by Jane Porter
She couldn’t imagine returning to school as if none of this had ever happened.
Uneasy with the future, unable to answer any of the questions eating away at her, Georgia forced herself to read. She would study. She had to study. Right now preparing for the test was the only thing she could control.
* * *
That evening they met for drinks in the library since the rain hadn’t let up. Nikos had laid a fire and the room was toasty warm.
He’d seated Georgia in one of the oversize wing chairs flanking the fire, and he took the other. The steady drumming of the rain was almost like music. Nikos couldn’t remember when he last felt so comfortable.
He was content.
It had been a good trip to Amorgós. It had been time well spent.
Georgia was studying the fire, and he used the opportunity to study her.
She was so beautiful. So uniquely Georgia Nielsen. Fierce and frustrating, provocative and strong, and ultimately breathtakingly wonderful.
He remembered tracing her face in bed, lightly running his fingertip over her stunning face, following the elegant arc of her winged brows, and then down her straight fine nose, over the generous softness of her full lips.
“You are so incredibly pretty.”
He didn’t even realize he’d said the words aloud until she turned and looked at him, those lovely, tempting lips curving up in a smile.
“I have a feeling blue-eyed blondes are your type,” she said, her voice warm with amusement.
He frowned. “Why did you say that?”
“You were very specific in your quest for a donor. Height, weight, hair color, eye color, ethnic makeup.”
“I also wanted healthy, educated, intelligent—”
“Blonde.” But her lips still curved. “But I’m not shocked. Men have types. Your type just happens to be slender blondes from Scandinavia.”
“No, my type just happens to be you. The world is full of blondes, but there is only one you.”
They ended up eating dinner in the library and then it was just a short walk to his room.
Georgia felt Nikos’s impatience as he shut the door behind him, locking it.
“I’ve never been in here,” she said, looking around. His room was simple with a large elegant bed, low handsome nightstands and a stunning glass chandelier overhead. “It looks Venetian,” she said.
“It is. I have a weakness for Venetian design.”
“Maybe you have some Venetian in your blood.”
He reached for her, drawing her to him. “I know I have you in my blood.” He lifted her face to his, kissing her lightly, his lips brushing over hers, teasing, making her sigh and arch into him.
“Kiss me,” she urged, sliding a hand into the thick, glossy hair at his nape and giving it a little tug. “Make me feel good.”
That was all it took for the simmering heat to ignite.
Nikos deepened the kiss, his lips parting hers even as his hand slid down her back, to the dip in her spine. He pressed her there, urging her closer. She loved the feel of his hand in the small of her back and the way his skin warmed hers from the inside out. She could feel his palm and the press of each finger, awakening nerves, making her spark and tingle.
His tongue teased hers. His hand slipped to her hip and then to the curve of her butt, holding her securely to him, letting her feel the thickness of his erection.
She rubbed herself against him, sighing as his shaft brushed her where she was sensitive. His fingers followed, cupping her there, between her thighs, and then stroking with expert fingers, sending a bolt of white-hot sensation right through her.
“Are you wet?” he murmured at her ear.
“Yes.”
“How wet?”
“You could take me now, here, and I’d come like that.”
“You are too easy.” His teeth nipped at her neck; he stroked and pinched her breast. “We should make this a challenge. Not let you come—”
“No, not fair.”
“Force you to wait, hold back.”
“That will just torture me.”
“But it will make the orgasm even better.”
“I don’t know that I’d survive it.”
He laughed softly, his hands slipping beneath her blouse, circling her waist before sliding up her rib cage to cup her breasts. “I promise you’ll survive. I would never let anything happen to you or hurt you.”
“You have happened to me,” she said, suddenly breathless as he peeled the lace cups from her breasts to rub his palms over her taut nipples. The pleasure was intense. He made her feel wild...desperate.
Before Nikos, she didn’t think she’d ever really been touched before.
She didn’t think she’d ever met a man who understood a woman’s body the way he did. Nikos was a master of sensuality, an expert in seduction, and she wanted it all. She wanted everything he could give her, aware that this might be all they ever had, and it would have to be enough.
Her clothes seemed to fall away, and he drew back to look at her, his dark eyes hot and bright. He examined her from head to toe, ownership in his eyes, along with pride.
It felt good to be wanted...desired...claimed.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, brushing a hand across one of her rosy-tipped breasts, her breasts so much fuller now that she was pregnant.
“I think you’ve been starved for attention here on Kamari,” she said.
“I am starved for you,” he answered.
“You had me not even twenty-four hours ago.”
“That was a taste. I want a feast.”
Her cheeks flushed. She burned.
He watched her face as he stroked her nipple again, tugging on the sensitive peak. She gasped at the ache he caused between her thighs. He was making her body so hot, making her wet.
He tugged on the nipple, rolling the tip between his fingers, the sensation sharp and intense, pleasure and pain, and Georgia sucked in air, head spinning, pulse pounding.
