CHAPTER EIGHT
LEO was looking at her so intensely that Angel quivered. And then he just said, in a hard voice, ‘We’re not here to chat and swap life stories, Angel, charming as this has been. I’m done with talking. What I’d like right now is for you to show me what you’ve learnt and seduce me.’
Angel just looked at him, hurt slicing through her at the way he was dismissing what they’d just shared and closing himself off again. She could deduce that he wanted to punish her in some way for having encouraged him to talk, but for her to seduce him? Show him what she’d learnt? She still had no idea what she was doing in bed—no conscious thought anyway. The minute Leo touched her she forgot time and space, everything but the building fire in her body, and now he wanted …
He said it again, as if he could hear her inner dialogue. ‘I want you to seduce me … You’re my mistress, that’s what mistresses do.’
More hurt sliced through Angel. She was his mistress, and she’d forgotten for a tiny moment. The last days when he’d not come to her bed had left her feeling on edge. She hated to admit it now, especially when he was being so cold, but a part of her thrilled at the thought of being free to touch Leo any way she wished.
She told herself that when he pushed her back like this it should make it easier to cut out her emotions … but she caught his eyes and in a flash something glimmered in their depths. Something indefinable. She didn’t believe it for a second, but Leo looked almost vulnerable. It made her make her mind up. Along with the way her pulse had jumped to think he was inviting her to take the initiative.
She put the bottle of water down on the island behind her and then turned back. She stepped up to Leo and stood in front of him for a long moment. He was so much taller than her, and so broad that she could see nothing behind him.
From here she looked up, to see Leo looking down from under hooded lids. He wasn’t moving a muscle. But Angel could see the golden lights in his eyes again, and curiously that comforted her. She brought her hands to his chest and took a deep breath, spreading them out, moving them up over his pectorals, which she could feel under the material of his soft T-shirt.
She moved her hands under the collar of his T-shirt and on tiptoe, spread them out and around his neck. She tried to bring his head down to her level, so she could kiss him, but he wasn’t budging. Angel bit back a retort. Determination fired her blood: he wasn’t going to make this easy.
She manoeuvred him over to the stool, pushing him down onto it so he was more on her level, and she thought she caught a glint in his eye but couldn’t be sure. His feet were on the ground, the height of the stool no hindrance to him.
Angel moved his legs apart with her body and stepped right up between them. She stopped for a minute and looked at the scar above his mouth. She put out a finger and traced it, before bending forward and pressing her lips there, above his top lip.
He still wasn’t moving. Just looking at her as dispassionately as if she were speaking Chinese in a tedious lecture. For an excruciating moment uncertainty rose up within Angel and she had a flash of all the women he had been with. All those blonde scary-looking women who would no doubt know exactly what to do, who’d be bringing him to the edge of his control already, not leaving him looking as if he was about to fall asleep.
Angel stopped, and her hands fell to his thighs. She felt stupid. Kissing his scar as if she could kiss away whatever had put it there. She hung her head. ‘Leo, I don’t think I can do—’
‘Keep going.’ His voice was rough.
She looked up again. Leo’s eyes weren’t as clear as she’d thought. They burned gold. Angel’s heart started to thump erratically. Her hands were still on his thighs and she started to move them experimentally up his legs, until they rested near his crotch. Her thumbs were close to where the fabric of his jeans was slightly bulging out.
Angel looked at Leo and moved one hand, so that it cupped him intimately. To her intense joy she could feel the evidence of his arousal and see the way his eyes flared. It gave her a heady confidence. She moved her hand up and down, stroking, caressing through the material. She could see Leo’s fists clench out of the corner of her eye, and he made a slight move. Immediately she moved back out from between his legs and away.
She shook her head. ‘No touching.’
Leo’s jaw clenched, but he nodded. Angel moved back and placed her hand on him again. He was even bigger now, and she started to tingle all over, anticipation coiling through her like a live wire.
With one hand on him, and the other around his neck, she leant into him fully and pressed her mouth to his. In keeping with his letting her do the work, Leo didn’t respond to the kiss at first. Angel had to entice and cajole. At one stage she nearly screamed her frustration; despite his obvious arousal, she felt as if she was on the way to exploding, not him.
