Читать книгу The Holiday Escapes Collection - Сандра Мартон - Страница 52

AS SOON as the plane touched down in Athens Charlotte felt her stomach begin to twist and tighten with nerves. It had been a pleasant flight, all things considered. Certainly the luxury of Damon’s private jet had more than a little to do with it, but in spite of that she couldn’t help noticing a softening of his attitude towards her. He had chatted to her on neutral subjects during the times she had been unable to sleep, his demeanour showing no sign of his earlier anger or resentment. She wondered if it was for the benefit of his attentive staff or whether he was genuinely trying to put the past aside and build a bridge of friendship with her.

Their connecting flight to Santorini was leaving in just under an hour, which meant that she would come face to face with Damon’s mother for the first time in four years. She wondered how the older woman would receive her, especially since Charlotte had kept the existence of her only grandchild a secret. She also couldn’t help wondering how Damon had explained his hasty marriage. His mother was too astute to be fooled into thinking it was a love match. Alexandrine was close to her son and would soon see for herself the cracks in his relationship with his new wife.

‘Are we dere yet?’ Emily asked with a sleepy yawn as their luggage was transferred by Damon’s staff.

‘Not quite, darling,’ Charlotte said, cuddling her close. ‘We have one more short flight and then you will be able to see your granny.’

Damon met her eyes briefly and he gave her one of his slow smiles. ‘Would you like me to hold her for you?’ he offered. ‘You look tired.’

‘OK…thanks…’ She handed Emily to him, her hands brushing against his. She felt the exchange of sexual energy and her skin began to tighten all over in reaction.

‘My mother will be so thrilled to see Emily,’ he said as he stroked his daughter’s sleepy head where it was resting against his shoulder. ‘You have no need to be concerned over anything else.’

She gnawed at her lip without answering.

‘Truly, Charlotte,’ he assured her. ‘The past is not going to be mentioned while we are here.’

‘That doesn’t mean it’s going to go away,’ she said as the flight crew assembled prior to boarding.

Damon watched as she moved towards the boarding gate, her shoulders bowed with exhaustion, her chestnut hair falling in cascading waves about her shoulders, the normally smooth creamy skin of her face now looking pinched and white.

He felt something catch in his chest, like a small sharp tug on the feelings he had locked away four years ago. Although he hadn’t told her he had loved her in so many words, her bubbly nature and enthusiasm for life had been so refreshing. She had captivated him from the very first moment their eyes had met across a crowded restaurant. He had felt a connection that had been instant, electric and enthralling and, even now, in spite of what she had done, he could still feel it beating like a pulse deep inside him.

Maybe she was right, he thought as he moved towards the boarding gate with his tiny daughter fast asleep in his arms.

The past was not going to go away.

It would stay with them like a menacing presence, casting a long dark shadow of uncertainty over their lives…

The Latousakis residence was in the traditional settlement of Finikia, just east of the village of Oia, the starkly whitewashed buildings in the bright summer sunlight making Charlotte quickly shield her eyes. The inimitable blue of the Aegean Sea sparkled below, the faint smell of donkeys and fish and salt in the air bringing back a host of bittersweet memories.

She had arrived on the island four years ago with a backpack and had fallen in love on the second day, and with Damon as her guide had explored all the tourist spots. They had sat and watched what were reputed to be the best sunsets in the world by the Kastro walls, jostling for a position just like everyone else, their smiles only for each other.

They had swum at the tiny port of Ammoudi, and most of the black sand beaches, glorying in the heat of the summer and the fire of their love. He had taught her the language of love and the choreography of mind-blowing sex, all within the space of a few short weeks. She had never been happier; each bright sunny day had been a gift as she had basked in the glorious experience of being adored by a man who was perfect in every way.

It was painful to be back where it had all started. It brought the loss of it all so sharply into focus after years of trying to keep it out of sight and out of mind.

Alexandrine was waiting for them in the doorway, her arms outstretched for Emily who had not long ago woken.

‘Are you my granny?’

