In Petrakis's Power (13 page)

‘I was expecting you to arrive at any moment—so, no. You didn’t keep me waiting too long. And even if you did it was worth the wait. You look very lovely in that dress.’

The simply-cut cornflower-blue dress that Natalie wore had short sleeves and a pretty sweetheart neckline, embroidered with the tiniest of white daisies, and the folds of the skirt draped softly down to her knees. She loved it because her mother had bought it for her trip to Greece, professing it to be modestly respectable but pretty enough to win her the ‘right’ kind of attention. There was only one man whose attention she wanted to
win, Natalie privately acknowledged, and that was the real-life Adonis sitting in front of her.

‘Thanks. My mum bought it for me.’

‘Ahh … Now I see why you chose to wear it today. It’s exactly the kind of dress that a Greek mother would buy for her young and beautiful daughter. A dress she can confidently wear to a family gathering with friends and relations. It is suitably virginal and will definitely make the right impression,’ he teased. ‘Now, why don’t you come to the table and help yourself to some yogurt and honey for breakfast?’

Still reeling from his comment that her dress was ‘suitably virginal’, Natalie hurriedly pulled out a chair opposite him and sat down—anything to stop Ludo seeing that she was blushing painfully. As she scooped some yogurt into a cereal bowl from the generous ceramic dish in front of her she was in no hurry to meet his omniscient gaze.

‘I waited up for you for quite some time last night,’ she told him. ‘What time did you get in?’

‘About one or two in the morning.’ He shrugged. ‘Who knows? I was hardly keeping track of the time.’

‘Did it help to clear your head, going for such a long walk?’

‘Perhaps.’ His reply was painfully non-committal.

‘It’s a tremendously brave thing that you’re doing, Ludo—coming back home after three years and facing what happened,’ she told him encouragingly. ‘Your parents must be so happy at the prospect of seeing you again.’

‘You are an eternal optimist, I think.’

‘Maybe I am.’ Natalie frowned. ‘But I’d rather believe in hope and resolution than be cynical.’

‘You should try some honey with your yogurt. I am sure you know it is traditional.’

Suddenly his piercing blue eyes were boring into hers and she forgot what she’d been going to say.

‘Here …’

Leaning towards her, he scooped up a teaspoon of the richly golden nectar. Just when Natalie expected him to stir it into her helping of yogurt he touched the spoon to her lips for her to sample it instead. Her body tightened and the tips of her breasts tingled fiercely at the sensual nature of the gesture. Obediently and self-consciously she licked the honey off the spoon. The whole time she was hotly aware that Ludo was staring at her.

‘Hmm,’ she responded, emitting a soft sigh. ‘It’s delicious.’

Her expression was no longer self-conscious but laced with helpless invitation. The man was driving her crazy! Natalie might not be experienced in the art of seduction, but she was getting close to desperate for Ludo to seduce
her
. In turn, he gave her an amused slow smile that made her want to rip off his shirt, discard the pretty blue dress that he’d declared ‘suitably virginal’ and all but drag him across the table and insist he make love to her …

The thought made her bite her lip to prevent herself from giggling because it was so outrageous. It was also diametrically opposed to anything she’d ever contemplated in her life before.

‘You’re such a goody-two-shoes when it comes to
men, Nat,’ a friend had once teased her. ‘Haven’t you ever met a man you simply just
had
to have?’

Not until she’d set eyes on Ludo Petrakis, she hadn’t …

‘You looked like you were about to laugh. What was so funny?’ Ludo asked, depositing the spoon he’d used for the honey on a saucer.

‘A crazy thought came into my mind, that’s all,’ she admitted warily.

‘Want to share it with me?’

‘No.’ Tucking her hair behind her ear, she shrugged carelessly in a bid to deflect his curiosity. ‘At least not right now. Can you tell me a little bit more about your parents before I meet them? And is it possible to stop off somewhere on the way to buy your mother a gift? I’d really like to get her something. Does she like flowers?’

‘Of course—but she has a large garden full of flowers. You don’t have to worry about getting her a gift. Your presence as my fiancée will be gift enough, Natalie.’

Feeling suddenly deflated, she frowned. Her brow puckered. ‘But I’m not your fiancée, am I? We’re only pretending that I am.’

