Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

‘K ALIMERA .'

The voice was close. Low and husky enough to draw from her a shiver, then rain down on every scintillating memory from last night and the early hours of this morning.

‘You can pretend to be asleep, but your body betrays you,' Ares rasped.

A very unladylike curse spilled from Odessa's lips before she could stop it, drawing mocking laughter from the man whose arm circled her waist, pinning her in place.

‘Good morning,' she said, cringing a little when her voice emerged far too husky.

Feeling heat rising into her cheeks, she pressed her face deeper into the pillow.

‘Do you plan on ignoring me for ever?' he asked, just before his lips trailed down the shell of her ear.

Her shrug was a vain attempt at pretending she was unaffected, when deep inside her body was already rousing, melting for him.

‘You'll have to excuse me. I'm not used to the morning-after thing.'

She wasn't sure what she expected when she chanced a furtive glance at him. It certainly wasn't for his humour to vanish...for his nostrils to flare in blatant displeasure.

She opened her mouth to do something stupid, like ask him what was wrong, but Ares was already moving. She hated it that she immediately grew cold, craving his warmth.

Dragging the sheet up to her neck, she sat up.

He stood at the side of the bed, his narrow-eyed stare fixed on her.

‘What have I done now?' she blurted.

He seemed reluctant to voice his thoughts, the rise and fall of his chest quickening as he stared at her. ‘Tell me that idiot wasn't your first,' he grated out, hot Greek temper leaping wildly in his hazel eyes.

‘You'll have to be specific. You seem to believe any man I interact with who isn't you or your father is an idiot or a bastard.'

‘I only go on the evidence I'm presented with,' he said haughtily.

A shadow of amusement lightened his eyes. Then they hardened again into condemnation almost immediately, at whatever he was thinking.

‘I mean Paolo Romani—that fool I saw you kissing on your eighteenth birthday. The man your father had been taunting me with for months.'

The reminder chilled her further. ‘You saw everything?'

Her first mistake had been to throw herself at Paolo Romani in desperation. Little had she known that it had all been cleverly orchestrated by her father—that Paolo had been a willing participant in setting her up so that Ares would witness it. By the time she'd come to her senses, Ares was gone.

His features hardened further, his eyes no longer amused. ‘I saw enough,' he breathed. ‘You should thank your lucky stars that my father counselled restraint. I would've ripped you from his arms, then throttled you both.'

It explained a few things—although she suspected Ares hadn't seen the last part when, horrified with herself, she'd pushed Paolo away, then fought even harder when he'd pinned her against the wall. Labelled her a tease. It had necessitated her knee to his groin before she'd been able to make her escape.

More than discovering that Ares had seen that error of judgement, born solely out of desperate loneliness, confusion and defiance, it was knowing that his father had witnessed her behaviour too that made her cringe. ‘Ares—'

‘Did you enjoy it? Did he make you feel the way I do? The way I did back then?'

His words were like shards of glass, slashing at her to dig out secrets. Exposing truths she couldn't hide.

‘No.'

His eyes narrowed, his body tight with tension. ‘Don't lie to me.'

She laughed, the grating sound searing her throat raw. ‘Trust me, I wish I could say differently. That it was the best kiss of my life. Then I wouldn't have hated you—and myself—so much.'

His gaze dropped to her mouth, then dashed back up to her eyes. ‘He didn't hurt you, did he?'

Not at first.

‘He was tepid. Boring.'

He wasn't you.

She didn't add that because, Dio mio , she'd exposed far too much of herself already.

‘Well, one thing you're not when you're with me is bored, ne ?'

His tone reeked of masculine arrogance. She hated the fact that it was well-earned. That he made every cell in her body shriek with excitement, breathless anticipation, and the feeling of living on the edge that adrenaline junkies craved.

It was almost addictive...in a way that made her fear for her emotions. Because it turned out neither time nor distance had shifted the gravity of how he made her feel. How eagerly she anticipated their interactions. How he drove her so effortlessly to the limits of emotion, then kept her poised there, in that heady space between despair and elation.

Odessa wished she could hate him for it, but the naked truth was that Ares Zanelis made her feel like nothing and nobody else had in her entire life.

