The Greek Tycoon's Secret Heir (10 page)

She caught her breath staring at them.

“
Baba
said these remind him of your eyes,” Theo said, touching one of the sapphires.

She looked at her son and the women in the room and knew she was taking the right step. More than the jewels, Christos’s words convinced her that, despite the fact that this wasn’t her kind of wedding, she wasn’t lying to herself. Marrying Christos was the right thing to do.

With the sun setting behind them, they repeated their vows on the terrace of the Theakis compound overlooking the Aegean Sea. Christos kissed Ava at the end of the ceremony with raw possessiveness, stamping his claim on her mouth to go along with the ring on her left hand that showed the world she was his.

Flashbulbs went off during the kiss and Christos felt a sense of impending doom. He’d invited several celebrity photographers, including one who would be doing a story on the wedding for one of the Sabina Group’s magazines. But the public spotlight wasn’t always kind, especially to Ava and him.

The flashbulbs brought back the anger he’d felt when the tabloids had broken the story of Ava’s affair with Stavros.

He lifted his head and wrapped his arm around Ava’s waist as they walked back down the aisle between their family and friends.

“Christos?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you acting so…”

He glanced down at Ava. He couldn’t begin to figure out what he felt, but he knew
happy
was too tame a word for it. He banished the thought of the past as he looked at her. Knew the only way he was going to find any semblance of peace was to stay focused on Ava and Theo and the future he was slowly carving out for himself.

He arched one eyebrow at her. “So…?”

“Possessive, I guess. I’m yours now,” she said.

There was a note in her voice that he couldn’t place and he didn’t try. “About damn time.”

“Do you mean that?”

“
Moro mou
, I’m not indecisive about anything especially if it involves you or Theo.”

She hugged him tightly to her, standing on tiptoe and kissing him. “This is one of the happiest days of my life. I can’t believe we’re married.”

“Well, believe it. You are my wife.”

She blinked back tears, then rubbed her nose and tried to turn away. “Oh no. My makeup is going to be ruined.”

Christos had no idea how to stop her tears. Didn’t understand where she’d gone in her head to start crying, so he did the only thing he could think of. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. Not with the raw masculinity that he’d used to brand her in front of his friends and family earlier. But with all the pent-up and unrevealed emotions that were coursing through him.

She clung to his shoulders, holding on to him, and he realized this was what he wanted. Like the symbol on the necklace he’d given her, he wanted to be her anchor when the seas of life got stormy and she didn’t have anything or anyone else to cling to.

He lifted his mouth. Her eye makeup was safe, but her lipstick was completely obliterated. Her lips were soft and pink from his kisses, slightly swollen, and he couldn’t wait to get to their room.

She touched her fingers to her lips. He stared down into her eyes, let his gaze drift lower over the long length of her neck to the choker he’d given her. It looked perfect there. He skimmed his finger around her neck, tracing the seam where skin met diamonds and sapphires. He ended with a touch of the silvery anchor.

“You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen,” he said. “They remind me of the sea.” The truth was, he lost a little bit of himself each time he looked into her eyes. They were wide and held depths that he was only beginning to realize she had. This time around, their relationship was so much stronger, he thought. And though he’d never admit it to a soul, he thought that Ava had been very wise to insist they not sleep together until they were married.

She flushed a little. “I like your eyes, too.”

“We’re married now,” he said as their bridal party joined them on the steps of the main house.

He noticed that Tristan and Sheri were standing off to one side. Tristan’s body language wasn’t all that hard to read as he leaned over his surprisingly interesting secretary. He was definitely attracted to her. Sheri said something and Tristan’s laughter echoed in the air. Christos couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Tristan that relaxed with a woman.

“Yes, we are.”

He hugged her close as a photographer bustled around arranging the group for the shot. Christos brushed his lips over Ava’s ear. “I can’t wait for our wedding night.”

She swiveled her hips against his and then reached up with one hand, wrapping it around his neck, drawing his head forward. She kissed him with the same possessiveness he’d shown earlier in front of their wedding guests. “Me, neither.”

