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‘Tears?’ he said on a softly spoken note of blank disbelief. ‘Tears—for a house!’
Tears?
Sadie’s hand flew up to her face, the backs of her fingers brushing her cheek to discover the shocking truth of his words. Tears that she had been totally unaware of having shed had slipped onto her skin, moistening her eyelashes. But even as she recognised that they were there, she looked deep into Nikos’s darkly assessing gaze and knew a terrible sense of despair as she acknowledged that he couldn’t be more wrong about the reason why they were there.
‘Not just a house.’
Had she said the words aloud or just heard them inside her head? She couldn’t tell, only knew that they blazed so hard they seemed to be etched into her thoughts in letters of fire.
Not just the house—not even though it was the home that she loved, that her mother needed. It wasn’t anything to do with Thorn Trees or even her angry frustration at not being able to persuade Nikos round to her way of thinking that was twisting a brutal knife in her devastated heart. Instead it was the sudden terrible sense of loss that she’d known in the moment she’d looked into Nikos’s eyes as he came close to her.
She’d armoured herself against this meeting. Told herself that what she had once felt for him was all over, that time had healed the scars and put a distance between her and the love she had once felt for this man. That his final betrayal and the way he had behaved since, the terrible revenge he had exacted so cold-bloodedly, had left her immune to him, not even hatred surviving of the onslaught of feelings she had been through.
But if this was immunity, then she would hate to have to try and face a fully developed fever! Her whole body was fizzing with awareness, coming to burning life in response to just that one, tiny touch.
No—not just the touch. She was responding to the look in his darkened eyes, the scent of his skin, the sound of his voice, even of his soft breathing, his very presence. Everything about him made her burn as if she stood in the direct line of the sun. And yet, contradictorily, it held her frozen to the spot, unable to move or look away. And hunger, dark and disturbing physical craving, throbbed like a heavy pulse in her blood.
‘It’s not just a house,’ she tried again, hoping to stir him into movement, away from her.
But it seemed that Nikos too had fallen under something of the same spell. After that one harsh question he stood as transfixed as her. His eyes locked with hers, his burning gaze so fixed, so unwavering that it seemed he barely even blinked. And Sadie sensed rather than actually saw the way his long tanned throat moved as he swallowed deeply.
‘Sadie…’ he said at last, his voice seeming to be becoming unravelled at the edges.
And the sound of her name on his lips had the effect of stabbing a stiletto dagger right into the centre of her heart, so that it jolted once, violently, then started pattering rapidly, high up in her throat, making it so very difficult to breathe naturally. His accent had deepened shockingly on the sound, making it raw and rough, disturbingly like the times that she heard him speak her name in the burn of passion, deep in the darkness of the night.
Memory dried her mouth again and nervously she licked her lips to ease the sensation. The water seemed to have done nothing at all to ease her thirst, or if it had then the moisture had evaporated in the heat that his touch had sent rushing through her.
‘Sadie…’ Nikos said again, and at long last the finger that rested so lightly on her cheek moved softly.
But not to move away from her, not to break the contact with her skin. Instead, his touch simply shifted, adjusted slightly, smoothing down one side of her cheek to curl under the fine line of her jaw, lifting her chin. She heard his harshly indrawn breath, watched those heavy black eyelashes close slowly, then open again as the burning bronze of his gaze blazed into her.
And he bent his head to kiss her.
It felt as if she had been waiting for it for so long. As if it was the kiss she had been waiting for all her life. It was shocking, heart-stopping in its gentleness. In anyone else she might even have called it hesitancy, but there was nothing hesitant about Nikos’s taking of her mouth. It was slow, it was sensual, it was totally sure of what he was doing—the effect it was aiming for. It was pure seduction, aimed right at her libido and having exactly the effect that he wanted.
Sadie’s fingers softened, her grip on the water glass loosening so that it fell to the floor. She vaguely heard the splash of water, the thud of the tumbler bouncing on the thick wool of the rug.
But after that she knew nothing else. Nothing but Nikos and the warmth of his body all around her. The strength of his arms as they gathered her close. The pressure of his mouth on hers and the magic it was working as he eased her lips open, slid his tongue along the edge and into the warm softness of her mouth.
His hands slid up her back, into her hair, tangling in the dark silky strands. He twisted his fingers around them, using them to hold her head just where he wanted as he increased the pressure, forcing her to open to him even more.
She was drowning in a dark, heady world of sensuality. Lost to reality and aware only of the responses of her body, following blindly where Nikos led. She was soft and malleable in his hands, unable to think for herself or find any trace of will to call her own. Her own hands lifted, arms winding themselves around his neck, drawing his proud head down even closer, taking the kiss into another dimension, another stage of hungry sensuality.
