by Sara Wood
‘I think my intention is clear,’ he rasped. Placing his hand on her rear, he added, ‘Isn’t it?’
‘Painfully so. Is mine?’ she countered sweetly.
And she risked a saucy wriggle against him before she squeezed his hard, neat rear too, while she kissed him back, pulling away when he tried to prolong contact with her lips.
He looked annoyed. ‘Crystal. It seems we have the same goal in mind,’ he growled.
No, she thought. Yours is domination and bed. Mine is escape from a ridiculously obsessive relationship that’s destroying me.
‘This’ll be interesting,’ he said, before she could come up with a quip. ‘Eleni’s heading this way. Think you can deal with her on your own?’
‘Coward,’ she chided.
‘With good reason. I’m trying to prevent two inches of pancake make-up from being plastered all over my dinner jacket,’ he grunted.
‘Well, you disappear, then,’ she said, giving him a push. She didn’t want Eleni slithering all over him either.
He hesitated. ‘I think,’ he said hurriedly as Eleni bore down on them, ‘it would be a good idea if we catch each other’s eyes across the crowded terrace a couple of times. OK?’
Olivia nodded and held her hands out obediently, ready to ‘catch’ his eyes. Always quick on the uptake, Dimitri laughed, kissed her cheek and slipped away just as Eleni barged past her last obstacle—two teenagers ogling Dimitri as if they wanted to eat him whole.
‘Hello, Eleni,’ Olivia said cheerfully, getting in first. ‘It’s ages since we met. I remember taking you shopping—’
‘I was a kid then. It was before I got these.’ Eleni defiantly thrust out her shiny breasts at the startled Olivia. ‘I must say, you’ve got a nerve, flirting with Dimitri! Don’t you know he’s mine? He is my lover. So don’t muscle in or I’ll scratch your eyes out.’
Lovers. Who was telling the truth—Eleni or Dimitri? After all Dimitri’s lying in the past she’d rather take Eleni’s word. It seemed that Dimitri would take sex in any form, even when he despised the woman involved.
Olivia winced. Dimitri despised her and yet he wanted to make love to her. Maybe he felt like that about all women.
Soberly Olivia gazed at Eleni. The girl seemed very confident, but when Olivia looked more closely she saw that beneath the glamorous make-up was a very young and possibly insecure young woman. Studying the sullen, resentful face, Olivia decided that she couldn’t blame Eleni for adoring Dimitri. He’d turn any woman’s head.
So she smiled with some sympathy, making no reference to Eleni being Dimitri’s mistress. Even if the jealousy scoured a hot well of anger inside her.
‘It’s three years since Dimitri and I were last together,’ she said evenly. ‘We’re having fun, reminiscing.’
‘Is that what you call it?’
Olivia shrugged. ‘It’s amusing to tease him. Too many people treat him like some kind of god. He needs bringing down to earth.’
‘You can do that without draping yourself all over him!’ Eleni protested. Olivia dared not comment. ‘How long are you staying?’ Eleni asked bluntly.
‘As long as it takes to get the divorce.’
‘In that case, why are you making eyes at him? You don’t love him!’ Eleni blurted out. ‘You never loved him!’
She looked at Eleni sadly, every raw wound suddenly exposed. ‘He was my life, once. My soul mate…’
Something made the hairs on her neck tingle. Something compelled her to turn. And when she did, her gaze honed in on Dimitri like a heat-seeking missile. He was staring at her, and the impact of his impassioned eyes made her draw in her breath and she found herself walking in his direction as if propelled by an unseen force.
Remembering her manners, she flung back confusedly over her shoulder, ‘Excuse me.’
Eleni was looking at her in astonishment, blinking at Olivia’s dry-throated whisper.
‘I must go. You see how it is,’ Olivia breathed.
And she glided away, seeing that Dimitri was striding purposefully towards the garden, politely but briefly replying to comments from the guests he passed whilst constantly checking that she knew where he was going.
Around her she could hear the buzz of conversation increase in volume and she knew they were talking about them both, about the strange powers that drew them together.
