by Jennie Lucas
He’d thought he could keep them safe here, hidden far from the world.
He’d been wrong.
If he wanted to save his family, he could never make love to his wife again. He could never even kiss her. Because if he did, she would remember everything and he would lose her.
Pain racked through Talos, catching at his breath. He gave one last longing look at his naked, pregnant wife sleeping in his bed. He reveled in her sweet beauty, even as his soul anguished over the tearstains on her face. He watched the pink of sunrise creep slowly over the room.
Then, with his hands clenched into fists, he left her to sleep alone.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HOW had it all gone so wrong?
A month later, Eve still couldn’t understand it. She lived in an amazing Greek villa on a private island. She was married to the handsomest man on earth and expecting his child. She was happy, healthy, living in blissful luxury beneath the Aegean sun as servants waited on her hand and foot.
But for the last month, Talos hadn’t touched her. She’d been alone in her marriage. Alone in her life.
She’d never felt so miserable. Though they lived in the same house, they lived separate lives. Talos worked nights in the office, coming to bed only long after she was asleep, or worse—not coming to bed at all, just sleeping on the couch in his office. She spent her days decorating the nursery, organizing the house, taking the helicopter to the nearby island of Kos to visit the doctor.
She’d done everything she could think of to try and regain his interest. She dressed in pretty clothes, like the pink cotton dress she was wearing now. She’d learned to cook his favorite meals. She read newspapers to learn about his interests—basketball and business—trying to please him, to start conversations, to be available when he wanted her.
All in vain.
The problem was that he didn’t want her.
Since the first day they’d come to the island of Mithridos, when they’d made love so passionately and exquisitely by the balcony overlooking the sea, he hadn’t touched her. Hadn’t hugged her. Hadn’t come up behind her and embraced her, kissing her neck. He hadn’t held her or kissed her.
He’d barely even looked at her!
After a month of being neglected and avoided, Eve’s heart bled like an open wound. She’d outright asked Talos several times why he was ignoring her, asked him if she’d done something to make him angry.
At first, he’d brushed her off with an excuse. Now, he just avoided her completely.
What had she done to make him so angry?
She was almost afraid to ask one more time, because there was simply no further he could withdraw unless he physically left the island. At least as long as he was still in the house she could pretend they still had a marriage, pretend he was just moody or worried about a business deal, pretend their relationship could recover.
But how could they ever recover when he wouldn’t talk to her? When he wouldn’t touch her?
He was hiding something. Punishing her for something. What? What did he think he couldn’t tell her?
She pressed her fingertips against her eyelids. As the hot November sunshine poured in from the wide-open windows, the warm breeze filling the bright breakfast room with the salty tang of the sea, she was choked with despair.
“Good morning, Mrs. Xenakis.”
Eve nearly jumped when she heard the housekeeper’s heavily accented voice behind her. “Good morning.”
The plump older woman set the tray of fruit, eggs, toast and pot of mint tea on the stone table. “Have a lovely breakfast.”
Eve had a sudden flashback to the lunch she’d shared with Talos here on the terrace, the first day they’d arrived on the island. Where had it all gone so wrong? What did she need to remember?
“Where is Mr. Xenakis?” she demanded.
“I believe he is in the home office, ma’am. Shall I take him a message?”
Another message he could ignore? Eve shook her head. Staring out at the sea, she took a deep breath. Her last memory hadn’t been a pleasant one. She was almost afraid to know what else she had to remember. What else could possibly be worse?
Talos wouldn’t tell her. But his silence this last month spoke volumes. She’d done something else. Something he could not, would not forgive.
She had to remember! She had to make herself remember! Or she feared she’d lose him—and their chance of being a family—before her baby was even born.
She turned to the housekeeper. “Is there a spare computer in the house? With an Internet connection?”
“In the office, Mrs. Xenakis.”
Eve licked her lips. “But I would not wish to disturb my husband. Is there another one elsewhere?”
The housekeeper gave a friendly nod. “There’s one in my quarters, ma’am. You would be welcome to use it.”
“Thank you,” she said in relief. Picking up her breakfast plate, she rose to her feet. “Do you mind if I use it now?”
Sitting in the housekeeper’s cozy suite ten minutes later, crunching an apple as she looked at the screen, Eve had barely started her search before she heard an angry voice behind her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Shocked, she swiveled her chair around to face Talos.
“Hi,” she said, trying to act cool even as her heart beat faster in her chest. He looked more handsome than ever in his snug black T-shirt and dark jeans. She gave him a trembling smile. “I’m glad to see you.”
“Mrs. Papadakis said you were here,” he replied coldly. “You didn’t answer my question. What are you doing?”
Her smile faded. “Since my memory still hasn’t returned, I thought I would try and give it a kick start by looking up my name online, to see if I can learn—”
“I don’t appreciate you sneaking down here.”
