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  As if from a distance he heard a soft whimper of shock and desire and that tiny sound was enough to break the sen­sual spell that she'd wrapped around him.

  He dragged his mouth from hers with supreme difficulty, discovering for the first time what it felt like to be completely out of control.

  What the hell was he playing at?

  He'd always considered himself to be a ruthlessly disci­plined man. Whatever the situation, be it provocation or temptation, he never lost control. So why, once his mouth had taken possession of hers, had he suddenly lost all ability to think rationally? In fact he'd stopped thinking altogether, his actions driven by an instinct so raw and primitive that he'd been well past control.

  His body still hummed with unfulfilled tension, his nerves sizzled and his manhood ached and throbbed.

  The realization that she'd succeeded in affecting him so strongly irritated him in the extreme and he struggled to ra­tionalize his own behaviour. To find some explanation for such an uncharacteristic reaction.

  Was it really so surprising? he wondered, surveying her flushed, shocked face with grim concentration.

  Whatever else she may be, there was no denying that his new wife was a stunningly beautiful woman who managed to project just the right amount of innocence and vulnerability to tempt a very traditionally minded Greek male.

  He wouldn't be human if he didn't respond.

  And the cure was to take her to bed, he decided with char­acteristic decisiveness. Women, however beautiful, never held his attention for long. One night, maybe two, would be all it would take to get his fill of her. After that he'd be able to start thinking clearly again and move on.

  Decision made, he grabbed Alesia's wrist and virtually hauled her off the dance floor towards the exit without ut­tering a word.

  And just to be sure that the staring guests were left in no doubt as to how he felt about his new bride, he swept her up into his arms and planted another swift kiss on her shocked mouth.

  With a smile at his mother, who was shedding tears of undisguised delight on the arm of his father, he strode out of the garden towards the waiting limousine.

  Alesia didn't wriggle in his arms, didn't move. It was al­most as if she wanted him to take her away from there. Which couldn't possibly be the case, he reflected grimly, be­cause another thing he knew about women was that the whole point of spend, spend, spend was to allow them to party, party, party.

  Her head lay against his shoulder in almost weary resig­nation and he felt something pull inside him. A feeling which he instantly dismissed with a sharp frown.

  She was good, he had to hand it to her. She was already trying to tie him in knots. A less experienced man might have thought that she was glad he was holding her.

  Fortunately he knew better—

  One night, he promised himself as he dropped her in the seat of the limo as if she was infectious.

  He'd make her pregnant that first night and that would be it.

  He wouldn't have to touch her again.

  He could get on with his life and she could get on with spending his money.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Alesia huddled into the leather seat, trying to control the tiny tremors that still attacked her body. Sebastien's skilled assault on her senses had left her shattered by the discovery that she didn't know herself at all.

  Stunned by her own reaction, she struggled to rationalize what had happened.

  Nothing had prepared her for that kiss.

  It had been dark, terrifying, exciting and he'd unveiled a part of herself that she hadn't known existed.

  Everything about her felt different.

  She wanted to lift her fingers to her lips and see what had changed but she didn't dare with him seated beside her

  She didn't want him to know what he'd done to her—

  What he'd made her feel—

  She closed her eyes and gave a whimper of self-disgust. What an irony. She'd kissed men before and felt nothing. Why was it that the first man to show her what a kiss could mean had to be a man she despised?

  'You can open your eyes now.' Sebastien sounded bored, as if he'd rather be anywhere than sitting next to her. 'We've left the crowds behind. It's just you and me. No more pre­tending.'

  Still struggling with the humiliating knowledge that she hadn't even tried to push him away, Alesia opened her eyes and swallowed hard.

  'Where exactly are we going?' Her voice was a nervous croak and he gave a grim smile.

  'Somewhere more private. The time has come to take our "business deal" to another level, pethi mou, and for that I do not need an audience'

  How could he speak like that when he clearly wished he were with anyone but her? How could he even be contem­plating spending the night with her?

  Suddenly she understood the true meaning of the phrase 'out of the frying-pan into the fire' and wished they were back at the reception. She'd thought that being in crowds of people was bad but it was nothing compared to being alone with Sebastien Fiorukis. Is it far? I'm very tired—'

  'We're going to my Athens home’ he returned, shrugging off his jacket and removing his tie. 'And it isn't far. But you won't be sleeping, pethi mou, no matter how exhausted you are. You still have the rest of your bargain to keep. And after that kiss I think we're both going to have a very interesting evening.'

  His blunt reminder of what they'd shared sent tingles through her already sensitized body and a slow, insidious warmth uncurled low in her pelvis. Desire, hot, restless and totally unfamiliar, tangled and pumped inside her.

  She saw the sardonic gleam in his black eyes and swal­lowed hard. 'I don't know what you mean—'

  ‘ No?' Sebastien was hard, tough and uncompromising but his voice was silky smooth as he undid the top few buttons of his shirt. 'Need a reminder?'

