilderment and skittishness evaporating and her eyes flashing with defiance.

For some absurd reason it sparked something to life inside me. Something I fully intended to ignore.

Defiance or bewilderment, the deed was done. She and her family had capitalised on an agreement made under duress and bagged themselves a windfall. She should be celebrating.

Instead I caught another trace of apprehension as I stopped beside her chair. Eyes growing wide, she looked up at me. The graceful line of her neck—another alluring feature that seemed to demand attention—rippled as she swallowed.

Thee mou, if this was an act then she was a good actress!

Aware of our audience, and a burning need to find out, I held out my hand to her. ‘The traditional first dance is coming up, I believe.’ The earlier we could get this spectacle out of the way, the quicker I could resume my life.

Her gaze darted to the dance floor, her reluctance clear. ‘Is that…really necessary?’

Something about her reluctance and her whole demeanour grated. She was behaving as if I was contaminated!

‘Enough with this pretence. That wide-eyed innocent thing will only work for so long. Give it up, Calypso.’

She offered me her hand, but the eyes that met mine as she stood sparkled with renewed fire. ‘No one calls me Calypso. My name is Callie,’ she stated firmly.

I attempted to ignore the slim fingers in mine, the smooth softness of her palm and the way it kicked to life something inside me as I led her to the middle of the dance floor.

‘I’m your new husband—surely I don’t fall under the category of no one?’ I curled my arm around her waist, a singular need to press her close escalating inside me as the band struck up a waltz.

She stiffened. ‘Are you insinuating that you’re special?’

For some reason my lips quirked. ‘By your tone, I’m guessing I’m not. Not even special enough for you to grant me the simple gift of addressing you as I please?’

Her lips firmed again, drawing my attention to their plumpness. Reminding me of that all too fleeting taste of them.

‘And what am I to call you? Other than stranger or husband?’

For some reason the fiery huskiness of her voice drew another smile. A puzzle in itself, since humour was the last emotion I should have been experiencing. I was in this situation because of money and shameless greed.

‘Call me Axios. Or Ax, as most people do. I doubt we will reach the stage of coining terms of endearment.’

‘On that I think we’re agreed,’ she replied, her gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder.

Another scrabble of irritation threatened to rise, but I suppressed it when I noticed that once again, beneath the show of sharp claws, she was trembling, her wide eyes a little too bright. As if she was holding on to her composure by a thread.

‘Is something wrong?’ I asked. Again I questioned my need to know. Or care.

‘What could possibly be wrong?’

She didn’t bother to meet my gaze. If anything, she attempted to detach herself, which ought to have been impossible, considering how close we were dancing. But I was learning that my new wife had several…interesting facets.

‘It is polite to look at me when you address me.’

She maintained her stance for another few seconds, then her blue eyes rose to mine. The urge to stare into them, to commit every fleck and expression to memory, charged through me, this time bringing a wave of heat to my groin.

I inhaled slowly, forcing myself to ignore that unsettling sensation and address her as I would any acquaintance.

Even though she wasn’t.

Even though she’d taken my name and we were effectively bound together for twelve long months.

‘This thing will go smoother if we attempt to be civil with one another. Don’t you agree?’

‘I’m not a puppet. I cannot act a certain way on command.’

‘But you can dispense with that little-girl-lost look. And I find it curious that you would choose to refer to puppets. Perhaps you’re familiar with knowing exactly which strings to tug to get what you want?’

Unlike me, she didn’t attempt to disguise her frown. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘This whole scheme, orchestrated by you and your family, has gone off without a hitch. Feel free to stop acting now.’

She inhaled sharply, her eyes darting to the guests dancing around us. ‘Please keep your voice down.’

‘Afraid you’ll be found out? Are you really so blind to the fact that every single guest is speculating wildly about how two people who’ve never met are now married?’

Her plump lips pressed together for a moment. ‘I can’t control what other people think. But I do care about perpetuating unfounded rumours.’

‘Do you, yineka mou?’

Her blue eyes shadowed and her gaze quickly flicked away. ‘Can you not call me that, please?’

‘Why not? Are you not my wife?’

The more the term fell from my lips the deeper it bored into me, as if rooting for a place to settle. Of course the search would be futile, because this was far from what I wanted.

The strain and stress of trying to save his failing company while keeping his family and his marriage together had driven my grandfather into an early grave, his spirit broken long before the heart attack that had suddenly taken him. It was the same stress that had nearly broken my own father, forcing him to step down after a mere two years as CEO.

I didn’t intend to weigh myself down with similar baggage.

I refocused on Calypso, attempting to ignore the effect of her soft curves against my body as she asked, ‘So, what happens after this?’

‘“This”?’

‘After we’re done here,’ she elaborated.

