Читать книгу Irresistible Greeks: Red-Hot and Rich: His Reputation Precedes Him / An Offer She Can't Refuse / Pretender to the Throne - Кэрол Мортимер, Emma Darcy - Страница 16

‘WHERE are you taking me?’ Eva’s arms moved up about Markos’s neck as he stood up with her still cradled firmly in his embrace.

His eyes were a deep, dark emerald as he glanced down at her. ‘Where would you like me to take you?’

‘You know…I don’t think I really care,’ Eva answered, surprising herself with her own honesty as she realised she really didn’t care where she was going, so long as Markos was going to be there too.

Something had happened to her when that dam of emotion had burst inside her earlier and she had cried in Markos’s arms. Somehow—miraculously—she had been released from all past hurts and disappointments, leaving her emotions as light and free as they had been when she was a university student. She felt that same bubbling sense of anticipation inside her now that she’d had then—what might happen in her life next?

What might happen—not what had Eva been planning to happen? Because she no longer felt that determination to decide her life. She had let go of the past. All of it.

So Jack’s wife was going to have a baby? So what? Jack probably wouldn’t believe Eva if she were to say the words to him, but it no longer upset her that Yvette was pregnant. She simply wished the two of them every happiness with their future son or daughter, and she had no doubt that Jonathan would be over the moon when his grandchild was born—boy or girl.

One day Eva might even have that for herself—a man and a family of her own to love—but until and if that day came she would feel a contentedness, a calmness, and just wait and see what happened next.

And she really hoped that Markos was going to be part of that more immediate ‘next’. She had already known he was as charming and self-assured as Jack had ever been, and Markos was certainly more powerfully charismatic—he’d had to be to have persuaded her to go out with him at all this evening! But after tonight she also knew Markos was kind and considerate, with a quiet strength, caring for her in a way her ex-husband never had. For a brief moment earlier tonight she had really thought Markos was going to pick Jack up by his shirtfront and shake him like a rag doll!

But Markos’s strength of character was inborn, not acquired or a veneer—and Eva had never physically wanted a man so badly in her life as she now wanted Markos.

Her arms tightened about his neck as she gazed up at him admiringly. ‘You really are pretty wonderful, you know.’

He gave a half-smile. ‘Because I am capable of carrying all these extra pounds you believe you possess into my bedroom?’

‘It’s all perfectly proportioned and in the right places!’ Eva gave him a playful punch on the arm, realising as she did so that she still carried her black silk clutch bag.

He gave a disarming grin. ‘I believe I have already assured you that I am well aware of that.’

Yes, he had—which was another plus in his favour. Markos seemed to be accumulating pluses in spite of Eva’s previous prejudice against him. Too many more of them and she could be in serious danger of falling—

Whoa!

Wanting, aching to make love with Markos was one thing—a big thing, considering he was the first man Eva had wanted to be intimate with since the disintegration of her marriage. But allowing her emotions to become involved was something else entirely.

Markos was a Lyonedes. From a family that was powerful and rich beyond her imagining. More to the point, Markos was a man known for having short and meaningless relationships—not a man that a woman might pin her future hopes and dreams on. A lesson her cousin Donna had learnt only too well…

Donna!

Damn it, with everything else that had happened this evening Eva had forgotten all about her cousin’s unhappy experience with Markos!

Had she really forgotten? Or could she just no longer quite accept her cousin’s version of what had and hadn’t happened between them?

Donna had described him as being wonderful when they were going out together, but turning into a cold and ruthless stranger when he had decided he no longer wanted the relationship. Oh, Eva believed Markos was more than capable of being cold and ruthless—she had seen him being exactly that with Jack earlier this evening—she could just no longer see Markos behaving that way towards a woman. No doubt that was another no-no his Aunt Karelia had instilled in him!

Besides which, the cruel and callous Markos her cousin had described him as being at the end of their relationship would never have had the patience or the inclination to deal with Eva’s tears tonight. He would have run a mile in the other direction.

Which left Eva precisely where?

Trusting her own intuition?

She had done that in her life once before, with dire results.

No, that wasn’t quite true of the events of seven years ago. At twenty-two, her marriage to Jack had seemed to her like a good way of escaping the vicious circle of her parents’ relationship. But she was twenty-nine now, with a successful career and a life of her own. This attraction she felt towards Markos was based on that maturity and success, not on an imagined youthful idealism.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Markos had been watching the play of emotions across Eva’s expressive face for the past few minutes after switching on the bedroom light, realising that she was so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed they were now in his bedroom and he was standing beside his king-sized bed, still holding her in his arms.

