PAGAN ADVERSARY (28 page)

arms and carried her effortlessly across the room to a door that could

only lead to a bedroom. Harriet kicked and squirmed furiously, but he

didn't even seem to notice. He stopped suddenly, and his mouth came

down on hers in a fierce relentless kiss that seemed to go on for ever.

Then he dropped her, winded and breathless, in the very centre of the

kingsize bed.

Harriet lay, looking up at him, her eyes enormous as he shrugged out

of his elegant jacket and tugged off his tie. As he began to unbutton

his shirt, she rolled away from him across the bed, but he was too

quick for her, dragging her back ruthlessly, and kneeling astride her,

pinioning her between his thighs to control her angry struggles.

'If you touch me, you'll be sorry!' she spat at him.

'If I do not touch you, we shall both be sorry.' He pulled off his shirt

and tossed it on to the floor, and his hand was caressing her, tracing

the curve of her face, the line of her jaw and throat, until her body

seemed one silent scream of pain and longing.

She tried to hit him, and he took both her wrists in one hand and held

them above her head while he started to undress her. His mouth

sought hers, but she turned her head away sharply in rejection, so he

began to kiss her body instead, the warm seduction of his lips and

tongue on her skin arousing a fever in her blood which was soon

raging out of control.

She could fight him at a distance, but when she was lying in his arms

like this, his lips and fingers moving over her in an exploration of

heart-stopping intimacy, then she was fighting herself, all her deepest

and most secret needs and cravings.

He released her wrists and her hands cradled his head, her fingers

tangling in the thickness of his dark hair, her palms sliding smoothly

over the planes and angles of his face.

Alex lifted himself away from her, staring down at her, his dark eyes

hungry and intent. 'Now tell me you don't want me,' he said between

his teeth.

Pain was like a stone in her throat. She said, 'But wanting isn't love,

Alex. And it takes love to make a marriage.'

He was silent and very still for a moment, and then he sighed, a deep

shuddering breath that seemed to shake his whole body.

He said in a dry, bleak voice, 'Was I wrong, then? But if this --' his

hand touched her bare breast like a kiss '—and this—is all there is,

then it is enough for a beginning, Harriet
mou.
Oh, my sweet one, I

can teach you to need me in all the other ways, to trust me. Don't

leave me again, my precious heart. Stay with me. I can make you love

me.'

Hope was unfurling deep inside her like the petals of some strange,

exotic flower.

On a whisper, she said, 'You—love me?'

He said huskily, 'Almost from the first,
agape mou.
How could you

not know?'

'How could I?" she protested. That inner radiance was spreading,

glowing in her face and eyes, curving her mouth. 'Why didn't you tell

me?'

'Did it need words? And at first, I admit, I tried to fight it. There had

been Kostas—and it seemed there would always be too many

obstacles, too many barriers between us. But you were in my heart,

matia mou,
almost before I knew it.'

He bent and kissed her, his mouth tender almost reverent.

Harriet said shyly, 'But you were so cold to me. . ..'

He sighed. 'I thought it was Spiro that you wanted. I came back from

Athens half crazy for you. I'd intended to suggest that you take that

cruise I mentioned—but with me instead of alone, and then I saw you

with Spiro and it was like a knife in the guts.'

She stroked his cheek. 'He was only being kind. I think he knew I

needed a friend.'

'I did not always appreciate his brand of friendship,' he said grimly.

'That day on the beach, for example, I was ready to kill him. I gave

myself away completely. His first words to me afterwards were, "So

you have been caught at last, cousin".'

'You did rather overreact.' She smiled at him. 'Poor Spiro! He's had a

very rough time lately. We must be kind to him.'

'But not too kind,' Alex threatened mockingly, then sobered. 'Yes, he

has been shocked and grieved beyond words, but he recognises now

that his mother is a sick woman.' He paused. 'And I have made sure

there is extra work, extra responsibility to keep his mind occupied.'

'And your mother?' she asked quietly. 'How have you managed to

reconcile her?'

'I will not pretend it has been easy, but she is a determined woman,

agape mou,
not a heartless one. But for Thia Zoe's intervention I think

she would eventually have forgiven Kostas and welcomed your

sister. Now she has learned a lesson. She is not prepared to make the

same mistake with me, and that is why she came to London with

me—to make amends to you, to prove she is prepared to accept you

as my wife.' He looked into her eyes. 'Tell me that you will marry me,

Harriet, my dear love.'

Her hands stroked the strength of his naked shoulders, and moved

provocatively down his back. A laugh quivered in her voice. 'It isn't

exactly a conventional proposal, but I think I could be

persuaded—Alex
mou
.'

He said huskily, 'Then I shall lose no time in persuading you.'

His lips took hers in warm possession, and her arms closed round

him, her body yielding and eager, accepting love, accepting all life

had to offer in her share of paradise with Alex.