The Greek's Stolen Bride (9 page)

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Theo coming onto the terrace where they'd wed just an hour ago. Afterwards Theo had produced champagne and
koufeta
, the Jordan almonds that one ate at a wedding to symbolize both the sweet and bitter in life. Then everyone had gone, and now they were alone.

"All right?" Theo asked quietly and she nodded. Her throat felt tight and she didn't think she could manage many words. Theo took a step closer to her. "I know this wasn't the kind of wedding you were expecting."

"Thank God for that." Ariana turned to him with a smile. "I'd much prefer this to marrying Dion in a big spectacle of wedding with nothing my own choice or desire."

Theo searched her face, his eyes dark and gleaming with a sudden intensity. "And is this your choice, Ariana? Is this your desire?"

She swallowed, wanting to dissemble yet craving honesty. "I don't know," she whispered. "I know--I know this is just an arrangement."

"Arrangements don't have to bad."

"But soulless.'

"Not necessarily."

Her breath hitched. "What are you saying, Theo?"

He touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers, slid his hand through her hair. "I'm saying we are married now. You are my wife and I am your husband. That means something."

She nodded, afraid now to ask just what it meant. Afraid to break this moment that had sprung unbidden between them, tender, fleeting, and sweet.

"You agree?" Theo asked softly as his fingers wrapped around her head and drew her inexorably closer.

"Yes..." The single word ended on a sigh of surrender. Her breasts brushed his chest and she let her head fall back, her lips parting in sweet expectation.

She was not disappointed. He kissed her softly, his other hand coming up to her waist to draw her even closer. She felt the hard evidence of his arousal pressing against her belly and excitement--as well as nervousness--leaped within her. This was all so new, so strange. So wonderful.

Theo deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth as he brought his arms more firmly around him. The ivy crown fluttered from her fingers as she brought her own arms up to wrap around him, reveling in the exquisite hardness of his chest, his powerful body pressed so achingly close to hers.

"Theo..."

"Let's go inside," he murmured against her mouth, and threading his fingers with her own he led her inside the villa and upstairs to his bedroom.

She paused on the threshold, taking in the king-sized bed with its navy satin duvet, the crisp white pillows. The windows' shutters were open to the sea, a light breeze ruffling the curtains.

Theo turned to her. "Ariana? Are you afraid?"

"Yes... a little."

"I understand, but you don't need to be."

She felt her heart begin to thud, because maybe she
did
need to be. Sex with Theo might change everything. She might not be able to keep herself emotionally distant--safe--if she gave him her body. Herself.

Yet even as these thoughts tumbled through her mind she knew it was already too late. She already cared for him. Maybe even loved him. And she wanted this... so very, very much.

"I want you to make love to me, Theo. With me." Her voice trembled only a little.

Theo gazed at her seriously. "You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Then come here,
kardia mou
." He held out his arms, and on wobbly legs she walked towards him. His arms closed around her and he pressed a soft kiss to the curve of her neck, making her shiver.

Smiling against her skin he slid the strap of her sundress down her arm and kissed her neck again, his tongue and teeth nuzzling and nipping her. Sensation shot through her, weakened her at the knees and everywhere else, for she sagged against him and still smiling Theo laid her tenderly on the bed.

She looked up at him with dazed eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off, revealing the broad expanse of muscled chest she'd been so fascinated with the day before last. Had they really only known each other for two days? It felt like a lifetime.

His hands rested on his belt buckle. "Maybe you should do this part."

"Me?" A thrill ran through her.

"I'd like," Theo said, his voice a low rumble, "for you to touch me."

And she wanted to touch him. She swallowed and rose to her knees. "All right." Her hands shook as she undid his belt, her fingers brushing the hard thrust of his erection. Letting out a shaky breath, she tossed the belt to the floor and glanced up at him.

"Button next," he said huskily. "Zipper."

He was just as affected as she was, Ariana realized with a thrill of both desire and power. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Stronger now, her fingers sure, she undid the button of his trousers and then slowly, tantalizingly pulled the zipper down so his erection sprang gloriously free from his boxer shorts.

She glanced up at him from underneath her lashes, heady with power, dazed with desire. "Well."

"Well, indeed," he growled and curiously she ran one fingertip along that proud length. Theo shuddered. "Ariana..."

"I've never even seen one before, you know, besides on a statue. A penis."

"Fascinating." His voice was a throb as he tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her up to him to kiss her deeply, a demand and a plea. Ariana responded in kind, breathless with need, barely aware of him unzipping her dress and sliding it off her shoulders. "Beautiful," he murmured as his hands came up to cup her breasts, his thumbs stroking over her nipples under Ariana shuddered. Then he undid the clasp of her bra and tossed the garment aside. "Now we're getting somewhere," he said and she let out a breathless laugh.

"So we are." She gazed at him, taking in every perfect muscle and sinew, his skin bronzed and satiny, everything about him proud and strong.

"Seen enough?" Theo teased softly and she smiled, unashamed.

"Almost," she said and pushed his trousers off his legs, the hair on his thighs crisp under her seeking hands. His boxer shorts followed, and Theo kicked them off so he was gloriously naked.

"I haven't seen quite enough of you," he told her and gently pushed her back onto the bed. Ariana lay against the pillows wearing only a pair of lace panties. Theo stretched out on top of her, bracing himself on his forearms. He slid one hand from her knee to her thigh and then higher still, his thumb stroking over the silk of her underwear. Ariana gasped at the exquisite sensitivity of his touch and her own response. Theo growled with primal satisfaction and his fingers slid underneath her panties, his thumb stroking surely and deftly as Ariana arched off the bed, crying aloud at the shocking intensity of his knowing caress.

