THE SUN WAS setting by the time Draco steered his luxury boat away from the jetty on his island. Allegra stood beside him, a light wrap around her shoulders, and waved back to the guests standing on the jetty and the beach, including Emily, who was in proud possession of the bouquet.
Emily was standing a short distance from Draco’s best man, Loukas Kyprianos, and Allegra could see the goggle-eyed looks Em was casting his way, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. On the handsome scale, Loukas was like Draco—off the scale. But, while Draco had a tendency to smile rather than frown, Loukas had a more brooding demeanour, hinting at a man who preferred his own company and kept his own counsel. Emily wasn’t the sort of girl to get her head turned by a good-looking man, but she was a sucker for a man with secrets, given she had one or two of her own.
Draco manoeuvred the boat into the direction of the setting sun, which was now a fireball of red suspended on the smoky-blue plane of the horizon. A swathe of stratocumulus clouds reflected the burnished gold of the sun below and the grey and indigo bruise-like streaks of colour above.
A light breeze moved over the surface of the water, sped up by the passage of the boat. It played with Allegra’s hair, which was already in two minds whether to stay up in her coronet do or give up and swing about her back and shoulders. She pushed the straying strands away from her face and resisted the temptation to slip her hand into Draco’s outstretched one as he stood at the wheel.
He smiled down at her. ‘All right? Not seasick yet?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I’m pretty good on boats normally. Although, I guess I shouldn’t speak too soon.’
‘You’ll be fine. The weather forecast is good.’ He glanced back at the jetty. ‘How’s Emily getting on with Loukas?’
Allegra cocked her head. ‘Are you trying to set them up or something?’
He gave a shrug. ‘If it happens, it happens.’
‘He doesn’t look the type who needs a hand in that department,’ she said. ‘Who is he? He’s seems familiar, but I’m sure I haven’t met him before today.’
‘He keeps a low profile—or tries to,’ Draco said. ‘We met at university. I was doing a business degree and he was doing computer engineering and software development. He’s designed some of the most sophisticated security systems in the world. So secure, most government agencies such as MI5 and the FBI use his software.’
Good luck, Em.
‘So is he on the lookout for a wife?’ Allegra asked.
He gave her one of his crooked smiles. ‘Not Loukas. His parents divorced when he was a young child and apparently it was one of those acrimonious, “use the kid as a weapon” ones. He doesn’t talk about it and I know better than to ask. Both his parents have remarried and subsequently divorced, his father several times over. One thing I do know, he will never get married himself. It was hard enough getting him to agree to come to our wedding. You’d think I’d asked him to have a lobotomy.’
‘Did you tell him it was a marriage of—?’
‘No.’ The tone of his voice underlined the word. ‘We’re close but not that close. No one is that close to Loukas. No one.’
Allegra chewed at her lip, watching the sun swallowed by the blue lip of the horizon. Why hadn’t he told his best friend? Was it really because Loukas was a bit of a closed book himself? Why not tell his friend the truth? Or had he done it to protect her from anyone pitying her? ‘I told Emily.’
‘I know.’
She glanced at him in surprise. ‘You do?’
Draco’s expression was amused rather than annoyed. ‘I figured you would. She’s a nice girl. Seems to have her head screwed on.’
‘Did you let on you knew she knew?’
‘No.’
‘I’m sorry, but I couldn’t lie to her,’ Allegra said. ‘Everyone else, yes, but not Em. She would’ve figured it out anyway. She knows I’m not the sort of person to fall in love on a whim. But don’t worry, she won’t tell a soul. She’s fiercely loyal and completely and utterly trustworthy.’
‘Good to know.’
There was a little silence broken only by the slap of the water hitting the sides and hull of the yacht.
‘Do you want to take the wheel for a while?’ Draco asked.
‘I don’t know… I might run into another boat or something.’
‘There’s no one else out here. Come on. Stand in front of me and I’ll steer with you.’
