His eyes flickered with fury at her mutinous glare, his hands in tight knots by his sides as he ground out, ‘You are the most maddening woman I have ever met. I am trying to bring about peace in our relationship and yet you consistently resist all of my attempts to effect a truce.’
Her eyes flashed back at him. ‘I don’t trust you, that’s why. For all I know, you could be leading me up the garden path, making me fall in love with you all over again before you snatch Emily away from me.’
‘It is not my intention to have you fall in love with me.’
Charlotte felt her anger draining away to make room for her disappointment. She felt it gradually filling her chest until she could scarcely breathe for the weight of it. She fought hard to hide it from him, schooling her features into bland indifference. ‘Good, then at least you won’t be setting yourself up for disappointment.’
‘That is what I figured,’ he returned with equal indifference. ‘Love would only complicate our situation as it stands. We share the bond of a child and at the moment a lingering attraction that will no doubt burn itself out in time.’
A small frown found its way back to her forehead. ‘So what happens then?’ she asked.
‘We will deal with that when it happens,’ he answered evenly.
‘Are you talking weeks or months or years?’
His dark eyes were as unfathomable as ever as they held on to hers. ‘I would hazard a guess and say it could take some time for me to flush you out of my system.’
She rolled her eyes in disdain. ‘You make me sound like some sort of unpleasant stomach virus.’
His mouth stretched into an unwilling smile. ‘That is indeed what it feels like at times,’ he conceded.
‘Yeah, well, you’re more or less a major pain in the rear end for me too,’ she tossed back.
He was still smiling. ‘I will come in later to check on you.’
She turned her head back into the pillow. ‘Don’t bother.’
‘It is no bother; besides, my mother will suspect something is wrong if I do not act like a devoted husband. She is delighted we are together again.’
Charlotte lifted her head out of the downy pillow to look at him. ‘Why? Has she suddenly changed her mind about what happened four years ago?’
‘This may surprise you, but my mother always found it difficult to believe you were responsible.’
She hunted his expression, hoping for some sign of his own belief in her innocence, but as far as she could tell there was none. The blade of his gaze relentlessly dissected hers until she was the first to look away.
‘What a pity she wasn’t able to convince you of the same,’ she said, looking down at her hands where they were twisting the hem of the sheet covering her.
The silence stretched and stretched until it was finally broken by the slow release of his sigh. ‘Yes,’ he said as her eyes slowly came back to his. ‘Yes, perhaps it is.’
She ran her tongue over the parchment of her lips. ‘Damon…’
He reached out with a fingertip and pressed her mouth closed. ‘No more talking of the past, Charlotte.’
He gave her a crooked smile and, bending down, replaced his finger with his mouth in a soft brush-like kiss that made her lips cling momentarily to his as he pulled away.
She watched as he moved to the door, the words to call him back locked in the middle of her throat. What would be the point in telling him she loved him? It wasn’t what he wanted from her.
Not now.
Not again.
Not ever.
Charlotte opened her eyes during the early hours of the morning to see Damon lying beside her, his deep and even breathing indicating he was sound asleep.
She lay looking at him, her fingers itching to reach out and touch his shadowed jaw, to trace the sensual curve of his mouth and the length of his aristocratic nose.
His legs moved until they were touching hers, her whole body shivering as she felt the rough abrasion of his masculine hair along the silky length of her shins and calves.
His lips moved and a soft breathless sound came out. ‘Loula…’
Her eyes widened, her whole body freezing in shock. Her stomach hollowed in anguish as she edged away, her limbs feeling uncoordinated and useless as she got awkwardly out of the bed.
She heard the sound of him moving behind her. ‘Charlotte?’
She turned and gave him an acidic glare. ‘Yep, that’s me. Nice of you to remember my name.’
He eased himself up on one elbow, his brows moving together over his still sleepy eyes. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
She folded her arms crossly. ‘You were calling out for your lover.’
He brought a hand up to his jaw and gave it a quick rub. ‘Which one?’
Her mouth dropped open. ‘You mean there’s more than one?’ she choked.
‘I am not sure how to answer. You surely did not expect me to be celibate for the past four years?’
She turned away in disgust. ‘Please spare me the sordid details of your sexual exploits.’
‘You are jealous.’
She swung back around to deny it but the room began to spin alarmingly and she clutched at mid-air to steady herself. ‘No…’ She tottered for a moment, her eyes trying to focus on something stable, but even the bed seemed to be in motion.
Damon leapt out of bed and reached for her before she toppled forward. ‘Here, sit down and put your head between your knees,’ he said as he gently directed her back to the bed.
Charlotte did as he said, closing her eyes so she didn’t have to cope with the rolling of the floor as well.
‘Are you feeling unwell?’ he asked.
She groaned as a wave of nausea rose like a swelling tide in her stomach. ‘Oh, God…I think I’m going to be sick…’
She only just made it to the en suite bathroom in time, before she threw up the meagre contents of her stomach.
Damon rinsed the mess away and, using the basin’s twin, quickly rinsed a face cloth and handed it to her.
‘I think I should call the doctor,’ he said. ‘You must have picked up a bug of some sort from the flight.’
