Charlotte slipped off her sarong and slipped into the cool embrace of the water with a sigh of pure pleasure.
‘How are you feeling today?’ Alexandrine asked after Emily had bobbed under the surface to show off her bubble-blowing.
‘Much better,’ Charlotte said. ‘I think I’m finally over my jet lag.’
‘You still look a little fragile,’ Alexandrine said. ‘Damon is concerned about you.’
Charlotte focused her gaze on her daughter rather than meet the older woman’s eyes. ‘He’s been very kind,’ she said with complete honesty.
She still couldn’t quite believe he had taken control of Stacey’s problems so effectively. She had finally been able to speak to her sister, who’d assured her she was making good progress. It touched Charlotte very deeply that he had done everything in his power to pull Stacey back from the brink. She couldn’t make sense of his motives, for while he had made love to her each night, he had revealed nothing of his feelings. It felt as if hope and dread were constantly jostling for space in her chest.
‘Emily has made him so happy,’ Alexandrine said. ‘And me too, of course.’ She released a little sigh and added, ‘Every time I look at her I see a glimpse of Eleni.’
Emily popped back up, her brown eyes dancing with excitement. ‘Did you see me, Mummy? Even Janie can’t do dat!’
Charlotte pressed a soft kiss to her daughter’s little button nose. ‘You are very clever but I think you have a very good teacher in your granny. She is much more patient than me.’
‘Patience is something I have had to learn the hard way,’ Alexandrine confessed once Emily had scampered off to play with her toys in the shade by the pool. ‘Every day is a challenge not to be angry at God for what has been taken away from me.’
Charlotte turned to look at her mother-in-law. ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I was to hear of your loss. You must miss Eleni dreadfully.’
‘It has been so hard,’ the older woman said, her eyes filming with tears. ‘But you have given me such a gift in Emily. I could not believe it when Damon called to say he had found you at last and that you had had his child.’
‘I tried to tell him, but—’
Alexandrine put a hand on her arm. ‘Please do not apologise. He was so angry back then and far too stubborn for his own good. I told him there could have been another explanation but he would not hear of it.’
Charlotte wanted to reiterate her innocence but Emily was coming back towards the pool, this time with Damon holding her hand.
‘Daddy’s going to swim with me,’ she announced proudly.
Charlotte felt the sweep of Damon’s gaze as he entered the water close to her, the rippling waves his large body set off brushing against her breasts as if he had reached out and touched her.
‘You finally have some colour in your cheeks,’ he observed, as his thigh brushed against hers beneath the screen of the water.
She began to turn away but encountered a contemplative look from her mother-in-law and turned straight back and smiled up at him. ‘I feel wonderful.’
His eyes blazed with intense heat as they roved over the up-thrust of her breasts in her bikini top. ‘You certainly look wonderful.’
‘Emily and I are going inside,’ Alexandrine called out diplomatically.
Damon sent his mother a grateful glance before meeting Charlotte’s flustered look. ‘It looks like we are alone again, agape mou,’ he drawled silkily.
She backed against the wall of the pool, her breathing escalating. ‘Don’t even think about it.’
He pressed closer, his aroused length probing the quivering jelly of her belly. ‘No one will see us.’
‘Th-that’s completely beside the point.’
He ran his hands lightly down her arms. ‘You are shaking, Charlotte.’
‘I’m getting cold.’
‘You feel hot to me.’
She ran her tongue over her lips, trying to put some distance between them, but he wasn’t allowing it. She could feel every ridge and plane of his body until she was uncertain of where she ended and he began.
She watched in mesmerised fascination as his mouth came down, her eyelashes fluttering closed at the first whisper of warmth over the tingling surface of her lips. She felt the subtle probe of his tongue seeking entry and her lips parted on a deep sigh of pleasure, her stiff limbs loosening as soon as he took control of her mouth.
Her breasts swelled and ached for his attention, her inner core contracting in anticipation of his surging presence.
