by Aleka Nakis
Demo brought his lips to Athena’s ear and whispered, “Talk with him, give it a chance.” Then they continued to talk with the other guests.
Spiro stepped up to walk beside Alexandros. “Let her go. If it is meant to be, you will be together in the future.”
“Baba, this doesn’t make sense. I love her. I know she loves me. She completes me, and we need each other. Yet, she doesn’t want to be with me. I cannot understand.”
“Alexandros, it takes more than love to build a true relationship. Compassion, respect, faith and trust are paramount. You compromised her trust when you chose to sleep with another woman.”
“What?” Alexandros stopped mid-stride. “Who told you such a lie?”
The older man looked at his son in dismay. “Paidi mou, I am sorry. I’ve misjudged the situation. For the first time in my life, I will break my word, my word to your Athena. I must end this, and you need to know.”
“What are you saying, Baba?”
“The night of the party I found Athena crying in the garden. At first, she wouldn’t tell me what had happened, and I feared the worst. She assured me she was physically fine, just upset. When I told her you would take her home, she became more distraught. She didn’t want you. I could not understand.”
“Baba, get to the point. What happened?”
“She saw you go into the bedroom with a woman to have sex.”
“You believed that? You couldn’t set her straight?”
“Athena heard you say you were waiting for the other woman all night. You locked the door for privacy. Alexandros, I had to offer her my help. It was the only decent thing to do. She was hurting, and I promised not to tell you.”
Alexandros kissed his father heartedly on the cheek. “It’s okay, you were looking over the woman I love.” Relief entered his heart. “I can understand, and this finally makes sense. I have to go find her. I’ll explain later.”
He spotted Athena walking with Demo and quickly made his way through the crowd. Curling possessive fingers around her arm, he dragged her to the side. She tried to pull away, but he held her tight and refused to let her go.
Alexandros met Demo’s gaze and silently expressed he had discovered the problem. Demo encouraged his sister with a pat on the arm and continued walking to the reception.
Alexandros couldn’t wait and locked his lips to hers. She tried to resist, but he would not allow it.
He hugged her closer and spoke into her ear. “We need to clear things now, not later. I love you so much, and I can’t stand to be without you for one more minute. We’ll talk now.”
The other guests passed and they stood alone in the street.
“I can’t share you, it hurts too much.” She turned to hide the tears behind her eyes.
“Athena, I’m yours, only yours. Look at me, and you will see that. It won’t work if you don’t trust me. Agape mou, look in your heart and tell me what you see.”
Her beautiful eyes grew big, and she slowly said, “There is pain and love. Love for you.”
“Yes, and my heart overflows with my love for you. Now answer me the most important question. Can that love overcome what has come between us?”
Athena’s face was red with strain. She was hurting, but if she didn’t trust him, nothing he could ever say would ever soothe her. Frustrated, he acknowledged she had to find it within her to trust him.
“I saw you with the woman in the green dress. You went into the bedroom, and you locked the door for privacy. But, I love you too much not to hear your explanation. Yes, I will trust what you have to say. Please tell me.”
Unable to hide his relief, a smile spread across his face and he laughed loudly.
Tears began to stream down her cheeks.
“No, no don’t cry. You didn’t see correctly, agape mou—”
“Don’t deny it.” Athena interrupted him. “I saw you. You said you couldn’t wait for her to get there.”
“I don’t deny that. Don’t cry and just listen.”
He was happy. He was elated. She trusted him to explain and she wanted to listen. He laid a full strong kiss on her open lips and crushed her to him.
“Now, don’t let your imagination work anymore.” He spoke quickly, reluctant to let her hurt a minute longer. “The green dress woman was Katerina, my personal assistant. I was waiting for her to deliver something to me. She couldn’t come any earlier because it was her nephew’s christening day. She arrived with the helicopter during the party. I planned to go to Athens myself, but I couldn’t leave you. I wanted to spend every moment with you.”
“Then why the secrecy? Why the locked door?” Her voice was steadier now.
“I didn’t want you to see what she was bringing. I wanted to surprise you with it in the morning.”
“You were not making love to the green dress woman?” Athena met his gaze, the horror fading from her eyes.
“No.”
“I went through two days of hell”, she breathed, shaking her head and massaging her temples. “I thought you had used me, and then I thought I wasn’t enough for you.”
“You are everything I’ve always wanted. You are all I need. Agape mou, I was in hell with you, we just could not see each other through the flames. I thought you didn’t want me because of who and what I am. That rule of yours played like a broken record in my head. I didn’t know where you were, I had to find you, and make you see I was the exception to the rule.” He stood silently watching the expressions on her face, the face of the woman he loved.
“You are the exception,” she breathed, bringing her lips to his.
“You make me the happiest man to walk this earth.” A low groan emanated from deep in his throat.
He took her hand leading her toward Kalithea. She had to walk fast to keep up with him.
“We need to go to the reception. They’ll miss us,” she said, reaching the entrance.
“All I need is you.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her lips parted, her breasts peaked against him, and he fit his slender hips against her, letting her feel his soaring hunger.
