The Power of the Legendary Greek(26)

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.'