Wedding Night with a Stranger (15 page)

‘Oh, my goodness,’ was her sincere reaction.

His erection sprang thick and proud and virile, swelling and pulsing before her wide eyes. She stared, not missing the full and violent impact of its message.

Daunted, almost unconsciously she licked her lips.

Politely, but with a wicked grin, Sebastian offered her the chocolate box. She blinked. In truth, for a cowardly instant she nearly blenched at the challenge.

But what was she? An inexperienced virgin, or a married woman able to give and receive pleasure in the privacy of her husband’s bedroom? The bravest woman he’d ever met? With grave care she selected a couple of chocolate caramels, then, with a long glance at him from beneath her lashes, melted the rich creamy beauties between her hands.

It took her a while to come to terms with what she was about to try, so she held the smouldering guy in suspense for seconds, letting her eyes flicker to his rampant penis, rubbing her hands together while she slicked the gooey, sensuous chocolate over her palms.

Her playmate waited, immobile apart from the barely perceptible rise and fall of his bronzed chest, his black eyes glittering with fever, and the air in the room seemed to tauten to a dangerous pitch.

As she eyed his virile length a tiny, expectant drop of pure masculine essence pearled on the tip, and she felt her mouth water and her folds moisten in helpless excitement. Then, just before the tension reached flashpoint, she smeared her mouth voluptuously with chocolate, then gripped his rosy rod and held him tight, sliding her hands up and down the throbbing shaft.

Sebastian let out a small groan, and to her intense satisfaction she felt him swell and become even harder in her grasp. Sympathetically, her nipples, her breasts, her sweet tender place all swelled too and yearned with desire.

Shudders of pleasure roiled through Sebastian’s big frame, and though he held himself quite still she noticed a seductive line
of sweat appear on his upper lip. Not to be called a coward, she knelt down then and stroked his amazing length from base to velvet tip with her tongue, smoothing the chocolate off as she went.

She felt so unbelievably hot and sexy and reckless, she was revelling in her brave exploration of the situation, but at that point things escalated beyond her control.

As though all at once driven crazy by her ministrations to his throbbing rod, Sebastian suddenly grabbed her and flipped her onto her back. He scrabbled at the side of the bed for the condom packet, ripped one open with his teeth, then with swift hands rolled the sheath on.

For a suspenseful, exhilarating second the hungry, hard, rapidly breathing guy softly combed her curls with his lean, smooth fingers, his dark eyes devouring her chocolate-smeared nudity like molten fire while he magically tickled her already moist delta into a state of electric wildness.

Then with a possessive little growl he covered her with his gorgeous lean body and plunged himself into her willing flesh.

A
RIADNE
cooked dinner that night and made Sebastian her kitchenaide. She had no doubt he surprised himself with his ability to wash herbs, to peel, chop and dice to her rigorous standards, but she wasn’t surprised. She’d had experience of the guy’s artful fingers.

The preparation of dinner was really a pleasant extension of the bedroom and the subsequent bath, in which she’d learned so much more about giving and receiving. And the meal didn’t suffer from the flirty camaraderie that had seemed to spring from their intimate adventures.

‘There’s something so sexy about watching a woman cook,’ her husband said, kissing her neck as she stood at the sink.

‘What’s really sexy is a man
helping
a woman to cook,’ she threw over her shoulder.

She’d decided on the simple, nourishing peasant food Thea believed every Greek husband thrived on, from the humble fisherman to the shipping magnate. When Sebastian had performed his part of the chopping, he perched on a kitchen stool and watched her toss some delicate calamari rings in the pan for their first course, in the absence of retsina sipping a glass of chilled white wine. She placed a little platter of nibbles at his elbow, plump olives and rice-stuffed dolmades that he dipped into a tzatziki she’d whipped up with some yoghurt, cucumber and lemon juice.

She could feel Sebastian’s curious gaze appraising her in her pretty skirt and top, watching her reach for things, pause and check things, open the oven door to inspect the progress of the moussaka. He was still surprised, she guessed. He hadn’t expected his mail-order bride to know her way around a kitchen. And he seemed warmly receptive to her ideas, including the one of hiring more staff to assist Agnes.

It gave her a surge of hope. He clearly enjoyed seeing his home glowing and comfortable and cared for. Perhaps he would start to see how lovely it could be to have a woman always here at the heart of things. Someone to keep the love fires burning.

On Saturday he drove her to her old street, as promised, but the cottage she dimly remembered from her early childhood had been replaced by an apartment block. Still, she took some photos of the street sign, and a tree she convinced herself had been there all along. Disappointed, she asked Sebastian if he would mind taking her to see the place where her parents were buried.

Something flickered in his eyes at her request, as though he felt taken aback, then he agreed readily enough. They took a little time to find the location on the Internet, then drove to Waverley, which she was surprised to see was very close to Bronte.

The modest headstones they sought were on a cliff, stalwart against the ocean breeze, if a little stained by the weather. Ariadne read the sad little inscriptions, shaken by the peaceful solemnity of the place, and laid some purple flowers at their base. Here were her roots, in
this
earth, this grass, this sacred ground.

