by Maya Banks
‘Now!’ She yanked at his tie, pulling him towards her, and he flattened her to the table and pushed her thighs up. Dragging aside her panties, he entered her in a single, driving thrust that had her crying out his name. It had been so long that it took her a moment to adjust to the size of him. He was hard, full and pulsing hot, and Kelly held herself rigid, afraid to breathe or move. And then his mouth claimed hers again and from then on it was wild, each rhythmic thrust driving away all thoughts of how much she hated him—the fact that this was going to turn out to be a bad decision. He wrapped her thighs around his hips and she dug her nails into his back as she matched his demands with her own.
It was so shockingly good that when his phone buzzed there was no question of him answering it; neither of them were capable of focusing on anything but each other. He had one hand locked in her hair, the other under her bottom, anchoring her in a position designed to give them both maximum pleasure. He thrust hard, fast, his movements so unerringly skilful that she felt her body erupt with sensation. After four years it was never going to last long, and when she felt the first ripples take hold of her she moaned his name. Exquisite pleasure bordered on pain; his fingers tightened in her hair and his mouth locked on hers as he drove them both higher.
They were kissing when the explosion took them. Wave after wave engulfed them, crashing down on them, leaving no room for breath or recovery as they were caught in the web of sensation they’d spun for themselves. They kissed through her choked gasps and through his tortured groan, through the contractions that racked both of them and left them shaken.
His chest was slick against hers, his fingers still digging hard into her bottom as he dragged in air.
Kelly lay stunned, deliciously aware of the weight of him, the feel of him. If she’d been young and naive, she might have thought that such incredible sex could only happen when there was love, but she wasn’t a naive teenager any more.
Slowly recovering her powers of thought, she realised with a flash of horror that the ring was round her neck. Panicking, Kelly pushed him away and fastened the few remaining buttons on her shirt with hands that shook.
Had he noticed?
No; both of them had been too carried away to notice anything but each other. Even if the ring had bashed him in the face, she doubted he would have seen it.
And now she had to get him out of here before she made a fool of herself. ‘I’ll get you the ring,’ she croaked, walking to the door without looking over her shoulder. Her legs were shaking and her body was on fire but she knew she didn’t dare think about what they’d just shared. Not yet. Not now. Later—when she was on her own.
Up in her bedroom, she unfastened the gold chain she wore around her neck and slid the ring into her palm. It glinted and winked at her and she felt a lump build in her throat. It had been next to her skin for four years. It had witnessed her pain and her slow, faltering recovery. Giving it back should feel cathartic—that was the theory.
The practice was something quite different.
Hearing a sound from the hall, Kelly quickly wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and walked back down the stairs.
The front door was wide open.
‘Alekos?’ Puzzled, she glanced from the open door to the kitchen and then heard the unmistakable, throaty growl of an impossibly powerful engine.
Sprinting to the door, the ring still in her hand, she watched in disbelief as the Ferrari roared away.
Chapter 4
‘OK, breathe, breathe...I always seem to be saying that to you; how come you have so much drama in your life? I’m having an exciting day if my card doesn’t work in the cash machine.’ Juggling a half-eaten tub of chocolate ice cream and a box of tissues, Vivien sat on the sofa next to Kelly. ‘How can you be pregnant? You haven’t had sex for four years. Even elephants don’t take that long.’
Kelly tried to fight her way through the panic. ‘I had sex three weeks ago.’
Ice cream and spoon fell to the carpet. ‘You had sex three weeks ago? But you don’t—I mean, who with? You never go out. You’re not the one-night-stand type—and three weeks ago was when Alekos...’ Vivien’s smile faltered and Kelly wrapped her arms around herself, feeling her face heat.
‘Yes.’ Just admitting it made her want to shrink. What had she been thinking?
‘Alekos?’
‘Can you stop saying his name? I seem to remember you being happy enough when he was kissing me.’