Her breasts were pressed against his chest, and the tips ached so badly that she rubbed against him. She wanted to press herself against his erection, to feel the slide of it against her body.
But his mouth … first she had to get him to kiss her. She flicked out her tongue and traced lightly along the seam of his lips, biting gently and then smoothing over the bites. When she tugged on his lower lip he opened them slightly, and Angel brought both hands to his head, holding him so that she could plunder and stroke her tongue against his exactly the way he did to her. His tongue duelled with hers, teeth nipping, biting her lower lip, making it sting deliciously.
She was in danger of being sucked down into the familiar pool of pleasure—until she noticed that Leo was still restraining himself, even though he was kissing her back. Although when she pulled back slightly she could see a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. It helped her regain her composure. She tried to control her breathing, stood back and held out her hand. Leo took it and stood up, and Angel silently led him from the kitchen and up the stairs to his bedroom.
It was all at once incredibly intimidating and incredibly arousing to have Leo just say nothing, be passive. When his bedroom door closed behind them Angel turned to Leo and tugged the bottom of his T-shirt up. He lifted his arms and Angel pulled it off all the way.
Then she led him over to the bed and sat him down on the edge. She stepped back a few paces and bit her lip for a second, feeling nervous again. She reached up and pulled at the band that was holding her hair up haphazardly, and felt the mass fall down around her shoulders.
Then she put her hands to the bottom of her flimsy vest and pulled it up slowly, more out of intense nervousness than an attempt to be erotic. She could see a muscle pop in Leo’s jaw, and his eyes had darkened. As he lounged back he put his hands behind him in an utterly nonchalant yet effortlessly sexy pose.
For a second Angel’s eyes fell to his crotch and she saw the distinctive bulge. Her throat went dry, and she realised she’d stalled, baring her belly. With a deep breath she pulled her vest up and off completely, trying not to feel embarrassed. She let it drop to the ground. Her breasts felt tight and achy, the tips puckering under Leo’s hot gaze.
Angel brought her hands to her pyjama bottoms and she undid the tiny bow holding them up. She pulled it loose and the bottoms sagged around her hips. With a little wiggle, she let them fall off.
Angel stepped out of them, and now she stood before Leo in nothing but her tiny panties. He filled her vision. He was like a marauding pirate, inspecting her for his delectation.
Angel walked over to him and pushed his legs apart, coming between them. She brought her hands to the fastening of his jeans and undid the button, slowly dragged down the zip. Her eyes followed the dark silky line of hair that disappeared under the top of his briefs. She saw him wince as her knuckles brushed his erection.
When his jeans were open she put her hands around his back to encourage him to tip his hips up so she could slide them down. Her sensitised breasts brushed enticingly against his belly, and Angel nearly moaned out loud before sinking to her knees to pull them off completely.
With shaking hands, she threw them behind her. She reached up again and tugged at the sides of his briefs. Leo’s face was tense, the lines stark. His eyes glittered, and Angel wasn’t sure how she was still operating.
She pulled his boxers down, releasing him from confinement. And then, with her heart nearly leaping out of her throat, she looked at Leo and took him in her hand, slowly slipping it up and down over the thickness, feeling him swell and harden even more.
Acting on instinct, wanting to taste every bit of him, she leant forward. But Leo stopped her, with his voice sounding tight. ‘No, Angel, you don’t have to—’
‘No talking.’ Her voice was husky and wound around his every sense, pulling tight. Leo couldn’t believe it. Angel was shielding those incredible blue eyes by lowering her lashes and taking him into her mouth, surrounding him with sweet, moist warmth. Caressing him with such innocent eroticism that he knew he wouldn’t last—not when he’d nearly exploded just at the touch of her hand on him through his jeans downstairs.
Seeing her take off her clothes just now—first that skimpy vest which had shown all too readily the curve of her firm breasts with their hard tips, then the way she’d dropped her bottoms to the floor and stepped out of them. And then she had walked towards him and stripped him. He’d actually been afraid to touch her, afraid he’d scare her with the strength of the passion running through him, but he knew she’d pushed him to the edge now, and he wouldn’t be able to contain it any longer.
Angel felt Leo’s hips jerk, and then suddenly she was being gently pulled away and he was hauling her up.
