source?’
His tension heightened, his whole body seemingly caught in a live electric feed. ‘You tell me.’
‘Maybe a secret admirer? Perhaps even another man?’ I taunted.
A fierce little muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘Was it? Considering you were a virgin, I wasn’t inclined to think you would jump into another man’s bed that easily. Tell me I wasn’t wrong,’ he bit out.
He hadn’t thought the worst of me.
The idea of it left me nonplussed for several seconds, considering he still had no idea of my whereabouts for the past year. Considering he had to have overheard some of the blatant whispers at the party.
‘Why the interrogation? I thought you were all about keeping up appearances? Convincing the world that my absence was a well-orchestrated plan?’
‘That’s been taken care of. The results will be evident soon enough. Let’s discuss us,’ he said, then immediately frowned as if he hadn’t expected to say that.
Perhaps he hadn’t. After all, wasn’t he the man who’d never engaged in a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks?
‘Us? Are you sure? You seem as surprised by that word falling from your lips as I am to hear it.’
For the longest time he stared at me. Then he shrugged. ‘Only a fool stays on a course that’s doomed. Perhaps I’m embracing new changes. Attempting to be…different.’
My heart lurched, even as I tamped down fruitless hope. All this meant nothing. Not if my prognosis was as dire as my senses screamed that they were. Not if this marriage was ticking down to dissolution.
‘Can we not do this here? I’d like to go back in.’
‘Why? So Stavros can succeed at working his angle?’
I blinked in surprise. ‘What are you talking about?’
He edged me back a step, following me so we were wedged against the stone balustrade. ‘Just a heads-up. His marriage is on the rocks. He’s attempting to raise his stature by undermining my authority every chance he gets—chances which, unfortunately for him, haven’t been readily available. I’d rather not see you be his pawn,’ he breathed, his voice absolutely lethal while being so soft.
Too late, I accepted that the fire inside me was building out of control. His body surged closer, reminding me in vivid detail of the hard-packed, streamlined definition of muscle beneath his bespoke suit. And the fact that his body could render me speechless with very little effort.
‘You can stand down. I can take care of myself.’
‘Ne, I’m beginning to see that,’ he murmured, and again there was the barest hint of grudging acceptance in his eyes.
But I didn’t get the chance to explore the discovery because his head slowly lowered.
Hot, sensual and commanding, his lips slanted over mine. With a gasp that was way too husky and way too revealing I threw up my hands. Somewhere in the back of my head I was aware that I’d dropped my phone. But it didn’t seem to matter, because his tongue was delving between my lips, seeking entrance I was helpless to deny.
He tasted me with a brazenness that struck a match to the desire that had been straining to be freed after that episode on his sofa. With effortless ease he set it ablaze between one snatched breath and the next.
His tongue stroked mine with a possessiveness that took control of my whole body, so that when one hand slid from my shoulder and down my back to draw me into sizzling contact it felt as if I was made of warm, pliant dough, ready to mould myself to any shape of his bidding.
When his other hand angled my head to deepen the kiss it was all I could do to slide my own hands around his neck. To hold on tightly as the dizzying journey zipped like a rollercoaster ride I never wanted to end.
With a helpless moan, I parted my lips wider, strained onto my toes the better to absorb more of the experience.
Ax made a gruff sound that disintegrated beneath our frenzied kiss. His hold intensified until we were plastered together from chest to thigh. Until the unmistakable imprint of his thick, aroused manhood blazed hot and potent against my belly.
My fingers convulsed in his hair as the memory of him inside me, possessing me, surged into life. Feverish need pooled between my thighs, hunger prising another moan from my throat.
Before it could be anywhere near sated Ax was pulling away, his gaze searingly possessive as it moved from my damp and tingling mouth to my eyes.
‘Now that we’ve shown the world how hot we still are for each other, will you come inside with me and dance with your husband?’ he asked, his tone husky but firm.
Did he really want to dance with me or had he kissed me just for show?
The eyes burning into mine seemed to be attempting to read me just as hard as I was trying to reading him.
What was he looking for?
What was I looking for?
My scrambling senses flailed, and I was aghast at how easily and completely he’d overtaken my senses. How even now, with a few snatched breaths, I still couldn’t think beyond the need to experience that kiss all over again. Yearning for more than just a kiss.
Realising he was awaiting a response, I scrambled the appropriate words together. ‘Yes. If I must.’
He swooped down to pick up my discarded phone, then linked his fingers with mine before tugging me after him.
The crowd parted at our re-entrance, and some of the gazes I met were alight with the knowledge of what we’d been doing out on the balcony.
Being mired in my confused emotions saved me feeling embarrassment at those looks. It also made me pliant enough to survive half of the slow waltz with Axios before my senses began to return.
The reality of finding myself plastered to my husband once more, with the effects of that kiss still lingering in the form of my peaked nipples and erratic breathing, made me glance wildly around, avoiding his gaze as I tried to gather my shredded composure.
‘Look at me, Calypso,’ he instructed gruffly.
Almost helplessly I met his gaze.
His expression was studiously neutral but his eyes glinted with residual emotion. ‘What just happened is nothing to be ashamed of,’ he said gruffly. ‘In fact, some might think it…fortunate that we’re compatible in some ways.’
I wanted to laugh, because he was oh, so savvy about such things. While I continued to flounder.
‘Don’t you think it’s a touch…needy to feel you have to be the centre of everyone’s attention?’ I asked.
The arrogant smile he slanted down at me said he didn’t care one way or the other what people thought.
‘I don’t wish to be the centre of everyone’s attention. Just yours,’