‘Nikos…’ she murmured against his cheek as he turned his head, his wicked, beguiling mouth finding the fine, taut line of her throat and kissing his way down it to the spot where her pulse throbbed frantically at the base of her neck.
When his warm lips pressed against the tiny point, she felt her breath catch in her throat, the electric shocks of response sparking its way along every nerve, flashing down to pool in liquid heat in the most intimate spot low in her body, between her legs. Restlessly, she moved against him, pressing her body close to the hardness of his and feeling the heated swelling of the erection that marked his undisguised response to her. That pressure was what she wanted. That and more—so much more—and it was obvious that Nikos felt the same as one large hard hand came down to curve over her buttocks, bringing her into even more intimate contact and holding her there.
‘Nikos…’ Once more she choked out his name, restless fingers clutching in his hair, pressing against his scalp, holding him against her.
It seemed that the heat of their bodies had melted her bones, so that she swayed against him on unsteady legs. She heard his breath hiss in sharply between his teeth, and the hand that had been in her hair released her to slide, hot and sensuous, down to her ribcage to cup the side of her breast, his thumb stroking tormentingly over her nipple, bringing it to springing, tightened life underneath the cotton of her blouse. Sadie’s own breath caught in her throat, making her gasp in shocked delight and wriggle even closer, pressing her sensitised flesh against the heat of his palm.
‘Yes, Nikos, yes. This—’
But the words died on her tongue, crushed back down her throat by the way that he suddenly stopped, his whole mood changing.
‘No!’
His body stiffened, the dark head going back violently to look down at her with a new and devastating hostility, brutal rejection blazing in his eyes.
‘No!’ he said again, more forcefully this time.
The hands that had held her close were now moving her away from him, setting her aside with cold precision. The fingers that had tangled in her hair were tugged free with a speed and roughness that brought pinpricks of tears to her eyes, though she was too stunned, too bewildered by the sudden change in mood to have even the energy needed to let them fall.
She couldn’t find the strength to speak, either. Shock deprived her of her voice, so that even though she opened her mouth twice to try to protest she had to close it again when all she managed was an embarrassing croak. Stunned, she could only stand and watch in blank bewilderment as Nikos adjusted the fit of his jacket that her clutching fingers had knocked askew, smoothed his hands over his hair to bring it back into sleek order rather than the wayward tangle she had made of it.
And then, to her total consternation and horror, he actually checked his watch once again.
‘Your time is almost up. You have just fifty seconds left,’ he declared with flat detachment, completely devoid of emotion. ‘Was there anything else that you wanted to say before you leave?’
Chapter Three
HE SHOULD NEVER have touched her, Nikos told himself. Never been such a damn fool as to bridge the gap between them, do something as crazy as to put his finger on her face, feel the softness of her skin underneath his.
He should never have let himself get close enough to her to catch the scent of her skin, the clean softness of her hair.
Just a couple of steps forward was all it had taken. And, with the electrical sting of response to the moment their hands had touched around the glass still sizzling up his arm, he had already been halfway towards the madness of arousal that she had always been able to spark in him so instantly in the past.
And still could, damn it, it seemed.
He had spent the last five years trying to put her part in his life behind him, out of his mind. He had managed to get the taste of her out of his mouth and now it was right back there, sensual, intoxicating, driving him insane.
He had to be insane. How the hell else could he have let her get to him so far, so fast?
One touch and he had been right there, back in the maelstrom of searing hunger that tightened his throat, made his heart pound in his chest, made him hot and hard and hungry in the space of a single devastating heartbeat.
Just the feel of the soft flesh of her cheek under his fingertip had brought a memory, fast and dangerous as a bolt of lightning, of the way it had felt to have her naked, all that softness underneath him, warm and willing, yearning for his touch, his caress…opening to him…
Thee mou, no! He was not going down that dangerous path again, sensually enticing though it was.
‘I repeat,’ he said, injecting every ounce of control he possessed into the ruthless command of his voice, ‘is there anything else that you want to say before you leave?’
Was there anything?
Sadie felt as if her head was spinning, reeling as if from the force of a sudden fierce blow.
Her shocked, numbed brain wouldn’t focus, and all she could think of was the feeling of Nikos’s arms around her, the pressure of his body against hers. Her heart was still thudding ferociously and the taste of him was still on her lips. And deep in her body the yearning hunger that had uncoiled in those few fraught, dangerous moments was still burning, still stinging at her senses and making her feel miserably restless with unfulfilled need.
The clamour of every aroused cell made her feel as if she was being assailed by some appalling fever. One that had her burning up in one moment and then shivering in wretched cold the next.
‘Well?’
Nikos’s tone was harshly impatient, and damn him if he didn’t flick another glance at that hateful watch, driving home his message without needing to say another word.
