Maddison felt something inside her shift and settle.
It had been a very long time since she’d felt anything so remotely akin to peace. The sudden death of her father and her worries over Kyle had taken every ounce of her energy. She’d become so used to the feeling of pressure building to a frantic pace in her breast as she’d tried to deal with the next obstacle life dished out to her that it had taken until now to see how much her inner peace had been sacrificed.
But out here life took on a different context. The soft soughing of the wind through the trees automatically eased her tension, the lacy sunlight through the high canopy gave her a feeling of energy and the sound of the water running over the creek bed filled her head with the symphony of nature unspoilt.
She felt Demetrius suddenly stiffen beside her, his hand on her arm tensing as if to warn her.
She turned her head to look at him, but his eyes were on the path ahead.
‘Shh.’ His voice was just a whisper of sound. ‘Look.’
She looked to where he was pointing and saw a grayish-brown bird. It was scratching around in the undergrowth but it must have sensed their presence for it turned its head and scuttled with the speed of lightning into the thick bush, instantly vanishing from sight.
‘What was it?’ she whispered close to his downbent head.
‘A lyre-bird.’ His voice caressed the shell of her ear as he turned to speak to her in an undertone. ‘A male one of the Superb species, I think the South-eastern form.’
She felt his hand take hers once more as they continued on, the silence between them not tense now, but somehow companionable. Maddison felt as if something had passed between them in seeing the shy bird. It was like sharing a secret with someone, as it seemed to create an invisible bond between them.
It was a long while before either of them spoke.
Maddison was content to listen to the sounds of the bush around them. She heard the call of birds she’d never heard before in her life, and even the sound of her feet treading the bush path was like a new sound to her ears. The crack of a twig, the crunch of spent leaves and the susurration of the wind through the trees seemed so far away from the concrete towers, frantic traffic and choking fumes of the city.
Demetrius led them even further into the bush, the dappled sunlight above gradually changing to the darker green shadows of rainforest. Rich green lichens clung to every limb of fallen timber and the forest floor was soft with decades of leaf litter which felt like a priceless carpet under Maddison’s feet. The air was even richer with the moistness of the earth and the silence beneath the heavy canopy was like nothing she’d ever experienced before.
She stole a look towards Demetrius who was standing with his dark head turned to where a slim arrow of sunlight was penetrating the shadowed forest floor like the beam of a spotlight on a stage.
She followed the line of his gaze and saw a blue wren darting about in the lush undergrowth, his beady eyes noticing their presence but, unlike the lyre-bird, unthreatened by the arrival of company.
‘It’s a male one, isn’t it?’ she whispered, coming a little closer to where Demetrius was standing.
His arm brushed against hers when he turned to look down at her.
‘Yes, the females are brown in colour.’
‘He’s not at all shy,’ she observed, letting her eyes fall away from his to follow the hopping movements of the little wren.
‘No, he probably has no reason to fear us. Very few people come through here.’
A moment or two of silence passed between them.
The wren hopped to a higher perch and, after a few seconds of tilting his head back and forth at them, flew away.
‘Come on.’ Demetrius reached for her hand once more.
Maddison felt the warmth of his fingers wrap around hers, a tiny frisson of sensation running through her hand at his casual touch. She couldn’t stop herself from imagining those long fingers on her, touching her, tracing the intimate contours of her body.
The pads of his fingers had a faint trace of roughness about them, as if he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty doing the sort of outdoor tasks most men in his financial position would never dream of doing. It made her see him in a totally new light. It confused her in a way. She was supposed to see him as the enemy at all times and in all places but now, here, in the middle of the silent rainforest, he didn’t seem like the enemy at all.
Now he was much more dangerous to her unprotected heart, much more dangerous than any adversary…
They walked through the lichen-adorned glade to where the creek cut across the path, the brackish water slower this far from the falls, but Maddison still balked at the fallen log connecting the two banks in what appeared to be a makeshift bridge.
‘I’ll fall in.’ She pulled against Demetrius’s hold as he stepped towards the log.
‘No, you won’t,’ he reassured her.
She felt the tightening of his fingers around hers and stepped on to the log behind him, trying not to look down at the swirling water beneath.
‘How are you doing back there?’ he asked at the halfway mark.
‘Fine so far,’ she said, trying to keep her balance on the log.
‘Almost there,’ he called out, taking the last few steps.
She was close on his heels, but a sudden movement from the undergrowth on the opposite bank took her attention off her feet and she felt herself begin to topple.
She clutched at the back of his T-shirt even as his hand tightened simultaneously around hers, but the log was slippery and her worn-out trainers inadequate for the task of maintaining any sort of grip. She felt herself slipping and was sure she was going to take him with her, but then he stabilised himself with legs wide apart, his hand around her wrist like a vice as he hauled her up against him.
‘I told you that you wouldn’t fall in,’ he said with a reproachful glint in his dark gaze as it rested on her slightly flustered one.
She could barely breathe this near to him.