Sneaking? “I didn’t want to bother you in your office,” she explained quietly. “The housekeeper was kind enough to allow me to use her computer.” When he continued to glower at her, she tossed her head. “How can you accuse me of sneaking in my own house?”
She started to turn back toward the computer screen, but he grabbed her shoulder. His dark eyes looked grim, almost frightening as he said, “Don’t.”
“Why?” she demanded.
He ground his teeth. “You should be resting, not trying to research a past that doesn’t matter. You should be redecorating the nursery, focusing on our future together and staying healthy for the baby.”
“Really?” she said evenly. “If you’d shown the slightest interest in me or the baby for the last month, you’d know I finished the nursery a week ago. But you haven’t. You’ve just been avoiding me, like you did after we were first married.” She jabbed her thumb toward the computer. “And since you won’t talk to me, this is my only option to figure out why!”
“It doesn’t matter!” he said harshly. “Just leave it alone!”
“I can’t!” she cried. “Not when you won’t talk to me, when you don’t touch me, when you won’t even look at me!”
“I’ve given you everything any woman could ever want!” He looked down at her fiercely. “Isn’t that enough for you? Can’t that be enough?”
She shook her head as angry tears rose to her eyes. “I’m in a beautiful villa, I’m expecting a child—but I’m doing it all without you! You’ve left me here!” she cried. “Why? Why can’t you just tell me the reason?”
He started to say something, then stopped. She could see his tension pulse at his neck as he abruptly pulled away from her.
“You are getting yourself upset over nothing. I’m busy with work, nothing more.”
“Is it that you don’t think I’m attractive anymore?” She shook her head with humiliation and despair. Her voice trembled as she voiced her sudden fear. “Or is there another woman?”
He stared at her, his dark eyes narrowing.
“Is that what you think?” His voice was low, furious. “You think I would betray you t
hat way?”
“What else am I supposed to think, when you—”
“You are the only woman I want,” he ground out. “The only woman I will ever want!”
“Then why?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand!”
“This last month has nearly killed me,” he shouted. “Each day is worse than the last, seeing you right in front of me but knowing I can’t have you. It’s like falling into hell over and over again!”
“But I’m right here,” she whispered. “Why won’t you touch me?”
“If I do,” he said in a voice so low she almost couldn’t hear it, “I will lose you.”
That didn’t make any sense. Tears fell unheeded down her cheeks.
“Please, Talos.” She looked up at him. “I need you.”
Their eyes locked, held. She could see the rise and fall of his chest, hear the shudder and rasp of his breath.
Then with an explosive curse, he surrendered.
Sweeping her up in his arms, he kissed her, murmuring words in Greek. His embrace was hot and tender, full of anguished longing and regret as he kissed her.
“Eve, oh, Eve, I can’t push you away,” he whispered, looking down into her eyes with dark pain and yearning. “Whatever the cost—whatever happens—I can’t hurt you anymore.”
For a month now, Talos had been in anguish.
Wanting Eve but not being able to have her.
Loving her but not being able to tell her.
He could have lived through his own pain. He could have continued to endure it forever. But it was seeing the pain in his wife’s beautiful face that had finally broken his will.
Horror had gone through him when he saw her in front of the computer where he knew she could eventually discover everything. Her tears pleaded for what should have been hers by right—his love and attention.
There was no place remote enough. Nowhere they could hide. No way he could keep her safe, not when by trying to protect her, he himself had caused her such hurt!
And finally he couldn’t bear it any longer.
Scooping her up into his arms, he swept her upstairs into their bedroom. He tenderly set her down on their bed, the bed that they should have shared for the last month. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. He could smell the sweet vanilla fragrance of her hair, feel the softness of her skin. He saw her hand shake as she reached up to caress his rough chin.
“Talos…”
Closing his eyes, he placed his hand over her smaller one, turning his face into her caress. He’d yearned for this for so long. For the last four weeks, he’d had to anesthetize himself—with hard exercise, with ouzo, but mostly with work—to try to fight off the constant desire for the woman down the hall, this frustrated desire that was always rising higher and higher until he feared he’d break apart.
Whatever happened, he could no longer resist her sweetness. He wanted his wife. Needed her. Loved her.
He pulled off the soft pink cotton dress with its innocent eyelet lace. Removing his own black T-shirt and jeans, he dropped them to the floor. His eyes greedily drank in the vision of Eve in her translucent white bra and panties.
Looking into her eyes, he finally spoke the words that had long ago been written across his heart.
“I love you, Eve.”
She sucked in her breath, her gaze searching his. Wanting to believe. Needing to believe.
Then he kissed her.
Her lips seared him to the core. With every beat of his heart, he loved her. And all he wanted to do was make his vow of a month ago true; he wanted to spend the rest of his life kissing her.
She moved beneath him on the white blanket of the bed. Above him, he could hear the soft whir of the ceiling fan, hear the cry of the morning birds outside, feel the soft breeze against his naked body.
He touched her naked skin, bronzed from so many days spent outside. He stroked her body all over, worshipping her with his fingertips, with his hands, with his mouth. He was hard and aching for her.