  Dark hairs nestled in the dip of his bronzed throat, a tan­talizing hint of what he kept concealed.

  Alesia flattened herself in the furthest corner of the car, enveloped by a sudden rush of panic and something alto­gether more complicated that she couldn't begin to name.

  Up until this moment she hadn't even considered Sebastien as a man. She'd seen him as the enemy and as the answer to her mother's problems. Never as a man.

  Until that kiss.

  The kiss had wakened something in her. Taken her by storm. Changed her.

  Suddenly she was aware of him as a man. And for the first time in her life she was aware of herself as a woman.

  Like a rabbit in a trap, she stared at him. He lounged with careless ease in the seat next to her, long legs stretched out in front of him, an air of almost bored indifference on his handsome face. It was the first time she'd seen him anything less than rigidly formal and her eyes were drawn first to his powerful shoulders, the strong line of his hard jaw, blue-black with stubble.

  She realized with a sudden lurch of her stomach that the trappings of wealth and success disguised the essence of the man he was. Underneath his sophisticated exterior lay man at his most primitive and basic. Dark and dangerous. Raw and untamed. A hunter. She was just contemplating what that meant for her when she realized that they'd driven through electric gates and were approaching a large and very beautiful villa set in acres of grounds.

  Momentarily distracted, she just gazed in silence. 'It's huge’ she mumbled finally. 'And there's only one of you.'

  He gave a short laugh. 'And, as you've just discovered, I have an extremely large extended family,' he said dryly, 'all of whom frequently decide to descend on me at once and need to be accommodated. I also do a great deal of business entertaining. I need the space.'

  Alesia stared at him in disbelief and then back at the house. He needed this much space? She was used to living in a room where she could virtually touch all four walls from her bed.

  ‘ I hope the house comes with a map,' she muttered as she stepped out of the car. Immediately she realized her mistake as Sebastien stared at her with brooding concentration.

 
; 'You are the granddaughter of a man who is richer than Midas. Your grandfather is well-known for keeping elaborate homes. Why would you be so surprised at mine?'

  Alesia bit her tongue.

  She'd slipped up again.

  Stupid stupid stupid.

  Warning herself that she had to concentrate, she tried to recover her mistake.

  'I've never been that great at finding my way around new places,' she muttered vaguely as he took her arm and led her towards the door.

  'Fortunately there's only one room that you need to find,' he advised in cool tones, 'and that's the bedroom.'

  Alesia flushed to the roots of her glossy blonde hair and would have stopped walking but he swept her up in his arms and carried her across a spacious marble hallway and up a beautifully curved staircase.

  ‘ I can walk— ' she said through gritted teeth and he flashed her a grim smile.

  This isn't for your benefit, agape mou ' but for the benefit of my staff who are at this moment peeping discreetly round corners hoping for a glimpse of my new bride. Unfortunately for us, they are as romantically inclined as my mother so I intend to give them the show they're expecting.'

  Staff?

  Her mouth fell open and she closed it again quickly. Of course a man like him would have staff. How else could he run a house on this scale?

  He strode into a room, kicked the door shut behind him and dropped her with little in the way of warning before striding over to the full-length windows and opening them.

  His need for fresh air and distance caused a shaft of pain that she couldn't decipher.

  So the 'show' was over, she thought wryly, struggling to regain her balance and maintain some shred of dignity.

  Now what?

  Glancing at the tension in those broad shoulders, her heart sank. He certainly did not look lover-like.

  'Look—' her voice was weary’—we both know that this whole situation is ridiculous. We don't have to do this—'

  'This was part of our agreement.'

  He turned, his dark eyes glittering with intent. 'What's the matter?' He strolled towards her with all the grace of a jungle animal stalking its prey. 'Having second thoughts? Suddenly realizing what it is you agreed to?'

  His tone was clipped and hard and her heart leaped into her throat. Distant, cold and monumentally intimidating, Sebastien was totally out of her league and it was useless pretending otherwise.

  'What we agreed to,' she corrected, taking a step back­wards and then wishing she hadn't as he registered the de­fensive movement on her part with a cool smile.

  'We agreed to a marriage’ he reminded her softly, lifting his hands and unbuttoning the rest of his shirt with slow, deliberate flicks of his long fingers, each movement taunting her. 'And that is what we're going to have, Mrs. Fiorukis’

  He peeled off his shirt and let it fall to the floor with casual disregard. But then he was probably never going to wear it again, Alesia thought hysterically as she took another step back and suddenly realized that there was nowhere else for her to go. Her back was against the wall. Literally.

  With considerable difficulty, she moved her gaze from the tantalizing vision of bronzed skin and rough chest hair clus­tered against rock-solid muscle. Heart thudding hard, mouth dry, she stared defiantly into the corner of the room, just refusing to look at him. Perhaps if she didn't look, then she wouldn't feel. Wouldn't want.