But this was what they’d planned. A very public recognition that the sparks hadn’t died in their marriage. It was also very true.
Stooping to remove her shoes, she padded over the billiard-table lawn to Dimitri, feeling as if her body flowed towards him with the same inevitability as a river flowing to the sea.
Her eyes were almost midnight-blue when she looked up at him. He gave a shudder, his longing apparent in every inch of his tensioned muscles.
‘I want to make love to you, here and now,’ he muttered, his voice riven with passion. ‘I want to see your limbs spread on the grass, your arms reaching up for me.’
She shivered, rivulets of pleasure rippling through her pliable body. ‘A rather extreme way of indicating to everyone that we’re getting back together,’ she croaked.
His head inclined and he gave a wry smile. ‘My conclusion too. Unfortunately.’
He sounded rawly husky, as if he too had trouble with a desert-dry throat. Olivia felt weak. They’d always have this incredible chemistry between them. Nothing, no one, could ever affect her as deeply as Dimitri did. So she blurted out the first thing that came into her head.
‘I—I had to get away. It…seemed a good idea to wander over here,’ she said, her eyes huge in the darkness at the telling of the little white lie. But she couldn’t let Dimitri know that he had caught her in his web as a spider caught a fly and rendered it helpless. So she babbled on. ‘I thought Eleni might throw her drink over me and I didn’t want my dress ruined.’
Her heart began to pound when his arm lifted and he reached out to lightly stroke her hip. ‘No. It would be a shame. It suits you so well,’ he said jerkily. Retracting his hand and thrusting it deep in his pocket, he frowned and cleared his throat. ‘I’m afraid she regards me as her property.’
The atmosphere thickened between them as if the air was being filled with silent messages they dared not speak. She swallowed, trying to keep the thread of the conversation in her dazed mind. Yes. Eleni. Her eyes flashed.
‘With good reason.’
‘Nobody owns me,’ he growled.
‘No. But some people have rights where you’re concerned,’ she said sharply.
It was appalling that he thought he could treat his mistresses with such contempt. First Athena, then Eleni. And goodness knew how many in between.
‘Was she being bitchy?’ he asked, ignoring her comment.
‘It wasn’t a conversation I wanted to continue,’ she admitted.
Dimitri sucked in a long breath and let it out slowly. ‘I know she’s difficult but she’s had a strange upbringing. Her mother died when she was tiny. A series of nannies have spoilt her,’ he said gently. ‘And it can’t help that Mother gave her the impression this was her chance to shine and yet everyone’s talking about you.’
‘Oh!’ she said, flustered, her face flushed from the compliment. ‘I don’t think so—’
‘I can assure you they are. They’re all bowled over by your beauty, your poise and your easy manner. I am constantly being told what a fool I am.’
She went pinker still, reluctantly but undeniably weakened by the throbbing richness of his low tone.
‘I’m not surprised they’re gossiping about us,’ she said, attempting levity. ‘It’s not often a man entertains his wife and his wife-in-waiting at the same party.’
He chuckled. ‘With any luck the wife-in-waiting will become the one that got away.’
‘She’ll be devastated.’ Olivia frowned, worried for the girl. She’d lost her virginity to a monster. ‘You shouldn’t have slept with her,’ she reproved.
‘How many times do I have
to tell you? I haven’t!’ His scowl suggested that her accusation offended him.
‘That’s not what she says!’ she persisted.
‘Then she’s lying. Wishful thinking. I swear it. She has a crush on me, nothing more, and she was trying to warn you off. I’m far too old for her,’ he replied, and she felt certain he was sincere. Her spirits lifted. Maybe he wasn’t such a heel after all. ‘There are several young men of her age who are more than eager to step into my shoes and they’ll suit her much better. She won’t have to pretend to be sophisticated and she can take off those layers of make-up and be her nice, natural self. It’s buried there somewhere.’
‘I hope you’re right. I don’t like hurting people,’ she said slowly.
‘Really?’
Her lashes flicked up at the note of disbelief in his voice. ‘I make an exception with you,’ she muttered.
