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She licked her suddenly dry lips. "I like you too."
"I'm going to kiss you, pethi mou."
"All right."
But when his lips touched hers, it was unlike anything she'd ever known. Even with him. This kiss was claimstaking at its most basic. His hands curled around her waist and pulled her body into his while his tongue demanded entry into her mouth. She gave it to him.
From the first slide of his tongue against hers the passion he sparked in her burned through her body to singe every single, solitary nerve ending into sizzling life and she went up in flames. It was too much, but not enough, and she whimpered as she undulated against him in wanton abandon.
He groaned and one hand moved down to cup her bottom, massaging her and causing a burst of heated humidity between her legs. Their clothes fell away as if by magic and then she was standing naked in the circle of his arms.
Sudden fear had her breaking the erotic play of their lips together. "Aristide?"
"What, pedhaki mou?"
"This isn't just a one-night stand, is it? You won't disappear once we've made love?" She didn't know what made her ask the question, maybe her ongoing fear that this man was so far out of her league he belonged on another planet.
He stopped moving and held her still to meet his gaze, his expression so serious that she shivered. "I am making you mine, not preparing to notch a bloody bedpost."
She bit her lip. "Do you become mine too?"
"Of course."
She shuddered. "Okay."
It wasn't a promise of forever, but it was also not the age-old "no ties" out-clause of the commitment-shy male. He wanted more than a temporary slaking of physical need. She was glad because her feelings for him demanded it be more while at the same time making it nearly impossible to say no, regardless of what his intentions were.
They came together in a conflagration of need that broke through her virginal barrier with her barely even realizing it had occurred. The pain was minimal and incredible pleasure followed it almost immediately. Their lovemaking culminated in a completion so intense, she was insensate afterward.
She slowly became aware of him again as he kissed her all over her face and throat, saying over and over again that she was beautiful, passionate and his. The claiming lasted throughout the long night of her sexual awakening.
The next morning, he woke her with a kiss that was so tender it made her cry. He laughed when she explained her tears were because his lovemaking was so beautiful, his masculine arrogance basking in her overt approval.
And, as promised, their time together was in no way related to a one-night stand. He'd told her she was special and proved it. He had an even more demanding schedule than her dad, but he called her at least once a day. He spent almost every weekend with her, sometimes bringing her to New York City, but usually he came to her apartment despite it being a two-hour drive.
He treated her like a queen and made love to her like she was the most irresistible woman on the planet.
He willingly got to know her father. While they had actually met briefly in the business arena, they now became friends. She and Aristide were together months before she started to wonder about him introducing her to his family. The couple of times she had brought it up, he put it off, saying he wanted to keep her to himself and she believed him.
His life was so hectic, so high pressure that she got a charge out of being what he called "his oasis" in the desert of a life filled with the grains of sand that comprised his business and family commitments.
However, as the months grew to a year and he made trips back to Greece without ever once inviting her, she started to wonder about her role in his life. How necessary was an "oasis" and did him seeing her that way mean she was a mirage that would disappear from his life at some point in the future?
Unlike when he was living in New York, he rarely called her from Greece and never made any overt commitment to return to her when he left. But she knew if he did, she would be waiting. She loved him and her life, at least, was not complete without him. He left a huge void when he was gone and she felt like she walked around as half of a person until they were together again.
It gave her a frightening sense of vulnerability, one she was certain he did not share.
She discovered she was pregnant during one of the trips he took to Greece without her. She knew right away she was keeping the baby, but she was worried about telling Aristide. He'd been so careful about contraception and she couldn't help wondering if he would balk at her taking a more permanent role in his life…that of his child's mother.
She told him of the pregnancy his first day back. He'd come to see her straight from the airport and she took that as a good sign. They made love and were lying entwined in her bed when she told him about the baby.
She was curled into his side, sated and so filled with love for him, she was bursting with it. "I've got something I need to tell you."
He moved so he was leaning over her and met her gaze with his own, his eyes compelling her to honesty. "This sounds serious. What is it?"
"I'm pregnant."
He went completely still, the vibrant blue of his irises disappearing almost completely as his pupils dilated in shock. "But…"
"Contraceptives fail," was all she could think to say.
Then he was smiling brilliantly, the change in his demeanor happening so fast, she was stunned. "You are carrying my child? Why did you not call and tell me?"
"It's not something you say over the phone." Not to mention the fact she had never once felt comfortable calling him at his office in Greece or on his cell phone when he was abroad.
He nodded, his expression filled with blatant pleasure now. "I understand. This is amazing."
"I'm glad you feel that way."
"How else could I feel?"
"Trapped?" she suggested.
But he just laughed. "We'll get married as soon as possible."
As marriage proposals went, it lacked romance, but she was so relieved he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, she didn't quibble. She loved him so much; regardless of the doubts that had plagued her over the last few months, he had to love her too.
He'd been too instantaneous in the marriage decision and for a guy like him to stay with one girlfriend so long had to be significant.
"All right. I'll marry you."
CHAPTER TWO
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Eden moved restlessly in her hospital bed as she remembered her naïve assumptions. Aristide had moved her to Greece right after the wedding, introducing her to his family, a wonderful group of people who had accepted her without a qualm.
But the fairytale marriage situation ended there, because she saw less of her husband than she had of her lover. He spent as much time in New York as before, but now she was an ocean away. He called her frequently, but that did not assuage the lonely ache in her heart left by his absence.
At first, she had not traveled with him because of her morning sickness, but then he had told her he didn't want her uncomfortable, making the long flight in an advanced state of pregnancy. After the birth of their son, she had opted to breast-feed, which meant she went nowhere without Theo, and Aristide did not believe a tiny baby should make the long flight to the States.
In addition to the separations her new role in his life dictated, Kassandra had entered her life.
Kassandra and Aristide had grown up together and then the beautiful Greek woman had started working for his company. She'd been his personal assistant for the last five years. While Eden and Aristide were only lovers, Kassandra ignored Eden's existence, but that ended almost immediately after her marriage. Not that Eden had latched on to the change right away.
But looking back, she could see that Kassandra had begun enacting subtle ploys to undermine Eden's confidence and Aristide's time spent with her from the very first.
When Eden first began to suspect the other woman of manipulation, she had convinced herself she was imagining the other woman's malice. Everyone liked Kassandra. The family. The other people who worked with Aristide.
And Kassandra was so sweet to Eden on the surface that it had taken almost a full year before she realized the Greek woman really had it in for her marriage. Even then, she hadn't known what to do about it. She had not wanted to rock the boat in her relationship with Aristide, but the more convinced she became that her husband had married her simply for the sake of their son, the less quiescent she felt about Kassandra's machinations.
It had all come to a head in New York and Eden had complained for the first time about Kassandra. Bitterly and without pulling any punches. She now realized she'd been a fool to bottle it up for so long and not say anything. Her grievances had fallen on deaf ears because Aristide had thought she was out of her mind.
He trusted his assistant. Why shouldn't he? He'd known her for a lot longer than he'd known his wife and she'd never before shown this devious side to her personality.
