Sale or Return Bride

For a moment they were both held suspended in a place of such exquisite excitement that reality no longer existed for either of them. And then finally the wildness subsided, leaving them both shuddering in the aftermath of an unbelievable experience.

Eventually Sebastien moved, but only to roll both of them back on to the bed with a very male groan of undiluted sexual satisfaction.

Alesia lay with her eyes closed, shell-shocked and totally exhausted. She couldn’t believe that she could have behaved in such a way. Couldn’t believe she was capable of being so shameless and abandoned. And she couldn’t believe that it had been even better than last time. This time she’d known what he was capable of doing to her, what she was capable of feeling, and that knowledge had heightened her excitement to intolerable levels.

‘Well, that was definitely an improvement on an afternoon of meetings,’ he drawled, his eyes still closed as he lay on his back, one bronzed arm resting across his face, the other holding her firmly against him. ‘Had I known how hot you were when I signed those papers I wouldn’t have hesitated. You are worth every penny of the money you charge.’

Plunged back into the stark reality of her life by his harsh words, Alesia kept her eyes tightly shut, wishing that he’d stayed in the meetings. At least then she wouldn’t have had to cope with the knowledge that she’d once more abandoned herself totally to a man who clearly despised her.

‘I don’t know how you can make love to me when you so clearly hate me,’ she murmured, careful to keep the shake out of her voice as she struggled to forget all the things she’d begged him to do to her while she’d been under the influence of his superior seduction technique.

‘Because we don’t make love,’ he drawled flatly, his eyes hard as they locked with hers. ‘We have sex, Alesia. And, fortunately for you, having sex does not require emotional attachment. If it did then men would never use the services of prostitutes.’

She gave a gasp of pain and curled her fingers into the sheets. ‘Are you comparing me to a prostitute?’

‘Not at all.’ He gave her a cool smile and sprang out of bed, lithe and energetic, as if he hadn’t just spent an entire afternoon engaged in extremely physical activity. ‘You’re much more expensive.’

‘I really, really hate you, do you know that?’ Wounded and humiliated, she curled up in the bed and pulled the sheet over her for protection, consumed by a self-loathing so powerful that the pain of it was almost physical. How could she respond to a man who clearly had absolutely no respect for her? ‘I don’t want you to come near me again.’

It was said for her benefit as much as his but he merely smiled.

‘Yes, you do.’ He strolled back to the bed and leaned over, planting both arms on the mattress so that his face was only inches from hers. ‘Do you think I don’t know how much you ache for me? You may want to hate me but, fortunately for both of us, your hot little body is totally lacking in scruples and the moment I flick the switch you’re mine.’

She lifted a hand to slap his face but he caught it with a warning glance.

‘Not nice, my little wife,’ he purred softly. ‘You made your bed and now you’re lying in it. Or rather, you’re lying in mine. On your front, on your back, whichever way I choose to position you. And that’s where you’re going to stay.’

Her eyes clouded with pain. ‘I want you to leave me alone—’

‘Not a chance.’ With a final lingering glance at her lush mouth, Sebastien straightened and picked up the phone by the bed, his eyes fixed on hers as he spoke in rapid Greek. Minutes later there was a discreet tap on the door and he answered it and came back to bed carrying a tray. ‘Sit up. You need to eat or you’ll collapse on me later.’

She stayed stubbornly under the sheet. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘We’ve just had sex without stopping for six hours,’ he said in a conversational tone. ‘You didn’t eat that lunch and you’re going to miss dinner. I don’t want you fainting on me in the nightclub.’

Six hours? She stared at him in mute astonishment and then glanced at the darkened windows. The knowledge that she’d been so sexually transported that she’d lost all track of time made her want to sink deeper in the bed. It took her a moment to register the rest of his statement.

‘Nightclub?’ Her voice shook. ‘What nightclub—?’

‘The one I’m taking you to this evening,’ he said smoothly. ‘It is a new business venture of a very good friend of mine. Athens society will be deciding whether it is the “in” place to be seen.’