Claiming My Hidden Son / Bride Behind The Billion-Dollar Veil

But of course the centrepiece of the huge space was the bed. Emperor-sized, with four solid posts, its only softening effect was the muslin curtains currently tied back with neat ribbons.

Axios released me long enough to toss away extraneous pillows and pull back the luxury spread before he recaptured me. This time both hands went to my waist, his gaze dropping down to where he held me. He muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite catch and when our gazes reconnected flames danced in the dark grey depths.

My knees weakened and I lifted my hands to rest them on his shoulders. He drew me closer while his hands searched along my spine, located the zip to my dress and firmly drew it down.

The dress gaped and he drew in a harsh breath, his gaze trailing over my exposed skin to linger on my barely covered breasts. Through the silk his hands branded my skin, making me squirm with a need to feel them without any barrier. As if he heard my silent wish, he took hold of the straps and eased them down my arms. The material pooled at my feet, leaving me in the scrap of lace panties and matching strapless bra.

One expert flick and the bra was loosened. Instinctively, I moved to catch it. Moved to delay this exquisite madness unfurling inside me.

Axios caught my hand, drew it firmly back to his shoulder. ‘I want to see you, Calypso. I want to see everything.’

Unable to stand the raw fire in his eyes, I fixed my eyes on his chest. On the buttons hiding that steel and muscle from me. Again he read my wants with ease.

‘Take my shirt off, yineka mou.’

Yineka mou. My wife.

Why did my insides dance giddily each time he called me that? Especially when we both knew this was an enforced, transient thing?

‘Don’t keep me waiting.’

The husky nudge brought me back to him. With fingers that had given up being anywhere near steady, I reached for his sleekly knotted tie, tugged it free and released his top shirt button. It was simpler to avoid his eyes as I concentrated on my task, but halfway down, when my fingers brushed his abs, he hissed under his breath.

Impatience etched on his face, he took hold of the expensive cotton and pulled the shirt apart. That raw display of strength tossed another log onto the flames building inside me. By the time he lifted me free of my wedding gown and took the few steps to the bed I’d lost the ability to breathe.

Riveted, I watched him shrug off the shirt, followed by his other clothing, before prowling to the bed. With the ease of a maestro he caught me to him, his fingers sliding up my nape and into my hair to release the three pins that secured the thick strands. His eyes raked my body as he slowly trailed his fingers through my hair. The effect was hot and hypnotising, the need to melt into him surging high.

So when he settled his expert lips over mine all I could do was moan and hold on, shudder in shocking delight when his chest grazed my hardened nipples.

But soon even that grew insufficient. Tentatively I parted my lips, in anticipation of the next decadent sweep of his tongue. When it grazed mine the zap of electricity convulsed my whole body.

Axios tore his lips from mine, incredulous eyes burning into me. ‘You truly are innocent…’ he muttered.

Mercifully, he didn’t require an answer, or he was too impatient. After another searing kiss, in which his tongue breached my lips and brazenly slicked over mine, he trailed his lips over my throat.

Each pathway he claimed over my skin sent a pulse straight between my legs, plumping and heating my core until I thought I would explode. Large hands moulded my breasts, his fingers torturing the peaks. I cried out, my senses threatening to splinter.

The feeling of delving into another dimension, one where only pure pleasure existed, swelled through me, drawing me into a place of wonder. A place where I could give expression to what I was experiencing.

‘That’s…so amazing. How is this feeling possible?’

Had I said that out loud? Axios momentarily froze, but I was too caught up in bliss to find out why. Then his caresses continued, his mouth pressing kisses on my midriff, my belly, along the line of my panties.

When he tugged them down, my breath stalled.

He parted my thighs, trailed kisses up one inner thigh, then another.

‘Your stubble feels…incredible.’

Again I felt him still.

‘Am I doing something wrong? Please…’

Long fingers grazed the swollen nub, sending feverish pleasure racing through my body. Without him close to anchor me I grabbed hold of the sheets. Anything to keep me from disintegrating beneath the force of pleasure ramping through me.

