by Sarah Morgan
He knew she hadn't bought anything. He knew—
She closed her eyes. Well, of course he knew. He'd been into her dressing room in Athens and seen it empty apart from her wedding dress, her jeans and a few tops and, whatever else he might be, the man wasn't stupid.
'You're not used to shopping, are you?' His tone conversational, he walked into her dressing room and returned carrying a narrow sheath of peacock-blue silk. ‘ An intriguing quality in someone who clearly requires such a large income to support her lifestyle.'
Alesia froze and waited in horrified stillness for him to ask the obvious question—why she'd demanded so much money when she didn't even seem to spend it.
Frantically rummaging around in her brain for a suitable answer and coming up with none, she almost cried with relief when he simply dropped the dress in her lap.
'Get dressed,' he ordered quietly, strolling back towards the terrace with a thoughtful glance in her direction, ‘ and then meet me on the terrace. We'll have supper and talk.'
Talk?
Alesia fingered the beautiful dress and stared after him in dismay. It had been easier when Sebastien had done his vanishing act, she conceded. At least then she hadn't had to worry about giving anything away.
Suddenly he seemed to have developed a desire to get to know her and that was going to present her with a big problem.
Fresh from the discovery that his new wife was certainly not lacking in personality, Sebastien lounged on the sun-baked terrace, staring at the azure-blue pool in brooding contemplation.
Never before had he felt confused by a woman. Out of control.
In his experience their behaviour followed a totally predictable pattern. They shopped, they lunched, they partied. Even when he switched one woman for another, which he did with monotonous regularity, the pattern didn't change.
So he'd never had any expectations that his new wife would prove to be different. Hadn't she, sole heiress to the Philipos fortune, demanded an enormous sum of money to marry him?
Once in possession of such generous funds, he'd expected her to shop and shop until her feet were blistered and yet it was rapidly becoming clear to him that she hadn't purchased a single item of clothing since their wedding day.
And maybe not before then, either.
When confronted with a selection of exclusive designer outfits, she didn't behave like any woman he'd ever met before.
In fact, her frank delight at the clothes he'd produced for her trip to the nightclub suggested that she'd virtually never purchased an item of clothing in her life.
As a male with endless experience in the art of pleasing the opposite sex, Sebastien had been forced to endure countless shopping sessions with women who contrived to look suitably bored by the whole procedure. Never had he known a woman to display such undisguised enthusiasm for clothes. Alesia had behaved like a child who'd just discovered the fun of dressing up.
Which left him with the intriguing and puzzling question of just how she'd spent his money. And he knew that she had spent it because her account was empty, but so far no one had been able to give him an answer to the question of exactly where the money had gone.
None of it made sense. And neither did his own reaction to her.
He gave a soft curse as hot molten lust thudded through him and the force of his own hunger once more threatened to overwhelm him. Never before had he felt this out of control around a woman. Only moments ago he'd been forced to leave the room because the sight of her lying there, sleepy-eyed and pink-cheeked, had made him want to pin her to the bed and keep her horizontal using the most basic and satisfying method known to man.
Even six hours in bed with her the previous afternoon hadn't cooled his ravenous libido. He'd had no intention of patronizing the opening of Ariadne's nightclub but he'd needed to do something to take his mind off his mounting sexual hunger for his new bride.
For a man whose attention span with women had always been alarmingly short, his reaction was as mystifying as it was frustrating and it didn't help to acknowledge that seeing her dancing with another man had forced him to exercise a restraint previously untested. For a brief moment he'd been furious that she'd chosen to dress in such a provocative manner and then he'd been forced to recall that her attire had been his selection, chosen in a desire to remind himself that he'd married a woman prepared to sell herself. Instead he'd succeeded in making her achingly sexy.
With those huge, innocent eyes and those endless legs she'd caught the attention of every man in the club. Not used to dealing with jealousy, Sebastien had gritted his teeth and wrestled with the totally baffling impulse to cover her from head to foot in a giant bin bag before transporting her home in an armoured vehicle with blacked-out windows.
It had taken every ounce of self-control for him not to grab the man who'd been dancing and smiling at Alesia and knock him unconscious.
Faced with the fact that he'd married a woman who was a walking temptation, Sebastien vowed that if he ever displayed her in public again then she'd be wearing a sack.
Perhaps it was just that he now viewed Alesia as his property, he mused, and he'd never been that great at sharing. And discovering that his bride was every bit as hot-blooded as himself made him even more inclined to lock her in his tower and throw away the key.
His body heating to boiling point at the mere memory of her uninhibited response to him, Sebastien inhaled deeply and forced himself to acknowledge that although he usually considered himself exceptionally broad-minded about many things, his new wife didn't fall into that category. When it came to Alesia his attitude was completely and unashamedly Greek.