‘Can we be done with this? You have your answers. The kiss was boring. Romani wasn't my first. My first time, when it happened, was uneventful. I'm here now, with you. As you want. You should be happy.'

He wasn't happy.

Ares despised the unsettled sensations coursing through him two weeks after that far too exposing morning-after conversation. He'd let inconsequential demons get the better of him, and the enlightening recounting of her eighteenth birthday had taunted him with what he'd been denied.

Denied then, but fully enjoyed now, he tried reminding himself.

Why couldn't he be satisfied that the useless usurper Paolo Romani—the man Elio Santella had taunted him with—hadn't succeeded either. That, if anything, he—Ares—was the victor now? Why was he still disgruntled?

Because it felt hollow?

He'd put a ring on her. He'd strapped her down for the next five years, at least. So... why ?

Because, as always with this woman, he craved more .

They'd settled into a routine in the fortnight since their wedding. He could run his empire from anywhere in the world, except on the rare occasion a face-to-face meeting was necessary. Leaving Odessa and his father on Ismene suited him just fine when he had to go away. And, yes, it helped that his new wife had taken an obvious liking to his island.

Also optimal was her eager welcome for him when they went to bed. He was nowhere near sating his hunger for her—which, again, was a good thing, since there was an end goal to all that sex.

What didn't satisfy him at all was that he'd been gone only forty-eight hours and his very skin jumped with need, like an addict denied a vital narcotic.

He rose from the seat on his plane, his restless gaze returning to his watch once more—as if he hadn't been checking every few minutes since he'd left London. He stopped pacing when an attendant approached.

‘Can I get you anything, Kyrios Zanelis?'

‘No, but you can find out how long before we land?'

‘Of course, sir.' She returned in a minute. ‘We'll land in fifty minutes.'

Fifty minutes. Then he could wrap her in his arms once more. Ensure the process of getting her pregnant was progressing smoothly.

Is that all?

Yes!

Nothing else mattered but that goal.

Except fifty-five minutes later his arms were empty and a clutch of dread lurked far too close to his heart.

‘They've what?' he snapped at his housekeeper.

Demeter eyed him steadily, looking irritated, with her hands propped on her wide hips, her head tilted as if questioning his hearing.

‘They took the car out half an hour ago. Kyrios Sergios said they were exploring the island.'

‘The car. Not the buggy? Are you sure? Who was driving?' he snapped, dreading the answer.

Sergios had grudgingly given up driving because of his arthritis, but Ares knew he missed it dearly. If his father had talked his wife into taking out his sports car on unfamiliar roads...

‘Was it Odessa?'

He was sure Demeter mentally rolled her eyes.

‘Ne,' she confirmed.

‘But she doesn't drive,' he replied, and even before a response was out of her mouth he was reversing his direction towards the front door and going to the garage where the sports car he rarely used should be.

It was a ridiculous idea to have a car on the island, but he'd given in to his father's passion for engines. And on the rare occasions when they transferred the car to his yacht and went to Mykonos or Santorini he enjoyed driving the streets with Sergios.

But there were strict rules to those arrangements.

He cursed under his breath as he stood staring at the empty space. Plucking his phone out of his pocket, he started to dial—just as the sound of a powerful engine reached him.

He whirled in time to see the yellow Spyder cresting the hill half a mile away, then zipping forward.

Thee mou , she was driving too fast.

Ares's legs propelled him down the driveway, so he could get a better view. So he could be driven out of his mind as he watched it jerk, then stall, before shooting forward once again.

His grip tightened around the phone, his heart in his throat. If anything happened to her...to them...

The urge to call out and tell her to stop the car immediately hurtled through him. But what if that distracted her? A cold shiver scrambled over his nape and for the next four minutes he stood stock still, watching the yellow speck grow larger until it appeared at the bottom of the driveway.

Then it stalled again, and he winced, feeling his teeth on edge as he heard the grinding gears. The car jerked once more, then sped up again, before coming to a screeching halt a dozen feet from where he stood.

Both occupants were grinning—but their expressions altered when they saw him.

Kalos.

He stalked towards her before the engine was turned off. ‘What the hell do you think you're doing?'

‘Hello to you, too,' she snapped back.