Allegra moved to stand in front of the wheel and he came in behind her, his arms either side of her body, his hands resting on top of hers where she was gripping the steering wheel. Who knew steering a yacht could be such a turn-on? The warm, hard presence of his body behind her made every nerve in her core jump up ready for duty. His broad hands almost completely covered hers, his fingers long, strong and so very capable. Deliciously, dangerously capable.
She could feel him against her bottom cheeks, the rise of his flesh an erotic reminder of what was to come. She shivered when he moved closer, his stubbly jaw grazing her cheek when he leaned down to help her navigate a larger than normal wave. The rocking motion of the yacht pushed her further back against him, sending her senses into overdrive. ‘I want you,’ he said.
‘I would never have guessed.’
He gave a soft laugh. ‘Minx.’ He tongued the cartilage of her ear, the sensations rippling through her like waves. ‘But then, I’ve wanted you since that night in London.’
Allegra shuddered when his teeth tugged on her earlobe. ‘Funny, but I didn’t pick up that vibe.’
He moved his mouth to the sensitive spot on her neck just below her ear. ‘What vibe are you picking up now?’
‘I’m thinking the honeymoon is about to start.’
He turned her so she was facing him, his eyes gleaming like high-gloss black paint. ‘I need to drop anchor.’
Allegra linked her arms around his neck and gave him a sultry smile. ‘I can think of something more fun we can do instead.’
He smiled and pressed a brief, hard kiss to her mouth. ‘Go below and I’ll be with you once I’ve got things up here under control…’
* * *
Allegra descended to the main cabin where a bar, sofas and large-screen television were located. There was a kitchen off that with a separate dining area, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a top-end-of-town restaurant. The master bedroom—one of four bedrooms on board—was big enough to sleep a football team as well as their support staff and sponsors. Maybe even some fans.
She was no stranger to luxury accommodation, but Draco’s yacht was beyond anything she had seen before. Butter-soft leather sofas and ottomans, Swarovski light fittings and lamps and knee-deep, cream-coloured carpet. Polished timber woodwork and Italian marble in the wet areas such as the bathrooms. There was even a hot tub on the upper deck and a spa bath in the main bathroom. A bottle of champagne was in a silver ice-bucket with two glasses beside it, left by Draco’s staff, along with their luggage, which had been unpacked and stored in the hand-crafted built-in wardrobes in the master suite. There was a supply of gourmet food in the fridge and pantry, both cooked and fresh ingredients, as well as a wine fridge with enough wine and champagne to host a cocktail party for a hundred guests.
Allegra couldn’t look at the king-sized bed without a shudder of excitement. The same shudder of excitement she’d felt when Draco had said he’d wanted her when he’d run into her in London six months ago. She’d thought he’d been mocking her for sitting there so long, trying to make her glass of wine last the hour, trying not to check her watch and chew her lip and nails until they bled. But behind that glinting black gaze he had been sizing her up for himself. What had stirred his interest? Was it that he’d seen her as a convenient bride, a single woman on the wrong side of thirty who he’d assumed would stumble over herself with gratefulness when he offered for her?
But his motives had been far more honourable than that. Why had he done that? He was effectively saving her father’s business and her, too.
Allegra sat down on the cloud-soft mattress and sighed. Why was she fussing over the fact he wasn’t in love with her? People had sex without being in love all the time. It wasn’t a prerequisite these days, even for marriage. Lots of people enjoyed a workable marriage with companionship and mutual respect holding them together. Romantic love didn’t always last, anyway. The limerence period in a new relationship at best lasted two years. After that the relationship settled into the bonding phase…if it was going to, that was. Draco surely wouldn’t let theirs go on for half so long?
It wasn’t as if she was in love with Draco. But what if she succumbed to that lethal charm? She had already told him more than she’d told anyone about herself. It was as if her carapace had melted away. She actually liked him. As in really liked him. Liked his company, his smile, his dancing eyes, his body.