“I don’t know that I can stand much longer,” she whispered.
He swung her into his arms and carried her to the bed. His hands and mouth were everywhere, touching, kissing, stroking, licking.
Her eyes closed as she felt his lips close around her nipple, making her body hotter and wetter, and then he lazily traveled between her breasts, down over the curve of her belly. He kissed the point where her thigh and hip came together, waking every little nerve, before kissing her between the thighs, fingers sliding through soft folds, parting them to expose the nub.
The cool air against her was erotic, but there was nothing like his mouth on her, his tongue and lips covering her clit, sucking hard.
She shattered immediately. She couldn’t help it. He was far too good, and she felt far too much.
“That’s what I mean,” he teased, moving behind her to hold her against him. “There is no challenge.”
“Would it be better if I didn’t come?”
“I would find a way to reach you.”
“So confident.”
He kissed the back of her neck, her shoulder. “I blame you. You have made me so.”
And then he turned her on her side, and eased into her from behind. She was wet, and he was thick and hard. She sighed as he buried himself deeply within her before pulling back, nearly withdrawing.
She protested, and he laughed softly, teasing her for a moment before thrusting deep. He reached around to stroke her as he thrust in and out.
The pleasure built, nerves tightening, sensation focusing. She felt hot, and she was breathing harder, panting as each deep, hard thrust pushed her closer to an orgasm, but she fought it this time, not ready to give in, wanting to prolong the pleasure as long as she could.
Making love with Nikos was powerful...electric. The physical act somehow transformed her—them—into something beautiful and new, as if they weren’t two separate people but one.
One body.
One heart.
And then sh
e couldn’t think about anything but the bright, intense sensation rippling through her, sweeping her into a fierce, brilliant, shattering climax. Her body exploded, and dozens of sparkly lights danced in her eyes, in her mind.
Heaven. It was heaven here on earth.
* * *
Georgia opened her eyes to discover Nikos was looking at her. “How long was I asleep?” she murmured.
“A half hour, maybe an hour.”
“Did you sleep?”
“I just woke up.”
She smiled sleepily. It felt so good to fall asleep in his arms and wake in his arms. She loved how beautiful and special he made her feel, as if she were the only woman in the world.
She could see in his eyes now that she was important to him. She could feel it in the way he touched her.
He always put her first, too. Her pleasure. Her comfort. Her release.
She liked that. Loved it. Maybe even loved him.
There, she’d thought it. Admitted it.
She was falling in love with him, and every time they made love, she fell that much harder.
She leaned toward him, brushed her lips across his. “Are you just going to stare at me all night now?” she murmured.
“I was thinking about it.”
She smiled slowly in response to his husky voice and lazy smile.
She loved the way he looked at her, focused on her. Loved the blistering heat in his eyes. Loved that he made her feel like she was a woman who could do anything.
“Okay,” she said, nestling in and closing her eyes again. “You just do that.”
* * *
Nikos watched her eyes close, and he knew by her breathing when she’d fallen back asleep.
He placed a careful kiss on the top of her head, overwhelmed by her in the best sort of way.
When he’d married Elsa he’d thought he knew what love was and how marriage would be. He’d imagined a relationship like his parents’, traditional, practical.
Marriage to Elsa had instead been a constant source of conflict.
Her death had been a shock but not a total surprise. She’d threatened him so many times...threatened to hurt herself, hurt him, do something awful...
He’d been an only child. He hadn’t been raised with sisters. He didn’t have lots of cousins, never mind girl cousins. As he began dating, women were a bit of a mystery. Their emotions sometimes baffled him, but they also added a level of intrigue. He had girlfriends and lovers in his early twenties, but nothing in his experience had prepared him for Elsa.
He still wondered why Elsa married him. Was it his wealth? The family name? Did she think that one good-looking Greek could be interchangeable with another?
He would never know. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t even want to think of her anymore.
Her death, and the manner of that death, had nearly destroyed him. He was ready to put the ghosts of that past behind him, and he could with Georgia.
Georgia was strong where Elsa had been weak.
Georgia had fire and passion, courage and conviction.
Georgia’s strength freed him. Her confidence and clear sense of self allowed him to be who he really was—a man, not a monster.
Her acceptance changed everything. Her acceptance made him hope for the life he didn’t think he’d ever have.
A wife, children, a family.
* * *
He proposed at dinner the next night. He’d planned on making it special, wanting champagne and flowers, but it was still stormy and there weren’t fresh flowers to bring in or champagne she could drink, so he just blurted the words.
“Marry me, agapi mou,” he said, at the end of dinner, when it was just them at the table, with the flicker of candlelight.
She blinked at him, stunned.
He probably could have introduced the subject better, eased into it. He smiled at her bewildered expression. “Let’s make this permanent,” he said. “Stay here with me. Marry me—”
“What?”
“We are good together. We complement each other. I think we could be happy together.”