Tristan clapped him on the back. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Theakis! Are you sure you know what you are getting into, Ava?”

“Yes, Tristan, I’m sure. Christos is the man I’ve always dreamed of marrying.”

Ava was drawn away by the women to fix her makeup before the photographer started taking more pictures, and her words lingered.

“A woman’s dreams are fragile things,” Tristan said.

So were a man’s, if the ghosts in Tristan’s eyes were any indication. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. I’m happy for you. You’ve been alone too long.”

“I’ve never been alone,” Christos said. He’d made it a point to ensure he always had a lovely woman on his arm or in his life.

“My mistake. I like Ava.”

“I do, too,” Gui said, coming up behind them. “And this little monkey.”

Gui lifted Theo up on his shoulder and Christos felt blessed for the first time ever, not only by the friends he had in his life but by being a Theakis. With Theo by his side, he didn’t feel that he was second best, and when he glanced down and saw his father smiling while he chatted with one of the Theakis relatives, he realized that he felt almost at peace.

He scowled. He didn’t trust the feeling and from the past knew it couldn’t last. Not for the first time, he resented the fact that he had to plan for a future that was as stormy as the seas during a hurricane. But at the same time, his reality was that, whenever he got this feeling of rightness…something bad was waiting around the corner.

“Christos?” Gui had been watching his friend’s expression.

“Yes?”

“You okay, man?”

“I’ve fulfilled my destiny as a Theakis. Of course I’m okay.”

Gui gave him an odd look, but Christos turned away and chatted with some business associates, faking an enthusiasm he no longer felt.

Christos hadn’t thought he would, either, but Tristan’s comment that morning about how women dreamed of their wedding day had made him think about their wedding night and making it into a romantic fantasy. It had taken less than twenty minutes on the phone to get everything as he wished it to be.

“After all the trouble you went through planning our wedding, it was the least I could do.”

He set Ava on her feet in the luxurious suite that he’d rented for the night. They’d leave in the morning for Paris for their two-week honeymoon. But tonight they were in Athens at one of the five-star properties his family owned. The owner’s suite was large, with the best marble flooring imported from Italy, priceless works of art adorning the walls and Louis XIV furniture. Beautiful, opulent, yet it all paled compared to the woman in his arms.

She danced around the room, her strawberry-blond hair fanning out around her. There was a restless energy about her that underscored the fact that, even though he could hold her in his arms, he never really understood her.

“You’re staring at me,” she said, coming to a stop in front of the balcony doors.

“I know.”

“Usually I’m the one who does the staring,” she quipped.

“You’re effervescent tonight. I can’t seem to stop looking at you.”

The lighting in the room was dim and candles flickered on all the surfaces. Pale-pink rose petals made a trail on the floor to the bedroom.

“Am I?” She tipped her head to the side, giving him a seductive look from under her eyelids.

He nodded. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since I came back into your life.”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since you left my life. I can’t believe today has been real.”

“Come over here and I’ll prove it.”

She smiled over at him in a dreamy way that he thought meant she might be a little buzzed from the champagne she’d drunk at their reception. She’d danced with Theo and with him, but no one else. It was as if she were sending him a direct signal that she was his.

“
Moro mou
, come here.”

She shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll kiss me and I’ll forget that I want this night to last forever.”

“I promise it’ll last forever,” he said, wondering if that was the truth. His erection strained against his zipper now that they were alone and he knew that he was going to have her. At last. Well, if the first time didn’t last forever, he’d make it up to her the second time he took her. He didn’t plan on sleeping much tonight anyway.

She didn’t say anything but kicked off her high heels and walked toward him in that sexy dress she’d changed into before they’d left the reception. The skirt danced around her legs and she put an extra swivel in her hips.

“Ava…”

“Christos….”

“Stop teasing me.”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

“You know you are.”

“Why don’t you stop me?”

“Because you don’t want me to,” he said.

