The Diakos Baby Scandal

‘I know the way to the house,’ he said, as the old man’s quirky assistant came towards them. ‘My fiancée needs a moment to recover from the journey—some fresh air and solid ground under her feet for a while will do the trick.’

He reached out, looped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He felt a tremor pass through her as she tensed and tried to pull away from him.

‘Lean on me till you get your strength back,’ Theo said, tightening his hold on her. Then he dropped his voice and spoke quietly, for her ears alone. ‘Don’t forget why you are here. You are my fiancée and you will act like it.’

With a deliberate effort Kerry relaxed her body and allowed herself to lean against Theo. She was surprised that apparently he’d picked up on how she was feeling—he’d never shown any sign of noticing her tendency to motion sickness before. But this time it was particularly awful—probably almost anyone would have noticed if she looked even half as bad as she felt.

All she could do was concentrate on drawing calming breaths into her lungs and putting one foot in front of the other. Theo’s arm was around her—a steady anchor and a welcome distraction from the nausea that rolled through her.

However, it didn’t take long before her awareness shifted entirely onto the sensation of his hard body next to her. The stressful journey and the way it had made her feel so rotten slipped away, and she was simply conscious of how closely Theo was holding her.

His body was strong and athletic, and she could feel his muscles moving as they made their way along the rocky path together. They were walking in unison, and she suddenly realised that meant he had matched his stride to hers. For some reason that realisation sent a shiver skittering down her spine. Whether it had been intentional or instinctive, on some level Theo had been attuned to her body and the rhythm of her movements.

‘Feeling better now?’ he asked. His deep, masculine voice passed like a physical vibration right through her, setting her nerve-endings alight and making her even more conscious of his powerful male form beside her.

She turned to look up at him, suddenly convinced that he had known the exact moment her attention had shifted onto the sensual experience of walking with him. Somehow the thought made her feel exposed and vulnerable.

She lifted her head and his eyes caught hers, holding them locked to his dark gaze. He was studying her intently, and all at once she got the feeling that he was probing—trying to read her mind. She didn’t remember him looking at her like that before—as if he thought she was guilty of something.

Then she suddenly realised that she’d never had anything to hide from him before. Was she imagining his scrutiny because she had an enormous secret?

‘The house is just over the brow of the hill,’ he said, lifting his hands to cradle her face gently. ‘Drakon may be old—but his mind is sharp. He’ll be watching us, so never let the pretence that you are my fiancée slip.’

‘I don’t want to lie,’ she said, pulling away from him slightly. She’d enjoyed meeting Drakon the previous year, and, despite his funny old ways, she had liked him. ‘It doesn’t feel right.’

‘Then we’d better make our act convincing, so Drakon won’t ask you any tricky questions,’ Theo said. ‘And, as they say, actions speak louder than words.’

Before she realised his intention, one strong arm had slipped around her back and pulled her hard against him. The other hand lifted to cup her chin and tip her face up to his.

She opened her lips to protest, and at that moment his mouth came down on hers.

CHAPTER FOUR

THEO’S kiss took Kerry completely by surprise, but her body responded instinctively. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to lean into him, pressing sensuously against his hard, athletic body, and part her lips in invitation.

His tongue swept into her mouth, hot and demanding, and she felt herself become molten with longing. There was nothing tender about his kiss—it was a fierce and passionate reminder of all the times they had made love. Of all the times he’d taken her to the point of ecstasy.

She lifted her own tongue to meet his, surrendering to the intense desire that suddenly stormed through her body, and kissed him back wildly. Her hands ran up to his shoulders, revelling in the hot, hard feel of his muscles, and she clung to him tightly—as if she never wanted to let go.

Then, without warning, Theo broke away from the kiss.

Kerry gasped in surprise, swaying unsteadily as he abruptly released his hold on her.

‘Quite convincing,’ he said, as he stepped away and stared down at her through narrowed eyes.

She held her breath as she looked up into his face, and for a moment the world stood still. She’d dreamed of Theo kissing her again for more than a year—but in her fantasy he had been kissing her because he had realised his mistake, realised that he loved her.

Her dream had never been like this—her kissing him desperately, with embarrassing eagerness. And with him appearing to be completely unmoved by the whole thing.

She felt the hot colour of humiliation staining her cheeks, and she looked down at the ground, mortified that she had given herself away so completely. Then a wave of anger rose through her, and her eyes snapped back up to meet his.

‘It was my intention to be convincing,’ she said. ‘But there’ll be no more free demonstrations. I’m here to help you with Drakon—not to be nice to you in private.’

Theo raised his straight black brows in surprise, but his lips quirked in amusement, and she had the feeling he’d seen right through her.

‘Let’s go and meet our host,’ he said, sliding his arm around her waist and turning to continue along the path.

‘I understand you weren’t feeling too well when you arrived,’ Drakon said, looking across the table at Kerry with sharp eyes. ‘I trust you’re feeling better now?’

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Thank you for asking.’ She took a sip of her drink and smiled across at him. It was lovely sitting outside under the shade of the twisted old olive trees, enjoying the stunning view over the bay to the Adriatic. And making small talk with Drakon stopped her thinking about what had happened with Theo on the path from the helipad.

‘Kerry suffers from travel sickness,’ Theo said, taking her by surprise. She’d assumed he’d only guessed how she’d felt earlier because she had looked particularly rough. She’d never realised that he’d always known that she often felt ill on long journeys. ‘After a short rest she’s usually back to normal,’ he added.