Chapter Six #3
A shudder went through him and his hands tightened as he tilted his hips, bucking into her. Dido rejoiced. Soon…
But then Panos moved, not to haul her higher but to push her away. His hands encircled her upper arms, holding her from him as he lifted his head and stepped back.
Later she’d remember the way her questing mouth followed his until her brain engaged and she snapped her eyes open to see that incisive gaze watching her, reading every emotion.
He might even have said something—she saw his lips move—but her ears were filled with the sound of her racing pulse.
Suddenly she realised she was leaning towards him like a sunflower tracking the sun’s progress across the sky.
She blinked, swiped the tip of her tongue across her lips and saw him follow the movement. His hooded eyes gave nothing away except a fierce, scientific curiosity as if he took in every detail of her reaction.
To use against her in future.
Because, despite his heaving chest and the flush on those perfect cheekbones, despite his erection, Panos had remained in control. He hadn’t been swept away like her, she realised, not even for a moment. Horror and shock swamped her, making it hard to catch her breath.
She, the practical, methodical one, had been blown away by the maelstrom of emotions that had smashed at her control from the moment he’d re-entered her life.
Yanking free, she slipped away, almost falling when she stepped on a plastic ball that shifted under her sole. It made a perfect excuse to turn away from those all-seeing eyes.
‘Still ready to use your body to get what you want, I see.’
His scathing words made her head whip up, face flaming as if he’d slapped her.
‘Oh, get over yourself, Panos! Not everything’s a plot.’ Trying to hide how she struggled for breath, she stared at his impressively bulging groin. ‘You were in that too. Don’t pretend you weren’t. Anyway, it was just a…physical reaction to too many bottled up emotions.’
How she’d like to believe that.
‘Was it, indeed? Then I’ll be fascinated to see how you’ll react when I take my daughter.’
Dido felt the blood drain from her face. She swayed as her muscles loosened. ‘You can’t!’
‘Of course I can. I’m her father.’ He folded his arms across his broad chest as if brooking no argument.
‘And I’m her mother!’ She was reaching out to poke him in the chest then thought better of it. Touching him was dangerous. ‘You can’t just kidnap her.’
His only response was the arrogant lift of one eyebrow. ‘But that’s exactly what you did.’ His voice was lethally soft, like the kiss of velvet hiding a razor-sharp blade. ‘You kept her from me, hid her.’
‘But that was…’ Words failed as Dido’s mind grappled with the idea of him striding out of here with her beloved little girl.
‘Nothing to say, Dido?’
She had a million things to say. But everything fragmented in her head as she struggled against sheer terror. Finally she coaxed her clumsy tongue to work. ‘Don’t threaten me, Panos. A court won’t look kindly on that.’
He leaned forward a fraction and the blast of contempt in his aze pinned her to the spot. ‘You think it’s a threat?’ Slowly he shook his head. ‘I’m just telling you the truth. Athena will be coming with me.’
Panic cramped Dido’s vital organs, squeezing her windpipe.
‘You can’t just snatch her away! She needs me. Flavia and I are the only adults she knows. She might have played with you this afternoon but you’re a stranger. She’d be terrified if you took her away from everyone and everything that’s familiar.’
As she spoke, Dido sidled along the wall to stand, arms splayed, blocking the door to the room where Theeny slept.
‘Try to snatch her and I’ll scream the place down. There’ll be a crowd watching if you try to kidnap her. Footage of that wouldn’t help your cause in court.’
His nostrils flared and his mouth flattened into a grim line. ‘Stop the dramatics! I have no intention of taking her now.’ Relief turned Dido’s knees liquid but they stiffened when he continued. ‘I’ll stay the night.’
‘You’ll what? You can’t do that.’
It was ludicrous. Impossible.
His expression didn’t alter. ‘If you’d rather get Athena out of bed and take her across London to my place that’s my preferred option. I’d assumed it would be better for her to stay in her own bed tonight. She was exhausted.’
‘I want you to leave now.’
He moved to stand before her, near enough to make her senses hum. Despair washed through her. How was that even possible?
‘You can’t stay here,’ she hissed.
‘Of course I can. There’s no way I’ll leave without my daughter. You can’t think I’m stupid enough to leave her with you and turn my back? You kept her from me for years. What’s to stop you both disappearing as soon as I go?’
Dido gasped, stunned that he’d think it of her.
‘You have a choice. I stay and we talk in the morning. Or,’ he let the word hang till every sense screamed, ‘I take her now. Which is it to be?’
There’s no way I’ll leave without my daughter.
He meant every word.
Fear was a living thing, clawing at her insides.
Dido pushed her chin up. ‘I’ll find you a pillow and spare blanket.’