Modern Romance May 2020 Books 5-8

She followed him over to the steps that led down into the infinity pool. He tugged her along gently and she stepped in, the water a cold shock against her sun-heated skin.

He led her down until the water reached the tops of her thighs.

‘Take my hands, keep coming.’

Sasha looked at Apollo. She took a breath and put her hands in his. He kept pulling her in until the water lapped up around her chest. She sucked in a breath.

‘Now, come onto your front and just let me pull you along.’

Sasha shook her head, suddenly scared. ‘I’ll sink.’

‘You won’t. I’ll be holding you. Your body is buoyant in the water. Trust me.’

Something about his voice was so...reassuring. So implacable. Sasha literally had no choice but to do as he said. She leant forward, putting her chest in the water, and suddenly her feet were off the bottom and she was floating and being pulled along, on the surface of the water, by Apollo.

When she realised she was no longer touching the bottom she panicked, her fingers tightening around his. ‘Don’t let me go.’

‘I won’t. Just keep looking at me and kick your legs.’

She kept her eyes on his, and did as he asked, tentatively kicking her legs. She could feel herself being propelled forward. Apollo leant back. ‘Keep going, that’s it.’

They went around and around the pool while Sasha got used to the sensation of being in the water, kicking her legs. It moved like silk along her body. No longer cold. Pleasantly warm.

After a while, Apollo stopped in the middle of the pool. He said, ‘I’m going to let your hands go now. But I’ll be right here. Just keep kicking your legs and use your hands and arms like this to move through the water.’

He mimed doing the doggy paddle.

Before she could protest, or say anything, Apollo was letting go and moving backwards, away from her. Sheer instinct kicked in and Sasha’s arms moved of their own volition in a sloppy kind of movement, along with her legs. It was several seconds before she realised that she was following Apollo as he trod water on his back, moving away from her all the time.

She stopped and promptly started to sink once she’d stopped using her arms and legs. She couldn’t touch the bottom here and her head went under the water. Immediately she felt strong hands under her arms, hauling her up before she could start panicking. She broke the surface, spluttering and coughing. ‘You tricked me!’

He held her securely as her heart beat frantically. ‘You were swimming, Sasha, and you didn’t even notice.’

Her legs were scissoring back and forth as she took that in. Impulsively she said, ‘Let me go again, I want to check something.’

‘Are you sure?’

She nodded. He let her go and she moved her arms and legs frantically. Euphoria gripped her. ‘I’m not sinking!’ She had to be making the most graceless fool of herself but she was elated with this tiny success.

Then Apollo smiled. And suddenly Sasha’s body stopped functioning and she slipped beneath the surface again.

When Apollo pulled her up this time she was choking with embarrassment, not water. The effect of his smile had almost drowned her. He was frowning now. ‘Okay?’

She nodded, just then realising that his hands were under her arms, brushing the sides of her breasts. The corded muscles of his arms were like steel under her palms.

They were very close. So close that Sasha could see the darker flecks of green in Apollo’s eyes. The start of fresh stubble on his jaw. Droplets of water clung to his skin. The dark curling hair lightly dusted his chest.

The air between them became charged. And she watched as his gaze seemed to fixate on her mouth and then drop, colour flaring across his cheeks. He muttered one word: ‘Theos.’

Sasha looked down too, and saw what he was looking at. The swimsuit had turned translucent in the water and she could see the pink buds of her nipples and the pebbled areolae as clearly as if she were naked.

Her entire body flooded with heat and she became all too aware of Apollo’s naked flesh. All she’d have to do was bend her head forward and press her mouth to his chest. She wanted to taste his skin.

He muttered something else in Greek and started to tug Sasha back towards the steps. Her body felt like jelly. She wasn’t sure if she could ever stand again. Apollo still had his hands under her arms and he moved her so that she was sitting on the steps leading down into the water.

He loomed over her, hands either side of her body. She was half in, half out of the water.

‘What are you doing to me, witch? All I can think about is having you again.’

