Kallie woke to a gentle touch and found the stewardess standing over her. Someone had put a blanket over her, too.
‘Mrs Kouros, we’re landing in a few minutes.’
For a second she was about to assert that she wasn’t Mrs Kouros until she remembered that she was. She scrambled up inelegantly, relieved to see that Alexand
ros was missing from his seat. She pushed her hands through her tumbled hair and secured it back again. The orchid came out in her hand and she looked at it. What had possessed her to put it in her hair earlier? She threw it down on the table beside her, disgusted with herself that she might have somehow unconsciously done it for him. She wanted to get out of the dress, which clung far too much, and get into jeans…or overalls, or something. Anything else.
And who had put the blanket over her? The thought that it might have been him made her insides liquefy. Silly, she chided herself. It was far more likely to have been the stewardess. She looked up and saw Alexandros emerge from a cabin at the back. He looked pristine. Her cheeks felt hot and her eyes sticky from sleep as he came towards her.
‘Good, you’re awake. We’re landing now.’
She just nodded, didn’t trust herself to speak, and diverted her attention to the view outside. The vista of Athens in the distance got closer and closer until they finally landed. A warm feeling spread through her as she saw the familiar skyline. Coming back to Athens had always felt like coming home, and she’d missed it.
Once they had landed everything happened so quickly it was a blur. They were out of the plane and ensconced in a luxury four-wheel-drive with tinted windows within minutes. One bodyguard in the front with the driver, the other following in another vehicle with the luggage. She was caught out by feeling suddenly happy at the thought of being back here. She needed to feel close to the Greek earth again.
The warm air caressed Kallie’s skin like silk as she stepped from the vehicle outside the Kouros villa. Dusk was claiming the sky, lines of pink strewn across it like ribbons as the sun fell. Her own family villa was hidden in the trees just a couple of hundred yards away. She sucked in the warm spring air and drank in the sight of Alexandros’s home. It had always had a slightly crumbling grandeur that Kallie had been in awe of, but the refurbishment was total and stunning. It was painted a warm off-white that reflected the glow of the setting sun. Its low front and flat roof made it look almost unassuming, but the wide veranda leading up to the huge front door hinted at the luxury that lay inside.
What kept the villa from looking almost too linear, flat, were the trees that lined the entire front façade. Tall and willowy, the typical pine trees of the region were spaced in such a way as to enhance the view of the villa, not detract from it. Kallie knew the first modest impression was deceptive.
The villa was built into the hillside, almost wrapped around it, in fact, giving it two stunning views over Athens—one from the garden, the other from the pool that was at the bottom of several levels cut into the earth, among trees and olive groves.
Just then the front door opened and a familiar full-bodied figure rushed out and down the steps, a round brown face wreathed in smiles. Kallie tried to keep track of the rapid Greek as Alexandros’s long-time housekeeper greeted him with a big hug. But when it came to Kallie Thea merely skated a glance over her and barely acknowledged her. Kallie’s stomach dropped. So Thea hadn’t forgiven her either. There had been a time when she had been the housekeeper’s favourite, when she used to sneak over and spend happy hours in the kitchen learning how to make traditional Greek recipes. But Thea had never forgiven Kallie for the way Alexandros had been treated. Kallie had tried to explain, feeling that out of everyone Thea might listen to her, but to no avail. And with seven years gone by, Kallie knew she’d be even less likely to listen now.
In the entrance hall Thea called a young maid and asked her to show Kallie up to her room, as coolly as if she’d never even known her. Kallie was determined not to reveal how hurt she was and followed the young girl upstairs. She was relieved to see that it wasn’t the master bedroom, although her relief fled when Alexandros appeared at the door, leaning against it nonchalantly.
He took her in, standing like a startled fawn caught in the headlights. The raw, visceral way he felt, the almost overwhelming urge he had to go over and tip her onto the bed, made him very, very wary. The maid had mistakenly brought her to a guest room. He’d intended her to be in his room with him…but now he wasn’t so sure that was the best idea, despite the clamour of his pulse. He was a civilised man of the world. Not someone ruled by his primitive desires, like some kind of caveman. He made a decision to play around with the truth slightly.
‘I’ve given you your own room, Kallie,’ he said as he came in. She backed away against the far wall, watching with huge eyes as he walked to another door and opened it. That led into the master bedroom. He left it open.
‘There’s no lock in this door…Like I said in Paris, you’ll come to me. And I’ll be ready when you do.’
He walked over and stood very close. He reached out a hand and trailed fingers over her collar-bone, which was bared in the dress. Her breath hitched. The energy crackled between them, like a live wire as his hand went down, lower and lower until his fingers grazed the slopes of her breast. Watching her intently, Alexandros let his hand cup one breast. Her nipple sprang to immediate hardness against the silk of her dress and pushed insistently against his palm. He struggled not to haul her close and take her mouth with his, ravaging her breast with his hand.
Kallie’s breath had long stopped and she’d given up trying to figure out how she still stood. She could feel a bead of sweat break out on her brow. Her lips quivered under his look and she could feel her body wanting to push…push against his hand, have him caress her breast, have his fingers close over her nipple, which throbbed. Then abruptly, cruelly, his hand was gone, his warmth was gone, his scent was gone as he stepped back. Not a shred of evidence that he was as in the same turmoil as she was.
‘So don’t take too long, Kallie. There won’t be a divorce until this marriage is consummated so you see…it’s in your hands. You have the power to make this go as quickly or as slowly as you want. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the anticipation.’
Kallie wanted nothing more at that moment than to have the nerve to reach up, pull him back to her and give in. Once they’d slept together she was sure she wouldn’t satisfy him…a man with his reputation, used to women like Isabelle Zolanz! One night with Kallie would cure him of whatever madness she was sure was just tied up with his lust for revenge.
He turned and stalked to the door, turning back just as he reached it. ‘Dinner will be served at eight.’
She stood for a long time, waiting for her body to cool down. A curt knock came on the door and Kallie steeled herself, expecting to see Alexandros again. But it opened to reveal Thea, who put her bags inside the door. She was almost gone when Kallie called to her. ‘Thea…’ She walked over when the woman stopped, her heart aching that Thea could be so cold.
‘Thea…it’s good to see you again.’
The older woman just looked at Kallie, grunted something unintelligible and left.
Kallie went and sat down on the bed. Her head reeled. Little had she known that when Alexandros had stormed out of her life seven years ago she’d be back to face her demons. And how…
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘YOU look tired.’
‘Thanks,’ Kallie replied dryly, noting that he looked vibrant, vital and more alive than anyone she’d ever known. They were sitting at a wrought-iron table, covered with a white linen tablecloth, on the back terrace. The French doors to the salon inside had been thrown open. Thea had insisted on serving dinner out here, more, Kallie was sure, for Alexandros’s pleasure than hers. But Kallie had to admit that it was magical. Chinese lanterns threw shapes on the ground at their feet, she could just make out the glimmer of water from the pool on the next level down and the glinting, twinkling lights of Athens and the Acropolis in the distance were mesmerising.
‘I’d forgotten how breathtaking this view is.’
‘Yes. It is.’