In Christofides' Keeping
Page 16
In her shock, Gypsy nearly swerved. Hearing Lola call Rico Papa for the first time, as if she’d just made the connection now that they were leaving, undid her completely. She had to pull over to a layby because her eyes were so blurred with tears.
And then Lola was wailing in earnest at Gypsy’s distress.
The two of them were sitting there sobbing when suddenly Gypsy’s door was wrenched open and Rico stood there, demanding, ‘What is it? Did you crash? What’s wrong?’
But Gypsy couldn’t get a word out. She was crying too hard, even though Lola’s wails had stopped and she was saying tearfully from the back, ‘Papa…Papa…’
Rico took his attention to Lola and said wonderingly, ‘She just called me Papa…’ And then, soothingly, ‘Everything is OK, mi pequeña—do you want to go home?’
Clearly Lola did something to indicate the affirmative, because then Rico was lifting Gypsy expertly into the passenger seat and suddenly they were turning around and driving back to the villa.
Through a blur of tears Gypsy saw Rico take Lola out and kiss her, before handing her to a relieved-looking Agneta, saying something in Greek which had Agneta nodding and smiling. And then he was at her door and lifting her out before she could protest. In all honesty Gypsy felt as weak as a rag doll.
Rico took her straight up to his bedroom and sat down on a chair in the corner with her on his lap. Gypsy was still sniffing and taking big convulsive breaths. Wordlessly Rico handed her a hanky, and she blew her nose loudly.
When she was more composed, and becoming very aware of sitting on Rico’s steel-hard thighs, she tensed.
‘Now…’ he said. ‘Do you believe that I’ll let you go if you want to?’
Gypsy’s heart beat fast. She looked at him suspiciously. ‘You weren’t far behind us.’
‘Answer the question, Gypsy Butler. Do you believe that if you really want it, I’ll let you go?’
Slowly she nodded her head, because she did believe it. In all honesty she’d believed it even before he’d orchestrated his little enactment.
He said now, ‘I was following just to see that you were OK. You looked shell-shocked—I was worried. And,’ he added, ‘it’s good that you believe me, because I’m never going to let you go again.’
Gypsy couldn’t even gasp or act affronted. She just felt sadness well upwards. Tears formed again. She felt him tense, as if expecting a fight, and rushed to explain. ‘It’s not that I want to leave, I don’t. But I don’t see how loving Lola is going to make you happy in the long run—won’t you want to meet someone else and settle down?’
Gypsy waved a shaking hand, not letting Rico speak. The tears were back, constricting her voice. ‘I mean, Lola adores you, and you adore Lola, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen, and I know now that you would never hurt her like my father did me…’ She gulped in a breath. ‘But it’s going to get awfully embarrassing because…’ Her heart thumped hard once, and then it spilled out. ‘Because you see I adore you too, and I don’t ever want you to send me away, and I do trust you, but it’s scary because I’ve never trusted anyone, so I didn’t believe it, and you won’t thank me for these feelings when you want to move on…’
Rico shifted so that Gypsy fell into the cradle of his lap. He brought his hands to her face and wiped away the tears, and said gently, ‘Can you stop talking and crying for one minute?’
There was such warmth in his voice that it shocked Gypsy’s tears into stopping. She hiccupped once. And blushed when she could feel the press of his arousal against her bottom. How could either of them be thinking of that at a time like this?
‘Gypsy Butler…’ Rico began, making sure she wasn’t looking anywhere but into his eyes, which glowed, making her heart beat fast. ‘Can you not tell how deeply and irrevocably in love with you I am?’
Wordlessly, shock hitting her, she just shook her head.
‘Well, I am. I was about to tell you earlier, but then you looked as if you were going to faint. I started falling for you when I saw you in the club that night. I was ready to walk out, bored beyond tears, cursing myself for having gone in at all—and then you walked in, and I couldn’t look away. You looked so wild and free and totally different to anyone else.’
His thumbs stroked her cheeks, and Gypsy could feel herself leaning against him, melting all over.
‘And then…that night…it was magical. I felt like I’d met the one person who connected with the real me. Not the tycoon. And I was such a fool to leave you like that in the morning, but I was freaked out by how much you’d made me feel: possessive, and yearning for something I’d never even noticed I wanted before…’
‘It was like that for me too,’ Gypsy said, feeling shy, still not really believing she was hearing this.