‘Enough,’ he growled. ‘I’m seduced.’ With quick hands he tugged and pulled down her panties, and then, in a move so fast he made her dizzy, she was flat on her back on the bed and Leo was rolling a condom onto his penis.
He pushed her legs apart with a hand, stroking up her thigh as he did so, delving into where the ache was building to screaming pitch. She nearly bucked off the bed she was so aroused. Leo slid into her and then thrust harder and harder, taking her with him, putting a hand under her buttocks, lifting her into him even more. Angel wrapped a leg around his back and clung on. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, could only move in tandem with Leo until everything was obliterated and shattered around them.
The next morning when Angel woke she was on her front, with one leg lifted up and her arms sprawled out wide. She felt utterly replete at a very deep level, and heavy—as if she could sink all the way to Middle Earth.
She heard a muted sound, and opened one eye to see Leo standing at the mirror of his wardrobe, knotting his tie. It was the same image as that first morning, and she was awake instantly, pulling a sheet over her nakedness, coming up on one arm, wary. She hadn’t woken in his bed before.
Leo looked at her, and Angel steeled herself. ‘You’re still here. And I’m in your bed.’
Leo’s mouth quirked and his attention went back to his tie. ‘You’re very good at stating the obvious.’
Angel bit her lip when she remembered last night. The conflagration that had blown up around them. What had led up to it.
‘Do you ever wake up with a woman you’ve slept with?’ she heard herself asking, as if someone had taken control of her mouth.
Leo’s hands stilled. Angel could see that the glimmer of warmth in his eyes was rapidly cooling.
Leo tried not to look at Angel, but he didn’t have to. Her image was burned onto his retina. She lay there, just feet away, in such tousled and innocently sexy splendour that she hit him right between the eyes. But her question … The very impertinence of it went through him like a gunshot. His immediate reaction had been a vociferous no! Because waking up with a woman in his arms was anathema to him on so many levels.
It implied a level of trust he just did not have. For him, trust meant emotion, and emotion meant instability, fear, and, quite literally, death. His primary female role model, his mother, had been dangerously unstable. He’d only told Angel the half of it last night—and why the hell had he said anything?
Irritation snaked through him now. He’d come dangerously close to waking up wrapped around Angel like a vine as it was. With her body curled trustingly into his. And that was bad enough.
Angel knew Leo wouldn’t answer her. She couldn’t believe she’d asked the question. She sat up and wrapped the sheet around her as she got up to look for her discarded clothes, blushing when she bent down to pick up her knickers from where Leo had flung them in his haste last night.
She was almost at her own door when she heard his cool, ‘We’re going out tonight. I’ll be home by eight.’
Angel stopped and just nodded her head, keeping her back to him. She couldn’t bear to see that same image again, those cool eyes in the mirror. She slipped into her room and shut the door behind her.
Back to square one. Back in her place. Delphi’s wedding was only a week away now. Perhaps Leo saw that as the end of Angel’s penance and he’d turn around the morning after and let her go. He’d replace all the beautiful clothes in the walk-in wardrobe with a different size for a new and improved mistress. One who didn’t come with messy ties and revenge.
Angel resolutely went straight into her shower and stood under steaming hot jets of water. At least she had something to look forward to apart from Delphi’s wedding: her jewellery commission for Ari and Lucy Levakis. Just thinking of that and anticipating what she’d start with that day helped to clear her mind of far too disturbing thoughts, like how disarming it had been to see a totally different side to Leo last night.
The day of Delphi’s wedding dawned, and Angel was getting ready at the villa. She’d agreed with Delphi that it would be best to avoid her father at all costs. At least they were fairly certain he’d not make a scene at the church, would be too conscious of his peers watching his every move. Leo had gone to the office and was going to go to the church separately, as Angel would be preoccupied with Delphi.
Butterflies erupted in Angel’s chest. This was it. The culmination of what she’d agreed with Leo that night just over a month ago. To become his mistress in exchange for arranging Delphi’s wedding. Why was she feeling butterflies of trepidation? Because this could be it? Here alone in her room she had to admit that she wasn’t prepared for this to be it, no matter how masochistic she knew that made her. It would be Leo’s ultimate revenge. Reel Angel in, show her a taste of paradise and then discard her like trash.
