Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress

CHAPTER FOUR

A STUNNING vision of masculine style in a charcoal-grey business suit flawlessly tailored to his tall, well-built frame, Atreus was poised by the library’s elegant windows while he talked on the phone. For a split second Lindy paused to refresh her eyes with the sight of him and revel in the pleasure of seeing him again. He swung round, his lean, breathtakingly handsome features briefly shedding their often sombre aspect with a sudden flashing smile. Samson and Sausage squeezed past Lindy to race across the room and hurl themselves at him. Knowing that that energetic welcome would go down like a lead balloon while he was on the phone, Lindy threw herself in the dogs’ path and acted as a barrier between her lover and her pets.

Atreus closed a steadying arm round her as the impact of the animals against the back of her legs almost unbalanced her. The glow of warmth in her eyes captivated him. He liked the way she never hid anything from him, never tried to play it cool. He found her as straightforward as he found others of her sex artificial. As the evocative scent of her hair and her skin made his nostrils flare, he was instantly aware of the erotic pulse at his groin. He lowered his head to press his skilful mouth hotly to a tender spot just below her ear, a move he had long since learned drove her wild. With a sensual moan of surrender, Lindy quivered with the delicious awakening that was hurtling like liquid fire to her every pulse-point and nerve-ending. Atreus said something rather abrupt into his phone, set it down, and hauled her to him with impatient hands to kiss her breathless.

‘A weekend isn’t enough for me when it’s followed by five days of celibacy,’ he growled when he finally let her breathe again.

Lindy was thrilled by that admission. ‘I suppose I could come up to London occasionally,’ she began, eager to gain an entrance into that other part of his world which had so far been closed to her.

His jawline clenched. ‘I like things the way they are. I’m free to concentrate on business during the week. We both have plenty of space.’

Her eyes dimmed. She didn’t want that space, had never wanted that space, and only put up with his frequent unavailability in silence because it seemed to be what he expected from her. That belated admission shook her. Just when had she started fitting in with his wishes and ignoring her own? But what woman wanted her lover to see her as clingy? she asked herself defensively. Atreus might be her only source of experience, but she knew that a needy, demanding woman could make a man feel trapped.

Cursing the insecurity that Ben’s outspoken criticism had roused in her, Lindy blanked out her anxious thoughts and rested back in the seemingly secure circle of Atreus’s arms.

She loved him so much, and she had a whole weekend to luxuriate in. Was she about to let her lack of confidence spoil what they shared? She hadn’t intended to fall for him—had thought intelligence would help her to hold back and protect herself from getting too attached to a man who was unlikely to stay with her. But there had been no protection from his innate charisma and high-voltage sexuality, or the clever brain that consistently intrigued and entertained her. She sank deeper and deeper into love every time she saw him. By the end of the first three months of their affair she had been a totally lost cause.

Atreus was suspicious of her sudden suggestion that she see him in London during the week. Where had that unfortunate idea come from? Had the one-time love of her life been muckraking again? Atreus wondered grimly, for he was already aware that Lindy’s alleged friend had visited her that afternoon. Ben Halliwell was a thorn in Atreus’s side, playing a waiting game and always ready to make trouble. Lindy was so impressionable, Atreus reflected ruefully, keeping her close while he smoothed a soothing hand down over her taut spine, recognising her mood of disquiet with growing annoyance. Perhaps it was time that he had a word with Halliwell and warned him off. Lindy, who thought the best of everyone and the least of herself, would never do it for him. Evidently it had not yet occurred to her that her old friend now wanted what he had so carelessly rejected at university, and Atreus was in no hurry to point out Ben’s change of heart.

‘I missed you,’ she confided, only to regret the revealing admission as soon as the words left her lips.

His arms tightened round her. ‘The week went very slowly,’ he conceded, letting his mouth graze over hers and then return to part her lips with a sudden hungry urgency that sent the blood hurtling in a mad race through her veins. Her knees went weak, the tug of craving in her pelvis almost more than she could bear in silence. It had not taken him long to teach her that desire could be a cruel taskmaster, for while her brain teemed with troubled thoughts and fears, her body was only capable of craving the urgency of his. Lindy closed her eyes tight in frustration, fighting to restrain the intensity of her longing, hating the knowledge that she only ever felt really secure in bed with him. That was when she felt most needed and valued, and what did that say about their relationship?