For Love or Money Bundle (Harlequin Presents)

by Sarah Morgan

  Alesia smiled and helped herself to more food. ‘Actually, I loved it.’ It was the only home she’d ever known.

  He frowned sharply. ‘It is true that you went there from the age of seven?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘That seems a very young age for a child.’

  But she hadn’t had a home. Her father had been killed. Her mother was seriously ill in hospital and her grandfather had disowned her.

  ‘I liked it.’

  ‘You were never tempted to live with your grandfather?’

  She almost laughed. Live with her grandfather? Did he really know so little about the man?

  ‘I enjoyed my time at school.’

  ‘And then you went straight to university?’

  She nodded. ‘I read music and French.’

  He refilled her plate for the third time. ‘You have an amazingly healthy appetite,’ he observed with a faint smile and it was on the tip of her tongue to confess that she’d never seen so much food in her life before but she stopped herself in time.

  Instead she smiled. ‘I love Greek food.’

  He looked at her with a curious expression in his eyes. ‘I’m pleased.’ He lounged back in his chair and questioned her more about her music and her courses and when she finally put her fork down he stood up and extended a hand.

  ‘I want you to play my piano, pethi mou.’ He hauled her to her feet and flashed her a smile. ‘A private concert with only me in the audience.’

  Her gaze collided with his and for a breathless moment she couldn’t think about music or the piano. She couldn’t think about anything except the sudden explosion of sexual need which engulfed her.

  Sebastien gave a sensuous smile of all-male understanding. ‘Later,’ he breathed softly, leading her back into the main living area towards the piano. ‘Now I want you to play for me.’

  It was an order and she sat down at the piano stool and automatically flicked her hair so that it flowed down her back and not over the keys.

  For a moment she sat in silence, staring at the familiar keys, her mind slightly detached.

  And then she started to play. First Chopin, then Mozart, then Beethoven and finally Rachmaninov. Her fingers flew over the keys, fluent and nimble, stroking each note lovingly, drawing the best from the piano until eventually the final piece ended and her hands fell into her lap.

  Silence followed.

  Suddenly horribly aware that she hadn’t even questioned him on his tastes, hadn’t even thought to ask what he wanted to listen to, she risked a glance in his direction.

  He was sprawled on the sofa, eyes closed, dense lashes brushing his sculpted cheekbones, long, powerful legs stretched out in front of him.

  Alesia bit her lip in consternation. Had he fallen asleep?

  ‘That was amazing.’ His eyes opened reluctantly and she connected with blazing black. ‘Truly amazing. I had no idea you could play like that. Why aren’t you charging millions for public recitals?’

  She swallowed and dragged her eyes away from his. ‘I’m not famous—’

  ‘But you could be,’ he asserted, coming upright in a fluid movement and walking towards her. ‘You could be world-famous.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ She looked away, embarrassed and pleased that he’d enjoyed her playing so much.

  ‘You’ve just finished your degree—what now?’ Sebastien enquired with the single-minded focus of someone who has his entire life clearly mapped out in front of him. ‘Before you agreed to this marriage—what were your plans?’

  To carry on holding down three jobs so that her mother could have the care she needed—

  ‘I hadn’t really thought—’

  ‘Your grandfather didn’t mention your talent,’ Sebastien mused and Alesia clamped her jaws together and refrained from pointing out that her grandfather knew less than nothing about her. To him she was just a pawn. You are the tool of my revenge.

  ‘I don’t think my grandfather is very interested in music.’

  ‘I adore your playing,’ Sebastien said huskily, pulling her to her feet and framing her face with his hands. ‘You are intensely passionate and sensitive—all the things that make you so wildly exciting in bed—’

  Colour flew into her cheeks. ‘Sebastien—’

  ‘And I love the fact that you blush so easily,’ he murmured, bending his dark head and capturing her mouth in a drugging kiss that sent a flash of the most intense sexual desire shooting through her.