Warmth filled Athena, and she brought her lips to his, regretting she had doubted him. The heat in her body intensified, turning her insides to hot liquid. Her heart was pounding with the realization of his reciprocated love.
He situated her arms around his neck, and raised her body parallel to his, cupping her rounded buttocks as he carried her up the private, tree-lined path to Kalithea. Linking her legs around his waist, she buried her lips against his neck.
His fingers worked to unbutton her dress, exposing her back to the cool shaded air. Settling against him as he opened the bedroom door, she couldn’t stop kissing the man she loved with all her heart.
Before he stepped through the doorway, he looked at her and pushed back a tendril of hair that swept across her cheek.
“I cannot wait until later. Patience has never been a virtue with me, and when I try to exercise it, I fail miserably.” He lowered his head, brushed her lips, and said in a husky groan, “Athena, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Finding his mouth, she couldn’t get enough of him.
He then walked into the room, and she slid down his body, her feet meeting the floor.
Alexandros’s fingers released the thin straps of her dress, and it dropped to reveal her swollen breasts and more. He pursed his lips as first his eyes, then his hands, traveled from the curve of her neck, to the swells on her chest, to the curve of her hips, down her long legs, removing her panties in a swift move.
“Thee mou, all of this is mine,” he drawled in Greek.
His mouth retraced the path, slowly, sensually taking her to the rim of a volcano about to explode, leaving a trail of fire on her skin. He kissed the center of her womanhood, caressing her inner core, sending her to a place where sheer pleasure reigned.
The moans leaving her lips called for him to catch her as she returned to the here and now. He did. Once steady, she led him to their bed, directing h
im towards the pillowed softness below and covering his body with her own above.
He groaned as she showed him how quickly she’d learned from him. She caressed his body with every inch of her own, and when he called to her, she brought her lips to his, letting her hair fall around his face as she guided him into her. Gently, he filled her, and they rode together to ecstasy.
She laid her head on his chest and snugly nestled her torso against him. He wrapped his leg over her, and she reveled in the moment of knowing that they belonged to each other.
“Never doubt how much I love you, my Athena. I knew I wanted to make you mine from the first moment I saw you.”
“Yiayia told me the Strintzaris men have no timeline. I agree with her. I love you.”
“Agape mou, you’ve lost me.” He looked confused.
Athena laughed. “It’s woman talk. Something we do amongst ourselves.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I need you to do something.”
“Now?” she asked, wetting her lips with the expectancy of his request.
“Now.” A seductive smile spread across his handsome face. “Get out of bed, please.”
This was not the request she was expecting. Her mouth opened and he immediately lavished it with a long sensuous kiss. “Now, please, stand up, and turn your back to me.” His intriguing voice held a promise, compelling her not to question his motive.
Her feet touched the cool marble floor, and she took a few steps away from the bed. The sea breeze brushed across her heated body sending goose pumps to her bare flesh.
Alexandros brought his body against her back instantly warming her. He wrapped the sheet around them and smoothed the bumps away.
“I want to see your face in the sunlight.” He steered her onto the terrace.
She could feel his heart beat in tandem with hers, his breath heavy.
“When it comes to you, I cannot wait. I cannot be smooth and collected. I just want you for myself, and I want the world to know you are mine.”
“I am, and I want the world to know you are mine too.” She turned in his tight embrace as he shifted under the sheet.
“I can’t wait for the priest to bless this.” From behind her back, he revealed a box and opened it. The ring reflected the sunlight around them. “Allow me the honor of placing this token of my endless love on your beautiful hand.”
She stared as he fit the ring on her wedding finger, and then raised it to his lips. “Thank you for making me the happiest man, yineka mou.”
She whispered. “When did you get it?”
“I picked it out when we were in Athens. They needed more time for the setting.”
“You’re rather sure of me then.”
“No, that’s not it. I’m very insistent, and I would have kept asking you until you said yes.”
“So when did you get the ring?”
“The night of the party. Katerina brought it.”
She was speechless. How could she have ever doubted him? She sought his kiss, and trembled as she felt his love encompass her soul, completing the love she had for him inside her.
“I’m sorry.” Tears threatened to flood from her eyes. “I’m sorry I doubted you, andra mou.”
“No tears, unless they are tears of joy.”
“They are.” She held her hand up to the light and smiled at him. “Did I tell you, I love you?”
“I can’t hear it enough. Why don’t you do that now?” He took the words from her mouth and they made slow, tender love once again.
****
Alexandros and Athena arrived at the reception freshly showered and beaming blissfully just before sunset. The single women were gathering to catch the bouquet as Alexandros pulled her towards his parents.
“The bouquet. I have to get in line.” She said tugging his arm in the opposite direction.
“Absolutely not. You’re mine and definitely not available.” He laughed and hugged her to him. He walked towards his parents squeezing her linked fingers in his.
As they approached Spiro, he smiled. “Is everything all right, paidia mou?”
Alexandros raised Athena’s hand to show them the ring on her finger. “More than that, Baba. Athena has made me happier than I thought was possible. She has agreed to be my wife, the light in my life forever.”
