Harlequin Presents--July 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Natalie Anderson

  Beyond the charming living area, several foldable privacy screens hand-printed with Greek hillside vistas shielded a softly lit space.

  Alexis stepped around the farthest screen and stopped in her tracks, a gasp of awe leaving her lips at the sight before her.

  The bed was an immense four-poster. A floaty work of art, decked from headboard to bottom in gold silk sheets, dozens of fluffy pillows and billowing muslin raining down from sturdy pegs in the cave ceiling.

  In perfect complement to the gold, fat candles in lacquered lanterns were dotted all over, casting soft shadows on the ceiling and bathing the space in a seductive glow.

  It was the stuff of romantic dreams. And, heaven help her, she was utterly seduced.

  ‘This...this is more than a few minutes’ work,’ she breathed in stunned awe.

  He drew closer, setting her senses alight with his intoxicating scent. In London, he’d worn an earthier aftershave with a sandalwood base. Since their arrival, he’d switched to bergamot and leather. Her favourite. ‘They’ve been preparing the place since morning.’

  ‘I...why?’

  He quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘Do I really need to spell it out?’

  Despite the heat that flicked to life in her belly, a pang of pain reminded her of the past. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to. I don’t want to make assumptions.’

  ‘I felt you needed a little more...convincing.’

  Her breath shook as she exhaled. ‘Convincing or seducing?’

  His expressive shrug was rich in arrogance. It said whichever road she took she would end up exactly where he wanted her. Trouble was, Alexis wanted to be there. ‘Take your pick. The outcome will be the same.’

  ‘You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?’

  ‘Even now, you tremble. Your lips yearn for me and your pulse is feverish with need.’

  ‘I’m... I’m...’

  ‘Afraid? No, you’re not. Unwilling? You’re not that either. What you are, Alexis, is desperate to embrace the need pounding inside you. All that’s holding you back is the notion that giving in makes you weak. It doesn’t. Being brave enough to grasp what you want is a strength, not a weakness.’

  Heaven help her, but she lapped his words up like a starving exile offered a banquet. And when his thumb glided over her bottom lip in that indolent way he seemed to enjoy, she took that bravery one step further and flicked her tongue against his flesh.

  His sharp inhale was a triumphant orchestral crescendo to her ears. He let her taste him for several thrilling seconds, before he removed his touch.

  ‘Tell me what you want, Alexis,’ he instructed thickly.

  The presence of the emperor-sized bed behind her loomed large in her mind. But she managed to force back the words clamouring for release.

  ‘Kiss me,’ she said instead. ‘Please.’

  His chest expanded in a supremely masculine show that made her insides quiver. He cupped her nape in a firm hold and dragged her close. Before she could catch her breath, he captured her lips, his tongue delving deep in conquest, looking for a surrender she was willing to grant. The sound of her moans filled the magical space as she dared to taste him as boldly as he was devouring her. Arms tight around his neck, she felt light as a feather when he lifted her up. A few long strides and she was wedged against one cool wall.

  She was being kissed by Christos in a cave on a paradise island. A surreal appetizer to a heady feast, enticing her to wrap her legs around his waist.

  ‘Thee mou,’ he muttered against her lips, then pinned her tighter, their position leaving her in no doubt as to the power and potency of his arousal. ‘You feel how much I want you?’ he growled.

  ‘Yes,’ she gasped, tightening her hold and making him groan.

  Words evaporated as they indulged in another torrid kiss. As her core grew slicker and her breathing all but evaporated, she was at the point of begging when Christos lifted his head.

  ‘I’d love nothing more than to toss you onto that bed and bury myself deep inside you,’ he rasped, pausing to nip at her bottom lip before soothing it with his tongue, ‘but we won’t be alone for much longer.’

  Disappointment seared her even as her imagination raged. ‘Wh-what?’

  ‘There’s one last thing to be set up, and dinner to be served. But after that...’ Words weren’t necessary to convey his intention. His deeply smouldering gaze and the passion vibrating from his hard body told her everything.

