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In a strange way, she felt as if she was the one who was supposed to be here, not Elexis. Elexis would never understand him, but she could. She would. She liked puzzles and challenges, and she was good at reading not just text, but subtext. And when she and Damen were together like this, it felt rather like perfection in an imperfect world.
Together like this, she felt as if she belonged. She belonged with him. She belonged to him. For the first time in her life, she belonged somewhere.
Kassiani shattered just as Damen began to come, their bodies climaxing together, and she welcomed his last hard, driving thrust, accepting everything he had, and everything he could give her. He was home.
Moments passed, and Kassiani struggled to catch her breath, her thoughts cloudy, her body still floating.
Their wedding night had been incredibly satisfying, but the lovemaking just now, and the orgasm she’d had, was, well, life changing. She liked being with him, even when he was edgy and dangerous. No one had ever challenged her in her life. Until now.
She felt Damen shift, rolling onto his back, and he drew her against his chest. His skin was warm and slightly damp, and as she rested her cheek on his chest, she breathed him in. He smelled delicious. She inhaled the scent—man, sex and a spicy fragrance—and it crossed her mind that she needed to be careful. He was potent. She would need to guard her heart.
“How do you feel?” he asked, lightly stroking her back.
How did she feel? Amazing. Surely he knew that. She glanced up into his face, feeling rather lucky in that moment to have a husband who was famous for his shrewd business acumen and a threat in the boardroom, as well as gifted in the bedroom. “Good.”
His hand continued the slow caressing of her back. His touch made her want to purr. “I hate that your family has treated you so shabbily. It makes me want to take your father apart, limb by limb.”
She smiled crookedly, and stretched up to kiss him. “Please don’t do that, but thank you for being my protector. I’ve never had one before.”
“I’m not a hero.”
“No, you’re definitely more of a thug, but you’re handsome as heck, so it works for you.”
He laughed, softly. “You’re one surprise after another.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“It is.” He kissed her back, a hand threading into her hair, and the kiss flared into something hot and bright. “I hate to go, but I need to.”
“Why do you need to go?”
“I’ve been out of touch with the office all day. I’m sure there are dozens of emails and phone calls and matters awaiting my attention.”
“Just stay a little longer. Stay and talk to me. Please?”
She could feel him tense and she stroked his chest. “There is so much I want to know about you. Tell me about your work and family, tell me about your first girlfriend, tell me—”
“That’s an awful lot to cover in five minutes.”
“Okay, then forget all that. Just answer this. Have you ever been in love?”
He hesitated. “No.”
“That wasn’t very convincing.”
He didn’t reply.
“So you have been in love,” she persisted.
Damen sat up and rolled to the side of the bed. “The less you know about me, the better. Knowing more about me would just lead to disappointment. I’m good at what I do because I’m focused and ruthless. I’ve perfected the art of not caring about others, or what they think.”
“That can be a good thing in business.”
“It’s who I am all the time. I don’t have different sides. Whether at work, or home, I’m the same. Unfeeling. Driven. Relentless.”
She considered this a moment. “I don’t think you are all that. If you were, you wouldn’t care about what I want or need, and you wouldn’t take such good care of me in bed.”
“That’s bed.”
“Or on the island today.”
“Don’t make too much of it.”
“It’s more kindness and attention than I’ve had from anyone, ever.”
Damen reached for her and rolled her onto her back, his big body angling over hers. “Don’t say such things. It makes me hate your family even more.”
She reached up to brush his thick black hair back from his brow. “Don’t hate them. Hate is such a useless emotion.”
“Hate can be powerful.”
“You don’t need hate, and you don’t need more power.”
His light gaze locked with hers and he stared intently into her eyes. “So what do I need, then, Little Miss Know-It-All?”
“Maybe just how to be happy?”
“Because you’re so happy?”
“I’m happier than I have been in a very long time.”
“Because you’re away from your family.”
“Because I’m with you.”
He made an incredulous sound and climbed off the bed. “Now you’re playing me for a fool.”
She sat up, drawing the light crisp sheet with her to cover herself. “Why can’t I like you?”
“Because we don’t have that kind of marriage. This is not a love marriage—”
“I know. And I said like, not love,” she flashed irritably as he yanked on his clothes, first his shorts and then his shirt. “And right now, you’re being ridiculous but that doesn’t mean I don’t still find you likable.”
“That is not part of our agreement.”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, why are you smiling?”
“Maybe because you look really handsome right now.”
He growled his frustration. “I’m not handsome right now, and I’m not likable, and we don’t have that kind of marriage, either.”
“What kind is that?”
“The kind where everybody is happy and dreams come true.” He turned and gave her a dark, tortured look. “You’re a smart woman. You of all people should know that happiness is a myth and dreams are just that. Dreams.”
CHAPTER SIX
HE’D SPENT ALL day with Kassiani today. Damen couldn’t remember when he’d last spent four hours with anyone, never mind a woman.
And he’d enjoyed almost every minute. The only minutes he hadn’t enjoyed were the minutes where she’d tried to convince him he was a good person, when he knew the truth about himself.
Kassiani. She was something of a revelation.
He’d known very little about her before their wedding, other than she was the youngest daughter, and a rather mysterious figure in her family, one her father had portrayed as eccentric, which was apparently why she didn’t travel with them, and wasn’t paraded about like Barnabas and Elexis. But now Damen could see that Kassiani had been forgotten and ignored by her family because she wasn’t like them—she wasn’t shallow and superficial. She didn’t take advantage of people. She didn’t use others. She actually thought of others.
Thank God her family hadn’t corrupted her, but at the same time, she’d deserved so much better from her family. A great disservice had been done to Kassiani all these years. She actually believed she was fat and unattractive. Unworthy.
It was wrong.
And now he was handling her wrong, too, but Damen didn’t know how to be a better husband. He wasn’t accustomed to being patient or kind. So maybe that was the first step. Practicing patience. And maybe a little bit of kindness.
If Kass was surprised to see him on deck before dinner, she gave no indication. She was standing at one of the railings on the upper deck, and she turned her head to smile at him. “Good evening.”
“Good evening to you. Have you been up here long?”
“Fifteen or twenty minutes. It’s such a gorgeous night. The view is spectacular. The island ahead of us sparkles with light.”
“That’s Mykonos.”
Her brow creased. “Weren’t you and Elexis supposed to visit Mykonos?”
“We were, yes.”
