by Annie West
Strato threaded his fingers through hers. ‘That’s how I felt. Fascinated. Even after you sent me packing I spent weeks thinking about you.’ His voice dropped to a low note that scoured her soul. ‘I couldn’t get you out of my head. It was a new experience.’
Her breathing shallowed. She wanted to ask if it still felt unique to him. Because her feelings for Strato were unprecedented. She knew with a certainty she couldn’t explain that for her this was serious.
‘Ah, here we are.’
Disappointment mingled with relief filtered through her. No time now to ask about his feelings, but that meant he wouldn’t disappoint her by saying his emotions weren’t involved and for him this was still purely sexual.
It didn’t feel as if it was simply lust between them as he ushered her aboard, his arm protectively around her. Nor when he led her by the hand to his bed and stood, staring down at her with gleaming eyes, as if seeing right into her heart.
Lust was there in the faint tremor of his hands as he unzipped her and in the harsh angle of his jaw. But so was tenderness and respect as he brushed his lips slowly across her bare shoulders, taking his time to caress her till she shivered with eagerness. In the way he slowly skimmed the crimson satin off her body then stood with something like wonder in his eyes as he took her in. As if she weren’t an ordinary woman but some goddess who’d struck him dumb.
There was delicacy in the way he knelt to undo her sandals, and in the skimming, tantalising, delicious kisses he imprinted on her calves, knees and thighs.
There was even something like reverence in Strato’s sigh as he hooked his thumbs into her thong and slid it down her trembling body.
And when he scooped her up in his arms, his eyes holding hers, Cora felt her heart swell against her ribs as if her bones had shrunk, or the feelings she harboured grew too big to hold in.
Soon she was naked on the bed and Strato made short work of his dinner suit. Even shorter work of protection. Still he didn’t rush, but prowled up her body, nuzzling, kissing, stroking, till she was gasping for breath and pleading.
Strato wouldn’t be hurried. But this wasn’t like other times when she’d seen a teasing gleam in his eyes. Now his expression was intent, each caress considered and careful.
Was it crazy to think he was showing her his feelings though no words passed his lips? That those feelings were deeper than light-hearted flirtation?
When, finally, he settled between her thighs, propped on his elbows so she didn’t take his full weight, his expression was grave. Cora saw furrows on his forehead and deep grooves bracket his gorgeous mouth and felt a moment of unspoken communion when she could swear their pulses beat as one.
Then his mouth broke into a slow smile that undid the last, fragile thread of her defences.
Cora smiled back.
Nothing in her life had been as good as this, here, now, with Strato. He undid her. Yet, as their bodies merged in one slow, sure stroke, she didn’t feel undone but complete and stronger than she’d ever been in her life.
Together they made a whole that surpassed everything.
Cora planted a hand on his thrumming heart and lifted her other hand to his cheek, losing her breath as he turned his face into her touch and kissed her palm.
Tenderness welled along with anticipation.
She’d fallen for Strato. So deeply, so completely it put what she’d felt for Adrian in stark perspective. He’d flattered and tempted her, playing on her natural curiosity and burgeoning sexuality. But he’d only hurt her pride, not anything more significant.
Strato’s fluid, powerful movements had her clinging, lifting her body into his rhythm and holding tight, eager not just for bliss but also for these moments of profound connection that felt as if they changed her for ever.
Did they change him too?
No time to think about it as he gathered her closer, his body leading hers deeper into pleasure, his eyes holding a promise she couldn’t look away from.
‘Coritsa.’ His voice, velvet-wrapped gravel, was a caress in itself. The heated glow of his gaze as it held hers felt portentous.
‘Strato, I...’
Suddenly it was upon them. The lightning bolt that turned the world iridescent. The shimmering wave upon wave upon wave of completion so exquisite it stole her voice. And still Strato held her eyes. Till finally, on one last explosive shudder, Cora tumbled into darkness.
As she sank into oblivion the words she hadn’t said aloud echoed in her head.
Strato, I love you.
Her world had changed for ever.
CHAPTER TWELVE
DAYS LATER THEY were on the island of Aegina and Cora couldn’t stop smiling.
Since leaving Athens things between her and Strato felt different. He was as attentive and passionate, as charming and as much fun. But there was an unspoken undercurrent that fed her excitement.
She didn’t try to label it, for it had been scary enough, naming her feelings for him. She didn’t want to con herself into believing he felt more than he did, or build too much upon his various kindnesses. Or the fact he’d asked her to stay past the agreed month.
It had been that night when they’d left Athens. Cora was sprawled, boneless, across Strato’s big frame, his heart beating beneath her ear, when he’d asked her to stay. Not for a set time, but simply to stay.
Eagerness had vied with practicalities, like worries over her stalled career and the need to see her father, but her biggest concern was of digging herself deeper into an emotional hole.
What if Strato never returned her feelings?
Yet Cora hadn’t been able to say no. She knew this man, enigmatic as he could be, was the man for her.
