by Maya Blake
His hand curled around my shoulder. ‘If your mother’s gambling problems hadn’t started?’
I nodded. ‘I got a part-time job, which lessened the financial burden. But Mum’s depression grew, and she couldn’t hold down a job. I think you get the picture of how things panned out eventually.’
‘Did you ever hear from your father? Did he give a reason?’
Anguish welled high, consuming my insides. ‘No. He stuck to his word and cut off all ties.’
Neo’s lips flattened and his eyes bored into mine with a knowing look. ‘So the facts speak for themselves. Wasn’t he a senior-level banker?’ he asked, shocking me anew with the depth of his knowledge about my life.
‘Yes.’
‘So he had the type of job that demanded respectability. He was fiercely competitive and ambitious, in a high-pressure job that often required cut-throat ruthlessness. Having a wife and child and a seemingly stable home served his purpose. Most likely got him up the rungs of his corporate ambition.’
‘You’re not telling me anything I don’t know, Neo. Yes, my mother and I were just accessories he used while it suited him, then threw away when he was done. So?’
A tic rippled in his jaw, even as his thumb drew slow circles on my shoulder. Did he even know he was doing that?
‘So face the facts.’
Unable to stand the waves of anguish, and that need to lean into his caress, I tugged myself out of his hold.
‘Is that some sort of warning, Neo?’ Had he sensed that occasional misjudged softening? Was this his way of mitigating it?
‘Sadie—’
‘Enough. Whatever it is you’re trying to prove, save your breath. I know what type of person my father was. What type of person you are. There’s no illusion on my part.’
His face tightened and he opened his mouth—most likely to challenge me.
‘It’s been a long day, Neo. I’d like to go to bed, if you don’t mind.’
The glint in his eyes morphed, attaining that hooded, sensual potency that sparked every nerve ending to life. But with that spark came greater warning. An edging closer to that dangerous precipice of longing and softening. Wondering if that ring on his finger meant more than simple evidence of the transaction he’d brokered.
‘It’s your wedding night, Sadie. Surely you wish to make it a little more memorable than simply retiring to your bed at a few minutes past sunset?’
The weighted question started my heart thudding to a different beat.
‘You’ve been at pains to remind me that this marriage is for the sake of the child I’m carrying. How I spend my time tonight is really none of your business.’
He inhaled slowly, and that animalistic aura wrapped tighter around me. ‘Perhaps I wish to make it my business.’
I was struggling to stop my pulse from leaping wildly at that statement when his fingers returned to my throat, their sensual caress enthralling, like a magician conjuring up the most delicious trick.
But wasn’t this an illusion? A dream from which I’d wake to disappointment?
With monumental effort I pulled away. ‘We agreed that sex wasn’t part of this bargain. It’s an agreement I intend to stick to. Goodnight, Neo.’
I hurried away, my footsteps stumbling at the dark promise in the heavy gaze on my back. The gaze that compelled me to slow down, turn around, find out if he really meant it. If this wedding night following a wedding borne of facility could be something else.
CHAPTER EIGHT
WHITE.
She needed to wear white every day for the rest of her life.
She was walking away from me, her ethereal dress floating about her like the purest cloud, and all I could think about was how enthralling she looked in white.
Sure, I was irritated. Unsettled by that conversation about her father. By her accusation that I wanted to hurt her by making her face the truth. I knew firsthand the consequences of burying your head in the sand.
In that moment none of it mattered except the way her hair shone like a living, breathing flame against the delicate white lace.
Maddeningly arousing.
Everything about this woman I’d married was temptation personified, urging the unschooled man closer. But I was well schooled in the sort of temptation she offered. And, as I’d accurately guessed, granting her wishes had in turn given me what I wanted.
Like Anneka and every woman I’d known, all that mattered to her was getting what she wanted in the end. I didn’t doubt that if I was minded to strike another bargain she would accede to my wish to see her clad in white morning, noon and night.
Or perhaps even nothing at all?
The erection straining behind my fly cursed me for agreeing to the no sex rule. Why had I? Because in that moment, binding her to me in any way at all had been paramount?
My dealings with women after my failed engagement and the betrayal that followed had taught me one thing. Sex was only complicated when the parameters weren’t set out explicitly. Sadie had proved herself a good negotiator. So why not negotiate on this too?
The thought of experiencing her again, of having her beneath me, that breathtaking face turned up to receive my kisses and that body between my hands, mine to pleasure and take pleasure in, powered me several steps after her before I caught myself. Stopped to stare down at the unusual weight of the band circling my finger.
The symbolism wasn’t as easy to dismiss as I thought. I had a wife. One whom I suddenly felt a desperate need to bed.
No, not a sudden need. The lust I thought I’d dulled after that first time in my office had been building since she’d turned up in Athens. Since that potent realisation that she could be carrying my child.
Call me primitive, but the thought that I’d sowed a seed in her womb, against all the odds my doctors were still examining after new tests undertook last week, filled me with a sense of...possession I hadn’t been able to shake.
I twisted the band around my finger. Would it be so unthinkable to strike another bargain, stake my true claim?