‘And then you were gone, and all I knew was that I’d spent the night with a temptress called Gypsy and I didn’t even think that was your real name. For the past two years you’ve haunted my dreams and my life. I tried to recreate what I experienced with you but it never happened. I was growing increasingly cynical and delusional and then I saw you again. I thought I was dreaming you up.’
‘But…just now…you let me walk away…’
An intense light lit his eyes. ‘To be honest I didn’t think you’d go through with it. But then I realised I had to let you go, or else you never would have trusted that I could let you go. You and Lola mean everything to me, but if you’re not happy here then I would never keep you against your will. I have to warn you, though, I’ll follow you wherever you go…’
He drew her head down to his and started to kiss her, as delicately and tenderly as if she were made of fine bone china. Impatient with his restraint, Gypsy deepened the kiss, her tongue stroking erotically along Rico’s until she heard him groan and finally he gave in to his passion.
She was being lifted from the chair, and suddenly they were tumbling onto Rico’s bed and his hands were everywhere, desire rising to fever-pitch as they both struggled to be free of conflicting clothes, needing to forge a deeper union.
Finally, blissfully naked, Gypsy arched her whole body against Rico’s hard physique and revelled in his indrawn breath. He pressed her down and moved over her, both hands framing her face, her hair spilling out around her head.
He looked down at her, and nothing but love shone from his eyes.
‘There’s just one other thing.’
For a second something familiarly panicky skated over Gypsy’s skin, and she asked warily, ‘What?’
He waited for a moment, a wicked glint in his eyes. And then said finally, ‘If it’s not too scary a prospect, and if I promise not to ever control you but to give you all the freedom you want, will you trust me enough to marry me, Gypsy Butler?’
Love and passion infused every cell, and she felt the final release of all her old fears. She smiled up at Rico tremulously and reached up to caress his jaw. ‘I trust you with all my heart, and our daughter’s life. And I’d love to marry you.’
Rico saw the tears forming in her eyes and started to kiss her again, moving over her body so that she could feel his hardness. He growled mock-seriously, ‘No more tears. I won’t allow it. Only smiles and laughter from now on…and love.’
He joined their bodies, and Gypsy gasped at the exquisite sensation, too distracted to think about crying any more even if they were happy tears.
Epilogue
LOLA handed Rico’s phone back to him and lisped through her two missing front teeth, ‘There you go, Daddy, now you have the newest newest ringtone.’
Rico repressed a grimace when he thought of the effect the last ringtone had had on a recent high-powered meeting, and said, while holding back a wry smile, ‘Thanks, Lola, I wasn’t so sure about that last one.’
Lola flung her arms around Rico’s neck and gave him a quick sloppy kiss, ‘You’ll love this one. It’s really loud so you’ll always hear when we’re calling you.’
Rico shook his head indulgently and watched as she sped off to
play with Agneta’s grandson, from whom she was inseparable, her hair bouncing with wild and curly disarray around her shoulders.
Just then Gypsy appeared, wearing a short sundress that did nothing to conceal her gorgeous body and everything to send Rico’s pulse-rate soaring. Her hair was only slightly less wild than their daughter’s, with long tendrils curling over bare sun-kissed skin.
She led a small endearingly grumpy-looking boy by the hand; Zack had obviously woken prematurely from his nap, and Rico opened his arms so that he could clamber up and snuggle into his chest, promptly falling asleep again with a thumb stuck firmly into his mouth, exactly as his older sister had used to do.
Rico pulled Gypsy gently down beside him on the family lounger. She leant in to give him a long, lingering kiss. When they broke apart he caressed her jaw, rubbing her bottom lip with his thumb, and sighed with obvious but good-humoured frustration. The look that zinged between them said it all.
Gypsy smiled ruefully and put a hand on her swollen belly. ‘I’d forgotten that I can never seem to nap when I’m pregnant…’
Rico smiled too, and growled softly, ‘In which case we should aim for a nice early bedtime tonight…it’s been far too long since I felt your naked body against mine, Mrs Christofides.’
Gypsy blushed to think of how they’d woken so entwined that morning. Rico had only had to make a subtle movement to bring them into more intimate contact. It had been slow and unbearably sensual. Full of love. She smiled. ‘You’re insatiable.’
‘Only for you, mi amor.’ Rico smiled, his eyes tender on his wife’s face, revelling in the oceans of love that surrounded them. ‘Only for you.’
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
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First published in Great Britain 2010
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18–24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
©Abby Green 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4089-1944-6
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Excerpt
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Copyright