He reached down to cup her tender mound, his fingers sliding into her with a deftness that stole her breath and heightened her excitement. She pushed against him greedily, wanting more of his exquisite touch, uncaring that they were in full view of the villa.
Before she knew what was happening, he had lifted her from the water to settle her on the edge of the pool, stepping into the silky embrace of her open thighs.
‘No…not here…’ She made a vain effort to stop him, but it was too late. He had already uncovered her to anoint her with his mouth and tongue while her fingers dug into his scalp to anchor herself against the torrent of feeling she knew was just seconds away.
She felt herself lift off, the rush of sensations overloading her until she couldn’t think of anything but how he was making her feel. Wave after wave of rapture rolled over her, leaving her spent and useless.
She opened her eyes once the storm was over, hot colour seeping into her cheeks. ‘You shouldn’t have done that.’
His black eyes glinted. ‘I had a score to settle from the other night.’
‘You could have chosen a less public venue,’ she said with a reproachful look.
‘Ah, yes, but we have an audience who need convincing that this is a real marriage. What better way to demonstrate it than my uncontrollable desire for you and yours for me?’
‘I hardly think we have to go to such extremes as this.’
‘I will go to whatever extremes I consider necessary,’ he said.
She sent him a blistering glare. ‘I don’t want Emily to see us pawing at each other like animals. It’s disgusting.’
He smiled as he ran a hand down the length of her arm, his fingers encircling her wrist like a steel bracelet. ‘It is not disgusting, agape mou, what is between us. We cannot make it go away by ignoring it. We want each other like a drug. Your sister’s addiction is nothing to ours. Four years of detox has done nothing to quell my need for you. I want you as much, if not more than the first time I met you.’
‘You want access to your daughter,’ she said. ‘Don’t let’s cloud the issue with insincere sentimentality.’
‘I want my daughter in my life but I also want you.’
‘For now.’
He frowned at the downward turn of her mouth. ‘You sound disappointed.’
‘I’m not.’ Charlotte knew she had answered far too quickly. She could see it in his eyes as they studiously assessed hers.
‘My mother has invited guests this evening,’ he informed her after a small pause. ‘Iona and her husband, Nick Andreakos, will be joining us for dinner. My mother is keen to show off her granddaughter; I hope you do not mind.’
‘Why should I mind?’ she said, affecting a disinterested tone.
‘I just thought you should know.’
‘Thank you for telling me. I’ll make sure I brush off my besotted bride smile so it sparkles convincingly.’
He trailed a fingertip down the creamy curve of her cheek, coming so close to her mouth she could feel her lips tingling all over again. ‘You do that, agape mou,’ he said. ‘Who knows who might be watching?’
Charlotte heard the guests arriving later that evening but purposely stalled in order to get control of her nerves. She took her time dressing and applying a small amount of make-up, trying not to notice the shadows both in and underneath her eyes.
‘Charlotte?’ Damon opened the door after the briefest of knocks. ‘Iona and Nick have arrived.’
‘I’ll be down in a minute.’
He closed the door behind him. ‘I will wait for you.’
She put down her eyeliner. ‘They’re here to see Emily, not me.’
‘You can hardly hide yourself away indefinitely; besides, Emily is asking for you. She is getting tired and insists on you putting her to bed once she spends a few minutes with our guests.’
Charlotte accompanied him downstairs, a false smile plastered to her face as they entered the sitting room.
‘Ah, here she is now,’ Alexandrine said with a smile. ‘Nick, this is my daughter-in-law, Charlotte. Charlotte, you remember Iona, don’t you?’
Charlotte’s gaze moved from the warmth of Nick Andreakos’s to the cool reception of his wife’s. ‘Hello, Iona, congratulations on your marriage,’ she said politely, trying to chip away at the ice.
‘You too,’ Iona replied stiffly.
‘Mummy?’ Emily came trotting over with a huge grin on her face. ‘Look what Uncle Nick and Auntie Iona gave me!’