  The sound of a zip being undone made her flinch, the rustle of silk sliding to the floor made her nerve-endings tingle, and at that point she closed her eyes, just knowing that he was naked and absolutely determined not to look.

  'Well, Mrs. Fiorukis?' His rough masculine voice taunted her and she sensed him moving closer. And closer. 'Are you ready to close this particular part of the deal?'

  Eyes still closed, heart still hammering, she tried to reason with him. 'You can't possibly want me and I certainly don't want you—'

  He was too close.

  His raw masculine scent surrounded her and oozed into her senses, making her stomach drop and her legs weaken.

  'On the contrary, I paid an indecent sum of money for you/ he reminded her coldly, 'and I expect you to earn that money’

  Her eyes flew open and she gave a disbelieving laugh. In the bedroom?'

  'Where else?' He gave a bored shrug. 'I'm certainly not in need of your assistance in the boardroom.'

  Her mind searched frantically for an escape from the build­ing sexual tension which was threatening her ability to think or function.

  'You already have a mistress—'

  'Several,' he confirmed helpfully, 'but you needn't worry that it will affect my performance in bed.'

  She didn't even want to think about bed.

  Every inch of her throbbed. Her senses danced and pir­ouetted in a crazy response to the man in front of her.

  'Look—I'm trying to be honest,' she said desperately, 'and the truth is we just don't have to do this. You can go to your mistress—I don't care—'

  She didn't need this. Didn't want this. She wanted freedom from these feelings that she didn't recognize. Hadn't felt be­fore.

  'But my mistress won't give me children,' he reminded her silkily, 'and I want children. And this is the way children are made, remember?'

  Her gaze, showing a glimmer of guilt, flew to his. It was a mistake. Slumberous dark eyes captured and trapped her, drawing her in. Those eyes alone were enough to make a woman lose herself, she thought dizzily, struggling to re­member why it was that she didn't want to go to bed with him. His eyelashes were long and dark and ridiculously thick and his hard jaw was covered in blue-black stubble that made him look even more dangerous.

  ' If you're nervous then you needn't be' he said. 'I may not like you but that kiss alone was enough to prove to both of us that, despite our emotions, physically at least there is a powerful chemistry between us’

  Alesia felt dizzy and drugged and her mouth was so dry she could barely speak.

  She gaped at him. 'Chemistry? You think there's chemistry between us?'

  'I know there is—' he curved a hand round her waist and drew her against him 4 —and so do you. Stop pretending you don't feel it too.'

  Alesia was so busy trying to understand his belief that there was chemistry between them that she somehow man­aged to miss the fact that his hand was moving down her back. With a swift, purposeful movement he undid her dress and she gave a soft gasp of shock as it pooled at her feet, leaving her dressed in only a pair of silk panties.

  Consumed by embarrassment, she lifted her arms to cover her naked breasts but Sebastien caught her hands and drew them around his neck before scooping her up in his arms.

  This is definitely not the time to cover up your best as­sets,' he urged thickly, carrying her to the bed and depositing her in the centre.

  Before she could move a muscle, he came down on top of her, his weight pinning her to the bed.

  'Whatever your faults, you have a, fabulous body,' he said huskily, sliding a lean bronzed hand over her body with mad­dening slowness as he surveyed her with raw male appreci­ation. 'I will be honest about one thing, pethi mou, I was all ready to refuse this deal whatever the incentive and then I saw you.'

  Her breath jammed in her throat. ‘ You were going to re­fuse?'

  'Of course.' He raised his head to look at her and there was a flicker of dry amusement in his dark eyes. 'We are expected to make babies for our respective families, agape mou , and that requires a certain activity on my part. If I had found you unattractive there was no way I would have agreed to this marriage. Despite rumours to the contrary, I'm ex-tremely particular about who I take to my bed.'

  She stared up at him, her heart pounding, her resistance crumbling to dust under the hot sexuality of his gaze. ‘ You find me attractive—really?'

  No man had ever looked twice at her before but then she'd gone out of her way to avoid all but platonic relationships with the opposite sex.

  'Really.' His tone of self-m
ockery drew her attention to his body for the first time and her colour deepened. It was the first time she'd seen a naked man. A naked aroused man. The sight was nothing short of daunting.

  Now that the moment had come, panic assailed her. He was right, she thought, closing her eyes with a helpless moan as his mouth traced the line of her jaw. She hadn't really thought this through. How could she ever have thought she'd be able to pretend that she was experienced? She didn't have a clue and there was no way she'd ever be able to convince him otherwise.

  'You loathe me’ she moaned, moving her head away from his clever mouth with a gasp of disbelief. ‘ You despise me. You can't possibly want me.'