She just stared at him, confusion in her eyes.
“I think this is a good solution,” he added carefully, wishing he wasn’t so pragmatic, wishing he was a man of romance. “We would be a family. You, me, our son.”
She rose but didn’t get far. Her eyes were wide. She looked almost afraid. “That wouldn’t work, and you know it.”
“Why wouldn’t it work? You like me. I like you. We made a baby together. We should be a family.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “It’s not that simple.”
“Of course it is.”
“Nikos, I have school...exams...my residency. It will be years until I’m a doctor—”
“So wait until the baby is older and then go back to school.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
She shook her head and walked from the table, across the dining room floor. “I need some air,” she said, heading for the terrace.
“It’s raining, Georgia.”
“Then I’ll go to my room.” She was hurrying to the hall, almost running to the stairs.
“Don’t run,” he commanded, cornering her in the stairwell. “Why are you so upset? You can say no. Just say no. There is no need for this. I would never force you, Georgia, to do anything.”
Georgia shook her head, feeling cornered and confused.
She had been happy these past few days, happier than she could have imagined. And she didn’t want to leave Nikos or the baby, but that didn’t mean marriage was the answer.
“Georgia,” Nikos said quietly, trying to get her to look at him.
She put a hand to his chest, torn between wanting to pull him close and push him away. “I have to finish school, Nikos. I have to finish what I started.”
“But you won’t have to work if you marry me. You can focus on our son. You can be a mother—”
“Nikos!” Her hand balled into a fist, and she pounded once on his chest. “I never wanted to be a mother! I wanted to be a doctor. And I still want to be a doctor. I want the life I planned.”
He let her go.
In her room she curled up on her bed and grabbed a pillow, holding it tight to her chest.
That wasn’t entirely true, what she’d just told him.
She did want to be a mother. She very much wanted to be part of her baby’s life. But to give up her entire world back home? To give up her plans...her dreams?
To give up Savannah?
But, on the other hand, how could she give up Nikos and the baby?
There weren’t tears for something like this. The questions and decisions were too huge and overwhelming.
And now Nikos thought she didn’t want him, and didn’t love their son...
How to fix this? What to do?
And then he was there, at the foot of her bed. She hadn’t even heard him enter her room.
“Georgia.”
“I’m not ready to talk.”
“Okay. Don’t talk. Just listen. I support you wanting to be a doctor. I think you should finish medical school.”
“What?” She sat up.
“I think we can find a way to make this work. You, me, baby, medical school.”
“How?”
“There are things called planes and hotels, houses and internet—”
“No internet on Kamari.”
“Maybe it’s worth the billion to put it in.”
She laughed. “There has to be another answer. That’s too much money.”
“I am sure we can figure it out. If we’re together.”
“Yes.” She left the bed, wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. “Maybe we should go back to bed and talk about our options there.”
“You have a most voracious appetite, gynaika mou.”
Her lips curved up. “Complaining about carnal activities, Nikos?”
He laughed, a deep, soft laugh that she could feel
all the way through her. “Never.” And then he was locking her bedroom door and taking her to bed with him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE NEXT MONTH was without a doubt the happiest month Georgia had ever known. As the weeks slipped by with March turning into April, the rain disappeared and the sun shone longer, with the days warmer. It was by no means beach weather, but Georgia enjoyed changing from heavy sweaters to light wraps and sometimes no wrap at all if it was a particularly nice day.
The bougainvillea was bursting into bloom, too, and everywhere she looked there were huge clusters of hot pink and purple draped across doorways, over gates, up pristine white walls.
Georgia’s heart felt lighter, and she didn’t know if it was the fact that the sun always seemed to be shining and she was waking up to a blue sky over dazzling blue water, or if it just seemed brighter and sunnier because she was madly in love.
And she was madly in love.
She now also knew that she’d never been in love before. Nikos was her first true love, and after six weeks in Greece, she thought she could one day be happy here and maybe live here, but first she needed to finish school.
Nikos said they’d find a way to make it work. He said they just needed to take it a step at a time. One day at a time. It was good advice. The doctor had been there earlier in the week, and he’d said all was progressing well with the pregnancy. She was now in her thirty-second week. They discussed a birthing plan. Georgia said she’d be comfortable having the baby on Kamari as long as the doctor and the midwife were comfortable delivering there.
They discussed having a contingency plan, should there be an emergency, and Georgia was relieved to know that a helicopter could get her to Athens quickly if needed.
All was good.
The baby was good. She gave him a little pat now.
To think he’d brought her and Nikos together. The baby had created love...a family...
Her little matchmaker.
She smiled and gave her bump another pat before leaving her couch where she’d been studying to walk across the room to put away the basket of clean clothes the housekeeper had brought up earlier.
On top of the folded clothes was a jeweled picture frame. It was a picture of her and Nikos, his arms around her, and they were smiling at the camera.