Charlotte looked at the beautiful baby doll in her daughter’s arms. ‘Wow, isn’t that a gorgeous baby?’ she said, bending down to Emily’s level. ‘What have you called her?’
Emily rolled her tiny lips together before looking up at her father for inspiration. ‘What do you fink, Daddy? Do you know any good names?’
Damon gave her a tender smile. ‘How about we talk about it while I put you to bed, hmm?’
‘Is Mummy coming to tuck me in too?’
‘Of course,’ he said as he scooped her up in his arms. ‘Say goodnight, little one.’
Emily smiled shyly and gave the guests a tiny up and down movement of her fingers. ‘Night.’
Charlotte excused herself and followed Damon out of the room, but it wasn’t until Emily was tucked in and asleep before he addressed a single word to her.
‘Iona seems to be a little cold towards you.’
‘Yes, well, I did snatch her intended husband away from her four years ago,’ she said. ‘Perhaps she thinks I might have a go at her new one—Nick.’
He frowned at her tone. ‘Do not take too much notice,’ he said. ‘She is newly pregnant and no doubt feeling a bit touchy.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she assured him brusquely. ‘I do know how to conduct myself. I too was pregnant once, you know.’
His eyes held hers for a pulsing moment.
‘Are you currently using any form of contraception?’ he asked.
She lowered her eyes and began to twist her hands together. ‘Um…’
‘Is that a yes or a no?’
‘It’s an I sometimes forget to take my pills regularly,’ she confessed as she met his probing look. She nipped at her bottom lip before adding, ‘I take a low dose pill to keep my periods in some sort of order. They went out of whack after Emily was born but I’m not very good at remembering to take them. I restarted them when we…you know…’
His eyes were suddenly very dark and intense. ‘Has it occurred to you that you might be carrying my child?’
She found it hard to hold his gaze. ‘I’m sure I’m not.’
‘We have had unprotected sex several times and the pill might not have worked in time.’
‘It doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve conceived.’
‘Dr Tsoulis will no doubt be able to verify it one way or the other. I have asked him to call me as soon as he gets the results of the tests he ordered.’
Her expression took on an ironic twist. ‘I am the person he should be contacting, not you.’
‘You are my wife and therefore my responsibility. If you have a health issue, including pregnancy, then I want to be the first to hear of it, not the last.’
Charlotte wanted to argue the point but she could tell by the set of his jaw it would be a wasted effort. She could see the glitter of bitterness in his dark eyes at being shut out of his child’s life before.
‘I don’t want to be pregnant,’ she said, but as soon as the words came out of her mouth she regretted them.
‘That is a lousy form of contraception,’ he said as he held the door for her. ‘Wishing and hoping just do not cut it, I am afraid.’
‘I meant not yet…’
His eyes bored their way into hers. ‘Are you saying you will consider it?’
‘I would like things to be more stable between us.’
‘We are married.’
‘That’s not enough.’
‘What do you want from me, Charlotte?’ he asked.
She brought her gaze back to his, her vulnerability on show for the first time. ‘I want you to care for me like you did in the past.’
The seconds ticked by heavily as he stood looking down at her, his face an expressionless mask.
‘I do not think I am capable of such feeling any more,’ he said.
‘Because you don’t trust me?’ she asked.
He stroked a fingertip down the curve of her cheek. ‘I think it is myself I do not trust, agape mou,’ he said with a cryptic smile.
She grasped at his hand and held it tightly in hers. ‘Damon…I want you to know I have never stopped loving you.’
She could see his surprise and suspicion having a drawn-out boxing match in his eyes, but it was clear that suspicion won the final round.
‘We have guests to entertain,’ he said as he pulled his hand out of her hold. ‘They will be wondering what has become of us.’
What has become of us, indeed? Charlotte wondered sadly as they walked in silence down the stairs…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IT WAS a long drawn out dinner and for every minute of it Charlotte was conscious of Iona’s gaze flicking warily to hers. She did her best to ignore it at first but after a while she started to resent the way the other woman was assaulting her with her repeated glances.