Unbidden, my thoughts flew ahead. To when the evening would turn exclusive and intimate. When wedding euphoria traditionally took on another, more carnal dimension.

A traditions I wouldn’t be indulging in.

‘Do you plan on getting back into your helicopter and leaving me here?’

The carefully disguised hope in her voice threw me back to that day in my father’s office a month ago, when an agreement that bore all the hallmarks of blackmail had crash-landed into my life and threatened the Xenakis name and business. Did she really think she and her family could take financial advantage and then sail off into the sunset?

The silent vow I’d taken that day to ensure neither Calypso nor her father escaped unscathed resurged as I looked down into her face. A face struggling for composure and a body twitching nervously beneath my hand.

I pulled her closer, steadied her at her slight stumble, and lowered my lips to her ear.

‘It’s our wedding night, matia mou. How would it look if we didn’t stay under the same roof? Sleep in the same bed?’

My lips brushed the delicate shell of her ear and she shivered. A moment later wide, alluring eyes sought mine.

‘Sleep in the same bed? But you don’t even know me. What…what’s the rush?’

I opened my mouth to tell her there was no rush. That giving her my name was the final payment she and her family would extract from me. Instead I shrugged, noting absently that a part of me was enjoying this a little too much.

‘Other than ensuring there will be nothing to be held over my head when the whim takes your father? Are you suggesting a period of getting to know one another before we decide if we must consummate this marriage?’

She gave a little start. ‘If? Don’t you mean when?’ she whispered fiercely, her eyes wider, searching.

Again the words to answer, to state that this dance was as close as we would get for the duration of our agreement, remained unsaid on the tip of my tongue. If she believed I would further compound this debacle by gracing her bed, so be it. She would discover differently later.

Absurdly, the pleasure in that thought of delivering disappointment never arrived. Instead I was unarmed by a disturbing throbbing in my groin, by the temptation to take a different approach. To gather her closer, breathe in the alluring perfume that clung to her silken skin.

I did just that, nudging her close with a firm clasp on her lower back. And heard her sharp intake of breath.

Pulling back, I glanced at her pale face. ‘Are you all right?’

Her swift nod assured me that she was lying, and the wild darting of her gaze confirmed that belief.

‘Calypso?’

‘I… I’m fine. Just a little headache. That’s all.’

I frowned. ‘Then why are you touching your stomach?’

Her hand quickly relocated from her midriff to my shoulder, her smile little more than a grimace. ‘It’s nothing, I assure you.’

About to refute that assurance, I was forestalled by the end of the music and the applause that followed. And then by the arrival of Iona Petras.

My introduction to Calypso’s mother, along with everyone else in the Petras clan, had been stiff and perfunctory, with no disguising exactly what this bloodless transaction was.

Everyone except Calypso.

‘May I have a private moment with my daughter?’ the older woman asked, although I got the feeling it was more an order than a request, giving me a momentary glimpse of where Calypso had inherited her quiet fire.

My fingers started to tighten on Calypso’s waist, as a peculiar reluctance to let her go assailed me. I strenuously denied it and released her. ‘By all means.’

A silent conversation passed between mother and daughter before Calypso held out her hand. Without so much as a glance my way, they exited the ballroom.

A fine irritant, like a tiny pebble in my shoe, stayed with me throughout all my inane conversations with people I didn’t know and another five-minute ribbing from Neo. By the time my father approached I had the notion that my jaw would crack from being ground so tight.

‘Am I mistaken or do you two seem to be getting along?’ my father asked.

‘You are mistaken,’ I quipped, unwilling to admit how that dance and the feel of Calypso in my arms had fired up my blood.

He grimaced. ‘I was hoping this would be less of an ordeal for you if you got along.’

‘I said I’d do what needs to be done. And I will.’

Despite that small, startling flame of anticipation burning inside me.

Despite the fact that I’d completely dismissed any occurrence of a wedding night until exactly five minutes ago.

That sensation of her slender back beneath my hand…that pulse beating at her throat… The shivers she couldn’t control.

The fire of anticipation flared higher, resisting every attempt to dampen it down.

But did I need to?

This abhorrent agreement hadn’t, thankfully, included a stipulation for consummation. But would it be a true marriage without it?

Enough!

Wrestling with myself over this was beneath me. Everything Yiannis Petras had asked for had been delivered. They would get nothing more from me.

That declaration lasted until my new wife walked back into the room and attempted to dismiss me with a vacant smile, even while her eyes challenged me.

Something locked into place inside me.

A challenge that needed answering.

Without stopping to question the wisdom of doing it, I crossed the wide room to where she stood. Took the hand loosely fisted by her side and brushed my lips over her knuckles.

Satisfaction sizzled through me when her breath caught. ‘Say your goodbyes, Calypso. It’s time to leave.’

‘So what now?’ I cringed inwardly at the nerves in my voice.