His grin slashed the darkness. ‘I thought so. Now, to scandalise everyone a little more and to get the sentimentalists sighing, I suggest we walk up and down in full view,’ he directed. ‘Take my arm and talk to me.’
They strolled through the garden, lit by huge, guttering candles. Its beauty tugged at her heartstrings and added to the turmoil of emotions that threatened her judgement. She felt as if she might suffocate with the tension that hung around them and prevented her from breathing normally.
Aching with the effort of walking without stumbling, she was glad when they paused to look out at the lights of Olympos village twinkling in the darkness and the necklace of lamps edging the waterfront. Tantalising perfumes teased her nostrils as they drifted in on the breeze. She could smell lemon blossom and it was so sharp and poignant that she began to tremble from the memories it evoked.
‘I want to go back to the party,’ she said, weak-kneed, weak-willed and frantic to go before she said something she’d regret. Like I love you and I always will.
‘You can leave any time,’ he murmured, as if he understood the reason for her sudden distress. ‘I’m sure people here have got the message about us.’
The gentle expression on his face tore into her heart. In a moment of madness she reached up and drew his head down, kissing him tenderly. Then she pulled away abruptly before she confessed her true feelings.
‘In case they haven’t, I hope that does the trick,’ she croaked out with as much brightness as she could manage, and hurried back to the fascinated throng as if she was escaping from a dangerous animal. Which she was, she thought wryly.
‘What exactly are you up to?’ snapped Eleni, accosting her with angry belligerence.
‘I’ve no idea,’ she blurted out honestly. ‘I wish I did.’
Blindly skirting the crowd, en route to goodness-knew-where, she was halfway across the empty dance floor when Dimitri caught her up.
‘Dance with me,’ he said in a tone that brooked no refusal.
Not that she wanted to refuse. She was in his arms and swaying to his every movement before her brain could warn her against such a silly move. And she was loving it. Her head nestled in the hollow of his throat. His breath seared her scalp hotly. The glory of his body lured her in until her curves lay against his, her breasts leaping into sharp peaks where they were rubbing the soft wool of his jacket. The burning pillar that heated her pelvis grew harder and harder and his grip on her hand grew tighter as their breathing shortened.
‘Look at me!’ he whispered in hoarse command.
Helplessly she did so. He stopped in the middle of the floor. Took her face between his hands and looked at her for what seemed an eternity, her eyes swimming under his impassioned gaze, before he swept her into his arms again and continued the dance, even closer than before.
This couldn’t go on. It was beginning to hurt, the pain of loving him tearing at her heart so fiercely that she almost cried out loud.
‘Wait,’ Olivia ground out when they were level with the small orchestra. She managed to push herself free and begged the bandleader for something lively.
Dimitri laughed when she returned to him. ‘Can’t stand the heat?’ he murmured.
‘Can’t stand being pawed. Darling,’ she whispered, plastering a sweet smile on her face.
‘Like a bit of action, instead?’ he drawled and, catching her by the waist, he whirled her around the floor till she was breathless.
Despite her reluctance, she began to enjoy the hectic excitement of dancing with a man who knew how to lead, whose movements she could anticipate so well that it seemed the two of them had rehearsed for hours. And it was a release for her pent-up emotions.
Soon the dance floor was empty and they were working through their repertoire of energetic jive-cum-rock and roll, to suit the rumbustuous music.
Bright-eyed, laughing and exhausted, they finished with an exhibition twirl that evoked a storm of applause. Dimitri looked down at her flushed face, his heart thundering.
He’d forgotten what it was like to feel like this. To have his heart and mind dominated by something other than luxury apartments and executive houses. She made his bones sing. Little witch. But it was a great feeling and he meant to string it out as long as he could. He was enjoying himself too much to let her leave Greece quickly—though he needed to stay in control. She must dance to his tune, not the other way round. That meant he had to call a halt now.
‘I must dance with my mother,’ he said with private reluctance, wanting to hold Olivia in his arms all evening.
Her luscious mouth parted in a pout. ‘In that case, I’ll share myself around too,’ she sighed.
