Greek Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress
His eyes narrowed. ‘Yes, she’s been here.’
Even as a chill spread inside Lindy at that confirmation she wished she had not asked that stupid question. She shrugged a shoulder. ‘I don’t know why I asked.’
‘The only woman I want here with me now is my wife,’ Atreus intoned, lowering his handsome dark head to taste the pouting pink curve of her full mouth.
The hot, urgent taste of him was as intoxicating as the finest wine, while the pure sexual charge he emanated sent her senses leaping and dancing with eager energy. He scooped her up into his arms and strode down the corridor with her into a large airy bedroom with doors out onto the terrace. He set her down with great care on the edge of the massive bed and crouched down to remove her shoes.
And Lindy thought, though she did not want to think it, I wonder, did he sleep here with Krista? He tipped up her reddened lips and took them again with the driving hunger that never failed to set her on fire. After all, it had been so long since he had touched her. There had not been a single kiss or caress, and he had shown no sign of wanting her again until he’d looked at her in the church today. She knew that restraint had been necessary in the first weeks after Theo had been born, but they could have shared other intimacies, could at least have shared a bed occasionally. Yet Atreus, who had a remarkably healthy libido, had kept her at a distance. Why was that? What had lain behind all that uncharacteristic restraint and indifference to her womanly wiles? And as he unzipped her dress she wondered if desire for the other woman had held him back from her. Her heart sank, and the warmth and liquid heat within her faded away as shame washed over her. Was he only making love to her now because he knew she was expecting him to? Would he make comparisons? Wish that…?
In a sudden movement of frantic repudiation Lindy thrust Atreus back from her and sprang to her feet, reaching behind her to zip her dress up. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do this…I just can’t!’ she gasped in stricken recoil.
His darkly handsome features clenching hard, Atreus froze. For an instant he studied her with sombre dark eyes, and then he took a pointed step back from her. Her face flamed. ‘That’s your prerogative. Kalinichta,’ he murmured without any expression at all.
Reeling in shock from what she had done, Lindy watched him stride out. Tears welled up with stinging effect and rolled down her cheeks. Why did she have to be so horribly insecure? What madness had possessed her? It was their wedding night and she didn’t want to spend it alone. What sort of a start was this to their marriage?
CHAPTER TEN
‘I SCREWED up,’ Lindy told Theo frankly.
There was a magnificent view from the deep terrace that ran the length of the villa on the seaward side. A glorious roll of orchards and lush green land ran down to the sea, which washed the white sand of the cove far below. Lindy, however, was not rejoicing in the scenery, or the beauty of the day. All her attention was pinned to her son, who was reclining in his baby seat. The little boy was kicking his feet with visibly dwindling energy. In his little blue cotton playsuit he looked extremely cute, and she smiled down at him even though she didn’t feel remotely happy just at that moment. The stupidity of her own behaviour had come home to roost; she had stuck a spoke in the wheels of her new marriage and she didn’t know what to do about it.
Three weeks had passed since their wedding night, when she had crashed and burned in jealousy, and Atreus was still sleeping in one of his own guestrooms. The only time they actually touched was when they passed Theo between them, or when Atreus believed she might be in danger of falling. The rest of the time she was as untouchable as the carrier of some noxious plague. Rejection, she had learned, didn’t motivate Atreus to try harder; it made him keep his distance.
That fact apart, the honeymoon was ironically proving an outstanding success in every other way. Atreus might be treating her like a maiden aunt who required physical support on steep paths or when boarding a boat, but he had spared no effort when it came to entertaining her. The island of Thrazos was hilly and green and ringed by beautiful deserted beaches, and Atreus had willingly shown her over every part of it. There was a fishing village at one end, with a picturesque harbour, and almost every day they set sail there on Atreus’s yacht and went off exploring.
Golden day had followed golden day, under a sky that stayed resolutely blue and unclouded. Sometimes Lindy found it stiflingly hot, and she hogged every bit of shade available, but that same heat seemed to energise Atreus. Out at sea there were breezes to cool her overheated skin, and she thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing swim stops and picnics at secluded sandy coves, so that before long her enthusiasm for sailing almost equalled his own. It infuriated her that even when so much was wrong between them Atreus betrayed not the smallest sense of awkwardness. He was polite, calm, and brilliant company, and she dreaded the evenings when she was most often alone. After dinner, when Theo was tucked up for the night, Atreus often retired to his office to work, and Lindy invariably went to bed first.