  She gave a soft moan and moved invitingly against his hard, powerful frame and as he whispered to her in Greek he swept her into his arms.

  He was always doing this, she thought vaguely, her head still spinning from the after-effects of his erotic kiss, her limbs trembling as he strode through to the bedroom and lowered her into the middle of the bed.

  ‘I can’t get enough of you,’ he groaned, sliding the tiny straps of her dress down her arms and fastening a burning kiss on her shoulder, ‘and we’re not leaving this island until I can go through at least five minutes in a business meeting without thinking of you.’

  Fleetingly she remembered that she’d resolved not to let him do this to her again, and then his skilled fingers stripped her naked and his mouth found the sensitive jut of her nipple and the thought vanished, obliterated in an explosion of sexual excitement so intense that she sobbed his name.

  ‘No woman has ever excited me the way you do,’ he asserted in a raw tone, as his clever fingers proceeded to plot an erotic path down her quivering, hopelessly sensitized body. ‘It is so hard to hold back.’

  ‘Then don’t,’ she breathed unsteadily, her blue eyes glazed as she collided with his burning dark gaze.

  ‘I don’t want to hurt you—’

  She closed her eyes, suffocated by the building desire, needing him so badly that her whole body ached and shivered. ‘Sebastien, please—’

  He gave a rough exclamation and rolled her under him in a swift, powerful movement, positioning himself between her thighs before he covered her mouth with his once more and took her.

  The hot, hard strength of him deep inside her made her cry out in shameful abandon and he smothered the cry with his mouth, his own harsh grunt of male satisfaction mingling with her soft gasps.

  He drove them both forward with powerful thrusts, smashing down any barriers that remained between them, an animal mating that culminated in explosive fulfilment for both of them.

  In the aftermath Alesia lay with her eyes closed, waiting for him to release her, braced for his usual dismissive comment.

  Instead he rolled on to his back, taking her with him, smoothing her tangled blonde hair away from her flushed cheeks with a hand that was far from steady.

  ‘That was amazing,’ he said hoarsely, studying her face. ‘You are amazing. We can make this marriage work, Alesia.’

  She swallowed. ‘Because the sex is good—?’

  ‘Not just because of that, but of course that is one reason,’ he said, delivering a smile so sexy that she felt her whole body quiver. ‘But I am fast discovering more and more about you. And I like what I discover.’

  Suddenly consumed by guilt at the enormity of her deception, Alesia tried to wriggle away from him but he held her firm.

  ‘No, this time I am not going to walk away. Nor will I say anything horrible. We are going to spend the night together. In the same bed. I believe that children deserve parents who are happy together.’ He dropped a lingering kiss on her mouth. ‘I believe that we can be happy together.’

  Guilt shot through her with the force of a bullet.

  They couldn’t be happy together. She couldn’t give him children, and when he found that out…How could she tell him?

  ‘You think I’m a gold-digger—’

  He gave a dismissive shrug. ‘At least you were honest about it. I can respect honesty. And what we share in bed is nothing to do with money, agape mou—’

  He respected honesty.

  Alesia closed her eyes, sick w
ith dread at the thought of him discovering the truth.

  That she’d been anything but honest with him.

  But did he really need to find out? a tiny voice murmured inside her. She wouldn’t be the first woman in the world who couldn’t have children. Maybe he wouldn’t discover that she’d always known…

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE week that followed was the most blissful time of Alesia’s life.

  They made love for most of the night and much of the day and when they weren’t sleeping off the exhaustion induced by endless mind-blowing sex, they were talking or eating meals out on the terrace that overlooked the gentle curve of sand. And, to her surprise, Alesia discovered that she loved Greece. Even the constant view of the sea stretching into the distance couldn’t spoil her delight at waking every morning to blazing sunshine. She adored exploring the island, adored picking oranges fresh from the tree and loved the feel of the sun on her skin.

  And she also discovered that she loved talking to Sebastien.

  He was astonishingly entertaining company and for the first time in her life she experienced what it was like to be close to another human being and it felt amazing.

