The Greek’s Hidden Vows by Maya Blake

CHAPTER NINE

SHEFOLLOWEDHIMback out of the cave then once again stopped in her tracks, her jaw sagging open at yet another spectacular sight.

‘Oh, my God.’ Her reverent whisper was completely in line with the awe of what his staff had created for them while they’d been locked in an embrace.

She turned to Christos, to find a smug and altogether far too superior smile curving lips slightly reddened from her enthusiastic kisses. ‘How did you know?’

‘There was a firm-wide poll of dream activities floating around I may have taken note of.’

She frowned. ‘That was two years ago. You remembered?’

‘I remembered,’ he said simply.

Something far too overwhelming shifted inside her, something close to what she’d imagined being special, being treasured felt like. Her throat tightened as she stared at the twenty-foot-high portable cinema screen and the dozens of lanterns placed strategically around it, and the wide, snow-white futon-like cushions inviting lazy relaxation. Two silver buckets with vintage champagne were set on either side of the futon with turquoise cashmere throws draped over the seats for when the weather cooled.

‘Before we indulge in that though...dinner?’ he asked, his voice low, deep and throbbing with the same sensation surging through her.

She turned from the pleasurable sight to see a table for two set with a white tablecloth, sterling silverware gleaming under candlelight. Beside their table stood a small buffet stand with a dozen domed dishes placed on it.

While she knew she couldn’t...shouldn’t read anything into it, Alexis couldn’t stop the lump lodging in her throat, or her fingers from curling tightly around his when Christos tugged her towards the table.

It was all far too much. She wanted to step back, gather the crumbling pieces of her armour, in case she needed it later, after the magic wore away. But she suspected it was already too late.

She watched him when he moved. Stared into his face when he spoke to her. Allowed her fingers to linger on his when he passed her a glass of perfectly chilled Chablis.

And when he touched on the subject she usually never discussed, she tensed for a very brief moment before she swallowed and answered.

‘Tell me how you ended up at Hope House.’

The rush of pain that came with her truth never failed to steal her breath. ‘I never knew my mother. She left me on the doorstep of Hope House’s high-street charity shop when I was a week old. The nuns from the orphanage took me in.’

His face froze, his eyes burning with an unholy blaze that sent agitation skittering over her skin. The blaze abated and he breathed out. ‘I didn’t mean to resurrect what must be a...painful memory for you.’

‘You didn’t know. As you can imagine, it’s not information I toss into everyday conversation.’

His nod was abrupt. ‘Did you ever try to find her or your father?’

She shook her head. ‘All I have is a handwritten note left for whoever found me, a request that I be named Alexis, and a blanket I was wrapped in. Not much to go on.’

Incisive eyes rested on hers. ‘And if you had further resources? Would you wish to probe deeper?’

Her heart lurched, then lodged in her throat. ‘I’ve thought about it. I’ve never been quite able to decide if I’m better off not knowing or risking being further hurt by whatever reason she had for leaving me there.’

His sensual lips twisted and his gaze dropped to his glass before rising to meet hers again. ‘Perhaps you won’t see it this way, but there is a deeper pride in knowing that whatever you’ve become has been without either of your parents’ influence.’

There was a hard edge in his voice that suggested a personal pain. One that echoed inside her but for the opposite reason. ‘I guess that’s where the conundrum lies. Would I prefer the choice of knowing or living with an...emptiness?’

He reached across the table, covered her hand for a moment before he sat back. ‘The former might not necessarily bring the closure you wish for. Knowing my parents still left me with more questions than answers. As harsh as it seems, perhaps you’re better off not knowing?’

‘How did you...?’ She paused because she wasn’t sure he’d got over his parents’ treatment of him. ‘Don’t you wonder how things could’ve turned out if you’d tried to reconcile with them?’

His lips compressed. ‘No. They made their choice. I had to make mine. If onlys become weights that just drag you down eventually.’

‘So your advice is just...live with this emptiness?’

‘No, matia mou. My advice is to become the best version of yourself you can be so that when you find yourself in a similar position, you have better options.’

Anguish moved through her. ‘I don’t think I could abandon my child under any circumstances.’

Something flashed in his eyes, making her insides tighten. ‘Then you’re already a thousand times better than the mother who left you with no explanation,’ he said, his voice gravel-rough.

That tightening moved up her chest and into her throat. Stupid tears prickled her eyes and she desperately blinked them away, registering that her pain had receded, perhaps had even shrunk smaller than ever.