The muscle that flinched in the side of his smooth tanned cheekbone indicated his annoyance. ‘I know that.’

‘At any rate, it’s polite to take a gift when someone invites you into their home for the first time, isn’t it?’

He sighed. ‘If it means that much to you, angel, then we will stop off at a place I know and purchase a nice
vase that she might put her own flowers in. Will that suffice?’

Feeling marginally better, Natalie somehow found a smile. ‘Thank you. It does. Will you tell me a bit about what your mother is like? I’d really like to know.’

Ludo’s expression instantly relaxed, as though the topic couldn’t help but fill him with pleasure.

‘She is a beautiful woman and a wonderful mother and she loves to put people at ease when they visit her. What else can I tell you?’ His blue eyes twinkled in amusement. ‘She is an incredible cook and an accomplished seamstress—she was a dressmaker before she met my father. He utterly relies on her, you know? But he wouldn’t thank me for telling you that. He is a typical “man’s man” and proud of it. Now, can you do something for me before we talk further?’

‘What would that be?’

Her heart jumped a mile high as her gaze fell into his dazzling blue irises. She was still aroused. It was surely an impossible challenge to hold his glance for long and not reveal her desire? With his elbows resting on the table, Ludo leaned in a little closer—so close that she could count every single long golden lash that fringed his eyelids.

‘Can you try not to look so adorable when you smile?’ he asked huskily. ‘It makes me want to wipe the smile clean off your face with a hot, languorous kiss that would very likely lead me into removing that pretty virginal dress your mother bought you and more besides.’

Just in time Natalie suppressed a groan. ‘I don’t think—I mean, I think we should—we should—’

‘Give it a try?’

Swallowing hard, she reached for a white paper napkin and touched it to her lips, lightly dabbing at them. ‘I think we should stay on a safer subject, don’t you?’

‘Even if it’s nearly killing me to have you look at me with those innocent grey eyes and not tell you in graphic detail what I’d like us to do together in bed?’

‘That’s how I make you feel?’ Her voice had dropped to a shocked whisper.

‘You have no idea,’ he growled, then abruptly got to his feet and drove his long fingers through his hair. ‘But no doubt it will keep. We have to make the journey to see my parents very soon, and I suppose we should concentrate on getting ready.’

‘How long will it take us to get there?’

‘About an hour.’

‘Where exactly do they live?’

‘About four kilometres from Lindos, but the area is quite rural in comparison to the town. Thankfully, it’s also close to the beach.’

‘And that’s where you grew up?’

Once again Natalie registered wariness in Ludo’s eyes. He was still apprehensive about seeing his parents, and probably fearing the worst about their reception of him. She wished she knew a way to help put him more at ease.

He turned away to gaze out at the sea. ‘Yes … it is where my brother Theo and I grew up. We had a truly magical childhood, living there. We were so free—which should be the right of all children, in my view. Most days we ran down to the beach to play before
school. Then we’d run home in anticipation of our breakfast.’

‘You had breakfast? I know that many Greeks don’t … apart from drinking coffee, I mean.’

‘My mother believed it was important for children to start the day with some food in their bellies.’ With a wryly arched brow, he turned back towards her. ‘She gave us soft cheese spread on sesame-seeded
psomi
to eat.’

‘I love that bread. My mum still makes it now and then, especially when we have friends to dinner.’

Joining him, Natalie was mindful of not disturbing his poignant and unexpectedly heart-warming train of thought and couldn’t deny the warmth it instigated in her own heart that he would share the memory with her.

‘You will have to tell my mother. She is sure to want to know all about it.’ Lifting his palm, Ludo briefly pressed it to her cheek, as if he didn’t trust himself to let it linger. ‘I think it’s time that we went. If there is anything else you wish to ask me you can ask it on the journey.’

In the next instant he’d moved swiftly away to the open patio doors, and before she could reply he disappeared inside.

T
HE TRADITIONALLY BUILT
white house that was so familiar to Ludo loomed up before them minutes before the Range Rover reached the end of the rutted undulating track they’d been travelling on. Although the architecture was typical of many homes in the locale, it was unusually tall and imposing. Built on the crest of a hill, it could be seen for miles.