  On one occasion they didn’t leave the bed but made love, slept and then just talked and talked while they lay wrapped around each other.

  Sebastien proved to have a sharp wit, a brilliant mind and a good sense of humour as well as being astonishingly astute about the world. He was also charming and so incredibly sexy that Alesia found herself just gazing and gazing at his handsome face, unable to believe that this man was actually in bed with her.

  Alone on the island, they were cocooned in their own sensual nest, protected from the interfering gaze of the outside world.

  Protected from the looming clouds of reality.

  Swamped with a quite unfamiliar feeling of happiness, Alesia drifted through each day on a cloud of pure bliss, dimly aware that this wasn’t real—that this idyllic life they were sharing couldn’t continue.

  She was dozing in bed late one morning exactly one week after they’d first arrived on the island when Sebastien strolled into the room, vibrant and masculine and just pulsing with his usual energy.

  Alesia forced herself awake, wishing that she had even a fraction of his apparently limitless energy. ‘Sorry—’ she yawned, brushing her hair away from her face and rubbing her eyes ‘—couldn’t wake up this morning.’

  ‘That’s because of last night,’ he teased, the sensual flash of his dark eyes a heated reminder of the intimacies they’d shared.

  As she held his gaze, Alesia felt her stomach roll over and wondered if she’d ever be able to look at him without experiencing that intense burst of sexual excitement deep inside her. He only had to walk into a room and her insides fell away. Especially now when he was wearing only a pair of swimming shorts. He maintained a punishing exercise regime and the results showed in every pulsing inch of his impressive physique. From the broad, muscular shoulders to his lean, flat stomach and long legs, he had the most amazing body she’d ever seen and she couldn’t look at him without wanting him to take her back to bed. It didn’t matter that he didn’t love her. It didn’t matter that he thought she was a gold-digger. She was just desperate for him.

  She was a hopeless case.

  ‘I’ll get up in a minute,’ she promised, wishing that he’d suggest they spend yet another day in bed. It was the only place she wanted to be with him.

  He surveyed her with amused eyes. ‘I’m feeling shamefully guilty that we’ve been here for an entire week and you haven’t swum in the pool once,’ he teased, scooping her up and carrying her on to the terrace. ‘I’ve kept you pinned to the bed and that isn’t exactly fair.’

  Staring dreamily at his staggeringly handsome face, it took a moment for Alesia to realize what he had in mind.

  And by then it was too late to stop him.

  She experienced a second of heart-stopping panic and then he dropped her into the pool and darkness closed around her.

  Guilt-ridden and seriously worried for the first time in his life, Sebastien paced backwards and forwards across the marble floor while the doctor he’d had flown in examined a white-faced Alesia.

  It had been little consolation to him when she’d recovered consciousness because she’d proceeded to shiver so violently that no amount of blankets seemed to warm her. It was as if the chill came from the inside.

  ‘She’s suffering from shock,’ the doctor said calmly, finishing his examination and closing his bag. ‘Physically she’s fine. Swallowed a bit of water when she went under so she might be feeling a bit sick, but apart from that no lasting effects. Mentally it’s another matter. At a guess I’d say that she suffers from a phobia about water. Probably wasn’t such a good idea to drop her in the pool.’

  Unaccustomed to being lectured or to being in the wrong, Sebastien gritted his teeth and took the criticism levelled at him with remarkable restraint.

  Never in his life had he felt so utterly remorseful and if a sound telling off was what it took to make him feel better, then he was more than willing to take it on the chin.

  He didn’t care.

  All he cared about was the fact that Alesia still looked as pale as the marble on his floors and that her eyes were haunted. And he truly wished the shivering would stop.

  Reluctant to leave her alone for more than a few minutes, he walked the doctor back to the waiting helicopter, a frown in his eyes. ‘You’re sure I shouldn’t fly her back to Athens tonight?’

