Sara Craven - Her Greek Groom

Cressy leaned forward. ‘You think I’ve treated you badly,’ she said hotly. ‘But you weren’t honest with me either. You deliberately let me think you were poor. Why?’

‘An unaccountable need to be wanted for myself only, and not for my worldly goods,’ he drawled. ‘It was so refreshing to meet someone who had no idea who I was, pethi mou.’

‘And how long did you plan to go on deceiving me?’ She realised now why Maria had tried to warn her. To tell her that she was involved with a man who was not only very rich, but powerful. A man who would live up to his name if crossed.

‘It would have been over as soon as you returned from Alakos. You see, agapi mou, I had planned a big party for our engagement at my house.’

She stared at him. ‘It belongs to you, doesn’t it? That wonderful villa on the headland?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘My family and friends were flying in from all over the world to meet you—my future wife—there.’

‘Oh.’ Cressy felt sick.

‘At first I thought you had simply missed the ferry,’ he went on, as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘I called the hotel, and they told me you had checked out, so I waited for a message. I waited a long time. I cannot remember the precise moment I realised you were not coming back.’

‘My father needed me,’ she said desperately. ‘I had to get to Athens—to go to him.’

‘And it never occurred to you to turn to me—the man you’d professed to love?’ His mouth twisted contemptuously. ‘What a mistake, Cressida mou. My helicopter would have flown us to Athens. My private plane would have taken us on to London. You would have been there in half the time.’

‘But I had no means of knowing that,’ she protested.

‘If you had come to me you would have known. Only you didn’t. And that is the worst thing of all. To know that you were in trouble—in pain—yet you didn’t want to share this with me. Even if I’d been as poor as you thought, at least I had the right to put my arms around you and hold you.

‘As it was, I could have taken you straight to your father and been with you to comfort and care for you, as a man should with his woman.’ He paused, the dark eyes merciless. ‘Tell me, pethi mou, had you any intention of contacting me again—ever? Or was I simply to be—erased, like an unfortunate mistake in a calculation?’

Cressy shook her head, feeling tears thickening in her throat. ‘Draco—I don’t know—I was worried—confused…’

‘Then let me tell you the answer,’ he said. ‘You didn’t love—and you didn’t trust either. That was the bitter truth I had to learn. I was poor, so I could be discarded, as if I had no feelings. And one day you will discover how that feels. Because I shall teach you.’

He smiled at her. ‘You will discover, Cressida mou, that I am not so easily forgotten.’

She said in a low voice, ‘I suppose you mean to use my father’s problems against me. Well—I’m prepared for that.’

‘Are you?’ he asked softly. ‘I had originally intended to present the settlement of his debts as a gift to you when we announced our engagement. Since then I have had time to think again.’

She said urgently, ‘Draco—whatever you think of me—please don’t punish my father any more. He’s a sick man.’

‘And when he leaves hospital he will need a home to go to,’ he said. ‘The house that now belongs to me. Is that what you’re trying to put into words?’

She said on a note of desperation, ‘I could pay rent…’

‘Yes, you will pay,’ he said quietly. ‘But not with money. I have enough of that already.’

‘Then how?’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

‘Don’t you know?’ he said. ‘Don’t you understand that I still want you?’

The room was very still suddenly. She stared across the desk at him. At the hard bronze face and the cool mouth that looked as if it would never smile again. Watched and waited for some softening—some warmth. But in vain.

She swallowed. ‘You mean—in spite of everything—you’re going to marry me?’

His laugh was harsh. ‘No, not marriage, my sweet. I will not be caught again. This time I’m offering a less formal arrangement.’ He added cynically, ‘And spare me the pretence that you don’t understand my offer.’

‘I understand.’ Her voice seemed to come from a long way away. ‘You’re saying that if I—sleep with you—you won’t enforce the mortgage or my father’s other debts.’

‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘I am saying exactly that. And what is your answer?’

She said hoarsely, ‘Draco, you can’t mean this. If you loved me, you wouldn’t…’

‘I said that I wanted you, Cressida mou. I did not mention love.’

Pain ripped at her, tearing her apart. She hadn’t realised it was possible to hurt so much. Or to be so afraid.

She said, her voice shaking, ‘Is this your idea of revenge? To rape me?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Because you will come to me willingly, Cressida, as we both know.’

‘Never.’

He shrugged. ‘Then regard it simply as a business transaction. You understand those better than you know yourself, I think.’

‘Business?’ Her voice cracked. ‘How can it be that?’

‘I have something you want.’ His smile mocked her. ‘You have something I want. That’s how deals are made.’

‘You make it sound so simple.’

‘It is hardly complicated.’ His voice was cool, and oddly impersonal. ‘You will come to me, and stay with me as long as I require. When our liaison ends, I will hand over the mortgage and other papers—instead of a diamond necklace,’ he added, his mouth twisting.

‘And if I refuse this—degrading offer?’

He leaned back in his chair. He said quietly, ‘We have already established that your father’s well-being is your sole priority. So I do not think we need consider that possibility—do you?’

‘No.’ Her voice was barely audible. ‘No, I don’t—really—have a choice.’

He smiled thinly. ‘You’ve made the right decision.’ He got to his feet and came round the desk to her side. He took her hand, pulling her out of the chair.

He led her across the room to a door, which he opened, revealing a large and luxurious bedroom.

‘You mean—now?’ Her voice rose, and she recoiled, swinging round to face him. ‘Oh, God, you can’t be serious.’

His brows lifted. ‘Why not?’

She said wildly, ‘Because it’s the middle of the morning.’

He began to laugh. ‘How conventional you are, agapi mou,’ he mocked. ‘When we were on Myros there was not one minute of the day or night that we did not want each other.’

She bit her lip. ‘That was different.’

‘Did you expect me to seduce you over dinner with flowers and moonlight?’ His tone was cynical. ‘It is too late for that. Once, perhaps, I would have made it beautiful for you. Now—’ he shrugged ‘—regard it as the signature on a contract.’

‘Draco.’ Her voice broke. ‘Please—don’t do this to me—to us.’

‘Us?’ he echoed contemptuously. ‘There is no “us”. I have bought you, Cressida mou. That is all. And this time you will not have the opportunity to run away.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I have a couple of calls to make. I will join you in a few minutes.’

She said bitterly, ‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’

‘I intend to,’ he said. ‘Whether or not you share my pleasure is your own concern. But I think you will.’

He pulled her towards him, his arm a steel band forcing her compliance. His dark face swam momentarily in front of her startled eyes. Then he bent his head and kissed her breast.

The sudden heat of his mouth scorched through her thin blouse and lacy bra as if she was already naked. His lips found her nipple, tugging at it, creating a sharp, exquisite pain that triggered a scalding flood of need in return.