The Greek's Virgin Temptation

‘Because you need to get it off your chest?’

Pressing her lips down, she shrugged.

‘Were you engaged for long?’

He could see her wondering whether to say another word, but then her armour cracked and she revealed, ‘If I tell you, you’ll laugh.’

‘Try me,’ he challenged.

‘All right, I will. I’m an artist, recently graduated from studying at college in London. My first art exhibition was held straight out of college. No one, least of all me, could have predicted what a success it would be. My ex-fiancé is an older man whom I’ve known pretty much all my life. He’s my best friend’s older brother. Anyway,’ she added, brushing off unpleasant memories, he guessed, ‘he came to the gallery on the last night when there was nothing left to buy. I think we were both amazed...buoyed up...excited by what had happened. And he proposed to me there and then.’

‘And you agreed to marry him there and then?’

‘Yes. It does sound stupid now,’ she agreed wearily, ‘but sometimes life pushes you down a path you don’t expect, because the past is steering you.’

‘Is that what happened in your case?’

She looked at him for a few long moments and then said, ‘I’m done. I’m not going to tell you anything else.’

‘Quite right,’ he agreed reluctantly.

Life choices. And where had they got her? Kimmie huffed inwardly as she realised that in the personal sense her choices had been disastrous. She’d jumped at the chance to marry Mike, thinking she would be laughing in the face of the past. She could see now he’d caught her at the very best...no, the very worst possible moment.

‘So your fiancé cheated on you?’ Kris guessed shrewdly.

‘What brilliant powers of deduction.’

‘A bride without a groom,’ he added, unfazed by her sarcasm. ‘How unfortunate.’

‘Some would call it lucky.’

‘Do you?’ he asked with a keen stare.

‘I call it a life lesson,’ she admitted.

‘Will it make you bitter?’

‘No,’ she said without hesitation. ‘It will make me cautious, and determined never to make the same mistake again.’

‘Easy to say, harder to do,’ Kris observed.

‘You don’t know me,’ she assured him.

‘That sounds like a challenge,’ he said lazily.

An idea had begun to brew in Kris’s mind. He’d have to explore the possibility a lot more before deciding to progress things further, but this unexpected encounter, coming hot on the heels of a conversation he’d had with his uncle, made him feel as if fate was lending a hand.

‘Well, if you’re not going to join us, I guess I’ll see you around,’ she said pointedly.

‘It will be hard to avoid you on such a small island.’

‘I’ll do my best to stay out of your way.’

‘Starting now?’ he suggested, shooting a meaningful glance at her friends.

She sighed. ‘Not that again. I promise we’ll be ultra-careful. I’ll be personally responsible for making sure that every grain of sand is returned to its rightful place before we leave.’

He huffed a laugh. She’d won. Whether that was because she was so unusual, or because she’d stood up to him, he didn’t know and didn’t care.

‘Make sure you do that,’ he warned lightly. ‘Or you’ll answer to me.’

The blush on her face suggested that wasn’t an entirely unwelcome proposition. She was extremely attractive, like no one he’d ever met before. He liked a challenge and he admired her grit. With their stares locked in mutual interest, he wondered if her body ached like his. Animals would have cut to the chase by now, but humans were bound by rules of convention. Getting to know her would take time.

‘Why don’t you introduce me around?’ he suggested.

CHAPTER TWO

WHAT WAS SHE getting herself into now? Kimmie wondered as she introduced Kris to her friends. Was her brain so fried after finding two people she had trusted in bed together that she was more than capable of acting out of character to the point of being reckless? There was a sense of unreality about things, of not quite touching base with events that seemed to be floating over her head. Frying pan and fire came to mind. She stared at Kris, who was behaving quite differently to the autocratic tyrant he’d initially seemed on the beach. What had changed him? Why was he being so charming? Did Kris have an angle too?

‘He’s really nice,’ one of her friends said.

‘Look what I found on the beach is a great opener when the flotsam looks like Kris,’ Kimmie admitted.

She’d tried the conventional kind of relationship and look how that had turned out, Kimmie mused as Kris continued to talk easily to her friends. Perhaps it was time to try something different.

What? Now? Get real! And as if she’d get the chance!