His chest was pressed against her breasts, his thighs either side of hers in a bracing position. She could feel the iron strength of his muscles against her trembling legs and the indentation of his belt buckle against her stomach made her acutely aware of how very close she was to him.
‘It was touch and go there for a second.’ Her voice came out husky and breathless.
She tried to put at the very least some air between their bodies but he held her fast.
‘Don’t move; that’s deep water down there,’ he cautioned.
‘How deep?’ She gave him a worried glance.
‘Probably not as deep as what’s up here,’ he said, looking at her mouth.
She stared at him in confusion, her tongue snaking out to moisten her suddenly bone-dry lips.
‘How can there be deep water up here?’ Her voice was a bare whisper of sound.
He didn’t answer.
She watched as he lowered his head as if in slow motion, his lips coming closer and closer and closer until they were just above hers. She felt her breath tighten in anticipation, her breasts springing to attention against the wall of his chest and her thighs softening between the steely brace of his.
His lips came down to hers, softly at first, tasting her as if committing her to memory. She felt the unfolding of his tongue as it stroked between her pulsing lips, not just asking for entry but demanding it.
She opened her mouth to let him inside and a rush of sensation hit her at the electric heat of his tongue as it dipped and dived to conquer every corner of her trembling mouth.
This was the deep water he was talking about, the sort of water that would drown her if she didn’t take great care, she thought as he deepened the kiss even further.
She was trapped in a whirlpool of feeling, too frightened to pull away because of the rushing waters below and yet fearful of allowing the kiss to continue in case she couldn’t control her responses to him.
She was already in well over her head.
He had only to look at her with those brown, almost black, eyes and she melted, her tight resolve to hate him at all costs unravelling like a ball of string rolling down a steep decline, leaving her defenceless heart totally unprotected.
She couldn’t allow herself to fall in love with him.
She’d be better off falling into the rushing water below; at least then she could swim to safety. But if she were to fall in love she would have no chance, and neither would her brother, Kyle.
Demetrius had already proved how merciless he could be, and if he were to find out she cared for him in any way he would surely use it to achieve his own ends, and those ends most probably would include seeing Kyle go to prison for what he’d done to his boat.
Demetrius’s mouth softened on hers and she took the chance to carefully ease some space between their bodies.
He lifted his head to look down at her, his dark gaze far too penetrating for her comfort.
‘It’s three steps to the bank,’ he said. ‘And about an hour’s walk back to the hut. Think you can manage it?’
It exasperated her that he was so obviously unmoved by the kiss they’d just shared. How could he stand there so casually with his breathing unaffected and his expression so calm?
‘Of course I can manage it,’ she answered with a touch of tartness. ‘What do you think I am, stupid or something?’
Maddison pulled her hand out of his loosened hold with a strength he hadn’t been expecting. He made a quick grab but it wasn’t quite quick enough. He watched in wide-eyed alarm as she stepped backwards into nothing, falling from sight to land with a resounding splash below.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HE WAS down the bank within seconds but the water had already carried her well beyond his reach.
‘Maddison!’ He called to her as he stumbled over the gnarled tree roots along the bank, his feet slipping and sliding in the mud. Her head was above water but only just, her hair swirling about her face as if threatening to choke her if the tumultuous water didn’t succeed in doing so first.
He saw her hand come out of the water searching for a hold but he couldn’t get close enough to offer one. The undergrowth along the bank was dense and mostly impenetrable and, even though instinct warned him against entering the water, regardless of his own safety he plunged into the raging creek.
The water was icy-cold and a whole lot more forceful than he’d expected. He was a good swimmer and his body strong from regular sessions in the hotel gym but it took every ounce of strength to get to her.
He caught her just as her head submerged, the murky brown water trying to swallow her, but he managed to grasp a handful of her hair and haul her upwards.
She coughed and spluttered a full mouthful of water in his face but he hardly noticed.
‘Are you all right?’ he shouted above the roar of water.
She clutched at him frantically, her eyes wide with fear and her lips already turning blue with cold.
He didn’t wait for her to answer; instead he towed her against the current towards the nearest bank, one arm around her as the other reached for an anchor to secure them to safety.
The overhanging branch wasn’t as thick as he’d have liked but it gave him just enough leverage to get her out of the main torrent to the more shallow waters along the muddy bank.
He half lifted, half pushed her out of the water before joining her, his breathing heavy, his earlier fear rapidly being replaced by anger at what might have happened if he hadn’t made it to her in time.
‘You little fool!’ he ground out. ‘You could have been killed.’
Maddison stared at him from behind the curtain of her mud-encrusted debris-cluttered hair.
He towered over her, his white T-shirt now stained brown and one of his arms dripping blood from a nasty scratch near his right wrist.
In any other circumstances she would have thrown a suitably stinging reply his way. However, her stomach was full of muddy water which she could feel from the bubble of nausea in her throat was intent on making a hasty reappearance.
‘I…’ She took a gasping breath but could hold the tide back no longer. She leant sideways and spilled the contents of her stomach barely six inches from his feet.