‘That was a kiss! Last time I checked, a kiss couldn’t make you pregnant! Alekos? This is the guy you hate, the guy who ruined your life.’ Vivien grabbed a handful of tissues and tried to mop up the worst of the ice cream. ‘What an unbelievable mess.’
‘I know that.’
‘I meant my carpet, not your life—although your life isn’t looking too great, either.’ Covered in chocolate ice cream, Vivien licked her fingers. ‘So is that why he walked out without taking the ring?’
‘I don’t know. I suppose so, but he didn’t talk to me, so I don’t know. He just vanished. As usual.’ Increasingly agitated, Kelly sprang up and walked around Vivien’s tiny living-room.
‘Kel.’ Vivien’s voice was firm. ‘It’s not that I don’t love you or that I don’t care deeply about your trauma, but would you mind awfully not treading on the bit with the ice cream? You’ll walk it all around the flat, and my landlord is going to shred me if the place is covered in chocolate footprints.’
‘Sorry.’ Kelly stood still, rubbing her hands over her arms, trying to warm herself up. She felt sick; was that pregnancy or panic? ‘Sorry. I’ll help you clean it up.’
‘Forget it. I’ll squirt something on it in the morning.’ Covering the stain with a cloth, Vivien flung herself in the chair and picked up the tub again. ‘So, you don’t speak to the guy for four years and then suddenly you have passionate sex. I’m seeing a whole different side to you. I honestly never thought of you as—’
‘Sex mad? Sex starved? Maybe this is what happens when you keep men at a distance for too many years. Oh God, what was I thinking, Vivi? He dumps me—’ her voice rose ‘—and what do I do? I reward him by having sex with him. What is the matter with me? Am I sick?’
Vivien eyed her warily. ‘I hope not because my carpet has taken enough punishment. How many years?’
‘What?’
‘You said this is what happens when you keep men at a distance for too many years. How long actually is it since you last had sex?’
Distracted, Kelly racked her brains. ‘I think it was about four years ago. Just after—it was part of my Alekos rehabilitation-programme.’
‘I gather it didn’t work.’
Kelly took slow, deep breaths, trying to calm herself so that she could think clearly. ‘Have you ever had a relationship where you just can’t help yourself? You know it isn’t good for you, you know there is going to be agony at the end of it, but something between you is so powerful it just draws you together.’
‘No. But my sister-in-law is an alcoholic and that description sounds uncannily close to how she feels about a bottle of vodka.’
‘I don’t find that analogy comforting. If she went without vodka for four years, would she still feel like that?’
‘Oh yes. She says the feeling never goes away. It’s just a question of not putting yourself near the vodka.’
‘The vodka took me home and barged into my house.’
Vivien blinked. ‘This conversation is getting too complicated for me. But vodka sounds like a good idea. I have some somewhere, for emergencies.’
‘I’m pregnant,’ Kelly said in a high voice. ‘I can’t drink.’
‘But I can. I’ll drink for both of us while you decide what you’re going to do.’ Moments later, Vivien emerged from the tiny kitchen carrying a bottle, her face white. ‘Forget that. You don’t need to
decide what to do, it’s been taken out of your hands. There’s an enormous limousine outside my flat and I don’t know anyone who owns one.’
‘What?’
‘It’s Alekos; it has to be.’
‘No!’ Panicking, Kelly sprang to her feet. ‘It can’t be him. Why would he be here? He can’t know I’m pregnant.’
‘Well, he was present at the time of conception,’ Vivien said helpfully. ‘And he obviously has a planet-sized brain, so there is a possibility that he’s considered that as a potential outcome.’
Her breath coming in rapid pants, Kelly pressed her hand to her chest. ‘No. No.’
‘On the other hand, men are a bit thick sometimes, so it’s always possible that he’s just come for the ring.’ Vivien patted her shoulder soothingly. ‘In which case, he’s going to be leaving with something that’s going to cost him a whole load more by the time you’ve added up nappies, clothes, an iPod and all the stuff kids seem to need now. Then there’s university fees, and—’
‘Shut up, Viv! You can’t let him in. Don’t let him in. I haven’t decided what to do.’ Kelly was panicking badly. ‘I need time.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous! Time isn’t going to change anything but your age.’ Vivien sprang towards the door. ‘But I promise not to say, “hello, Daddy”. Or “did you bring the nappies?”’
