Theseus Discovers His Heir

by Michelle Smart

  ‘No, but he’s been flown here from England to this strange place with hardly any warning—that’s got to be unsettling.’ Her accusatory glare dared him to contradict her.

  ‘He’s fast asleep now,’ he pointed out reasonably. He studied her face, taking in the dark shadows under her eyes. ‘You look as if you’ll be fast asleep soon too.’

  ‘I’m shattered.’ Thus saying, she smothered a yawn, although still taking care to cover as much of her breasts as she could.

  ‘It’s been a long day,’ he agreed, unable to tear his eyes away from her. Every inch of her was perfect, from the autumn-leaf-coloured hair to the softly curved stomach and shapely legs. She was a treasure trove of womanly delights he was certain had not been shared by many others.

  Her cheeks coloured under the weight of his stare. ‘Did you speak to Helios?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How did he react?’ She looked as if she hoped his brother had put the brakes on their marriage.

  ‘He was shocked.’

  An understatement. Helios had looked as if he’d walked into a door. But after he’d got over the shock he’d given his full, enthusiastic backing. Thinking back, there had been something in his brother’s manner which had made Theseus think Helios was relieved, but he couldn’t for the life of him fathom why.

  ‘He was also in agreement that we should keep it from our grandfather until after the Gala.’

  Her eyes narrowed. ‘It? Do you mean Toby?’

  ‘I mean the whole situation—Toby and our forthcoming marriage.’

  He leaned forward and traced a thumb over her cheekbone. ‘The date has been set for a fortnight after the Gala. We marry in four weeks.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  WITH TINGLES CREEPING along her skin at his touch, Jo swallowed. ‘Four weeks? That soon?’

  ‘Yes, agapi mou. Helios agrees the sooner the better.’

  ‘But he has his own wedding to arrange. Shouldn’t his take precedence?’

  His thumb brushed over to dance around her ear. ‘His will be a large state affair and will take months to arrange.’ His voice thickened. ‘Ours will be more intimate. There will have to be some pomp to it, as that is expected, but nothing like his.’

  Jo closed her eyes, thinking her head might just spin off.

  Four weeks... Four weeks?

  Who the hell could organise a royal wedding in four weeks? She knew he wanted to get his ring on her finger quickly, but this...

  Her eyes flew open as she felt his fingertips trail down her neck to her chest, then dip lower to run gently along the top of her cleavage. He took hold of her arms, still stubbornly covering her breasts, and gently prised them apart, exposing her to him.

  ‘You’re beautiful,’ he murmured. ‘Don’t hide yourself from me.’

  She sucked in air, willing herself not to respond.

  ‘You’re going to be my wife,’ he continued, a finger now encircling a nipple. ‘And you might already have the cells of a new life growing within you,’ he added, reminding her of their failure to use contraception the night before, something that hadn’t yet been spoken of.

  His hand flattened over her stomach and continued to move lower.

  ‘Think of how much fun we can have while we make another spare for the throne.’

  ‘What a crass thing to... Ohhh...’ Her head fell back as he reached under the bubbles to rub a finger against her, the pleasure like salve on a wound.

  She should tell him to stop. She should be outraged that he would behave so proprietorially, as if her body were his to do with as he liked...

  But his touch felt so good, somehow driving out all the angst she’d been carrying. The gentle friction increased and sensation built inside her.

  ‘You’re getting wet,’ she whispered, struggling to find her voice under this assault on her senses.

  His eyes gleamed and dilated, and he increased the pressure a touch. ‘So are you.’

  His free hand cradled her head, pulling her up to meet his mouth and begin a fresh assault with his lips.

  ‘You are remarkably responsive,’ he murmured, moving his mouth across her cheek and burying his face in her neck, then moving down to taste her breast, all the while keeping the pressure of his hand firm.

  It was as if he knew her body better than she did—as if he knew exactly what she needed—bringing her to a peak until the pleasure exploded out of her, making her clamp her thighs around his hand and cry out as she gripped his scalp and clung to him.