The helicopter ride—my first—from Nicrete to Agistros, the large island apparently owned entirely by Axios, had been breathtaking and exhilarating, and thankfully had not required much conversation. Largely because Axios had piloted the aircraft and I’d felt too nervous to disturb him, even if there’d been anything to talk about.

My mind was still a jumble after our charged snippets of conversation and that little slip on the dance floor, when he pulled me close and the ache in my belly manifested itself, and my last unsettling conversation with my mother.

But most of all it was the look in Axios’s eyes before he’d whisked me away from the reception and down to the waiting helicopter that kept my heart banging against my ribs.

That look was far too unsettling and electrifying for me to rest easy.

Especially not after landing on a dedicated cliff-side helipad on this island that boasted its own dormant volcano and a jaw-dropping villa that seemed almost too beautiful to be real.

I thought it was the setting sun that leant it that fairy tale look and made the unevenly staggered storeys seem to go on for ever. But every single facet of it turned out to be real, from the blush-hued stone, the towering arched windows, the rooftop infinity pool that seemed to blend into the sky and the endless reception rooms and bedroom suites, each holding priceless ancient works of art interspersed with the work of new cutting-edge artists whose work I loved.

Every jaw-dropping fact I’d read about Axios Xenakis had seemed amplified the moment he’d stepped out of the helicopter, and his aura was intensifying with each second as he walked me around Villa Almyra, exuding flawless power and authority.

Now, standing in the luxury sitting room adjoining what I assumed to be the master bedroom, I couldn’t hold my words back.

He didn’t answer for the longest time. He shrugged off the bespoke jacket he’d worn for the wedding ceremony. Then strolled over to the extensive drinks cabinet.

‘Would you like a drink?’ he asked.

About to refuse, I stopped. It would buy me time to ease my nerves. ‘Mineral water, thanks.’

He poured my drink, then a single malt whisky into a crystal glass, handing mine to me before taking his time to savour his first sip.

The feeling that he was waiting, biding his time for…something threatened to overwhelm me, even while my senses skittered with alien excitement. Slowly it grew hotter, more dangerous.

His gaze raked over my wedding dress for a charged few seconds. ‘Now we do whatever you want. It’s your wedding night after all,’ he drawled.

I got the feeling he was testing me. For what, I didn’t know. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to find out.

‘The modern art pieces all over the house. Did you pick them yourself?’

His eyes widened fractionally, as if I’d surprised him. ‘Yes,’ he bit out. Then, on a softer note, ‘Good art rarely loses its value.’

A layer of my nerves eased as I nodded. ‘And pieces from emerging talent only appreciate with time.’

He strolled to the massive fireplace in the living room and leaned one muscular shoulder against the mantel. ‘Masterpieces from the greats are all well and good, but modern art has its place too. They should be appreciated side by side.’

Just as he had placed them all over the house. I took a sip of water, settling deeper into my seat. ‘I agree. Does that theme echo in all your properties?’

‘Yes, it does.’

Before I could express pleasure in the thought, the gleam in his eyes arrested me.

‘Is this how you wish to spend your wedding night, Calypso? Discussing art?’

The nerves rushed back and my hand trembled. ‘What if it is?’

‘Then I suggest you might want to be in more comfortable attire than that gown?’

Again, his eyes raked me, sending heat spiralling through me.

‘Is this a ploy that usually works for you?’

One corner of his mouth lifted before his eyes darkened. ‘Like you, I’ve never been married, so we both find ourselves in strange waters. Either way, the dress is going to have to come off one way or the other.’

‘And if you don’t like what is underneath…?’ I dared. ‘Will you send me back?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Is that what you’re hoping for?’

Was it? I could have sworn my answer would be yes until actually faced with the question. But the word stuck in my throat, refusing to emerge as he sauntered towards me, taking a moment to discard the crystal tumbler so both his hands were free to capture my shoulders when he stopped in front of me.

‘What I’m hoping for is that you will stop dishing out those enigmatic smiles and tell me what you meant earlier,’ I said.

He frowned. ‘You’ve lost me,’ he drawled.

‘When you said if we were to consummate this marriage? Are you incapable of doing so? If so perhaps you should get one of your staff to show me where I’m to sleep.’

His eyebrows rose. ‘If I didn’t know better I’d think you just issued me a challenge,’ he drawled, in a voice that ruffled the tight nerves beneath my skin.

His scent filled my nostrils, his calm breathing propelling my attention to his sculpted chest, to the pulse beating steadily at his throat. To the magnificent vitality of his skin and the sheer animalistic aura breaching my tightly controlled space. Screaming at me to notice his masculinity. And not just to notice. He drew me with a power I’d never known before. I didn’t just want to breathe him in. I wanted to touch. Explore. Taste.

That sensation was so strong I stepped back, eager to diffuse it.