  With a clear reluctance that salved her disappointment, he stepped back and lowered her to the floor.

  In silence he took her hand and led her out of the sleeping area.

  As they passed the screen, she looked back at the bed. And knew without a shadow of doubt that whatever armour she’d built around her emotions was perhaps irreparably fractured.

  CHAPTER NINE

  SHE FOLLOWED HIM back out of the cave then once again stopped in her tracks, her jaw sagging open at yet another spectacular sight.

  ‘Oh, my God.’ Her reverent whisper was completely in line with the awe of what his staff had created for them while they’d been locked in an embrace.

  She turned to Christos, to find a smug and altogether far too superior smile curving lips slightly reddened from her enthusiastic kisses. ‘How did you know?’

  ‘There was a firm-wide poll of dream activities floating around I may have taken note of.’

  She frowned. ‘That was two years ago. You remembered?’

  ‘I remembered,’ he said simply.

  Something far too overwhelming shifted inside her, something close to what she’d imagined being special, being treasured felt like. Her throat tightened as she stared at the twenty-foot-high portable cinema screen and the dozens of lanterns placed strategically around it, and the wide, snow-white futon-like cushions inviting lazy relaxation. Two silver buckets with vintage champagne were set on either side of the futon with turquoise cashmere throws draped over the seats for when the weather cooled.

  ‘Before we indulge in that though...dinner?’ he asked, his voice low, deep and throbbing with the same sensation surging through her.

  She turned from the pleasurable sight to see a table for two set with a white tablecloth, sterling silverware gleaming under candlelight. Beside their table stood a small buffet stand with a dozen domed dishes placed on it.

  While she knew she couldn’t...shouldn’t read anything into it, Alexis couldn’t stop the lump lodging in her throat, or her fingers from curling tightly around his when Christos tugged her towards the table.

  It was all far too much. She wanted to step back, gather the crumbling pieces of her armour, in case she needed it later, after the magic wore away. But she suspected it was already too late.

  She watched him when he moved. Stared into his face when he spoke to her. Allowed her fingers to linger on his when he passed her a glass of perfectly chilled Chablis.

  And when he touched on the subject she usually never discussed, she tensed for a very brief moment before she swallowed and answered.

  ‘Tell me how you ended up at Hope House.’

  The rush of pain that came with her truth never failed to steal her breath. ‘I never knew my mother. She left me on the doorstep of Hope House’s high-street charity shop when I was a week old. The nuns from the orphanage took me in.’

  His face froze, his eyes burning with an unholy blaze that sent agitation skittering over her skin. The blaze abated and he breathed out. ‘I didn’t mean to resurrect what must be a...painful memory for you.’

  ‘You didn’t know. As you can imagine, it’s not information I toss into everyday conversation.’

  His nod was abrupt. ‘Did you ever try to find her or your father?’

  She shook her head. ‘All I have is a handwritten note left for whoever found me, a request that I be named Alexis, and a blanket I was wrapped in
. Not much to go on.’

  Incisive eyes rested on hers. ‘And if you had further resources? Would you wish to probe deeper?’

  Her heart lurched, then lodged in her throat. ‘I’ve thought about it. I’ve never been quite able to decide if I’m better off not knowing or risking being further hurt by whatever reason she had for leaving me there.’

  His sensual lips twisted and his gaze dropped to his glass before rising to meet hers again. ‘Perhaps you won’t see it this way, but there is a deeper pride in knowing that whatever you’ve become has been without either of your parents’ influence.’

  There was a hard edge in his voice that suggested a personal pain. One that echoed inside her but for the opposite reason. ‘I guess that’s where the conundrum lies. Would I prefer the choice of knowing or living with an...emptiness?’

  He reached across the table, covered her hand for a moment before he sat back. ‘The former might not necessarily bring the closure you wish for. Knowing my parents still left me with more questions than answers. As harsh as it seems, perhaps you’re better off not knowing?’

