Tall Dark Handsome Lycan (11 page)

Slowly, he withdrew.
“I should let you get some sleep. Good night, Sam.”

                           
                  * * * *

Leo
recalled her quivering lips, her faltering gaze, her small yet imperceptible retreat, and his gut clenched, his mouth tightened.  It was as though she could see beneath him and see his wolf.  His inner beast trying to escape. 

Making her his was going to take longer than he thought,
so he’d bade her goodnight and had retired to his room, his thoughts remaining on the lovely, red-haired woman who seemed to be fighting his wolf within every step of the way.

His destined
one
be damned!  It was Sam he wanted.

Sam he wanted to claim as his own. 

For the first time since she arrived in Greece, Sam woke up in good spirits.  She knew yesterday had marked progress with Leo and she was confident everything was going to be all right.

Toni and John’s visit here next month was going to be a success.
Sam could feel it in her bones.  She felt a few more things, too. Things about Leo she didn’t know before.  He wasn’t the hard, cold, insensitive man she had thought he was. He was kind, compassionate, understanding, and he had a nice family, she decided, thinking about his parents. Yes, his mother had seemed a tad standoffish at first, but wasn’t that understandable? She was being over protective with her son and daughter because she loved them.

Whatever reasons Leo had for disliking Sam, she was certain he didn’t have them anymore.
He had gotten to know her and she was positive he liked her, and that meant he would like John, too.

Now if only Sam could control her raging hormones every time
he was near, the rest of her vacation would be perfect.

She thought about last night when they were in her room and her stomach
flipped. Leo had wanted to kiss her again and she was slowly but surely losing the battle. She couldn’t deny her feelings any longer. She was falling for him.

Her heart sunk as she realised she
was going home in a week and a half. She thought about what she’d seen in her Tarot last night after Leo had left her room. 

If she chose to embrace the
ir developing relationship, heartbreak and pain would fall upon her. She’d even caught a glimpse of herself collapsing on the stairs in despair and grief.

Sam frowned.
She wished she had been able to see more. What would cause her knees to buckle with such overwhelming grief that she would collapse on the stairs and sob uncontrollably?

She pushed her unsettling thoughts from her mind and showered.  Afterward, she
changed into her black bikini and a yellow cotton sundress. Quickly she went downstairs.

She ate breakfast by herself
in the kitchen, and thought of Maria who was with Nitsa at the hospital.   Leo was nowhere to be found and she welcomed the solitude.

After
Sam rinsed her plate, she borrowed the Volvo and drove into town to buy Alek a bathing suit, but one thing led to another and she ended up buying a whole slew of things she imagined a young boy might like and need. She couldn’t wait to see his reaction when he opened his bag. An hour later, she was sitting on the beach.

It was another beautiful day, and she stretched out on her colourful beach blanket and closed her
eyes. What a glorious day. The birds were in full form with their singing and the sound of the waves hitting the beach soothed her.

A shadow fell over her face.
She opened her eyes and gasped in surprise as she stared up at Leo dressed in faded jeans and a black T-shirt. He carried big, shiny department store bag.

Sam sat up abruptly.
“What…what are you doing here?” Wearing her bikini wasn’t exactly being naked, but she couldn’t help feeling exposed.

His dark
gaze roamed lazily over her body. “Maria has been calling the house all morning to see if you returned. I knew you would be here.”

Concern drew her brows together.
“Is Nitsa all right?”

“She
is fine. She will give birth tonight and she has been asking for you.”

“Oh.”
Sam glanced at her watch and chewed her lower lip.

“Alek hasn’t turned up, has he?”

Sam shook her head. “He was supposed to meet me here a couple of hours ago.” She glanced at her tote bag. “His…his lunch will go bad and I…I bought him a bathing trunk,” she added quietly, looking at her shopping bag by her feet.

Leo flicked an amused
glance at her bag brimming with items. “There seems to be more than trunks in there,” he said, his mouth quirking as though he was trying to hide a smile.

Sam shrugged self
-consciously. “I bought him a few more things, too. Some T-shirts, a few pairs of shorts, a couple of books on the drawing.”

Leo handed her the bag he carried.
“Here. You can give this to him as well,” he said, his tone suddenly gruff. “It’s a paint set.”

Surprised, Sam peered into the bag and gasped.
“This is more than a paint set, Leo. This is what real artists use. My goodness, you bought oil, water, acrylic paints, and amazing brushes here. And all that lovely, soft canvas! Alek’s going to love it,” she added, smiling up at him.

He
stared at her mouth as her smile grew and he blinked before he cleared his throat abruptly. “You can call the orphanage later.   There’s only one on the island.  In the meantime,” he added as he sat down beside her, “I’ll wait with you in case he turns up.”

“
Sure.  I’d…I’d love that,” she said, surprised by his offer.

He gave her a wry
look.  “Contrary to what you may think, I am not an ogre, Sam.”

“No
, of course not,” she exclaimed, “I never thought… I didn’t… Never mind,” she ended lamely, giving him a sheepish grin. She reached over to him and touched his arm. “The paint set was a very thoughtful gift, Leo.”

T
ension immediately flared between them. Sam withdrew her hand as Leo’s gaze slid to her shoulders and lower to her breasts. The look he gave her made her legs weak. 

“You
will burn,” he said.  “You should put more sunscreen on.”

