in the bedroom, used to women idolising him. ‘Adequate?’ he asked.
She shrugged and tried to walk away, but he caught hold of her wrist again and pulled her back.
‘Now run that by me again.’ He pulled her down onto his knee. She looked very sexy in just her jacket and underwear, her long, bare legs shapely and inviting.
‘Alexi, I’m going for a shower. I haven’t got the energy to reassure you.’
‘Very amusing, Katie!’ He smiled at that. ‘Well, let’s see if we can conjure some energy up, shall we?’ He pulled her closer and crushed her lips with his. For a moment she tried to resist him, tried to act as if his kiss meant little, but after a while the passion and the heat started to simmer inside her and she started to kiss him back hungrily.
‘Now run that word by me again,’ he murmured, his hand moving inside the jacket, stroking over her curves.
The way he was caressing her now made her scared that he could prove his point all too easily. ‘Don’t, Alexi. Stop …’
He pulled down her bra, stroking her breasts with firm strokes. ‘Now what were you saying?’ he asked playfully as he felt her body responding very positively.
What had she been saying? She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t remember anything except how good that was. ‘Alexi, don’t stop,’ she whispered as his hand moved away.
‘I’ve no intention of stopping …’ he told her huskily. ‘None at all.’
Katie lifted her head to the full force of the shower, letting it run over her face in cooling jets. After the heat of their passion she needed cooling down. How was it that Alexi was able to turn her on like that? How did he make her feel so alive, so excited—almost delirious with passion and then so sated—so deeply sated? And then so sad …
The first time they had made love had been wild and abandoned but just now he had taken her with a gentle tenderness that had been so incredibly moving it made her just want to cry.
But it was just sex, she reminded herself fiercely. Alexi had just been proving to her how much he could control her and turn her on. And the tenderness had been just out of deference to the fact that she was expecting their child.
There was no point reading anything into it. No point day dreaming or hoping for loving, meaningful words; it wasn’t going to happen.
She snapped off the water, stepped out of the shower and put on one of the fluffy white-towelling robes that were hanging on the back of the door.
Then she stepped back through to the bedroom. Alexi had left about thirty minutes ago—but he must have returned whilst she’d been in the shower because their luggage was now sitting next to the wardrobe. She opened up her case and wondered what she should put on.
Alexi had said something about having an intimate candlelight supper out on the terrace. The thought made her heart tight with pain.
She had all the trappings of a romantic honeymoon—but none of the feelings. Was she destined to go through her marriage like this? Was this as good as it would get? And just say Alexi got tired of her soon? He enjoyed a challenge, and if he could have her twenty-four-seven then sexually he might want to move on to some other conquest. He might just keep her tidily tucked away in the background—the little wife who had given him the all-important heir.
She sat down on the bed. Why was she torturing herself with these thoughts? She needed to stop. She needed not to care!
Her eyes drifted around the room. Deep golden carpets covered the floor and turquoise-and-gold heavy curtains hung at windows leading out to a large balcony. The doors were open, and a soft breeze stirred the frothy voiles that were pulled across to keep the insects out.
Katie felt a little disorientated after all the travelling, and she would have liked to lie down and sleep, but, mindful of the fact that Alexi could come into the room at any moment, she got up and went to stand by the windows.
Night had descended with speed, and she could just make out the dark silhouettes of the cypress trees against the moonlit sky and the silvery glitter of the sea. She felt a little better after some deep breaths of the sea air. She could hear the sound of the cicadas, and the distant rush of the tide against the shore.
She would get dressed; she would face Alexi and she would act cool and reserved. OK, she couldn’t act that way when he kissed her, when they made love, but she could manage it on a day-to-day basis. She had to keep strong if she was going to make this marriage work.
Katie rummaged through her case and found a floral summer dress in pastel shades. She tried it on and surveyed her reflection. Feminine yet sexy—just right, she thought with a nod.
She took her time blow-drying her hair and applying a light make-up.
It was almost nine when she stepped out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs.
The house was magnificent. A chandelier threw sparkling light over the grand entrance-hall, and to either side there were reception rooms of breathtaking proportions, each opening out to a terrace that ran the length of the house. As she lingered by the doorway through to the first of the sitting rooms she saw that Alexi was on the terrace, looking out to sea. He seemed lost in thought.
What was he thinking about? Katie wondered. She wondered if this house held memories of his first wife … if they had lived here together.
She was going to move away but he turned and saw her. ‘Come and join me,’ he invited. ‘It’s a beautiful evening.’
Katie did as he asked. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt, she noticed. He looked so handsome and strong and vital that her stomach twisted into knots. She would have given anything to stand close to him, reach for his hand. But she didn’t dare. It was too possessive, too intimate, which seemed absurd after what they had just shared! But she had to resurrect barriers, she reminded herself sharply, had to play this situation carefully and protect herself.
He looked over at her and swiftly she glanced away. ‘Fabulous view from out here,’ she murmured, looking down over the sweep of a lawn that ran seamlessly down to a private beach and a jetty where a small yacht was anchored.
‘Yes, it’s a nice place.’
‘Is the yacht yours?’
For a moment Alexi didn’t reply; it was as if he were deep in thought.
‘Alexi?’ She glanced over at him again.
‘Actually, I bought it for Andrea.’ He turned his back on the view and gave her his full attention suddenly. ‘She wanted to learn how to sail, but she didn’t really take to the water—got bored with it after a while. I should get rid of it—I just haven’t had the time.’
Or maybe he just didn’t want to get rid of it, a little voice suggested inside Katie. Maybe the memories were too bittersweet to let go of it.
‘You and Andrea lived here, then?’ She tried to make her voice sound casual.
‘For a few months, but she is a city girl, so we moved back into Athens.’ He shrugged. ‘Anyway, on a more interesting note, this house used to belong to my grandparents. They left it in perpetuity for me, my children and
