him think that she was as experienced as he obviously believed.
Why hadn’t she thought of that sooner?
Maria stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower.
Alex had called her a liar. She wasn’t, but she could carry things off when she had to. Hadn’t she prepped for the interview at FIT without letting her mother know? And then there’d been the interview itself, when she’d sat in a waiting room like an ugly duckling lost in a bevy of swans. And years later, after she’d won the Caligari prize and approached a buyer at a posh Fifth Avenue store with a small box filled with earrings of her own design…
Oh yes, she thought as she tilted her face up to the spray, yes, she could do this. Pretend that being his sex toy for a month meant nothing. Not a problem.
Not at all.
Where in blazes was Maria?
Alex had awakened hours ago. Awakened? His mouth twisted. He had not really slept. How could a man sleep with a woman curled against him, her breath warm and light against his throat, her hand on his chest? Maria had curved her body into his as if she’d belonged there. He’d told himself it didn’t affect him and it hadn’t…
For about thirty seconds.
Then, he’d gone into a full state of arousal.
He’d imagined rolling her onto her back. Undressing her. Caressing her. Imagined her waking slowly as she felt his hands and mouth moving gently on her flesh.
“Alexandros?” she’d have whispered, as she had that night they’d spent together, as she had just a little while ago, when he’d put her to bed, and he’d have said, Yes, it’s Alexandros. Say my name again, Maria. Touch me with your cool hands. Open your mouth so I can taste your sweetness …
That was when he’d shot from the bed.
A cold shower. A change of clothes. Then he’d left the room without a backward glance because he hadn’t trusted himself. He’d waited weeks for this. He wasn’t going to take her now, when she was exhausted and sick and only half aware of him.
He wanted her wide awake when he possessed her, wanted her eyes on his as he took what she had only pretended to give him that first time.
His flight crew, of course, had asked no questions, nor had Thalia when he’d told her to inform his guest that they’d be landing soon.
“Is Ms. Santos awake?” he’d asked brusquely, when Thalia brought him coffee.
“Yessir. I gave her your message.”
Alex looked at his watch. Fifteen minutes had gone by. What was taking her so long? Did she think she could stay locked in the bedroom? That she could put off what would happen next?
The hell she could.
They’d land soon, his car would be waiting. He would drive to his apartment in Ellos and take her to his bed.
He looked at his watch again. He was weary of playing her games. He put down his coffee cup. Blotted his lips with a linen napkin. There was still time to assert his possession now…
The door at the rear of the cabin opened. Maria stood framed within it; her eyes met his. He saw her take a breath and then she started toward him. The ugly sweats and boots had been replaced by a pale gray long-sleeved sweater that fell to her hips, black tights and pale gray ankle boots. Her hair, still damp, tumbled around her shoulders.
His gut tightened. By God, she was beautiful. And composed.
He had not expected that. The fact was, he wasn’t sure what he’d expected. Tears, maybe. Pleas that he send her home. He’d judged wrong. The look on her face was a study in self-assurance.
“Good morning,” he said, and rose to his feet. He gestured to the chair opposite his. She took it, plucked the napkin from under the heavy silverware and spread it in her lap. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. I’m sorry about last night—”
“That you slept curled in my arms?”
“That I got sick,” she said quickly, but the tiniest bit of color crept into her face.
So. Perhaps she wasn’t as self-confident as she appeared.
“I’m just happy a night’s sleep helped. I tried not to disturb you when I left the bed,” he said, pouring coffee for her. He glanced at her, to see what effect his deliberate use of the word ‘bed’ had made. None. None at all. Her expression was impersonal again. “You were curled so tightly in my arms that I had to disentangle us.”
There it was again. That little rush of color. She shot him a look, then buried it in a sip of coffee. She swallowed, looked up. The tip of her tongue peeped out; she swiped it over her lips. To his annoyance, he felt his body stir.
“I was sure I’d wake you when I took my arm out from around your shoulders.”
She looked straight at him. “I thought your stewardess said we’d be landing soon.”
“A change of subject, agapimeni?” His tone was pure silk. “Did you want to discuss something other than the fact that you slept with me last night?”
“We shared the same bed,” she said, looking him straight in the eye. “I’m sure you know the difference between that and what people mean when they say they slept together.” Her lips compressed. “Besides, I didn’t know I rated a change of subject. I thought mistresses were expected to comply with the wishes of their masters. That is what I will be, isn’t it? Your mistress? I mean, isn’t that what one calls a woman who warms a man’s bed?”
Damn it! He was the one who could feel his face filling with heat. What a hell of a little speech, and had she deliberately waited until Thalia was in earshot? His stewardess had been with him for years; if asked, he’d have said nothing could rattle her but hadn’t her eyebrows just taken a surprised lift?
Alex tossed his napkin on the table and got to his feet. Two could play at this game of control—but only one would be the winner.
“We’ll be on the ground soon,” he said coldly. “And then there’ll be plenty of time for me to make my wishes clear—and for you to make absolutely certain you comply with them.”
The last time Maria had come to Aristo, the only time, had been in early December, the start of the Mediterranean winter.
The plane had taxied to a jet way; she’d disembarked along with scores of other travel-weary coach passengers and sleepwalked through the terminal to a luggage carousel where she’d waited for her suitcase to thump its way toward her. Then she’d headed outside and waited in line for a taxi.
Arriving in the kingdom with a prince of the Royal House of Karedes was very different.
Alex’s jet landed and taxied to an area far from the busy terminal. Two men wheeled a staircase to the door. The captain and co-pilot left the cockpit and saluted as she and Alex moved past them; Thalia dropped a little curtsy to Alex and smiled at her.
“Enjoy your stay, miss.”