She stopped. “You’re right, I don’t. I want to tease you until you can’t sit there and beckon me. Until that passion you do such a good job of hiding forces you to come to me—”

He lunged for her, pulling her tight to his body. Holding her by her hips as his mouth found hers. He plundered her lips, pushing his tongue deep into the cavern of her mouth, swallowing her gasp and tasting that champagne he knew she was buzzing from.

He didn’t lift his head until she was clinging to him.

“Like that?”

“Just like that. I’ve missed being in your arms,” she said, curling herself around him.

He lifted her into his arms again, carrying her over the rose-petal path to the bedroom. She kept one hand at the back of his neck, her long fingers toying with the hair there. Every nerve-ending in his body was focused on one thing, one purpose. And each brush of her hands against him aroused him more.

He set her on the bed in the middle of the rose petals and stepped back. He reached for the dimmer switch on the wall, turning it so a low, ambient light filled the chamber.

He kicked off his shoes, toed off his socks and shed his jacket, tossing it toward the padded chair in the corner of the room.

He wanted this to be a slow seduction, their first time together in so long, but he couldn’t stop his body. It was as if a red haze had come over him and all he could see was Ava and her soft curves.

All he wanted was to feel her naked skin against his and the welcoming warmth of her body wrapped around him. He wanted to plunge deep inside her and take her until time dropped away. Until there was nothing but the two of them and the kind of passion he’d never found with anyone else.

“Christos, are you coming to bed?’

“In a minute.” Hell, he didn’t think a minute was going to be enough time to bring him down. All he could smell each time he breathed was her perfume. All he could taste lingering in his mouth was her. All he could see was Ava.

He told himself to take it slow but slow wasn’t in his programming with this woman. She was pure feminine temptation and he had her in his arms. He stepped purposefully toward her.

She sat up. “Wait! I forgot I have something special to wear tonight.”

“The choker I gave you earlier would be fine but anything else is a waste of time.”

“Please, Christos. It’ll just take a second.”

He nodded. He could deny her nothing tonight; she was so radiant.

“I left word for our bags to be unpacked.”

“I can find what I want to wear. Will you wait for me out there?”

He complied and then paced the outer room until she called him back.

She was wearing some silky thing that made her so desirable he barely noted what it was.

He crossed the room and took her face in his hands, staring down at her and then lowering his mouth. He tried to harness his passion this time so he didn’t overwhelm her. But the need that had been riding him since—hell, since he’d seen her at that boarding school in Florida—slipped out of his control.

His hips thrust against her as his hands slid down her back, finding the hem of the nightdress and pulling it up until he could caress her soft skin. Her thighs were firm and smooth and, as he caressed his way higher, he encountered only the smooth flesh of her buttocks.

He groaned deep in his throat, running his finger along the curves of her flesh, exploring her thoroughly. She said his name, a breathless gasp that told him she was right there with him. And then he traced his way between her legs.

“Christos…”

His name falling from her lips was exactly what he wanted to hear. “Loosen your top, Ava. Bare your breasts for me.”

She shivered in his arms. Her mouth found his and kissed him just as deeply as he had her a moment earlier. When she drew back she took his bottom lip between her teeth and nipped at it.

Her hands went behind her back to the tie that held the bit of silk up. The movement thrust her chest forward. His eyes narrowed as the fabric slowly parted from her body, slipping away from her skin. “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked, teasing him now.

He left off caressing her and caught her wrists in one of his hands, holding them behind her back.

He lowered his head and pushed the fabric fully down from her chest with his other hand. And then he stared down at her breasts, creamy and full, their tips hard and straining. He couldn’t resist the invitation to take one nipple in his mouth, suckling at her. Her legs moved restlessly, one of them coming up to wrap around his hips.

He released her wrists and ran one fingertip around her aroused flesh. She trembled in his arms. Her fingers drifted down his back and then slid around front to work on the buttons of his shirt. But he was too impatient to wait for that. He set her on her feet and ripped his shirt open.

He growled deep in his throat when she leaned forward to brush kisses against his chest. She bit and nibbled, bringing him to the brink. No way could he wait another second.