The hands that held me stemmed my movement, and hard on the heels of my immobility came the realisation that I wanted to stay right where I was. But I didn’t want him to know that.

‘Well? Are you?’ I taunted.

A mysterious smile tilted one corner of his lips before his hands slid down to my elbows. ‘It should be easy enough to prove, matia mou.’

Just like that I was hit with the reality that this was my wedding night. That I was all but taunting him into…possessing me.

The thought sent a shiver through me. Coupled with something else. Something way too close to the forbidden desire that had coursed through me when I’d allowed myself to dream of this day some time in the dim and distant future, when I was out from under my father’s thumb and free to have a boyfriend. A lover. A husband.

But how could that be? The man I’d imagined bore no resemblance to this formidable man, who wore arrogance and power as if it were a second skin. Theos, even his frown was attention-absorbing.

‘Are you cold?’ he asked.

I shook my head. Like everything else in this stunning villa, the temperature was perfect, blending with the early summer breeze.

‘Then what’s wrong?’ he rasped, his eyes turning speculative again, as they had when I almost gave myself away on the dance floor.

The pain had thankfully receded, but other questions loomed just as large. The subject of my virginity and how that would factor into things, for one.

I pushed it away, seizing on another pressing need. ‘I want you to tell me exactly what your agreement with my father is.’

One eyebrow rose. ‘Isn’t that a case of shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted? What’s the point of rehashing the subject?’

It was time to come clean. ‘I… I may have let you operate under the assumption that I know what’s going on.’

Surprise flickered through his eyes before they narrowed. ‘Are you saying you don’t?’

‘Not the exact details, no.’

Scepticism flared. ‘You expect me to believe that? When you walked willingly by his side up the aisle?’

‘Tell me you’ve never done something against your will and I’ll call you a liar,’ I replied.

The flare of his nostrils confirmed what I suspected—that this marriage was as much without his approval as it was without mine.

‘Assuming it was solely your father who pushed for this, what steps did you take to stop him?’

None. Because my protests, like everything else, had fallen on deaf ears. I didn’t say the words out loud, his timely reminder that, despite the promise I’d made, my mother’s fate was in my father’s hands, stilling my tongue. My hesitation gave Axios the answer he needed.

‘I didn’t, and the details don’t matter. We are where we are. But I know there’s an agreement between you. I simply want you to spell it out for me so I know what I’m dealing with.’

He stared at me, his measuring gaze weighted. I shouldn’t have been relieved, even a little pleased to see the cynicism fade a little, but I was.

‘Maybe he didn’t tell you. How very like Petras to want to keep the spoils all for himself,’ he muttered almost absently, before dropping his hands from my arms to say abruptly, ‘Under an agreement signed between your grandfather and mine, Yiannis Petras, or any appointed representative after his death, can collect on a debt owed by my family. Your father wanted twenty-five percent of my company or the cash equivalent. We settled on one hundred million euros. And you.’

I couldn’t hide my gasp at the confirmation that I’d been sold like a chattel.

Again, his cynicism receded. ‘He really didn’t tell you? Are you saying you’re a victim in this?’ he breathed.

The label smarted. ‘I’m not a victim. But, no, he didn’t tell me.’

Jaw gritted, he shoved a hand through his hair. ‘So you don’t know that under the terms of the agreement he’ll also receive the deeds to Kosima?’

‘What is Kosima?’

A bleak expression darkened his face. Whatever Kosima was, it held an emotional attachment for him.

‘It’s the private island where my grandfather was born. It was his favourite place on earth. Your grandfather knew that when he and my grandfather struck their unholy agreement. I assume he passed the information on to your father.’

My heart lurched with guilt, and for a wild moment I wanted to ease his pain. ‘And my father demanded it as part of the agreement?’

Again his lips twisted, before his gaze slanted over me from head to toe. ‘Of course. Just as he demanded that I marry you.’

This time my heart lurched for a different reason. He truly hadn’t wanted this marriage—was entangled in it against his will just as I was.

About to stress that I had known absolutely nothing about this, that my father’s avaricious demands were nothing to do with me, I heard that stern warning from my father slam into my brain. I didn’t doubt that he would make my mother’s life even more of a living hell than it was now.

The realisation that nothing had changed, that nothing would change, settled on me like a heavy, claustrophobic cloak.

‘Why did you go through with it?’ I asked. When he frowned, I hurried to add, ‘You obviously hate what my family has done to you, so why…?’

My disjointed thoughts rumbled to a halt, my insides twisting with dread. A caged lion was an unpredictable creature, and from the first moment I’d set eyes on him I’d felt his banked fury.

Now I knew why.

His eyes blazed grey fire at me. ‘You think I didn’t try to find a way that didn’t involve tying myself down for twelve months or handing over a multi-million-euro pay-out your father has done nothing to earn?’ he sliced at me.

