The Greek's Unknown Bride

APOLLO WAS WAITING for Sasha outside the villa, by the golf buggy. She wasn’t late but his skin prickled all over. He’d gone beyond the point of no return earlier, and there was no way now that he could, or would, deny himself where Sasha was concerned.

However inconvenient it was, he wanted her and he would have her until she was burnt out of his system once and for all.

He heard a noise behind him and turned around but nothing could have prepared him for the vision searing itself onto his retinas.

It was a deceptively simple dress. Off-white, sleeveless, it dipped in a V between her breasts, with narrow gold straps criss-crossing across her bodice, highlighting her high firm breasts and narrow torso.

It fell from her waist in soft billowing folds to the floor. Her hair was caught up in a bun, a plain gold band holding it back from her face.

She looked like a Greek goddess. Albe

it with red hair, and pale skin and freckles. She made him think of the myth of Helen of Troy. Achilles, his brother, had used to love that story.

She indicated the dress. ‘Kara packed it, is it okay?’

Apollo looked at her suspiciously. She was genuinely uncertain. Did she really have no idea how stunning she was?

‘You look beautiful.’

Her face went pink. ‘I... Thank you.’

Apollo desperately wanted to resist this act of innocence. It had to be an act. But his gut told him it wasn’t. No one could keep up an act like this without slipping.

He couldn’t stop imagining peeling that dress off her later, revealing her breasts to his gaze. Pulling up the layers of chiffon to find the centre of her body where she would be hot and—Enough.

The sooner he’d had his fill of her, the better. As soon as this crazy heat dissipated between them he’d move her into an apartment in Athens for the duration of the time it took for the divorce to be finalised. He would be done with her.

They reached the resort just as the sun was dropping in the sky. The was a palpable air of anticipation among the crowd assembled, the women tanned and lithe and beautiful, and the men in their suits.

She still hadn’t fully regained her breath from the view as they’d descended over Santorini with its distinctive white and blue buildings perched precariously on cliffs over the caldera—an underwater crater—which had been formed in a volcanic eruption.

Not to mention the sheer magnificence of Apollo in a dark bespoke suit and white shirt. It was open at the neck, and he oozed casual masculine elegance and a raw sex appeal that reminded her of how needy she’d felt earlier, at the pool.

A hostess greeted them and handed them glasses of champagne. ‘Welcome, you’re just in time to view the stunning sunset. Please, make yourselves comfortable.’

The delicate layers of chiffon in her dress whispered around Sasha’s legs. She’d never felt like a princess before, but she felt like one now. Kara had somehow unearthed this dress from all the more revealing ones in Sasha’s wardrobe in Athens and for once she felt as if she was in something she might have chosen for herself.

Which was a weird thought to have...who else could have chosen her clothes?

Apollo took her elbow at that moment and led her over to where a terrace jutted out over the cliff edge, nothing but a stone wall between them and certain death. Sasha took a sip of champagne to try and alleviate the nerves jumping in her belly.

She pointed to a nearby town. ‘That’s Oia?

‘Yes. That’s where everyone goes to watch the sunset...give it a few minutes, you’ll see why.’

They stood in companionable silence as more and more of the guests started to join them along the terrace wall. The sun was dipping lower now, casting out an orange and pink glow into the vast sky.

Sasha could see how the sun was bathing Oia in a warm golden glow, making the white buildings look even whiter. And then the sun touched the horizon and the world was bathed in pink and orange and apricot. It seemed to fill the entire sky and Sasha could see thousands of flashes coming from cameras and phones in Oia.

‘It’s stunning,’ she breathed, deeply touched by the natural phenomenon. And then just as quickly the sun was gone, leaving behind the faintest of pink trails and a bluish gloaming. Lights started to come on in Oia, like fairy lights in a string.

Reluctantly Sasha left the view behind to follow Apollo as they were led around the resort on a private tour. It was beautiful. Idyllic. A place for romance and decadence.

When they were seated at a series of long trestle tables, beautifully laid out with silverware and wildflower centrepieces, Apollo asked her, ‘So, what do you think?’

Sasha swallowed a piece of delicious herb-infused fish. ‘You want my opinion? But I don’t know anything about this kind of thing.’

He shrugged. ‘Still...indulge me.’