Sam
looked down at her pink, flat belly and frowned. “You’re probably right.” She reached into her tote bag and pulled out her tube of sun block.

“Allow me,” he offered politely.
“I’ll do your back.”

The raw tension between them mounted. “No
, thank you. That’s not necessary.”

“Sam,” he
began, his tone firm, “if I do not apply it, you will suffer tonight.”

Sam
’s cheeks grew warm.  He was right, of course. She nodded slowly and handed him the tube of sun block.  Their fingers brushed and she tingled with awareness where their skin met.

“Turn around
,” he said.

T
he moment his hands slid the cool, soothing lotion over her back, she relaxed. His touch was like heaven, satin, and magic all rolled in one.

“How did you come to work at an orphanage?”
He asked quietly, his hands dipping lower to the small of her back.

“Mm?
Oh, a couple of reasons, really. I love children, and my parents always instilled in us the importance of giving back to the world. Most of my siblings do some form of volunteer work.” Sam was having a hard time concentrating because his touch was so hypnotic. She almost sighed. “My parents are still very active in the community. Just last month, they welcomed another young boy into our family.”

“Like John,” he said quietly.

“Mm-hm. I was four when John came to live with us. He taught me how to ride my first bike, he helped me with my homework, and he was there for me when I had a hard time in school with the other kids.” She paused and wondered if she should say more. “Kids can be very cruel.  I never really fit in growing up.”

“Why not
?”

“I was different.
I knew things.”

“What kind of things?”

She gave a small shrug. “Things. Who would get hurt in the playground, when school would be closed because of freak weather, which girl liked which boy and vice versa. Things like that.  It took me a long time to accept I was different and I had to embrace my gift and use it to help people.”

“Do you have visions?”

“Yes.” Sam tensed. She didn’t want to ruin this nice moment with him by giving him the opportunity to call her a fraud or a fake. “Anyway, my past doesn’t bother me anymore.  I’m an adult now and I have control over who can and can’t hurt me.”

“How long have you had your gift?”

“For as long as I can remember. My aunt Zoe is gifted, too. She gave me my first set of Tarot cards on my eighth birthday. She taught me how to read them.  I still have them.  They’re all worn out and faded, but they still do the job.” 

“Do you only read the cards for clients or do you read them for yourself as well?”

“Both. They’ve helped me make some very important decisions in my life.”

“Have you based most of your decisions on your readings?”

“Yes. They’ve never let me down.” His hands were soothing her and she was very calm. “Most people had friends growing up—I had my cards. I was kind of a loner.”

“Is that why you’re still single?”
He asked quietly.

“You could say that.
I broke up with my first boyfriend because I found out he was cheating on me.  I broke up with my second boyfriend because I saw he would turn into an alcoholic.”

“And your third?”

She shook her head. “No third. I stopped dating after that. What was the use?”

“So you’ve based your decisions on love
on what you have read from your Tarot.”

“M
m,” she murmured. His touch was putting her to sleep. “What do you base your decisions on?”  He was taking an awfully long time applying the lotion, she realised suddenly.  Was he enjoying this as much as she was?

“Facts.
Truth. My gut instinct.”

Sam smiled.
“How very male of you. Most men do.”

“Isn’t it possible you may get it wrong one day?
That what you see may not be the best decision?”

“No.
I’ve never been wrong yet.”

He paused for so long, Sam wondered what he was thinking.
“And you read Toni her cards and told her she would fall in love with John,” he said.

“M
m.”

“You predicted to her they would get married.”

Despite the sun’s warmth and Leo’s hypnotic caresses, Sam grew cold. “Yes.”

“Before or after she met him?”

Her idyllic moment with him snapped and she swung around. “What are you implying, Leo? That I conned your sister into marrying John?  That I influenced her?” She made a move to grab her bags.

His hand shot out and
he stopped her from rising. Her heated glare dimmed under the sincerity softening his expression. “Sam, I was not implying anything. Please believe me.”

S
he remained silent, sensing his honesty.

Leo gave her a rueful
look. “I was merely stating a fact. My sister has had a long string of poor judgement behind her. She jumps into water without testing the temperature first. We are a protective family.  She must marry into a family we can trust.

“John and I love Toni.
You need to stop forming all these preconceived notions about us. You don’t know me, Leo.”

He nodded slowly.
“I know and that is something I would like to rectify,” he added, watching her intently. He reached for her bags and rose. “We should get going, Sam. We will be alone tonight. I have postponed the dinner my mother had planned tonight with Katina’s family and Maria is staying at the hospital. We will have ample time to get to know each other.”

“Your parents left?’’
She would be alone with Leo tonight. Somehow that didn’t sit well with her.

“
They left first thing this morning. They have their own homes in Athens, England, and New York.”

“My goodness,” she said, wondering just how wealthy Toni’s family was.

“My parents will return tomorrow night and we will have my mother’s dinner party then.” His mouth softened. “She was quite intrigued by you.”

Sam
was uneasy that she would meet Katina for the first time tomorrow. “I like your parents. Their aura is very warm and generous, protective and loving.”

“You don’t say,” he said
, the expression behind his eyes softening.

“Yes.”
She rose and slipped on her yellow sundress over her bikini. Leo’s gaze flickered approvingly over her body and a warm blush settled on her cheeks.