My breath caught. ‘Why twelve months? Why not three…or even six?’

His mouth tightened. ‘Ask your father. He had the power to nullify some or all aspects of this agreement. He chose not to. And he counted on me not fighting this in court because adverse publicity is the last thing my company needs right now. Your grandfather was an unreasonable man who my own grandfather had the misfortune of partnering with.’

‘I know they started the airline business together, but—’

‘Your grandfather wasn’t interested in an airline business. He wanted to invest in boats, despite knowing next to nothing about them,’ he spat out the words. ‘But because they were tied together my grandfather was forced to work twice as hard to maintain both arms of the business. The only way Petras would agree to dissolve the partnership was to leave without taking his quarter-of-a-million-dollar share of the business immediately. If he had done so he would’ve bankrupted the company. But that didn’t stop him from demanding crippling interest on the loan, and an agreement promising a percentage of Xenakis Aeronautics should he or any other Petras need a future bail-out. But even then, it was too late. My grandfather had spread himself too thin, trying to maintain two suffering businesses, but he was too proud to declare bankruptcy. The strain broke his marriage and his family, and after my grandmother died his heart just…gave up.’

My heart twisted at the anguish in his voice. ‘I…’

What could I say? I’m sorry? Would Axios even believe me? What did it matter? My father had cunningly used the past against him. Against both of us.

‘I didn’t know any of this.’

His jaw rippled. ‘My grandfather was my mentor. He taught me everything I know. But he withheld the extent of how bad things were until it was too late. Until I had to watch him wither away.’

After an age of losing himself in the bleak past, his eyes zeroed in on me.

‘Why? If you didn’t know all this, why present yourself to me at that altar like a sacrificial lamb?’

The cynicism was back full force. ‘I’m not a lamb!’

One corner of his mouth lifted. ‘No, I’m learning that my initial impression was mistaken. But I still want to know why,’ he pressed with quiet force.

How could I tell him without speaking of the very thing I’d done all this to avoid? If my father had managed to pressure a powerful man like Axios Xenakis to do his will, what would he do to my mother if he found out I’d been divulging family secrets?

‘Perhaps I had something to gain too,’ I responded truthfully, knowing how it would be viewed.

True to form, his eyes slowly hardened, and that disappointment I’d briefly spotted at the altar flashed across his face.

As one of his hands slowly rose to cup my face, it seemed he wanted to delve deeper, perhaps even attempt to understand how we had become caught in this tangled web. But then he slowly withdrew, his demeanour resigned, even a little weary.

An urge to soothe him spiked through me. I managed to curb it, barely managing not to fidget under his piercing scrutiny.

‘Did the agreement stipulate that we needed to…to consummate the marriage?’ I asked.

He froze, and a sizzling, electrifying look entered his eyes. I got the feeling that he’d been waiting for this…that somehow coming to this point was what that sense of heightened expectancy had been all about.

‘Not specifically, no.’

‘But you don’t know that it won’t be held against you…against us…further down the line?’

He gave an indolent shrug even while his eyes continued to pin me in place. ‘He’s your father, Calypso. You tell me.’

I couldn’t rule it out. And I suspected Axios knew that.

‘Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t. But I can’t take the risk.’

With my mother’s words echoing in my heart, my hunger for freedom grew with every second.

He took a slow, steady step towards me. His hands at his sides, he simply stared down at me, his only movement the deep rise and fall of his chest.

‘What does that mean, Calypso?’ he queried softly.

‘It means I want there to be no room for misunderstanding later.’

Slowly, his hand rose again, his knuckles grazing my cheek. My shiver made his eyes darken.

‘I need to hear the words, so there’s no misunderstanding now.’

Heat suffused my face, as if chasing his touch. But his gaze wouldn’t release me. Not until the words trembling on my lips fell free.

‘I want to consummate this agreement. I want you to…take me.’

The full force of the words powered through me, shaking me from head to foot. Dear God, this wasn’t how I’d imagined losing my virginity. None of this was how I’d dreamed it. So why did my insides twist themselves with…excitement?

For the longest time he simply stared at me, a myriad of emotions crossing his face. Eventually that dark gleam returned in full force, his presence filling the room as he turned his hand and brushed a thumb over my lips.

‘Are you sure you don’t wish to discuss…art?’

The thickness of his voice displaced any levity his words attempted. And it drove home that this was happening. My wedding night. No, it wasn’t the one I’d dreamed about, but really, if life was fair, would my father have tossed me in as part of a hundred-million-euro deal?

That thought was buried beneath the turbulent need climbing through me as he dragged his digit back and forth over my lip.

‘I’m sure,’ I answered, in a voice that sounded nothing like mine.