Ares refused to admit how good she looked behind the wheel. How good she looked, full stop. The Greek sun clearly agreed with her, and her tanned skin set off her startlingly beautiful eyes.

‘I asked you a question,' he grated, residual terror unwilling to release its stranglehold on him just yet, even as other parts of his body reacted to the sight and heavenly smell of her.

‘We went for a drive.' Her tone suggested she was stating the obvious.

He glanced at his father, his eyes narrowing when he saw amusement in his eyes. ‘It's not funny,' he snapped at the old man in Greek.

Sergios raised both hands in mock surrender, then dropped a quick kiss on Odessa's temple before stepping out of the vehicle and making himself scarce.

‘Is that scowl supposed to scare me?' she demanded.

He flicked at the button that elevated the gull wing door and held out his hand. ‘Keys.'

She tossed them over with a glare.

‘Get out. We'll talk about this inside.'

Her lips pursed, but she didn't respond when he caught her arm and led her indoors. His study was the closest room and he made a beeline for it, slamming the door behind him despite his attempts to control his temper.

He watched her take a seat on the sofa before the tall fireplace, crossing her long legs and watching him with a composure he faintly resented as his senses leapt with the pounding reality of how much he'd missed her. How much even the thought of her being a little bit hurt had sent terror hurtling through him.

And he accepted that this situation was far from ideal.

Odessa watched him pace for a full minute. Then stop dead before her.

‘Do you even have a licence?' he demanded. ‘If I recall, your father forbade you from going near the garage. Women aren't supposed to drive, according to him, no?'

She flushed, the scorching reminder tightening her chest.

It was one of the many ways her father had limited her and kept her firmly under his thumb, before suddenly allowing her—in a rare display of magnanimity—to take lessons. Although he'd scoffed at the idea several times before her determination had finally worn him down.

‘I do, actually,' she said, secretly pleased when she saw Ares's surprised look.

‘And how many times have you driven yourself?' he tossed back.

She shrugged, self-consciousness dragging embarrassment through her. ‘A few...'

‘A few ?' he echoed derisively. ‘And how many of those "few" times included a vehicle with an actual engine and not the electric buggy you used to get around your father's estate?'

Irritation made her exhale sharply. ‘Antonio let me drive his car to the shops once in a while.'

When her father hadn't been around.

‘You mean Antonio the gardener, in his jalopy that barely went over twenty miles an hour before it threatens to shake itself into extinction?'

‘What's your point, Ares? You don't want me to touch your precious sports car? Trust me, I've got that message. Or is it something else?'

‘Something else?' he echoed coldly.

‘You don't want me getting close to your father?'

Her heart squeezed as she said it. In a very short time she'd been reminded of Sergios Zanelis' inherent goodness and kindness, and in the last two weeks she'd found herself seeking his company, her yearning for the kind of father she'd never had alternately intensifying and being sated by the old man.

The thought that Ares might resent that sent a shaft of pain through her.

He sucked in deep, pent-up breath and she got the feeling he was trying to hold himself together. Why that both riled and excited her, she didn't want to delve into.

‘Odessa, that car has more horsepower than a small plane. One mistake and you could've been...' He paused again, his eyes darkening as whatever thought he'd been about to express turned inward. ‘Things could've gone very badly.'

A small gasp left her throat as she grasped his meaning. Shame engulfed her. ‘I'm sorry, Ares. It didn't occur to me... I didn't think about your accident... Sergios was talking about how much he missed driving and I offered to take him. I should've—'

He jerked forward. ‘I'm not talking about my father!'

This close, she saw his ashen pallor. Her heart leapt in wild giddiness. ‘You were worried about me ?' she whispered, stunned.

His irritation vanished with an exhalation. ‘Does that surprise you so much?'

‘Well...a little bit, yes.'

Something flashed in his eyes. Something like...hurt. It was gone in a second, of course, but she'd seen it and her heart lurched.

‘Ares...'

‘Your health and safety aren't to be compromised under any circumstances. That's non-negotiable.'

Non-negotiable. Like their agreement.

Of course. His concern wasn't over her , but the possible child she might be carrying. The whole reason she was here in the first place.

‘I didn't mean to jeopardise my position as your brood mare,' she threw out, anguish tinging her voice with acid. ‘But I won't be wrapped in cotton wool, so you're going to have to accept that.'