Sasha struggled to make her brain work but it wouldn’t form coherent thoughts. All she could see was him and that sculpted mouth. She wanted it on hers. She was jealous of her body because it knew how it had felt to make love to him. But she didn’t.

‘Please, Apollo.’

‘What is it, little flame? What do you want?’

Little flame.

It echoed in her head. He’d called her that before. He’d been lying beside her on a bed and her hair had been in his hand and he’d said, ‘It’s like a living flame...’

She forced her mouth to work. ‘You... I want you.’

He brought a hand to her shoulder and with excruciating slowness pulled the strap of her swimsuit down. Anticipation prickled across her skin in goosebumps.

He dragged down the top of the swimsuit, baring her breast. He looked at it for a long moment before cupping it in his hand, a thumb rubbing her nipple, making her gasp.

And then he bent his head and his mouth surrounded her nipple in hot, wet heat. The same kind of heat she could feel between her legs. She tried to push them together to stem the tide, but Apollo was between them, his mouth on her breast and his hand moving down to cup her bottom, hitching her against him.

Apollo had gone past the point of restraint. Past the point of his last shred of control. He rolled the taut bud of Sasha’s nipple in his mouth, feeling it swell and harden even more against his tongue. He nipped at her flesh gently with his teeth and then laved her with his tongue again.

Her body was quivering against him, like a taut bowstring. He dragged the rest of her swimsuit down and lavished attention on her other breast. When he pulled back both peaks were pink and wet. She was lying back, panting, her hair spreading in long skeins of red-gold in the water. She was like a sea nymph. A siren. Luring him to his downfall. But right now he didn’t care about any of that.

He was throbbing with need—seeking a fulfilment he’d thought couldn’t possibly be as earth-shattering as he remembered. But tasting her skin, feeling her shudder against him in response, he knew it hadn’t been a one-off.

He looked down into unfocused blue eyes. Dark with desire. Bee-stung lips. A distant sane part of his mind couldn’t believe he was capitulating like this but he was only human and he couldn’t resist...

‘I want you, Sasha.’

Sasha looked up at Apollo. He eclipsed the sun and the sky. She’d never felt so attuned to someone else. The words he spoke resonated through her entire body.

‘I want you too...’

His gaze dropped down over her body and he pulled her swimsuit up over her breasts, the wet material chafing against her sensitive breasts. She shivered slightly and he looked at her. ‘Okay?’

She nodded, hands gripping his arms. ‘Please... Apollo.’ She wasn’t even sure what she was asking for, just knew that she needed to be with this man in the most elemental way. Now.

He muttered something in Greek and gathered her into his arms, standing up from the water. But just as he was about to walk towards the villa he stopped.

Sasha was about to ask, What is it? when she heard the noise. The distinct thwack-thwack of a helicopter’s blades. Apollo tensed. He cursed. Then Sasha saw it—the black spider shape of the machine, coming closer to the island.

Apollo walked over to the loungers, carrying her as easily as if she weighed no more than a bag of sugar. He put her down on her feet and she had to lock her knees to keep upright. He handed her the kaftan and said, ‘Put this on.’

The sensual desperation that had been so urgent between them only moments ago now seemed like a mirage. Apollo looked grim. Sasha pulled on the kaftan, feeling the need to hide herself a little. Especially when she thought of how needy she’d just felt.

Still felt.

‘What is it?’

Apollo looked at her and ran a hand through his hair. ‘I forgot. The party in Santorini tonight. I arranged with the pilot to transport us to the party and back later.’

‘Us?’

‘Yes.’ There was a burning intensity in his dark green gaze that made Sasha shiver all over again. He reached out and tipped up her chin with a finger, just as the whining roar of the helicopter’s blades died down in the distance.

‘You’re coming with me. I know what you did and I can never forgive you for that, but, God help me, I want you, agapi mou. We will finish what we just started.’

Sasha jerked her chin free, his arrogant words setting something alight inside her. ‘Maybe I don’t want to finish what we started. Why would I allow someone who doesn’t even like me to make love to me?’

She realised she was feeling hurt. And that was humiliating.