‘I don’t know why everyone thinks you’re so fearsome,’ she joked, striving to lighten the atmosphere before her emotions got the better of her.

He took her cue and sent her a devastating smile that produced a much more pleasurable ache inside her. ‘Fearsome has its advantages, as long as it gets me what I want.’ Eyes heavy with lust watched her as she toyed with the stem of her glass.

Perhaps she knew she was straying into dangerous territory by probing, but she couldn’t stop the question. ‘Tell me when you last brought another woman here, to this cave. Or did any of this.’ She waved her hand around the spectacular setting. The last rays of the sun tinged the sky a deep bold orange, enough to make the sea look as if it were on fire. Enough to make this the kind of paradise very few people got to experience. The kind of paradise that made foolish wishes seem attainable.

He looked almost...startled by her bold question. ‘Do you want me to tell you you’re special, Alexis? Is that it?’

Yes.‘Would that be so bad? I am your wife, after all,’ she said, then felt something profound move deep within her.

Something echoed in his eyes too, making them widen momentarily before he reasserted his control. But she’d seen it. And, however fleeting, it had planted a seedling inside her, one she couldn’t shake free.

‘Not in every sense of the term. Not yet...’ he drawled. They both knew he’d evaded the question, but the potential magnitude of a proper answer suddenly had her shying away from it.

But even while they returned to simpler, more benign subjects, heavy emotional undercurrents swirled until he rose and held out his hand in silent demand.

They were still there when she kicked off her stylish mules and reclined on the wide divan set before the screen. Perhaps it was the wine that had mellowed her tongue. She couldn’t resist looking up into the stars, contentment stealing over her at the sound of the waves hitting the shore.

‘I can’t tell you how long I’ve dreamed of doing this on some distant beach in the Maldives or Tahiti.’

‘It would please me if you’d accept the much simpler venue of a Greek beach,’ he replied, a trace of amusement in his tone.

She gave a delicate snort. ‘Are you kidding me? Nowhere on my wish list was there a cave of wonders on a private island tossed in for good measure. This far surpasses everything the travel brochures promised.’

The pop of a cork refocused her attention on him. In the dancing candlelight, he was truly drop-dead gorgeous, the kind of fallen-angel masculine beauty that had the ability to stop hearts and overcome even the strongest apprehension.

Not that she had much of that left. Only the merest wisp of residue still urged her towards self-preservation. But even that was silenced when he smiled and handed her a crystal flute of vintage champagne.

When she accepted it, he aimed the remote at the projector that stood twenty feet away. Then passed her a silver bowl that made her gasp. Again.

‘Caramel popcorn? Now you’re scaring me a little with how much you know about me.’

That ferocious gaze raked her body, then rested blatantly on her mouth. ‘I told you, I am serious about the things that are important to me.’

He meant his possession of Drakonisos. She knew that. Yet that traitorous melting sensation continued unabated. Until her every sense strained towards him, eager to please. Eager to take whatever he had to give.

She chose the movie and smiled as it flicked to life. It was a classic she’d seen a dozen times. But here, now, in this special place, she was swept away anew.

Until she felt him wrap a strand of hair around his fingers. Until that scent of leather, bergamot and man twined insidiously around her senses, making each breath she took a tiny exercise in torture. Until her heart drummed loudly in her ears, deafening her to everything but the sound of her own need, pounding relentlessly through her.

Despite the open beach and endless sky, he invaded the space, his vitality a living force field. Vibrant and inescapable.

‘Something wrong, Alexis?’ he drawled, when she fidgeted one more time.

She took a gulp of her champagne just for something to do. His fingers drifted over her nape. She shivered, tried to contain herself.

‘Christos.’ His name was a breathless, urgent whisper in the night air.

‘Ne? Tell me what you want and you shall have it,’ he urged thickly. The designer stubble he’d cultivated over the last few days added a swagger to his already deadly good looks and when he brushed his cheek against her jaw, it drove her insane.

On the screen, the actors were caught in a melodramatic clinch; the very same one she yearned for. ‘I can’t wait. Please,’ she whispered.

The flash of triumph in his eyes should’ve irritated her. But she was beyond that. So she let him tug her glass from her hand and set it aside. Let him cup her jaw, stare deep into her eyes, then slowly lean in to brush his lips over hers.

The moment she started to cling, he drew away. With leonine grace he rose to his feet and swept her up into his arms. His strides from the beach into the cave held an urgency that echoed within her.