The unmade track was very soon replaced by a smooth driveway lined with fig trees that led directly to the house’s white-stone arched terrace. Behind the dwelling the deceptively calm waters of the Aegean created the most stunning iridescent backdrop, and even though he knew the house and the view well, it still made Ludo draw breath at the beauty of it.

But he didn’t contemplate the scene for very long. Parking the car, he felt his stomach churn at the prospect of his first encounter with his parents after three long years. Was it possible that they would ever forgive him for his desertion at a time when they’d most needed him … particularly his mother? If they didn’t, then he would simply just have to wish them well and walk away again—even if it broke his heart.

‘Ludo?’

Beside him, Natalie’s soft voice halted his painful reflection, reminding him he wasn’t going to have to do this on his own. He remembered thinking about the possibility of sharing his worries with her last night and the tension in the pit of his belly eased a little.

‘It’s going to be all right.’

She smiled, and he reached out for her small hand and squeezed it in gratitude. It struck him afresh how pretty and innocent she looked today in the simple blue dress her mother had bought her. The conservative sweetheart neckline revealed not the slightest décolletage, yet in his opinion a sexy black cocktail dress couldn’t have been nearly as alluring or beguiling.

‘I’m sure you are right. If anyone has the ability to convince me of that it is you,
agapiti mou
. Let’s do this, shall we?’ His voice was gruffer than he’d meant it to be, but the relinquishing of his guard had left him feeling curiously vulnerable.

As he stepped down from the Range Rover onto the patterned marble drive he glanced towards the entrance of the house. With his heart beating double time he saw his parents walking towards them. Wearing an elegant blue tunic over white palazzo pants, her dark blonde hair shorter than he’d seen her wear it before, his mother Eva looked as effortlessly elegant as ever, if a little thinner. She was holding on to his father’s strong muscled arm.

Unusually, his father was wearing a suit, as if to instigate some formality into the proceedings and perhaps to remind his errant son that he was a long way from being forgiven and accepted … at least by
him
.

Acutely aware that emotions were probably running high in all of them, Ludo returned his gaze to his mother and saw her smile tentatively, as if unsure how he was going to receive her. That uncertain look on her beautiful face twisted his heart. Yet because his father’s expression was so serious he hesitated to throw his arms round her as he longed to.

He needn’t have worried. Releasing her husband’s arm, Eva Petrakis stepped onto the mosaic tiles where Ludo stood and wholeheartedly embraced him. Her still slender body trembled as he hugged her back without hesitation, his senses awash in a sea of childhood memories of her unstinting love and affection for him and his brother. Oh, how he had missed her!

With her hands resting lightly but firmly on his arms, as if she was reluctant to let him go, she stood back to scan his features. In Greek, she told him how worried she’d been about him, and that every night when she went to bed she’d prayed he was safe and well and planning on coming home soon … home where he belonged.

In return, Ludo murmured his sincere apology and regret. She smiled, gently touching his face. Then she told him that she knew far more of how he felt than he’d realised. There was no need for him ever to feel sorry about his actions again. She understood and had never blamed him for them, so neither should he blame himself. As hard as it had been for her and Alekos to accept, they had now reconciled themselves to the fact that it had been Theo’s time. It was their profound belief that he was home with God now …

Leaning towards him, she planted a warmly affectionate
kiss on Ludo’s cheek and, lowering her voice, told him that he should give his father a little more time to realise what a great gift it was for them to have him home again. ‘Be patient,’ she advised sagely.

Observing his father across her shoulder, Ludo saw that sorrow and time had indeed taken their toll on him. There were deep grooves in the forehead of his handsome face, and his curling dark hair was more liberally sprinkled with salt and pepper strands than it had been three years ago. But without a doubt he still emitted the same formidable energy that Theo had envied so much.

‘If I live to be my father’s age and still have the strength and energy to accomplish as much in one day as he can,’ he’d often declared, ‘then I’ll know the Petrakis gene pool hasn’t failed me!’

Swallowing down the lump that swelled in his throat at the bittersweet memory, Ludo moved away from his mother and determinedly went to stand in front of the man who had been responsible for raising him.