When there was a pause, she said quickly, “I haven’t actually made any decisions about my future. I’m taking some time to think.”
“The media has already linked you to my son.” Christiana smiled, her eyes gentle but firm. “There is already speculation that he is the father of your child, and that you will be married and become the queen shortly after Kostas’s coronation.”
“Let them speculate.” Panic and irritation mixed. She wasn’t used to being the controversy. She left that to her sisters. Glancing at Kostas, she asked, “When is your coronation?”
“This Sunday.” He paused, but then gave her a searching glance. “I will not lie, I am hoping we will be engaged by then, Eva.”
Which meant she had five days to make a decision that would only impact the rest of her life.
Even though they slept in separate rooms, Eva rarely left Kostas’s side during the next few days.
She accompanied him to various lunches, appearances, and even sat in on a meeting with an international leader.
She began to see an entirely different side of Kostas. She saw a natural leader who was still uncertain of his own ability. She watched a man who loved and interacted wonderfully with babies and children of all ages. He was humble, sincere, and unwavering in the support of his people.
Then there was the way he treated her. With gentleness and concern. Always enquiring about her health and how she was feeling with the baby.
The royal physician had been brought in to examine her on her second day in Mykorini. She was in exceptional health, and all was progressing smoothly with the pregnancy.
The media had gone mad speculating about their relationship, Eva’s pregnancy, and whether or not Kostas was the father. Kostas didn’t address it, and his staff was clearly trained not to do so either.
Eva found herself missing Kostas in the few moments she wasn’t by his side. He made her laugh. He made her want him to touch her again. And while she could see in his eyes that he wanted to, he made no move to rush her. The most he did was hold her hand, embrace her, or kiss her forehead.
It left her in a constant state of need and confusion. She wanted so much more. She’d connected so deeply with him on an emotional level, that she wanted that physical connection again.
It was after a dinner event on Friday, where they’d snuck glances at each other throughout, that he came to her room.
Eva had been standing on the balcony, thinking about how beautiful the city was with the Mediterranean sparkling in the moonlight behind it. She’d traveled around the world, but nothing compared to Mykorini, and she knew it would be all too easy to live here.
The door opened and she turned to see Kostas crossing the expansive bedroom toward her.
Just the sight of him had her pulse quickening. He’d changed out of his dark suit into something more casual. With jeans and a button-up white shirt covering his broad chest, he was beyond sexy. He looking like a model in a high-end designer ad, not like the king of a small country.
Her mouth went dry and heat-filled desire coursed through her.
“Kostas…”
Chapter 23
There was no reason for him to be here. He’d told her she had the rest of the evening free. But the smoldering heat in his eyes said otherwise.
“I told myself to leave you alone,” he said hoarsely. “That you’re overwhelmed. That you’re probably tired and sick from the pregnancy, but I can’t stay away.”
Her heart rose into her throat. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
He threaded his fingers into her hair and tilted her head up. “Tell me to leave and I will.”
“Not a chance.” No matter what she decided to do with the future, she needed him in the present.
“This is what kept me sane.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “This kept me from going mad with grief over losing my father and brother. Remembering you and the night we had together.”
Oh god, what he must’ve gone through. What he still must be going through.
“Make love to me, Kostas. Let me help you forget at least for a little while.”
His lips crushed down on hers and it was clear they were done talking. The ground disappeared as she was lifted into his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back fervently.
He laid her on the bed, not breaking the kiss as he unbuttoned her shirt. She reached up to help undress him, but her trembling fingers were nowhere near as skilled.
Soon enough they were both naked and lying with legs intertwined as they touched each other.
“I missed you.” He kissed her neck while cupping her breast, using his thumb to stroke her nipple.
Eva’s hips arched off the bed as pleasure raced through her.
“I missed you too.”
“I’m sorry I left you the way I did.” He kissed lower, to the swell of her breast.
“I understand why you did.”
“Even still, it was inexcusable. I should’ve woken you.”
His lips closed over her nipple, and she was done trying to talk about it.
She delved her fingers into his hair, clutching him to her as he suckled her. He tormented each breast before moving lower again, kissing each inch of skin on his way down.
When she realized his destination, she tensed and tried to close her thighs.
“Let me, glykia mou. We will both love it.”
With his bold caress over the damp flesh between her legs, she was lost. Her body became boneless and she parted to his touch. To his exploring mouth.
The first soft kiss he pressed at the heart of her had her crying out in stunned pleasure.
The second had her clutching at his dark strands of hair and begging for more.
He murmured his pleasure and granted her wish, teasing and tormenting her with his mouth and bringing her to the very edge of ecstasy.
A flick of his tongue over her sensitive bud launched her over that cliff.
“Kostas!” Sobbing and trembling, she dragged him upward. “Please, now. I can’t wait a minute more.”
Her husky words, combined with the tears on her cheeks, sent a stab of pure masculine pride through Kostas. And possessiveness.