He stiffened, but that flare of emotion in his eyes lingered, making her wonder if she'd read him wrong.

‘Strike a balance between those two extremes and we won't need to have this conversation again,' he said. ‘That includes taking out a supercar you can barely drive around an island with sharp bends and dangerous cliffs. Is that clear?'

It was maddeningly reasonable. She didn't agree immediately, because she wanted to keep fighting. She was still looking for a sign that he saw her as more than just the incubator contracted to carry his children.

‘Odessa...?'

‘Yes, Ares. We're clear.' She rushed to her feet. ‘Can I go for a swim now? Or is that too dangerous, too?'

His expression relaxed, his hard edges easing a touch. ‘Not at all. I'll join you. You taking risks on the road wasn't exactly the welcome home I was hoping for. We can both do with cooling off.'

Half thinking he would insist on his baby-making rights once they were upstairs, Odessa was oddly disappointed when he strode off to his side of their suite without looking back.

They arrived at the pool to find they weren't the only ones with cooling off in mind. Sergios was reclining on one of the loungers, peering over his bifocals at a car magazine. He set it aside when they approached, a smile breaking out when his gaze rested on her.

He said something to his son in Greek.

Ares glanced at her, amusement teasing at the corners of his mouth as he responded. Sergios laughed, then replied with something that made Ares's gaze probe deeper.

Odessa headed for the lounger next to Sergios, trying not to watch Ares from the corner of her eye as he tugged off the white torso-hugging T-shirt he'd changed into.

‘You do know it's rude to speak a language someone in your company doesn't understand, right?'

Ares's smile stretched in genuine humour. It was beautiful and devastating to witness, robbing her of breath.

‘That should be an incentive for you to learn my language quickly.'

She attempted a frown, to conceal the whirlpool of high emotions eddying through her. ‘What did you two say?'

‘My father said that the Greek sun agrees with you. I concurred and said you looked beautiful.' He paused, his eyes raking her face as her colour rose. ‘And you grow even more enchanting when you blush,' he added, his humour lessening as heat and another emotion she couldn't quite fathom replaced it.

She reached for her sunscreen, just for something to do instead of gaping at him, and wondered at this dichotomy of hot and cold that set her senses spinning.

But was it hot and cold ? Or hot and raw? Hot and savage? Hot and cynical? Hot and protective of his father and the baby she might be carrying? Was he staging a clever game, with the ultimate aim of ensuring he got the best of both worlds?

The uncertainty that had dogged her since she'd arrived, and was building with each day, threatened to smother her. She wasn't even aware that the bottle was slipping from her hand until Ares jack-knifed up, catching it before it fell to the floor.

Eyeing her with frowning concern, he swung his legs to the ground, poured a glass of refreshing juice and held it out to her. ‘Hydrate,' he said.

She took the glass and drank—again just for something to do while her brain spun like a leaf in a tornado. When she couldn't settle her roiling emotions she stood, then threw off the thigh-length beach kimono that matched her caramel and gold bikini.

Stingingly aware of Ares's eyes raking over her every curve, she strolled to the edge of the pool and dived in, hating herself a little for enjoying how much she liked his eyes on her. How much she'd missed his presence in the two long days he'd been away. How eagerly she anticipated—with arousal pounding within her—the thought of sharing his bed again tonight.

She had no idea whether she was pregnant or not. Her period wasn't due for another few days. A simple pregnancy test while he was away might have solved the unknown, but she'd been reluctant to set the ball rolling.

Because she feared a positive result would mean the end of her presence in his bed?

Her heart lurched as the answer screamed in her head. Surfacing, she gasped in air—then jumped when firm hands closed on her waist.

‘I was concerned you would stay under for ever. Or you had turned into a mermaid,' Ares drawled.

She turned, then lost her breath all over again when the very sight of him, with drops of water glinting off his bronzed perfection, destroyed her breathing.

‘So you came to rescue me?'

His teeth flashed. ‘I came to demand the welcome I didn't get when I arrived home. Did you miss me?'

‘Not at all,' she replied airily, ignoring the ache in her breasts and between her legs. Ignoring how utterly delicious and close his sensual lips looked. ‘Your father and I kept ourselves entertained.'