When would she feel she belonged?

She saw Sebastian’s watchful gaze flicker from her to her surroundings, and had the uncanny notion he’d read her mind.

He observed, ‘Your father must have loved Australia to choose to be buried here.’

‘He was dead,’ she snapped. ‘He had no choice.’

Shocked at her own terseness, she turned away, misting with tears all at once. How pathetic she was, grieving for a
place
when she was young, alive and had her health, while her parents’ youthful lives had been so rudely interrupted.

She wiped her eyes, then felt a strong arm slip around her waist.

‘He chose to live here,’ Sebastian said firmly. ‘He chose an Australian wife. He chose this as his child’s homeland.
Your
homeland.’

‘I
know
that, all right? I know.’ She slipped from his grasp.

‘Hey. Steady there.’ He touched her bare arm, sliding his hand around the muscle as though unable to keep from savouring the texture of her flesh. He frowned. ‘Isn’t there anything in this country you like?’

He looked so mystified, with his dark eyes so serious and intent, his black brows bristling in puzzlement, her heart shook all at once with love for him.

She said softly, ‘There is, lover. There’s
you.
’

She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips, her hands on his ribs, relishing the charge of response in his lean, vibrant body as he held her hard against him and took command of the exchange.

The flare-up was smoothed away, and afterwards she couldn’t remember why she’d been upset. She smiled wonderingly down at the graves.

‘It’s been good to see this place. I’ve often imagined it. Now I have, I don’t really feel they’re sad, you know, Sebastian? I think somehow they’re up there in the ether, smiling and wafting around like clouds. Do you…?’ She turned to look at him. ‘Do you feel like that when you go to visit Esther’s resting place?’

His eyes slid away from her, and he bit out rather curtly, ‘I don’t go.’

On the way back to the car, Sebastian held her hand, but he was silent on the way home. He’d withdrawn a little, and she couldn’t help brooding. She’d told him she liked him, but despite his warmth he hadn’t responded in kind. Had
like
been too close to that other word? The one she longed to hear?

That evening they drove up into the Blue Mountains for some star-gazing through a giant telescope belonging to a friend. They stayed overnight in a chalet, and the next day explored some of the little villages interspersed with the magnificent scenery, including some truly awe-inspiring gorges. But as the weekend drew to a close, though there’d been good times, she’d had anxious ones as well. Times when Sebastian was with her in the flesh, but was it only the flesh?

Could her instincts be so wrong? Did such a passionate, tender guy only feel desire?

On Monday evening, the day before she was due to receive her inheritance, he arrived home earlier than usual.

‘Hello, beautiful,’ he said, embracing her. ‘Good day?’ Though he smiled his dark eyes were searching, as if he had something on his mind.

As she served the meal they chatted about small things, the minor comings and goings of each others’ days, but Ariadne was conscious of him being preoccupied.

Was it her imagination, or was he cooler than usual, though he praised her for the dinner? When the meal was over and she was about to put the tea on, he took her arm. ‘Leave that. Come and sit down. I need to ask you something.’

His lean, dark face was serious, and she felt a stir of anxiety about what was coming, especially when he chose his armchair rather than the sofa next to her.

He dug into his jacket pocket, and produced an opaque plastic bag and handed it across. ‘I picked this up this morning.’

He watched her so intently she hardly dared open it. Wonderingly, she shook out a slim parcel of tissue paper. As she
unrolled the paper, with a flash of blue something cool and heavy slipped into her hand. She gasped to see her own bracelet of sapphires, their glittering fires as brilliant as ever.

‘Oh.’ Stunned, she stared at it for seconds, then looked quickly up at him. ‘How? Where’d you get it?’

He reached into his jacket pocket again and fished out her passport holder. ‘I found this in my pocket the other day. I’d forgotten all about it being in this suit. Today I took the passport out to flick through and the receipt for the pawnbroker slipped out. Then I remembered something the jeweller mentioned on our wedding day.’ He made a sardonic grimace. ‘Lucky you only hocked this. They ripped you off pretty disgracefully, I’d say.’

She flushed. ‘I know they did. But there was no need for
you
to worry, Sebastian. At the time I just needed some—temporary funds. I always intended to redeem the bracelet myself. Once…’

‘Once you had your inheritance.’

She blinked. ‘Yes.’

He continued to scrutinise her face. Her heart started to thud and she felt a flush mount to her neck. ‘Ariadne…’

He leaned forward in his chair, his dark eyes grave and compelling. ‘I don’t want to pry into your private affairs, but I need to understand. You said you weren’t rich. But how so? How can a Giorgias be so short of cash she has to hock her jewellery?’

She tried to sidle out of explaining. ‘Being a Giorgias doesn’t mean I’m rich. This bracelet was a gift. An art gallery doesn’t pay its employees massive salaries.’

‘Even so…’ He levelled his intent dark gaze at her, and pinned her to the point. ‘You flew out here to meet me, you rejected me at first, then you were keen to get married the very next day. What was suddenly so urgent?’ His intelligent dark eyes scoured her face in an uncompromising probe. ‘It’s time for the truth, my sweet.’