Charlotte saw the bright tears in Damon’s mother’s eyes as she reached for her only grandchild and felt a lump come to her already tight throat.

‘Oh, my darling one,’ the older woman crooned, her voice breaking over the words. ‘You are the image of Eleni.’

Damon smiled and bent down to kiss his mother. ‘She is a beautiful child, Mama.’

Alexandrine turned her dark brown eyes to Charlotte, her expression warm and welcoming. ‘It is good to see you, Charlotte. I am so glad you are here and a part of our family.’

Charlotte found it hard to know what to say in response. She stretched her lips into a smile and offered a hand but Alexandrine ignored it to press a soft kiss to both of her cheeks, with Emily still locked in her embrace.

‘It’s good to be here again…’ she mumbled.

Emily rubbed at her eyes. ‘Do you want to see my special toys?’ she asked her grandmother.

Alexandrine’s eyes brightened. ‘I would love to see your special toys. Did you bring them all this way with you?’

‘Mummy wasn’t going to let me, but Daddy said I could,’ Emily said with a borderline reproachful glance in Charlotte’s direction.

‘I am sure your mummy was worried about your things taking up too much room,’ Alexandrine said graciously.

‘Do you have a swimming pool?’ Emily asked as she slipped her tiny hand into her grandmother’s outstretched one.

‘Yes, we do.’ Alexandrine smiled. ‘Would you like to see it?’

Emily turned to Charlotte with a beseeching look. ‘Can I, Mummy?’

Charlotte nodded, her face cracking on a smile. ‘Of course you can.’

‘Can you swim?’ Emily asked her grandmother as they made their way through the house to the sun-drenched terrace outside.

‘But of course,’ Alexandrine replied. ‘Can you?’

‘Only a little bit,’ Emily confessed as her thumb began to move towards her mouth. ‘Mummy has been taking me to lessons but I’m not berry good.’

Damon turned to Charlotte once they had gone, his expression softened with concern. ‘Are you all right? You look very pale.’

Her body slumped on a sigh. ‘I don’t know why I feel so exhausted,’ she said, rubbing the centre of her forehead. ‘Maybe it’s the heat.’

‘It is certainly a change from what you are used to, although as far as I could tell Sydney was not having a particularly cold winter.’

‘Would you mind if I lie down for a while?’ she asked.

‘Of course not,’ he said with another one of his rarely used smiles. ‘My mother will relish this opportunity to get to know her granddaughter.’

‘If Emily needs me, please wake me up,’ Charlotte said a few minutes later when Damon had shown her to their room.

‘Do not worry about her,’ he said as he pulled a cool sheet over her. ‘She will undoubtedly soon crash from jet lag just as you are doing now.’

‘I never used to suffer from jet lag,’ she said as she brought a hand up to cover her aching eyes. ‘I used to trip between time zones without a problem.’

‘You have been working hard for the last few weeks,’ he reminded her.

‘Yes…’ Her soft sigh deflated her chest as she nestled into the pillows and closed her eyes. ‘I guess you’re right…It’s been one hell of a month…’

‘If you do not feel up to joining us for dinner, do not worry,’ he said. ‘I can get the housekeeper to bring something up to your room.’

Charlotte felt her stomach shrink away at the thought of food and buried her head further into the soft-as-air pillow. ‘I’m not hungry…’

‘My mother is the happiest I have seen her in two years,’ he said after a long silence.

She opened her eyes to look at him. ‘I’m glad…I really am…’

‘The loss of a child is huge in a mother’s life,’ he said, looking down at his hands for a moment before bringing his dark, unreadable eyes back to hers. ‘I hope you will forgive me for threatening to take Emily from you. If things do not work out between us, I will try to ensure she has regular contact with you.’

‘Thank you…’ she murmured, wondering if she could trust him to keep his word.

‘You have been a good mother to her,’ he said. ‘Do not be hurt by her occasional divided loyalties. It is understandable that she will be trying to work out who is now in charge. Children do that in order to feel secure; there is nothing personal in it, I am sure.’