His eyes darkened for a moment, then dropped to settle on her lips. ‘Perhaps a reminder is necessary, hmm?'

She sucked in a breath, which made her breasts brush his chest, drawing a low groan from him.

‘Ares, your father—' she started to protest weakly.

‘Has dozed off.'

His legs tangled around hers, his hands pulling her closer until she was plastered against him. He lowered his head until his lips hovered tantalisingly, excruciatingly close.

‘Kiss your husband, agapitos .'

With a helpless moan she surged forward that last fraction, pressed her lips to his, then shuddered in carnal delight when he immediately took over, sweeping his tongue over her eager lips before driving inside, tasting her with an erotic boldness bordering on aggression. An aggression she welcomed because—sweet heaven—Ares knew how to kiss her and drive her right out of her mind.

For long moments they kissed, deeper and deeper, with her arms clinging to his broad shoulders so she'd stay afloat. Against her belly his erection was imprinted urgently against her, a solid reminder of how he felt inside her.

Just when she thought she would be reduced to shamelessly begging for him to take her, right there in the pool, he eased back and broke the kiss.

Burnished eyes raked her face, satisfaction darkening his eyes at whatever he saw on hers.

‘That's more like it,' he rasped. He dropped another hard, brief kiss on her lips. ‘Unless we want to risk scandalising Sergios and the staff we'll have to pick this up again later. Ne? '

Still caught up in a whirlpool of sensation, Odessa simply nodded.

After a moment he released her, then swam a few laps before getting out. She knew he was watching from the lounger, despite his fingers flying over his phone. She tried to ignore him, swimming laps of her own in a wild bid to calm her senses, belatedly considering that she should have stipulated that these hot little extras were not part of their deal.

She hadn't. Now she was bearing the consequences.

Glancing over at him, finding his heated gaze still fixed on her, she knew deep down that she couldn't renegotiate. He would demand to know why. And she could hardly say she feared for her heart, could she?

She stayed in the pool until she risked turning into a prune. Until she breathed the tiniest sigh of relief when Ares's phone rang. Watching him pace away, keeping his voice low in consideration of his father, made her foolish heart trip again.

She insisted she was even more relieved when he sauntered back into the house. But she knew she was lying to herself. She craved the sight of him far more than she could comfortably admit. Knew she was nowhere near mastering how to stay aloof from Ares when she stepped out of the pool minutes later.

As she neared the lounger, she realised Sergios was awake.

He looked up, and although he attempted his customary smile, she saw a shaft of pain dart across his face. Saw the hand he was trying to flex.

‘Are you okay?'

He exhaled a vexed sigh. ‘My body is reminding me that I'm an old man with old hands.'

Odessa glanced at the tube of cream Ares usually used on his father. ‘Have you used your lotion yet?'

He shook his head. ‘My son is caught up on one of his interminable phone calls.' He eyed her, then nudged the tube towards her. ‘Would you mind?'

She reached for it, then paused. ‘Are you sure you don't want Ares to do it for you?'

‘He's not here. You are. And yours are softer hands than his,' he teased with a smile, then laughed when she blushed. ‘You're my daughter now, mikros .'

Her heart squeezed, both with the deep yearning that assailed her and with the ache of wishing this wasn't a carefully orchestrated marriage with an end date hanging over her head.

Unless she proved Ares wrong.

Uncapping the tube, she squeezed lotion into her palm and then, reaching for his hands, slowly massaged it into his stiff fingers. His sigh of relief made her heart melt.

‘I knew you would be perfect,' he said, then tossed her a cheeky wink.

Odessa burst into laughter just as heavy footfalls approached.

Ares froze when he saw them. His fierce expression made her fingers tremble. Sergios glanced up too, either oblivious to or totally ignoring the tension as he smiled.

‘You're too late. I have a new apprentice. And, ne , before you ask, she's doing a much better job than you.'

Ares snorted at his father, but the look he pierced her with a second later was intense. Protective and probing far too deep. Odessa wasn't surprised at all when he pulled up a chair, sat down and proceeded to scrutinise every second of her ministrations.