And Angel knew well that the paradise she spoke of had nothing to do with the ‘luxuries’ Leo no doubt expected she enjoyed. It was a paradise of another kind: the paradise of becoming a woman, of discovering her sensuality. The paradise of such exquisite lovemaking that Angel knew no other man would ever have the same effect on her.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Big blue eyes stared back at her, shining, glittering. Her cheeks were flushed.
Since that night in the kitchen nearly a week ago Angel had been battling her feelings. Trying to tell herself that what she felt was only akin to a victim falling for their kidnapper. She frowned. There was a name for that condition … yes, love, crowed a little mocking voice.
Angel paled visibly in the mirror. How could she possibly have fallen in love with Leo Parnassus, when he’d shown her nothing but cold calculation? Because, she reasoned, he’d been perfectly justified in believing that she’d come to steal from him. She wouldn’t have believed her either. Not with all the history that lay between their families. It was perfectly conceivable that Angel had been out to try and save her family by any means possible. And yet Leo had kept so admirably to his side of the equation that any minute now a car was coming to pick her up to bring her to the church where her pregnant sister would get married to her childhood sweetheart and all would be well for them.
And that was all that mattered, right? Even without all the obstacles between Angel and Leo, there could be no future. The man wasn’t even used to sharing a whole night with a woman in his bed, never mind his life …
A sound came from Angel’s bedroom door and she turned, expecting to see Calista to tell her the car had arrived. But it was Leo, stunning in a steel-grey suit, white shirt and tie.
Angel’s heart tripped; her hands went clammy. ‘What are you doing here?’
Leo mocked, ‘So pleased to see me? I must surprise you more often.’
Angel blushed fiercely. She knew what had just been going through her mind, and here he was, unsettling her, or … Her heart stopped. Perhaps he was here to tell her—
‘I thought I’d come for you myself, that’s all. You’d better get a move on.’
Angel broke out of the stasis she was in and quickly checked her reflection again, seriously flustered now. Her bridesmaid’s dress was a dark dusky pink, strapless and to the knee. Her hair was up in a chignon and she wore a flower in her hair the same colour as the dress.
Grabbing her wrap, she tottered out unsteadily in high heels, hoping that Leo hadn’t seen anything of the naked emotions on her face before she’d hidden them.
Angel thankfully managed to have as little to do with her father as possible during the wedding, but she felt his malevolent stare on her periodically. When she watched Stavros and Delphi walk around the altar three times, with the stefana crowns on their heads, she had to fight back tears, feeling inordinately weepy. She studiously avoided Leo’s eye throughout the ceremony, terrified again that he’d see her emotions bubbling so close to the surface. For she who had a somewhat jaded view of marriage to be so moved had scared her slightly.
Before they left for the reception Stavros took her aside and told her how thankful he and Delphi were to her, for helping their wedding to happen, and especially before the pregnancy became common knowledge. Those words alone, and seeing the unmitigated joy on Delphi’s face, made everything worthwhile.
Leo was waiting for her at the entrance of the church, to take her to the reception, and to her relief her father didn’t seem to be inclined to make a scene—no doubt very well aware that Leo was being courted and feted by everyone almost as if he was the one getting married.
Dimitri Stephanides, Stavros’s father, had put on a lavish display in a top Athens hotel—no doubt also to impress Leo. Everyone was there. Angel became slowly aware that things had changed subtly in the time that she’d been with Leo. There were fewer of the snide whispers and furtive looks, and the headlines in the newspapers had all but disappeared. She realised that people had grown used to seeing them together …
‘Dance?’
Angel looked up from her preoccupation to see Leo standing there, holding out a hand. She stood up and let him lead her to the dance floor, where Delphi and Stavros had just had their first dance to much raucous applause.
A slow, swoony song came on and Leo pulled Angel close. Feeling raw, she tried to resist the pull to just lean against him, but his hand on her bare back, above the top of her dress, urged her close. She gave in and moved and swayed with Leo, content to let her head fall into his shoulder. It felt like sheer indulgence.
‘Your sister is not what I expected.’
Angel tensed, but Leo’s hand on her back, moving in slow, sensual circles, forced her to relax again. She lifted her head and looked up. Leo’s face was far too close for comfort.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, half forgetting what he’d said.