The implication stung, and she stiffened. ‘What do you mean, “it’s time for the
truth
”? I’ve never lied to you.’

‘Well…you have to admit you weren’t exactly open about your reasons.’

She could feel the walls closing in, and when she didn’t answer, he said quietly, ‘It’s to do with your uncle and aunt, isn’t it?’

She gave a shrug of admission. ‘I suppose.’

‘If you were short of funds, though,
why
…why couldn’t you apply to them to bail you out?’

Her flush deepened as she felt herself twisting on the spit. ‘I have told you most of it already.’ She braced for deep humiliation. ‘This is hard for me, Sebastian. Are you sure you want to…?’

His gaze was firm and unequivocal and capitulated. ‘All right. It’s true that I flew here for a holiday. At least, that was what I
thought
I was doing.’ She saw his eyes flick to her suddenly shaking hands. ‘I—I just couldn’t bear to tell you the worst part. I feel so—embarrassed.’ Her voice croaked in her throat, but she forced herself to expose her humiliation with as much dignity as she could muster. ‘It was Thio who booked my holiday. It was supposed to be a gift. I didn’t understand his real intention until I was on the plane.’

He frowned. ‘His
real
intention. You mean, that you were coming to meet your prospective bridegroom?’

She lifted her shoulders in wry bitterness. ‘I didn’t know I had one. They mentioned I’d be meeting the Nikosto family. I didn’t realise my uncle had struck a deal with
you
until something he said when I was getting on the plane. So I phoned him from the plane. That’s when I—found out.’

There was a stunned flicker in his eyes. ‘My God.’

She nodded. ‘You see? When I arrived here I discovered nothing had been paid for. I had some money of my own, of course, to pay for meals and taxis, that sort of thing, but the big costs, the hotel and the tours, had never been paid.’

‘And then you met me,’ he said grimly. ‘And the trap was complete. ’ He said in a constrained voice, ‘And I—wasn’t very kind to you at all.’

She shot him a low glance. ‘Perhaps not,’ she said, and saw him wince.

She spread her hands. ‘I have to admit I panicked. In a strange country, with hardly any real money, I didn’t have many choices. And it seemed clear to me…’ She met his appalled gaze, then cast down her lashes. ‘You didn’t want to marry me, anyway. Not really, but you were just prepared to grit your teeth and go through with it for the sake of your company.’

He compressed his chiselled mouth into a straight, grim line, then nodded. ‘I admit it. Your uncle—had made me very angry.’

She nodded, clasping her hands, her heart aching with mortification and pained love for her uncle and aunt. ‘When I rang Thea to find out what had gone wrong, she said…’ her voice wobbled ‘…you
needed
to marry me.’

‘Oh, hell.’ He sprang across to the sofa and grasped her arms. ‘Why didn’t you tell me any of this?’

‘Oh, well.’ Her throat thickened, emotion rendering her voice gravelly. ‘Try to understand. They’re my
family.
I didn’t want you to think badly of them. Thio doesn’t mean to hurt, truly. They’re old, you know. And they—they do love me. They do.’ Tears washed into her eyes.

Sebastian looked sharply at her, comprehension and compassion colouring his eyes, then they veiled almost at once and he shook his head, frowning. A muscle twitched in his lean cheek.

She fought for control. ‘I know what you’re thinking, but they still cling to so many of the traditions, you see. Thio has always had so much power he thinks he can do as he likes. He just bulldozes over people, and Thea lets him get away with it.’ She
dashed a tear away with the back of her hand. ‘After the scandal he thought he had to rescue my honour. He probably thought by forcing me into marriage with some eligible guy, as far away as possible, he was doing the very best thing for me.’ She realised how that must have sounded, and quickly touched his hand. ‘It’s only by the greatest good luck the guy turned out to be
you.
It hasn’t been such a bad thing after all, has it?’

With a thud in his chest Sebastian heard the note in her voice. Her tentative blue gaze, so warm and shyly questioning, pierced straight through his steel-plated resistance and touched some yearning part of him with a dangerous potency. God, but she was sweet. Everything a man could dream of in a woman, surely. For an instant he was intensely tempted to lower his guard, drag her into his arms and hold her vibrant lusciousness to him. But with a roaring pressure in his temples visions of Esther and all the nightmare days and nights crowded in on him, reminding him of how it could turn out.

There was no way he could risk it. Never again.

Luckily, adrenaline lent him the necessary iron to deal with the situation before it got out of control.

‘No, not at all it hasn’t,’ he replied without blinking, ‘but when did you say you were seeing that lawyer?’

‘Tomorrow.’

‘Good.’

Ariadne searched his cool resolute gaze and the blood drained from her heart. ‘Oh.’ Her smile was so tight it hurt. She stood up and stuttered, ‘I—I s-suppose you’ve been thinking I’ve overstayed my welcome.’

He lowered his lashes. ‘No, no, not at all, but…’ He hesitated, then chose his words with great care. ‘It’s been—fantastic having you here, but you need to have your money and your freedom of choice. Then you can decide what you want to do, and who with.’