31. Lourdes
Lourdes
Three days.
It’s been three days of sun on my skin and Ares’s mouth on every inch of my body.
Three days of mornings that begin with soft touches to rouse me from sleep, then something not so soft to fully wake me up.
The routine settled into my bones easily enough. Breakfast on the terrace or in the study. Walks on the beach in the afternoon. Swimming in the pool and more touching. Making me come in his mouth in his vineyard. It feels like a honeymoon. A fairy tale.
I’m waiting for reality to shatter whatever this is and send me back to the ugly reality that’s waiting for us back in New York.
The last few evenings, Ares has been sending Elani home early so he can cook for us. Last night we ate dinner on the boat and slept anchored far offshore. Ares made love to me all night.
Here in Santorini, I don’t see the feral man who left two bodies bleeding out on my living room floor. Without the responsibility of Zervas & Company, dealing with shady people at Club Wicked, or the pressure to open the Aurelian on time, he’s softer.
Yet I know deeply that the man who rules the Greek Mafia has to return to civilization. I can’t confuse the two. And I keep reminding myself that none of this matters because I have no intention of being a mafia wife.
I’m here to reset. And if that includes a few orgasms after years of nothing, then I deserve it. Once I’m with Sandrine, my focus will be on her. Nothing else. No one else.
Ares won’t miss me. He doesn’t do relationships.
The faint thrum of a boat engine pulls my gaze toward the private dock below. From the pool terrace, I stand to watch the Ananke slice cleanly through the water before gliding into place. Ares left after breakfast this morning with a group of men to assess the cost to repair the volcanic shelf.
Now he’s back on the dock, his loose linen shirt unbuttoned down to his stomach, sleeves rolled, and windswept hair. Yet, he still looks tight, controlled, and serious. The way authority radiates from him as naturally as breath is something that can’t be taught.
The two men with him look confused when Ares very clearly ends his time with them. Have they not figured out a long time ago that Ares doesn’t have much of a sense of humor? He doesn’t respond to light-hearted charm.
When he reaches the terrace, he pauses just long enough to drink me in. “You look good enough to eat.”
“You need more variety in your diet.”
“There are other places I have yet to put my tongue, woman.”
I shudder at the idea that those thoughts have been in his head all morning.
“How was your day?” he asks, sitting next to me.
“Lonely,” I reply lightly, closing my book.
“What are you reading?” He takes the book and reads the cover. “Dragons?”
“It’s dragon smut.” I try to take it back.
“You’re reading a book about dragons having sex?” He holds it against his chest. “That one we read last night about the vampires was…pushing it.”
Hiding a smile, I correct him, “No, the dragon is really a human. When he’s in his male form, he and the heroine…you know.”
“You can read it, but you can’t say it.”
“As you should have surmised from the last few days, I’m not a prude, Ares Zervas.” I snap the book away from him. “But I have picked up on your rigid sophistication.”
“My sophistication is pretty rigid right now.” He pulls me toward him for a kiss.
“Elani is still here.”
His jaw tightens almost imperceptibly. “I can fix that.”
He smells like salt and sun. Wild and clean. He brings his mouth to mine in another kiss that’s warm and slow.
When he pulls back, his eyes stray to the table near the pool. “Your MacBook is here?”
“It was in my bag.” I brush my arms. “I don’t let it out of my sight.”
“That reminds me… Why were you stealing from Nathan Craig?” Ares asks, his eyes peering into me.
Damn, I don’t want to lie to him. “I needed money to leave David.” I give him a half-truth.
“I suspected as much. You never came across as vain or selfish.” He sits back. “You’re done with him. I’m working to make sure of it.”
I wonder if I should ask for a clarification of what ‘done with him’ means, but the less I know, the better. “As soon as this is all over, I have to make a life for myself. A new start.”
Ares’s jaw ticks. He’s calculating how to deal with me when we get back to New York. I want to let the guy off the hook, but he frowns in a way that makes me nervous.
“Have you been using the laptop for anything else?” He grips my throat gently. “Is the entire balance of the shell account all from Craig?”
Fear pulses through me. I lift my hands to his, but his hold is secure even if he’s not choking me. “Are you asking if I stole from you, too?”
He pushes his face into mine. “Answering a question with a question means you’re thinking about how to answer my question.”
“I swear, that’s not what I was doing.” I yank on his hands. “I didn’t think I had to watch my words with you. And yes, the entire balance came from Nathan Craig.”
Ares loosens his hands around my throat. “Right. And when were you planning to disappear?”
“I have loose ends to deal with.” I clutch the book to my chest like a shield. “The apartment is in my name. Mere mortals like me still worry about things like credit ratings.”
“You’re not going back to that apartment. Let Daria terminate your lease. I can have you out of it in twenty-four hours.”
I jump to my feet. “You can’t just terminate my lease. I still have things there.”
That gets his attention. Nodding, he says, “Everything of value will be collected.”
“I don’t want you to judge what’s valuable,” I snap before I can stop myself.
How can I tell him that the beat-up boxes from my broken-down life are valuable?
“If it’s yours, it’s valuable.” He grips my hand, twists it, and kisses the delicate underside of my wrist. “You are valuable to me.”
“Ares… What is this? You don’t do relationships. I’ve only been at Zervas & Company for a month or so, but your admins have a lot of opinions on your confirmed bachelorhood.”
He studies me, looking like no woman has ever challenged him like this.
“That was before,” he whispers.
“Before what?”
“Long before I—”
Movement makes us both look up.
“Ares, Daria is looking for you,” Elani calls out.
My eyes slipped closed. Not finishing his thought, Ares heads inside, and I follow him.
But Ares takes the call on the rear terrace with his back to me. After a few seconds, he hangs up and returns to the kitchen.
“Is something wrong?” I ask, bracing for news about David.
“I have to go back,” he says in a way that’s cold and branding hot against my skin at the same time.
“Go back…where?” I look around for effect.
“Home.”
That lands like a boulder on my chest. Home is where your heart is. I’m not there…
“New York?” I ask for clarification.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He doesn’t answer or acknowledge me, just exchanges a few words with Elani in Greek and then disappears toward the back stairs to the bedroom.
I follow and find him in the closet. “I’m coming with you. I want to go home. I have to.”
“No. You’re staying right here.” He collects a few things and dumps them into a duffel bag.
“You can’t keep me a prisoner!” I march to the wardrobe and open the drawers.
“How many ways do you want me to show you that I can?”
I shudder, and when I go silent, Ares finally notices me.
Exhaling, he ambles toward me. Pressing a kiss on my forehead, he says, “I’m sorry. I’m not used to explaining my comings and goings to anyone, especially a woman. Yes, it’s about David. That’s why you have to stay here.”
A few days in this paradise were enough to dull what happened in the apartment. What those two men tried to do to me. I have to trust Ares.
“When will you be back?” I ask.
He steps back, eyes cold. “I don’t know.”