“I will never divorce you, Leah. I will never set you free.”
What new madness had he thought of now?
Rolling away from him, she began to slide off the bed. His hand on her ankle, Stavros pulled her back onto the sheets in a deft movement. Struggling to get free, she squealed. And gasped when he covered her body with his.
His weight pressed her into the bed, stealing her breath. Clutching her eyes closed, Leah fought the craving that burst within her belly like a fire. Her arms literally ached to hold him, her body on fire to be possessed by him.
“I have missed you so much, agape mou,” he said, shuddering harshly.
She felt his mouth probe hers softly, slowly, as if asking for permission. Holding her wrists at her head with one hand, he pressed little kisses on the seam of her lips, his warm breath drenching her.
In a needy, hoarse voice that unlocked every last fear in her, he punctured the kisses with words in Greek.
“Please, pethi mou. Let me in.” He swiped at her mouth with his tongue, his body pressing into hers. “I would drown if you would not let me kiss you, Leah, I would stop breathing if you gave up on me now. My life is no life without you in it. Until you brought it to me, I have not known love. Do not take it away now, Leah.”
And the tender gesture, the unvarnished love in his words undid her. Twining her arms around his neck, Leah gave in. He kissed her as if he were truly drowning, with desperate desire.
Lips scraped against teeth, limbs tangled, breathing was secondary as the fire between them consumed them.
“Tell me that I haven’t lost you already. Tell me that you will teach me how to love you, Leah. Theos, it is all I want.”
When she remained silent, he whispered, “I love you, Leah.”
The declaration rang around in the silence, and slowly Leah opened her eyes. The truth of it shone in his eyes, rendering him acutely vulnerable. It was a look she had never thought to see on Stavros’s face.
“You sent me away without a thought to me. I couldn’t believe how cruel you were, how much it hurt,” she said, her mouth trembling. “How easily you could break my heart, reject my love...”
“The news about Calista devastated me, I thought I could never love you like you need to be loved... I stomped on my own feelings, Leah.”
“But you do know, Stavros. You don’t say it in words, you won’t share your thoughts, but your actions...they speak so much. You are incredibly giving, caring, even if you drive me up the wall with your arrogance.”
He traced a finger over her mouth, such tenderness in his eyes that Leah couldn’t breathe. “I will never stop loving you, nor will I ever give you up. I—”
She ran shaking fingers over his brow, pushing back his hair. “When I’m with you, I’m unafraid. All I want is to take risk upon risk, all I want is to live and love you.”
“Then let’s do it, pethi mou.”
Burying her face in his neck, Leah nodded, her head dizzy with euphoria, fear beating a tattoo. He pushed them both off the bed and brought her to the edge of it. While she shivered all over from the intent on his face, he knelt in front of her.
Looked at her with such love in his eyes that fresh tears fell on her cheeks.
“Will you marry me again, Leah?” he asked against her lips. “Will you...choose to spend the rest of your life with me, pethi mou?”
Leah buried her mouth in his throat, swallowed the tightness in hers. “Yes, Stavros. I’ll marry you... Tomorrow, if you can arrange it.”
“No, not tomorrow,” he said, tugging her face up to his.
“Why not? Are you having second thoughts already?”
The ache in his eyes undid her. “I...want you to have the wedding you’ve always wanted. I want to take you out a few times. I want to do all the things you might have wanted to do before you married... I want you to take all the time you want...and until then...” He looked into her eyes and the love she saw there sent her heart to bursting.
She shook her head, instantly understanding how his mind worked. Scooting closer to him, she straddled him and they both groaned. “No... I can’t sleep without you by my side. I can’t bear it if you—”
“You will see me every day. When I make love to you again, you will have chosen to be my wife this time.”
Something in his tone told her how important this was to him. That she marry him, that she become his wife because she loved him. “Three months,” she moaned, tugging his lower lip with her teeth. “Let’s set a date for after three months and no later. I don’t have your patience or your willpower...”
