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Achilles’s hands tightened on her elbows. ‘Yes?’
Sofie nodded. He tugged her towards him and pulled her right into his body. Everything melted and went on fire at the same time. Sofie undid her arms and put her hands on Achilles’s chest.
Achilles looked at her mouth and then kissed her, stealing her breath and her sanity. When he pulled back it took a second for her eyes to open. She felt dizzy.
‘What happens now?’
Achilles said, ‘Now we go to Athens.’
‘What are you smiling at?’
Sofie looked at Achilles on the other side of her in the back of the car. ‘I was thinking that I’ve been completely spoilt...flying by private jet before I’ve even been on a commercial flight.’
Achilles shrugged. ‘It’s the most practical way to travel for me.’
Sofie rolled her eyes. ‘No, you just travel like that because you can.’
‘If you’re thinking of giving me a lecture about climate change, don’t. My plane is being used in an experiment to pioneer more eco-friendly fuels.’
‘Very commendable.’ Sofie tried to stop herself smiling at Achilles’s defensive tone.
He reached for her, tugging her across the back seat towards him. ‘Have I met the one woman in the world who literally cannot be impressed by me, or anything I do?’
Sofie felt light and buoyant—a totally alien sensation. ‘On the contrary, parts of you are very...impressive.’
Sofie’s hand was resting on Achilles’s thigh and she moved it a little higher. He caught her hand in his, trapping it. His jaw tightened but there was a glint in his eye. ‘You’ll pay for that.’
He caught the back of her head with his other hand and pulled her towards him, covering her mouth with his. He took her trapped hand and brought it to where his anatomy was responding very impressively.
Sofie melted into him, her fingers exploring the hard flesh under her hand, under his clothes.
It was only when there was a discreet but persistent cough that Achilles pulled back and broke the kiss.
Sofie opened her eyes and blinked. They were outside what looked like an exclusive hotel. She sprang back when she realised people were moving about just outside the car.
Achilles said roughly, ‘Don’t worry, the windows are tinted.’
Still... She felt exposed. And, worse, when she saw the elegance and refinement of the women entering the hotel she felt thoroughly and utterly out of place. The driver was outside the car, clearly waiting for a movement from Achilles before opening the door. Her face flamed. Maybe he was used to this kind of thing because it happened on such a regular basis? She cursed herself. Not the time to be getting paranoid and jealous.
Achilles adjusted his clothing and was about to open the door when Sofie grabbed his arm. He looked at her. ‘They won’t let me into that place looking like this!’ she said. ‘I look like a bag lady compared to those women.’
Two women were walking past in clothes that screamed designer.
Achilles just took her hand, opened his door, and pulled her out behind him. Immediately there was a suited official-looking man approaching them. ‘Mr Lykaios, we are so happy to have you back with us again. Everything is ready for you in your apartment.’
Sofie kept silent but absorbed that fact. He had an apartment in a hotel? How decadent.
Achilles said something to the man, who looked at Sofie and then away again, then said, ‘Of course, right away.’
Achilles was leading Sofie into the most palatial space she’d ever seen. Vast. Built out of what looked like golden-hued marble. There were tables with flower displays as big as small trees. Elaborate chandeliers sparkled and glittered high in the ceiling. And all around them milled the kind of people Sofie had seen at the event in London. Except this time they weren’t in evening dress. Most of the men were in suits, and even if they weren’t in suits they were in elegantly casual clothes.
A woman walked past her in a white trouser suit, dripping in diamonds and leaving a cloud of strong perfume in her wake. A bellboy followed her with a trolley full of monogrammed luggage.
Sofie couldn’t help sneezing when the scent stuck in the back of her nose. A few people looked around. She went puce. Achilles led her into a lift. The doors closed.
Sofie said, ‘These people don’t even sneeze, do they?’
Achilles leaned back against the mirrored wall of the lift. He was blocking her view of herself and she was glad. People probably thought she was his assistant, like that woman had in London.
His mouth quirked. ‘They’re as mortal as you and me, even if they don’t like to think they are.’
‘I don’t think you’ve thought this through, Achilles.’ She had to say it, as much as it pained and humiliated her. ‘Even if you dress me up in a nice dress, I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb among these people.’
‘Which is why I’ve arranged for you to be pampered tomorrow.’
The lift doors opened before she could fully absorb what that might mean, and he caught her hand again and pulled her straight into a vast reception room. Sofie gasped. It was exquisitely furnished. Expensive antiques perched on shelves and small tables. They were probably priceless. There were murals on the ceiling. Cherubs and birds and clouds.
Achilles led her over to a set of French doors and let her hand go to open them. The heat slapped her in the face, much as it had when she’d stepped off the plane. She felt overdressed. The sun thankfully wasn’t too high in the sky as it was early evening. Sofie walked out onto a wide terrace bordered by a stone wall. Straight ahead of her, on a hill, was the Acropolis.
She’d caught glimpses of it on her way through the ancient city in Achilles’s car, but to see it like this was...breathtaking. Tourists as small as ants clambered all over the site.
‘It’s so majestic,’ Sofie said quietly. Awed.
Achilles came and stood beside her. She looked at him. He’d taken off his suit jacket and his tie and had opened a button, rolled up his sleeves. His profile was regal. He looked like what he was: a Greek god of a man, back where he belonged.
Below them, the Athens streets thronged with people and traffic. A giddiness at finding herself here rose up inside Sofie. She turned to Achilles. ‘Thank you.’
He looked at her. ‘For what?’