But for someone who had spent most of her life dreaming, and putting those dreams down on paper and canvas, there was no harm in looking, as she watched Kris mingle and charm. He wasn’t predatory, and some of her single female friends were very pretty, nor was he condescending with the men. He was just a great guy...or he appeared to be. Perhaps he didn’t have an agenda and she was just being neurotic, but appearances could be deceptive, Kimmie thought as she remembered Mike.

Around half an hour in, Kris was ready to leave. ‘Do we have to go when you go?’ Kimmie asked, concern building as she noticed how much her friends had relaxed since he’d arrived. They’d been distracted from her troubles by something new, and she was grateful for that because now they could really enjoy themselves without forcing the fun for her sake.

‘Your friends don’t have to go,’ he said, ‘but you do.’

‘Me? I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying with my friends.’

‘Then you can all leave,’ Kris said flatly.

His tone was light and conversational, but the expression in his eyes said something different. ‘Come on,’ he prompted with a gesture.

Was she a puppy to be led away? She might be suffering the aftershock of betrayal, but she hadn’t lost her mind completely.

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ she assured him, digging her feet into the sand.

Of all the reactions she might have expected, an easy smile was not on the list. ‘Don’t you want to come with me?’

A host of forbidden pleasures flew into her mind, but she had the sense to discard all of them. She’d thought Mike was safe, and look what had happened. Kris didn’t even pretend to be the safe option, with that gladiator’s body, tattoos and a single small gold hoop in his ear. He was danger personified.

Wasn’t he exactly the type of distraction she needed right now? It seemed to work for her friends.

Because their emotions weren’t battered and bruised, she reasoned. Standing close enough to Kris to imagine the heat of his sun-warmed body embracing her was warning enough. Warm, clean, spicy—strong white teeth, Hollywood pristine, with the fire of the devil in his eyes? That was everything she didn’t need.

‘I thought you might like to talk some more,’ he said.

She ground her jaw. It wasn’t like her to be indecisive, but it wasn’t like her to take such an almighty risk, either.

‘We’ll just walk somewhere close by and talk,’ he suggested.

Talking was safe, she persuaded herself as they set off down the beach.

Yes, but why would he take the trouble to do that? ‘Where are we going?’

She turned to glance at her friends. They’d noticed her leaving the party, and they’d taken a pretty good look at Kris, who hadn’t even tried to hide himself away, so she felt reasonably confident that she could handle this as they started to climb up the dune.

‘Too fast for you?’ he asked, stopping to wait for her to catch up. With his black stare fixed on her face and his firm mouth curving faintly, Kris was quite a sight, and surely he had to know the havoc he was creating in her fastidiously prepared wedding day body?

She was glad for the chance to catch her breath. Maybe talking to a stranger like Kris would sort things out in her head. There was so much emotion roiling around inside her it was like having a lava plug waiting to blow.

‘Make like Scheherazade,’ Kris suggested, curbing a smile. ‘Keep me entertained and you’ll buy more time on the beach for your friends.’

‘As long as it’s only talking,’ she said warily.

‘Obviously.’

‘Okay then,’ she agreed as they set off again.

‘God, you’re annoying,’ she whispered under her breath as Kris’s smile broke through his reserve. So why was she still here? Because there was annoying and then there was Kris, Kimmie concluded as he held out a hand to haul her up the last few yards of the sand dune.

* * *

Kimmie’s resilience was something else. Stubborn to a fault, he’d never liked a pushover and she would push back. She was out of breath when they reached the top, so he waited before starting down the other side of the dune. Before they disappeared out of sight she shot one last look at her friends, as if to reassure herself they were still close by.

‘Some people might expect a jilted bride to sit at home sobbing,’ he observed, steadying her as she slithered down the slope.

‘But I’m not at home,’ she pointed out, ‘and I’ve got guests to entertain.’

‘You’ve succeeded, as far as I can tell, so stop beating yourself up.’

‘Who says I’m doing that?’

‘I believe I did.’

‘So I can’t hide anything from you?’ she queried with a lift of her finely drawn brow.

‘No,’ he said flatly, ‘so don’t even try.’