If it wouldn't have risked upsetting the old man, she would have asked Ares to explain that look that seemed to say he possibly approved but was deeply wary too. She would have assured him that he had nothing to fear. That she wouldn't let him down.

‘Efkharisto, mikros,' Sergios said, startling her.

‘ Parakalo , Sergios,' she responded automatically, her thoughts still consumed by Ares.

Ares drew in a sharp breath, covered by his father's pleased laughter.

‘See? She's learning our language. Very soon she will be fluent.'

‘So I see,' Ares responded a little gruffly. ‘We should go and get changed. Dinner will be served soon.'

Again, he didn't coerce her towards his side of the suite when they returned upstairs, and throughout dinner he remained introspective, casting her heavy-lidded looks that slowly wound up her nerves until it was a relief to be done with coffee and dessert. To escape, despite knowing she'd still be dwelling on why Ares had seemed so eager to kiss her at the pool but didn't want to insist on his conjugal rights.

Had he changed his mind in the short time he'd been gone?

Unable to bear the tension any longer, she rose. ‘I'm heading upstairs. Goodnight, Sergios. I'll see you in the morning.'

Ares's gaze bored harder into her, compelling her to look at him. When she did, his eyes raked her face, his hunger blatant.

‘I'll be up in an hour.'

Her heart stumbled in her chest at the thick promise in his voice. Maybe he hadn't changed his mind...

She was berating herself for how eager she was, how she couldn't quite catch her breath because of the excitement fizzing in her veins, when he walked in.

His first words hacked that foolish excitement to pieces.

‘My father is important to me, Odessa. Hurt him and you'll never know peace in this lifetime.'

Now her heart lurched for another reason, shrinking in her chest as she watched him prowl towards her. As much as it hurt to know he could think that of her, a part of her understood. She would have given her left arm to possess the kind of connection Ares and Sergios had with either of her parents. Would have protected it zealously with everything she had, the way he did with his father.

‘I won't. I promise.'

Surprise flared in his eyes. His hands went to his shirt and he started to unbutton it with his gaze still fixed on her. ‘You made another promise once. You broke it,' he drawled, almost reluctantly, his usual sharpness muffled. As if he wanted to wish it away but couldn't.

Maybe she could help?

She licked dry lips. ‘Shall we talk about that?'

His gaze stayed on hers for a moment, before drifting down her body. ‘Maybe later. Right now I'm in need of something else. Something that will guarantee our deal stays on track.'

Her nipples tightened at the raw hunger in his voice, even as her heart squeezed at his refusal to hear her out. To let her attempt to state her case for her actions all those years ago.

But he was tossing his shirt away, closing the gap between them with savage intent in his every step. And she could only draw a long, deep breath, hoping to replenish her lungs before he snatched it away. Because his hands on her body would do just that—drive her out of her mind until she didn't know whether she was coming or going.

He grasped her waist after discarding his loafers and trousers and picked her up as if she weighed nothing. A second later she was pinned against the bedroom wall, their faces a mere inch from one another as he speared her with his gleaming eyes.

‘How eagerly your legs wrap around me... It's gratifying to see that in this we're on the same page.'

She hadn't even been aware she'd done it. That already her fingers were exploring his bare skin, her nails raking the hair at the back of his head, her core furnace hot and ready in anticipation of his possession.

The ease with which he derailed her thoughts and emotions fired up her spirit and her temper. She gripped a luxuriant handful of hair, tightened her hand until he gave an animalistic hiss and pressed forward, imprinting his thick erection deeper against her centre until her panties and his boxers might as well have been non-existent.

‘If you don't want to hear me out, then maybe you need to stop talking and start acting.'

Her challenge fired him up, as she'd known it would.

His fingers dug into her buttocks, his eyes growing hooded as they devoured her mouth. ‘Is that so? You're confident you're ready for me?'

‘I know I am. In every way,' she stated bravely—even as her heart quaked and her instinct warned that there might not be much of her left by the time she came through this tempest.

That belief was scarily cemented when he thrust into her, powerful, hard and delicious, and had her screaming his name in under thirty seconds.

Then when it was all over, it had her clinging to him like a limpet, unable to let go as they tumbled into bed. And she fell asleep with her head on his chest, her heart singing, because this was exactly where she wanted to be.