Charlotte clutched at the basin as the room began to spin out of control again. She could hear his voice coming at her through a vacuum, the concern in his tone moving further and further away from her. She turned her head sideways to try and bring him back into focus but he was a dark blur. She felt her legs folding, leaving her without support. Even her fingers gradually lost their grip, the tingling of her fingertips making her feel as if shifting grains of sand were beneath her skin instead of flesh and blood.
She felt Damon take her weight as she slipped sideways, her eyelashes struggling to keep open, but the sickening swirl of the bathroom was too much for her. She gave in to the lure of dark oblivion with a soft sigh of resignation…
‘How long has she been unwell?’
Charlotte opened her eyes at the sound of the heavily accented voice. She saw Damon standing by the bedside with a man carrying what looked to be a doctor’s bag.
‘I’m not unwell,’ she said, struggling upright. ‘I’m fine now…’
Damon pressed her back down gently. ‘No, indeed you are not, agape mou. Dr Tsoulis will take your temperature at the very least. What you have might be catching. I do not want Emily’s first real holiday to be spoilt by illness.’
Charlotte flopped back down. She didn’t have the energy to fight him and certainly not in front of the doctor. ‘All right, but I can assure you it’s just jet lag.’
The doctor took her temperature and gave a shrug. ‘No, she is not running a fever,’ he said and reached for his portable blood pressure machine.
‘I told you I’m perfectly fine.’
‘When was your last menstrual period?’ the doctor asked as her blood pressure was measured.
Charlotte could feel her face heating under the watchful gaze of Damon. ‘Um…I’ve been a bit irregular lately…’
‘Which means we cannot
exactly rule out the possibility of pregnancy,’ Dr Tsoulis said and reached for a syringe.
Charlotte gulped. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I would like to run a few blood tests on you as well as a pregnancy test,’ he said as he placed a tourniquet on her arm. ‘Fainting is often associated with anaemia. Have you been feeling unusually tired of late?’
‘Yes…’ She winced as the needle pricked her skin. ‘Ouch!’
‘I am sorry,’ the doctor said, releasing the tourniquet. ‘You have small veins.’
He placed a sticky patch on the puncture site and gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I am sure this will tell us what we need to know. In the meantime I suggest you get as much rest as you can.’
Damon escorted the doctor out and, after a few minutes, returned with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. ‘Emily is with my mother,’ he informed her. ‘She has had breakfast and is keen to go swimming.’
‘Doesn’t she want to see me?’
‘I told her you were resting,’ he said. ‘I do not want her to worry unnecessarily.’
Charlotte could feel her resentment building. ‘I told you I am not sick, Damon.’
‘We will not know that until the test results come in.’
‘Anaemia is not contagious.’
‘You might have any number of things wrong,’ he pointed out. ‘I would like to play safe until we know for sure.’
‘You’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you?’ She sent him an accusing glare. ‘You’re nudging me out of Emily’s life so she won’t miss me when you get rid of me for the second time.’
He looked down at her with a brooding expression. ‘You are developing a persecution complex. I have no intention of getting rid of you. Our relationship will not end until such time as we both desire it.’
‘If you were being truthful you’d admit you’d like to end it right now,’ she said. ‘So you can get on with your relationship with Loula or whatever her name is.’
‘Loula is the housekeeper. I must have heard you moving and unconsciously thought it was her coming in to change the bed or something.’
‘So you’ve been sleeping with the hired help again?’ she said with a scornful look. ‘I thought you would have learned from your past mistakes.’
‘You have been the only mistake I have made and it is not one I am proud of,’ he bit out.
‘Gee, thanks,’ she tossed back. ‘Nice to know I made an impression.’
His eyes went heavenwards as if in search of patience. ‘I do not want to argue with you. You are not well.’
‘How many times do I have to say I’m fine?’
‘I want you to stay in bed for the day.’
She thrust the sheet aside and got out of bed to defy him. ‘I will do no such thing.’
Black eyes warred with blue in a fiery challenge that Charlotte knew she had no hope of winning. Her stomach was already churning all over again and her legs wobbling beneath her.
‘Get back into bed,’ he said.
She pulled back her shoulders. ‘No.’
‘Get in or I will make you get in.’
‘I’d like to see you try.’
‘Is that a dare?’ he asked.
‘No, it’s a warning that if you come anywhere near me I will scream.’
He smiled a devilish smile as he stepped closer. ‘My mother will assume you are voicing your intense pleasure at being in my arms.’
Charlotte looked for an escape route but the bed was in the way. ‘Don’t touch me.’
‘Why?’ he asked with a glint in his black eyes. ‘In case you respond?’
‘I am not going to respond,’ she said but she knew her voice lacked conviction.
‘How about we put it to the test?’ he suggested, cupping her face with his hand, his warm fingers immediately stoking a fire in her belly.
She swallowed as he closed the distance between their bodies, his thighs brushing against the unsteadiness of hers. ‘D-don’t do this…’ she said on a whisper.
‘Don’t do what?’ he asked, bringing his mouth within a breath of hers. ‘This?’