‘I could never afford the toys you’ve bought for her,’ she said, not quite able to remove the hint of resentment in her tone.

He put his hand on her shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping through her skin like a brand. ‘I am only trying to make up for lost time. The things I buy for her are not bribes to win her away from you.’

Charlotte did nothing to hide the cynicism in her eyes as they connected with his. ‘I can’t compete with overseas holidays and expensive gifts. I can only give her myself.’

His hand dropped from her shoulder as his expression tightened. ‘You at least have had that opportunity for the last three years. I have not.’

She buried her head into the pillow, her voice sounding muffled as she spoke. ‘Please close the door. I don’t want to be disturbed.’

‘I do not like it when you turn away from me when I am speaking to you.’

‘Get over it.’

She heard his indrawn breath, his anger at her curt dismissal pulsing in the air. ‘Look at me, Charlotte,’ he commanded.

She flipped over to her back to fling him a frosty look. ‘Just because we’re married doesn’t mean you can order me about all the time. If you wanted a compliant wife, then you should have married someone of your own culture. No doubt they would have sat at your feet licking your boots in subservience. If I don’t want to look at you, I won’t and there is nothing you can do to make me.’

His eyes flickered with fury at her mutinous glare, his hands in tight knots by his sides as he ground out, ‘You are the most maddening woman I have ever met. I am trying to bring about peace in our relationship and yet you consistently resist all of my attempts to effect a truce.’

Her eyes flashed back at him. ‘I don’t trust you, that’s why. For all I know, you could be leading me up the garden path, making me fall in love with you all over again before you snatch Emily away from me.’

‘It is not my intention to have you fall in love with me.’

Charlotte felt her anger draining away to make room for her disappointment. She felt it gradually filling her chest until she could scarcely breathe for the weight of it. She fought hard to hide it from him, schooling her features into bland indifference. ‘Good, then at least you won’t be setting yourself up for disappointment.’

‘That is what I figured,’ he returned with equal indifference. ‘Love would only complicate our situation as it stands. We share the bond of a child and at the moment a lingering attraction that will no doubt burn itself out in time.’

A small frown found its way back to her forehead. ‘So what happens then?’ she asked.

‘We will deal with that when it happens,’ he answered evenly.

‘Are you talking weeks or months or years?’

His dark eyes were as unfathomable as ever as they held on to hers. ‘I would hazard a guess and say it could take some time for me to flush you out of my system.’

She rolled her eyes in disdain. ‘You make me sound like some sort of unpleasant stomach virus.’

His mouth stretched into an unwilling smile. ‘That is indeed what it feels like at times,’ he conceded.

‘Yeah, well, you’re more or less a major pain in the rear end for me too,’ she tossed back.

He was still smiling. ‘I will come in later to check on you.’

She turned her head back into the pillow. ‘Don’t bother.’

‘It is no bother; besides, my mother will suspect something is wrong if I do not act like a devoted husband. She is delighted we are together again.’

Charlotte lifted her head out of the downy pillow to look at him. ‘Why? Has she suddenly changed her mind about what happened four years ago?’

‘This may surprise you, but my mother always found it difficult to believe you were responsible.’

She hunted his expression, hoping for some sign of his own belief in her innocence, but as far as she could tell there was none. The blade of his gaze relentlessly dissected hers until she was the first to look away.

‘What a pity she wasn’t able to convince you of the same,’ she said, looking down at her hands where they were twisting the hem of the sheet covering her.

The silence stretched and stretched until it was finally broken by the slow release of his sigh. ‘Yes,’ he said as her eyes slowly came back to his. ‘Yes, perhaps it is.’

She ran her tongue over the parchment of her lips. ‘Damon…’

He reached out with a fingertip and pressed her mouth closed. ‘No more talking of the past, Charlotte.’

He gave her a crooked smile and, bending down, replaced his finger with his mouth in a soft brush-like kiss that made her lips cling momentarily to his as he pulled away.

She watched as he moved to the door, the words to call him back locked in the middle of her throat. What would be the point in telling him she loved him? It wasn’t what he wanted from her.