He shrugged minutely, one broad shoulder moving under his shirt. He’d taken off his jacket and tie, so his shirt was open to reveal the strong, bronzed column of his throat.
‘She seems …’ Leo grimaced. ‘Sweet. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that she and Stavros are genuinely in love.’
Angel really tensed then, and tried to pull away, but Leo was like a steel wall around her, not letting her go anywhere.
She whispered up at him fiercely, ‘They are in love, and have been for ever. They were childhood sweethearts.’
‘Cute,’ Leo said, clearly not impressed.
Angel hesitated, and then said in a rush, ‘The reason they needed to get married so quickly is because Delphi is nearly four months pregnant. Stavros’s family were never going to sanction a marriage with a Kassianides. Stavros wanted to elope with Delphi, but she wouldn’t let him do that.’
Leo quirked a brow. Angel bit her lip. She’d gone too far now to turn back.
‘His family would have disinherited him and cut him off.’
Angel saw the cynical gleam come into Leo’s eye and colour bloomed in her cheeks as she asserted passionately, ‘It’s not like that. Delphi couldn’t care less about Stavros’s inheritance, but he wants to get into politics and she didn’t want to be responsible for causing a rift in his family.’
‘And yet now, no matter what you say, she—and you by proxy—will be fine, secure in the wealth of her new husband.’
Angel finally managed to pull away from Leo with a violent tug, disappointed at how hurt she was at this evidence of his bitter cynicism. ‘Believe what you want, Leo. Someone like you will never know that kind of pure love.’
And before he could grab her back she’d spun on her spindly heels and was threading through the couples on the dance floor and out to the lobby. Leo raked a hand through his hair, aware of eyes on him. Aware of the way females were starting to circle, sensing an opening. Beyond irritated, and not even sure why, he pushed through the crowd and went to the bar—but not before he glanced to his right and saw the happy couple.
They were sitting apart from everyone else, in a corner, smiling. Stavros had his hand on Delphi’s belly and her hand was over his, and they shared a look of such private intensity that Leo’s step almost faltered. Right now they looked nothing like what he’d just described; he felt guilty—as if he’d tarnished something.
Delphi was like Angel only in height and build; the younger sister had obviously inherited her father’s stronger features and dark eyes, while Angel must have inherited her Irish mother’s more delicate features and colouring.
Leo thought then of what it must have been like to lose their sister, Delphi’s twin … At that moment he saw Ari and Lucy Levakis approach and smile a greeting, and for once he was glad of the distraction. Seeing Angel’s family was throwing up far too many contradictions.
When Angel felt composed enough she came back into the ballroom, and was surprised to see Leo dancing a traditional Greek dance with the rest of the men. She was still burningly angry with him, but she melted inside when she saw the wide grin on his face. He looked so powerfully sensual doing the dance movements that she couldn’t help smile. Just then her arm was grabbed in a punishing grip, and she let out a gasp of pain. Her father.
‘We need to have a little chat. I’ve missed you, daughter, and you’ve been very busy since I saw you last.’
Alcohol fumes wafted over Angel, making her feel sick. She tried to wrench her arm away but her father held on. ‘No, we don’t. There was no way I was going to let you get away with stealing that man’s will.’
Her father sneered. ‘So you ran straight to lover-boy and handed it back. Don’t think you’re going to get away with this, Angel, I’m not finished with—’
Just then Delphi came up and pulled her away. Angel sent her sister a relieved glance as they left their father swaying drunkenly, looking after them murderously. Now that Delphi would be living with Stavros Angel knew she’d never have to see her father again if she didn’t want to. The relief was immense, and she gave Delphi a quick, impetuous kiss.
It was the turn of the women now, and the men sat and watched as they all lined up and danced. Angel had taken off her shoes, and was laughing as she bumped into Delphi. She caught Leo’s eyes as he watched from the sidelines. She found she couldn’t look away, the intensity on his face holding her captive as she made the steps that she knew by heart. That every Greek person knew by heart.