  ‘My advice?’ The doctor handed his bag to the pilot and looked Sebastien straight in the eye. ‘She needs rest. I think you should keep her here tonight, give her time to get over the shock, then fly back tomorrow when she’s feeling better.’

  Pausing on the threshold of his living room, Sebastien noted grimly that her skin exactly matched his white sofas and decided to take the matter of her recovery into his own hands.

  He strode over to a tray of drinks and closed lean bronzed fingers around a curving bottle.

  Moments later he slipped an arm under Alesia’s shoulders and scooped her up, making a mental note to instruct his chef to stuff her full of food on their return to Athens. She was far too fragile.

  He lifted the glass to her dry lips. ‘Drink.’

  Obediently she took a sip and then choked and pulled a face.

  ‘It’s disgusting.’

  ‘On the contrary, it’s an extremely expensive brandy,’ Sebastien informed her, his voice thick with strain as he lifted the glass to her lips again. ‘You are still suffering from shock. Please drink.’

  She took a few sips and then flopped back against the pillow, totally drained.

  ‘I’m sorry—’

  Laden with guilt that she was the one apologizing when it had been he who’d thrown her in the water, Sebastien raked shaking fingers through his still-damp dark hair.

  ‘I’m the one who’s sorry,’ he said stiffly, unaccustomed to apologizing but determined to do so at the earliest possible minute in the hope that the incredible discomfort inside him would ease. ‘But why didn’t you tell me that you didn’t swim—?’

  She closed her eyes. ‘I didn’t go near the water—’

  He gritted his teeth. All right, so he should have noticed that fact. ‘It just didn’t occur to me that it was because you were afraid—’

  Her eyes stayed closed. ‘Doesn’t matter now.’

  It mattered to him.

  Driven by a need to put right a wrong, Sebastien disposed of the glass and scooped her on to his lap. ‘I wish you would stop shivering,’ he groaned but no matter how tightly he held her the shivering continued.

  ‘Sorry—’

  ‘Stop saying that,’ he breathed in a raw tone, stroking her damp hair away from her face. ‘I’m the one who is sorry but you should have told me how you felt. That first day when you were so afraid. I thought it was the flying, but I was barking up the wrong tree, wasn’t I? It was the water—’

  Her
teeth chattering, she gave a reluctant nod and he cursed softly.

  She closed her eyes. ‘I’m being stupid—’

  ‘You are not being stupid,’ he said quietly. ‘You are clearly reacting to something that happened in your past. I want to know what it was.’

  There was a brief silence.

  ‘I was on the boat—’

  Sebastien tensed, unsure that he’d heard her correctly. ‘What boat?’

  ‘Your father’s boat. The day it exploded. I was there. I almost drowned.’

  Shattered by her unexpected confession, Sebastien found himself lost for words. ‘That’s not true,’ he said finally, his voice sounding nothing like his own. ‘There were no children invited on the boat that day—’

  ‘I wasn’t invited.’ Still shivering, Alesia huddled deeper in the blankets, her blue eyes blank of expression. ‘I went on board only moments before the explosion. I was supposed to have stayed at the hotel in Athens with my nanny but I was desperate to show my mother a new doll I’d been given.’

  Memories crowded into his brain. A young child badly injured—

  ‘You were on board when the boat exploded?’ His voice was hoarse and she lifted her head and nodded, her beautiful heart-shaped face so white that Sebastien momentarily toyed with instructing his pilot to return with the doctor immediately.

  ‘I’d barely set foot on the boat,’ she said softly, ‘and my parents didn’t know that I’d arrived.’ She swallowed. ‘I don’t remember much, to be honest. I was only seven. I just remember standing on the gangplank one minute and then being plunged into water. It was everywhere—I thrashed and thrashed.’ Her fingers clenched into her palms and she had to force herself to stay calm. ‘I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t find air, felt terrible pain and then everything went black.’

  Sebastien’s breath hissed through his teeth and his face was pale under his tan. ‘Someone rescued you—do you know who?’