Kelly sank back onto the sofa with her head in her hands. Was she going to tell him? Of course she was going to tell him. She couldn’t deny her child the right to know his father, could she? That wasn’t her decision to make.
Maybe they could be one of those couples who seemed to get on perfectly well but just didn’t live together. But that would mean shuffling her child backwards and forwards like a lost parcel, and she didn’t want to do that.
Kelly groaned and pressed her hand to her forehead. How had this complete and utter nightmare happened to her? If only she hadn’t sold the ring, he wouldn’t have come looking for her, they wouldn’t have had sex and she wouldn’t be pregnant.
Just thinking of the word made her shake.
She needed time to think. She wasn’t ready to do this now.
The door to Vivien’s flat banged. ‘You can relax, it isn’t him. It’s one of his slaves.’ Vivien came in dragging a small suitcase and thrust an envelope at her. ‘Here we are. You can tip me if you like; round it up to the nearest million.’
‘What’s that? And where did you get that suitcase?’ Kelly slit the letter open and immediately recognised Alekos’s bold, dark scrawl. Reading the letter, she gulped.
‘Now what?’ Vivien snatched the letter from her: My private jet is waiting for you at the airport. Jannis will drive you. I will see you in Corfu. ‘Kel, any minute now I’m going to poke you in the eye with something sharp. Four-million-dollar diamond rings, Ferraris, limousines, private jets—give me one reason why I shouldn’t die of envy?’
Kelly’s teeth were chattering. ‘The guy left me on my wedding day.’
‘True. But honestly, Kelly, private jet,’ Vivien said weakly. ‘I mean, I bet you get loads of leg room. And the person in front won’t recline his seat into your face. No plastic food. How quickly could I get breast implants? I could go instead of you.’
‘You can go instead of me if you like because I’m not going.’ Kelly stared at the suitcase. ‘What’s that?’
‘Jannis said it was for you.’
‘Jannis? You’re on first-name terms? You got friendly rather quickly.’ Kelly dropped onto her knees and opened the suitcase.
‘Oh my goodness—clothes wrapped in tissue paper.’ Vivien’s voice was faint as she peered over Kelly’s shoulder. ‘He’s bought you a wardrobe?’
‘Probably because he doesn’t want me to show him up arriving dressed in my completely embarrassing black skirt,’ Kelly said stiffly, ripping apart tissue paper and pulling out a dress. ‘Oh! It’s—’
‘Gorgeous. Is that silk?’
Kelly fingered the beautiful fabric wistfully and then she stuffed it back in the suitcase. ‘No idea. Send it back to Jannis.’
‘What? Kelly, he’s inviting you to Corfu. You have to go.’
‘He wants me to bring his ring, that’s why! I’m his personal delivery-service and this is my payment.’
Vivien was still poking through the contents. ‘It’s a pretty good payment; these shoes are Christian Louboutin—do you know how much they cost?’
Kelly eyed the height of the heel in disbelief. ‘No, but I know the surgery to fix my broken ankle would be a lot. Not to mention all the things I’ll probably smash to pieces as I fall trying to walk in those. Vivien, I’m not going.’
Vivien folded her arms, a stubborn look on her face. ‘If this is about that woman he was seeing, he’s not with her any more. I’ve already told you that. It was all over the papers that they’d split up. Now I know why. He shagged you and realised that you’re the only one.’
‘If that’s supposed to sound romantic, you need to try harder.’ But there was no denying that, ever since she’d heard the news that Alekos had parted from that Marianna woman, her mood had lifted. It had been like walking in the darkness and suddenly discovering that you had a torch in your pocket.
‘You’re pregnant. You’re having this man’s baby. He has a right to know.’