He led the way to one of nature’s indentations in the sand. ‘This will do,’ he said. ‘Feel free to unburden yourself.’

‘Just talking,’ she said again with a warning look.

‘There’s nothing else on the table,’ he assured her.

Who are you, just Kimmie? he wondered. And where did you learn to stand up for yourself like this? The unicorn inked on her shoulder backed up her story of being an artist, a creative, a dreamer, and not his type at all. He went for older, more experienced women who knew the score. They used him as he used them, for sex and pleasurable outings, no strings attached on either side.

‘I am going to pull you up on something,’ she said as they settled down in the dip of sand.

‘Only one thing?’ he murmured dryly, starting to get the hang of Kimmie’s thinking.

‘Yes. If you read the small print on the sign, it describes this area as a wildlife reserve accessible only by permission of the owner, so what are you doing here?’

‘I have permission but, unfortunately, not on me at this moment.’

‘As I can see,’ she said, cheeks pinking up as she pointedly avoided looking at his almost naked body. ‘It just doesn’t seem fair that you can come here and we can’t.’

‘Change the subject,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m bored with that topic.’

‘Oh, well, I’m very sorry about that—’ She gasped as he caught hold of her. ‘And what are you doing now?’

Staring into her eyes, he held her just far enough away for Kimmie to imagine he was going to kiss her. She was romantic enough to believe it and that could be useful if he decided to progress this. Thinking about his uncle’s diktat that Kris should find a bride fast, it was hard not to laugh out loud. He couldn’t imagine his uncle had someone like Kimmie in mind. Bright, independent and very much with a mind of her own, he doubted she’d see much merit in marrying him.

Marrying him?

What the hell was he thinking now? He didn’t know her well enough. Yes, he could get to know her, and he had no doubt that would make his uncle happy. Succession planning, Theo Kaimos had said before Kris left Athens for Kaimos. It’s time you stopped tomcatting around and found yourself a decent woman. Kris didn’t want to disappoint the man who’d brought him up like a son, but he had pointed out that the type of woman his uncle had in mind didn’t just drop out of the sky.

Maybe they washed up on a beach?

Dismissing that thought, he turned his attention back to Kimmie.

* * *

Kris hadn’t kissed her, and now she felt such a fool because she’d been so sure he was going to. Worse, she’d been going to let him. Her emotions were all over the place. Was she destined to be a victim of circumstance forever, or would she grab hold of life again at some point and drive forward?

‘Where are you going?’ Kris asked as she stood up.

‘Back to my friends.’

‘But we haven’t started talking yet.’

‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind.’

‘And maybe you shouldn’t do that.’

He sprang up too, and his hands were gentle on her shoulders. Just for a moment she wanted to sink into that feeling. It felt so good to have someone strong who might actually listen to what she had to say, someone who might take hold of her if or when she was falling. But that was another fantasy, though this was what she’d been longing for all day, a quiet place and a chance to think things through. Getting away from people who knew her too well was actually a relief. However hard her friends tried to hide it, she knew they felt sorry for her and the last thing she needed was pity. What she needed was to work things out, get back on her feet, and get back out there fighting. Her plan to dance wildly and party like a demon until the sight of Mike and Janey going at it like rabbits had been ejected from her head was pathetic, and wouldn’t have helped. It would just have made her feel worse.

And this wasn’t a mistake? Kimmie thought as Kris’s customary rock-hard expression softened a little in a way that suggested he might kiss her when he judged the moment right. Naturally her body thought this was a great idea, and only common sense was left behind.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, seeing her frown.

There were so many answers to that question it was safer not to speak at all. When she stared into his eyes all her problems seemed to disappear. Kris was compelling in a way she’d never encountered before, which made it totally useless telling herself that, having spent all her adult life shying away from forming more intimate relationships, she was going to forget all her fears now.

‘Are you frightened of sex? Is that why your fiancé was unfaithful to you?’

‘Wow!’ She drew her head back with surprise. ‘You don’t hold back, do you?’

Kris shrugged. ‘It’s a simple question.’

‘And one you have no right to know the answer to.’

He conceded this with a dip of his head, but the steady beam of his eyes didn’t let up.

‘I think it’s probably time I went back now,’ she stated.