  ‘How did you...?’ She paused because she wasn’t sure he’d got over his parents’ treatment of him. ‘Don’t you wonder how things could’ve turned out if you’d tried to reconcile with them?’

  His lips compressed. ‘No. They made their choice. I had to make mine. If onlys become weights that just drag you down eventually.’

  ‘So your advice is just...live with this emptiness?’

  ‘No, matia mou. My advice is to become the best version of yourself you can be so that when you find yourself in a similar position, you have better options.’

  Anguish moved through her. ‘I don’t think I could abandon my child under any circumstances.’

  Something flashed in his eyes, making her insides tighten. ‘Then you’re already a thousand times better than the mother who left you with no explanation,’ he said, his voice gravel-rough.

  That tightening moved up her chest and into her throat. Stupid tears prickled her eyes and she desperately blinked them away, registering that her pain had receded, perhaps had even shrunk smaller than ever.

  ‘I don’t know why everyone thinks you’re so fearsome,’ she joked, striving to lighten the atmosphere before her emotions got the better of her.

  He took her cue and sent her a devastating smile that produced a much more pleasurable ache inside her. ‘Fearsome has its advantages, as long as it gets me what I want.’ Eyes heavy with lust watched her as she toyed with the stem of her glass.

  Perhaps she knew she was straying into dangerous territory by probing, but she couldn’t stop the question. ‘Tell me when you last brought another woman here, to this cave. Or did any of this.’ She waved her hand around the spectacular setting. The last rays of the sun tinged the sky a deep bold orange, enough to make the sea look as if it were on fire. Enough to make this the kind of paradise very few people got to experience. The kind of paradise that made foolish wishes seem attainable.

  He looked almost...startled by her bold question. ‘Do you want me to tell you you’re special, Alexis? Is that it?’

  Yes. ‘Would that be so bad? I am your wife, after all,’ she said, then felt something profound move deep within her.

  Something echoed in his eyes too, making them widen momentarily before he reasserted his control. But she’d seen it. And, however fleeting, it had planted a seedling inside her, one she couldn’t shake free.

  ‘Not in every sense of the term. Not yet...’ he drawled. They both knew he’d evaded the question, but the potential magnitude of a proper answer suddenly had her shying away from it.

  But even while they returned to simpler, more benign subjects, heavy emotional undercurrents swirled until he rose and held out his hand in silent demand.

  They were still there when she kicked off her stylish mules and reclined on the wide divan set before the screen. Perhaps it was the wine that had mellowed her tongue. She couldn’t resist looking up into the stars, contentment stealing over her at the sound of the waves hitting the shore.

  ‘I can’t tell you how long I’ve dreamed of doing this on some distant beach in the Maldives or Tahiti.’

  ‘It would please me if you’d accept the much simpler venue of a Greek beach,’ he replied, a trace of amusement in his tone.

  She gave a delicate snort. ‘Are you kidding me? Nowhere on my wish list was there a cave of wonders on a private island tossed in for good measure. This far surpasses everything the travel brochures promised.’

  The pop of a cork refocused her attention on him. In the dancing candlelight, he was truly drop-dead gorgeous, the kind of fallen-angel masculine beauty that had the ability to stop hearts and overcome even the strongest apprehension.

  Not that she had much of that left. Only the merest wisp of residue still urged her towards self-preservation. But even that was silenced when he smiled and handed her a crystal flute of vintage champagne.

  When she accepted it, he aimed the remote at the projector that stood twenty feet away. Then passed her a silver bowl that made her gasp. Again.

  ‘Caramel popcorn? Now you’re scaring me a little with how much you know about me.’

  That ferocious gaze raked her body, then rested blatantly on her mouth. ‘I told you, I am serious about the things that are important to me.’

  He meant his possession of Drakonisos. She knew that. Yet that traitorous melting sensation continued unabated. Until her every sense strained towards him, eager to please. Eager to take whatever he had to give.

