He glanced at Isobel. 'Would you like that?'
With Alyssa waiting, there was only one answer Isobel felt she could make. 'I would, yes.'
'Are you sure about this?' said Luke as they drove off. 'I was hoping to have you all to myself this evening.'
'We needn't stay long,' she consoled him, and smiled up at him as she stroked a finger along his muscular thigh. 'We can go to bed early when we get home.'
As soon as the car stopped, both Eleni and Spiro hurried to hear the doctor's verdict.
'I hope you weren't cooking anything special tonight, Eleni,' said Isobel anxiously. 'Alyssa is keen for us to dine at the taverna.'
Eleni shook her head, smiling, and led Isobel indoors to sit on a chair at the veranda table. 'I not even shop yet. Spiro take me now.'
Isobel poured herself a cup of tea as Eleni hurried off, but she'd managed only a sip before Luke bent over her. 'How fast can you drink that?'
'Why?'
He smiled persuasively as the car started up outside. 'We shall be alone in the house for hours, and you look tired. You need a rest. So do I.'
'In that case, pour my tea on a flower bed or wherever. I'm hot, anyway.'
'So am I, hriso mou,' he said huskily, and picked her up.
'I can walk now,' she protested, but he shook his head and hurried up the stairs with her.
'Too slow. Why waste time?'
There was so little of it before she left, Isobel was in full agreement as Luke carried her into her cool, airy bedroom and immediately began undressing her.
'You're in a big hurry,' she protested breathlessly as he flung their garments in all directions.
'Only over this part,' he said, and knelt naked on the bed to lean over her, his eyes gleaming down into hers. 'I promise to love you as slowly as possible.'
The words spoken in that husky, irresistible voice, coupled with the knowledge that they were alone in the big house in the hot languor of the afternoon, created an aphrodisiac effect new to Isobel. As with so many other things since her arrival on Chyros.
'It's so quiet, we could be alone in the world,' she whispered, quivering at the touch of skilled, inciting hands.
'Just the two of us, hriso mou, like Adam and Eve. But with no serpents in our paradise any more.' He caressed her breasts, kissing her softly and nibbling gently on her lower lip, then as her lips parted his kisses became fierce and his hands more urgent and she threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him closer, responding with heat and fire which brought him to full, triumphant arousal. At last, when they were both trembling with the desperation to mate, he reared up over her, his face stern with the desire he was trying to hold in check.
'I can't keep my promise,' he panted, and she gave him a smile the original Adam would have recognised.
'Break it, then,' she whispered, and gave a gasp of pure, unadulterated pleasure as he obeyed.
This time there was no gradual acceleration of their loving. Isobel was as wild as Luke from the start, and all too soon found herself throbbing in the throes of a climax which overtook her several seconds before his body collapsed on hers in his own convulsive release. She lay stunned as her heart began to slow down, but at last, when oxygen became a necessity, she pushed at Luke's shoulders and in one movement he lifted himself from her and rolled so that she lay on top of him instead.
'Better?' he asked, smiling at her, lazy-eyed, as he held her in place, skin to skin.
'I liked having you lie on me, but in the end I couldn't breathe.' She bent her head to kiss him. 'Will you be able to hear when the car comes back?'
'Spiro will gun the engine down to the house, making as much noise as possible,' he assured her, grinning.
'You told him to do that?'
'No. Spiro is a man, and Greek. I had no need to tell him.'
Isobel sniffed. 'I suppose he's used to it.'
His eyebrow arched. 'And what, kyria Isobel, do you mean by that?'
She felt suddenly very vulnerable, sprawled naked, and by the sudden tightening of his arms, with no hope of getting free. Her eyes fell, unable to meet the look of hot possession in his.
'I have never brought a woman to the Villa Medusa before,' he said with emphasis. 'This is my private retreat. Or it was-'
'Until I trespassed,' she finished for him. 'Let me up, please.'
'No,' he said flatly. 'Not until you atone for doubting me.'
She eyed him stormily and tried to wriggle free, but he held her fast and too late she realised that her attempts to escape had such an inflammatory effect on him she was suddenly flat on her back again and Luke was holding her prisoner in an entirely different way.
'All-right, I-believe you,' she said with difficulty.
'Too late. You must pay the penalty,' he said roughly.
And, sooner than she would have believed possible, Luke was making love to her again, with an added edge that sent delicious thrills through her body as he claimed it with mastery which sent them both rocketing to another climax even more powerful than the first.
'So do you believe me now?' he panted as he pulled away, holding her so close against him Isobel could feel his heartbeat as his taut body began to relax.
'Yes. I do. But you have other women in Athens-'
'In the past, yes. But there is no one in my life now, I swear. I was brought up to tell the truth, Isobel.' He turned her face up to his. 'And so were you, ne? So tell me, agapi mou, are your feelings warmer to me now?'
'Warmer than what, exactly?'
'You were very hostile towards me at first.'
She sniffed. 'Only because you were so hostile to me, Lukas Andreadis.'
He smoothed the uneven lock of hair back from her forehead. 'When you return, will you tell your friend Joanna about me?'
'Of course. She'll be only too glad that I met someone who could make me forget the Gavin episode. Joanna never liked him. Neither did March, her husband.'
'You like your friend's husband?'
'Very much. Seeing them so happy together almost changes my mind about marriage.'
His eyes narrowed intently. 'But not enough to want it for yourself.'
'Never. As I told you before, marriage doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I enjoy my independence too much-' She tensed as she heard the Jeep approaching the house. 'Luke, hurry, they're back!'
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEY were late leaving for the taverna. Isobel had taken a shower as soon as Luke left her, and then collapsed on her bed to sleep for a while, while Luke spent the time in consultation with Andres before standing lost in thought under his own shower.
So Isobel disliked the idea of marriage. Which was good, because so did he. But there was nothing to keep them from being lovers. He smiled as he lay on his bed, which was a lot larger than the one in the guest room. He made a note to bring Isobel here to sleep with him once he had persuaded her to stay for a while. The heat and pleasure of lovemaking was something he'd experienced often enough in his life, but in the past it had soon died away, leaving nothing to replace it other than fond regret when the parting of the ways arrived, as it always did. But Isobel was different. Making love with her surpassed all other experiences in his life to such an extent it seemed to touch his soul. But he also took great pleasure in her company as they talked and ate and swam and simply spent time together. He would make her see that leaving him was not an option yet. But his persuasion must be subtle. He must accustom her to the idea by degrees, paint an irresistible picture of what they could have together. But it was best to wait until the agonising moment of their parting when her only answer could be yes. Miss Isobel James must be convinced beyond all doubt that fate had not only sent her to him, but meant her to stay here with him for the foreseeable future.
The evening at the taverna was lively. Luke and Isobel were welcomed with open arms, with much admiration for Luke's part in the dramatic rescue of the beautiful Miss James. Nikos Nicolaides, in particular, felt a proprietorial pleasure about this, since Lukas had met the lady because she came to spend a holiday in one of his properties.
The evening was a further celebration of life for Isobel, a time to rejoice with people who so obviously thought the world not only of Luke, but had felt the same about his mother.
'They're all very fond of you,' Isobel told him on the way home.
'And I of them. This is why Chyros is such a special place to me. People here remember how hard I had to work to achieve my success; therefore no one resents it.' His voice dropped a tone. 'And you, Isobel? Has your experience here turned you against my island?'
'No, of course not. I'll always treasure my memories of Eleni and Spiro, and Alyssa and her family. And you.' She drew in a deep breath. 'I'd planned to do so many things while I was here, take a trip to Serifos and some of the other islands, also paint a few watercolours I could put on sale back home in the gallery.'