‘If you want, or you can tell me more. It’s entirely up to you. I’m in no hurry,’ Kris assured her.

‘What do you want to hear about?’

‘You could start with your early childhood.’

‘What are you? A shrink?’

‘No, but I know which buttons to press. So tell me or don’t. It’s up to you. Shall we sit down again?’ he suggested when she remained silently brooding.

‘Can I trust you?’ she said at last.

Kris shrugged. ‘Time will tell. Meanwhile, what do you have to lose?’

‘Not much,’ she agreed with a humourless laugh.

‘Then we’ll begin.’

‘I have a few questions for you first.’

‘Shoot.’ Leaning back on his elbows, he waited for her to begin.

‘I just want to know—are you a local fisherman perhaps working as crew when fish are scarce?’

He burst out laughing.

‘Are you or not?’ she pressed.

Kris’s eyes were still dancing with laughter. ‘I’m your sultan and you’re Scheherazade buying time for your friends, remember.’

‘Like you said, I’m bored with that story.’

‘Me too.’ Resting back, he waited.

‘I can’t be long or my friends will send out a search party,’ she warned.

‘I doubt that somehow. They know where you are and who you’re with.’ Kimmie was changing her mind about telling him anything more, he guessed, and that was a shame. She had to want to tell him and if he didn’t learn about her he couldn’t pursue the admittedly wild idea that Kimmie might prove to be the answer to his uncle’s request. ‘Do you want to spoil their fun?’

‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I don’t.’ She followed this by glancing in the direction of the music blowing on the wind in short, irregular bursts.

It must have occurred to Kimmie that she was with a man she hardly knew. It was his duty to reassure her. ‘Chapter One. Kimmie’s Life Story...’ he murmured.

‘Okay,’ she murmured back.

‘Talking things out is therapeutic,’ he reassured.

It took a while for Kimmie to get into her stride, but eventually the fact that she was opening up to a relative stranger became less important than opening up. It was like lancing a wound. Once the pus came oozing out, it started to flow faster and faster, and with each new fact the telling became easier. And it wasn’t all doom and gloom. She had lots of anecdotes about her childhood that made her laugh as she looked back.

He didn’t laugh. He remained quite still, listening intently.

CHAPTER THREE

‘SO YOUR FIRST memory is...?’

‘Staring at a brass poker while having my nappy changed,’ she joked, ‘but I’m not sure you want to hear that.’

He laughed. ‘Moving on. Let’s try for something else.’

‘Okay, then... I’m in a dark room, crawling on the floor...’

‘Crawling in your bedroom?’ he prompted.

‘No, I don’t think so.’ She screwed up her face as she thought back. ‘It doesn’t smell nice and there are empty bottles on the floor. It’s sticky. I remember picking up a cigarette butt, though I didn’t know what it was at the time. There was a lipstick stain on the end of it that made me think of my mother. I put it down again because it smelled nasty. And now I remember I was hungry... I wanted something to eat, and I’m cold—’

‘Okay.’ Shocked, he cut her off. ‘Why don’t we leave it there? I didn’t mean you to relive a time when you were frightened and alone, and I apologise for pushing you. You must think me insensitive.’

‘No, I think you’re curious,’ she said.

‘This isn’t a joke.’

She smiled ruefully. ‘You’re telling me. Or maybe I embellished the tale to keep your interest a little longer so the party could continue...?’

‘I don’t believe that for a minute,’ he said, springing to his feet. ‘Come on...let’s go.’

‘What have I done wrong?’

‘Absolutely nothing,’ he told Kimmie firmly. ‘You’ve done nothing wrong.’

What about his uncle? What about his agreement to at least consider the suggestion that he, Kris, should get married and settle down?

He’d never found himself in a situation where scruples overruled his natural instinct to seduce, but by the time Kimmie had finished relating this first chapter of her life, where she’d clearly had a less than ideal childhood, he was committed to protecting her from further harm, and nothing else.

‘So? How did I do?’ she asked as she stood too. ‘Are my stories good enough to keep your interest so we can let the party continue?’

‘They’re pretty good,’ he said, feeling a pang of anger and pain on her behalf.

‘Are you ready for the next instalment?’