Alexis forgot to breathe as he set her down next to the bed, those ferociously brooding eyes watching her as he reached for the simple band that held up her hair. He gave a grunt of satisfaction as her hair tumbled free, lazily threading his fingers through the heavy mass.

‘Tonight, I get to watch your glorious hair cascade over my pillow,’ he said thickly. ‘I get to claim you in the way I’ve craved instead of watching you from my side of the bed.’

The unabashed possessiveness in his voice sent excitement dancing over her flesh. He caught her shiver and gave a smile tinged with predatory pleasure. ‘No more hugging pillows for you, matia mou.’

With that decree, he tugged the thin straps of her dress down her arms. The flimsy material pooled at her waist. Christos kept his gaze on her face as he reached behind her and slowly unhooked her lacy bra, flinging it away before his gaze dropped to her breasts.

She watched him swallow.

Emboldened by her effect on him, Alexis stepped forward, reached for the buttons of his white shirt, her eagerness to explore him too a heady rush that couldn’t be stopped. She only managed to bare his glorious torso halfway before she slid her hands inside, gliding them over his sculpted chest. Muscles rippled beneath her touch, his hot skin a decadent invitation she wasn’t going to refuse.

Alexis didn’t register that she’d swayed closer until her nipples brushed his hair-dusted chest. Her aroused whimper brought another smug smile to his face.

‘Perhaps you should finish what you started so you can have more of what you crave?’ he suggested a touch mockingly.

On a wild whim—and perhaps because she wanted to wipe away a layer of that smugness—she grasped the edges of his shirt and pulled them apart.

For a single moment, he tensed. Then flames leapt higher in his eyes. With an animalistic growl, Christos shrugged off the tattered remains of his shirt, then, reaching forward, yanked down her dress. She’d barely stepped out of it before he pulled her close, his lips finding hers with an urgency and fervour she wholeheartedly endorsed. With a mastery that roused every nerve ending to life, Christos stroked and teased, feasted and delivered pleasure she’d never experienced before.

When his large hands slipped into her panties and cupped her bottom, she moaned, her thighs growing slicker in readiness for his possession. Her fingers dug into his hair as their kiss grew even more frenzied, their bodies straining together in carnal need.

The rough sound of lace ripping drew another whimper, the firm tug of her destroyed panties almost making her swoon as he yanked them free and tossed them aside.

‘Turnabout is fair play,’ he growled. Then he was plucking her off the floor and settling her firmly in the middle of the bed.

With barely bridled patience, she watched him reach for his trousers. Heart pounding, she followed the hand lowering his zipper. Moments later he was naked.

Her mouth dried as she struggled to take in his sheer magnificence. Muscles, sleek and powerful, flowed in perfect symmetry, a body without a spare inch of flab culminating in the impressive, jaw-dropping sculpture of his aroused manhood.

One sleek lunge and he was beside her, his hand on her hip drawing her close before arranging her beneath him.

For the longest time, Christos stared down at her without speaking, that torturous caress up and down her body driving her steadily insane as his eyes pinned her to the bed.

When she tried to raise her head, eager to kiss him, he drew back.

‘Not yet. A few rules first.’

She slicked her tongue over needy lips. ‘Wh-what?’

‘I want to see your beautiful eyes at all times, glykia mou,’ he stated roughly, one hand cupping her breast and mercilessly torturing her nipple. ‘And when I’m deep inside you, the only word from your lips will be my name. You can choose to whisper it or scream it. But I want to hear it.’

He lowered his head and flicked the tip of his tongue across her nipple, and stars burst across her vision. ‘Christos...’

‘Ne, just like that,’ he growled, then sucked the tight peak into his mouth.

Pleasure arched her back, her fingers spiking through his hair to hold him close as the madness encroached further.

The hooded gaze he kept on her as he explored her flesh added a decadent edge to her pleasure. Pleasure that intensified even more when he trailed his lips down her body.

Her eyes widened and her heartbeat doubled when she realised what he meant to do. ‘Christos...?’

His answer to that hesitant question was to decisively draw her thighs apart, trail his stubbled jaw over the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs, all while those infernal eyes devoured her every expression. And just when she was certain her heart would beat itself straight through her ribs, he lowered his head and delivered the most carnal of kisses.

Her sharp cry echoed in the cave, the sound lingering for an age as if to impress upon her what was happening.