He muttered one short sharp expletive before she heard him squat down beside her, his arms coming around her to support her as the rest of the brackish water left her stomach in heaving, rasping gasps that tore at her tender throat.
‘Are you done?’ His voice was as gentle as his fingers as they drew back her hair from her face.
‘I…I think so.’
She closed her eyes as he pressed her head to his chest, her throat raw, and her pride in tatters.
He felt warm even though he too had been in the water. She pressed even closer, trying to stop the shivering of her body but her teeth were already chattering and her hands felt numb as she clutched at his waist for support.
‘Do you think you can walk?’ he asked her after a moment.
She eased herself away from his chest and looked up at him with a slightly shamefaced look.
‘I…I lost a shoe.’
He glanced down at her feet and frowned.
‘You were lucky not to lose your life.’
‘D…don’t lecture me. I didn’t do it on p…purpose.’
‘You put both our lives at risk.’ He helped her to her feet, his voice still full of reproof.
‘You sh…shouldn’t have b…bothered rescuing me.’
‘Of course I had to rescue you, dammit!’
‘I d…don’t see why you had to. I would’ve got out eventually.’
‘Yes, on a stretcher with a blanket over your face,’ he growled at her darkly.
‘And wouldn’t you be happy then,’ she threw back. ‘What perfect revenge for the loss of your boat—my life in exchange for a stupid, overpriced boat.’
‘It wasn’t a boat, it was a yacht.’
‘I don’t care if it was a cruise ship,’ she said. ‘All I know is I had nothing whatsoever to do with sinking it, and I don’t see why I had to be dragged out here to pay the ultimate price.’
‘All you had to do was tell me Kyle’s whereabouts,’ he reminded her. ‘And I’m not asking you to pay any price.’
‘Aren’t you?’ She gave him a disbelieving glance.
‘Tell me where he is and I’ll take you home right now.’
She felt deeply ashamed at just how tempted she was to tell him.
She lowered her gaze from the intensity of his and stared at her shoeless foot for endless seconds, fighting to get her failing resolve back into some sort of shape.
‘Tell me, Maddison.’
She lifted her chin and met his eyes with renewed determination and defiance. ‘I wouldn’t tell you even if I were on my very last breath.’
He held her look for a pulsing pause, his expression hardening slightly. ‘Your loyalty is admirable but entirely misplaced. Your brother is never going to learn the error of his ways with you acting as his scapegoat all the time.’
‘You think I want to spend even a minute longer than necessary with you?’ she asked. ‘I would’ve preferred a year in prison myself instead of this ridiculous arrangement.’
She stomped lopsidedly in what she hoped was the right direction. She heard him behind her but didn’t turn around in case he saw the glitter of tears in her eyes.
She would not cry, damn him!
After a while she realised she needed his directions to make it all the way back to the hut and, much as it needled her pride, she had no choice but to slow her pace and turn to him.
‘I don’t know which way from here.’ She indicated the fork in the path with one hand.
‘You did well to get back this far,’ he said with an ironic glance at her shoeless foot.
She looked down at the wreck of her sock and grimaced. It didn’t bear thinking about what state her foot was in beneath the ragged covering of the mud-soaked cotton; she could already feel the b
urn of a blister on the ball of her foot as it was.
‘I have a reasonably good sense of direction,’ she said. ‘But out here all the trees look the same.’
‘There are subtle differences,’ he said. ‘But it takes experience to pick them out.’
‘I’m afraid I haven’t had a lot of time available to me to go wandering about like a wild child in the woods.’ She sent him an arid look, her tone deliberately sarcastic. ‘It must be wonderful to be so rich that you can buy your own patch of wilderness and go and play in it whenever you feel like it.’
‘It is,’ he answered, his dark eyes holding hers. ‘And it’s even more fun when I bring someone along to play with me.’
‘I suppose you’ve brought all your lady loves up here,’ she retorted with a curl of her lip. ‘I can just imagine Elena Tsoulis skipping about the bush in her high heels.’
‘Better than no shoes at all,’ he returned smoothly.
She gritted her teeth and forced her eyes away from the magnetising force field of his.
‘At least I still have one shoe and my self-respect.’
‘Your pride does you credit,’ he said. ‘I admire you for it, actually. Not many women would have coped with what you’ve just gone through without a fit of hysterics or worse. But you don’t need to feel as if you’re at risk of losing your self-respect in your dealings with me.’
‘Don’t I?’
‘Of course not. I mean you no harm, no harm at all.’
‘You mean to get me into bed, though. Surely you can’t deny that?’
‘The thought had crossed my mind.’
His indolent look made her feel as if he had flicked a switch inside her body. Heat coursed through her even though the clothes she was wearing were still wet from the cold water of the creek.
‘And if you’re honest with yourself you’d admit the same thought has found its way into yours as well,’ he added, watching her steadily.
‘You’ve got tickets on yourself,’ she said scornfully. ‘Anyway, I wonder there’s room for any woman in your bed with that monumental ego of yours taking up so much room.’
The Greek's Convenient Wife (Greek Tycoons) Page 11