Apollo was shaking his head. ‘This goes way beyond like. This is pure chemistry and I don’t think either one of us is strong enough to resist it.’

Sasha felt conflicted. Torn between wanting to throw caution to the wind and acquiesce to his arrogant assertion that they would finish this, and wanting to pull back and defend herself against his mistrust.

There was a sound and Sasha tore her gaze from his to see Olympia appear. The woman said something in Greek to Apollo. He answered and then said to Sasha, ‘Go with Olympia, she will help you to get ready.’

After a moment when she felt ridiculously like a petulant teenager wanting to stamp her foot, Sasha followed the woman back into the villa. Who was she kidding? Apollo was right. There was a force of nature between them powerful enough to make her feel awed.

She felt an awful sense of futility because she knew that even in spite of Apollo’s mistrust and all that had happened, if he so much as touched her again, she wouldn’t have the strength or will to deny him. Or herself.

CHAPTER SEVEN

APOLLO WAS WAITING for Sasha outside the villa, by the golf buggy. She wasn’t late but his skin prickled all over. He’d gone beyond the point of no return earlier, and there was no way now that he could, or would, deny himself where Sasha was concerned.

However inconvenient it was, he wanted her and he would have her until she was burnt out of his system once and for all.

He heard a noise behind him and turned around but nothing could have prepared him for the vision searing itself onto his retinas.

It was a deceptively simple dress. Off-white, sleeveless, it dipped in a V between her breasts, with narrow gold straps criss-crossing across her bodice, highlighting her high firm breasts and narrow torso.

It fell from her waist in soft billowing folds to the floor. Her hair was caught up in a bun, a plain gold band holding it back from her face.

She looked like a Greek goddess. Albeit with red hair, and pale skin and freckles. She made him think of the myth of Helen of Troy. Achilles, his brother, had used to love that story.

She indicated the dress. ‘Kara packed it, is it okay?’

Apollo looked at her suspiciously. She was genuinely uncertain. Did she really have no idea how stunning she was?

‘You look beautiful.’

Her face went pink. ‘I... Thank you.’

Apollo desperately wanted to resist this act of innocence. It had to be an act. But his gut told him it wasn’t. No one could keep up an act like this without slipping.

He couldn’t stop imagining peeling that dress off her later, revealing her breasts to his gaze. Pulling up the layers of chiffon to find the centre of her body where she would be hot and—Enough.

The sooner he’d had his fill of her, the better. As soon as this crazy heat dissipated between them he’d move her into an apartment in Athens for the duration of the time it took for the divorce to be finalised. He would be done with her.

They reached the resort just as the sun was dropping in the sky. The was a palpable air of anticipation among the crowd assembled, the women tanned and lithe and beautiful, and the men in their suits.

She still hadn’t fully regained her breath from the view as they’d descended over Santorini with its distinctive white and blue buildings perched precariously on cliffs over the caldera—an underwater crater—which had been formed in a volcanic eruption.

Not to mention the sheer magnificence of Apollo in a dark bespoke suit and white shirt. It was open at the neck, and he oozed casual masculine elegance and a raw sex appeal that reminded her of how needy she’d felt earlier, at the pool.

A hostess greeted them and handed them glasses of champagne. ‘Welcome, you’re just in time to view the stunning sunset. Please, make yourselves comfortable.’

The delicate layers of chiffon in her dress whispered around Sasha’s legs. She’d never felt like a princess before, but she felt like one now. Kara had somehow unearthed this dress from all the more revealing ones in Sasha’s wardrobe in Athens and for once she felt as if she was in something she might have chosen for herself.

Which was a weird thought to have...who else could have chosen her clothes?

Apollo took her elbow at that moment and led her over to where a terrace jutted out over the cliff edge, nothing but a stone wall between them and certain death. Sasha took a sip of champagne to try and alleviate the nerves jumping in her belly.

She pointed to a nearby town. ‘That’s Oia?

‘Yes. That’s where everyone goes to watch the sunset...give it a few minutes, you’ll see why.’

