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Winnie forced an apologetic smile to her lips. ‘Yes. I’m afraid I didn’t eat much today and now I’m starving, so I think I need to raid the kitchen.’
Without further ado, she crossed the room to her suitcase and began to open it in search of something to wear.
Eros frowned at her, perplexed by her mood. He wasn’t stupid. He could see that she was annoyed with him and trying to deflect attention from that reality. But did he really want to drag any more of the past into the present? It was their wedding night and it had been preceded by a very long and upsetting day. Maybe, in seeking to avoid further divisive debates and concentrate on practicalities, Winnie had the right idea, he acknowledged uncertainly.
He watched as she dragged a faded silky robe out of the tumbled contents of the case and, dropping the towel, donned the robe in a series of jerky movements. Her heart-shaped face was taut, brown eyes dark and evasive as she walked to the door.
‘I bought you a new wardrobe of clothes,’ Eros admitted abruptly.
Winnie whirled back round to look at him in surprise. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘It’s a gift,’ Eros hastened to assure her.
‘How very generous of you,’ Winnie responded in a tone that hinted that she thought it rather weird that he should interest himself in what she wore.
But Eros, who found her appealing even in a faded robe that had seen better days, always noticed what she wore because he rarely took his attention off her when she was in his vicinity.
‘I don’t feel comfortable with you wearing clothes bought by your grandfather,’ Eros admitted in blunt addition.
Winnie tensed. ‘You’re not in competition with Grandad—’
‘Of course not, you’re my wife,’ Eros countered with a possessive edge to his intonation as he studied her.
‘All Grandad paid for was my wedding dress. The majority of my own clothes are still in London,’ Winnie confided carelessly. ‘I don’t have summer stuff though, so I can certainly use anything in that line.’
She was not going to argue with him, not going to argue with him about anything, Winnie told herself urgently. She would get upset, she would be out of control, leaking emotion that would give away too much of what she was truly feeling. And she didn’t even know what she was feeling, did she?
Hurt. Why did Eros always hurt her? Why was she always looking for more from him? What was the point? She had to adjust to the new status quo, and fast. She was stuck being married and stuck on an island with a man who neither loved nor trusted her. She still had her son and Eros was terrific in bed. Count positives, not negatives, she instructed herself fiercely. That was what her sister Zoe would tell her to do...
CHAPTER NINE
‘I WANTED TO eat chocolate round the clock,’ Winnie admitted ruefully, wondering how Eros could possibly be interested in what her pregnancy had been like but, for all that, he kept on pressing for more information. ‘Now, why couldn’t I have craved something healthy like salmon or salad while I was pregnant? No, I had to crave chocolate. I put on a good bit of weight.’
‘I bet it suited you,’ Eros murmured, wishing he had been there for her when it would really have mattered to her and counted in his favour. As she lay in his arms, he ran an appreciative hand over the lush fullness of her breasts cradled in a bikini top. He dipped his fingertips into the cups, skimming the fabric out of his path to expose her breasts and expertly tease the sensitive peaks. ‘I adore your curves.’
Her mind went blank and she forgot what she was about to say as her spine arched helplessly into the hard, muscular heat of the lean, powerful body holding hers. The tingling rise of heat between her thighs controlled her utterly. ‘Someone might see us!’ she framed in sudden breathless panic.
‘Nobody can see us down here,’ Eros replied, turning her across his lap to lower his mouth to the pouting nipples he had bared. ‘It’s a private beach and we’re shielded by the cliffs,’ he reminded her thickly while he played with the swollen pink crests until she was gasping and squirming and weak with liquid arousal.
He raked a finger across the taut crotch of her bikini pants. The breath sobbed in her throat as the tender flesh beneath throbbed with pulsing need. How Eros could smash her control that fast when they had made love only a few hours earlier, she had no idea. She only knew that as he began to wrench the bikini pants down and off, she was as impatient as he was. He dipped a finger into her overheated core and she vented a shameless moan, digging her hips into his hard thighs, her whole body ablaze with excitement.
‘You’re so ready,’ Eros growled appreciatively, twisting her round to face him and pushing his shorts down as he lifted her over him and brought her down.