‘What do you think, Charlotte?’ Nick Andreakos suddenly addressed a comment to her but she was lost for an answer.
‘I’m sorry…’ She gave him an apologetic smile. ‘I was miles away. What did you ask?’
‘Nick asked if you had considered moving to Santorini permanently,’ Damon said with a very direct look.
‘I…I don’t…I’m not…I…’
Nick smiled. ‘I can see she hasn’t quite made up her mind, Damon. You will have to work harder to convince her to make her home with you here.’
‘It is no matter,’ Damon said. ‘We can divide our time between Australia and Greece until Emily is of school age. Then we will by necessity have to put down some roots.’
‘Would you excuse me?’ Charlotte pushed out her chair.
Damon got to his feet. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked with a dark frown of concern interrupting his features.
She nodded even though it made her already tight head ache unbearably. ‘I’m just feeling a little light-headed. I need some fresh air. I’ll be back in a minute.’
Iona got to her feet. ‘I will come with you,’ she said with a strained smile. ‘I need to stretch my legs.’
Charlotte wasn’t sure she was in need of company, especially that of a woman who apparently found her presence so distasteful.
‘Your daughter is beautiful,’ Iona said into the stiff silence as they traversed the marble hall to the main bathroom. ‘She is the image of Eleni at that age.’
‘Thank you…’
The bathroom door closed behind them and Iona leaned against it, her shoulders suddenly seeming too heavy for her slight frame. ‘Charlotte…’ she began uncertainly. ‘I need to talk to you but it must go no further.’
Charlotte drew in a cautious breath. ‘I see…’
‘No, you do not,’ Iona said. ‘You have no idea what I am going to say, do you?’
Charlotte decided to take a wild guess. ‘You’re going to tell me you were responsible for planting the sculptures in my bag and at the hostel four years ago, right?’
‘Wrong.’
Charlotte blinked at her. ‘It wasn’t you?’
Iona shook her head. ‘It was Elen
i.’
‘Eleni?’ She felt her stomach drop. ‘But why?’
Iona let out her breath in a jagged stream. ‘She did it to protect me. She thought I was in love with her brother. I suppose you know our families had more or less arranged our future union.’
‘Yes, I knew about that…’
Iona’s dark eyes met hers once more. ‘I should have told Eleni the truth, but I was too afraid.’
Charlotte frowned in confusion. ‘The truth?’
‘I have always loved Damon,’ Iona said. ‘But like a brother. We had spent most of our childhood together and it was assumed we would make a match of it, but I was not in love with him. I was never in love with him. The truth is I have been in love with Nick since I was about twelve; I just wasn’t game enough to tell anyone, not even Eleni.’
Charlotte swallowed. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘It grieves me terribly to think you have been separated from Damon for all this time because of a silly prank on his sister’s part. When I heard you had had his child I was sick with worry. I could barely look at you tonight without being reminded of how your lives have been changed.’
‘He doesn’t love me.’
‘How do you know that?’
Charlotte gave her a bleak look. ‘He told me.’
‘I do not believe that.’
‘He only married me because of Emily.’
Iona’s face clenched like a tightened fist. ‘It is my fault. I should have said something earlier but I did not want to betray Eleni. She would have hated her mother and brother to think she had acted so childishly and irresponsibly.’ She pushed herself away from the door to pace the floor between the mirrored basins. ‘I should have come forward earlier but I made a promise.’
‘It’s all right…’
Iona swung back around to face her. ‘It is not all right. You are the mother of Damon’s child. Don’t you see how difficult this is for all of us now?’
Charlotte looked at her without speaking.
‘Eleni thought you would go away and never come back, leaving the path open for me to marry her brother,’ Iona went on sadly. ‘I should have been honest with her from the start. She was so proud of what she had done.’
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