“You love me,” she repeated in wonder and joy. “You love me?”
“So much,” he gasped. “You have my heart forever.”
He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheekbones, her mouth. With a groan, he caressed her body, pressing his legs between her thighs.
When he finally pushed himself inside her, he nearly cried out from the force of his pleasure.
He moved inside her slowly, savoring every second and every inch of his possession. Although—was he possessing her? Or was she possessing him?
She gripped his shoulders, throwing her head back, revealing her swanlike throat.
“I love you,” he whispered as he pushed inside her again. He saw the light of joy in her eyes, and was astonished to suddenly taste the salt of tears—his own.
He held her tenderly, moving deeply and slowly inside her until he felt her tense. Until he felt her shake.
Whatever happened, he could not stop. Whatever happened, he prayed he could love her always.
Closing his eyes, he thrust into her one last time. He felt her coil around him, heard her gasp.
“I love you,” he cried. And as the force of his words slammed through his soul, he threw his head back and poured his seed into her with a shout of pure happiness.
Collapsing back on the bed, he held her tightly. She was his love—his life. He kissed her temple, pressing his hand against her sweaty face. Praying that somehow, they would be happy.
For one second, he thought they could be.
Then he felt her stiffen in his arms.
He felt her hands pushing at him, shoving at him.
“Get away from me!” Rolling away from him on the bed, she leapt to her feet. “Oh my God!”
He looked at his wife, the woman who had been so joyfully caressing his body just moments before. By the angry, furious, hateful look in her suddenly proud face, he knew his worst nightmare had come true.
Eve no longer had amnesia.
She stood naked in front of him, her dark hair brushing against her tanned skin as she quivered in rage. Her full breasts heaved over the slight curve of his child in her belly with every pant of her breath. Her blue eyes glared at him with such force he was surprised he didn’t die instantly from the blunt icy dagger of her hatred.
Eve’s beauty was perfect, and now—to him—it was forever unattainable.
He had lost the sweet woman he loved. He’d lost her forever.
When Talos said he loved her, Eve thought she’d die of joy.
After so many months of yearning, she’d finally felt her husband’s arms around her and heard him tell her what she’d longed to hear. She’d known happiness she didn’t know was possible in mortal life. Then he’d made love to her so tenderly, with such deep, intense passion, her soul had soared to the dizzying heights of heaven.
Then he’d released her, and she’d come crashing down.
Down. Down. Down.
She’d hit the earth without a parachute. Little pieces of her had smashed into dirt and rocks. Her body and soul had shattered into a million pieces.
“You remember,” he said quietly.
“Everything,” she choked out.
She realized she was naked in front of him. And she’d just let him make love to her. How could she? How could she?
Shaking with a repressed sob, she grabbed her silk robe off the back of the bathroom door, wrapping it swiftly around her shoulders and tying the belt tight. She wiped away angry tears from her eyes before she whirled back to face him.
“Was it some kind of sick joke to you? You destroyed my family, then kept me here as some kind of pathetic love slave?”
“No! That’s not how it was!” Rising from the bed, he grabbed her by the shoulders, searching her eyes. “You know that’s not how it was between us!”
Against her will, memories rushed through her mind. The two of them running together beneath the rain in Venice. Making love against the backdrop of the Acropolis. How he’d looked at h
er as he kissed her in the surf, their first day on this island. His laughter. His tenderness. His deep dark passion in the night.
Furiously, she pushed the memories away. She wouldn’t think about that. She couldn’t.
Misery flashed through her, misery so strong it nearly made her stagger. Just moments before in his arms, she’d been so happy. She’d been filled with joy that he loved her. She’d felt she finally had her place in the world—in his arms. As his wife. Carrying his child.
Now, all she felt was loss a thousand times. It was even worse than when she was fourteen, when she’d lost her father, her home and her mother in space of a few months. Because of him.
Because she’d failed.
She’d spent the last eleven years plotting to get revenge. To do whatever it took to take him down. Before he could ever hurt anyone again as he’d hurt her.
Instead, she’d betrayed her family’s memory. She’d failed everyone she loved.
She’d always promised herself that she would be a better daughter to John Craig as soon as her revenge was complete. Then, in Istanbul, while hiding from Talos’s goons, she’d been shocked—horrified—to hear news of his death. Her stepfather had died without knowing how she loved him.
And now it was too late. She swallowed, blinking back tears. A pity she hadn’t been driving faster when her hands had slipped on the steering wheel of her Aston Martin. A pity she hadn’t crashed into a speeding train instead of the postbox.
She’d wasted eleven years of her life for nothing.
Talos had managed to keep his company in spite of her stolen documents. He’d tricked her into marrying him. And worst of all, she was pregnant with his child.
Her enemy’s victory was complete.
She touched her belly in shock. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “Of all the men in the world—to be pregnant by the one I hate the most. The one I swore to destroy.”