LITMIR.BIZ

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She sat up in bed, hugging her knees, frowning a little. Maybe this was the time to walk away—while she still could. Before she was in too deep and reduced to begging.

      Draco had told her the previous evening that he would come for her just after breakfast.

      ‘So for once you’re not going to work on your house.’ Cressy had raised her eyebrows. ‘I’m honoured.’ She’d paused. ‘How’s it getting on—the house, I mean?’

      He had shrugged. ‘It is almost finished. It has taken longer than I thought.’

      She’d been tempted to say, I’d love to see it, simply to test his reaction, but she had remained silent.

      When she considered, the house was the least of it. There were so many things she still didn’t know about him, she thought, her frown deepening. He had never spoken of his family, or mentioned friends apart from the crowd at the taverna, and even there he seemed to be treated with a certain respect rather than the usual raucous camaraderie.

      But then he was incurious about her background too, she acknowledged.

      She knew all kinds of little details about him, of course. She knew that his lashes were long enough to curl on his cheek when he slept. That there was a scar on his thigh, a relic from his boyhood when he’d gashed himself on a rock while swimming.

      She was also aware that he could only relax for a certain time before he became restive, and that he secretly preferred her to wear dresses rather than trousers.

      There’d been times recently, too, when he’d appeared to retreat so deeply into his own thoughts that it had been impossible for her to reach him, and this had made her feel oddly helpless and a little on edge.

      Perhaps he was trying to find a humane way of telling her that it was over and suggesting she went back to Alakos, she thought desolately as she went to her shower.

      ‘Today we’ll do something different,’ he told her as they walked down to the harbour. ‘There is something I want you to see.’

      She felt a little surge of pleasure. Maybe at last she was going to see the mysterious house—or even meet his family.

      She said lightly, ‘That sounds intriguing.’

      They sailed past their usual beach, heading north.

      ‘Where are we going?’

      ‘You have never been all round the island. I think you should.’ Draco gave her the tiller.

      ‘Oh.’ Cressy masked her disappointment. After a moment, she said slowly, ‘Myros is so lovely, Draco. It’s like part of a different world. I—I shall hate to say goodbye.’

      ‘So enjoy it while you can,’ he said casually. ‘And don’t run us on to the rocks, pethi mou.’

      To the north of the island the coastline became more dramatic, with one high promontory standing out from the rest. And on this jutting headland, clinging to it like a lizard on a rock, was the massive sprawl of a villa, white-walled and roofed in terracotta.

      ‘My God.’ Cressy shaded her eyes. ‘So that’s what was behind the stone wall. It’s absolutely vast. Who does it belong to?’

      ‘The head of the Ximenes Corporation.’ His tone was indifferent. ‘You’ve heard of that?’

      ‘I think so.’ Cressy wrinkled her nose. ‘They’re in shipping, aren’t they?’

      ‘And banking, and a hotel chain. The founder of the dynasty was called Alexandros. Like his namesake, he wished to conquer the world before he was thirty.’ Draco put his hand over hers to alter the tiller. ‘Do not go too close, agapi mou.’

      ‘Because intruders aren’t welcome?’ Cressy pulled a face. ‘Poor rich man.’

      ‘You despise money?’ His sideways glance was curious.

      ‘On the contrary. I work long hours to earn as much as I can.’

      ‘And that is important to you?’

      ‘Well—naturally.’

      ‘More important than being a woman, perhaps?’

      Cressy bit her lip, sudden bewilderment battling with hurt. ‘That’s a cruel thing to say.’

      Draco shrugged a shoulder. ‘You are not a child,’ he said. ‘You live in a society where sexual freedom is accepted, and yet you are still a virgin. Why?’

      She removed her hand from beneath his. ‘I don’t think it’s any of your concern.’

      ‘We said we would learn about each other,’ he said. ‘Yet you refuse to answer a simple question. One that would solve the mystery about you. Why won’t you explain?’

      ‘You dare say that to me?’ She was angry now. ‘You’re the one with the secrets. You tell me nothing about yourself.’

      ‘You don’t ask.’

      ‘All right.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘Are your parents alive?’

      ‘No,’ he said. ‘But I have aunts and uncles and a great many cousins. Now, answer my question.’

      Cressy hesitated. ‘Perhaps I’m out of touch with today’s morality,’ she said. ‘Or maybe I just haven’t met the right man.’

      ‘Ah,’ he said softly. ‘This great love of which every woman dreams. So, you believe in that.’

      I never did before.

      Her need for him, her longing, was an aching wound which only he could heal. And it was impossible for him not to know that. So why did he torment her by holding back?

      She kept her voice light. ‘We’re all entitled to our dreams.’

      ‘So, what do you dream of, Cressida mou?’

      ‘Oh, dreams are like wishes.’ She twisted round, pretending to take a last look at the villa on the headland. ‘If you talk about them, they don’t come true.’

      ‘Then tell me this,’ he said. ‘Why did you come back here?’

      Cressy swallowed. ‘I—I wanted to see more of Myros.’

      He sighed impatiently. ‘Must I look into your eyes to know the truth, agapi mou?’

      She said, almost inaudibly, ‘And because you asked me…’

      ‘Even though you knew that I wanted you—what I would ask?’

      She swung back, tears stinging her eyes. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Is that what you want to hear, Kyrios Draco? That I wanted you so much I came back to offer myself…’ The stumbling words choked into silence.

      ‘Yes,’ he said quietly. ‘I—needed to hear that, agapi mou.’

      His arm encircled her, drawing her against him. ‘Don’t cry, my golden one—my treasure,’ he whispered against her hair as she buried her face in his shoulder. ‘And don’t be ashamed of what you feel.’

      ‘How can I help it?’ Her voice was muffled.

      ‘You imagine I do not want you—because I have been patient?’ His voice sank to a whisper. ‘I have had to force myself to remain cool, but no longer. I have to speak—to tell you everything in my heart.’

      He paused. ‘My life is yours, Cressida mou. Be my wife and stay with me for ever. Work beside me each day and lie in my arms at night.’

      His body was shaking against hers. As she lifted her head she saw the proud face strangely anxious, the firm mouth incredibly vulnerable.

      She put up her hand and touched his cheek, brushing her thumb softly across his lips.

      She whispered, ‘I’ll stay…’

      He kissed her once, his mouth hard, almost fierce on hers. Telling

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