Except that force tripled when his mouth settled with fierce intent on my feminine core. Brazenly, he tasted me with a connoisseur’s expertise, teasing and torturing and dragging me to the brink of madness.

Until a new tightness took hold of me.

‘Ah…it’s too much… I… I can’t take it…’

‘Yes, you can,’ he declared huskily.

His lips went back to wreaking their magic, to piling on that enchantment, until I simply…blew apart.

Bliss such as I’d never known suffused my body, convulsions rippling over me before sucking me under. I was aware of the cries falling from my lips, was aware that Axios had returned to my side, and I gripped him blindly, needing something solid to hang on to.

When he moved away I started to protest before I could stop myself. His kiss settled me for the few moments while he left the bed. The sound of foil ripping barely impinged upon my enchanted calm, my senses only sparking to life when he resumed his overwhelming presence between my thighs.

The intensity of the eyes locked on mine was almost too much to bear. I sought relief elsewhere. But there was none to be found in the wide expanse of his shoulders, the ripped contours of the chest I suddenly yearned to explore with my mouth, or… Theos mou…the fearsomely impressive evidence of his maleness.

The tiniest whimper slipped free. And while it brought an arrogant little twitch to his lips, there was also a slight softening of his fierce regard.

‘Look at me, Calypso.’

The low command brought my gaze back to his. To the lock of hair grazing his eyebrow that I yearned to brush back. The slightly swollen sensual lips I wanted to kiss.

‘Do you want this?’ he asked.

The thought of stopping now was unthinkable. ‘Yes,’ I answered.

He gripped one thigh, parting me with unwavering intent.

The first shallow thrust stilled my breath. The second threw me back to that dimension where only sensation reigned.

Apprehensively, I exhaled. Axios moved his powerful body, withdrawing before penetrating me. Once. Twice.

On the third glide the sting was replaced by a different, jaw-dropping sensation, one that dragged me deeper into that dimension.

‘You’re…so deep. It feels…incredible.’

Above me, Axios hissed, his fingers digging into my thigh as he held himself, still and throbbing, inside me. The sensation was indescribable. But…

‘Why aren’t you moving? Do I need to? Maybe if I roll my hips…’

Tentatively I experimented, then cried out as pleasure rained over me.

‘That was…sensational. I want to… Would you mind if I did it again?’

‘No. I wouldn’t,’ he said thickly, then met my next thrust with an even more powerful one.

What the hell was happening?

I stared down at Calypso. Her eyes were shut in unbound pleasure.

My fraying control took another hit, the feeling that this little witch with her wide streak of innocence that had turned out not to be a clever trick was responsible for my curious state driving confusion through me.

The giving and taking of carnal pleasure was far from new to me but this…

I wanted to tell her to open her eyes. To centre her to me. To—

‘Why are you stopping? Please don’t stop. I want more.’

Her husky, innocent plea ramped up my arousal, the enormity of what was happening lending a savage edge to my hunger I’d never experienced before.

But just to be sure she was right there with me I leaned closer, flicked my tongue over her nipple. ‘Do you like this, Calypso?’

Short blunt nails dug into my back. ‘Yes!’

‘And this?’ I pulled the tight bud into my mouth, suckling her sweet flesh with fervour.

‘Ne. That… You do that so well. I never want it to end.’

Theos. Did she not know what she was doing? That this kind of uncensored commentary could drive a man over the edge?

But she wasn’t doing it with another man. She was doing it with me. The man she was bound to for the next twelve months.

Her husband.

Knowing I was her first shouldn’t be sending such primitive satisfaction through my blood. And yet it was, settling deep inside me with such definitive force it threw up a shock of bewilderment.

I was thankful to avoid examining it in that moment. Because the utter nirvana of taking her, hearing her unfettered pleasure, was creating an unstoppable chain reaction inside me. One that kept me thrusting into her snug heat, my pulse racing to dangerous levels as her delicious lips parted and another torrent of words ran freely.

