by Jane Porter
In a strange way, she felt as if she was the one who was supposed to be here, not Elexis. Elexis would never understand him, but she could. She would. She liked puzzles and challenges, and she was good at reading not just text, but subtext. And when she and Damen were together like this, it felt rather like perfection in an imperfect world.
Together like this, she felt as if she belonged. She belonged with him. She belonged to him. For the first time in her life, she belonged somewhere.
Kassiani shattered just as Damen began to come, their bodies climaxing together, and she welcomed his last hard, driving thrust, accepting everything he had, and everything he could give her. He was home.
Moments passed, and Kassiani struggled to catch her breath, her thoughts cloudy, her body still floating.
Their wedding night had been incredibly satisfying, but the lovemaking just now, and the orgasm she’d had, was, well, life changing. She liked being with him, even when he was edgy and dangerous. No one had ever challenged her in her life. Until now.
She felt Damen shift, rolling onto his back, and he drew her against his chest. His skin was warm and slightly damp, and as she rested her cheek on his chest, she breathed him in. He smelled delicious. She inhaled the scent—man, sex and a spicy fragrance—and it crossed her mind that she needed to be careful. He was potent. She would need to guard her heart.
“How do you feel?” he asked, lightly stroking her back.
How did she feel? Amazing. Surely he knew that. She glanced up into his face, feeling rather lucky in that moment to have a husband who was famous for his shrewd business acumen and a threat in the boardroom, as well as gifted in the bedroom. “Good.”
His hand continued the slow caressing of her back. His touch made her want to purr. “I hate that your family has treated you so shabbily. It makes me want to take your father apart, limb by limb.”
She smiled crookedly, and stretched up to kiss him. “Please don’t do that, but thank you for being my protector. I’ve never had one before.”
“I’m not a hero.”
“No, you’re definitely more of a thug, but you’re handsome as heck, so it works for you.”
He laughed, softly. “You’re one surprise after another.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“It is.” He kissed her back, a hand threading into her hair, and the kiss flared into something hot and bright. “I hate to go, but I need to.”
“Why do you need to go?”
“I’ve been out of touch with the office all day. I’m sure there are dozens of emails and phone calls and matters awaiting my attention.”
“Just stay a little longer. Stay and talk to me. Please?”
She could feel him tense and she stroked his chest. “There is so much I want to know about you. Tell me about your work and family, tell me about your first girlfriend, tell me—”
“That’s an awful lot to cover in five minutes.”
“Okay, then forget all that. Just answer this. Have you ever been in love?”
He hesitated. “No.”
“That wasn’t very convincing.”
He didn’t reply.
“So you have been in love,” she persisted.
Damen sat up and rolled to the side of the bed. “The less you know about me, the better. Knowing more about me would just lead to disappointment. I’m good at what I do because I’m focused and ruthless. I’ve perfected the art of not caring about others, or what they think.”
“That can be a good thing in business.”
“It’s who I am all the time. I don’t have different sides. Whether at work, or home, I’m the same. Unfeeling. Driven. Relentless.”
She considered this a moment. “I don’t think you are all that. If you were, you wouldn’t care about what I want or need, and you wouldn’t take such good care of me in bed.”
“That’s bed.”
“Or on the island today.”
“Don’t make too much of it.”
“It’s more kindness and attention than I’ve had from anyone, ever.”
Damen reached for her and rolled her onto her back, his big body angling over hers. “Don’t say such things. It makes me hate your family even more.”
She reached up to brush his thick black hair back from his brow. “Don’t hate them. Hate is such a useless emotion.”
“Hate can be powerful.”
“You don’t need hate, and you don’t need more power.”
His light gaze locked with hers and he stared intently into her eyes. “So what do I need, then, Little Miss Know-It-All?”
“Maybe just how to be happy?”
“Because you’re so happy?”
“I’m happier than I have been in a very long time.”
“Because you’re away from your family.”
“Because I’m with you.”
He made an incredulous sound and climbed off the bed. “Now you’re playing me for a fool.”
She sat up, drawing the light crisp sheet with her to cover herself. “Why can’t I like you?”
“Because we don’t have that kind of marriage. This is not a love marriage—”
“I know. And I said like, not love,” she flashed irritably as he yanked on his clothes, first his shorts and then his shirt. “And right now, you’re being ridiculous but that doesn’t mean I don’t still find you likable.”
“That is not part of our agreement.”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, why are you smiling?”
“Maybe because you look really handsome right now.”
He growled his frustration. “I’m not handsome right now, and I’m not likable, and we don’t have that kind of marriage, either.”
“What kind is that?”
“The kind where everybody is happy and dreams come true.” He turned and gave her a dark, tortured look. “You’re a smart woman. You of all people should know that happiness is a myth and dreams are just that. Dreams.”