They stood in companionable silence as more and more of the guests started to join them along the terrace wall. The sun was dipping lower now, casting out an orange and pink glow into the vast sky.

Sasha could see how the sun was bathing Oia in a warm golden glow, making the white buildings look even whiter. And then the sun touched the horizon and the world was bathed in pink and orange and apricot. It seemed to fill the entire sky and Sasha could see thousands of flashes coming from cameras and phones in Oia.

‘It’s stunning,’ she breathed, deeply touched by the natural phenomenon. And then just as quickly the sun was gone, leaving behind the faintest of pink trails and a bluish gloaming. Lights started to come on in Oia, like fairy lights in a string.

Reluctantly Sasha left the view behind to follow Apollo as they were led around the resort on a private tour. It was beautiful. Idyllic. A place for romance and decadence.

When they were seated at a series of long trestle tables, beautifully laid out with silverware and wildflower centrepieces, Apollo asked her, ‘So, what do you think?’

Sasha swallowed a piece of delicious herb-infused fish. ‘You want my opinion? But I don’t know anything about this kind of thing.’

He shrugged. ‘Still...indulge me.’

She took a drink of water and wiped her mouth with a napkin, hiding how pleased she was that Apollo cared for her opinion. ‘I think this is beautiful, luxurious. I know I haven’t seen your resort yet but I don’t have to, to know that it’ll be far quieter than here. Krisakis isn’t overrun with tourists. How long would it take to get to there from here by boat?’

Apollo shrugged again. ‘About two hours.’

‘Krisakis could become a very exclusive day trip or couple of days’ trip from here when it gets too frenetic. From what I’ve seen, you might not have the stunning geology of the caldera but you have peace and solitude and that counts for a lot.’

Apollo tipped his head to one side and regarded her. ‘Not a bad assessment and you’re right about Santorini being overrun.’

Again, Sasha was embarrassed by how Apollo’s regard for her opinion made her feel. Was she so starved for praise?

When the dinner was over, the guests were led down to another level where a DJ was playing salsa music. The happy compelling beat resonated in Sasha’s body. It was infectious.

Apollo pulled out a chair for her at a small table near where couples were already dancing, moving sinuously to the beat. He got her a glass of champagne. ‘Excuse me for a second? There’s someone I see that I need to speak to.’

Sasha feigned a nonchalance she wasn’t feeling to be left on her own. ‘Sure.’

She watched him walk away through the crowd, lithe and graceful, and saw how everyone he passed turn to look. Women especially. Her insides tightened low down when she thought of what he’d said. ‘We will finish what we just started.’ He couldn’t possibly want her that much. Could he?

A sense of insecurity assailed her. This party was peopled by some of the most stunning-looking women Sasha had ever seen. Women that Apollo couldn’t fail to notice. What had happened earlier had been an anomaly. A heated moment.

She looked away from his departing figure and took a sip of her drink in a bid to try and pretend she was part of the wealthy crowd around her. The bubbles fizzed down her throat. That sensation, together with the uplifting music, the warm air, the scents, the vast starry sky, all conspired to make her forget her insecurity, and feel lighter than she’d done in days. Weeks.

Her toe tapped to the music.

‘Come on! You look like you want to dance.’

Sasha looked up to see a young man holding out a hand. He was with another couple, and they were dancing energetically to the music. She immediately drew back, smiling, ‘No, no, I’m just a spectator.’

‘Don’t be silly!’ Before Sasha could object the man had taken her hand and was pulling her up from her seat. She spluttered a surprised laugh and put down her glass, with no choice but to give in to his exuberant invitation.

Apollo frowned as he looked over the heads of the people he was talking to. Sasha wasn’t sitting at the table. Then a flash of billowing white caught his peripheral vision and his breath stopped in his throat.

Sasha was dancing—inexpertly, it had to be admitted—but all the more compelling for that because she was clearly enjoying her efforts, head back, laughing.

She was dancing with a young man who was swinging her round with more enthusiasm than skill. She stood out effortlessly and he could see people stop to look, smiling in spite of themselves at her sheer happiness.

