Rachael Thomas - Seducing His Convenient Innocent

‘Yes,’ Rio added gently, and Xena looked at her. ‘A car accident.’

‘I don’t remember.’ Xena shook her head. Then her eyes widened. ‘I don’t remember anything.’

‘Don’t panic,’ Rio soothed, and Lysandros marvelled at her command in the face of Xena’s fear. ‘You’ve had a bump on the head. I’m sure it’s perfectly normal not to remember things straight away. I’ll go and find the doctor now, get him to come and reassure you.’

‘Don’t go yet,’ Xena pleaded, and Rio hesitated. ‘There is something else wrong, isn’t there? Something is wrong between you two. I can feel it.’

‘Don’t worry about us,’ Rio said soothingly, again fussing with the bedsheets.

Xena laughed softly. It was such an unexpected sound that Lysandros looked at his sister, not sure what was coming next. Tears maybe, as the shock of the accident set in.

‘Well, I hope you two haven’t fallen out.’ Xena rested her head back against the pillow, her face as pale as the white sheets. ‘Because you do realise you were meant for each other?’

Lysandros didn’t dare look at Rio. It wasn’t just the accident Xena didn’t remember; she didn’t remember he and Rio were no longer dating. ‘Of course we haven’t fallen out. Far from it.’

He looked at Rio across the bed, shocked to find how near they now were. Their concern for Xena had drawn them physically so close he only needed to lean forward a little to kiss Rio. And he wanted to. She still had that effect on him, still raised the desire in his blood until it almost boiled.

‘Fallen out?’ Rio frowned, her gaze locked with his, and he saw the moment she realised what he was doing, that he didn’t want to panic Xena or worry her by explaining they had done exactly that six weeks ago. He let out a breath of relief when she laughed softly, looking at Xena, apparently happy to conspire with him. ‘Of course we haven’t.’

Lysandros straightened away from the temptation of kissing Rio once more and looked at her. ‘You will, of course, come to Greece with Xena. I’m sure it’s what she will need to aid her recovery.’

Rio’s eyes snapped to his. ‘I don’t think that is necessary,’ she said firmly, a clear challenge in her voice.

Lysandros should be worried about Xena, should be anxious about her amnesia, but all he could think about was getting Rio to his Greek island. Getting her alone. Then he could convince her that what they’d had before she’d stood him up had been good, worth continuing. He wanted Rio. Couldn’t get her out of his mind. It was not just because she was the only woman to have stood him up. It was more than that. He couldn’t make sense of his reaction to her. All he knew was that this might be the only opportunity to discover the pleasure of making her his.

Rio took a step away from the bed, away from him. As if she sensed his ulterior motives. As if she knew the reason he wanted her in Greece was because he couldn’t accept that she didn’t want him.

He damn well couldn’t.

Not when desire had sparked within every smile she’d bestowed on him. Not when she had seductively let him know she was ready to take their relationship to a different level.

Even now, in the hospital, with his sister’s suspected amnesia looking ever more likely, the air was filled with sexual tension, pulling him and Rio together, invalidating her claim they were over. How could he turn his back on something so powerful, something that had promised to be amazing? The disaster of his engagement had loomed over him for ten years, but whatever it was between him and Rio, this was the first time that shadow had been eclipsed.

‘Xena, do you want Rio with you in Greece?’

‘Most definitely,’ Xena said, her voice still wobbly as she looked from one to the other, as if she couldn’t make out what was happening.

‘Then I will make arrangements immediately for you both to travel to Greece.’ He turned to leave. He couldn’t stand this close to Rio and not touch her, not try to convince her with a kiss that they needed to explore the attraction between them. They needed to extinguish the fire of desire and he knew exactly how. ‘I will speak to a doctor right now.’

He strode out of the room, not expecting Rio to follow him, but he knew she had. He sensed it with every taut muscle in his body. He continued to walk briskly down the hospital corridor, wanting to be completely out of Xena’s hearing before he turned to face the onslaught of Rio’s anger. Anger that radiated up the corridor after him.

‘Lysandros, will you wait?’ She was angry all right. He turned slowly to face her, keeping his expression devoid of emotion. ‘Why are you allowing Xena to think we are still together?’

‘Because I don’t wish to upset her.’

‘I can’t just go to Greece and pretend everything is right between us.’ The defiant tilt of her chin should have annoyed him, but instead it set light to the fuse of lust once more. Why did this woman drive him so wild with desire? Her lack of experience with men had been evident from the first day Xena had introduced them. So why did he want her so much when he’d always preferred experienced women? The kind of woman who wouldn’t demand anything more than a night of exquisite pleasure? No questions, no longing for happy endings, just hot, passionate nights until the desire cooled.

‘Rio.’ He’d always liked the feel of her name on his lips and moved closer to her. ‘Xena needs you. You are her closest friend.’

She folded her arms across her slender body, adding to the aura of defiance—and the spark of lust in him.

‘I should be playing the piano each day, even though the season is over.’ He didn’t believe the hostile glint in her eyes for one minute. Just as he didn’t believe that excuse. There was an emptiness in it that warned him she was hiding something.

He smiled at her weak excuse. Was she afraid of what was between them? Afraid of its power? ‘Xena has a grand piano in her villa, which I am sure she would love you to play.’

He didn’t go on to say that he also had a piano in his Athens apartment. That would deter her further, but the thought of her playing it—just for him—fired his lust higher.

She shook her head. ‘No. I need to stay in London.’

He moved closer still, putting temptation in his path once more. He couldn’t allow that to distract him, not when he knew Xena would want her friend with her if she had to return to Greece. If she had to face the reality of not only her loss of memory but being unable to play her violin while her wrist and arm healed, she would need Rio.

He would need Rio there too. As hard as it was to admit, he found it difficult to emotionally connect with anyone, even Xena. Angered that his flaw had surfaced, that maybe it had chased Rio away, he drew on the few facts he knew about the accident.

‘Why was Xena out alone when she wasn’t familiar with driving in a big city at night?’

Rio’s eyes sparked with anger, her soft lips pressing into a firm line. For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to answer. ‘I had no idea she’d gone. We’d...had words.’

‘Was she meeting someone?’ He might still want Rio in a way that unnerved him, but right now she was the only person who could help him understand what had happened last night.

‘I think so.’ He heard the pain in her voice and a twinge of guilt spiralled through him until he reminded himself he was doing this for Xena. She would have been furious with him for upsetting her friend, but he needed to know and right now Xena was unable to talk for herself.

He gentled his tone. ‘Who?’

‘Just a friend.’

‘And what were you doing at this time?’ He hated himself for needing to know just where Rio had been that night. Xena had assured him Rio hadn’t dated anyone else since their split and he’d accepted that, had given Rio the space she’d asked for. Maybe now he’d get the answers he wanted, maybe even continue where they’d left off.