Protection in place, Eros lowered her over him, watching her chocolate eyes widen and the pupils dilate as he entered her hard and fast. And then there wasn’t time or space for anything but the wild excitement engulfing them both. He cupped her hips, controlling the pace, rocking up into her when she didn’t move fast enough and suddenly all the sensations he induced were tumbling in a feverish, overwhelming surge of power over Winnie and she got lost in them, gasping, moaning, struggling to vocalise the extraordinary strength of the eagerness gripping her. She was straining, climbing, reaching for that ultimate climax and he forced her through the barriers, her body shattering like glass from the inside out, leaving her drained and limp.
Eros responded by lifting her up and flipping her under him instead, continuing the pace in a pagan rhythm. Her heart thundering, her breath catching in her tight throat, she pushed up to him, her body catching fire again as he ground down into her hard and that hint of erotic force convulsed her in fresh spasms of blissful pleasure. His magnificent body shuddered over hers until he finally groaned with uninhibited satisfaction.
But even in that moment, his shrewd brain was working at full tilt. He couldn’t keep his wife a semiprisoner for ever, he couldn’t force her to remain his wife either, but when it came to any reference to the future or that thorny word, commitment, Winnie was maddeningly elusive. He gritted his teeth, wondering if he was destined to live for ever with Stam Fotakis peering critically over his shoulder, ready to whisk Winnie away the instant there was a shaky moment in their marriage.
Both his arms wrapped round her slim, trembling body with innate possessiveness, Eros suppressed a sigh. All marriages had shaky moments, he reckoned ruefully, but he couldn’t afford to put a foot wrong. He had to tell Winnie that the island had only become his on their wedding day. He also needed to tell her about her grandfather’s threats. But unfortunately, Winnie was already sufficiently wary without him giving her added encouragement to distrust him. And who did he blame for that reality? Eros swallowed a groan, his every past sin and mistake threatening to pile up on top of him all at once.
* * *
Winnie held Eros close, her slender length quaking with the aftershocks still pulsing inside her. Her fingers stroked through his damp black curls and brushed against a stubbled jawline on her way to tracing the fullness of his sensual lower lip. As she revelled in that physical closeness a helpless tenderness flashed up through her. For a startling instant, his brilliant sea-glass eyes held hers fast and i
n that instant everything became so clear to her. She wanted to hold him for ever, she never wanted to let him go again because she loved him, had, it seemed, never stopped loving him. She had no idea how she had contrived to deny that fact over the past month. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to admit that distinctly humiliating truth even to herself and she couldn’t picture ever telling him. That was her secret, not something for sharing even with her sisters.
But, how could she not tell the truth to Vivi and Zoe? She was accustomed to telling them everything and was still on the phone to them most days. She had told them that she was happy but had sensed that they were not convinced. Unfortunately, her sisters had returned to London straight after the wedding. Eros had suggested that she invite them out for a visit but neither Vivi nor Zoe had sufficient annual leave to take another break from their jobs so soon after the wedding.
After all, only four weeks had passed since she’d married Eros, planning to leave him. Since then she had been living on the island with Eros and her son, waking up and falling asleep to the timeless sound of the waves beating the shore below the house. Eros hadn’t kept her a prisoner as he had threatened but he hadn’t allowed her to go anywhere alone either, citing his concern that her grandfather would try to steal her back by some nefarious means, ignoring her protest that she would not allow the older man to do anything of that nature.
For the first couple of weeks, Eros had taken her and Teddy and their nanny, Agathe, sailing round the Greek islands. Although the yacht had been rather more compact than the giant one her grandfather had borrowed to transport them to Trilis, it had still carried a full crew and its opulent furnishings and spacious cabins had ensured they’d enjoyed perfect privacy. The cruise had been a very relaxing experience, blowing away the tension of the wedding day that had gone wrong. And she now owned two fabulous rings. The first, a magnificent solitaire. Not an engagement ring, Eros had insisted even though he had put it on that finger. And the second? An eternity ring, a hoop of sparkling sapphires to mark the birth of their son.