Not now.

Not again.

Not ever.

Charlotte opened her eyes during the early hours of the morning to see Damon lying beside her, his deep and even breathing indicating he was sound asleep.

She lay looking at him, her fingers itching to reach out and touch his shadowed jaw, to trace the sensual curve of his mouth and the length of his aristocratic nose.

His legs moved until they were touching hers, her whole body shivering as she felt the rough abrasion of his masculine hair along the silky length of her shins and calves.

His lips moved and a soft breathless sound came out. ‘Loula…’

Her eyes widened, her whole body freezing in shock. Her stomach hollowed in anguish as she edged away, her limbs feeling uncoordinated and useless as she got awkwardly out of the bed.

She heard the sound of him moving behind her. ‘Charlotte?’

She turned and gave him an acidic glare. ‘Yep, that’s me. Nice of you to remember my name.’

He eased himself up on one elbow, his brows moving together over his still sleepy eyes. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

She folded her arms crossly. ‘You were calling out for your lover.’

He brought a hand up to his jaw and gave it a quick rub. ‘Which one?’

Her mouth dropped open. ‘You mean there’s more than one?’ she choked.

‘I am not sure how to answer. You surely did not expect me to be celibate for the past four years?’

She turned away in disgust. ‘Please spare me the sordid details of your sexual exploits.’

‘You are jealous.’

She swung back around to deny it but the room began to spin alarmingly and she clutched at mid-air to steady herself. ‘No…’ She tottered for a moment, her eyes trying to focus on something stable, but even the bed seemed to be in motion.

Damon leapt out of bed and reached for her before she toppled forward. ‘Here, sit down and put your head between your knees,’ he said as he gently directed her back to the bed.

Charlotte did as he said, closing her eyes so she didn’t have to cope with the rolling of the floor as well.

‘Are you feeling unwell?’ he asked.

She groaned as a wave of nausea rose like a swelling tide in her stomach. ‘Oh, God…I think I’m going to be sick…’

She only just made it to the en suite bathroom in time, before she threw up the meagre contents of her stomach.

Damon rinsed the mess away and, using the basin’s twin, quickly rinsed a face cloth and handed it to her.

‘I think I should call the doctor,’ he said. ‘You must have picked up a bug of some sort from the flight.’

Charlotte clutched at the basin as the room began to spin out of control again. She could hear his voice coming at her through a vacuum, the concern in his tone moving further and further away from her. She turned her head sideways to try and bring him back into focus but he was a dark blur. She felt her legs folding, leaving her without support. Even her fingers gradually lost their grip, the tingling of her fingertips making her feel as if shifting grains of sand were beneath her skin instead of flesh and blood.

She felt Damon take her weight as she slipped sideways, her eyelashes struggling to keep open, but the sickening swirl of the bathroom was too much for her. She gave in to the lure of dark oblivion with a soft sigh of resignation…

‘How long has she been unwell?’

Charlotte opened her eyes at the sound of the heavily accented voice. She saw Damon standing by the bedside with a man carrying what looked to be a doctor’s bag.

‘I’m not unwell,’ she said, struggling upright. ‘I’m fine now…’

Damon pressed her back down gently. ‘No, indeed you are not, agape mou. Dr Tsoulis will take your temperature at the very least. What you have might be catching. I do not want Emily’s first real holiday to be spoilt by illness.’

Charlotte flopped back down. She didn’t have the energy to fight him and certainly not in front of the doctor. ‘All right, but I can assure you it’s just jet lag.’

The doctor took her temperature and gave a shrug. ‘No, she is not running a fever,’ he said and reached for his portable blood pressure machine.

‘I told you I’m perfectly fine.’

‘When was your last menstrual period?’ the doctor asked as her blood pressure was measured.

Charlotte could feel her face heating under the watchful gaze of Damon. ‘Um…I’ve been a bit irregular lately…’

‘Which means we cannot exactly rule out the possibility of pregnancy,’ Dr Tsoulis said and reached for a syringe.

