Her eyes flew to his. ‘Aren’t you joining me?’
Humbled by the question, Sebastien inhaled deeply. ‘Do you want me to? I dropped you in the water—’
She gave a tired smile. ‘You didn’t know—’
‘But I know now and from now on nothing is going to hurt you, agape mou,’ Sebastien vowed, stripping off and joining her in the bed with a flattering degree of speed.
With characteristic decisiveness he hauled her against him and rearranged her so that every shivering inch of her was pressed against his own body.
‘Feels nice,’ she mumbled, her eyes closing as she nestled against his shoulder.
Discovering feelings of protectiveness which he hadn’t known he was capable of, Sebastien lay still, afraid to move in case the shivering started again.
No wonder she’d hated his family, he mused grimly, breathing in her warm, tantalizing scent and forcing himself to ignore it.
And no wonder Dimitrios Philipos blamed the Fiorukis family for everything. Not only had his beloved only son been killed on the Fiorukis yacht along with his wife, but the last remaining member of his family, his precious granddaughter, had been injured.
Was that why he’d had her educated in England? Sebastien mused.
Had Philipos removed her from Greece for her own safety?
Clearly he’d misjudged Dimitrios Philipos, Sebastien conceded, stroking aside a strand of blonde hair from Alesia’s face and noting with relief that her colour was showing a definite improvement. In choosing to link their two families then he was indeed healing a rift that had been painful for both parties.
And, once he’d consulted experts and cured her of her water phobia, their marriage could begin properly.
Starting from tomorrow, Sebastien vowed, they were going to be a proper family.
Alesia held tightly to Sebastien’s hand, grateful for the distraction that his conversation offered. He’d already apologized about a hundred times for the fact that they had to board the helicopter in order to return to Athens but he’d assured her that the alternative boat trip was much longer and would be more agonizing for her.
Touched by his concern and feeling much safer than she could have imagined possible, Alesia kept hold of his hand and forced herself to concentrate on other things as the azure-blue Mediterranean blurred beneath them.
Traumatic though the incident had been, she was glad that he knew. In a way she’d revealed an important part of herself. And if anything they were closer than ever and she knew now that she loved Sebastien Fiorukis with a wild passion that she hadn’t believed possible.
Never had she thought she’d share this with a man and if, deep down, part of her was constantly reminding her that she wasn’t being totally honest with him, she was managing to ignore it.
For the first time in her life she was truly happy and she wasn’t going to allow anything to spoil it.
Sebastien’s mobile phone rang as soon as they landed and he gave a frustrated sigh. ‘End of our peace and quiet,’ he drawled as he shot her a look of apology and took the call.
Alesia smiled. She didn’t mind that he took the call. She understood his dedication to his business, the fact that he cared what happened to his employees, the fact that he took his responsibilities so seriously. It was one of the many qualities that she’d grown to love about him.
Sebastien ended the call and looked at her, indecision evident in every plane of his handsome face.
‘What’s the matter?’ Relieved to finally be on dry land, Alesia relaxed.
‘That was the office.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘A crisis awaits—’
‘Then you should go.’
‘I don’t want to leave you,’ he confessed, his dark eyes sweeping her face with visible concern. ‘You were so unwell yesterday and I feel totally responsible.’
Basking in the totally new experience of having someone who wanted to take care of her, Alesia smiled at him happily. ‘I’m fine now. I’ll just rest and wait for you to come home,’ she assured him, thinking that his absence would give her time to phone her mother and experiment with all those wonderful new cosmetics he’d presented her with. Hopefully the rack of clothes would still be there too, and she’d be able to wow him with an amazing outfit on his return from the office.
‘I won’t be long,’ he promised, bending his dark head to deliver a drugging kiss to her parted lips, ‘and if you feel at all ill you’re to call me on my mobile.’
‘I don’t know the number.’
He looked startled, as if it hadn’t occurred to him before now that she’d had no way of getting in touch with him. ‘I’ll get you a phone straight away, with my number programmed into it. The slightest problem, I want you to call.’