Mine.
She belonged to him. Even if she weren’t carrying his child, he knew now that he couldn’t let her go. He had no desire to marry anyone else.
He paused at her stomach and kissed the pale flesh that was still flat. His throat grew tight with emotion as he thought about their child that was beginning to form.
He kissed her belly, softly this time, and traced his fingers over the smooth flesh.
Eva let loose a ragged breath and he knew it had nothing to do with passion this time. They both were thinking about the baby.
Startled at how choked up he was becoming, he moved to position himself between her thighs.
“I missed you. Missed this,” he said, and then thrust deep.
Her body, slick and warm, welcomed him. Just being inside her again nearly took his breath away. He stilled for a moment, allowing himself to absorb the moment. To focus and feel where they were joined.
It felt perfect. Like coming home. Like what he’d been searching for every time he’d slept with a woman before Eva had come along.
The idea that he’d been her first still blew his mind.
Where the idea of bedding a virgin had been more of a turnoff before, the realization that she’d only been with him made his primitive core come to life. It was an empowering and sexy discovery.
He began to move inside her. Slowly at first, sinking deep and then sliding back out. He held her gaze, watching to make sure he wasn’t hurting her. But her swollen lips were parted, and her pupils were dilated with pleasure.
She met each thrust, clinging to him with nails that dug little crescents into his upper back.
He moved harder now, taking her with a need and ferocity that would claim her physically and mentally.
The pleasure inside him swel
led, tightening every muscle in his body. He sat on that edge of release, burying himself deep inside her while trying to bury the words that hovered on his lips.
They escaped in a raspy, “I love you.”
His mind went dark as the climax ripped through him. He emptied himself inside her, gasping and shaking, before his arms gave out and he let the weight of his body fall on top of her.
She didn’t protest, but clung to him, kissing his forehead and stroking his shoulders.
Knowing he must be hurting her, he eased off her and pulled her into his arms. She moved willingly and pressed her cheek to his chest.
With her snuggled in his arms, he experienced the first sense of peace and contentment since the news of his father and brother’s death.
“Do you think our baby will have my freckles?” she asked, her voice drowsy with content.
Surprised and amused by her question, he murmured, “I hope so.”
“I can’t decide if I want him to or not. I burn so easily in the sun.” She kissed his chest. “What was it that you said a moment ago?”
“What do you mean?”
“While we were making love. It was in Greek.”
He’d said I love you. And it seemed he’d said it in his native language. He should just tell her now, but in English.
Fear, unfamiliar and uncomfortable, swept through him. He opened his mouth to translate what he’d said. What came out was, “I don’t remember.”
“Mmmm.” She kissed his chest. “It doesn’t matter.”
But it did, and he knew how much the words would’ve meant to her. Only he wondered if she’d believe them, or think he was just saying what he thought she wanted to hear. What if she didn’t love him?
She yawned and cuddled closer. A few minutes later her breathing shifted to the pattern of someone who’d fallen asleep.
Tomorrow he would try to tell her. Whether she believe him or not, whether she loved him, she had the right to know.
“Kostas!”
He opened his eyes, disorientated and groggy. Eva lifted her head from his chest and blinked the sleep from her eyes.
“Is that your mom at the door?”
“Kostas, I must speak to you urgently.” She yelled in Greek, but the anger in her words meant Eva would pick up on her mood.
“One moment, Mama.”
He climbed out of bed and pulled on his pants, then quickly donned his shirt.
When he finally opened the door, his mother stood tight-lipped on the other side. Her eyes held a glimmer of anger and dismay.
She thrust a local paper at him. “Could it be true?”
Unease stabbed through him. He swallowed it and glanced down at the front page.
A picture of a smug-looking Saina sat below the large headline.
“I’m also pregnant with the King’s child!”
Chapter 24
Bile rose in his throat and every muscle in his body went rigid.
“What’s going on?”
He hadn’t heard Eva approach, and tried to crumple the paper, but she’d already seen it.
“Oh god.” She stumbled back from him, clutching her robe closed. Her eyes, wide with pain and accusation, met his. “Is it true?”
“No.” He vowed fiercely, but a part of him hesitated. “I used protection.”
Eva gave a little despondent cry. “So did we.”
His mother swore in Greek, then said she would call Denes, the royal publicist. With a frustrated shake of her head, she turned and strode down the corridor.
“Let me straighten this out, Eva.”
“Straighten what out? A baby? How exactly do you straighten that out?”
“Eva, you must—”
“I don’t need to do anything.” She looked suddenly ill. Turning, she ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
He heard her getting sick a moment later and his own stomach twisted with nausea in response.
Damn it all. What the hell was going on?
Eva splashed cold water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
What was she doing? How had she ever convinced herself this was going to work?
She made a decision and then left the bathroom.