She closed her eyes as his lips brushed hers, the tingling of her mouth beneath the alluring pressure of his sending all thought of resisting him to some far-away unreachable place. His tongue broke the seal of her lips with a hot sensual probe that curled her toes and hollowed out her stomach. She pressed herself against him, her need spreading through her like wildfire. The heat from his mouth on hers fuelled the flames until she was only upright because he was holding her in his steely embrace.
Her tongue flicked against the scorching thrust of his, making her senses instantly soar. Her blood leapt in her veins, her heart starting to pound in time with the throbbing pulse of desire she could feel spreading from deep and low in her belly to the achingly hollow place between her legs.
She could feel his response to her, the hard ridge of his erection swelling against her stomach, and the increasing urgency of his mouth as it devoured hers. His hands moved over her possessively, shaping her breasts before he pushed her clothing aside to gain access to the satin of her skin. Her breath caught in her throat as his mouth moved from hers to suckle each tight nipple in turn until she was reeling from the passionate onslaught.
His dark, triumphant gaze met hers, making Charlotte realise she was playing right into his hands by responding to him so unreservedly. She gave him a chilly look and rearranged her clothes, pausing for a moment before she lifted her hand to her mouth to wipe away the taste of him.
‘Get out,’ she said.
His mouth tilted arrogantly. ‘You are angry at yourself, not me, agape mou,’ he said. ‘It annoys you that you cannot help yourself, does it not? You respond to me so delightfully every single time.’
She tightened her mouth without answering, her hands going to fists at her sides.
‘You are mine, Charlotte,’ he said, tethering her to him by a handful of her hair as he brought his mouth back to hers. ‘You are mine, body and soul.’
Charlotte fought against her response as his lips commandeered hers, but somehow the hands that had started to push him away were now clinging to his shirt front, her mouth kissing him back with teeth, lips and tongue with an almost savage intent.
She swallowed his deep groan as she wrenched at his shirt, her hands skating over his naked flesh, her nostrils flaring so she could breathe in the clean male scent of him.
She fumbled with his belt and trousers, relishing the sounds of his pleasure as her fingers finally found him, hot and hard and heavy in her hands. She slithered down his body until she was on her knees in front of him, her tongue tasting him in a tiny cat-lick fashion that brought another rough groan from the depths of his throat.
His fingers were still in her hair, bunched against the maelstrom of feeling she was about to unleash. She felt his tension building, his legs braced as she lured him relentlessly to the point of no return.
He shuddered and spilled himself, the sharp one word expletive bursting from his lips indicating to Charlotte that he had not intended to lose control in such a way.
It was a salve to her pride as she straightened to see the somewhat bewildered expression on his face. She watched as he refastened his trousers, a dull flush running underneath the olive tone of his jaw.
‘I am sorry,’ he said, shoving a hand through his hair.
‘It’s fine.’
His frown deepened. ‘Charlotte…’
‘It’s OK, Damon,’ she said airily in an effort to disguise how deeply affected she was. ‘I was getting my own back.’
He gave her a puzzled look. ‘What do you mean?’
She lifted her chin. ‘You think I have no self-control where you are concerned. I wanted to demonstrate that you are really no better.’
‘I have never denied my attraction for you.’
She gave him a brittle glance. ‘No, that’s definitely true.’
His expression clouded again. ‘Look, Charlotte, I have
tried to make amends for how I treated you.’
‘How? By forcing me into a loveless marriage so you can have full access to your child?’
‘Marriage was the only option I could take. My mother is somewhat progressive in her outlook compared to other women of her generation, but I am a high profile person in a relatively close community. I would be looked upon with disdain for not marrying the mother of my child.’
‘Even though you hate me?’
‘Those are your words, not mine.’
‘You don’t need to say a word, your actions are more than loud enough,’ she said.
A taut silence throbbed between them.
‘Have you heard from your sister recently?’ he finally asked.
A small, barely audible sigh escaped from her lips. ‘No…’
‘Then you will be pleased to know she is doing remarkably well.’
Charlotte began to gape at him. ‘Wh-what do you mean?’
‘I had a meeting with Stacey and I gave her an ultimatum. It was either clean up or be locked up. She decided a stint in a private detox clinic paid for by me was better than several months incarcerated in prison.’
Her eyes widened in amazement, her heart leaping with hope. ‘She’s really going ahead with it?’
He nodded. ‘I have left someone in charge to make sure she stays the distance. She has been there nearly three weeks.’
‘But why didn’t you tell me until now?’
He gave her an enigmatic look as he reached for the door. ‘I was getting my own back, Charlotte. Although three weeks is hardly as long as four years, is it?’
She opened her mouth to answer, but he had already gone.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘MUMMY look at me!’ Emily called to Charlotte from the pool on the terrace outside a few days later. ‘I’m swimming!’
Charlotte smiled as her little daughter flung her body towards her beaming grandmother, her tiny arms and legs thrashing at the sparkling water.
Alexandrine gathered Emily close as she came up for air. ‘Why do you not join us, Charlotte?’ she asked.
‘Yes, Mummy, come in and I’ll show you what else I can do,’ Emily piped up excitedly.
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