Axios inhaled sharply, an incoherent sound rumbling from his chest.
Could we not even exchange a common courtesy without feeling as if the world was about to burst into flames?
Evidently not.
Which was probably all the warning I needed to keep my distance. Never to repeat what had happened on his sofa.
‘Efkharisto,’ he murmured, his voice deep and thick.
His eyes were molten, as heated as that needy place between my legs. Unable to withstand his gaze, for fear I’d give myself away, I turned to face the rack of clothes. Of course my senses leaped high when he stepped next to me, then took another step closer to the open closet.
To my shaky memory this was perhaps the first time I’d been this close without having his laser eyes on me. The opportunity to give in to the urge to stare was too hard to resist.
The breadth and packed strength of his shoulders.
The vibrancy of his lustrous hair.
The sharp, mouthwatering angle of his freshly shaved jaw.
Too busy fighting the way every inch of Axios triggered this unwanted but unstoppable reaction, I didn’t notice he’d made a selection until he pivoted, the momentary gaping of his shirt delivering one final punch of his sheer magnetism before he drawled, ‘You’ll look beautiful in any one of these gowns. But this one will do, I think.’
Heat engulfed my face as I reached out and snatched the gown from his hand, hastily stepping back. ‘I...thanks.’
‘You need help with the zip?’ he asked, in a voice thicker than before.
Aware of the dangerous waters I was treading, I shook my head. ‘I think I’ll manage. Thanks.’
He hesitated for a stomach-churning moment, then nodded. ‘I’ll return in fifteen minutes. We will go downstairs together, if you wish.’
I nodded my thanks.
Contrary to his stealthy arrival, I was conscious of Ax’s departure for the simple reason that he seemed to take the very air out of the room with him, leaving me breathless as I shrugged off the robe and slipped the gown over my head.
Barely paying attention to the design, I zipped it up and stepped into the heels that had been helpfully paired with the dress, spritzed perfume on my neck and wrists, and was adding the finishing touches to my make-up when his knock came.
Very much aware of the silk clinging to my hips and breasts, I prayed my body wouldn’t give me away as I opened the door.
For the longest time he simply stared at me. ‘Beautiful,’ he finally stated, and the sizzling gleam in his eyes only lent him a more dangerous air, rendering all my efforts for composure useless as I accepted there was no level this man couldn’t reach in the drop-dead gorgeous stakes.
‘Thank you,’ I replied, my voice a husky mess.
He held out his arm. I took it, and was still in a semi-daze when we exited the limo at the entrance to the six-star luxury hotel in the middle of Athens where the party was being held.
The moment Ax and I stepped into the ballroom silence fell over the guests, every eye fixed on me.
‘I don’t know whether to smile or scowl. What’s de rigueur these days?’ I murmured.
‘Just ignore them. That’s what I do when I feel out of place.’
I laughed, mostly to hide his unabated effect on me. Besides, I couldn’t help it, because picturing Axios as a fish out of water was like attempting to imagine what the landscape inside a black hole looked like.
‘Something funny?’
‘You wouldn’t look out of place amongst a clutch of nuns in a prayer circle.’
He smiled, and just like that my body went into free fall, breaking one tension while ratcheting up another. And as I was crashing down, towards some unknown destination, it struck me that this was the first time I’d seen any semblance of a smile from the man I called my husband.
‘An unusual compliment, I think, but thank you all the same,’ he said.