She shook her head, hardly able to take in what she was seeing. Juxtaposed against an impossibly turquoise sky, the pale stone columns looked fantastical, so that she half expected a centaur to step out from behind one.
‘Can we get any closer?’
Nodding, he drew her against him, his hand sliding up her back as his mouth covered hers.
Heat flooded her and she could feel herself melting, her body softening against the hard breadth of his chest.
Breathing out unsteadily, he lifted his mouth, and stared down at her, his dark eyes gleaming. ‘Is that close enough?’
Heart thudding, she gave him what she hoped was a casual smile and lightened her voice. ‘I was talking about the ruins.’
‘Come on, then.’
He caught her hand in his and they followed the sage-scented track down the hillside, past clumps of almost violently pink cistus.
Up close, the ruins were breathtaking. Standing in the shadow of the columns, it was impossible for her not to be impressed by their size—and the fact that they were still standing. But it wasn’t just about size or age, she thought, gazing at them in silence. It was about the human cost of building it. How had they got the stone there? And how long had it taken for them to carve it with such precision?
His hand closed around hers and, turning to him, she smiled. ‘Is it a temple?’
He nodded. ‘To Ananke,’ he said softly. ‘Goddess of destiny and necessity. She’s very important because she directed the fate of gods and mortals.’
He was kissing her as he spoke, feather-light but feverish kisses against her mouth and throat. She was losing concentration, losing herself in the feel of his lips on her skin.
Drawing back slightly, she frowned. ‘I’ve never heard of her.’
‘Shh!’ He held up his finger to his lips, but he was smiling. ‘I need to keep in her good books until after I’ve floated the business.’
Teddie glanced at him uncertainly. Why was he bringing up work now—here? It seemed almost sacrilegious, not to say out of place, but the hazy sunshine was touching his dark eyes with gold and she felt dizzy with a longing that was almost like vertigo.
‘I thought it was hard work and a go-getting attitude that built your empire,’ she said teasingly.
His mouth curled upwards and he took a step closer, so that suddenly she was breathless with his nearness.
To hide the tangle of desire and excitement twisting inside her, she slipped free of his grip, stepping sideways and behind a pillar, darting out of reach as he followed her.
‘You’re not telling me you really believe in all that stuff about destiny?’ she said, as he caught her wrist and spun her against him. Her pulse butterflied forward as she felt his muscles tighten.
‘I used to not,’ he said slowly.
She swallowed. There was a tension in the air, a stillness and a silence, as if a storm was about to break, and she had to count the beats of her heart to steady herself.
‘So what changed your mind?’
He lifted his head, and their gazes locked. ‘You did. When you decided to meet Edward Claiborne in my hotel.’
She looked startled—and confused, Aristo thought as her green eyes widened.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘That’s okay. I didn’t either. Not until we got here.’
He stared past her at the ruined temple, his pulse oscillating inside his head, wanting, needing to find the words that would make her change her mind—
‘That first evening, when you and George went to bed, I was so tense I couldn’t sleep. So I went out for a walk and I ended up here.’ He frowned, remembering how he’d fe
lt suddenly calm and resolute as he’d wandered between the columns. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that’s happened. You being at the Kildare. Me going to your apartment. All of it so nearly didn’t happen—and yet it did.’
Her hand tightened in his. ‘I wasn’t even supposed to be there. Elliot was. But he’d double-booked himself so I had to go instead,’ she said quietly.