He took her mouth in a hungry kiss that set fire to her claim... “Willpower, yineka mou? Waiting for you to walk toward me in your wedding dress...that’s the only thing that will keep me going.”
EPILOGUE
Three months later
STAVROS HAD NO idea that three months could feel like an eternity. Theos, he must have been insane to set the rule he had because touching Leah and kissing Leah without taking her had been an exercise in torture.
But in the same breath, he was also extremely glad that they had waited. Because Leah was worth every smile, every ache, every moment he had spent thrashing in his bed because he missed her with a bone-deep hunger.
On a beautiful October evening, he waited with his breath hovering in his throat while a hundred guests looked on.
Giannis’s mansion and grounds had been decorated lavishly and he stood under an archway in the garden. Lilies in beautiful arrangements spread their fragrance while the sky glittered a brilliant blue.
Most of the guests had come to see his beautiful bride, the new designer that had shaken the fashion world with her designs—models she had worked with the past couple of months, half the population from his estate, workers from her factory, all because of Leah’s generosity of spirit, her kindness, the depth of her commitment and loyalty.
And finally today, the magnificent woman was going to be his in a bond born out of love and laughter and joy. His heart ached as he remembered how much Calista would have loved to see Leah and him like this...
And there she was, on Dmitri’s arm, walking toward him with sure steps.
His heart threatened to jump out of his chest when he saw her.
She had told him she was going to wear her own creation—the first wedding gown she had ever designed.
She looked utterly fragile and so beautiful that he stared hungrily, desire fisting tight in his gut.
Her long hair was combed away in a stylish ponytail, pearl earrings that had been a gift from Giannis at her ears, and the dress she wore was a demure creation in lace and sheer silk that didn’t bare an ounce of flesh.
The modern, no-frill design hugged her slender body, leaving her arms bare, highlighting the long line of her thighs and legs.
Had she made the outfit more modest because of him? Did she think he wouldn’t like it if it was one of her outrageously sexy, insubstantial creations?
Had he made her doubt his love again?
But one look into her gorgeous, shining eyes and all his doubts perished like so much dust.
They shone with such happiness that he felt a tightness in his chest relent.
They had spent the last three months touring for fabrics, laughing, and teasing each other, learning each other and falling in love all over again, and breathlessly waiting for this day.
He felt his entire world sway and tilt at the love he saw in those eyes, at the way her luscious mouth trembled.
She kissed Dmitri’s cheek and he handed her over to him.
Gripping her fingers with his, he pulled her closer, the scent of her hitting him right in the solar plexus. “I love you, Leah,” he whispered in her ear, without waiting for the priest to begin.
Her breath caught, she ran shaking fingers over his cheek as if she needed to check that he was all there.
“I can’t wait for tonight,” she finally whispered, and pulled back, a wicked twinkle in her eyes.
* * *
It was only later that Stavros finally noticed the back of Leah’s dress. Specifically when the photographer had asked her to turn around and smile over her back.
Her gaze holding his, she turned slowly, a coy smile curving her mouth.
Heat pounded his blood, desire hitting him like a tsunami.
Her back was bare, dipping precariously low to the curve of her buttocks, except for a row of white buttons drawing a tempting line down her spine, holding the sheer illusion panel together...
Just the sight of that smooth, bare skin sent heat searing across his own.
He could love her for years to come but his wife would always surprise him, he realized with a smile.
Joining her, he ran his fingers up her spine, a fever overtaking his muscles.
“Ready for your wedding night, yineka mou?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her jaw.
She trembled and turned into his arms. “Do you like the dress?”
He nodded, and picked her up. A hundred cheers went up around them as he walked toward the entrance to Giannis’s house. “I love it. But I apologize in advance.”
Her hands tightened around his nape. “For what?”
“For ripping those delicate buttons. That’s the only way to get it off you, isn’t it?”
Her smile reached into the depths of his heart. He carried her over the threshold and took her mouth in a hungry kiss. “Now you’re mine forever and forever.”
“And you are mine,” she whispered, before claiming his mouth again.