‘Honestly? Not right now.’

‘I’ve bored you,’ she said immediately.

‘Far from it.’ Having appeared so feisty when they’d first met, she now seemed vulnerable in the extreme. Cupping her face, he stared into her eyes. ‘You’re quite the survivor, Kimmie Lancaster.’

‘And more than a match for you,’ she assured him with gusto.

‘Of that I’ve got no doubt,’ he said as he released her and stood back.

He could buy anything on a whim, do anything at a moment’s notice, but he couldn’t match Kimmie. She was unique in a world of grasping insensitivity and he’d be a fool to let her go, but she was clearly a free spirit and he doubted anyone could tame her. That she’d been hurt so badly today had only added to her determination never to be tied down. There wasn’t a chance she’d fall into his arms and marry him just because it suited his uncle. To produce the longed-for heir would be a lot harder than Uncle Theo imagined if Kris decided on Kimmie.

* * *

She’d killed any hope of seduction stone dead, which was good, Kimmie thought. Anything done in the heat of the moment while her emotions were all over the place could only be something to regret. Digging deep into her memory bank as, for some reason, she’d been tempted to do with a man she’d probably never see again, was as futile as dancing wildly on the beach.

When Kris pulled her into his arms, it was a total surprise. The kiss came when she least expected it, and was not what she expected from him at all. There was no pressure, no force, no sudden lunge; he just dipped his head and seduced her with his lips, his mouth lightly against hers. Drugging her with almost gentle kisses, her lips were tingling when he pulled away and she definitely wanted more. Her body urgently demanded more as Kris moved on to lace his fingers through her hair and lowered his head again, almost as though he’d heard her body’s demands. The feeling was sensational, and allowed him to control the teasing kisses and deepen them at will. With each careful penetration her body ached, and he lengthened the kisses until the two of them were bound in a single unit of pleasure. This made her long for a far more intimate invasion, one that would make sensation consume her so she forgot everything else.

Pressing her body against his, she soon realised that Kris’s mastery was everything she’d ever hoped for in a lover, and had given up any expectation of finding. Mike had always put himself first, and had been impatient with Kimmie’s innate fear of intimacy. It was only extremely reluctantly that he’d agreed to Kimmie’s request that they not sleep together until their wedding night. She should have known then that they were heading for disaster.

‘You’re shivering,’ Kris noticed. ‘Has something upset you? You can’t expect me not to feel desire when I’m holding you so close. Are you having second thoughts?’

‘None.’ She was strong. She’d told Kris more about her early childhood than she’d ever told Mike. Even though she hardly knew him, Kris encouraged while Mike dictated—another piece of darkness that had crept up on her silently. Having braced herself for the wedding night, thinking if she could just jump that hurdle everything else would be all right, she knew now that Mike would never have been committed to their marriage. Naively, she’d thought he’d be a good partner, managing the business side of her work while Kimmie painted up a storm. Dreams were just that, she concluded. Childish fantasies. But this was different. Matching her strength against an equally firm-minded man was invigorating, not wearisome or depressing, and the one thing she badly needed to reinvigorate was her pep.

But that didn’t mean losing her grip on reality. She knew nothing about Kris—where he called home, or if he had a family. He might have come from anywhere and could go back there just as fast.

‘You’re not married?’ she asked suddenly.

‘No, or even remotely entangled,’ he reassured her.

* * *

To the deep regret of Uncle Theo, Kris mused silently, and he’d had no plans to change the status quo at the moment, though he did want Kimmie. Bringing her so close he could feel her heart racing against her chest, he sensed her hunger and also her fear. He was so much bigger than she was, though ironically they fit together perfectly. But his main concern was that she had never properly answered his question as to whether she was frightened of sex and, despite her passionate response to his kisses, he felt a hesitation deep inside her, which made him doubly determined not to overwhelm her.

Overwhelm Kimmie? With a lifetime of control under siege, he was the one under pressure. He’d never experienced anything like it. The urge to claim her was eating him up inside. How could anything happen this fast? He didn’t know her. She was a girl on a beach who had told him a few troubling stories. She could be lying about everything to win his sympathy in an attempt to trap him, and she wouldn’t be the first.