‘Glykó ouranó… I’m on fire… What you’re doing to me… Please… I need… I need…’

My teeth gritted as I hung on to control with my fingertips. As her sweet body arched beneath mine and her head thrashed on the pillow.

‘You need to let go, Calypso.’ I sounded barely coherent to my own ears.

With a sharp cry she gave herself over to her bliss, her sweet convulsions triggering mine. The depth of my climax left me gasping, the stars exploding across my vision unending.

Leached of all power and control, I collapsed onto the pillows, stunned by the sorcery I’d just experienced. A unique experience I wanted to relive again. Immediately.

Soft arms curved around my waist and I reached for her before I could stop myself—before I could question the wisdom of lingering when I normally exited. Pulling her into me when I normally distanced myself.

I will. In a moment.

Once I’d gathered myself. Once this experience had been dissected and slotted into its proper place.

I would have fought any future attempt by Yiannis Petras to further line his pocket, but Calypso’s way of sealing all avenues had been…better. Pleasurable, even.

Or foolish?

I tensed, unwilling to accept that perhaps I could have found another way. Not succumbed to this bewitchment so readily.

So draw a line under it. Leave!

Her soft breathing feathered over my jaw. Sleep was stealing over her slightly flushed face. The urge to join her whispered over me—another wave of temptation that lingered for far too long, making me close my eyes for several minutes before common sense prevailed.

So what if the sex was sublime? It was just sex. Come tomorrow my life would resume its normal course. This whole day would be behind me.

I’d done my duty. Had ensured Petras would no longer be a threat to my family. For now the night was still young. There was no rush to go anywhere…

Except temptation was ten times stronger when I woke in the early hours of the morning. In the murky light of dawn I caught the faintest glimpse of the slippery slope my grandfather had been led down by another Petras.

A road I couldn’t risk.

I put words to definitive action by rising and leaving the bed, gathering my clothes and walking out of the master bedroom.

Because my business with my wife was over.

CHAPTER THREE

MY TRANSITION FROM sleep to wakefulness was abrupt, bracing in the way that fundamental change manifested itself. Confirmation that I hadn’t dreamt any of it registered in unknown muscles throbbing with new vigour. The sheets also bore evidence of what had happened, and confirmed that Axios had left some time in the night.

Had he chosen to sleep somewhere else? Or had his helicopter taken off during one of the brief stretches of time when I’d fallen asleep?

Although my agitated thoughts wanted to latch on to the fact that it was the sex that had driven him away, intuition suggested otherwise. Axios might not have wanted to experience the depth of chemistry that blazed between us but he’d been caught up too. Maybe a little bit too much?

Because I was reeling from the wildness of our coming together, the sheer abandonment that still rocked me to my core. The sheets might have cooled in his absence but his possession still remained. As did my growing consternation.

Last night my decision had seemed so clear-cut. Close all avenues by which my father could further interfere in my life. But the experience had been nothing like clear-cut. The experience of sleeping with Axios had been…unparalleled.

And now he was gone.

I refused to allow the dull thudding of my heart to dictate my disappointment. Whatever my future held, it was time for action.

About to get out of bed, I paused as my last conversation with my mother replayed one more time.

‘You will know very quickly if this is the right choice for you. If it isn’t, don’t be like me. Don’t accept it as inevitable. Do what is right for you.’

‘What are you talking about, Mama?’

‘Find your own happiness, Callie. Don’t let your father’s actions dictate the rest of your life. Your grandmother said the same thing to me on my wedding day and I didn’t listen.’

‘I don’t think I have a choice. You… Papa—’

‘Forget about me! There’s nothing your father can do that will hurt me any more. Knowing you’re unhappy because of me will break my heart. Promise me you’ll put yourself first.’

‘Mama—’

‘Promise me, Callie!’