‘I…’
Still unable to collect her thoughts, Sadie resorted to desperate measures, giving her head a rough little shake in an attempt to clear it. The movement caught Nikos’s attention, making him frown ominously.
‘And what does that mean?’ he questioned sharply. ‘Is it supposed to be no, you have nothing more to say? Or no, you have no plans to leave? Because I can tell you that you may not have plans—but I certainly do. I have another appointment in fifteen minutes, and a business lunch and an afternoon conference call after that. I don’t have time to waste standing here, waiting for you to make up your mind and realise that you’ve had your chance—you made your plea and you lost.’
‘Lost?’ Sadie echoed dejectedly, recollection of why she was here coming back to her in full—and leaving her feeling worse than ever at the realisation that Nikos was dismissing her for good, with no chance at all of saving their home for her family.
‘There is no way that I am going to sell you Thorn Trees,’ she heard him say now, confirming her worst suspicions. ‘Or rent it to you. My plans for the house remain just as they were when you—’
‘Oh, please!’ Sadie broke in on him, the thought of going home and telling her mother that she had failed driving her to one last desperate attempt to get him to show some compassion. ‘Please don’t say that! You have to understand—there has to be something I can do for you.’
‘And what makes you think that? What the devil could I want from you? Believe me, there is nothing—’
‘But there must be!’
‘Nothing.’
His tone warned her not to argue further. And the way he raked both hands through his hair, pushing it back into its sleek control, spoke of a ruthless determination to be back on track, ready for the next move, that next appointment. This one was over and he was done with her.
‘But that—what happened just now—surely…?’
Her words died as she looked into his face and his expression told her the terrible truth.
‘What happened just now?’ Nikos echoed cynically, his burning gaze searing over her from the top of her ruffled dark head to the toes of her black patent shoes.
The look of dark contempt that filled it made her shiver, feeling as if a much needed protective layer of skin had been stripped from her body, leaving her raw and exposed, frighteningly vulnerable.
‘And what makes you think that what just happened had anything to do with anything?’
‘But—you…I thought…’
Her tongue seemed to tangle up on itself, tying itself in knots so that she couldn’t get the words out.
‘You thought…?’ Nikos prompted harshly when she fought with herself, trying to speak.
‘I thought that that—that when you…’
When you kissed me. She just couldn’t make herself say it. She knew that she would give herself away if she did. She had thought—had hoped—that the way he had kissed her so passionately meant that he still felt some trace of something for her. That, if nothing else, at least he was still attracted to her. And she had little doubt that that hope, that illusion—because his face made it plain it was an illusion—would show in her voice if she said anything more.
‘When I kissed you?’ Nikos drawled mockingly. ‘Is that what you mean? So tell me, my sweet Sadie, just what did you think was happening? What do you think that was?’
‘I—’ Sadie tried to begin, but he ignored her stuttering attempt at speech and talked across her quite deliberately.
‘Did you think it was warmth? Was that it? Or perhaps affection? Or perhaps…’
He actually had the nerve to stop, appear to consider, even look suitably surprised, when deep down inside she knew damn well that the brute wasn’t surprised at all but had been aiming for this right from the start.
‘Thee mou, you didn’t think it was love, did you?’
If she’d found it hard to speak before, then now Sadie found it absolutely impossible. She could feel the hot colour flaring in her cheeks and knew that her furiously embarrassed reaction had given her away completely.
‘Then I’m sorry—’
‘No, you’re not!’ Sadie broke in, finding her voice at last in the strength of the wave of anger that swept over her. ‘You’re not sorry at all. And I know it wasn’t—wasn’t anything like love.’
It couldn’t have been. There was no way anyone could switch on love like that and then immediately turn it off right away.
‘It certainly wasn’t,’ Nikos confirmed coldly.
‘So what was it?’
Cruelty? Deliberate manipulation? Some sort of hateful test?
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Nikos questioned softly. ‘I couldn’t help myself.’
He’d shocked her there. It wasn’t at all the answer she’d expected. But he’d anticipated her response and knew that he had her when her head went back in amazement, green eyes opening wide. A smile that did nothing to light up his face and had no effect at all on the coldness of his eyes flickered across his beautiful mouth as he noted her response.
He paused just long enough for his words to sink in and hit home before moving in for the kill.
‘Lust will do that,’ he declared, making sure that his words were totally clear. ‘You always spoke to my most basic masculine nature—my libido—you still do. I find it hard to keep my hands off you.’
‘Is that supposed to be a compliment? Because if it is you need to work on your technique.’
But Sadie’s sarcasm, her attempt to hit back, simply bounced off Nikos’s impenetrable hide without, apparently, even leaving a mark.
‘Lust I can handle,’ he went on, as if she had never spoken. ‘It’s something I can decide to indulge or not as I choose.’