Kostas stood near the window, speaking quietly into his phone. When he saw her, he ended the call and pocketed his cell.
“Eva—”
“I’m leaving Mykorini within the next few hours. I’m going home to the Hamptons, and I’ll live with my family. I’ll raise this baby myself.”
He went rigid, the color draining from his face. “The hell you will.”
“Don’t you dare swear at me.”
“Saina means nothing to me. She never did. When I met her at a club two months ago I had no idea who she was, no idea that she was engaged to Petros. The ink on the agreement for their union was still wet, the contract only a day old when she seduced me.”
Her heart quickened at his confession. “Maybe I shouldn’t, but I believe you.”
Relief flared in his eyes.
“But it doesn’t change anything.” Numbly, she went on. “I’m still leaving. You won’t fight me for custody. You can’t afford any more of a scandal. Go marry Saina. She’s a citizen of Mykorini, was already positioned to be the queen at one point, and will bear you as many children as you wish.” She gave a humorless laugh that ended on a sob. “And she’s already got one on the way.”
“Your child is my heir. He will not be raised as a bastard.”
Rage flared in her and she clenched her teeth, taking a moment to calm herself. “That term is about an antiquated as your chauvinistic behavior.”
He didn’t deny it, just took a ragged breath. “You can’t leave.”
“I can. I will. I am. I have my family’s support and the financial means to take care of a child on my own.” She began packing things into her suitcase. “I’m setting you free, Kostas. If anyone asks, I’ll deny you are the father. Go on with your life and forget us.”
“Forget you?” He moved with the speed of a panther, crossing the room and catching her arm. “I love you, Evelynn.”
Her heart shattered. She could no longer pretend that she didn’t love him, not after last night. This was what she’d been wanting to hear, and he knew it. His words were a calculated move meant to keep her in Mykorini, but they wouldn’t work. It was too late.
She blinked back the tears and gave a small shake of her head. “No. You don’t.” Taking a deep breath, she knew she had to say more to dissuade him from trying to stop her. “In any case, I don’t love you. I wouldn’t have been happy here on Mykorini, and I was going to tell you that tomorrow before your Coronation.”
It was a lie. A complete, bold-faced lie. But apparently, she did it well enough that he believed her. He stumbled back, stricken.
Feeling even more ill, and only blaming part of it on her pregnancy, Eva turned her back on him and went to finish packing.
Chapter 25
Eva checked into a small hotel under a fake name. She knew it was a long shot—hoping that no one would recognize her—but she wanted to at least try.
There were no flights off the island until morning, and the last boat had left an hour ago.
She sat on the bed, her stomach grumbling with hunger, and knew she had to venture outside eventually. She needed to eat, and there was no room service in the quaint hotel.
After tucking her trademark red hair up into a hat and slipping on oversized sunglasses, she stepped outside to find dinner.
Most people ignored her as she walked around the town. She found a small restaurant tucked away at the end of the street and went inside to order something to go.
It was not very busy, with just a handful of people eating. She waited at a table, trying to be as inconspicuous to the other diners as possible. Although she didn’t speak Greek, she managed to pick up enough of a conversation to understand one table was discussing Kostas’s coronation tomorrow.
There was no rese
ntment or doubt in their faces as they spoke. These people seemed excited. It only backed up her instinct that the people of Mykorini truly did like their new king.
Her gut twisted and a lump formed in her throat. She didn’t want to leave him, but really, what choice did she have?
She didn’t want to be the other woman carrying Kostas’s child. She wouldn’t face that kind of humiliation for a man who didn’t love her. She had too much respect for herself, and for her baby.
Eva shifted in her seat and turned to stare out the window, trying not to listen to their conversation any further. She didn’t want to have doubts about her future and her decision to leave.
After her food was brought to her and she’d paid, she slipped from the restaurant and made her way back to the hotel. A couple, young and clearly in love, kissed outside a nearby building.
Feeling like a voyeur, she tried to avert her gaze as she approached. But when the couple stopped kissing and the woman murmured, “S’Agapo,” Eva froze.
She only briefly hesitated before approaching them. “Excuse me, do you speak English?”
The woman glanced her way, her expression curious. “Yes.”
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but what did you just say to him?”
The couple exchanged an amused glance and then turned back to Eva.
“I told him I loved him.”
They were the same words Kostas had said to her last night when he’d made love to her. She stood frozen, trying to wrap her head around the new idea that was forming. He’d confessed his love last night, when there’d been no reason to lie. It had been before everything had gone terribly wrong this morning.
He loved her.
Oh God, he really loved her. And she’d just been about to make the biggest mistake of her life.
“You look familiar,” the girl began. “Aren’t you—?”
“Thank you,” she choked out and started running back to the hotel.
As she approached the building, she spotted the Royal Convoy along the street out front.
Her heart lurched into her throat and hope flared inside.
Corrupted by the Prince (A is for Alpha Book 5) Page 9