LITMIR.BIZ

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      In one fluid movement Angelos rolled over her before he slid smoothly inside, only to stop before he’d barely begun, shock turning his body rigid. ‘Talia...’

      She blinked, surprised and a little alarmed at how...full it felt. ‘I’m okay,’ she said.

      Angelos’s jaw was clenched as he struggled to keep himself still inside her body. ‘But—’

      ‘I’m okay,’ she insisted, and she angled her hips upwards to take him more fully into her body. It hurt; not a sudden, sharp pain, but more of a deep ache of adjustment.

      Angelos’s face was etched with lines of restraint and regret. ‘I didn’t...’

      ‘No, don’t, please.’ She pressed her fingers against her lips. ‘This is what I wanted.’ She shifted beneath him, felt her body expand to accommodate him. ‘This is good.’

      ‘Tell me if—’

      ‘It doesn’t hurt, I promise.’

      Angelos started to move, a groan escaping him as he braced himself on his forearms and after a few seconds Talia sought to match each smooth stroke. And with each stroke she felt the embers of pleasure rekindle, and then her body found a rhythm of its own. She clutched at his shoulders, meeting each thrust, gasping as it stoked the fire inside her higher and higher, until finally it exploded in a rush of sensation that left her boneless and trembling, tears leaking from beneath her closed lids.

      ‘Talia,’ Angelos said brokenly as he kissed the tears away from her cheeks. ‘Please don’t cry.’

      ‘It’s only because I’m so happy.’ She opened her eyes, giving him a watery smile. She still felt as if she could burst into tears, but not in a bad way. ‘That was...amazing. Overwhelming. I didn’t know...’

      ‘Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t know?’ Angelos asked. He’d rolled over onto his side, his skin glistening with a faint sheen of sweat, his eyes dark and fierce. ‘How much you didn’t know?’

      ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t want to go through with it,’ Talia confessed.

      ‘You should have told me,’ Angelos insisted as he brushed away a strand of hair from her cheek, tucking it gently behind her ear. ‘I would have done things differently.’

      ‘I didn’t want things done differently. And actually, I thought you might already guess... I told you how limited my life was.’

      ‘Yes, but...’ Angelos shrugged. ‘You’re a beautiful young woman. I thought you must have still had opportunities.’

      Talia shook her head ruefully. ‘I dated a boy when I was seventeen, and we kissed a couple of times. That’s all.’

      Angelos’s eyebrows rose almost comically. ‘That’s all? But then you were completely untouched.’

      ‘I wasn’t all that interested in boys to be honest,’ Talia told him. ‘I wanted adventure of a different kind. Seeing the world, painting pictures...that was what interested me.’

      ‘Which makes it all the more tragic that you hid yourself away for so long.’

      ‘I’m not going to hide away any more,’ Talia promised. ‘No matter what happens. I want to live life properly now.’ Angelos frowned and she hastened to add, ‘I’m not expecting... I know we haven’t made any...’ A flush rose to her skin and since she was naked Angelos could see how she blushed everywhere. She let out a groan of embarrassment as she closed her eyes.

      ‘Haven’t made any what, Talia?’ Angelos asked, and she couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed.

      ‘Commitments. I just wanted to assure you I didn’t expect any kind of...’ Again words failed her. ‘You know.’

      ‘I’m not sure I do know,’ Angelos answered. He cupped her cheek, his thumb resting on her lips, and Talia opened her eyes. ‘You know, you’re the first woman I’ve been with since my wife.’

      ‘What?’ Talia stared at him in shock. ‘I know you said you hadn’t recently, but it’s been seven years...’

      ‘Trust me, I know. A very long seven years, at least in that regard.’

      ‘Why haven’t you...? I mean, there must have been women in Athens.’ Her mouth curved in a playful smile that he traced with the pad of his thumb. ‘And what about all those nannies who crawled into your bed? Maria told me about them.’

      Angelos gave a mock shudder. ‘I did not want any of them. They were brazen, grasping. But the truth is...’ He let out a sigh. ‘I had no desire for a woman, or for any of life’s pleasures. I felt numb...frozen even, after all the fire and then its aftermath. Survival was all I could manage. And like you, I hid away from life.’ He grimaced. ‘And now I have realised that Sofia paid the price.’

      ‘And, like me, you won’t hide away any more,’ Talia said softly. ‘Will you?’

      ‘No. For Sofia’s sake I will allow her to go to school on Naxos, and come to Athens with me on business trips. I decided that tonight. I’m not ashamed of my daughter, Talia.’

      ‘I know you’re not.’ Fresh tears shimmered on her lashes and she blinked them away. ‘You’re a good man, Angelos, even if you haven’t believed you are. I know you did everything you could the night of the fire, even if you refused to believe it. You couldn’t have saved them both. You couldn’t have.’

      Angelos’s face contorted for a second and then he threw his arm over his face as he took a few deep breaths. ‘I know you believe that...’ he began, and Talia pulled at his arm, needing to look at him, to have him see her and how serious she was.

      ‘You need to believe it,’ she said. ‘For Sofia’s sake as well as your own.’

      ‘I’m not sure I can.’

      She pressed her palm on his chest, felt the steady thud of his heart underneath. ‘In time, then,’ she said softly. ‘I know it isn’t easy. One boat ride doesn’t cure my claustrophobia, and living life outside the walls of my grandfather’s estate isn’t going to be easy. But with time, all things are possible.’

      ‘You believe that?’

      ‘I need to. And so do you.’

      He let out a sigh and then gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘For giving me a second chance at life.’

      ‘You deserve one.’ They lay there quietly for a moment, their arms around each other, and Talia wondered if she would ever possess the courage to say all the things in her heart. That she loved him. That she didn’t want this to be some kind of fling. That she was already dreaming of for ever with this man, even though she knew it was crazy and unrealistic and maybe even impossible.

      But what if it wasn’t?

      What if they could have a love that healed their old hurts and brought them both a second chance at life, made them into the family Sofia needed, that they needed? What if?

      In that moment, with Angelos’s arms around her so securely, it all seemed possible, like a promise shimmering on the horizon, almost able to be grasped if she just dared to reach for it. If they both did.

      Angelos stroked her hair and she snuggled against him, contentment vibrating through her bones, sleep beginning to settle over her.

      Her eyes were starting to drift closed when her gaze settled on the book lying on the bedside table. A slender, leather-bound tome with hand-tooled engraving. Giovanni’s book.

      Her gaze snapped open and every nerve twanged with realisation as she struggled out of Angelos’s embrace.

      ‘Talia...’ His voice was fuzzy with sleep. ‘What...’

      ‘The book,’ she said, the words spilling from her. ‘You really do have the

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