Yes, it would. Because that was the kind of bargain that came with a steep price. The Anneka-shaped kind that left only bitterness and regret in its wake.
I turned, heading away from the direction she’d taken.
Three hours later I was still pacing my suite, the tablet laid out with marketing reports and projections to be analysed abandoned in favour of fighting temptation. Fighting the invasion of Sadie Preston...no, Sadie Xenakis...in my brain.
And failing.
With an impatient grunt, I slid open the French doors, stepped onto the private terrace. The breeze cooled my skin but did nothing to alleviate the pressure in my groin demanding relief.
A full moon was reflected on a smooth, serene sea, a picture of calm in direct opposition to the sensations roiling inside me.
Not only were Sadie’s words echoing in my head, other observations about her kept intruding, grating like tiny pebbles on my otherwise smooth and solid belief system. Her reluctance to leave that dingy little flat. Her resistance to the lavishness and extravagance of the wedding planning, when most brides would have been rapturous at having an unlimited budget.
Most of all, her complete lack of concern that she’d be walking away with less than one percent of my wealth when I ended this marriage. That clause in the prenup had been deliberate. A ruthless little test she’d batted away without so much as a quibble.
And her bemusement when I brought it up... It had been so...different.
But was I seeing what I wanted to see? Repeating the same misjudgement I’d shown when I’d dismissed Anneka’s obvious signs of infidelity and shameless avarice in favour of claiming the child she’d sworn was mine?
Restless feet propelled me towards the sound of water. To the pool Sadie had dipped her dainty feet in earlier, triggering awareness of yet ano
ther part of her body I found enthralling.
Thoughts of her feet evaporated when I was confronted by the more erotic vision rising from the moonlit pool.
Her back was to me, the tips of her fingers trailing through the water, and her gaze on the view as she moved towards the shallow end. She’d obviously been submerged moments before, because her hair was wet and pearlescent drops of water clung to her flawless skin.
Another few steps and the water dropped below her heart-shaped behind, revealed the bottom half of a white bikini moulding her curves and stopping my breath.
Thee mou, but I loved her in white...
The sizzling thought froze in my mind when she turned fully to face the view, presenting me with her magnificent profile. If she’d looked spectacular before, now she was a bewitching goddess. At just over three months pregnant her shape hadn’t altered profoundly, but signs of her state were visible in specific areas.
Her belly held the slightest curve and her breasts, lush and mouth-watering before, were fuller, more ripe. My palms burned with the need to cup them, to taste them.
A growl broke free from my throat before I could stop it.
She whirled around, one hand holding that rope of hair I wanted to wrap around my own wrist.
‘Neo! I... I thought you were...’
‘Asleep?’ Hell, was that growly mess my voice?
She nodded a little jerkily, her gaze running over my body as I approached. Did her gaze linger below my belt? The throb there grew more insistent, propelling me even closer to the edge of the pool.
‘Did I disturb you?’ she asked.
‘I couldn’t sleep. And from the looks of it neither could you.’
A pulse leapt at her throat as her gaze travelled over me once more, her lips parting as she saw the unmistakable evidence of my arousal.
‘Was I right? Does this night feel too...extraordinary to waste on sleep?’
Her head tilted up, her smooth throat bared to my hungry gaze as she swallowed. ‘I don’t know about extraordinary, but it’s not every day a woman gets married. Or it could be I’m just getting used to this place—’
‘It’s not that and we both know it,’ I interrupted, almost too keen to have her acknowledge what was happening.
She stared up at me, her breathing beautifully erratic, her face worshipped by moonbeams. Her fingers continued to twist that rope of hair. The whole picture of potent wantonness shattered another layer of my control.
I wanted to grab. To devour. To claim with a thoroughness that guaranteed we’d taste blissful insanity.
‘Are you going to stay in there all night or are you done, Sadie?’
She shrugged lazily, drawing my attention to those decadent drops of water on her shoulder.
Two steps back and I snagged a warm towel. Held it out. ‘Come out, Sadie.’
Exquisite defiance tilted her chin, long enough for me to feel the weight of her mutiny.
‘Is that an order? Because, newsflash, I’m not in a mood to obey.’
We stayed like that, her gaze daring me. Then she turned her back, dived back under the water and swam two more lengths. Only then did she get out and approach me. Eyes on mine, she placed one foot on the shallow step. Then another.
Her full breasts swayed with her movement, her hips sashaying in hypnotic motions that drove spikes of lust deeper. With every inch of the body she exposed, my hunger trebled.
Wrapping the towel around her was a perfunctory move to enfold her within my arms. The smile tilting her lips screamed her triumph, stated she was in my arms because she wanted it.
When she wrapped her slim arms around my neck, I barely stopped myself from growling again. ‘You want to know why I’m not in my bed? Why I’m out here, shattering my concentration even further and seeking peace of mind I know I won’t find?’
Her gaze dropped from mine to lock on my lips.
‘Because I do this to you,’ she stated sultrily, rocking herself against my hardness in a way that left no doubt as to my state.
