'You, Saffron,' he murmured sexily, and deep down inside her she felt her body's treacherous response and did nothing to evade his lowering head; she could almost taste his kiss. But instead he said, his deep voice close to her ear, 'But I can wait. . .' his warm breath touched her cheek '. . .until I discover exactly what you and Mama are up to.'
She trembled as his breath caressed her skin. She had felt desire before, but never anything like this. . . Yet she , knew Alex was not serious. He was back to his sexual teasing of yesterday, and she had almost succumbed again. Stiffening her spine, she responded flatly, 'I have no idea what you mean. Now if you will excuse me Anna needs me.' And with her free hand she found the doorhandle and turned it.
'So do I. Oh, so do I! ' Alex husked, and with a swift bite on her earlobe that sent stóvers down her spine he slowly relinquished her arm, his long fingers sliding down the slender length to her hand; his thumb stroked over her palm and his husky chuckle was enough for Saffron to snatch her hand away.
'Go tease Sylvia,' she grated between clenched teeth. He was not making a fool of her again. 'She will appreciate it—you're two of a kind.'
'Maybe!' His eyes narrowed on her flushed face. 'But don't make the mistake of thinking you and James are two of a kind. I will not allow it.'
His arrogance was incredible, she thought angrily, but was in no mood to argue. Hadn't she decided to get through this holiday with the least possible aggravation? She needed the money and as long as she remembered that and kept out of Alex's way she would succeed. Pushing open the door, she slipped into Anna's cabin, without a word, and closed the door behind her.
Anna was sitting at the dressing-table mirror, but turned as Saffron entered, a worried frown marring hoc gentle face. 'Do you think Alex is getting suspicious about my accident?' she asked immediately.
'No, of course not. He has probably just decided to keep a closer eye on you.' After neglecting you for months on end, Saffron added silently, but didn't say it, though she wanted to.
The next few days were a mixture of heaven and hell for Saffron. The yacht sailed majestically on through clear blue waters, the sun continuing to shine with the temperate heat of early summer that was just about perfect. They cruised around the group of islands known as the Cyclades from the island of Kithnos to Sérifos, Sífnos, Kímolos and Páros.
Saffron did her best to avoid Alex, and Anna helped by insisting that they breakfast in her cabin. Saffron used her fair skin as an excuse not to join the rest of than around the pool for morning coffee. Instead she took to creeping out at seven in the morning and enjoying the pool by herself. But on the third morning that was also ended as the tall, dark figure of Alex appeared, his broad, muscular frame virtuaïïy naked except for black swimming-trunks.
Saffron gulped and almost swallowed half the pool when she first clapped eyes on him, but worse was to follow. His bronzed body executed a perfect dive into the water with an elegance that belied his huge frame, then surfaced whore Saffron was holding on to the side of the pool. His brown eyes searched her face with an intensity that made her tremble. He lifted his hand to where her usually riotous curls were plastered to her head, and said, 'I know you from somewhere. We have met before, I'm sure of it.'
"That old line. . .' she snorted, but was stunned to realise that he was only vocalising what she herself had been thinking since the first time she saw him at Rhodes.
'Maybe we were soul mates in another life,' he murmured, his hand stroking over her head and down to her throat, 'and the desire has lingered on.'
'Please. . .' She gulped as his hard thighs brushed against hers beneath the water; his hand slid lower, curving around her waist, then eased upwards to cup the underside of her breast.
She trembled. 'Stop that!' she gasped. 'Your mother will be here any minute.'
'So?' he mocked. 'I'm a grown man, and anyway I'm sure she'd be delighted if her plan worked.'
'Plan. . .?' Saffron was lost.
'Don't look so worried. This is not the time.' A steward walked past with a loaded coffee-tray. 'Too many distractions, but I am going to have you, Saffron, so stop trying to avoid me, hmm?'
Saffron locked the cabin door behind her and marched straight to the bathroom, shedding her dress and underwear on the way. She turned on the shower tap and stepped under the soothing spray, silently cursing Alex Statis. Thank God the boat -was docking in the port of Piraeus tomorrow morning; she couldn't stand much more.
Since the morning in the pool Alex had gone out of his way to make her life hell At every opportunity he touched her—an arm around her shoulder, even a kiss on the cheek, and, if he caught her alone, a kiss anywhere else he could reach. She tried to stop him, but her own foolish emotions seemed to leave her paralysed in his presence. He had the uncanny ability to enthrall, entice and terrify her all at the same time. The otters had noticed, of course, and Sylvia had actually stopped her earlier today by the pool! and told her is no uncertain terms just what she thought.
'Really, Saffron, throwing yourself at Ales won't gel you anywhere. He's used to your sort, and like all men he's not going to refuse something so blatantly offered.. But make no mistake—I am the one he always comes back to.'
Speechless with anger at the sitter unfairness of it all—it was Alex chasing her, or more exactly teasing her, act the other way around—Saffron had walked away without answering.
But tonight! She groaned out loud, recalling the scene at dinner. Anna had bees sitting neat to Saffron at the table and she had quietly repeated the- request she had made earlier that day for Saffy to make the job permanent.