  She chose the movie and smiled as it flicked to life. It was a classic she’d seen a dozen times. But here, now, in this special place, she was swept away anew.

  Until she felt him wrap a strand of hair around his fingers. Until that scent of leather, bergamot and man twined insidiously around her senses, making each breath she took a tiny exercise in torture. Until her heart drummed loudly in her ears, deafening her to everything but the sound of her own need, pounding relentlessly through her.

  Despite the open beach and endless sky, he invaded the space, his vitality a living force field. Vibrant and inescapable.

  ‘Something wrong, Alexis?’ he drawled, when she fidgeted one more time.

  She took a gulp of her champagne just for something to do. His fingers drifted over her nape. She shivered, tried to contain herself.

  ‘Christos.’ His name was a breathless, urgent whisper in the night air.

  ‘Ne? Tell me what you want and you shall have it,’ he urged thickly. The designer stubble he’d cultivated over the last few days added a swagger to his already deadly good looks and when he brushed his cheek against her jaw, it drove her insane.

  On the screen, the actors were caught in a melodramatic clinch; the very same one she yearned for. ‘I can’t wait. Please,’ she whispered.

  The flash of triumph in his eyes should’ve irritated her. But she was beyond that. So she let him tug her glass from her hand and set it aside. Let him cup her jaw, stare deep into her eyes, then slowly lean in to brush his lips over hers.

  The moment she started to cling, he drew away. With leonine grace he rose to his feet and swept her up into his arms. His strides from the beach into the cave held an urgency that echoed within her.

  Alexis forgot to breathe as he set her down next to the bed, those ferociously brooding eyes watching her as he reached for the simple band that held up her hair. He gave a grunt of satisfaction as her hair tumbled free, lazily threading his fingers through the heavy mass.

  ‘Tonight, I get to watch your glorious hair cascade over my pillow,’ he said thickly. ‘I get to claim you in the way I’ve craved instead of watching you from my side of the bed.’

  The unabashed possessiveness in his voice sent excitement dancing over her flesh. He caught her shiver and gave a smile tinged with predatory pleasure. ‘No more hugging p
illows for you, matia mou.’

  With that decree, he tugged the thin straps of her dress down her arms. The flimsy material pooled at her waist. Christos kept his gaze on her face as he reached behind her and slowly unhooked her lacy bra, flinging it away before his gaze dropped to her breasts.

  She watched him swallow.

  Emboldened by her effect on him, Alexis stepped forward, reached for the buttons of his white shirt, her eagerness to explore him too a heady rush that couldn’t be stopped. She only managed to bare his glorious torso halfway before she slid her hands inside, gliding them over his sculpted chest. Muscles rippled beneath her touch, his hot skin a decadent invitation she wasn’t going to refuse.

  Alexis didn’t register that she’d swayed closer until her nipples brushed his hair-dusted chest. Her aroused whimper brought another smug smile to his face.

  ‘Perhaps you should finish what you started so you can have more of what you crave?’ he suggested a touch mockingly.

  On a wild whim—and perhaps because she wanted to wipe away a layer of that smugness—she grasped the edges of his shirt and pulled them apart.

  For a single moment, he tensed. Then flames leapt higher in his eyes. With an animalistic growl, Christos shrugged off the tattered remains of his shirt, then, reaching forward, yanked down her dress. She’d barely stepped out of it before he pulled her close, his lips finding hers with an urgency and fervour she wholeheartedly endorsed. With a mastery that roused every nerve ending to life, Christos stroked and teased, feasted and delivered pleasure she’d never experienced before.

  When his large hands slipped into her panties and cupped her bottom, she moaned, her thighs growing slicker in readiness for his possession. Her fingers dug into his hair as their kiss grew even more frenzied, their bodies straining together in carnal need.

  The rough sound of lace ripping drew another whimper, the firm tug of her destroyed panties almost making her swoon as he yanked them free and tossed them aside.