Chapter Fourteen #2
He didn’t need a champion and was more than capable of looking after himself, yet that scene kept replaying as feelings churned in his belly.
Admiration. Delight. Gratitude. And something deeper that made his chest ache.
Because she’d tried to fight his battles.
As if he mattered. As if he needed protecting!
As if she cared.
Had she meant it, about being the only woman in his bed?
Astonishingly he noticed a tremor in his hand as he opened the door to their suite and followed her in.
She was a step ahead, glowing like a living flame under the recessed lighting.
His heart hammered and almost stopped. He wanted her so much. Needed her.
He was doing his best to show her the respect she deserved, to comfort and support her, prove he was more than the man who’d let her down. That he could be more.
But his hunger was perilously sharp.
That dress clung, showcasing every dip and curve. The metallic shimmer of bronzed orange belied the fabric’s silky softness. One whole shoulder was bared and all night he’d been tempted to bend his head and taste her there.
Even her upswept hair, with a few coiling tendrils left to flirt around her neck, turned him on.
He wanted to plunge his hands into her curls and drag them down.
He wanted to peel the dress from her body.
Did the bow on the shoulder undo? He imagined releasing it, her breasts spilling into his waiting hands.
‘Did you mean it, Dido?’
She turned and the flame dress flared around her legs. His heart thundered to a stop. This woman!
‘That I’d be the only woman in your bed?’ She swallowed and for a second he read fragility, before her chin came up and she moved towards him, green eyes ablaze. ‘Yes.’
The only woman. ‘You’ll be mine. You’ll be my wife.’ It should have been a question but it sounded like a command.
‘Yes.’
His step brought him flush against her and he grabbed her waist, unable to deny himself any longer. ‘Yes,’ he repeated. ‘Mine.’
Her pupils dilated and heat slicked through his body. ‘You sound possessive.’
His hands began to rove. ‘I am. And you like it.’
Her brow furrowed. ‘I shouldn’t. I’m my own woman. I don’t take orders.’ Then slowly a smile curved her mouth. ‘But I like you needing me.’
‘You’re possessive too.’
He felt it in the clutch of her hands against his upper arms and the way her eyes devoured him. Even so he held his breath until she inclined her head. ‘Yes. When those women were plotting how to seduce you I felt—’
‘I know. Even when we separated I couldn’t forget you.’ She’d haunted him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him. ‘For three years the thought of you with some other man made me feel sick.’
Her eyes rounded, then she whispered, ‘There was no other man. Even when I hated you I couldn’t…’
Relief stormed through him like a runaway train, obliterating everything else. ‘Just like I couldn’t be with any other woman after you.’ Her lips parted and he stiffened, for even that ratcheted up his hunger. ‘I’ve never wanted any woman as much as I want you, Dido.’
And now he held her in his arms, watching the glow in her eyes turn into wildfire. She shifted, her supple body pressing closer and he groaned, fingers digging into soft flesh through thin fabric.
Panos bent his head and their mouths collided. The kiss was hard, feverish and deep. It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. His hands swooped and stroked, moulding every curve and sleek line.
She grabbed his head as if fearing he might end the kiss. She slid her thigh up his and hooked her heel around his leg, opening herself to him.
That was all it took to tip him over the edge. He grabbed her bottom and hoisted her up, hip to hip, heat to heat. Swinging around, he moved until her back was to the wall, wedging her hard against him.
Every sense was inflamed at the feel of her, the humming growl vibrating from her throat and into his mouth, the honey-rich scent of aroused woman.
‘I can’t wait,’ he gasped against her mouth, telling himself to stop, to step back, even as one hand found her breast, capturing her beaded nipple.
Instead of shocking, the admission seemed to galvanise her. She tilted her head, licking deep into his mouth then drew on his tongue, sucking hard. Electricity jolted through him and everything faded but the fire in his groin and the feel of her pelvis shifting against his.
‘Yes!’ she whispered against his mouth as she reached for his belt.
