Elegant. That should have described him. He wore his dinner jacket as if born to it, with a debonair grace that proclaimed his utter confidence. But the tailored perfection couldn’t conceal the man beneath. A man who vibrated energy and authority. A man with the posture and physical perfection of a born athlete.
His face was breathtaking, a sculpted embodiment of male power and sensuality. Except for one thing: his nose sat slightly askew, as if it had been broken. That only emphasised his charisma and an undercurrent of raw masculinity. This was no charming lightweight, but a man to be reckoned with.
His eyes narrowed as he took her in, a glitter of appraisal barely veiled. That searing look did curious things to her insides.
Callie’s mouth dried. Dimly she was aware of her uncle drawing Angela forward for an introduction.
Finally, far too late, she stepped forward, her hand outstretched as she dredged up a polite greeting.
‘How do you do, Kyrie Savakis? It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
His warm hand engulfed hers. She repressed a shiver at the echo of memory that sped through her. Of a man touching her, far more intimately, only this afternoon.
She pulled back but his hold was firm and unbreakable, his look piercing.
Dampness hazed Callie’s brow as, for an instant, panic flared. Her stomach churned and she gulped down a hard knot in her throat. Then a lifetime’s training kicked in. She ignored the jumble of emotions whirling inside and pinned a meaningless smile to her lips.
Damon Savakis’ eyes were dark. Darker than brown. Dark as a moonless night. Dark enough to sweep a woman into a whirlpool of need and longing and hold her there till sanity fled.
Callie knew it because she’d seen them before. Had already experienced the heady invitation of that bold, sensuous gaze.
He spoke at last, his voice brushing across her skin in an intimate tone that made the hairs rise at her neck.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Callista.’ The words were trite, expected, polite. Nothing at all like the searing expression in his fathomless gaze.
Nothing at all like the lazy, sensual approval in his laughing eyes as he’d seduced her a few short hours ago.
CHAPTER TWO
CALLIE’S lungs emptied as his gaze pinioned her.
It was him!
There was a roaring sound in her ears, like a jet coming in to land. In the distance her uncle spoke. Yet here, close to him, there was nothing but the fire in his eyes. Its impact devastated her, obliterating all thought of what she should do or say. Leaving only a yearning so strong it consumed her.
He was to marry Angela?
Impossible. It was a mistake.
But her uncle didn’t make such mistakes.
Callie wanted to smooth her palm along the sharp angle of his jaw to make sure he was real. She wanted to inhale the heady male scent of his burnished skin. She wanted…
No!
Her stomach cramped at the idea of explaining to her uncle how well she already knew his special guest.
This afternoon should have been a moment out of time, a once-in-a-lifetime fantasy. A passing aberration.
Now she was face to face with the man who’d persuaded her to shed every defence she’d used to keep the world, and especially men, at a distance. To keep herself safe.
In a moment of terrifying discovery she realised he had power, real, tangible power over her. She’d let him in, casting aside caution, opening her private, vulnerable self to him. Too late now to slam that door shut again.
This afternoon she’d unwittingly opened a Pandora’s box of raw emotion and physical longing. Feelings she’d locked away seven years ago had sprung to life.
And now this hunger, this weakness couldn’t be denied.
Hunger for a man who was here to woo her cousin.
What had Callie been to him?
Her stomach somersaulted in distress.
Desperate to break the bond of knowledge and need that pulsed between them, Callie turned, gesturing abruptly to the sofas. Her hand looked steady. Only she knew of the fine tremors running through her body.
‘Won’t you take a seat?’ Her voice was cool, almost without inflection. She prayed that no one else noticed her brittle control over her vocal cords. Tension sank talons into the rigid muscles of her neck and shoulders.
‘After you.’ He inclined his head and raised his arm behind her back, as if to usher her towards one of the antique French lounges.
Centimetres separated his palm from the silk of her dress, yet she felt his heat, like a phantom caress in the small of her back. Instantly her spine stiffened.
‘No, please. Let me get you a drink. What would you like? A cocktail? Wine, sherry? Or something stronger? We have ouzo, brandy…’
He watched her silently, as if he knew nerves made her babble. Gone was the heat in his gaze. Instead his look was speculative.
‘Thank you. A whisky.’
Callie moved quickly towards the bar. ‘And you, Uncle?’
‘Brandy, of course.’ There was a snap in his voice, but Callie barely noticed. She was too busy trying to control the trembling in her legs that threatened to buckle her knees.
Disbelief and shock clogged her brain.
She knew the name Damon Savakis. Who didn’t? He ran a company that had interests across the globe, in everything from marinas to luxury-yacht production, from exclusive coastal resorts to shipping lines. His wealth matched his uncanny business acumen, his ability to strike at precisely the right moment, turning an ever greater profit. The pundits said he was sharp, ruthless and had the luck of the devil.
More, he was the Manolis company’s biggest rival. Surely her uncle had spoken of him as a threat, not a friend?
Why was he staying in their cove on a beautiful but old yacht?
Had he known who she was all this time? She’d been on the family’s private estate. But if so surely he’d have mentioned his connection to her uncle.
And his plans to wed Angela.
Unless he’d deliberately withheld the truth. Callie’s breath caught.
Had he got a kick out of seducing her, while arranging to marry Angela? Had he laughed at how easy, how gullible she’d been? Did he enjoy watching her flounder for composure?
Bile rose in her throat as bitter memories surged.
Callie had too much experience of powerful men and their diversions. The way they used women. How had she