She gave him a startled glance as she took in the intimacy of their surroundings, and then that surprise was replaced by a warm and inviting smile. ‘Nothing of any importance,’ she assured him huskily.

‘Sure?’

‘Very sure,’ she confirmed determinedly.

It sounded to Markos as if she had made her mind up to something—to do something—and was determined not to allow anything to make her change it.

All of which confirmed to Markos that the decision he had made a few minutes ago in regard to making love with Eva tonight was the right one.

‘Could you pull back the bedcovers?’ He lowered her slightly so that she could turn back the brocade cover and the duvet, before lowering her completely onto the bed. Her arms fell from about his neck as he straightened slightly to look down at her. Her hair was an ebony tumble against the cream silk sheets. ‘Roll over,’ he encouraged gruffly as he took the black bag gently out of her hand and placed it on the bedside cabinet.

‘Roll…?’

Markos allowed himself to chuckle softly at the doubtful expression on Eva’s face. ‘Do not look so worried, Eva; my only intention is to unzip the back of your gown, not to force some strange sexual practice on you.’

Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she glanced at him over the bareness of her shoulder once she had rolled slightly away from him. ‘Maybe force wouldn’t be necessary.’

Markos drew in a sharp breath even as he bent down to slowly lower the zip at the back of her black gown. That breath stayed caught in his throat as he took in the creamy perfection of Eva’s long, naked spine, and revealing the top of a pair of silky black panties.

Markos clenched his hands into fists in an effort to stop himself from touching the creamy length of Eva’s bared flesh now so temptingly revealed to him, and a nerve pulsed in his jaw as she rolled over to face him once again, allowing him to lower the gown down over her breasts and the slenderness of her waist, curvaceous hips and long silky legs, before discarding it completely.

Those black silky panties were now the only item of clothing she wore—a perfect foil for the creamy naked swell of her breasts. Full and pert breasts, tipped with rose-coloured nipples, which were swelling, hardening, under the heated intensity of Markos’s gaze.

Eva was beautiful everywhere—so very beautiful—and in a way that made Markos ache just from looking at her, from breathing in the sensuous perfume of her skin.

‘Markos?’ Eva looked up at him uncertainly.

His nostrils flared as he breathed out deeply, before bending slightly so that he could pull the covers gently over Eva’s tempting nakedness.

Her eyes widened. ‘What are you doing…?’

Markos sat on the side of the bed, securing those bedcovers beneath her arms as he reached up and smoothed the silky hair back from her temples. ‘I would very much like to kiss you goodnight, if that is agreeable to you?’

‘Goodnight…?’

Markos gave a gentle smile. ‘I believe you have already suffered enough excitement for one evening, don’t you?’

Eva would hardly call the time she had spent at Jonathan’s house earlier this evening exciting—nor the bursting dam of emotions that had followed it! Nor would she compare either of those things to the thrill of just imagining making love with Markos…

‘I don’t understand.’

He gave a shake of his head, his eyes dark. ‘This evening was a less than happy one for you, and I believe it would be wrong of me to now take advantage of you. As such—’

‘But I’m perfectly okay now,’ she protested.

‘You are not okay, Eva,’ he insisted flatly, his fingers still lightly soothing against her brow.

But she was okay—more than okay, actually—so much so that she couldn’t even begin to describe the euphoria she felt at being free from the past. ‘Perhaps you’re the one that’s changed your mind about wanting to go to bed with me after I made such an idiot of myself earlier this evening?’

‘I have not changed my mind in the slightest in regard to wanting to make love with you, Eva,’ he assured her. ‘But, as I have already stated, I would prefer not to take advantage of the fact you are feeling less than your usual feisty self.’

Eva looked up at him searchingly. The sincerity of the expression in his eyes and face was unmistakable. ‘Such gallantry isn’t doing a thing for your reputation as a womaniser, you know,’ she teased huskily.

His expression hardened. ‘The thing to remember about reputations is that they are formed by people other than the person whose reputation is under discussion.’

Yes, they were. And the man Donna had described to Eva wouldn’t have shown a moment’s hesitation in taking ‘advantage’ of her.

Which left Eva feeling more confused than ever in regard to the enigma that was Markos Lyonedes.

She gave a baffled shake of her head. ‘If you have no intention of making love with me then why did you undress me and put me in your bed?’