What came next was clumsy and frantic but finally naked flesh met naked flesh as she clung, arms and legs encircling him. Something flickered in the back of his mind, some thought he couldn’t grasp, but then she took him in her soft hand and guided him to her.
Thought died. There was just him and Dido. He was lost in her green gaze, her soft body. With one urgent buck of the hips he drove home and that was exactly how it felt—like coming home to her.
‘Panos!’ She shuddered and kissed him hard, nails scratching his flesh as she bit his bottom lip.
His whole body shook, showers of sparks exploding across his skin. Holding her close, he withdrew then sank deep again as they took up the familiar rhythm of surge and retreat. But it was too late. He felt the change in her, the ripples gathering, becoming shudders.
A second later, locked together, the conflagration hit and bliss took them.
* * *
Two days later, Panos ushered Dido into his study. ‘There’s something you need to hear.’ He gestured to a well-dressed man with a flushed face. ‘Manos Georgiou, my senior legal advisor.’
She stopped abruptly, nerves rising. A lawyer? What was going on? When she shook the man’s hand it was clammy.
Panos pulled out a chair for her at a round table, taking the seat beside her, the lawyer opposite. He nodded to the other man. ‘If you’d repeat what you told me.’
The lawyer’s hand rose as if to loosen his collar, then dropped. He cleared his throat. ‘It’s about the status of your marriage.’
Dido stiffened. Her head whipped around and she discovered Panos watching her, expression indecipherable.
‘I’m afraid there was…an error in the advice we provided several years ago. The marriage was, is valid. You have my sincerest apologies for the error. It’s…’
Dido didn’t hear more. She was too busy watching Panos. Far from looking upset, the warmth in his dark eyes looked like pleasure. Satisfaction.
He reached for her hand, their fingers automatically threading together, and she exhaled slowly.
Once, being Panos’ wife had felt like a curse. But now she felt anticipation for the future. She liked being married to Panos Diamandis. Since Vienna, no, since the night of the storm, she’d been re-evaluating.
Panos mightn’t love her but he wanted and respected her.
His efforts to make up for past mistakes only made him more attractive.
They were good together, not just with Athena, but as a team.
That must count for something. Theirs wasn’t a perfect match, with love on both sides, but increasingly she yearned to accept all he offered, hoping they’d make this work and he’d eventually feel so much more.
The lawyer’s monologue intruded, apologising for the time taken to uncover the error. The original advice had come from an inexperienced team member who’d now been given notice.
‘Then you can rescind the notice.’ Panos’ tone was brusque, at odds with the warmth of his hand around hers.
‘But to make an error of such magnitude—’
‘I agree.’ Panos interrupted. ‘I expect much better. As for mistakes, the biggest would be allowing a supervisor to blame their junior instead of admitting they hadn’t double-checked the details.
’ His expression hardened. ‘An inexperienced person making a mistake is forgivable. A supervisor shirking responsibility isn’t. ’
He stood up and opened the door. ‘We’ll talk later. About staffing.’
Manos Georgiou’s face was grey as he left.
Dido’s mind raced. She’d known their marriage was valid. But today, again, she saw her husband in a different light. She was proud of the stand he’d just taken.
Panos was far more complex than she’d once thought. He could and did give second chances. Only deliberate, personal betrayal triggered his ire. Wasn’t he doing his best to make up to her for that?
He’d made mistakes and treated her badly. But he proved every day that he was a better man than the one who’d judged and dismissed her.
The door closed and he turned. ‘You were right. I’m sorry.’
She rose. ‘Sorry because we’re married?’
The corners of his mouth tilted up as he approached. ‘Because I should have known you’d have checked the legalities thoroughly.’
‘You’re taking the news very calmly.’
He stopped so close that his breath feathered her skin. Now she saw it again, the heat in his eyes. It ignited a cascade of sparks inside. She felt she was melting as his head dipped.
‘That would be because it’s good news. I want to be married to you.’
He’d made that clear, yet it still made her pulse quicken and her breath hitch. Because she wished with all her might that this time it would work between them.
His mouth met hers, gently, and Dido wrapped her arms around his neck and he gathered her close. She clung tight, hope buoying her.