Charlotte gulped. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I would like to run a few blood tests on you as well as a pregnancy test,’ he said as he placed a tourniquet on her arm. ‘Fainting is often associated with anaemia. Have you been feeling unusually tired of late?’

‘Yes…’ She winced as the needle pricked her skin. ‘Ouch!’

‘I am sorry,’ the doctor said, releasing the tourniquet. ‘You have small veins.’

He placed a sticky patch on the puncture site and gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I am sure this will tell us what we need to know. In the meantime I suggest you get as much rest as you can.’

Damon escorted the doctor out and, after a few minutes, returned with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. ‘Emily is with my mother,’ he informed her. ‘She has had breakfast and is keen to go swimming.’

‘Doesn’t she want to see me?’

‘I told her you were resting,’ he said. ‘I do not want her to worry unnecessarily.’

Charlotte could feel her resentment building. ‘I told you I am not sick, Damon.’

‘We will not know that until the test results come in.’

‘Anaemia is not contagious.’

‘You might have any number of things wrong,’ he pointed out. ‘I would like to play safe until we know for sure.’

‘You’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you?’ She sent him an accusing glare. ‘You’re nudging me out of Emily’s life so she won’t miss me when you get rid of me for the second time.’

He looked down at her with a brooding expression. ‘You are developing a persecution complex. I have no intention of getting rid of you. Our relationship will not end until such time as we both desire it.’

‘If you were being truthful you’d admit you’d like to end it right now,’ she said. ‘So you can get on with your relationship with Loula or whatever her name is.’

‘Loula is the housekeeper. I must have heard you moving and unconsciously thought it was her coming in to change the bed or something.’

‘So you’ve been sleeping with the hired help again?’ she said with a scornful look. ‘I thought you would have learned from your past mistakes.’

‘You have been the only mistake I have made and it is not one I am proud of,’ he bit out.

‘Gee, thanks,’ she tossed back. ‘Nice to know I made an impression.’

His eyes went heavenwards as if in search of patience. ‘I do not want to argue with you. You are not well.’

‘How many times do I have to say I’m fine?’

‘I want you to stay in bed for the day.’

She thrust the sheet aside and got out of bed to defy him. ‘I will do no such thing.’

Black eyes warred with blue in a fiery challenge that Charlotte knew she had no hope of winning. Her stomach was already churning all over again and her legs wobbling beneath her.

‘Get back into bed,’ he said.

She pulled back her shoulders. ‘No.’

‘Get in or I will make you get in.’

‘I’d like to see you try.’

‘Is that a dare?’ he asked.

‘No, it’s a warning that if you come anywhere near me I will scream.’

He smiled a devilish smile as he stepped closer. ‘My mother will assume you are voicing your intense pleasure at being in my arms.’

Charlotte looked for an escape route but the bed was in the way. ‘Don’t touch me.’

‘Why?’ he asked with a glint in his black eyes. ‘In case you respond?’

‘I am not going to respond,’ she said but she knew her voice lacked conviction.

‘How about we put it to the test?’ he suggested, cupping her face with his hand, his warm fingers immediately stoking a fire in her belly.

She swallowed as he closed the distance between their bodies, his thighs brushing against the unsteadiness of hers. ‘D-don’t do this…’ she said on a whisper.

‘Don’t do what?’ he asked, bringing his mouth within a breath of hers. ‘This?’

She closed her eyes as his lips brushed hers, the tingling of her mouth beneath the alluring pressure of his sending all thought of resisting him to some far-away unreachable place. His tongue broke the seal of her lips with a hot sensual probe that curled her toes and hollowed out her stomach. She pressed herself against him, her need spreading through her like wildfire. The heat from his mouth on hers fuelled the flames until she was only upright because he was holding her in his steely embrace.

Her tongue flicked against the scorching thrust of his, making her senses instantly soar. Her blood leapt in her veins, her heart starting to pound in time with the throbbing pulse of desire she could feel spreading from deep and low in her belly to the achingly hollow place between her legs.