It felt like the most primitive of mating rituals. When the music died away and the DJ started again, Delphi whispered to Angel, saying cheekily, ‘If those looks are anything to go by, Leo won’t be letting you wait around to say goodbye …’
Angel knew her sister was heading off on honeymoon the next day, so she wouldn’t see her for at least a few weeks. She felt very bereft after looking out for her for so long. She also felt uncharacteristically sad for herself; her mother had abandoned her at such an early age, her father had always resented her, and any day now Leo would be turning around and telling her he’d had enough. She felt a little like a piece of flotsam and jetsam, about to be rushed downstream by an oncoming current.
But Leo was standing in front of her. She saw he was holding his jacket. ‘Ready to go?’
Angel nodded, feeling incredibly weary all of a sudden. She did not want another run-in with her father, so she got her shoes and let Leo take her hand to lead her out.
Two days after the wedding Leo walked into the villa and, after putting his briefcase in the study, strode across the hall, heading for the room Angel used as a workshop. Anticipation was fizzing in his blood. He’d come home early the day before and stood watching her for a long time before she’d noticed his presence.
Once again he’d found himself reacting helplessly to her, his eyes devouring her slim figure in a white vest and battered loose dungarees folded at the waist. Intent on her task, with her hair in a high knot and big protective glasses on, she shouldn’t have been so alluring, but she had been. The fact that his control around her was as woeful as ever had made him feel vulnerable.
All sorts of contradictory feelings were running through Leo now. He’d seen her talking to her father at the wedding; well, to be more accurate, he’d seen her father talking to her, and it had looked extremely intense. It had made him suspect that perhaps they’d known that that would be their only chance to meet, hence the fervour. And then he’d seen her conspiratorial looks and smiles with her sister. No matter that he’d revised his opinion of his sister’s motives for getting married, suddenly he doubted himself again.
The facts were still stark: he’d caught her in the act of theft. A detail which seemed to be getting conveniently forgotten far too often. Something hardened inside Leo.
Just then Calista came out of another room nearby. She stopped him in his tracks and asked with a worried look on her face, ‘Have you seen Angel?’
He shook his head, feeling irrationally self-conscious. ‘No, not yet.’
Calista pointed back to the main part of the house. ‘She’s in the kitchen.’
Calista bustled off and Leo just stared after her. What was going on? And what was Angel doing in the kitchen?
Leo strode towards the kitchen, irritation spiking. He found that all the doubts that had begun to assail him had got stronger and stronger. The feeling that perhaps he’d been even more of a monumental fool than he’d thought. Angel and Delphi had got the wedding they’d wanted; he’d taken Angel into his bed. Were she and her father plotting right now to do something—? He stopped at the kitchen door when he saw Angel at the counter by the sink.
Her back was to him, but there was a set to her shoulders that seemed awfully fragile. She was dressed in a T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. He glanced at his watch. They were due to go out to a film premiere in less than an hour, but Angel was nowhere near ready. Though he had to concede she got ready more quickly than any woman he’d ever known; she never played silly games and kept him waiting for the grand entrance.
He walked in and saw her shoulders tense. Her hair was down and she didn’t turn around. In light of his recent thoughts he felt anger start to bubble down low. He wasn’t used to being so sceptical of his decisions. He remembered that night in the kitchen, telling her all about his mother.
It made his voice harsh now as he came round and saw her profile, saw that she was making some kind of meatballs. That domesticity rankled. ‘We’re going out this evening.’
Angel didn’t turn to look at him; she just said in a quiet voice, ‘If you don’t mind I’d like to stay in tonight. I’m tired. But you go out.’
Something about her was so intensely vulnerable that it made the hardness swell in Leo’s chest. If she thought she was going to start playing games with him now … ‘Angel, we have an agreement. Just because your sister got the wedding she wanted it does not mean your job as my mistress is finished.’
Angel flinched minutely, as if stung. She sent Leo a quick glance without really looking at him. ‘Look, it’s just for this evening. I really am tired.’
Something about the tenseness of her stance struck him then, and the tightness in her voice. Something was wrong. Instinctively Leo put out a hand and wrapped it around Angel’s arm. She tensed, so rigid that he frowned. ‘Angel … what—?’
He had to exert pressure to get her to turn around and face him. He put two hands on her arms now, exasperation lacing his voice. ‘Angel, what’s got into you?’
She was looking down, hair covering her face. Leo put a finger under her chin and tipped her face up. Something caught his eye, and for a second he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then something primal exploded out of him. ‘What the hell is that?’