A sense of possessiveness he’d never experienced before rose up before he could deny it.

He was jealous.

And then another emotion, less identifiable, made Apollo’s chest go tight. He remembered she’d smiled like this when they’d first met. She’d captivated him like she was now captivating everyone here. And that’s how she’d sneaked under his guard, by defusing a set of defences he hadn’t even been aware of. A need to be controlled and on guard at all times for fear that the world would pull the rug out from under his feet at the next moment, like it had each time he’d lost a family member.

He’d believed his defences were impenetrable, vowing not to allow anyone to get too close, and certainly never entertaining thoughts of family—until she’d appeared and wreaked havoc.

You let her wreak havoc.

She’d exposed a weakness in him, a need for something he’d denied himself...and she was doing it again.

Yet even now, with this knowledge, he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist her. A spurt of rebelliousness rose up from his gut. Why should he? She owed him...

Even before her dancing companion had noticed him and stopped and turned pale, Sasha was aware of Apollo’s presence a nanosecond beforehand.

He snaked an arm around her waist and in the lull between one song and the next he said, ‘Agapi mou, the next dance is mine.’

Sasha might have laughed at how quickly her dance companion handed her back to Apollo, if her insides weren’t coiling tight with awareness and something much sharper.

Apollo swung her expertly into his arms just as the music slowed to a more sultry beat. He was all around her and she could barely breathe because of her proximity to his tall, whipcord body.

To her relief, he didn’t speak. Didn’t say anything about the man she’d been dancing with, even though she hadn’t missed the tightness of his jaw when he’d appeared to interrupt them. She didn’t think it was for any other reason, though, than because here in public, no matter what had happened between them, she was his wife.

He pulled her close and after a moment of trying and failing to resist sinking against him, Sasha gave in, allowing her body to cleave to his. He held one hand up, and brought it in close between them. Her breasts were pressed against his chest. She stumbled for a moment when she felt the evidence of his arousal against her belly. She looked up and met that dark green gaze.

‘You look surprised.’

Sasha swallowed, her previous sense of insecurity burning away in the face of this evidence. ‘I thought... There are so many beautiful women here...’ She stopped, feeling inarticulate.

‘You thought I wouldn’t want you?’

She couldn’t speak or nod or move, and he stopped moving too so now people danced around them. He said, ‘I won’t stop wanting you till I have you again.’

He let her hand go and cupped her jaw and time was suspended as she waited for his mouth to touch hers. When it did she clutched at his jacket to stay standing. The kiss was all-consuming, and Sasha had no defence for it.

After long drugged moments Apollo broke the contact and pulled back. Sasha opened her eyes with effort, everything blurry for a moment. He was looking at her with a harsh expression on his face. ‘What do you do to me?’

She had no answer because she could ask him the same question. A sense of urgency seemed to infuse the air around them. Apollo took her by the hand to lead her off the dance floor.

He stopped next to a couple of people and exchanged a few words and then they were sitting into the back of a car and being driven back to the helipad where the helicopter was waiting.

The short journey back to Krisakis felt like a dream and Sasha purposely kept her mind blank as if that could help to not think about what was to happen, because she was in no doubt where this evening would end. In the reality of Apollo’s arms and bed. Not a dream of a hazy memory.

All was still and quiet at the villa when they returned. The air was heavy with the scent of night-blooming flowers. Sasha took off her three-inch-heeled sandals and relished the feel of the cool marble floor under her aching feet.

Apollo took off his jacket and draped it over a chair. He walked to the sliding door that led out to the back of the villa. His back was to her and Sasha took a moment to let her eyes linger on his tall, broad form.

He was so beautiful. Her heart gave a funny little skip.

Had she fallen for him after sleeping with him that first time?

Was that why she’d engineered a fake pregnancy? Because she’d been so desperate to cling to him by any means?

Was she in love with him now? Her heart thumped. She knew he consumed her on every level. And she wanted him with a fierce desire she didn’t even really understand. The thought of him casting her out of his life made her feel breathless with pain. Not fear. So it had nothing to do with the memory loss.