His expression softened again. ‘I believe, if we are to be exact, that I put you in my bed first and then undressed you. And I did so because you are emotionally exhausted and need to sleep.’

‘I could have gone home and slept.’

‘And tomorrow is another day…’ Markos continued softly as if she hadn’t spoken at all.

Eva chuckled softly. ‘You’re supposed to be Rhett Butler, not Scarlet O’Hara!’

He shrugged those broad shoulders. ‘It is the sentiment which is important, no matter who says it.’

Yes, it was, and Markos’s thoughtfulness in not making love with her tonight had succeeded in throwing Eva’s emotions into even further turmoil. As well as making her ache for his touch!

‘Where are you going to sleep?’

He shrugged. ‘There are three other bedrooms in the apartment that I can use.’

‘And if I would rather you stayed here with me…?’

Markos drew in a ragged breath. ‘I would ask what I have done to deserve such torture!’

‘You’ve been a perfect gentleman,’ Eva assured him firmly. ‘And if I ever chance to bump into your Aunt Karelia, I’ll be sure to tell her what a credit you are to her.’

‘I am gratified to hear it,’ he replied dryly. ‘And now I believe it is time for you to kiss me goodnight and then get some sleep,’ he added huskily.

Eva was only too eager to kiss Markos goodnight, but at the same time as she was totally unsure that sleep would be possible once she had.

‘And I am going to return to the sitting room to finish my glass of brandy before taking a very long, very cold shower!’

The grimness of his smile revealed the depth of self-control he was having to exert not to make love with her as his head lowered towards hers.

Eva curled her arms up about his neck as their mouths met. She put every shred of emotion she was feeling at that moment into a long kiss. The fondness she felt for Markos. The desire. The aching yearning. Most of all the joy in at last being free of the past and able to feel all of those things…

For Markos.

Markos wrenched away from Eva’s tantalising lips, breathing hard as he gently but firmly pulled her arms slowly down his shoulders and chest. ‘Enough,’ he breathed raggedly, shaking his head as Eva’s fingers lingered on the bareness of his chest. ‘Please, Eva, I sincerely hope that I am a gentleman, but I know I am not a saint!’ A nerve pulsed in his tightly clenched jaw.

Her lips were swollen from the heat of their kisses, her eyes a dark languid gold as she looked up at him. ‘Goodnight, Markos.’ Her voice was as sultry and inviting as the unhidden longing in those extraordinary eyes.

Markos rose quickly to his feet, so as not to give in to the temptation to throw back the bedcovers and taste those deliciously naked breasts. ‘I think I may be in need of more than a single glass of brandy to help me get to sleep!’ He stepped away from the bed—away from Eva.

Eva gave an enigmatic smile. ‘You know where I am if you don’t succeed.’

Markos ran an agitated hand through the thickness of his hair. ‘You are not helping, Eva!’

She laughed huskily. ‘I don’t believe I was trying to…’ Her breasts were thrust forward and up as she stretched languidly before once again settling down beneath the covers, those golden eyes gleaming with mischief as her gaze lingered on the obvious bulge in Markos’s trousers.

‘Temptress!’ he murmured achingly.

‘Spoilsport!’ she came back challengingly.

Markos gave a rueful shake of his head. ‘I will take great pleasure in reminding you of that taunt in the morning.’

‘Promise?’

Markos sucked in a sharp breath and stared down at her for several long seconds more before turning to walk determinedly across to the bedroom door. He paused in the doorway to turn and look at Eva once more. ‘You might want to barricade this door with any of the bedroom furniture you can move!’

Her eyes shone back at him teasingly. ‘I’m not the one walking away…’

No, Markos was. And he had more than enough reason to regret it once he had returned to the sitting room. Not even two large glasses of brandy were enough to dispel the knowledge that an almost naked and apparently willing Eva was just a short distance away down the hallway.

‘You look—’

‘Awful,’ Markos finished dryly as he looked across the kitchen the following morning to where Eva stood framed in the doorway. ‘Whereas you look…’ Sexy as hell, Markos acknowledged achingly as he took in her appearance in his black silk dressing gown, which reached almost down to her ankles, and with her hair an ebony tangle about her shoulders. ‘Rested,’ he substituted wryly.

‘Did you sleep in those clothes?’ Eva eyed the crumpled white evening shirt and black trousers he had been wearing last night.

‘I didn’t sleep at all!’ Markos grimaced.