He tilted my gaze to his, making a gruff sound at whatever it was he saw on my face. His head started to lower—just as the other delicate subject raced to the forefront of my mind.

Tell him. He’s going to find out soon enough.

‘There’s something you should know.’

One eyebrow rose in silent question.

‘I’m a virgin.’

His fingers froze beneath my chin, his whole body turning to marble. ‘What did you say?’

I swallowed the knot in my throat, praying the shivers would stop coursing through my body. ‘I’ve never done…never been with a—’

A curse fell from his lips, raw and stunned. ‘Why?’

Finally—finally—that burst of hysteria filtered through. ‘You’re asking why your wife is a virgin? Isn’t that an odd question?’

‘Ne—and it is precisely why I want to know why a twenty-four-year-old who looks the way you do is still untouched.’

Heat flowed through me. ‘Looks the way I do…?’

The faintest colour washed his cheekbones. ‘You must be aware of your beauty, Calypso,’ he rasped, and his deep, husky voice set fire to my belly.

I blushed at the raw intensity in his words that reached into a secret part of me and took control of it. Hot tingles raced over my skin, warming me from the inside, tightening low in my belly and hardening my nipples. A gasp tore from my throat. His gaze dropped to my parted lips, his eyes darkening with each charged second that ticked by.

Then his eyes narrowed. ‘Surely Petras didn’t keep you under lock and key simply for this possibility?’ Incredulity racked his voice.

Pain lashed through me, because the same thought had occurred to me. My father might not have visited the ultimate indignity upon me by spelling it out in black and white, but by thwarting all my previous attempts at a relationship he’d ensured his deal would be sweetened with my virginity. Another indication as to how little he cared for me.

Despite the anguish racking me, I raised my chin, pride insisting I did not confirm his suspicion. ‘Does it not occur to you that I’ve simply not met anyone interesting enough?’

Shrewd grey eyes conducted a slow scrutiny. ‘Your pulse is racing. Your face is flushed. I don’t need a crystal ball to tell me you’re excited. It is safe to say that, regardless of why you’ve remained untouched before, you’re definitely interested now, Calypso.’

I silently cursed my body for betraying me but I wasn’t ready to be cowed yet. ‘You want me to bolster your ego by admitting I find you attractive?’

His head went back, as if he was surprised by the question. Of course he did. Good looks. Power. Influence. All attributes that made him irresistible to women. The stunning parade of women he’d purportedly dated was evidence that his effect on the opposite sex was woven into his DNA.

A sexy, arrogant smile curved his lips. ‘I don’t need you to tell me, matia mou. I know you do.’

My gasp was swallowed by the simple act of his head swooping down and his mouth sealing mine in a hot, savage possession that snatched the breath from my lungs. If that kiss in the church had been spine-tingling, this complete mastery was nothing short of earth-shattering.

The bold sweep of his tongue over my sensitive lower lip fired electricity in every cell. When he followed that with the lightest graze of his teeth, in another clever tasting, a tiny hunger-filled sound left my throat.

Axios muttered something beneath his breath before the fingers capturing my chin moved to my lower back, tugging me closer, until the hard column of his body was plastered against mine and the wide stance of his powerful legs cradled me. Until the hot brand of his manhood was unmistakably imprinted against my belly, in a searing promise of what was in store.

His lips devoured mine with unapologetic hunger. And when one hand grasped mine and redirected it to his chest I gave in to the heady desire and explored him. Tensile muscle overlaid by his expensive cotton shirt was warm and inviting, and after a tentative caress, I sighed and gave in to more. The ultra-masculine line of his shoulder and neck drew my fingers, and that mysterious hunger built up into something that both terrified and thrilled me.

He made a gruff sound when my fingers brushed his warm, supple throat. It was enough to startle me. Enough to remind me that I didn’t really know what I was doing. That, while I understood the mechanics of sex, I wasn’t well-versed in its nuances.

Nerves dulled by the fire of arousal resurged, breaking free by way of a helpless whimper.

He raised his head and stared at me for the longest time before catching my hand in his. ‘Come,’ he commanded huskily.

I snatched in a much-needed breath. We both knew where we stood—that we were products of my father’s machinations—surely we were going into this with our eyes open, in the knowledge that this was a one-time thing…weren’t we?

Molten grey eyes watched me. When I slid my hand into his, he led me to some wide, imposing double doors. With casual strength he pushed them open to reveal the most magnificent bedroom I’d ever seen. While it bore unashamed signs of masculinity, the Mediterranean blue hues of the furniture blended with solid wood and gold-trimmed furnishings in the kind of design afforded only to the rich and influential.

But of course the centrepiece of the huge space was the bed. Emperor-sized, with four solid posts, its only softening effect was the muslin curtains currently tied back with neat ribbons.