Dear God, his body.
The sound of his footsteps coming down to join her was enough to set her pulses off like thoroughbreds at the starting gate. Why hadn’t she thought to buy some sexy lingerie? She’d been so determined to resist him but how long had that lasted? One kiss and she’d all but begged him to take her. One kiss! What if she was hopeless in bed? What if she couldn’t orgasm with him? What if she took ages and ages, and he got fed up, and she had to pretend. and then she would be embarrassed and feel under even more pressure next time and—
The door of the bedroom opened and Allegra jumped off the bed as though she’d been shot out of a cannon. ‘Erm… I think I’ll have a drink. Would you like champagne? I feel like some, don’t you? This is a good one. Wow… I’ve been to the vineyard. It was amazing, so picturesque.’ She fumbled with the foil around the top of the bottle, sudden nerves and shyness assailing her.
Draco came over, took the bottle from her and placed it back in the ice-bucket. He put his hands on her waist, his expression as tender as she had ever seen it. ‘You’re nervous.’ He said it as a statement, not as a question.
Allegra pulled at one side of her lower lip with her teeth, her cheeks feeling as if someone had lit a fire under them. ‘It was probably a fluke down at the beach. I might not be able to do it again.’
He lifted her chin with the tip of his finger, holding her gaze with his. ‘No one’s keeping time here, agape mou. You can take all the time you need. We don’t have to even do this tonight if you don’t feel up to it. It’s been a long day.’
‘Don’t you want to…?’
Draco’s thumb brushed back and forth over her cheek like a metronome. ‘Of course I do, but not if you don’t feel in the mood.’
I’ve been in the mood for you since I was sixteen.
Allegra lowered her gaze to his mouth. ‘I don’t have any nice lingerie…’
He smiled. ‘Do you really think I’d even notice? What I want to see is you. All of you.’
She shivered at the smouldering look in his eyes. The look that said ‘I want you’. The look that spoke to her female flesh like the sun does to an orchid. Ripening it, opening it. Making it bloom and swell and release its scent. She placed her arms around his neck, moving closer so her body touched his from hips to chest. ‘Make love to me…please?’
His mouth came down to cover hers in a kiss that spoke of deep, primal male longings only just held in check. Draco’s lips moved against hers in a soft exploration, his tongue parting her lips with a gentle glide that made her skin prickle in delight. He courted her tongue, driving her senses wild with escalating need. She whimpered her desire into the warm, minty cavern of his mouth, her hips pushing against his with the need for more stimulation. His hands went from her waist to settle on her hips, holding her against his pulsing length. The eroticism of it thrilled her, awakening every nerve in her body, every sense on high alert.
Draco deepened the kiss with a bolder thrust of his tongue, a movement that made Allegra’s inner core respond with a burst of feminine moisture, that instinctive, involuntary response that signalled her readiness, her eagerness, her desperation. One of his hands peeled away her dress as though he were removing cling film. It pooled at her feet and she blindly stepped out of it, her mouth still clamped to his. Her hands moved to undo the buttons of his shirt, her fingers struggling with the task in her excitement. With every button she undid, she placed her mouth to his skin, breathing in the intoxicating scent of him with that hint of lime and leather and late-in-the-day man.
He unclipped her bra and gently cradled her breasts in both his hands, his mouth moving from hers to glide down with blistering heat to her décolletage and over the upper curves of her breasts. The graze of his stubble made her insides clench with need, the glide of his tongue over her flesh evoking a murmur of approval from her lips. Draco’s mouth opened over her nipple, drawing on it with light suction, the nerve endings responding with a frenzied dance of excitement she could feel right down to her core. He kissed the outside of each breast, then the undersides, and then her cleavage, his bristly face on the soft slopes of her flesh sending shivers of reaction all through her body.
Had anyone ever paid this much attention to her breasts in the past? Had anyone touched them with such gentleness? Cradled them and worshipped them? Treated them with such respect?
