shared meals. Face it, Nikos coming home was the highlight of her day, she admitted wryly. She
enjoyed their conversations about her work and his, or their lively discussions about events in the
news. She was as passionate about politics as she was about history, and in Nikos she had found
someone who was happy to challenge her views and state his own. He made her feel alive in a
way no other man ever had—and when he swept her off to bed every night and made love to her
with skilled passion, he gave her body more pleasure than she had believed was possible.
Since the night of the charity gala that had ended with them consummating their marriage they
had attended numerous parties and social events, and she was slowly beginning to find it less
nerve-racking when she walked into a room full of strangers. Unlike on Aristo where she had
managed to avoid the limelight, people in Athens seemed fascinated by her royal status and
wherever she went she was the focus of avid interest from Nikos’s wide circle of friends and
business associates.
But it was difficult not to attract attention when Nikos insisted on her wearing the glamorous
gowns that now filled her wardrobe. The clothes she had brought from Aristo had mysteriously
disappeared, and been replaced by elegant day wear, and exotic, overtly sexy cocktail dresses
and ball-gowns that she would never have chosen for herself. Sometimes she wondered if he was
trying to turn her into a woman more like the sophisticated models he had dated before he had
married her, but her insecurities about her body were gradually fading and her self-confidence
growing as she blossomed beneath his attention and his undisguised desire for her.
She could hear the sounds of the shower and knew that he would emerge from the en suite
dressed in one of his designer suits that he wore for work. He would look as gorgeous as ever,
but a glance in the mirror revealed that her hair looked like a bush and her face was a peculiar
shade of green. The nausea was bad again this morning. Yesterday she had actually been sick,
but fortunately not until after Nikos had gone.
She sat up slowly, praying the feeling would pass. She couldn’t bear the idea of throwing up
while he was around. It would be so undignified, she thought miserably, but her body cared
nothing for dignity, and with a gasp she shot off the bed and raced through the connecting door
to her dressing room and bathroom.
Nikos found her there five minutes later, and, ignoring her terse plea to go away and leave her
alone, he remained with her while she lost the contents of her stomach, and then wiped her face
with a damp cloth as if she were a helpless child.
‘Are you feeling any better?’ he asked quietly when she sat on the edge of the bath, ashen-faced
and utterly spent. For some reason the concern in his voice angered her. He wasn’t asking
because he cared about her; he was only worried about the baby. She caught sight of her
reflection in the mirror, and tears stung her eyes when she saw her sallow skin and her hair
hanging limp and lustre-less on her shoulders. She looked disgusting, and she felt embarrassed
about him seeing her at her most vulnerable and unattractive.
‘I hate feeling like this,’ she admitted miserably.
Nikos stiffened at her words. ‘It is a natural side effect of pregnancy. The doctor said the
sickness should lessen in a few more weeks.’
He made her sound as though she was making a huge fuss over something trivial, and Kitty
glared at him. ‘Well, he would say that, he’s a man, and he’s never had to go through this.’ Any
more than Nikos had. The unspoken words hung in the air. ‘You have no idea how revolting I
feel right now,’ she told him tightly. ‘It’s okay for you. Your body isn’t going to change out of
all recognition and blow up like a balloon, and you don’t have to worry that whatever you eat for
dinner is likely to bounce back up before breakfast.’
‘True,’ he said in a clipped tone, his dark eyes focused intently on her as if he was determined to
read her mind. ‘But it will be worth it in the end—when the baby is here.’
‘I suppose,’ Kitty muttered. Now she was ashamed of her silly outburst, and for some reason she
wanted to cry, but not in front of him. Hormones had a lot to answer for, she thought heavily.
‘I’m fine now,’ she assured him. ‘Go to work, Nikos.’
He hesitated. ‘If it was any other day I would cancel my engagements and stay home. But I have
a series of important meetings scheduled.’
She was desperate for him to go so that she could shower and wash her hair, try and make#p#分页标题#e#