‘Thee mou,’he muttered roughly. ‘You taste exquisite.’

Her every last thought melted away, her full attention centred on the sublime pleasure he delivered. Over and over he tortured and teased, until her vision hazed. Until she screamed as bliss smashed through her in the most sublime climax she’d ever experienced.

Her breath was still choppy and her body trembling with aftershocks when he captured her wrists, kissed her palms, before caressing his way back up her body.

Peripherally, she saw him reach for a condom, tear it open and glide it on.

The heavy, delicious weight of him sharpened her focus, her eager gaze devouring every inch of him as he settled between her thighs.

‘Christo, you have a body to rival Aphrodite herself,’ he declared, his face a taut mask of arousal. ‘I can’t wait to claim you.’

‘Then don’t wait,’ she replied, fresh hunger urging her to wind her arms around his neck, her body eager and open. He’d already introduced her to oral pleasure for the first time. Despite the faint but lingering voice of caution, she was desperate for more. To hoard as much of this experience as she could.

Because it wouldn’t last? She shied away from the answer.

‘Your breasts are a work of art,’ he rasped huskily, before bestowing more kisses on them.

Just when she was on the verge of begging for more, he reared up onto one elbow. Alexis held her breath as his hand slid down between their bodies, and she felt his broad head brush her feminine place.

The lock of hair falling over his forehead didn’t diminish the fierceness of the gaze pinning her in place as, with one sure, powerful stroke, he entered her.

‘Christos!’

‘Yes, yineka mou. My name on your lips while I take you...again and again,’ he rasped, jaw locked tight as he inhaled audibly.

For the longest suspended moment, he held himself inside her. Then, when a whimper finally broke from her, he withdrew and thrust back inside.

Raw, unfettered pleasure unravelled from her core. She was unaware her fingers dug into his shoulders until he hissed in pleasure. ‘That’s it, Alexis. Mark me. Show me what I do to you.’

It was as if she’d been uncaged and handed the keys to nirvana. She wrapped her legs around him, raised her head and claimed his mouth in a shockingly carnal kiss as he increased the tempo.

Dear God, she’d never felt anything like it. Suspected she never would again. But that was an issue for another day. The moment hot torrid Greek words started falling from his lips, she gave up the need to hold back. She met him thrust for thrust, his turbulent eyes and the hand locked on her hip urging her higher and higher until pleasure exploded in a shower of lights.

Her raw scream bounced off the walls before returning to wrap itself around them, as Christos locked both hands in her hair. Despite his thrusts slowing, the intensity of his lovemaking remained. She realised why when, after she’d caught half her breath back, he delivered another tongue-tangling kiss, raised his head and commanded roughly, ‘Again. I want to feel you come again.’

Thee mou, she was like a drug. One he couldn’t resist. Not that he wanted to in that moment.

She was an amazing revelation, even more so than he’d anticipated based on their chemistry alone.

For starters, there was that curious mixture of shy and bold, of innocence and carnal greed; it was a lit fuse to his libido. He’d seen her reaction to his pleasuring of her with his mouth, felt her quiet shock and knew she’d either never experienced it before or had found any previous attempt sorely lacking. Her subsequent reactions had given credence to this suspicion. Whatever she’d shared with previous lovers, it had not been the real thing.

He was primitive enough to enjoy that knowledge. Hell, to even revel in the possibility that she’d never known anything like what they’d just experienced together. What they could experience while they were on Drakonisos. Perhaps even further into the future?

No.

This...peculiar and faintly overwhelming sensation was because he hadn’t had a woman in over a year, nothing more. Besides, that kind of dependency was what he shied away from. It only brought chaos. Trouble. Heartache. Attachments that turned people into vicious versions of themselves.

He was past that kind of behaviour. He’d orchestrated this altered version of their agreement with his eyes wide open. He wasn’t about to let emotion—however incredible and potent—cloud his judgement.

But...

While he was here, while this was happening, holding back would only be depriving himself. He pushed inside her once more and let loose the groan locked in his throat. She truly was sublime, his wife.

His wife...

‘Christos.’ Her voice was sex-soaked, wrapped in temptation, feeding his hunger.

He let go of all other thoughts. And indulged his feelings to the fullest.

And when she cried out in ecstasy once more, he was right there behind her, blinded by a unique kind of pleasure that branded his very soul. That he knew would be unforgettable once he rose from this bed and put it all behind him.