  He kissed her again, riding the shudders rippling through her body, murmuring words that deepened the sensations, until she felt weak and depleted and utterly dazed.

  Where had that come from?

  How was it possible to go from nothing to total bliss in seconds?

  Theseus brought her to life, made all the atoms that created her fuse together into a bright ball of ecstasy that stopped her thinking and left her only feeling.

  He kissed her one more time. ‘On your feet.’

  Beyond caring that she was naked, Jo held his hand for support and stood, water and foamy bubbles dripping off her. Immediately she was enveloped in his arms and pressed against his hard chest, his fresh, deeply passionate kisses preventing her legs from falling from under her.

  She knew Theseus was strong, but his lifting her out of the bath took away what little was left of her breath. When he stood her on her feet she gazed up at him in wonderment, her heart swelling as she took in the defined angles of his face and the dark, dizzying desire ringing from his eyes.

  One touch and she melted like butter for him.

  Was it possible that one touch and he melted for her too...?

  His white shirt had become transparent with the soaking her wet body had just given it, leaving the dark hairs of his chest vivid, emphasising his deep, potent masculinity.

  Theseus caught her look. ‘Do you want to take it off?’

  She didn’t answer, simply flattened her hands over his pecs, delighting in the feel of him.

  She worked on his buttons, tugging the shirt open and sliding the sleeves off his muscular arms, gazing greedily at his magnificent torso, the smooth olive skin, the dark hair...

  ‘Damn, you are so sexy,’ he muttered, breathing into her hair and pulling her close. His hands raced up and down her back, then moved lower to cup her bottom.

  She believed him. She could sense it in the urgency of his words and the rapid beat of his heart reverberating in her ear.

  And then she was back in his arms, with his hot mouth devouring hers, pressing her backwards to the chair in the corner of the room.

  Holding her tight, he sat her down, then sank to his knees before her, unfastening the buttons and zipper of his trousers.

  ‘You have no idea what you do to me,’ he growled, biting gently into her neck.

  Emboldened, she cupped his chin and stared into his liquid eyes. ‘It’s nothing that you don’t do to me.’

  Their mouths connected again in a kiss that blew away the last of her coherence. All she could do was feel...and it all felt incredible, every touch scalding her, every kiss marking her. She was losing herself in him.

  His arms tightened and pulled her to the edge of the chair, then he guided himself to her and pushed inside her with one long thrust.

  She stilled in his arms, closing her eyes as she savoured the feel of him inside her, filling her. When she opened them again he was staring right at her, as if trying to peer into the innermost reaches of her mind.

  Their lips came together in the lightest of touches. With his arm still around her, Theseus began to move. Hesitantly at first she moved with him, but soon the last of her inhibitions vanished and she found his rhythm, holding on to him as tightly as she could.

  As the speed
of his thrusts increased she clung to him, her lips still pressed to his, their breaths merging into one. Dark heat swirled and built between them, until the sensations he’d released in her such a short time ago spilled over again—yet somehow deeper and fuller—and she was crying out his name.

  She managed to hold on to it, riding the climax until his hands gripped her and he thrust into her one final time.

  When the shudders coursing through his great body finally subsided he enveloped her in his arms. With her face buried in his neck, his hands stroking her hair, the strong thud of his heart reverberating through him to her, the moment was as close to bliss as Jo had ever known.

  She wanted to cry when he finally disentangled himself.

  She couldn’t speak. She could hardly think.

  What was he doing to her?

  ‘You’re cold,’ he chided, his voice hoarse.

  So she was. After the warmth of the bath and the heat of Theseus’s body the chill felt particularly acute.

  He pulled a large fluffy white towel from the heated towel rack and gently wrapped it around her.

  It was such a touching gesture that her heart doubled over, aching with a need she knew could never be fulfilled no matter what beautiful things he did to her body.