My promise weighed heavy on my heart as I rose from the bed. For a moment I swayed in place, my limbs weak with recollection and my body heating after every little wanton act of last night.

But, lips firmed, I approached what I hoped was the bathroom. There, further signs that this was Axios’s domain were everywhere—from the luxury male products to the thick dark robe hanging next to the shower.

Trying not to let the intimacy of his belongings get to me, I quickly showered. Thankful for the voluminous towel that covered me from chest to ankle, I was contemplating the less than palatable thought of wearing my wedding dress again when a soft knock broke into my thoughts.

I cleared my throat. ‘Come in.’

One of the younger staff members who helped manage the villa entered with a shy smile. She’d been introduced to me last night, when my senses had been grappling with unfolding events.

With a strained smile, I pulled the robe closer around me and returned her greeting.

Her gaze passed quickly over my towel. ‘May I assist you with anything, kyria?’

‘If you could direct me to where my belongings are, I’d appreciate it.’

‘Of course. This way, please.’

Expecting her to leave the room, I was surprised when she crossed to the opposite side and opened another door.

I followed her through a short hallway into another impressive suite, complete with living room, bathroom and dressing room.

An adjoining suite.

‘I came to ask if you would like some breakfast, Kyria Xenakis?’

The title added another layer of shock to my system and it took me a few seconds to answer with a question of my own. ‘Um…is Kyrios Xenakis still here?’

She nodded. ‘Yes. But he will be leaving soon. So if you wish to—’

‘Yes, I would very much like to. Can you wait for me to get dressed?’

Her eyes widened a touch, probably at the request. But I didn’t care. I needed answers. Needed to know how he intended the next twelve months to proceed. And, if necessary, insist on taking back control of my life.

My father had shown me that he cared nothing about me except as a pawn to further his needs. Regardless of my commitment to Axios, I didn’t intend to be pushed around any more.

That affirmation anchored deep as I concentrated on getting dressed.

The small suitcase that had accompanied me when I left Nicrete was empty, its contents sitting on a lonely shelf in the vast dressing room. But those weren’t the only contents of the large, opulent space. Rack upon rack of clothes were displayed in fashion seasons, with matching shoes arranged by colour, height and style.

Awestruck, I stared. It was by far the most extensive collection I’d seen outside a clothes store. Simply because I didn’t know who the clothes in the closets belonged to, I fished out a simple shirt dress from my own belongings, added comfortable flats and caught my hair in a ponytail.

The maid led me down the stairs and through several halls before stopping at a set of double doors.

‘He’s in there,’ she said softly. Then melted away.

The faint sound of clinking cutlery reached my ears as I paused to take a fortifying breath. But, aware that no amount of deep breathing could prepare me for the morning after last night, I pushed the door open.

He was seated at the head of a long, exquisitely laid table. Impeccably dressed in formal business attire, minus the jacket, with the sun streaming down on him.

I almost lost my footing at the sheer visceral impact of his masculinity. It really was unfair how attractive Axios Xenakis was. How the simple act of caressing his bottom lip with his forefinger, his brow furrowed in concentration, could spark fire low in my belly.

You’re not here to ogle him.

Fists tightening at the reminder, I approached where he sat. ‘We need to talk.’

He took his time to look up from the tablet propped up neatly next to his plate, to power it down with a flick of his finger before cool grey eyes tracked over me from head to toe and back again.

‘Kalimera, Calypso. Sit down—have something to eat.’

His even tones threw me. He wasn’t behaving like a man who’d left his marriage bed after bedding his virgin wife. In fact, he seemed far too confident. Far too…together for my liking.

When I didn’t immediately obey he rose, his gaze resting on me as he pulled out a chair and…waited.

I sat, because hysteria would achieve nothing. What I intended to say to him could be said standing or sitting. Besides, this close, the potent mix of his warm body and his aftershave was making my head swim. Reminding me of what it had been like to stroke that warm body, to cling to it as fevered bliss overtook me.