Green eyes gentle, Saffron had tried to explain her reluctance, 'I intend to start my own salon, Anna, by the end of the year; It's always been my ambition. But I promise you can be my first customer.'
'But what about my shoulder? I need you every day,' Anna whispered so that the others couldn't hear.
'In another few weeks you will be back to normal.'
'But I like having you. . .'
'You won't need me. . .' Saffron hadn't realised her voice had risen, and she shot a startled look down the table, her green eyes caught and held by Alex's devilish brown ones.
'Need you, Saffron, darling? Maybe Mama doesn't, but you know I do,' he prompted mockingly.
Complete silence greeted his comment. Horrified, Saffron glanced around the table and seven pairs of eyes were fixed assessingly on her flushed face. The eighth pair—Alex's—werelit with laughter and something deeper she didn't recognise.
She attempted to laugh off his outrageous statement, but her dry mouth would not let her. Angry at herself and him, she shot back, 'Yes, well, you would say that, Mr Statis.' Her fingers crossed beneath the table, and praying that Anna would forgive her, she added insultingly, 'After all, if I look after your mother it saves you the bother.'
His dark brows drew together, his mouth tightened to a grim line ringed with white in his tanned face and his eyes darkened to jet, his fury at the insult implicit in her comment barely contained. Saffron thought he was about to explode, but help came from an unexpected quarter: Sylvia.
'You did not have to put it so bluntly, Saffron. We all knew what Alex meant, and it is only natural that he wants his mother cared for, and I must say you and Anna do seem to get on remarkably well.'
Normal conversation resumed almost immediately, the social niceties preserved. But Saffron felt the force of Alex's anger beating down on her all through the meal, and she didn't dare look at him.
Stepping out of the shower and briskly rubbing herself dry with a large fluffy towel, she padded barefoot back into the bedroom. She stopped suddenly, her eyes going to the door. The handle was turning, and then was violently rattled.
'Open this door, Saffron; I want to talk to you,' came Alex's unmistakable deep voice.
No way, she thought, a broad grin curving her lovely mouth. She had locked the door and left the key in. Not even the master key would do any good.
Thanking God for
her foresight, she crawled naked into bed, a self-satisfied smile on her face. Stroke another one up to her. . .
Early the next morning, as Saffron quietly opened her cabin door prior to going to Anna's, she halted in her tracks.
Sylvia, dressed in a diaphanous black négligé, her hand curved around the handle of the door opposite, held a finger to her lips and whispered, 'Shh. Alex needs his sleep; it was almost dawn. . .' Her lips curled in a smile; she looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary. 'Well, you know what I mean, Saffron, dear. But, with his mother on board, propriety dictates that I return to my own cabin. . .'
CHAPTER FOUR
Saffron was stunned. She closed her eyes for a second, fighting to subdue the pain spreading in her chest. She tried to tell herself it was heartburn—perfectly natural; she had not eaten yet. But she knew she was only fooling herself. She hated to admit it, but for the first time in her life she was suffering from the green-eyed monster— jealousy.
Dazed, she made her way to Anna's cabin and walked in, horrified at her blind stupidity. She was jealous of Sylvia and Alex. How had it happened? She had told herself that Alex just liked teasing her, his attentions weren't genuine, and anyway she didn't care a hoot about him even if she did enjoy their verbal sparring. But seeing Sylvia leave his room had shocked her to the core, and she was forced to admit that somewhere deep down inside she had nursed a secret hope, ever since Mykonos, that perhaps Alex did care for her.
'Good, dear, you're early. I wanted to talk to you before we have to join the others.'
Saffron raised dazed green eyes to where Anna sat propped up in bed, a tray with a coffee-jug and cups at her siste. 'Talk'; she had heard that much.
'Yes, come and sit down and have a coffee.' like a robot Saffron did as she said, taking the proffered cup and sipping the hot brew thirstily. 'About last night, Saffron. I think I might have misled you slightly in the past weeks. Actually my son and I have a very good relationship, and I do see him a lot more than I led you to believe. But the accident made me feel down. Alex was in Australia, and I was wallowing in self-pity.'
Saffron's head shot up and she saw the guilty smile on Anna's face. 'Misled me?'
'Yes, well, ordinarily Alex is in London every month; he has his own place but he calls to see me or telephones me almost daily. Plus in the autumn we holiday together at the villa on Serendipidos. He really is a very caring son and would not shunt me off with just anyone.'
Saffron wasn't even surprised? Now she knew why Anna had not been shocked when Alex had appeared at the café In Rhodes. But, frightened by her own reaction to him, she wanted to believe the worst of him.
'I know, Anna, and the comment I made last night was more in self-defence. 'Your son seems to delight in teasing me, I realise now.' Especially after seeing Sylvia this morning, she thought sadly. 'He doesn't mean anything by it.'
'Oh, I'm so glad you understand, because Alex is really quite soft-hearted beneath that hard exterior of his, and I don't want you to think badly of him, especially as he seems to like you.'
Like her? What a joke! He liked anything in a skirt, Saffron thought, and it gave her no joy.