‘Because you tempt me more than I’ve ever been tempted in my life.’ I laughed, despite myself. Or perhaps because of the singular thought that it was no use fighting this. That I didn’t even want to. ‘Despite my every reserve, I hunger for you.’
She inhaled, sharp and sweet, her pink tongue flicking out to swipe across her lower lip.
I captured it, bit her sensitive flesh in punishment for the cyclone of need it had created in me. When she moaned, I deepened the caress, slanted my lips over hers, claimed that mouth and satisfied a fraction of that hunger, even while it continued to rage out of control.
Tentatively, her tongue darted out to meet mine, and I took possession of it, gliding and tasting in an erotic dance I wanted to repeat all over her naked body. Especially that snug, glorious place between her legs.
Finally, I speared my fingers into the heavy mass of her damp hair to tilt her face higher, drive my kiss deeper. When she opened wider for me I couldn’t stop my groan of pure satisfaction.
‘Your hair is a work of art, pethi mou. Simply exquisite.’
‘Neo...’
I backed us up a few steps, until the terrace wall met her back and the soft cushion of her body moulded my front.
‘And this mouth. Christos, you have the most divine mouth,’ I confessed, rediscovering that sensitive spot in her neck where her pulse throbbed before returning to reclaim her mouth. ‘I haven’t been able to stop thinking about kissing you since that unsatisfactory sampling at the altar.’
My free hand slid down her body, stopping briefly to mould one plump, mouth-watering breast, before travelling lower, to cup her hot feminine centre.
‘Haven’t stopped thinking about this special place either. Imagining you wrapped tight around me again, taking me inside you.’
She whimpered against my lips. ‘I...I shouldn’t be doing this,’ she murmured, almost to herself.
And I shouldn’t crave you this much. And yet here I am...
Through the damp material of the bikini bottom I caressed her, my thumb circling that engorged bead I craved to have between my lips. When the need grew beyond containment I slipped my fingers beneath the stretchy fabric. Touched her where I needed to touch her.
Her knees sagged and she whimpered again. Muttered words against my lips I was too incoherent to absorb.
Which was why it took a moment to realise that the hand curled around my wrist, and the other flat against my chest, were both attempting to push me away.
‘Neo...we can’t...’
The protest was feeble, the look on her face as I drew back a touch torn between hunger and rebellion.
I fought the voracious need gripping me and started to withdraw my hand.
Her thighs clamped around it, holding me prisoner.
‘You say we can’t while looking at me with yearning in your eyes. Your body clings to mine while you deny me what I want. What we both want. You think I don’t feel how wet you are for me, Sadie?’
Heat rushed into her face. Her thighs parted with an abrupt jerk and she swiftly dropped her hands. ‘This... It’s just chemistry.’
‘There’s no such thing as “just chemistry.” Especially not when it’s this powerful. When it creates this response.’
My gaze dropped tellingly to the tight furling of her nipples, clearly visible against the damp bikini top.
‘It means nothing,’ she protested. ‘Besides, sex is what got us here in the first place!’
The cold compress of her words washed away a layer of blazing arousal. ‘And it’s a place you don’t wish to be? Is that it?’
‘Don’t put words in my mouth. I may not have been prepared for this baby but I’ve vowed to give it the best life possible. That doesn’t mean I want to mess up my life with sex. So if you’re looking for a way to scratch your itch
you’ll...’ She stopped, her throat moving as she swallowed her words.
‘I’ll what, Sadie?’
She shook her head, sending wet tendrils flying. I caught a strand, tucking it behind one ear. Her pulse jumped beneath my touch.
‘You can’t say the words, can you?’ I taunted, deriving a little devilish satisfaction from it. ‘Did you fool yourself into thinking giving me liberties I didn’t want would be easy?’
She turned her face to the side, avoiding my gaze. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
My grating laughter earned me a ferocious glare. I caressed her cheek, unable to resist touching her even now. ‘Do you not? Really? Then let me posit a theory. Perhaps this marriage isn’t as clinical as you wish it to be? Perhaps this itch you speak of isn’t a one-sided thing?’
Watching her gather her frayed composure was a thing of unwanted awe.
‘I’m a grown woman, Neo. With independent thoughts and needs I can choose to indulge or deny. While the last few minutes have been pleasant, it’s not worth sullying my life for. So, no, the itch will remain a one-sided thing and no amount of temptation will sway me. Goodnight.’
For the second time I watched her walk away from me, leaving even more chaos behind. Acknowledging that I wanted her much more than I’d wanted any other woman in my life, that I might never have her, disarmed me enough to leave me propped up against the wall long after she and her voluptuous curves and her stubborn defiance had disappeared behind her suite doors.
But when the realisation hit that I, Neo Xenakis, was being denied a woman’s attention for the first time in my life, I surged away from that wall, determined to rid myself of this...infernal need.
A teeth-gritting, bracing cold shower restored a little sanity. But with sanity came the acknowledgement that perhaps I hadn’t bargained as well as I’d thought for what I wanted.
Because what I wanted was...more.
And nothing drove home that realisation harder than the first prenatal scan just days later.
When I heard the strong, powerful heartbeat of my child for the first time.