Draco’s mouth came back to hers, subjecting it to another pulse-tripping exploration, his tongue mating with hers in a dance that made her ache for him become unbearable. She moaned her ‘rescue me’ plea into his mouth, her hands fervent, desperate on his body. She set to work on his belt and trouser fastening, sliding her hands over his flat abdomen, her palms and finger pads tickled by the prickle of his masculine hair.
He took over for her, shrugged off his shirt, unzipped his trousers and stepped out of them, his shoes and socks. Allegra couldn’t help feeling touched he had left her knickers on until he was completely naked first. It showed a sensitivity she hadn’t experienced with other partners. Only when he was fully naked did his hands go to her hips, gently sliding her knickers down her thighs so she could step out of them.
His gaze moved over her body, the desire in them ramping up her own. She pressed herself against him, her senses thrilling at the hard jut of his erection against her belly.
Draco moved her backwards towards the bed, laying her down and coming down alongside her, one of his hands on her abdomen deliciously close to the throb of her need. ‘I don’t want to rush you,’ he said.
Rush me! Rush me!
Allegra was beyond words; all that was coming out of her mouth were breathless gasps and moans when his hand moved lower. She sucked in a breath when he brought his mouth to her belly button, swirling his tongue into its shallow pool until her back was arching off the mattress.
He moved his mouth down to the heart of her, preparing her by kissing her folds, stroking his tongue over her labia before separating her gently with his fingers and anointing her with his tongue in tantalising strokes and flickers that triggered an explosion of sensations that shook her like a rag doll. She bucked and arched and whimpered and cried as her flesh burst into a song that reverberated throughout her body until it finally subsided, leaving her in a languid, limbless state.
Allegra reached for Draco, stroking her fingers along his length, silently urging him to enter her body. After a moment, he eased back from her touch. ‘What do you want to do about condoms? Are you on the pill?’
‘I take a low-dose one to regulate my cycle.’
‘Maybe we should use protection for the time being.’
It touched her that he’d given her a choice, not just gone ahead without consulting her on protection. He reached for a condom in a drawer beside the bed and sheathed himself. He came back to her, angling his body over hers so she didn’t have to take his full weight.
That was another thing that struck Allegra about Draco. How many times had partners climbed aboard, so to speak, with little or no consideration for her comfort?
He smoothed her hair back from her face, his eyes dark and eager but with that element of concern that spoke of a man who didn’t take consent for granted at any stage of the encounter. ‘It’s not too late to stop if you’d rather not do this.’
Allegra fisted her hands in the thick pelt of his hair. ‘If you stop now, I’ll never forgive you. I want you. Want, want, want you.’
His slanted smile made something in her stomach swoop. His mouth came down and covered hers in a drugging kiss that escalated her desire to another level that had her panting, writhing, wriggling to get the friction she craved. Finally, Draco came to her entrance, gliding into her with a smooth, thick thrust that made her gasp in relief and excitement. Her body welcomed him, squeezing him as if it never wanted him to leave. He moved his body within hers, deeper and deeper, gradually increasing his pace but making sure she was with him all the way.
Allegra was more than with him. She was a part of him. Consumed by the sensations ricocheting through her from the top of her scalp to the tips of her toes. Each thrust created friction against her, but not quite enough. It was like being suspended on a precipice, dangling there with the abyss beckoning. She whimpered and arched her hips, trying to position herself so she could fly.
Draco slipped a hand between their bodies and caressed her intimately, stroking his clever fingers over the swollen heart of her femininity until she broke free and flew and flew and flew. Fireworks, flashes, fizzes and floods coursed through her flesh. Her mind emptied of everything. It was as if, in those frantic moments, she’d become only flesh and feelings. Feelings that swept through her, flinging her out the other side just in time to sense Draco’s final plunge.
