from neck to waist pinged in all directions.
‘What do you think you’re doing? How dareyou ?’ She was breathing hard, her chest heaving so that Nikos’s attention was drawn to her breasts, which were barely contained in a semi-transparent black bra.
‘I dare, Kitty mou ,’ he drawled, his voice no longer sharp with annoyance but thick with sexual desire that caused an answering shiver of awareness to run down her spine, ‘because you are my
wife.’ With deft fingers he tugged the pins from her hair so that it fell down her back in a river of silk. ‘You now have two minutes to exchange dresses, or risk me removing what is left of this
one,’ he warned her silkily. ‘And if I strip you completely I think it’s a safe bet that we won’t be going anywhere but my bed tonight.’
The determined gleam in his eyes told Kitty that he meant it too. A dignified retreat seemed her
only option, and, head held high, she swung round and marched into her room, venting her
temper by slamming the connecting door, and grinding her teeth when she heard his mocking
laughter through the thin walls.
She hated him, she told her reflection, tears of mortification stinging her eyes as she stepped out
of her ruined dress and squeezed herself into the red ball-gown. He was the most arrogant,
overbearing man she had ever met—and it was a bitter irony that he was the only man who had
ever made her ache with desire.
Because she wanted him, she acknowledged with reluctant honesty. She had wanted him that
night in the cave, and she wanted him now. It was not fear of the physical act of making love
with him that had made her sleep in another room, but the fear of giving herself to him, body and
soul, and receiving nothing in return.
She could very easily fall in love with him, she thought bleakly as she ran a brush through her
hair so that it fell around her shoulders like a curtain of silk. But she would be a fool to lose her heart to him, because his was carved from ice, and he had made it clear that it would never melt.
The connecting door swung open, and for a second her eyes clashed with Nikos’s unfathomable
gaze reflected in the mirror. Quickly she lowered her lashes, praying he had not guessed her
thoughts, but her heart was hammering when he came to stand behind her.
‘I knew the dress would suit you. You look stunning.’
Kitty had spent her whole adult life longing to be told she looked attractive, but Nikos’s coolly
delivered compliment left her feeling strangely deflated. He was just being polite, she decided.
He was probably thinking that her bottom looked huge, and regretting on insisting that she
should wear the dress.
‘It’s really not my style,’ she muttered, her cheeks burning when his eyes slid over her and
lingered on her voluptuous breasts that were thrusting provocatively above the tight-fitting
bodice. ‘I want to wear something else, Nikos— another of the dresses we bought today.’
Preferably one that was less eye-catching.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ He could not hide the impatience in his voice. ‘And don’t keep looking
down at the floor.’ He swung her round and caught her chin between his fingers, tilting her face
to his. ‘A dress like this needs to be worn with confidence.’ From his jacket he extracted a
narrow velvet box, which he opened to reveal an exquisite ruby and diamond pendant suspended
on a gold chain. He smiled when Kitty gave an audible gasp. ‘This matches the dress perfectly,’
he murmured as he fastened it around her neck.
His hands were warm against her skin, but Kitty shivered as he swung her back round to face the
mirror. Once again her eyes locked with his and she felt the familiar, prickling tension between
them. The pulse at the base of her throat was plainly visible, beating erratically beneath her skin, and she caught her breath when he lowered his head and brushed his mouth along her collarbone.
‘Time to go, Kitty mou .’ His voice was deep and husky, and sent another shiver of acute
awareness down her spine. ‘Have pity on me tonight,’ he murmured, his mouth curving into a
self-derisive smile as he stepped away from her. ‘Every time I look at you I will be imagining
you wearing nothing but the necklace.’
She swallowed hard at the feral hunger in his eyes. ‘You shouldn’t say things like that.’#p#分页标题#e#
He shrugged. ‘Why not, when it’s the truth? And before much longer the image in my head will
be reality. My patience is wearing thin, agape ,’ he warned her silkily, and turned and walked out of the room, leaving Kitty staring after him, her heart thumping.