hear what I thought I heard?’
‘I might be forgetting most of the last ten years,’ she said, beginning to laugh. ‘But there are a couple of things I need to remember. Like the lecture given to me by my doctor after Nicky’s birth. If you think I’d come within a hundred miles of you again without contraception, you’re not the man I think you are, Nikos Andreadis.’
‘My Thena!’ And the laughter was back. The wonderful laughter that had blazed between them since the hour they’d first met.
‘Don’t you dare laugh,’ she said, but she couldn’t help herself. She was laughing as well, at his laughter, at his joy, at the assurance of joy to come.
At the knowledge that for this night this man was hers. He always had been, she thought, from the time she’d met him to now. She’d borne his son. She’d carried him in her heart for ever.
‘I’m not laughing,’ he told her and it was true. The laughter had changed. He was watching her now with eyes as dark as night, with an expression on his face she’d never seen before-of tenderness, of joy, and of something more.
Of hope for the future?
That was what it was, she thought as she melted into him, as he lifted her into his arms and carried her unprotesting down the winding staircase, to a vast bedchamber with windows looking out in every direction to the sea beneath and to the islands beyond. As he laid her tenderly on the bed-a bed big enough for a king or six, piled high with feather pillows so soft she almost disappeared into them. As he pulled the curtains, one after another, cutting out the view, the islands, the sea, the outside world. Everything but the sky.
As he lit the candles, one by one.
And as he came to her where she lay, waiting for the man of her dreams.
He unfastened his shirt and she watched him, awed, fascinated, so deeply in love she thought she could die right now and be happy.
She matched him button for button, unfastening her robe. His dark eyes flared with passion. His shirt was gone long before she had her robe undone-why weren’t her fingers working?-but it didn’t matter. For he was helping her.
And finally she was free. His hands slipped in beneath her nightgown to cup her breasts and she wanted to cry out with sheer happiness. Sheer joy.
She was pushing her nightgown down, desperate to be closer. He helped her, kissing as he went, touching, tasting, loving, until her body was flames.
Nikos. Her first and last love. Nikos…
She was naked, gloriously, wonderfully naked, and so was he. He was sinking into the pillows beside her, gathering her into his arms.
His body was against her body. Skin against skin-the most erotic sensation in the world.
The heartbreak of years faded to nothing. The children, the island, responsibilities-everything was gone.
There was only this man, this love and this night. There was only Nikos.
She woke and the world she’d lived in for ten long years had disappeared.
This was a fantasy-a fairy tale. At some time in the future it would end, but for now she was selfish enough, needy enough, to say thank you very much, this is where I belong. Maybe when reality hits I’ll have a long time to remember this, so I need to soak up every precious moment.
She was lying in the arms of the man she loved with all her heart. And, whether she believed it or not-and yes, her head was screaming at her to be wary-the feeling seemed to be reciprocated. Nikos was loving her as he’d loved her ten years ago. But this was a grown man now, a businessman, a prince of the people, a lover, a man with strength and gentleness, laughter and tenderness, wonder and hope.
He was hers and she was his. For now they were two lovers exulting in each other’s bodies. Drowning in each other’s eyes.
And the place where they were loving was over-the-top fantastic.
‘I’m hoping this glass is one way,’ Nikos murmured in the aftermath of loving. ‘Otherwise we could have some very shocked seagulls. You think we should declare this place a fly free zone?’
‘And enforce it how?’
‘I can’t,’ he said morosely. ‘I believe it’s you who’s in charge of royal decrees.’
She giggled.
But then…Her giggle was echoed from outside the door. Two giggles.
‘Uh-oh,’ Nikos said. Athena dived under the covers and Nikos had his pants on and was fastening his shirt before three small faces appeared around the door. Two kids and a dog. Oscar took one look and leaped with joyous abandon onto the bed, and Nicky and Christa landed straight after. Athena was overwhelmed by dog and kids. Nicky hugged her, Christa hugged her too, on the basis of what was good for Nicky was okay by her, and Oscar licked every face in reach.
Her family. She was buried in family. She hugged and sniffed and she glanced up and saw her emotions reflected on Nikos’s face.
No. Not her family.
Their family.
‘Did you both sleep in here?’ Nicky demanded, awed.
‘I’m happy to tell you your mother didn’t snore-very much,’ Nikos said magnanimously. ‘I slept on this side of the bed, she slept on the other and if I piled the pillows really high it was just a muted little snortle.’
‘Ooh,’ Athena said, and emerged from kids and dog long enough to toss a pillow at him. Her aim wasn’t bad considering the handicap she was under-clutching bedclothes so the kids wouldn’t discover she was naked. But Nikos hadn’t defended himself and he was thumped right in the chest.
‘Yay,’ Nicky said and took his lead from his mother, and in seconds pillows were going everywhere.
Her family.
Their family.
Betrayal was a thing of the past, she thought mistily, giggling and tossing the odd pillow herself. Now was just for…now.
They had three days and three nights of magic.
Athena asked no questions. She was simply living in the moment. Nikos watched her as the days wore on and thought she was holding the kids to her, holding him to her, as if she feared they could be snatched away at any moment.
Somewhere outside the castle Demos was still plotting. Nikos was sure of it. But Alexandros was working on his behalf. Nikos’s job was to keep his little family here; keep them safe until the threat could be defused.
It was no hardship at all. It was pure magic.
He had his kids. He had Thena. As far as he was concerned Alexandros could take as long as he needed to defuse the threat. This time out was theirs.
Only of course reality finally had to intrude.
Nikos had organised the lawyers to come on the third day.
‘We need to get things settled before we go back to the palace,’ he told her.
‘Um…aren’t things settled?’
‘The affairs of the island aren’t,’ he said, kissing her on the nose. ‘So tomorrow it’s lawyers.’ Then he hesitated. ‘Thene, it’s going to be a long, boring day. My mother is asking if she could take Nicky and Christa. They’ll be safe- Demos can gain nothing by hurting one of you alone, and I’ll send Joe with them to make sure. Do you think Nicky would like to go?’
‘We’ll ask him,’ she said, and did, and Nicky thought the idea of a grandmother was too cool for words.
When Annia came to fetch them in an ancient Land Rover with no roof, he decided she was even cooler. They piled into the back seat, only to discover one of Annia’s hens had decided this was a great nesting box. So off they went, with a handful of eggs each, with Oscar squished in the middle and with two grins a mile wide.
For Athena and Nikos the day promised to be far less exciting than the kids’. They needed to announce a coronation date, but first…there were so many papers to read and to sign that her head spun. The contracts and deeds ensuring legal ascension were mind-blowing.