He pulled her to him and lifted her slightly so that her nipples brushed his chest. Holding her carefully he rotated his shoulders and rubbed against her. Blood roared in his ears. He was so hard, so full right now that he needed to be inside of her body. The skirt of her nightgown bunched between their bodies and he shoved it out of his way.

He caressed her smooth thighs. She was so soft. She moaned as he neared her center and then sighed when he brushed his fingertips there.

He slipped one finger into her and hesitated for a second, looking down into her eyes.

She bit down on her lower lip and he felt the minute movements of her hips as she tried to move his touch to where she needed it.

He was beyond teasing her or prolonging anything. He needed her now. He carried her to the bed and fell on it, bringing her down on top of him before rolling over so she was beneath him.

He looked down into her face. Her eyes were closed for a second as she shifted her hips and rubbed herself against him.

“Hurry, Christos.”

He didn’t need her to ask twice. Reaching between their bodies he freed himself and covered her with his body. Their naked loins pressed together and he shook under the impact.

Now
. He adjusted his hips, positioning himself, and then entered her with one long, hard stroke.

She moaned his name and her head fell back, leaving the curve of her neck open and vulnerable to him. He bit softly at her neck and felt the reaction all the way to his toes when she squirmed in his arms and thrust her hips back toward him.

A tingling started in the base of his spine and he knew his climax was close. But he wasn’t going without Ava. He wanted her with him.

She moved more frantically in his arms and he moved deeper inside her with each stroke. Breathing out through his mouth, he tried to hold back the inevitable. He slid one hand down her abdomen, through the slick folds of her sex, finding her center. He stroked the aroused flesh with an up and down movement, circled with his forefinger then scraped it very carefully. Then he penetrated her as deeply as he could. She cried out his name.

“Look at me, Ava. Open your eyes.”

She did, and in that instant, as everything in his body tightened and he started to climax, he wanted to love her. Wished there was a way he could forgive the past, because he knew he held the future in his arms.

Christos rolled over in the middle of the night and felt the warmth of Ava’s body. They’d made love once more before falling asleep, and he’d carefully stripped the silk slip from her body and taken the time with her he’d wanted to the first time.

He’d opened the drapes to let the light of the moon into the room, and the balcony doors so that a cool night breeze stirred the air around them. Goosebumps were visible on Ava’s naked skin. He traced his finger down the line of her body.

He came to the small bump of a belly left from her pregnancy, the small trace that Theo had left on her body. The trace of a child who was at the root of their marriage—and at the root of his distrust of her. He knew he had to do something about that.

He’d tried hard over the past few weeks to allow himself to see the woman that was Ava. And to be honest, he didn’t believe the woman she was today would cheat on him. But that girl in the past…he wasn’t as sure about her.

She stirred in his arms, rolling onto her back. He propped himself up on one elbow and continued to caress her, finding the tiny stretch marks left by her pregnancy, and everything within him solidified. He wanted to mark every part of Ava as his own. He wanted to plant his seed in her womb. He wanted to watch her grow heavy with his child and then be there from the first breath that child took.

It didn’t change the way he felt about Theo…that boy was his now, and nothing on earth could change that.

“Christos?”

“Hmmm?”

She touched his face with soft fingers and he realized that she always did that. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“I wish…I wish I were the slender girl I was the first time.”

“I don’t.”

She tilted her head. He continued tracing over the stretch marks left by her pregnancy. “Did you like carrying the Theakis heir?”

“You mean your son?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Did pregnancy agree with you?”

She looked as if she were going to pursue the topic but then stopped. “Yes. I had morning sickness at the beginning but then…yes, it was very pleasant.”

He didn’t ask her any more questions, lowering his head to trace the lines with his tongue. Her hands fell to his head, caressing his scalp with her fingers.

“You know what I liked best about it?” she asked in a soft tone.

“What?” He lifted his head looking up the length of her naked body to meet her sea-blue eyes.

“That I wasn’t alone anymore,” she said, then glanced away as if she’d said too much.

He slid up over her. Her legs parted for him so that he rested in the cradle of her body. “Would you like another child,
moro mou
?”