Axios released me long enough to toss away extraneous pillows and pull back the luxury spread before he recaptured me. This time both hands went to my waist, his gaze dropping down to where he held me. He muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite catch and when our gazes reconnected flames danced in the dark grey depths.

My knees weakened and I lifted my hands to rest them on his shoulders. He drew me closer while his hands searched along my spine, located the zip to my dress and firmly drew it down.

The dress gaped and he drew in a harsh breath, his gaze trailing over my exposed skin to linger on my barely covered breasts. Through the silk his hands branded my skin, making me squirm with a need to feel them without any barrier. As if he heard my silent wish, he took hold of the straps and eased them down my arms. The material pooled at my feet, leaving me in the scrap of lace panties and matching strapless bra.

One expert flick and the bra was loosened. Instinctively, I moved to catch it. Moved to delay this exquisite madness unfurling inside me.

Axios caught my hand, drew it firmly back to his shoulder. ‘I want to see you, Calypso. I want to see everything.’

Unable to stand the raw fire in his eyes, I fixed my eyes on his chest. On the buttons hiding that steel and muscle from me. Again he read my wants with ease.

‘Take my shirt off, yineka mou.’

Yineka mou. My wife.

Why did my insides dance giddily each time he called me that? Especially when we both knew this was an enforced, transient thing?

‘Don’t keep me waiting.’

The husky nudge brought me back to him. With fingers that had given up being anywhere near steady, I reached for his sleekly knotted tie, tugged it free and released his top shirt button. It was simpler to avoid his eyes as I concentrated on my task, but halfway down, when my fingers brushed his abs, he hissed under his breath.

Impatience etched on his face, he took hold of the expensive cotton and pulled the shirt apart. That raw display of strength tossed another log onto the flames building inside me. By the time he lifted me free of my wedding gown and took the few steps to the bed I’d lost the ability to breathe.

Riveted, I watched him shrug off the shirt, followed by his other clothing, before prowling to the bed. With the ease of a maestro he caught me to him, his fingers sliding up my nape and into my hair to release the three pins that secured the thick strands. His eyes raked my body as he slowly trailed his fingers through my hair. The effect was hot and hypnotising, the need to melt into him surging high.

So when he settled his expert lips over mine all I could do was moan and hold on, shudder in shocking delight when his chest grazed my hardened nipples.

But soon even that grew insufficient. Tentatively I parted my lips, in anticipation of the next decadent sweep of his tongue. When it grazed mine the zap of electricity convulsed my whole body.

Axios tore his lips from mine, incredulous eyes burning into me. ‘You truly are innocent…’ he muttered.

Mercifully, he didn’t require an answer, or he was too impatient. After another searing kiss, in which his tongue breached my lips and brazenly slicked over mine, he trailed his lips over my throat.

Each pathway he claimed over my skin sent a pulse straight between my legs, plumping and heating my core until I thought I would explode. Large hands moulded my breasts, his fingers torturing the peaks. I cried out, my senses threatening to splinter.

The feeling of delving into another dimension, one where only pure pleasure existed, swelled through me, drawing me into a place of wonder. A place where I could give expression to what I was experiencing.

‘That’s…so amazing. How is this feeling possible?’

Had I said that out loud? Axios momentarily froze, but I was too caught up in bliss to find out why. Then his caresses continued, his mouth pressing kisses on my midriff, my belly, along the line of my panties.

When he tugged them down, my breath stalled.

He parted my thighs, trailed kisses up one inner thigh, then another.

‘Your stubble feels…incredible.’

Again I felt him still.

‘Am I doing something wrong? Please…’

Long fingers grazed the swollen nub, sending feverish pleasure racing through my body. Without him close to anchor me I grabbed hold of the sheets. Anything to keep me from disintegrating beneath the force of pleasure ramping through me.

Except that force tripled when his mouth settled with fierce intent on my feminine core. Brazenly, he tasted me with a connoisseur’s expertise, teasing and torturing and dragging me to the brink of madness.

Until a new tightness took hold of me.

‘Ah…it’s too much… I… I can’t take it…’

‘Yes, you can,’ he declared huskily.

His lips went back to wreaking their magic, to piling on that enchantment, until I simply…blew apart.

Bliss such as I’d never known suffused my body, convulsions rippling over me before sucking me under. I was aware of the cries falling from my lips, was aware that Axios had returned to my side, and I gripped him blindly, needing something solid to hang on to.

When he moved away I started to protest before I could stop myself. His kiss settled me for the few moments while he left the bed. The sound of foil ripping barely impinged upon my enchanted calm, my senses only sparking to life when he resumed his overwhelming presence between my thighs.

The intensity of the eyes locked on mine was almost too much to bear. I sought relief elsewhere. But there was none to be found in the wide expanse of his shoulders, the ripped contours of the chest I suddenly yearned to explore with my mouth, or… Theos mou…the fearsomely impressive evidence of his maleness.

