son of the family, but my mother was an only child so she inherited it,’ Tahlia explained. ‘It’s a Grade I listed building, and to be honest the cost of its upkeep is a nightmare. My parents do their best to maintain it, even though it’s a drain on their resources, and Mum is very proud of her heritage. She loves Carlton House. It would break her heart to leave it—’
She broke off, blushing at the knowledge that she had agreed to become Thanos’s mistress to keep Carlton House safe. The front door of the house suddenly swung open, and an elderly, impeccably dressed man walked slowly down the front steps.
‘Who is that?’
‘That’s Hobson.’
Thanos frowned. ‘He can’t still work for your parents, surely? He must be ninety.’
‘We think he’s in his late seventies, although he won’t actually admit his true age,’ Tahlia explained as she climbed out of the car and took the cat-carrier from the back seat. ‘He started working here as a butler for my grandparents; my parents feel that Carlton is as much his house as it is theirs. My father has promised Hobson that he will always have a home here.’ Her smile faded as the implication of her words struck her. If Carlton was repossessed, where would Hobson go? He had no family, and he would be as distraught as her parents if he had to leave the house that had been his home for fifty years.
It wasn’t going to happen, she reassured herself as she walked up the drive to greet the butler. Thanos had promised to buy Reynolds Gems, Carlton would be safe, and she would take the secret that she had sold herself to him to her grave.
‘I was wondering how you had booked me onto a flight at such short notice,’ Tahlia murmured an hour later, as she followed Thanos across the tarmac at Gatwick airport. ‘I suppose I should have guessed you own a plane.’
‘I travel extensively for my business, and the Lear jet is more convenient than relying on scheduled flights,’ he replied, his eyes narrowing on her faintly stunned expression as she followed him onto the plane. His lip curled into a sardonic grimace as he watched her glance around at the plush leather seats. Women were always impressed by the jet, and several of his ex-lovers had been eager to join the mile-high club. He could spend the flight to Greece enjoying Tahlia’s gorgeous body in the luxurious bedroom at the far end of the plane—she was hardly likely to object, he mused cynically. She had made it clear she would do whatever pleased him in return for him shelling out a lot of money for Reynolds Gems.
He could not deny he was tempted, he thought irritably, and he skimmed his eyes over her, from her silky red-gold hair—worn loose today, and falling in a smooth sheet down her back—to her elegant cream skirt and jacket teamed with a sapphire-coloured blouse which matched the startling blue of her eyes, finally to her shapely legs sheathed in fine hose, their slender length emphasised by her three-inch stiletto heels. She looked cool and classy, and he felt a violent urge to lower his head and kiss her until her lips were no longer coated in a pale gloss but were red and swollen, as she parted them invitingly beneath his, as she had done in his hotel suite the previous night. Beneath her haughty façade this aristocratic English rose was hot, and she had already shown her willingness to explore the sexual chemistry that simmered between them. But he wanted to enjoy her at his leisure. He would have to curb his impatience until they reached Greece.
Four hours later, Tahlia stared out of the window as the plane swooped low over a cobalt-blue sea sparkling beneath a cloudless sky, dotted with several emerald islands. ‘I hadn’t expected the land to be so green,’she murmured, her spirits lifting as she absorbed the spectacular view of the Cyclades Islands.
‘That’s Mykonos just ahead of us.’ Thanos’s deep voice sounded close to her ear, and she jerked her head around to find that he had closed his laptop, which he had been working on for the entire flight. ‘The smaller island closest to it is Delos. It is uninhabited, but it’s one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, and is believed in Greek mythology to be the birthplace of the goddess Artemis—hence the name of my new hotel,’ he added with a faint smile.
Tahlia’s eyes were drawn to the sensual curve of his mouth and her heart flipped. She had been agonisingly conscious of him during the flight, but as soon as the jet had taken off he had become absorbed in his work and not spared her a word or glance. He had not brought her to Greece for her conversational skills, she reminded herself heavily. Her sole duty for the next month was to please him in bed—but considering her lack of experience in that department she feared he was going to be disappointed.
The Artemis Hotel was situated a few kilometres from Mykonos Town, at the charming beach resort of Agios Ioannis. The vast white-walled, flat-roofed building was impressive, and the reception area no less so, with its pale marble floors and pillars teamed with beautiful leather sofas and chairs in muted shades of blue and grey.
‘The whole place is stunning,’ Tahlia commented when Thanos had given her a lightning tour of the four dining rooms, six bars and the spa and leisure complex.
‘I’m pleased with it,’ he replied as he led the way along a velvet-carpeted corridor. The walls were hung with numerous works of art, many of them contemporary pieces, and Tahlia wondered if Thanos had bought any of Rufus Hartman’s paintings from the art exhibition where they had first met. She grimaced. Was it really only a few days ago? It felt like a lifetime.
‘This is my private suite,’ he explained as he halted at the end of the corridor and flung open a door.
Tahlia followed him into an airy sitting room, her heart suddenly beating too fast as she glanced through a door to her right and glimpsed a king-sized bed. She wondered if Thanos expected her to begin her duties as his mistress immediately, but he had walked over to the long wall of windows and opened the French doors leading to the terrace. She followed him, and caught her breath at the uninterrupted view of the crystalline sea and an aquamarine swimming pool below them.
‘The suite has its own pool,’ he explained, indicating the rectangular pool to one side of the terrace. ‘The main pool you can see below us is actually a salt-water pool, separated from the sea by a terraced area where guests can sunbathe and enjoy the view of the bay.’
‘It’s beautiful,’ Tahlia murmured as she stared down at the hotel’s pool, which had been cleverly designed so that it appeared to spill into the sea beyond. She lifted her face to the sun, her hair rippling in the warm Aegean breeze.
Thanos resisted the urge to wind the silky strands around his hand, pull her in and capture her mouth in a hungry kiss that he knew instinctively could only end when he swept her into his arms and carried her through to the bedroom. She unsettled him more than he cared to admit, and he found his reaction to her intensely irritating. Even forcing himself to think of Melina—now staying at a rehabilitation clinic in the US, where she was slowly learning to walk again—did not diminish his awareness of the woman at his side.
Had his father struggled to control his attraction to the English tart Wendy Jones, who had become his mistress? he brooded. For the first time in his life he understood the guilt associated with wanting a woman when it was morally wrong to desire her.
He swung round abruptly and walked back across the terrace. ‘You have the rest of the day to enjoy the view. I have a meeting scheduled with my management team, which I imagine will last for several hours.’
Tahlia frowned, unsure of exactly what her role in his life was to be. ‘What do you expect me to do while you’re gone?’ she asked as she followed him back inside.
He shrugged dismissively. ‘Whatever you like.You can swim, or read—all the rooms at theArtemis have a selection of current magazines. And of course