Dressed in a shimmer of silk that she guessed must have cost a fortune, Alesia stepped out on to the terrace and blinked in surprise.
The table was laid, candles flickered in the darkness and the air smelt enticingly of heat and summer. And she knew Sebastien had done it all for her.
'Drink?' Sebastien strolled towards her and handed her a glass, which she took with a wary smile.
Tm not sure if I should—'
'It's not alcoholic,' he drawled lightly. 'I may be many things, agape mou, but stupid isn't one of them, although I have to confess that you become a different person under the influence of alcohol’
She flushed. ‘ I enjoyed dancing—'
'So I observed.' He surveyed her steadily. 'I want to know why last night was your first visit to a nightclub. I want to know why you haven't shopped.'
She searched for inspiration. 'Do you spend everything you earn?'
A ghost of a smile touched his firm mouth. 'Hardly.'
'Precisely.' She gave a shrug. ‘ I don't know where you get this idea that money is all about shopping.'
'Perhaps because to the female sex it usually is’ he drawled, 'but you're teaching me that women are even more complex than I first thought’ He waved a hand at the table.
'Let's sit down’
He was being so polite and she just wasn't used to it. Up until now their relationship had consisted of nothing but insults followed by hot sex.
She settled into her seat and her eyes scanned the various dishes laid out on the table.
'Did you cook?'
'Not exactly’ He gave a rueful smile. 'I confess that most of the dishes are delivered ready-made’
'They look good’ She leaned forward and took a closer look in the dish nearest to her. 'Jannis makes the same thing. It's my favourite—'
Sebastien stilled, his powerful frame suddenly rigid with tension, stunning dark eyes suddenly icy-cold. 'Who is Jannis?'
Alesia stared at him in surprise, wondering why he suddenly sounded so angry. 'Jannis is your chef'
The tension left him. 'Of course.'
'He's been teaching me to cook Greek dishes,' Alesia told him, wondering what was the matter with him. 'I enjoy it’
She just loved cooking and it was wonderful not to have to think about the cost of the ingredients.
; Dark eyes swept over her. 'How else have you been spending your time in my absence?'
She shrugged. 'I explored Athens.'
'And?' His gaze was quizzical. 'Did you enjoy the experience?'
She smiled. It's an amazing city. Fascinating.'
He took a deep breath. 'How is it that you have never visited Athens before? Your grandfather has a home very near to mine. Surely you have visited him there?'
Alesia froze. 'I—no’ she said finally. 'I only ever saw him at his home on Corfu.'
Just the once.
Her heart started to beat faster. Would he think that was suspicious? Would he question her further?
'What about you?' Taking the initiative, she started to question him. 'I know you have several different homes.'
He gave a smile. 'Several different houses, agape mou, but only one home. This one.' He was silent for a moment, staring out across the lit terrace towards the sea. 'Home should be somewhere that you can be yourself. Somewhere private, a place where you don't have to answer to other people.'
'But you're rich,' she blurted out impulsively. 'You don't have to answer to anyone—'
He topped up her glass, a gleam of amusement in his eyes as he looked at her. 'I run an extremely complex, billion-dollar corporation,' he drawled, 'and on most days it feels as though I answer to the world. Decisions that I make have an effect on other people's employment—on their lives.'
And did that really matter to him? Did he really care? Alesia stared at him. 'My grandfather just made lots of people redundant—'
His mouth tightened and the amusement in his eyes faded, to be replaced by a steely expression. 'And those people had families and responsibilities of their own. Redundancy is a reflection of poor business planning. If you look into the future you can anticipate market changes and respond in time. Redeploy people if necessary, offer training. My company has never been forced to make redundancies.'
'And yet you have a reputation every bit as ruthless as my grandfather,' she replied unthinkingly and to her surprise he laughed.
'Well, I'm certainly no soft touch, agape mou' he drawled lightly. ‘ I reward people well and in return I expect them to work hard. It's a fairly simple formula.'
And yet the financial pages of all the newspapers described him as a business genius. Alesia recalled the things she'd read about him following that first meeting with her grandfather.
'I read that when you left university you didn't join your father's business,' she said and he gave a shrug.
It is never comfortable stepping into someone else's shoes. I was hotheaded. I wanted to prove myself on my own ground.'
‘ So you started your own business?'
' My father's business is very traditional,' he explained, leaning forward and filling her plate. 'I wanted to test other areas so I developed computer software with a friend from university and then we sold it to companies. In our first year we turned over fifty million dollars. We developed the company for several years and then sold it and by then I was ready to join my father. And that's enough about me. I want to hear about you. I have heard about English boarding schools.'
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.