His grip tightened before he could help it. ‘Not too enthusiastically,’ he muttered. And hastily added in harsh warning, ‘You’re supposed to be falling in love with me.’
‘Oh, I’ll fling you plenty of soppy glances,’ she said, patting him like a pet dog.
With gritted teeth that made his jaw ache, he watched her closely for the rest of the evening. It seemed to him that she was having more fun than she should. His friends had claimed her, one after the other, holding her tightly to their chests and gazing down at her with stupefied expressions.
Propping up the bar, he glowered to see her lapping up the admiration. Eleni was hanging on his arm, chattering away. Every now and then he nodded or made a comment on her inane babbling.
But his mind was elsewhere, captured and tied up in ropes by a stunningly beautiful woman who lit fires in his veins, whose supple swaying body had been burnt on the backs of his retinas so that wherever he looked he could see her, and wherever he was he could hear her musical voice and flirty little laugh.
‘Dimitri! You’re not listening to me!’ Eleni shook his arm crossly.
‘Sorry.’ He dragged his brain back. ‘What were you saying?’
‘It doesn’t matter. You’re hooked on her, aren’t you? And she’s a bitch, deliberately trying to make you jealous. Can’t you see that?’ sulked Eleni.
There was pain in the girl’s eyes. Tenderly he took her hands in his. ‘Olivia and I—’
‘Her flirting is deliberate! She knows I’m a rival!’ she said with a sniff.
‘Eleni!’ he said in consternation.
Olivia was nibbling canapés at the huge, flower-garlanded buffet table on the terrace when she caught sight of Eleni disappearing into the house. Closely followed by Dimitri.
Her stomach contracted in horror and she slid her plate onto the table, her hands shaking. He couldn’t. Wouldn’t. He’d sworn they weren’t lovers. Yet the way he hurried after his partner’s daughter—as though he was eager to catch her up and kiss her and sweep her into his arms—suggested otherwise.
She would find out. Perhaps expose him for the liar that he was. With a mumbled excuse to Andros, she made her way up a set of side steps to the house.
Where she found Eleni wrapped in Dimitri’s arms.
CHAPTER SIX
QUIETLY she slipped away before she was seen, her heart thundering in her chest and her mind teeming with confused thoughts. How could she be so stupid as to lov
e such a man and give her heart and soul to him so comprehensibly? He’d never been true to her. Had never been honest.
And the stupid thing was that she’d known they were playing a game. He’d made it plain that she was just a body that he’d virtually hired to rid himself of an unwanted bride-to-be. Yet she realised now to her intense shame that unconsciously she’d harboured wild, crazy hopes that maybe…maybe…
She’d been incredibly gullible. Dimitri only had to murmur a few lying sweet nothings and she was his. She ought to have known better. Past experience should have told her that all he wanted was sex without strings from any willing, beautiful woman who happened to be around.
Sure, he found her desirable. But, she thought miserably, he thought loads of other women were desirable too. Whatever had given her the impression that she might be someone special?
Huddled against a marble pillar on the upper terrace, she morosely surveyed the glittering scene. Then with a sigh she glanced down at her fabulous dress. Right now, she’d gladly swap all the glamour here for a little house and a man she could love, who respected her and was utterly faithful.
Wearily, sick of it all, she found another door into the mansion and stumbled to her bedroom. Remembering Dimitri’s promise of a night of passion, she jammed a chair beneath the handle on the bedroom door.
He could make do with Eleni, she thought, violently unzipping her dress and slinging it in the direction of a chair. It missed and fell to the floor, but she let it lie there, hoping sourly that Eleni would spend the entire night giggling into Dimitri’s ear and numbing his brain with inanities.
Too tired to think, she prepared for bed mechanically and eventually slipped on her black silk nightdress and crawled into the soft linen sheets with a sigh of relief. But as she lay there, longing for sleep, her mind began to replay the evening in full Technicolor.
There was Dimitri, dark, handsome, apparently adoring. There he was again, laughing. The whiteness of his teeth and the amusement on his face caused her body to tighten even now. He seemed to be everywhere in her head. Deceptively loving. Painfully good-looking and desirable.