CHAPTER SIX
HE’D SPENT ALL day with Kassiani today. Damen couldn’t remember when he’d last spent four hours with anyone, never mind a woman.
And he’d enjoyed almost every minute. The only minutes he hadn’t enjoyed were the minutes where she’d tried to convince him he was a good person, when he knew the truth about himself.
Kassiani. She was something of a revelation.
He’d known very little about her before their wedding, other than she was the youngest daughter, and a rather mysterious figure in her family, one her father had portrayed as eccentric, which was apparently why she didn’t travel with them, and wasn’t paraded about like Barnabas and Elexis. But now Damen could see that Kassiani had been forgotten and ignored by her family because she wasn’t like them—she wasn’t shallow and superficial. She didn’t take advantage of people. She didn’t use others. She actually thought of others.
Thank God her family hadn’t corrupted her, but at the same time, she’d deserved so much better from her family. A great disservice had been done to Kassiani all these years. She actually believed she was fat and unattractive. Unworthy.
It was wrong.
And now he was handling her wrong, too, but Damen didn’t know how to be a better husband. He wasn’t accustomed to being patient or kind. So maybe that was the first step. Practicing patience. And maybe a little bit of kindness.
If Kass was surprised to see him on deck before dinner, she gave no indication. She was standing at one of the railings on the upper deck, and she turned her head to smile at him. “Good evening.”
“Good evening to you. Have you been up here long?”
“Fifteen or twenty minutes. It’s such a gorgeous night. The view is spectacular. The island ahead of us sparkles with light.”
“That’s Mykonos.”
&
nbsp; Her brow creased. “Weren’t you and Elexis supposed to visit Mykonos?”
“We were, yes.”
“Are we?”
“No.” He saw the searching look she gave him. He shrugged. “I don’t want to take you where I was going to take Elexis. It seems wrong somehow.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been there. It’s fine, but it’s not my favorite island.”
“Which is your favorite island? Wait, let me guess. Santorini.”
She grinned. “It’s everyone’s favorite, isn’t it?”
“It’s certainly picturesque.” He turned from the view of Mykonos to face her. “How did you know about the honeymoon plans?”
“Elexis asked me to read through the itinerary and make sure she would like it.”
His jaw dropped slightly. “And did you?”
Her shoulders twisted. “It gave me something to do.”
“And you like to be helpful.”
“I like having a sense of purpose, yes. It’s frustrating to me that I’ve gone to school and have a degree and yet my father refuses to allow me to work outside the home.”
“So you’ve never held a job?”
“Charity work. That’s about it.”
“And your brother and sister?”
“The same. Although Barnabas was supposed to work with Dad once he finished university, only he never finished university because his grades were so bad.”
“How does he get his money?”
“Dad transfers money each month into Barnabas’s bank account.”
“Why?”
“I guess it’s like an allowance.”
“Your brother is twenty-eight years old. Isn’t that a little old to be getting an allowance?”
“Dad is afraid that if he cuts Barnabas and Elexis off financially, they’ll cut him out of their lives. And he couldn’t bear that, so he gives them whatever they want.”
“So you get an allowance, too?”
“No.” Her voice was sharp and her smile brief. “I get nothing other than a roof over my head and the food I eat.”
“Why the double standard?”
“Barnabas and Elexis tell Dad what he wants to hear. I don’t.”
“What do you tell him instead?”
“That the company needs more leadership, and the family shouldn’t be sponging off the company. Dukas Shipping isn’t there to be the personal bank account for lazy family members that don’t want to work.”
Damen’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve said all this?”
“And more.”
His lips twitched. “I can’t imagine he valued the input.”
“Not at all, but he values his business, and I’d be wrong to remain silent when so much is at stake. It could be such an incredible company—”
“It will be, once I’m completely in charge.”
“Are you removing my father as president and CEO?”
“He hasn’t actively managed the company in years. He knows I’ll be taking over after the honeymoon.” He shot her a swift side-glance. “Does that upset you?”
“I’m relieved, actually. Something has to be done. I just...” She sighed, shrugged. “Never mind.”
She turned away from him to stare out over the water and he used the moment to study her elegant profile. She truly was beautiful, with the regal features of a Greek goddess. “Tell me,” he said quietly. “Finish the thought. I want to hear it.”
She glanced at him, eyes bright, lips compressed. “If I was a son, he would have made room for me. I would have been an asset. Instead I was a daughter and nothing but a disappointment.”
Before he could reply, one of his stewards appeared with the champagne he’d requested twenty minutes ago and made a big production about opening the bottle and filling their flutes.
Damen checked his temper as the steward settled the champagne bottle into the ice bucket, rattling the ice as if he was doing the most important job in the world. Finally the steward was gone and Damen handed Kassiani a flute.
“We didn’t have a toast on our wedding night. So, stin yeia sou,” he said, lifting his glass. To your health.