Still he gathered her close. Kissed her temple with a gentleness unlike him. And when she sighed and melted into his arms, he found himself exhaling, a curious peace settling over him.

That peace was still in place when he woke at dawn, used the rudimentary facilities he’d had built into the cave a decade ago then gently roused the drowsing woman he’d made love to for the second time only an hour ago.

‘Wake up, Alexis. There’s one more experience to enjoy,’ he said, trailing his lips over her smooth cheek.

She smiled without opening her eyes. ‘I thought we did that last night?’

He found himself chuckling—and when was the last time he’d done that? ‘This one is time sensitive.’

Drowsy chocolate-brown eyes flecked with gold opened to meet his. The soft pleasure in them caught him sharply, threatening to pierce the hard shell he deliberately kept in place. The urge to stay where he was, remain in this moment, grew stronger.

Then, vitally, he managed to remind himself of the reasons that shell couldn’t be allowed to crack. After that it was easier to rise, to reach for the swim shorts he’d tossed there a few minutes ago.

‘We’re going swimming?’ she asked, propping herself up on one elbow before gliding her fingers through her tousled hair.

Despite their very recent encounter, Christos found himself growing hard all over again.

‘Eventually. What comes before that you’ll have to get up now or you’ll miss.’ He forced himself to leave the sleeping area before he succumbed to temptation. Before all those risky little thoughts creeping in found fertile ground and sprouted roots.

He was standing on the shore, willing those same thoughts of permanence and possibilities away when he heard her behind him. The compulsion to see her, drench himself in her presence and beauty, propelled him to face her. She’d copied his style and was dressed in a sea-green-and-white striped bikini with a matching sarong, and flip-flops on her feet. Her long hair was gathered over one shoulder, and as she lifted a hand to toss the heavy strands back his gut tightened all over again, that drugging sensation threatening to steal over him again as hunger clawed through him. To counter it, he waved a hand at the small hill a short walk away.

‘That’s where we need to be in the next five minutes.’

She followed his gaze, then nodded. ‘Okay.’

He knew it was foolish but still he held out his hand. Watched her eyes darken and her cheeks flush with pleasure as she placed hers in his.

Their walk was companionably silent, Christos again privately commending her for not filling it with chatter. But not talking meant he was even more painfully aware of how her delicate hand fitted into his, how sexily she moved and, most control-shredding of all, the distinct stamp of his scent on her body.

Primitive urges rose again. And as they crested the low hill, all he could think about was how soon he could claim her again. How indelibly he could stamp his possession on her.

He knew he hadn’t done a good job of hiding his reaction when, reaching the spot he’d chosen and turning to her, he saw her eyes widen. Unable to resist, he dragged her close, slid his hands into her hair and devoured her lips for one long minute.

Only the reminder of why he’d brought her here made him stop.

Reluctantly drawing back, he dropped to the dew-dampened grass and tugged her down in front of him. She settled down between his spread thighs and as he drew her back against his chest, he secretly revelled in her jagged breathing.

Appeased that he wasn’t in this madness alone, he pointed to the eastern horizon. ‘Watch,’ he murmured in her ear, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

The sunrise was an exquisitely drawn-out symphony of light and colour, a slow, seductive dance of beauty and awe.

He felt her breath catch as golden light blossomed over the horizon like a hesitant flower, bathing the lush greenness of the island in vivid colour as dawn gave way to day.

‘Oh, Christos. It’s beautiful.’

‘Ne,’he agreed, his voice gruff.

Her hands settled on his thighs as they watched the spectacular sunrise. And as the sun’s heat washed over him, so did that moving sensation in his chest. The one that seemed determined to sink its profound claws into him. The one he felt almost inclined to...give in to. Again.

But hadn’t he sat on this very hill as a child, engulfed in anguish because he’d dared give in to his emotions? Wasn’t it in this very spot that he’d sworn never to allow himself to feel the vulnerability of love ever again?

The reminder was abrasive. Enough to make him tense.

‘Christos?’ Alexis started to twist around, to seek his gaze. ‘What’s wrong?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m reminded why I used to come here.’

Warm fingers found his. ‘Tell me.’

‘I wanted to feel...something other than anger at my parents. Something other than...’ He paused, feeling raw and exposed.

‘Pain? Despair? Hopelessness?’

He glanced down at her, saw that kinship in her eyes once again. She understood. Of course she did, considering her situation. ‘Yes,’ he admitted after a stretch of silence, his fingers rubbing at the tight spot in his chest. ‘It felt like this was the only place I could escape it.’