"
Theo
..."

"You feel so good," he murmured, his strokes surer and deeper and Ariana let out a choked gasp.

"
You
feel so good," she said and her she clutched at him as he slid his finger inside her. She'd always expected the invasion of her body to feel like that--an invasion. An attack. Yet Theo's sure and gentle caresses felt instead like an invitation. A wondrous joining and she arched against him and cried out again as the pleasure overtook her.

"It's so
much
--"

"Let yourself," Theo murmured and he kissed her deeply, the action of both his tongue and hands sending her over the edge into an abyss of pleasure, so she felt as if she were falling and falling--until Theo caught her.

His arms came around her and his mouth moved on hers as he slid slowly inside her, with no pain or discomfort at all. He filled her right up to completion. Now she understood the poems and love songs, the sappy movies and lurid-covered books.
This
. This was why; this was what everyone whispered and wondered about, wanted and
knew
.

She knew him. He knew her. Completely. Utterly. Wonderfully.

"Theo--" she gasped, and felt tears of both wonder and joy slip down her cheek. "I'm not sad," she told him quickly, gasping again as he moved inside her and the pleasure started to build once more. "I'm happy."

"I know," Theo said softly as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I know, because I am too."

Much later Theo lay with Ariana curled into him, her hair spread like dark silk across his chest. He'd had many lovers, but he'd never before felt so replete, so satisfied. So happy, just as he'd told her.

She twined one leg with his and gazed up at him with sleepy eyes. "Is it always like that?"

He laughed and drew her closer. "No, definitely not."

"Will it always be like that with us, do you think?" she asked, and in the ensuing silence he felt her tense. The question had revealed too much.

Always. With us
. But there was no always, and there wasn't even really an us. Not a real one. Yet.

He'd thought earlier to make this marriage real. He wanted Ariana more than anyone he'd ever met, enjoyed her company and admired her courage. And yet...

And yet he was scared. That was the emotion he was feeling now, Theo silently acknowledged, pure, raw fear. Fear of letting himself feel anything for someone. For Ariana. Fear too that she would hurt him, hate him,
leave
him when she discovered his plan for revenge. Fear that just like his mother, he might end up heartbroken and alone.

He was a mess, Theo thought ruefully. One afternoon of admittedly unforgettable sex and he was dreaming of fairy tales. Happily-ever-afters. Well, perhaps he and Ariana could be happy enough. And that was all he wanted.

"Theo?" she prompted softly and he smiled down at her, kissed her lips.

"I imagine it always will be," he said, a promise, and she smiled sleepily up at him.

"You know, you never even asked me about the Minotaur."

Still holding her in his arms, Theo tried not to tense. "The Minotaur?"

"The virus. How to solve it. Why I knew how to."

"I imagine you knew because you're an incredibly intelligent and resourceful woman."

She laughed, the sound sleepy,
happy
. "Not about computers. I overheard my father talking. Gloating, really. It's so simple that no one would ever guess it."

Intrigued despite his desire to stay away from any talk about her father, Theo asked, "so how do you disarm it?"

"You switch off the computer."

"That's it?"

"If you do anything first, touch a key, initiate a scan, try a command--the virus duplicates. You have to switch it off first thing for it to be destroyed."

"Clever," Theo murmured and she turned to him with a smile.

"But you didn't even care about it."

No, he hadn't. "I was more worried about getting you off the island," he said, knowing it was a lie, and knowing also she believed him. Smiling, she snuggled in closer to him and slept.

CHAPTER NINE

Theo woke close to dawn when his phone on the bedside table buzzed with an incoming text. Blearily he fumbled for it, Ariana still sleeping peacefully next to him, and blinked at the screen.
Come to Athens asap. We're good to go.

Theo tensed and then slowly eased himself away from Ariana. She mumbled in her sleep and then curled into the warmth he'd left behind. Yanking on his boxers, Theo slipped out of the room and downstairs. He dialed and Lukas picked up on the first ring.

"It's happened?"

"I finally unscrambled the data off his hard drive tonight. He had a hell of a lot of firewalls in place."

"And?"

"There's enough to see him arrested. With the current economy, I doubt anyone will have sympathy. He could rot in jail for the rest of his life, Theo."

"I knew it." Theo sank into a chair, raked his fingers through his hair. "I knew he was corrupt."

"To the core, and now we have proof. We have to act quickly, before he tries to protect himself. You know how powerful he is."

"Of course I know."

"Can you come to Athens?"

Briefly, so briefly, Theo thought of Ariana sleeping upstairs. Then he hardened his resolve. He'd been waiting for this moment since he was a boy of eleven years old. "Yes," he said. "I'm on my way."

Ariana woke slowly, luxuriously, blinking in the sunlight that poured from the open windows. She stretched and then tensed when she realized she was very much alone. Then she smiled, both in memory of the wonder of last night and the anticipation of seeing Theo this morning. He was probably downstairs, making her breakfast just as he'd been doing yesterday.

She showered and dressed quickly, combing her hair into a plait and putting a little makeup for vanity's sake. Then, her heart singing, she headed downstairs.

She felt the emptiness of the villa like a physical force, hitting her in the face. Everything was deathly still, utterly silent. She glanced at the kitchen, empty, unused. A quick peek in the other downstairs rooms told her what her heart already knew: Theo wasn't here.