“Don’t let the band leave before we book them again.” Spiro winked at his wife, and his big arms engulfed Athena. “Kori mou, just tell me when.”
Anna let a joyful tear slip, and looked at her oldest son with his Athena. She cupped the young woman’s face with her palms and kissed her. “Kori mou, I knew I would meet your mother sooner, rather than later.”
Athena looked for her brother. She met his gaze from the other side of the room. Demo motioned thumbs up as she waved her fingers at him showing him her ring.
Yiayia walked up to them, took Athena’s hand and asked Alexandros, “When will this young woman officially become my granddaughter?”
“We haven’t set a date, Yiayia. But if Athena agrees, as soon as my future in-laws can come to Greece would be nice. How about July, agape mou?”
Athena winked knowingly at Yiayia. “I think that’s agreeable, and just right.”
About the Author
Born in Athens, Greece, and raised in the States, Aleka Nakis has straddled the Atlantic and had one foot on each continent for many years. Aleka loves to travel and does so with every excuse available to her. Blending her life passions of story telling, travel, and exotic cultures, Aleka aims to transport her readers into the magical world of romance.
http://www.alekanakis.com
Book Two of The Greek Series:
The Summer Deal
by Aleka Nakis.
Samantha Mallone is a smart, beautiful redhead who is oblivious of the magnetic affect she has on her charismatic boss... International billionaires don't lie to get a woman, but Demosthenis Lakis does just that to lure his assistant to Greece. Unaware of her employer's true motivations, Samantha eagerly prepares for a summer in the Mediterranean when her psychotic-ex calls and threatens her, prompting Mr. Lakis to arrange for her to leave New York immediately. Abroad, Mr. Lakis changes the ground rules: They're in Greece where formalities are foreign. Samantha becomes Sammy, and Mr. Lakis becomes Demo. Sexual tension burns as the big-eyed Sammy tours the ancient ruins on Demo's arm and discovers his intent to show her there is more to their relationship than business. Proving to be unlike other men from Sammy's past, Demo puts their passionate summer deal to the test of a lifetime.
Read on for a preview.
The Summer Deal
By Aleka Nakis
Chapter One
Aggravated with the results of the day’s interviews, Demosthenis Lakis didn’t bother to look up when his office door opened and the last applicant approached his desk, her heels clicking upon his hard wood floor in a confident rhythm.
Instead, he took a deep breath and focused on the information in his hands. Miss Samantha Mallone’s resume indicated that she possessed none of the qualifications he was looking for and required in an assistant.
“Hello. Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Lakis.”
The melodic voice seized his attention. His head snapped up and he shut the manila folder. “Ms. Mallone?”
The woman standing in front of him was a pure knockout. A bit short, but ooh, very shapely. Shiny red hair flowed over a cream-colored suit, forming an image of how it would look draped over his pillows.
As he pushed back his chair, the file slipped from his hand, and paper littered his desk. Fumbling through the sheets, he gathered them into a pile, flipped the cover, and stood to greet his applicant.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said, holding out his arm.
“Thank you, sir.”
Her soft hand slid into his and he found it difficult to concentrate. A sweet citrus smell filled the air, and he was consumed with the urge to pull her against him and feel every inch of her.
Mustering all his strength
, he jerked his hand back and smiled in a forced professional manner. Obviously, it’s a set up. It has to be. Why else would a gorgeous woman with no experience be here?
His brother, and business partner, had to be behind this. Demo laughed and shook his head. This was just the sort of thing Tony would do. He’d dangle a piece of eye candy, useless for work, just to remind him that there was more to life than the office. His brother was always on his case about taking things so seriously. But someone had to, and Demo was not one to leave things to chance.
Taking a deep breath, he asked, “So how’s Tony?”
“Excuse me? Who’s Tony?” she replied, her emerald eyes growing confused under his examination.
Her hand fluttered to her throat and her fingers closed about a thin gold chain she wore around her beautifully sculpted neck. A bewildered look crossed her face, and her nose crinkled in concentration.
Damn! She wasn’t a joke. His brother wasn’t playing his typical games. She was real. A real applicant he’d have to professionally turn away, despite her personal appeal.
He might as well make this quick.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Mallone.” Extending his arm, he indicated a seat, and then gulping a humble breath of air, he continued, “I thought you were a friend of my brother’s. Shall we begin?”
She sat, crossed her legs, and folded her hands over her knee like a goddess. Smiling, she glanced around the room and let out a tiny sigh.
“Tell me a little about yourself.”
Samantha cleared her throat and played with the chain around her neck. “I’d like to thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Lakis. I know it may appear that I lack formal training, but I can assure you, I’m more than capable of meeting your needs.”
Demo had no qualms about that. He could think of many ways she’d meet his needs. And for everything else, he’d outsource the documents and hire a second receptionist for the filing.
“I’m in my final year of law school. I am a quick learner and very dedicated to my work...”
Watching her lips move, but not truly hearing a word, he lost himself in the song of her voice. Going against his initial plan of letting her out of their interview quickly, he did everything to prolong their discussion. He asked her about her university courses, limited work experience, and future aspirations in the legal field.