She could feel his response to her, the hard ridge of his erection swelling against her stomach, and the increasing urgency of his mouth as it devoured hers. His hands moved over her possessively, shaping her breasts before he pushed her clothing aside to gain access to the satin of her skin. Her breath caught in her throat as his mouth moved from hers to suckle each tight nipple in turn until she was reeling from the passionate onslaught.

His dark, triumphant gaze met hers, making Charlotte realise she was playing right into his hands by responding to him so unreservedly. She gave him a chilly look and rearranged her clothes, pausing for a moment before she lifted her hand to her mouth to wipe away the taste of him.

‘Get out,’ she said.

His mouth tilted arrogantly. ‘You are angry at yourself, not me, agape mou,’ he said. ‘It annoys you that you cannot help yourself, does it not? You respond to me so delightfully every single time.’

She tightened her mouth without answering, her hands going to fists at her sides.

‘You are mine, Charlotte,’ he said, tethering her to him by a handful of her hair as he brought his mouth back to hers. ‘You are mine, body and soul.’

Charlotte fought against her response as his lips commandeered hers, but somehow the hands that had started to push him away were now clinging to his shirt front, her mouth kissing him back with teeth, lips and tongue with an almost savage intent.

She swallowed his deep groan as she wrenched at his shirt, her hands skating over his naked flesh, her nostrils flaring so she could breathe in the clean male scent of him.

She fumbled with his belt and trousers, relishing the sounds of his pleasure as her fingers finally found him, hot and hard and heavy in her hands. She slithered down his body until she was on her knees in front of him, her tongue tasting him in a tiny cat-lick fashion that brought another rough groan from the depths of his throat.

His fingers were still in her hair, bunched against the maelstrom of feeling she was about to unleash. She felt his tension building, his legs braced as she lured him relentlessly to the point of no return.

He shuddered and spilled himself, the sharp one word expletive bursting from his lips indicating to Charlotte that he had not intended to lose control in such a way.

It was a salve to her pride as she straightened to see the somewhat bewildered expression on his face. She watched as he refastened his trousers, a dull flush running underneath the olive tone of his jaw.

‘I am sorry,’ he said, shoving a hand through his hair.

‘It’s fine.’

His frown deepened. ‘Charlotte…’

‘It’s OK, Damon,’ she said airily in an effort to disguise how deeply affected she was. ‘I was getting my own back.’

He gave her a puzzled look. ‘What do you mean?’

She lifted her chin. ‘You think I have no self-control where you are concerned. I wanted to demonstrate that you are really no better.’

‘I have never denied my attraction for you.’

She gave him a brittle glance. ‘No, that’s definitely true.’

His expression clouded again. ‘Look, Charlotte, I have tried to make amends for how I treated you.’

‘How? By forcing me into a loveless marriage so you can have full access to your child?’

‘Marriage was the only option I could take. My mother is somewhat progressive in her outlook compared to other women of her generation, but I am a high profile person in a relatively close community. I would be looked upon with disdain for not marrying the mother of my child.’

‘Even though you hate me?’

‘Those are your words, not mine.’

‘You don’t need to say a word, your actions are more than loud enough,’ she said.

A taut silence throbbed between them.

‘Have you heard from your sister recently?’ he finally asked.

A small, barely audible sigh escaped from her lips. ‘No…’

‘Then you will be pleased to know she is doing remarkably well.’

Charlotte began to gape at him. ‘Wh-what do you mean?’

‘I had a meeting with Stacey and I gave her an ultimatum. It was either clean up or be locked up. She decided a stint in a private detox clinic paid for by me was better than several months incarcerated in prison.’

Her eyes widened in amazement, her heart leaping with hope. ‘She’s really going ahead with it?’

He nodded. ‘I have left someone in charge to make sure she stays the distance. She has been there nearly three weeks.’

‘But why didn’t you tell me until now?’

He gave her an enigmatic look as he reached for the door. ‘I was getting my own back, Charlotte. Although three weeks is hardly as long as four years, is it?’

She opened her mouth to answer, but he had already gone.