‘What’s on your mind?’ he enquired as he poured exquisite-smelling coffee into my cup, then nudged platters containing sliced meats, toast and cheeses towards me.

Cool. He was far too cool.

Something was going on here. I probed his face and saw the slight tension in his jaw. The banked emotion in his eyes. I might have known Axios for less than twenty-four hours, but I’d quickly deciphered that his eyes gave him away. Right now, they were far too shrewd.

My heart jumped into my throat.

‘My father may have put us both in this position, but there’s no reason why we should remain like this.’ Relief welled as my voice emerged strong and steady.

His nod of agreement stunned me. ‘You’re right,’ he said.

‘I am?’

He shrugged. ‘The agreement states that we should be married for a year minimum—not that we need to be in each other’s pocket. Of course that’s not to say it’s cart blanche for you to do as you please.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means that for the time being Agistros is yours to enjoy. We will revisit our circumstances again when I return in a few weeks.’

His announcement was still resonating inside me when he rose from the table and strode, his head proud, shoulders stiff, towards the door.

‘When you return? Where will you be?’

He paused, his tall, imposing body swivelling towards where I sat, frozen. ‘In Athens, where my business is, and where I intend to stay for the foreseeable future.’

Despite sensing this had been coming, I found the announcement took me by surprise. ‘You’re leaving me here on my own?’

Theos—could I sound any more alarmed?

He gave a curt, unfeeling nod. ‘It is the best decision.’

I pushed my chair back and stood, feeling a yearning spiralling inside that wouldn’t be silenced. A yearning to know that his condemnation of my father meant that he was different. That, despite tarring me with the same brush as my parent, he wouldn’t punish me too.

‘Why can’t I live in Athens too?’ With you.

It would be the perfect place finally to put my art degree to good use. To start a career.

His hardening features broadcasted his displeasure at that question even before he spoke. ‘Why force us to endure one another when we don’t have to?’

‘I’m perfectly happy living on my own. I can rent a flat, get a job in an art gallery—’

The twist of his lips reminded me again of how hot his kisses could be. ‘What’s the point of staging an elaborate wedding to fool the world if my wife immediately moves into an apartment?’

‘Then why did you do it?’ I challenged.

‘Your father timed his strike to perfection—because my company needs stability now more than ever.’

Invisible walls closed in on me. ‘So this is a business decision?’

His jaw clenched. ‘Everything that has transpired between us has been based on a business decision.’

Even last night?

My heart lurched and I was glad I was sitting down. ‘There has to be another way.’

‘There is. You stay here, in our purportedly happy home. You’ll want for nothing. Your every wish will be catered for. Buy as much art as you wish to—or even make it if you want.’

Yesterday the promise of freedom from this nightmare would have brought boundless relief. Today, all I felt was…trapped.

‘I can’t. I can’t live like that.’

The words were uttered more for myself than for him. Born from my deep desire never to fall under another’s command the way my father had forced me to live under his.

‘How long am I to stay in this gilded prison?’

His eyes darkened. ‘If this is a prison, yineka mou, it is not of my making. I tried for months to make your father listen to reason. He caused this situation, not me. If you want a way out of this, then find one.’

With that, he walked out, leaving my insides cold as ice.

Axios’s words echoed through the long days and nights that followed his departure from Agistros. Long after the days in the luxurious paradise had begun to stretch in brain-numbing monotony.

My new husband, having made his feelings clear about our forced marriage, didn’t bother to come home. The stunning villa had indeed become my prison, and its elegant walls and priceless furnishings closed in on me more with every day that dragged by.

And the more my world became narrow, the louder my mother’s words and the contents of my grandmother’s letter clamoured.

By the end of the second week dejection had me in a constricting hold. But alongside it was the discomfort in my abdomen, which wouldn’t let up. Telling myself it was a psychosomatic reaction to my current situation began to feel hollow when I knew my grandmother had felt similar symptoms in the year before her death.