Kelly’s palms were suddenly damp with sweat. ‘I will tell him.’
‘And this is the perfect time. Look at it this way: you tell him about the baby, then you can have a holiday in Greece with the four-million dollars.’
Kelly swallowed, her eyes on the suitcase. ‘I think I’d find it hard going back to Corfu.’ Everything had happened there. She’d fallen in love. She’d had her heart broken.
‘Life’s hard,’ Vivien said in a brisk, practical tone. ‘But it’s a heck of a lot easier if you have four-million dollars, and at least you’re going to face the world wearing Christian Louboutin.’
‘I don’t think they’ll fit over a plaster cast.’
‘You hold his arm while you wear them. That’s why you have a man.’
‘I don’t have a man.’
Vivien sighed. ‘Yes, you do. You’re just not sure if you want him. But look at it this way, Kel—the school holidays start tomorrow and your alternative is being sad and lonely here. Better to be rich and angry in Greece. Go. Put on the dress and the heels and walk right over him.’
* * *
Mistake, mistake, mistake...
Kelly sat rigid in the back of the chauffeur-driven car, staring straight ahead as they drove through the middle of bustling Corfu town, up across the mountains that rose in the centre of the island and down through twisty, narrow roads that led through endless olive groves. Each turn in the road revealed another tantalising glimpse of sparkling, turquoise sea and buttercup-yellow sand but Kelly was too stressed to enjoy the scenic temptations of Greece.
On her first trip to this island she’d fallen in love with the place, loving the smells, the sounds and the bright colours that were Greece. Then she’d fallen in love with the man.
Kelly felt nerves explode in her stomach.
If she’d arrived here under different circumstances, she would have been excited and thrilled. Instead she could hardly breathe. Anxiety choked her and all she could feel was panic at the thought of seeing Alekos again.
They hadn’t seen each other since that day in her kitchen.
She didn’t even know why she’d come. Not really.
Licking dry lips, she stared out of the window. Why had he asked her to bring the ring in person? What was going on in his head? What was he thinking?
Her brain was careering forward like a wild ride at a theme park. One minute hope popped up and she felt a flash of optimism, and then she was confronted by the ugly memory of what he’d done and hope plummeted to earth like a meteor
ite, leaving her drained and pessimistic.
She couldn’t forget that one comment he’d made about him doing her a favour by not marrying her. It had played over and over again in her head during the weeks since he’d walked out of her house, leaving the door wide open.
What exactly had he meant by that?
Was he implying that she’d been too young or something? Kelly gnawed her lip as she stared out of the window. Nineteen was pretty young to get married. Perhaps he’d been worried she hadn’t seen enough of the world or that she hadn’t known her own mind.
The only thing she knew for sure was that she had no idea what was going on in his mind, and she needed to know. She needed to know what future there was for her and her baby.
Resting her hand low on her abdomen, Kelly made herself a promise.
Whatever happened, however this turned out, there was one thing she was sure about: she was not going to do what her mother had done. She wasn’t going to cling onto a relationship that was never going to work.
This wasn’t just about her any more. It was about her child.
And she knew how it felt to be the child of parents who absolutely shouldn’t have been together.
As the car drove through a pair of elaborate wrought-iron gates, Kelly felt her stomach drop with anticipation. Even the novelty of having a private jet to herself hadn’t been able to damp down her apprehension at the approaching meeting. Whatever Alekos was expecting, it probably wasn’t the news that she was pregnant.
A stomach-churning cocktail of excitement and dread formed inside her.
Maybe he’d be pleased, she thought optimistically, hunting around for evidence to support that theory.
Alekos was Greek, wasn’t he? Everyone knew that Greeks had big families. Everyone knew the Greeks loved children. Unlike their counterparts in England, who had a tendency to treat the arrival of children with the same enthusiasm as vermin, Greek restaurant-owners were delighted when a young family arrived on the premises. They smiled indulgently if children ran around and danced to the music. Family was the Greek way of life.