Add to that her father was well and had help at the hotel. Strato had also promised to sail back so she could check on her father in person instead of via her regular calls.
As for her career as a marine biologist, that was harder. She’d left work to help her father and there weren’t many other positions around. She should be looking but for now she couldn’t think past the present and Strato.
It was a shock to realise they’d been together just over a month.
A month during which she’d had no period.
They stood before the beautiful Temple of Aphaia, high on a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea, the scent of pines and sea salt wafting on the breeze. Strato was beside her, strong and solid. Just as well, for she rocked back on her heels as realisation hit.
Frantically she recalculated the weeks, flicking through dates in her head, and with each recalculation shock edged further along her bones, like the shadow of a cloud creeping across the sun.
Her periods were clockwork-regular.
Which meant...
‘Cora, are you okay?’
Sea-green eyes met hers and a warm hand gripped her arm. The concern she saw in Strato’s expression calmed her.
‘Yes, absolutely fine.’
There was no need to panic.
This had been the most amazing, unusual month of her life. Would it be so surprising if her body didn’t follow its usual rhythms? She didn’t feel different physically.
And even if there was a reason for her delayed period, she and Strato weren’t passing strangers. They’d moved on from their original insta-lust. Pregnancy might even be the impetus for acknowledging a deeper relationship.
Yet, thinking the word pregnancy sent a quiver of shock through her.
She’d assumed that when she had a child she’d be in a secure relationship like her parents had shared.
But she was getting ahead of herself. First she had to find out if there was a child.
Would the small town where they’d come ashore sell pregnancy test kits? Cora took a slow breath, trying to calm her racing thoughts. She’d have to get to a bigger town and find out if she was pregnant.
&nb
sp; Then, well, she’d think about what came next if it happened.
* * *
Strato stood on his private deck, a cold beer in one hand. Where was Cora? Usually she’d joined him on deck by now. The sun was low in the sky.
He felt restless because, after their early morning sightseeing trip to the temple, he’d devoted himself to work while Cora took a hired car to the other side of the island. Usually they explored together. This was the first time they’d been separated for any length of time, apart from that afternoon in Athens.
Strange to think he’d become so accustomed to her company that he noticed an absence of a few hours. He sometimes worked alone in his study and that didn’t bother him.
Because always she’d been nearby. Accessible.
His glass stopped halfway to his mouth then lowered. Suddenly the taste in his mouth wasn’t the tang of beer but something bitter and dank.
He wasn’t becoming obsessive about her, was he? Needing to know where she was every moment? Needing to control her movements?
His belly clenched as if in response to an invisible blow. His stomach curdled.
Strato waited for logic to reassure him. Obsession was impossible. It had to be. Because he, of all people, knew how dangerous it was. His skin prickled and searing pain shot through his shoulder, even though the scar tissue there was old.
Again he swallowed.
Could such a fatal flaw run in families? He’d told himself it couldn’t, not if you did everything you could to guard against it. And Strato had done everything to prevent that happening.
Still he frowned. It was true his relationship with Cora had altered. She was no longer a casual sexual partner.
As if! From the first he’d felt anything but casual about her.
But he’d been sure that though she’d become a friend as much as a lover, she only occupied a specific part in his life. Strato had honed the ability to compartmentalise his world.
Yet today he’d found himself wondering what she was doing. Whether he wouldn’t rather be with her. Regretting their time apart.
Movement caught his eye. It was Cora, emerging on deck. He turned fully and was instantly swamped by his response to her.
Good old sexual desire. Admiration. Joy.
Surely they were all positives? Surely that negated the secret fear that his feelings verged on something dark?
‘You look fabulous.’ His voice was gruff with appreciation. Instead of her usual casual clothes she wore a bronze-coloured dress, gleaming like silk. Its narrow straps left her shoulders bare and its cut followed her body, cinching in around her narrow waist before spilling gracefully over her hips and thighs.
Beyond her stretched the green-blue sea and above it, at the top of the hill overlooking the coast, the white marble columns of the ruined temple.
The setting suited her. He’d first imagined her as a sea nymph, so much more than an ordinary mortal woman. Seeing her against that backdrop reinforced that feeling.
Cora was special.
Want rose in him, the familiar tide of desire, but something extra too. Something warm and tender.
Strato refused to analyse it. Instead he put his glass down and approached her, taking her hands in his. ‘I approve. You bought it today?’
She shook her head and for the first time in weeks he couldn’t read her expression. ‘I got it in Athens.’
She’d spent his money well.
‘And you waited till now to wear it?’ He bent his head and kissed her, slowly and thoroughly, only drawing back when he realised he was on the verge of sweeping her into his arms and straight to bed.
He was determined to prove he could control his feelings around Cora.
She shrugged and he realised that, despite the way she’d melted into his kiss, the movement looked stiff.
‘Have you spoken to your father today? Is all okay at the hotel?’
‘Yes and yes. Both are thriving. Thank you, Strato.’ Her expression eased. Maybe he’d imagined tension because he’d been distracted by his own troubling thoughts.