He tensed above her, his breathing ragged, his guttural groan when he spilled making the surface of her skin tinkle and tingle with goose bumps. She held him during the short but savage storm, gripping his taut buttocks, holding him to her until he finally sagged as the waves of pleasure faded away.
Allegra couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so close to another person. The skin-on-skin contact wasn’t new, nor was having sex. The tangled limbs, and the sweat-beaded bodies and the crinkled bed linen were not foreign to her, either.
But the sense that her body had spoken to his, responded to his as it had responded to no one else, made her realise this wasn’t just sex. What they had done was make love. Draco had worshipped her body, not exploited it. He had caressed it, not coerced it. He had respected it, drawing from her a depth of passion she had never given to anyone else. She hadn’t been capable of it with anyone else. Her body had never wanted anyone like it wanted him. It was as if she was programed to respond to his touch and his touch alone.
Draco leaned his weight on one elbow and used his other hand to stroke her cheek. His eyes held hers in a gentle tether that made her feel even closer to him. It was as if he had glimpsed who she really was and liked what he saw. ‘You were wonderful.’
Allegra gave him a shy smile. Silly to be feeling so shy after what they’d just done, but still. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve had too many complaints from lovers.’
He idly curled a strand of her hair around one of his fingers, the slight tug on her scalp making her shiver in delight. ‘It’s nothing any man should take for granted. What pleases one woman might not please another. Communication is the key and, of course, respect.’
She traced her fingertip around the sculpted perfection of his mouth, her core giving a little aftershock at the thought of the ecstasy his sensual mouth and potent body had given her. Pleasure she could still feel in every cell of her flesh like the echo of a far-off bell.
A thought suddenly crept up on her. What if Draco ceased to be satisfied by her? What if he became bored and went in search of someone else? She had witnessed first-hand her mother’s shame at being shunted aside for a new mistress. It had made her mother even more depressed and disengaged from life. Allegra had often wondered if her father had been partly to blame for her mother’s suicide by his inability to comfort and support her emotionally. She wondered if he was capable of doing it for Elena.
Draco smoothed a fingertip over her forehead. ‘You’ve got that frowning look again. What’s troubling you?’
Allegra gusted out a sigh. ‘Nothing.’
He pressed his thumb pad on her bottom lip, moving it in a slow back-and-forth stroking motion. ‘Talk to me, agape mou. It is good to communicate verbally and physically, ne?’
She couldn’t quite meet his coal-black gaze and aimed for his stubbly chin instead. ‘I guess I’m wondering how long this will last.’
He brought her chin up so her gaze meshed with his. ‘This?’
Allegra licked her lower lip, tasting the salt of his thumb pad. ‘Us. Having…sex. Don’t most married couples drift into a less passionate relationship over time? What will you do then? Find someone else?’
A frown formed a bridge between his eyes. ‘Didn’t you hear me promise to be faithful above all others earlier today? While we’re officially married I will be faithful, as I expect you to be.’
While we’re officially married… Allegra searched his gaze, wondering, hoping, praying he meant every word. But how could she be sure? Didn’t most people mean those vows at the time they spoke them? She was surprised to find she had meant them. She might not love him, but she still meant to honour the commitment as far as it was possible to do so. ‘But our situation is a little different… We’re not starting our marriage at the same place as other couples. What if you fall in love with someone? Someone you meet at work or wherever?’
His finger captured another tendril of her hair and began toying with it. ‘What if you fall in love with someone?’
Allegra had trouble holding his penetrating gaze. She pushed out of his hold, swung her legs off the bed and reached for something to cover her nakedness. His shirt was the only thing handy and she slipped it on and crossed it over her chest without doing up the buttons. How could she fall in love with someone else when Draco was all she could think about? ‘I don’t think that’s likely to happen.’
‘Then why do you think it will happen to me?’
