were amazing, agape .’
Nikos shifted onto his back and stared up at the shadows flickering on the roof of the cave. The
stark shock of discovering that he was her first lover was fading, and he acknowledged that it had
been the best sex he’d had for a long time. He glanced at Rina lying beside him and slowly
relaxed, relieved that she had made no attempt to cuddle up to him. It seemed that he had no
need to worry. She had been a virgin but she understood the rules. He hadn’t intended to see her
again after tonight, but if she could be trusted not to make demands on him then he saw no
reason why they shouldn’t meet up occasionally when he came to Aristo.
‘I also have a confession to make,’ he said lazily as he rolled onto his side once more and wound
a lock of her still-damp hair around his finger.
Kitty’s heart shuddered to a standstill. ‘Are you married?’
He gave a snort of disgust. ‘ Theos—no!’ Nikos’s face hardened, and he suddenly seemed so
remote that Kitty wondered despairingly what utter madness had led her to have sex for the first
time in her life with this man who was a stranger to her. ‘I’m divorced,’ he told her with a grim
smile that did not reach his eyes, ‘and, since I evicted my ex-wife from my life, resolutely
single.’
Nikos felt the familiar black hatred surge through him as his mind dwelled on the woman he had
once believed he had loved, his bitterness mixed with fury with himself that he had been such a
damnable fool. Never again, he thought savagely. Greta’s terrible deceit had taught him a hard
lesson, but he had learned it well. Never trust any woman or invest emotion in them, because, as
he had found out in the cruellest way imaginable, they weren’t worth it.
He jerked his thoughts from the past and realised that Rina was staring at him. His eyes
narrowed on her startled expression. ‘If you’re harbouring any romantic illusions about me, then
I suggest you forget them fast, agape . I value my freedom above everything.’
Kitty was silent for a moment, trying to assimilate the knowledge that he had been married. It
was the first real thing she had learned about him, and she couldn’t help feeling shocked and—
even more ridiculous—crushingly disappointed. She couldn’t picture him married—it didn’t fit
with his image. She wondered what his wife had been like. Stunningly beautiful, of course, she
brooded. Probably a glamorous model like the women he was frequently photographed in the
papers with.
She was curious about the reasons why the marriage had ended. Nikos had been unable to hide
the bitter note in his voice when he had spoken of his ex-wife. Whatever had happened in his
past had clearly had a huge impact on him and his relationships since his divorce, because his
affairs were numerous and short-lived, and a few of his ex-lovers who had sold their story to the
tabloids had stated that he had a heart of granite.
She glanced up to find him watching her, the expression in his dark eyes unfathomable. Inside
she felt in turmoil, but she managed a careless shrug. ‘Lucky I stopped believing in fairy tales
long ago, then. I have no illusions about the kind of man you are, Nikos. But I’m still curious to
hear your confession.’#p#分页标题#e#
The brief tension between them passed, she saw Nikos visibly relax and his seductive smile sent
a quiver of reaction through her. ‘I didn’t have permission from the Prince Regent to come down
to the beach, either,’ he drawled.
‘Then how did you know about the path from the palace?’ Kitty asked, confused.
‘My mother told me about it when I was a child. I was walking in the gardens tonight when I
suddenly remembered her saying that there was a secret path to the beach, and I decided to look
for it, not knowing for sure if the story was true, or simply a rumour she had heard when she—’
He broke off abruptly, and then, in answer to Kitty’s bewildered stare, added, ‘When she lived
here on Aristo.’
There was no particular reason why he should not tell Rina that his mother had been a servant at
the palace, Nikos conceded. If anything, it was rather ironic that he had been drawn to a member
of the palace staff rather than one of the sophisticated guests at the ball. Perhaps he had a secret desire to return to his roots, he thought dryly. But his personal life was his own, and for all he
knew Rina might decide to sell her story of how she had met him to the tabloids.
MYSEXSESSION ON THESAND WITHGREEKTYCOONmight be a headline grabber, but a
revelation that Nikos Angelaki was the illegitimate child of a palace servant would sell even