‘And you—decided to indulge it just now when you pawed me—’
‘Not pawed, Sadie,’ Nikos corrected, shaking his head almost as if in sorrow at her interpretation of his actions. ‘I do not paw women. And if I had then you would not have responded as you did.’
‘I—’ Sadie tried to protest, but the sudden rush of confidence to speak seemed to have deserted her.
‘If you want the truth,’ Nikos continued, ‘I wanted to know if you tasted the same. And you do.’
‘Taste?’
It was the last thing she had expected.
‘You still taste exactly the same.’
Nikos’s mouth twisted on the words.
‘I may not have recognised it before, but I see what it is now—the taste of lies and deceit—the taste of betrayal.’
Sadie flinched inwardly as he flung the words in her face. She wished she could deny them, throw her refutation right back into his dark, contemptuous face. But how could she when deep down she knew that they were nothing but the truth? She’d been forced to betray him, but he had planned his own betrayal with cold-blooded cruelty and with no one twisting his arm up behind his back—emotionally, at least. It had all been precisely what he had wanted all along.
‘It wasn’t exactly as you think. But I don’t suppose you want to hear about that, do you?’
‘You’re damn right I don’t. In fact, I do not want to hear another single word from you.’
‘But the house…’ Despair forced her to say it, pushing the words from her mouth when she just wanted to keep quiet and get out of there with some shreds of dignity intact. But she had her mother and her little brother to think of, and she couldn’t let them down.
‘Gamoto!’ Nikos flung up his hands in a gesture of total exasperation. ‘How many times do I have to tell you that I will not sell you Thorn Trees? Nor will I rent it to you—not at any price. Not if you were the last person on earth.’
‘But there must be some arrangement we can come to! Surely there’s something I can do—anything…’
The words shrivelled and died when she saw the fiendish light in his eyes and knew that she had made a terrible mistake.
‘And exactly what sort of services did you have in mind? What exactly are you offering…?’
‘Not that! Never!’ Sadie flung at him, seeing the way his dark and cruel mind was going. ‘If you really think that I’d sell myself…I’d rather die!’
‘That was not the impression you were giving a few minutes ago,’ Nikos returned, his voice sounding soft and silky but with an effect as brutal as a sharp stiletto sliding in between her ribs to stab at her heart. ‘Then it was Oh, Nikos—yes, Nikos…’
‘And you fell for it, didn’t you?’
The words had flashed from her mouth before she had time to consider if they were wise or even safe. She only knew that she couldn’t take any more of this black mockery. Of the appalling insults he was tossing in her direction with almost every word that came out of his mouth.
‘You really thought that all you had to do was to touch me—kiss me—and I would be putty in your hands.’
‘You were. That is exactly how you behaved.’
‘I made it seem as if I was but you’re pretty easy to fool. All I had to do was to let you cop a feel…’
The way that his black brows snapped together in a furious frown made her heart lurch in panic, cutting her words off short. Deciding hastily that it was probably safer not to think about the real reason why he looked so furious, instead she opted for a less contentious option and flashed him a mocking smile.
‘Ask someone to translate,’ she suggested wickedly.
‘No translation necessary, believe me,’ Nikos flung back, cold as ice. ‘None at all. But if you think that that was what was happening then you are the one in need of an interpretation. And a reality check.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘Oh, yes. If you think that all it takes is a flash of those stunning green eyes or a wiggle of your sexy little behind, then you really don’t know me at all.’
‘It felt—’ Sadie began, but Nikos cut in on her, bringing one long-fingered hand down in a slashing gesture to emphasise his interruption.
‘I was fool enough to go that way once before and I have no intention of ever putting my head into the noose all over again.’
‘And you’ve made us pay for it ever since!’
Sadie was beginning to feel as if she was on some dangerous emotional rollercoaster. And it was all her own fault. After all she’d started this, with the pretence that she’d only been playing him along.
Playing him along—hah! That would be the day. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but the truth was that she had been putty in his hands. One kiss, one caress, and she had lost all grip on her sanity and been spun into a world of hot sensation and even hotter need. At least she had had the sense to realise that those casually tossed compliments—stunning green eyes and sexy little behind, indeed!—were not meant at all. They were just the practised flattery of a consummate womaniser. He probably rolled them out to whichever woman he happened to be with, changing the colour of their eyes where appropriate of course.
‘You’ve had five years of taking your revenge. Haven’t you done enough, had enough?’
‘If you want the truth, then the answer is no,’
It was a flat, hard statement, his tone as harshly unyielding as his face, and when she looked into the deep pools of his eyes she saw no spark of warmth, no hint of humanity. Instead they were as cold and unresponsive as ice, his opaque, blanked-off stare shocking and frightening.
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