‘Good. Now, what would you like to drink?’
‘Sparkling water, thanks.’
He nodded and made himself release her, knowing that he’d much prefer to keep touching her. Again that tiny quiver of concern flickered through him.
Strange that the silence as he went to the bar and got her drink felt heavy. Usually he and Cora chatted easily but didn’t feel the need to fill every moment with talk. He turned, her glass in his hand, and saw he hadn’t imagined it. Something was wrong. Cora bit the corner of her mouth and her shoulders were hunched.
‘What is it, Coritsa? Is something wrong?’ He couldn’t imagine what. Things were good between them.
Yet to his dismay she nodded. ‘Not wrong exactly but...’ She drew a deep breath that made her breasts rise high. ‘We need to talk. Maybe we should sit down.’
Perhaps it was his unresolved tension from earlier, or a sixth sense for trouble, but Strato felt his own shoulders tighten. ‘Don’t prevaricate. Just tell me.’
She swallowed and finally nodded, her eyes not leaving his. ‘I’m pregnant.’
There was a crashing sound but Strato didn’t really register it. He was too busy watching the woman before him looking so earnest as her words, her unbelievable words, echoed in his brain.
Something inside him plummeted.
Had he really thought she was different?
Had he really believed in the happiness he’d found with her?
She’d prepared carefully for this moment, he realised, looking again at that slinky, seductive dress that was so different from her usual outfits. It turned her into a different woman. More like the others who’d tried over the years to catch him.
Had the woman who’d snared his interest on that tiny island, the fascinating, forthright woman who cared more about protecting sea turtle nesting sites than about jewels and his vast fortune, been an illusion? Had their chance meeting and her initial rejection been part of a deliberate ploy, to attract then hook him?
Pain stabbed his chest as his lungs failed.
How many times had a woman stood before him, claiming to carry his child?
Strato shut his eyes because even now the sight of Cora, gorgeous and tempting, messed with his head. As if what she said could be possible.
That only made things worse because the idea of him fathering a child was the stuff of nightmares. Clammy heat crept across his skin and nausea welled.
He snapped his eyes open.
At least he was spared that horror. He’d made sure there’d be no children. He was the last of his family.
But that meant Cora was lying. Like those others who’d tried to snare him in marriage.
He hauled in a rough breath.
He didn’t want to believe it. Not Cora.
But Strato knew about betrayal. He knew it so well it was inked onto his very bones, etched on his skin.
He understood you could rely on no one but yourself.
How had he forgotten the lesson that shaped his life?
Yet watching Cora, as all the good things he’d experienced with her crumbled into dust, felt like a blow from which he’d never recover.
Because he’d let her get under his skin. Let himself be tempted into feeling too much.
It was his fault as much as hers.
* * *
Cora watched the glass drop to the deck and shatter but Strato didn’t seem to notice.
The concern in his eyes died, replaced by the shock she’d expected and something else. It looked like pain.
She frowned, heart hammering, trying to gauge his response. It couldn’t be pain. That made no sense.
Then he shut his eyes, breathing deep, nostrils flaring and hands curling at his sides. He looked like a man struggling with stron
g emotion.
Cora wanted to go to him, touch him, connect with him. But she stood rooted to the spot. Something about the starkness of his features and the lines ploughing his forehead held her back.
Then he was staring at her again, eyes narrowed and hard as chips of stone.
Not a delighted father-to-be, then.
‘You’re the third.’ His voice was barely recognisable. Raw and rough and once more she sensed pain. Yet his eyes were frigid with accusation.
‘Third what?’
His mouth stretched wide in a humourless smile that made her heart twist.
‘Third woman to tell me she’s having my child.’
‘You’ve already got children?’ Her hand went to her throat in shock. It was only when his gaze lowered that she realised her other hand had gone instinctively to her stomach, as if comforting the new life deep inside.
Even now, hours after confirming her pregnancy, Cora reeled from the revelation. It didn’t seem real. Her body felt the same as ever.
Yet, in the short space of time since she’d learned about the baby, it seemed she’d acquired protective, maternal instincts. Instincts that urged her to retreat from this big man.
Except she knew Strato. Knew he’d never hurt her or their baby.
Nevertheless, his tight smile perturbed her. She’d never seen him like this.
‘No, I don’t have kids. I told you, I’ll never have a family.’
Cora waited for an explanation but none came. Had the babies died? Horror filled her. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing. The women left when I wouldn’t marry them.’
She shook her head. ‘The babies! What happened to the babies?’ She felt as if she were underwater, sounds blurred and distant, struggling to make herself understood.
‘There were no babies.’ He flicked a glance at her abdomen once more then back to her face. ‘One woman wasn’t even pregnant. The other was, but to someone else.’ His lips drew back in something like a snarl. ‘They made a mistake thinking they could lie their way into a share of my fortune.’
Shock slammed into her. ‘You think I’m lying? You think I invented this?’
