THE DAYS THAT followed assumed a dreamlike quality. There was a gentleness apparent, a sense of almost secret anticipation that was fuelled by the touch of the hand, the exquisiteness of their lovemaking.
They accepted few invitations, although when they did venture out Alyse was conscious of the overt, barely concealed glances, the thinly disguised speculative gossip as Aleksi rarely let her out of his sight. At home she took delight in arranging gourmet dinners, with candlelight and wine, loving the long, leisurely conversation shared as they talked about anything and everything.
Two days after Rachel and Alexandros arrived back from Sydney Alyse and Aleksi flew out to Athens, spending two days in that ancient city before chartering a helicopter to a small remote island set like a shimmering jewel in the midst of a translucent emerald sea.
There were grapevines, orange trees, olive groves, a few goats, a dog, all lovingly tended by an elderly couple who greeted Aleksi fondly before boarding the waiting helicopter that would take them to visit relatives on another island.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Alyse breathed as Aleksi led her towards an old, concrete-plastered, whitewashed house set on high ground.
Built around an inner courtyard, the rooms were large and airy and filled with antique furniture. Rich Persian rugs covered highly polished floors, and there were several soft-cushioned sofas in the lounge.
‘As a child, I spent most of my holidays here,’ Aleksi revealed.
‘Did you ever return to the island after you emigrated to Australia?’ Alyse asked, wandering around the large lounge at will, pausing slightly now and then to study one of the several framed family photographs resting atop items of furniture.
‘Several times.’
She turned to look at him, seeing the inherent strength apparent, the sheer physical attraction, and a shadow fleetingly darkened her eyes at the number of women who had surely formed part of his life.
‘To join Rachel and Alexandros, and Georgiou,’ he added softly. ‘This island has always been a family retreat.’
She summoned a bright smile that hid a slight degree of pain. ‘It’s so warm. Shall we swim before dinner?’
He was silent for a brief second, then he crossed to where she stood and caught hold of her hand. ‘Why not?’
The water was crystal-clear and deliciously cool. Alyse challenged Aleksi to a race across the width of the tiny bay, and he merely gave a tigerish laugh as he deliberately let her win. In retaliation she scooped up handfuls of water and threw them at his chest, then shrieked when he pulled her into his arms.
For a moment she struggled, caught up in a playful game, then she slowly stilled, her expression hesitantly serious.
There were so many things she wanted to say, words she needed to hear, yet she was strangely afraid to begin.
A faint edge of tension was evident beneath the surface of Aleksi’s control, and she looked at him in silence, her eyes wide and unblinking.
Remembering his lovemaking, the tenderness, the passion … She was tired of fighting, and stubborn pride no longer seemed to matter any more.
‘Please help me,’ she implored in a husky whisper.
He lifted a hand to her lips and traced a finger across the generous lower curve. ‘Why not start at the beginning?’
Her mouth quivered uncontrollably, and she hesitated, unsure now that she had instigated the moment of truth if she possessed the courage to continue. It would be terrible if he was merely amused by a confession of her emotions. Impossible, if he didn’t return them to quite the same degree.
‘You were everything I disliked in a man,’ she ventured unsteadily, her eyes silently beseeching him to understand. ‘Overbearing, demanding, and far too self-assured. I told myself I hated you, and at first I did. Then I began to hate myself for being caught up in the maelstrom of physical sensation you were able to arouse.’ She drew a deep breath and released it shakily. ‘I didn’t want to feel like that, and I had to fight very hard not to fall in love with you.’ A soft, tremulous smile parted her lips. ‘It wasn’t a very successful battle, for I lost miserably.’
The tension left him in one long shuddering sigh as he gathered her close, then his mouth possessed hers, gently and with such an incredibly sweet hunger she thought she might actually die from sheer sensation, and when at last he lifted his head she could only stand in silent bemusement.
‘Repeat those last few words again,’ he commanded quietly.
Her beautiful blue eyes misted, and her lips trembled fractionally as she whispered, ‘I love you.’
‘I had begun to despair that you’d ever admit it,’ Aleksi said huskily as he bent low to bestow a lingering kiss to her mouth, then he caught her close, holding her as if he never intended to let her go.
‘Can’t you feel what you do to me?’ His smile held a certain wryness he made no attempt to hide. ‘I travelled to Perth with one plan firmly in mind,’ he revealed slowly. ‘To get Georg at whatever cost. Yet there you were; so fiercely protective of the baby I’d vowed to adopt as my son, adamantly refusing to give him up when I was so sure you would be only too eager to hand over responsibility and get on with your own life.’ He brushed his lips across her cheek, then pressed each eyelid closed in turn before trailing a slow evocative path down to the edge of her mouth. ‘There was no woman of my acquaintance that I could envisage assuming a motherly role to an orphan child, and faced with your blatant animosity it seemed almost poetic justice to take you as my wife and tame your splendid pride. What I didn’t bargain for was the involvement of my emotions.’ His smile held such incredible warmth, she felt treacherously weak. ‘You were a pocket spitfire, opposing me at every turn. Yet you were so angelic with Rachel and my father, charming to my friends, and I found myself deliberately using every ploy I could engineer in an attempt to break down your defences.’
He paused, taking time to bestow a long, lingering kiss that melted her very bones. His arms held her close, yet she stood strangely still, waiting, wanting so desperately for him to say the words she longed to hear.
‘There were times when I was tempted to kill you for being so blind. I love you. Love,’ he reassured her with a gentle shake.
Joy unfurled itself and spread with tumultuous speed through her veins, and she reached up to lock her hands behind his neck, pulling his head down to hers as she initiated a kiss so incredibly sweet it took only seconds before he deepened it with passionate intensity.
When at last he lifted his head, she could only press her cheek into the curve of his shoulder as he slid an arm beneath her knees and lifted her high against his chest.
‘Where are you taking me?’ she whispered.
‘Indoors.’ Aleksi’s eyes were warm. ‘To bed.’
A soft laugh bubbled from her throat as he carried her into the bedroom, and her eyes sparkled with witching promise as he let her slide down to stand on her feet.
Unable to resist teasing him a little, she protested softly, ‘I’m not in the least tired.’ Linking her hands together at his nape, she reached up and touched her lips against the corner of his mouth.
He lifted a hand and brushed a stray tendril of hair back behind her ear with incredible gentleness. His smile was warm and infinitely seductive, and she stood looking at him, seeing the strength of purpose etched on those dark arresting features, the passion evident in the depth of his eyes.
A slight tremor shook her slender frame as she reached out and slowly removed his briefs, then her own before unfastening the clip of her bikini bra. Collecting a towel, she carefully blotted every trace of sea-water from his body, then she stood still as he took the towel from her hand and gently returned the favour before letting the towel fall to the floor.
Without a word she reached up and pulled his head down to hers, and her lips brushed across his own, trembling a little as she instigated a hesitant exploration, then she drew him towards the bed and pulled him down beside her.
‘Please make love to me.’ The plea left her lips as scarcely more than a whisper, and her mouth parted in welcome to his as he wrought a devastating assault on her senses, plundering until she clung to him unashamedly.
It seemed an age before he broke the kiss, and she almost died at the wealth of deep slumbrous passion evident.
‘I intend to,’ he told her gently. ‘For the rest of my life.’