‘I’m glad you could, if only for a while.’

Silence reigned again and he felt the tightness loosening, his breathing becoming freer.

‘This was special. Thanks for sharing it with me.’

Somehow his lips found her temple, delivered a lingering kiss on her smooth skin. ‘To answer your questions, I’ve never shared the cave with anyone. Nor this view of a Drakonisos sunrise. So yes, Alexis, you’re special.’

He watched her inhale shakily, striving for composure. But his own admission had tilted the ground beneath him. So he rose, the beauty of the sunrise gone for him. ‘Come.’ He held out his hand without looking down into her face. ‘One last thing before we return to the villa.’

He sensed her confusion but ignored it. The moment she stood, he led them to the edge of the hill. Reading his intention, she clamped her fingers around his.

‘Wait. You’re not suggesting what I think you are, are you?’ she asked, peering over the edge into the swirling water below.

The smile he flashed her felt hard around the edges. ‘It’s barely twenty feet.’

‘You go ahead, then. I’m most definitely not jumping,’ she stated firmly.

‘Stepping off the edge is always daunting. But the experience is all the more exhilarating for it,’ he muttered against her lips. Then wondered whether the words were meant for him more than for her.

The slight widening of her eyes said she’d recognised the acuity of it too. His world tilting just that little bit more, he slid his arm around her. ‘Say yes, Alexis.’

Her arms slowly trailed up his shoulders, her eyes wide and apprehensive. But then her chin lifted, and her gaze grew bold. ‘Yes.’

He caught her to him, that devilish hunger demanding another taste of her. He was gratified when she fell into him, her lips clinging to his until they parted once more.

Her fingers meshed with his, her eyes growing shiny with anticipation. Without giving her a chance to rethink, he grasped her more firmly. And jumped.

For a moment in time, every trace of anguish and disquiet from his past melted away. A fierce, incandescent joy engulfed him as the clear waters of the Aegean swallowed them both.

At first, a million bubbles obstructed his view of her. Then it cleared. He spun to his left and saw Alexis, equal joy on her face as she smiled. Keeping them submerged for a little while longer, he pulled her close, wrapped both arms around her, then stole another kiss from her smiling lips. Her legs tangled around his waist, wrapped tight, and she kissed him back with equal fervour.

The need for oxygen forced them to resurface. But Christos wasn’t prepared to let her go. Arms still tight around her, he kicked towards shallower water and the large rock jutting out from the sea a short distance away.

Waves splashed around their knees as he pushed her against the smooth surface of the rock, need pummelling him.

‘How was that?’ he asked, as he slowly pulled on the strings of her bikini top. Her gaze dropped to his hands, and, despite the explicit way they’d devoured each other last night and this morning, a hot blush suffused her face.

‘Exhilarating,’ she said. Her husky voice curled around his senses and he barely suppressed a groan as he divested her of her bottoms, then yanked off his swim shorts.

The sun was already a little higher in the sky, bathing the rock and Alexis in golden light. He stepped back for a moment to savour her in this place that meant so much to him, before, sanity disappearing, he planted his hands on either side of her head.

Her moan when their bodies melded together was music to his ears. And a minute later, when her slick, warm body welcomed his groaned thrust, it spelled a certain doom he knew would alter his world irreparably.

Alexis took him inside her, and it felt as if she’d found home. A home she wanted to stay in forever. She’d suspected her heart was in danger long before last night, that it wasn’t just the island weaving its magic on her. But it was last night that had sealed her doom.

The warm security she’d felt in his arms. Perhaps it was the fateful but brief conversation they’d had somewhere in the lost hours that had reinforced that belief.

‘You never told me the last time you used this cave,’ she’d said, her hand trailing over his chiselled chest.

‘I come here every time I’m on the island, but as a child, it was my sanctuary. A place I could let my imagination run wild. Now I’ll see it differently.’

‘Why?’

A pause, long and deep and breath-stalling. Then, ‘Because you are here.’

Four little words that had lodged a lump in her throat. That had terrified her with the need to hold them close inside the heart she suspected didn’t wholly belong to her any longer. Her hand had fisted over his steadily beating heart and she’d fought back foolish tears as she’d drifted off to sleep.

And when he’d woken her a short time later and transported her to heaven once more, a very resigned part of her had accepted that the heart she’d guarded so tenaciously was no longer safe.