  ‘I need to get some sleep,’ she muttered, no longer able to look at him.

  ‘We both do,’ he agreed. ‘But first I need a shower. I’ll join you in a few minutes.’

  Anxiety fluttered through her. ‘You can’t sleep here,’ she said, ignoring the fact that this was Theseus’s home and he could sleep wherever he liked.

  His eyes narrowed.

  ‘If Toby wakes up and sees you in my bed it will confuse him.’

  ‘He’s not used to seeing you with men?’ Theseus’s question was delivered evenly, but with an undertone she couldn’t distinguish.

  ‘No. Never.’

  His lips clamped into a tight line before he nodded. ‘We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. He will have to get used to us sleeping together.’

  ‘You mean we’ll share a bed?’

  ‘It’s the only upside of marriage,’ he said sardonically, pulling his trousers up. ‘We’ll have our own separate rooms, but I have no intention of sleeping in a cold bed alone when we can keep each other warm.’

  ‘It’s too soon. Toby will need time.’

  I’ll need time, she almost added. Night after night of being held in his arms, made love to... Where would that leave her already frazzled emotions?

  Theseus slipped his shirt back on and fixed her with a hard stare.

  ‘I will allow you to sleep alone for the next couple of nights, so Toby isn’t upset in the morning, but from then on we will sleep together. For the avoidance of any doubt: our marriage might not be a love match but it will be a real marriage.’

  She nodded, her chin jutting up. ‘Fine. But just so you know, I snore.’

  He shook his head and laughed, killing the dark atmosphere that had been brewing between them. ‘I thought you said you didn’t want there to be any more lies between us?’

  * * *

  Theseus slept long and deep, but when he awoke he didn’t feel refreshed. On the contrary—he felt as if he’d slept through a battle.

  Apprehension lay heavily on him. He debated with himself whether to have his breakfast brought to his room but then dismissed the idea. He’d never been scared of anything in his life. Why should he be frightened of a four-year-old boy?

  Making his way downstairs, he headed towards the dining room, where voices could be heard.

  Swallowing to try and rid himself of the lump in his throat, he entered to find Jo and Toby seated at the table.

  They fell silent. Toby’s spoon hovered between his cereal bowl and his mouth, his dark brown eyes widening.

  Jo placed a hand on his back and shuffled her chair closer to him. ‘Toby, this is Theseus.’

  ‘Are you the Prince?’ Toby asked, his eyes still as wide as an owl’s.

  Theseus nodded. That damn lump in his throat was still there.

  One of the maids came into the dining room to take his breakfast order. He used the time to collect his thoughts and sit opposite his family.

  After his coffee was poured for him the maid bustled off, leaving the three of them alone in the most awkward silence he had ever experienced.

  Toby gawped at him as if he’d been taking lessons from a goldfish. ‘Do you have a crown?’

  ‘No.’ Theseus could not take his eyes off him. He hadn’t known children could be so perfectly formed and so damnably cute. ‘My grandfather does, though.’

  ‘Is he the King?’

  ‘He is.’

  Toby’s face screwed up. ‘Does he have a flying carpet?’

  ‘I’m sure he would like one,’ he said, and laughed, feeling the tension slowly lessen.

  ‘Do you have a flying carpet?’

  ‘No, but I do have some really fast sports cars I can take you for a drive in.’

  Toby pulled a face Theseus recognised as the one which Jo made when she was unimpressed about something.

  ‘If I ever get a flying carpet you’ll be the first person I take on it,’ Theseus said, ignoring Jo’s raised eyebrows.

  Now Toby beamed. ‘Yes!’

  And just like that his son came to life, peppering him with questions about being a prince, demanding to know if they still kept ‘naughty men’ in the dungeons and asking if there were any dinosaurs at the palace.

  This was much easier than Theseus had envisaged.

  The knots in his stomach loosened and he relaxed, enjoying the moment for what it was: the first of many meals he would share with his son over the course of the rest of his life.

