Lynne Graham - The Greek’s Chosen Wife

‘But if you were to ask me to be with you of my own free will,’ Nik murmured almost roughly, ‘I think we could work something out very easily.’

Eyes glinting with tears, Prudence froze in her tracks.

‘I missed you last night,’ he added gruffly.

She gulped and drew in a long, slow, shaky breath before she spun back to face him again. ‘You…did?’

‘I’ve got incredibly accustomed to being married.’

‘Have you?’ There was a sob trapped in her throat. She had plunged from the heights down into the depths, and was now somewhere back in the middle, terrified of making assumptions.

‘I acted like a jerk yesterday. I let Theo get to me.’

Prudence was starting to breathe again. ‘I don’t blame you for being mad-’

‘There was a special delivery waiting for me when I arrived in the office this morning. There were two copies of that film-’

‘My goodness, Grandfather sent one to you as well?’

‘Watching it again, I retrieved my sense of humour, thespinis mou . I took so much care to keep our reconciliation private and it was crazy to do that. It should not have mattered to me that doing what I wanted meant that I was also doing what Theo Demakis wanted me to do,’ Nik imparted wryly.

‘That was always an obstacle between us.’

‘ Ne …yes, when I was younger. But not any more. I like to think I’m grown up now.’ There was a rueful twist to his wide, sensual mouth. ‘Although I felt distinctly boyish last night when my romantic attempt to make a surprise visit on my wife was rudely concluded by a bunch of slavering, attacking dogs and over-zealous security guards.’

Her soft blue eyes widened in astonishment as she recalled the late-night disturbance at the Demakis villa which had sent the dogs crazy, and she gasped, ‘That was you last night?’

‘That was me,’ Nik confirmed.

She unfroze and launched herself forward to close her hands over his. ‘Why didn’t you say who you were?’

‘It wouldn’t have been cool-’

‘I so wanted you to come,’ Prudence framed in a wobbly voice. ‘If I’d known that you were out there, so close to me-’

‘I had a very important meeting first thing today…then I was planning to drive over and make a conventional entrance-’

‘If only I’d known that…I need never have come here-’

‘But what a joy it is to me to know that you would fight for me, too, pethi mou ,’ Nik slotted in, drawing her closer with lean, strong hands, his classic bronzed features taut and serious.

‘A joy?’

Dark golden eyes looked down into hers with a light that warmed her. ‘There is something that I should have said a long time ago, something I have never said to any other woman. I love you…’

Her full pink lips parted. ‘You mean it?’

‘More than anything. For the space of a moment yesterday I let my pride rule me and I acted like a jerk, but I never stopped loving you…and I don’t believe I ever could.’

She was so tense she could barely inhale as she looked up at him, desperately striving to see the proof of his words in his lean, darkly handsome face. And there it was in his beautiful eyes: all the depth of emotion, affection and sincerity that she could ever have dreamt of seeing there. He found her mouth and the passion that never failed to ignite blazed but this time it was laced with a new deep trust and affection that was no longer concealed.

‘Let’s get out of here…’ Nik said raggedly, linking her hand to his.

The city traffic was horrendous but it didn’t bother them too much, because they were too busy kissing to notice.

‘When did you fall for me?’ she finally asked, when she had to push him away to get some breath back into her lungs and held him at bay with a staying hand.

‘I don’t know…I honestly don’t,’ Nik groaned, contenting his need for constant physical contact by lifting her hand to his mouth and lazily sucking on one finger at a time. ‘We were friends first. But there was always the barrier of not knowing what had gone wrong between us on our wedding night and that kept it strictly platonic-’

‘I so wish I’d talked to you now…but I was hurt and embarrassed and I honestly did think you’d got drunk because you were so unhappy at having to marry me-’

‘No…I was not at all unhappy. In fact, at the altar I was struggling to suppress a lust-fuelled fantasy about exactly how I would unveil my virginal bride’s lush body,’ Nik confessed, making her soft blue eyes widen in shock, and then laughing at her expression. ‘Sometimes you are so innocent…’

But, oddly enough, that frank admission did more than anything else to wipe out the old pain and insecurity that had long dogged her memories of that day. Well, she did remember the manner in which Nik’s smouldering dark gaze had travelled over her low-cut gown and, although hot colour warmed her complexion, she was pleased that even in those days she had roused his desire.

‘And yet so sexy,’ Nik growled, manhandling her with intent in the lift on the way up to his apartment. ‘I’m always desperate for you…’

Slight colour burnished his hard, slanted cheekbones as another passenger joined them and more circumspect behaviour was forced on them. Nik thrust the door of his apartment open, slammed it shut again and pinned her up against it to claim a hungry, driving kiss.

‘We need somewhere with more privacy,’ he contended on the way to the bedroom.

‘Not my grandfather’s villa…it wasn’t a happy place for me, so I think we should get rid of it and look for somewhere new where we can live when we’re over here…’

Between talking and kissing they made it down onto the bed. Discarding clothes in a frantic rush, they made explosive love, renewing their strong physical hold on each other with joyous satisfaction and relief.

Afterwards Nik cupped her face. ‘I love you,’ he said fiercely. ‘I love you so much. When I thought I might have lost you last night I felt sick…I couldn’t sleep. You have come to mean so much to me.’

‘I love you, too…I can’t believe I’ve never said that to you before-’

‘You’ve never said it. Our marriage had too poor a start.’

‘Don’t look back,’ Prudence murmured adoringly. ‘You weren’t ready then for that amount of commitment.’

‘But I’m really committed now. When you said you wanted a divorce, it was some wake-up call. I went haywire; I didn’t know what was the matter with me, but suddenly I knew that I would do anything sooner than let you go. But you were so determined…and the sperm-bank idea really wiped me out-’

Prudence ran possessive fingertips down over his bronzed, muscular chest and smiled helplessly. ‘I must admit that you’ve been a lot more fun.’

‘You’re getting very bold, Mrs Angelis,’ Nik censured huskily, bending over her to circle her lips with his in a skilful foray. ‘I love bold…’

TWO YEARS LATER, Nik called in at the veterinary surgery he had asked to look out for a dog for him. One of Prudence’s Labradors had recently passed away and he had decided to look out for a potential replacement for her. Well acquainted as he was with her views, he knew that both puppies and pedigrees had the easiest time finding a home and that any animal he picked should fall outside those two categories.

‘I waited until I had a choice of four gathered up for you,’ the vet told Nik, leading him out to the kennels. ‘It’ll be a very lucky dog that gets a home with Mrs Angelis.’

‘This is Doodle. He’s in good health but old.’ The vet grimaced. ‘His owner passed away.’ A collie-type dog with a venerable greying muzzle wagged a genial tail from behind the wire.