‘Because it happens,’ she said. ‘It happens and you can’t always control it. I represent so many clients whose partner met someone’s gaze across a room and that was it. End of marriage. Most never thought it would happen to them. They thought they had a good relationship and then are suddenly left with the heartache of being rejected for someone younger and more beautiful. It’s still easier for men to stray, especially when kids come along. It’s hard work, bringing up a family, and some men can’t cope with the focus not being on them any more.
‘My father is a classic example. He got tired of my mother’s depression after Dion died and got someone else on the side. Lots of them over the years—both she and I lost count. She was barely cold in her grave before he parked a new mistress in the house.’
Draco got off the bed, pulled on his trousers and zipped them. ‘Not all men are your father, Allegra. Your parents’ situation was tragic. The loss of a child would test any solid relationship and your parents’ relationship, from all accounts, wasn’t solid. But don’t paint me with the same brush. It’s insulting, for one thing. And, for another, I’m not capable of the emotions you describe.’
Allegra frowned. ‘But you’re not incapable of feeling love. I saw the way you interacted with Iona. And I know you loved your father and grieved terribly when he was killed because you hate talking about it. Look at the way you put everything on hold yesterday to see to Yanni. You care about people, Draco. You care a lot. You might not call it love but many would.’
His tilted smile had a touch of cynicism. ‘Yes, I care, and to some degree that could be called love. But as for romantic love? I did that once and it was the most foolish mistake I’ve ever made. I’m not going to repeat it.’
‘What happened between you and your ex?’
He made a move to the door but she intercepted him and stalled him with a hand on his arm. ‘Talk to me, Draco,’ Allegra said. ‘I’ve told you so much about my own stuff but you keep your stuff to yourself. I would like to know so I can understand you better.’
‘There’s nothing to understand,’ he said, but she noted he didn’t pull away. ‘I was nineteen and full of the confident arrogance of youth. I thought she cared about me the way I cared about her. She didn’t.’
A penny dropped inside Allegra’s head. ‘You were nineteen?’
Draco gave her a rueful look. ‘Yes, right at the time you made that pass at me. I was still feeling a little raw. You got the rough end of it. Under other circumstances, your crush would have been a compliment, but instead it was a brutal reminder of the one who got away.’
Allegra bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry. No wonder you were so…so angry.’
He brushed a finger over her lower lip as if to remove the sting of the bruising kiss he had pulled away from so long ago. ‘It was wrong of me to take it out on you.’ His hand drifted away. ‘That was why I was so against you getting it on with that boy a couple of years later. I saw something in him that reminded me of my ex.’
And for all these years Allegra had hated him for it. ‘But weren’t you rather young to be thinking about marriage at nineteen?’
‘For some people, yes, that would’ve been too young. But I’d been on my own since my father died,’ he said. ‘I felt ready to build a life with someone. Turned out I wasn’t as ready as I thought.’
Allegra wondered if Draco would ever be ready to settle down for life after such a disappointment. His commitment to her was conditional. A two-or three-year marriage was hardly a lifetime commitment. No mention of love, just caring. How long was that going to be enough for her? ‘I wish I’d listened to you about that boy. It would have saved me a lot of hurt and embarrassment.’
He gave her an on-off smile and turned away to shove his feet back into his shoes, before he reached for a T-shirt and hauled it over his head. ‘I’m going up on the bridge to check on things. I’ll leave you to rest or whatever. We’ll have some supper once I secure us for the night in a sheltered cove not far away from here.’
Allegra’s shoulders sagged when the door clicked shut on his exit. She was being silly. What did it matter if he didn’t love her? Refused point blank ever to fall in love with her? They could still have a satisfying relationship. Far more satisfying than any relationship she’d had before. Sure, it wasn’t the fairy-tale relationship she secretly yearned for, but how realistic were those yearnings anyway? She knew more than most about the sort of heartache that came from idealistic expectations in relationships.
This way was safer. They had a mutual desire for each other and were both intelligent and rational people with a lot more in common than most.
Besides, she wasn’t in love with him.
And she would be perfectly safe as long as she stayed that way.