  ‘Has your mother told you who I am?’ he asked when they’d all finished eating and Toby had finally paused for breath.

  Jo’s eyebrows rose again and she straightened.

  ‘You’re a prince!’

  ‘Would you like to be a prince?’

  Toby contemplated the question, twiddling with the buttons of his pyjamas. ‘Would I have to kiss girls?’

  Theseus’s eyes flickered to Jo. ‘Not if you didn’t want to.’

  ‘Would I have a flying carpet?’

  ‘No, but you could have horses, and when you’re old enough sports cars like mine.’

  ‘I would like to be a prince,’ Toby said, as if confiding something important. ‘But when I’m growed up I want to clean windows on a ladder.’

  ‘You could do both,’ Theseus said gravely, fighting to stop his lips from twitching in laughter. ‘You see, Toby, you are a prince.’

  ‘Mummy says I’m a cheeky monkey.’

  ‘My mummy used to say the same thing to my brother Talos. He was a cheeky monkey when he was a little boy—just like you.’

  ‘I’m not little,’ Toby said indignantly, lifting his arm and flexing it to show off his non-existent muscles. ‘I’m a big boy. I’m going to big school in September.’

  As she relaxed from her previously ramrod-straight position it was obvious Jo was fighting her own laughter. Finally she took pity and stepped in to save him.

  ‘Remember what Mummy told you about having a Greek daddy who was lost?’

  Toby nodded.

  ‘Well, Mummy’s found him. Theseus is your daddy.’

  A look of utmost suspicion crossed his tiny face. ‘My daddy’s name is Theo—not Theseus.’

  ‘Theo’s his nickname,’ she said smoothly, although her eyes darted to Theseus with an expression that sliced through his guts.

  She really had spoken of him to their son...

  ‘Theseus is his real name.’

  Toby contemplated him some more. ‘You’re my daddy?’
<
br />   ‘Yes. And because I’m a prince, that means you’re a prince too.’

  The suspicion vanished, a beaming smile replacing it. ‘Does that mean Mummy is a princess?’

  ‘Kind of,’ Jo said, taking control again. ‘How would you like to spend the day with Theseus? He can tell you all about being a prince. Ask him anything you like—he just loves answering questions. And you can explore this brilliant house with him.’

  Toby nodded really hard, his eyes like an owl’s again.

  Theseus felt his own eyes widen too, at the underhand stunt Jo had just pulled, but knew he couldn’t say anything to the contrary—not unless he wanted to disappoint his son on their first meeting.

  She kissed Toby’s cheek and threw Theseus a beatific smile. ‘He’s not a fussy eater, so ignore him if he tells you he doesn’t like carrots. Have fun!’

  And with that she left the dining room, leaving Theseus with the miniature version of himself.

  * * *

  Jo turned her head in time to see Theseus step into the room that had been converted into an office for her. He closed the door behind him and folded his arms.

  ‘What?’ she asked innocently.

  ‘You are a cruel woman.’

  ‘It was for the greater good. Have you had a good day?’

  A half-smile played on his lips. ‘It’s been something. I’ve left Toby in the kitchen with Elektra and the kitchen staff—he’s already got them eating out of his hands. They’re baking flapjacks for him.’

  ‘Flapjacks are his favourite.’

  ‘He made a point of telling all of us that.’

  She sniggered. ‘You must be exhausted.’

  He nodded. ‘Does he ever stop?’

  ‘Stop what? Talking? Or wanting to do things?’

  ‘Both.’

  ‘Nope. I swear he’s got rocket fuel in his veins. Still, he sleeps really well—that must be when he recharges his batteries.’

  ‘And he eats so much!’ He shook his head with incredulity.

  ‘Tell me about it,’ she said drily. ‘He costs a fortune to feed.’ She stretched her back, which had gone stiff after hours hunched over the laptop. ‘Other than being worn out, how did you get on?’