The tiniest whimper slipped free. And while it brought an arrogant little twitch to his lips, there was also a slight softening of his fierce regard.

‘Look at me, Calypso.’

The low command brought my gaze back to his. To the lock of hair grazing his eyebrow that I yearned to brush back. The slightly swollen sensual lips I wanted to kiss.

‘Do you want this?’ he asked.

The thought of stopping now was unthinkable. ‘Yes,’ I answered.

He gripped one thigh, parting me with unwavering intent.

The first shallow thrust stilled my breath. The second threw me back to that dimension where only sensation reigned.

Apprehensively, I exhaled. Axios moved his powerful body, withdrawing before penetrating me. Once. Twice.

On the third glide the sting was replaced by a different, jaw-dropping sensation, one that dragged me deeper into that dimension.

‘You’re…so deep. It feels…incredible.’

Above me, Axios hissed, his fingers digging into my thigh as he held himself, still and throbbing, inside me. The sensation was indescribable. But…

‘Why aren’t you moving? Do I need to? Maybe if I roll my hips…’

Tentatively I experimented, then cried out as pleasure rained over me.

‘That was…sensational. I want to… Would you mind if I did it again?’

‘No. I wouldn’t,’ he said thickly, then met my next thrust with an even more powerful one.

What the hell was happening?

I stared down at Calypso. Her eyes were shut in unbound pleasure.

My fraying control took another hit, the feeling that this little witch with her wide streak of innocence that had turned out not to be a clever trick was responsible for my curious state driving confusion through me.

The giving and taking of carnal pleasure was far from new to me but this…

I wanted to tell her to open her eyes. To centre her to me. To—

‘Why are you stopping? Please don’t stop. I want more.’

Her husky, innocent plea ramped up my arousal, the enormity of what was happening lending a savage edge to my hunger I’d never experienced before.

But just to be sure she was right there with me I leaned closer, flicked my tongue over her nipple. ‘Do you like this, Calypso?’

Short blunt nails dug into my back. ‘Yes!’

‘And this?’ I pulled the tight bud into my mouth, suckling her sweet flesh with fervour.

‘Ne. That… You do that so well. I never want it to end.’

Theos. Did she not know what she was doing? That this kind of uncensored commentary could drive a man over the edge?

But she wasn’t doing it with another man. She was doing it with me. The man she was bound to for the next twelve months.

Her husband.

Knowing I was her first shouldn’t be sending such primitive satisfaction through my blood. And yet it was, settling deep inside me with such definitive force it threw up a shock of bewilderment.

I was thankful to avoid examining it in that moment. Because the utter nirvana of taking her, hearing her unfettered pleasure, was creating an unstoppable chain reaction inside me. One that kept me thrusting into her snug heat, my pulse racing to dangerous levels as her delicious lips parted and another torrent of words ran freely.

‘Glykó ouranó… I’m on fire… What you’re doing to me… Please… I need… I need…’

My teeth gritted as I hung on to control with my fingertips. As her sweet body arched beneath mine and her head thrashed on the pillow.

‘You need to let go, Calypso.’ I sounded barely coherent to my own ears.

With a sharp cry she gave herself over to her bliss, her sweet convulsions triggering mine. The depth of my climax left me gasping, the stars exploding across my vision unending.

Leached of all power and control, I collapsed onto the pillows, stunned by the sorcery I’d just experienced. A unique experience I wanted to relive again. Immediately.

Soft arms curved around my waist and I reached for her before I could stop myself—before I could question the wisdom of lingering when I normally exited. Pulling her into me when I normally distanced myself.

I will. In a moment.

Once I’d gathered myself. Once this experience had been dissected and slotted into its proper place.

I would have fought any future attempt by Yiannis Petras to further line his pocket, but Calypso’s way of sealing all avenues had been…better. Pleasurable, even.

Or foolish?

I tensed, unwilling to accept that perhaps I could have found another way. Not succumbed to this bewitchment so readily.

So draw a line under it. Leave!

Her soft breathing feathered over my jaw. Sleep was stealing over her slightly flushed face. The urge to join her whispered over me—another wave of temptation that lingered for far too long, making me close my eyes for several minutes before common sense prevailed.

So what if the sex was sublime? It was just sex. Come tomorrow my life would resume its normal course. This whole day would be behind me.

I’d done my duty. Had ensured Petras would no longer be a threat to my family. For now the night was still young. There was no rush to go anywhere…

Except temptation was ten times stronger when I woke in the early hours of the morning. In the murky light of dawn I caught the faintest glimpse of the slippery slope my grandfather had been led down by another Petras.

A road I couldn’t risk.

I put words to definitive action by rising and leaving the bed, gathering my clothes and walking out of the master bedroom.

Because my business with my wife was over.