Lacing his fingers through Eve’s, he escorted her out of the building. Only when they were on the sidewalk and the cooling night air hit their skin, did he turn to her.
“You little fool,” he bit out. “What were you thinking with that little show?”
But she clearly wasn’t going to let him railroad her.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” she retorted furiously, tossing her head. “Isn’t this who you want me to be?” She blinked back sudden tears. “And you think just because you don’t want me, you can pass me off to your friends—”
He pushed toward her, backing her into the darkness of the rough, rubbish-strewn alley.
“You think I don’t want you?” he said dangerously.
When her heels hit the stone wall, she stopped, lifting her chin. Her eyes shimmered in the moonlight as she matched him toe-to-toe, holding her ground.
“I think you’re a liar,” she said hoarsely. “You lured me into marrying you under false pretenses, and now you want to punish me for some reason. I don’t know why, but I was a fool to trust your words, your lying kisses. I can’t believe I ever let you touch me. I never will again—”
He cut her off with a kiss, pushing her back against the rough stone, holding her wrists like shackles against the wall. He spread her lips wide, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth, deepening the kiss until she sagged in his arms. Until she started to kiss him back.
The moment he felt her lips move against his, as she matched his fire with her own, a surge of reckless joy went through him that he could not control.
He was going to take her right here in the alley. Against the wall. Damn the consequences.
He would possess her now, even if he died for it.
Eve’s breath came in little gasps as he slowly kissed up her neck, his arms tracing up and down her naked skin.
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered. Feeling his mouth on her sent sparks down her body until she thought she might forget to breathe. “I did what you wanted. Why are you so angry? Why do you feel possessive because I danced with your friend—exactly as you wanted?”
“Seeing all those other men lusting for you was never what I wanted,” he ground out.
“Then why?” she managed as his hands stroked her roughly over the sequins of her dress. “Why are you killing me like this—kissing me one moment then pushing me away the next? As if you hate me? Why are you torturing me?”
His hands stilled. He looked down at her, and the fire in his eyes of a moment before had changed to longing. To confusion. To pain.
Staring down at her, he suddenly yanked off his black blazer. Without a word, he wrapped it around her tiny silver dress. The jacket hung long on her, covering her modestly to mid-thigh.
Grabbing the jacket’s lapels, he pulled her close. He leaned his head forward, pressing his forehead against hers.
When he spoke, his voice was so low she barely heard his words. “I’m sorry.”
And just like that, she exhaled.
He pulled her gently from the alley to the Bentley waiting for them on the street. Without explanation, Talos opened Eve’s door and helped her inside. He didn’t speak to her in the car—he didn’t even look at her.
But he held her hand tightly all the way to his penthouse.
When they arrived at his apartment a few moments later, he helped her out of the car. Still, he held her hand and didn’t let go.
She stared up at him in a daze, unable to look away from his darkly handsome face as they crossed the lobby of the elegant nineteenth-century building and went into the elevator. At the door of the penthouse, Talos unlocked it and turned to her, his face dark with need.
“I should have done this a long time ago.”
He lifted her in his arms. His body glowed with warmth and heat she could almost see, burning off his body in waves. Holding her closely, Talos kicked the door open, then kicked it closed behind them.
Crossing the penthouse, with the view of the lit-up Acropolis on the mountain floating high above the night, he gently set her on her feet on the marble floor. Never taking his eyes from hers, he peeled his large black jacket off her shoulders, dropping it to the floor.
She closed her eyes, her breath shortening as she felt him reach behind her head and undo her ponytail. Her hair fell softly against her shoulders in one shake.
She felt his hands run over her body, stroking her over her silvery cocktail dress.