“Yamas,” she answered, to our health, before clinking the rim of her goblet to his and lifting her flute to her lips.
Just watching her bring her glass to her full lips made him hard. He didn’t understand this fascination with her, or why he found it so hard to stay away from her. She was so naturally sensual that she had him in a constant state of arousal.
“What else have you told your father that he doesn’t want to hear?” Damen asked, determined to shift his attention from her luscious mouth to the topic they’d been discussing before the champagne had arrived.
“Dukas Shipping was worth so much more five years ago, when my father first approached you. He’s been cutting away into the principal. You’ve gotten a rotten deal. Instead of the Dukas beauty, you got the Ugly Duckling and a company teetering on bankruptcy.”
“You wanted to work for him.”
“Desperately.” She swallowed hard. “I have tried for years to get him to bring me on board. I even told him he didn’t have to pay me. I’d be an intern. Just let me go to the office and give me a chance to learn the ropes.”
“Is it true you studied business and international relations at Stanford?”
“It is true.”
“That couldn’t have been an easy course of study.”
“It was actually not that difficult. I read quickly, and have one of those memories that forget nothing.” Her lips quirked. “It’s a blessing and a curse.”
“So you’ve been out of school a couple years.”
“Four years end of this month. I started Stanford at sixteen and finished the dual major in three years.”
Very little surprised Damen, but she’d just caught him completely off guard. “Most Americans don’t start university until they’re what...eighteen?”
“I tend to do accelerated studies. I can take more classes than most students. The workload isn’t a problem for me.” She grimaced. “More of that blessing and a curse.”
“Have you ever been tested? Are you considered gifted?”
“I have, and I am. But I wish I wasn’t. My mother wasn’t particularly intellectual and she used to say that brainy women were objectionable as they tended to challenge the status quo, competing with men rather than allowing the man to feel like the man.”
“She wasn’t a feminist.”
“No.”
“Little wonder your father adored her. Greek men expect to be the center of the world.”
“Yes, I know.” She hesitated. “It’s why my aunt never married. She was brilliant, and smart, and strong, and her parents were traditional Greeks, and they didn’t know what to do with her.” She tapped the rim of her flute. “I think it’s why she created the trust for me. She recognized a kindred spirit and wanted to be sure I had...options.”
Her tone, and the bittersweet twist of her lips, made his chest tighten. Kassiani was a constant source of surprise. “What else did your mother teach you?”
“That beauty is a woman’s greatest strength and virtue, and a socially inept woman was nothing short of a failure.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Mmm. In my parents’ eyes, I’ve been a failure my entire life. Not attractive, and a social misfit. How could I be such a blight on the Dukas name?”
“Did you feel awkward at Stanford?”
“No. I loved being in school. I enjoy academia. I’m comfortable in certain environments, but hopeless in others. Like parties. I’m not comfortable at parties. I’m not good with chitchat. I’m the least fashionable woman you’ll ever meet—”
“Oh, now, I’m not sure you can claim that honor. My mother only wears smocks, and these slipper-like shoes, with socks. It’s t
errible. Really. So, I think she has you beat.”
Kassiani gurgled with laughter and Damen was pleased. He’d meant to make her laugh, and was glad he’d succeeded. He’d hated the pain in her voice, her pain making his chest tighten, and his temper stir. How dare her father treat her so shabbily all these years? How dare her parents make her feel less than something when she was the greatest Dukas of them all?
“Besides,” he added after a moment, “fashion and parties are overrated. I would much rather have a brilliant wife than one who merely looked good in clothes.”
For a moment there was just silence and Kassiani stared out over the water, toward the island glittering with light. Damen congratulated himself for soothing Kassiani’s fears, and then she turned her head and looked him square in the eye. “Then why did you want Elexis in the first place? Why didn’t you want...me?”
Her voice was calm, her tone thoughtful. It took him a second to realize she wasn’t accusing him of anything, or trying to guilt him. She genuinely wanted to know.
Again his chest tightened and he felt a wave of remorse, and pain. She deserved so much better from all of them.
“You were never presented as an option,” he said at length. “I didn’t know enough about you to think to ask for you.”
“You didn’t realize there were two Dukas daughters?”
“Vaguely. You were, how shall I say? Mysterious.”
“Kassiani, overly fond of math, burdened by a photographic memory.” Her lips lifted in a wide, self-mocking smile. “Most mysterious indeed.”
The moonlight bathed her in a lovely glow, illuminating her profile with her strong, elegant features. She was wearing a white dress with ruffles and flounces and it crossed his mind that while the white paired well with her dark hair and complexion, the flounces and frills were too much for her petite build, overwhelming her curves, adding to them, making her look bigger than she was. Kassiani was actually quite small physically. She just had exceptional curves, amazing curves, like Hollywood stars of old.