Having realised once he had taken a shower the night before that all of his clothes were still in the bedroom where Eva was—hopefully—sleeping, he’d had to put back on the same clothes he had worn to go out that evening. Only to then return and sit in one of the armchairs and stare sleeplessly out at the night sky as it changed slowly from black to grey and then orange as the sun came up and the new day began.

‘Perhaps you should go to bed now…?’ Eva suggested throatily.

‘Coffee?’ He stood up now from where he’d been sitting at the breakfast bar, moving across the room to the place he had made a much-needed pot of coffee a few minutes earlier. ‘Cream?’

Eva paused for only a heartbeat to look at the broad expanse of Markos’s back, turned towards her, before crossing the tiled floor on bare feet, knowing from his avoidance in answering her and his guarded expression before he turned away that any move towards intimacy this morning was going to have to originate from her.

She slid her arms about his waist from behind and leant her head lightly against his suddenly tensed back. ‘That was an invitation for you to come back to bed with me, Markos.’

He breathed in deeply but didn’t turn. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Very sure…’

‘If I go to bed with you now I should warn you it would not be with the intention of sleeping!’

‘I’m sincerely hoping not.’

The spoon he had intended using to stir the cream into her coffee landed on the marble worktop with a clatter as he turned quickly and gathered her up into his arms. His mouth came down forcefully on hers.

Hungry didn’t even begin to describe the fierceness of the passion that flared instantly between them as Markos’s hands became entangled in her hair as they kissed: lips devouring, tongues duelling, their breathing hot and ragged in the silence of the apartment.

Eva ceased to breathe at all when she felt Markos’s hand cup beneath the fullness of her breast, the soft pad of his thumb moving in a light caress across the hardened tip. Pleasure instantly spiralled through her and she arched into that caress, causing her to groan low in her throat as it pooled, moistened that already aching apex between her thighs.

His lips left hers to trail across her cheek, moving down the column of her throat, inciting fire wherever they touched. A low moan escaped her as Markos gently pushed aside the black silk robe to take the throbbing tip of her naked breast into the heat of his mouth.

Eva clung to the hard heat of his shoulders as she stumbled back to lean against the kitchen unit. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her, pleasure coursing through her hotly now, as Markos cupped her other breast. She looked down at Markos’s darkness against the paleness of her skin, his dark lashes fanned across his swarthy cheeks as he drew her nipple hungrily between his parted lips. Feeling, watching, as Markos paid homage to her breasts, was the most erotic thing Eva had ever done.

She slipped the unbuttoned shirt from his shoulders and down his arms and he allowed the garment to slip to the marble floor. His shoulders were so wide—much wider than they looked beneath his shirt and tailored suits, and deeply muscled. Proof that Markos didn’t spend all his time behind a desk. The muscles in his back flexed with pleasure as Eva’s fingers lightly caressed down the length of his spine.

‘You’re beautiful, Markos…’ she purred.

He chuckled softly, the reverberations from that chuckle travelling from Eva’s nipple to the pulsing heat between her thighs before he reluctantly released her. The warmth of his breath felt cool against her dampened breast as he spoke softly. ‘These are beautiful.’ He took his time kissing each of her swollen and sensitised nipples in turn before looking up at her, his eyes gleaming a dark, deep emerald. ‘You are beautiful, Eva. All over.’

‘You haven’t seen all of me yet…’

‘But I am going to.’ It was a fierce promise of intent.

‘Here?’ Eva looked about at the sterile practicality of the black and white kitchen.

Markos gave a mischievous smile as he also became aware of their surroundings. ‘The temptation to drape you decorously on top of the breakfast bar and make you the feast is appealing, but, no, I think I would prefer to be comfortable in bed the first time we make love together,’ Markos said with gruff intent.

‘The first time…?’ Eva echoed throatily.

His eyes glowed that deep emerald. ‘You can have no idea in how many locations and in how many ways I have imagined making love with you during my long and sleepless night!’

Her cheeks warmed. ‘Show me,’ she invited huskily.

‘Oh, I intend to!’ Markos assured her decisively, and he slid one arm beneath her knees and the other about her shoulders before lifting her up into his arms and marching out of the room.

Eva draped her arms about his neck, not in the least self-conscious when her breasts and thighs were laid bare as the black silk robe fell open, knowing she had been longing for Markos to make love to her since last night.

Possibly since the moment she had first looked across that hotel reception room and seen him looking right back at her…