'Plus I want you to come with me to Serendipidos in the autumn, it's a beautiful place; you will really enjoy it. You convinced me last night that you don't want a permanent job, but it will only mean extending your contract by a week or two.'
Saffron's face fell. Weeks in the vicinity of Alex was not something she could look forward to with equanimity. Her body reacted in the strangest way whenever he was near, and yet there was something about him that subconsciously repelled her. She didn't understand it at all.
Anna, as if sensing her disquiet, added, 'Well, it is a long way ahead, but think about it. Sun and sea—a lot better than autumn in England.'
Saffron held up her hand. 'OK, Anna, you've convinced me.' The shock of this morning had cured her growing fascination with Alex once and for all, and by the time she had spent the summer in London with Anna she would have got over her peculiar attraction to the man, she told herself sensibly.
Breakfast was a buffet on the poop deck, a kind of casual chaos. In the middle of it a car arrived to take James and Andreas into Athens, and hasty goodbyes were exchanged. Alex coolly instructed Saffron to have everything ready for Anna and herself to depart by helicopter for the airport, where a private jet was waiting to take them directly to London. He intended to accompany the rest of the party into Athens; his head office was there, and he needed to work.
Following the steward carrying their bags to the helipad on the top of the yacht, Saffron was feeling slightly piqued. The least Alex could have done was to be around to say goodbye to his mother, she thought, not for a second admitting that she was peeved because he hadn't seen fit to say goodbye to her either.
The blades were already in motion on the big black insect-like machine as she and Anna waited while the steward loaded the luggage.
'Mama, I almost missed you. Have a good flight and I'll be in touch soon.'
Saffron turned her head at the sound of Alex's voice. He had stopped on the opposite side of Anna, his dark head bent to kiss the older woman on the cheek. Saffron's eyes widened in amazement as he straightened up and looked directly at her. Gone was the casually dressed man of the past week and in his place was a sombrely dressed businessman. He was wearing an expensively tailored navy three-piece suit, the jacket fitting snugly across his broad shoulders, the trousers elegantly tracing his long legs, a white silk shirt in stark contrast to his tanned complexion and a conservative navy and grey striped tie at his throat. A black leather briefcase in one hand completed the picture of a ruthless tycoon. Her whole body clenched in shock.
'You can leave now,' Alex drawled, but she did not hear him say that the pilot was waiting or that he would see her in London, and, like a thunderbolt, it hit her.
She did know him! Had done for seven years. . . She must have said something that passed as goodbye, she thought distractedly as she urged Anna towards the waiting helicopter. She did not see Alex's frowning glance or the intense scrutiny in his dark eyes as she climbed aboard. She could not get away fast enough. . .
She was intensely grateful for the noise in the helicopter that prevented her having to talk to Anna. She needed the time to collect her own thoughts. . .
Seven years ago, the first day at her first job after finishing college that also turned out to be her last day at the supposedly exclusive health club. The man standing in Reception saying, 'You can leave now,' and her own furious anger and embarrassment as for one long moment she had stared at the owner of the place. A tall, dark man in a navy suit, briefcase in hand, and contemptuous black eyes that burned into her skull. She had not said a word but had run out never to return. A bitter, cynical smile curved her soft lips; Alex Statis was that man. She would stake her life on it.
A tug on her arm by Anna, and she realised that the helicopter was circling to land at the far side of the airport. But Saffron was in no position to take in her surroundings; as if in a dream she helped Anna from the helicopter and followed the pilot across to a waiting jet some hundred yards away. Still in a state of shock she sank down into the seat beside Anna and barely spoke as the jet took off.
Luckily for Saffron, Anna slept almost the whole journey, only rousing to eat a perfectly prepared meal and then dozing off again. By the time Saffron sank down on the familiar white-lace-draped four-poster bed in Anna's London home late that night, alone at last, she felt sick to her soul.
How she had managed to hide her distraught state from Anna for the past few hours was a miracle, she thought with a grim smile. In fact she was not sure that she had, because over dinner Anna had asked her if anything was wrong. She had quickly reassured her that she was fine, just a bit jet-lagged, but had felt an absolute fraud when Anna had insisted that she go to bed and forget about her massage for tonight.
Private yacht, private airplane, this lovely house, dotted with antiques, a whole island f
or heaven's sake! She ground her teeth in sheer rage. Some would say she was lucky to be living in such as environment. Except that Saffron knew where some of the money had come from, and a few questions to Anna had convinced her that the older woman didn't.
Over dinner Saffron had deliberately turned the conversation to Alex's business, and finally asked the question that had plagued her all day.
'Does he own health clubs in London? I seem to remember hearing of one in Wimbledon,' she'd said, and had mentioned the name.
Anna's response had confirmed what Saffron already knew. 'I vaguely remember hearing the name somewhere but I really have no idea, Saffy. When Alex took over the family shipping business it was in a sorry state; he had to work like a slave to make it profitable. He has expanded into all sorts of things over the years. I can't keep up with him; I'm hopeless at business—much prefer the arts. But Alex is quite famous in his own way. The gossip columns seem to enjoy reporting his numerous affairs, unfortunately.'
A Devious Desire Page 6