The Unfaithful Wife Read online

  He was silent for several long minutes, his handsome dark head slightly bent, his eyes hooded. He was very disturbed by what she had told him and several times she thought he was about to speak but then his lips would compress again as though he didn’t trust himself to do so. Leah would have loved him to share his thoughts but she quelled her urge to probe. It wasn’t the time. But he still looked so shaken that she couldn’t stop herself rising and crossing the room and closing her arms around him.

  Briefly he went rigid in surprise.

  ‘Forget about it,’ she urged, dimly astonished by her own daring and the strong current of protectiveness which had propelled her to him. ‘It’s so unimportant—’

  He startled her by laughing and placing his hands on her slim hips to haul her into the hard heat of his lithe frame. ‘If you say so.’

  She wondered how many hugs he had got growing up with that set of frozenly repressed individuals downstairs. Maybe it had been her own presence which had soured almost everyone’s response. But in the back of her mind Leah suspected something far nastier.

  Did his sisters and their families resent Nik’s power and success because they did not consider him to be a true Andreakis? Was that because Nik had been adopted by his parents so late in life? His siblings had already been adults and the adoption could well have come as an unpleasant shock, she reasoned. Yet that was so hatefully unfair when Nik was so generous towards them all and willing to go to such lengths to protect them!

  And which one of them...which one of that unlovely bunch was Nik protecting? Suddenly, Leah burned to know that secret, in defence of which Nik had sacrificed his own freedom. Now that his family had been personalised, she was eaten by her own curiosity, a raw need to know who in Nik’s eyes was worth that level of protection.

  ‘You look as though you’re a thousand miles away.’

  Drawn from her introspection, she met his dark eyes and faint pink highlighted her cheeks.

  ‘And I want you here,’ he completed softly.

  Her heartbeat shifted up in tempo, her mouth running dry on the brink of a sudden quivering surge of intense awareness. Instinct made her move against him with the sinuousness of a cat seeking a caress and she heard the catch of his breath in response a moment before he devoured her mouth with the hot, hard heat of his own.

  His passion caught her unawares but the irresistible force of desire washed over her, leaving her pliant in his strong hold. On every level her body recognised him, reached out to him with a need she could not control. Her jacket fell to the carpet as he stripped it from her. Fingers brushed against her spine and deftly released the fastening on her bra and his hand closed around the pouting swell of one breast, making her breath sob in her throat.

  He pressed her back on the bed and let his mouth travel between her urgently sensitive nipples. The fire consumed her, heat pooling in his loins, every centimetre of her slim form trembling with the hunger he had unleashed on her. She looked up at him through passion-glazed eyes as he stood over her, removing his own clothing with hard, impatient hands, his glittering dark gaze pinned to her with primal purpose.

  And she sensed the wildness in him, read it in the stark lines of his taut features, the slashing curve of his lips. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and she felt wanton lying there with her breasts bare and her skirt rucked up round her hips, the slender length of her thighs exposed. But the excitement emanating from him kept her still, powerless to fight the most basic of all human drives.

  ‘This moment was all I could think of while I was making polite conversation and drinking coffee,’ he revealed, staring down at her with unwavering intensity, hunger blatantly stamped in his strong face. ‘I couldn’t concentrate. Now the feeling surpasses even the anticipation.’

  She looked up at him, her breasts rising and falling with the rapidity of her breathing. Naked, he was magnificent, a masculine symphony of sleek bone and muscle and golden skin. A flush of quivering heat enclosed her as he bent to unzip her skirt, slide it off, and she lay there submissive, pliant in a honeyed languor, but with every sense at fever pitch.

  His tongue dipped into the shallow indentation of her navel. Her eyes shut, she reached out blindly for him, desperate for the physical contact she craved. He came to her and her mouth found his, her heart hammering madly inside her ribcage as her hands closed over the bunched muscles in his shoulders. His skin was hot, slightly damp, and he rolled over, taking her with him, one strong hand dispensing with the last barrier of clothing that separated her from him.

  ‘Yes,’ she moaned, arching her back in sudden delicious torment as he skimmed his knuckles down over her taut stomach and then spread his hand, holding her where she most needed to be touched but denying what every skin cell longed for.

  ‘I don’t know where to begin,’ he muttered thickly against her swollen mouth, and she could feel him, hard and hotly aroused against her thigh. ‘I want...I want everything you have to give.’

  Dazed sapphire eyes met incandescent jet and an almost terrifying excitement imprisoned her. He said something rough in Greek and pressed her back, plundered her mouth with his tongue and then drove her wild with every burning caress until there was nothing—no thought, no feeling beyond an overpowering, shattering need for more.

  ‘Now,’ he said, lifting from her, pressing back her thighs and filling her with one, hard thrust.

  The intensity of her pleasure was mind-blowing. ‘I need you...’ she sobbed, at the peak of a wave of ecstasy more intense than anything she had ever experienced, and from that point on she was lost in a world of sensation that clawed everyday reality aside, leaving only the surging demands of her own body beneath his in control.

  * * *

  ‘Time to wake, pethi mou.’

  She swam up through the lightening barriers of sleep and smiled contentedly. Nik’s mouth brushed against hers but when she reached for him he wasn’t there. She opened her eyes. He was standing by the bed, his hair still wet from the shower. He gave her a dazzling smile. ‘Dinner is in one hour,’ he delivered.

  No way could she summon up a sense of urgency even though she knew she needed to wash her hair. She was lost in memories of the afternoon and the intimacy of watching Nik dress absorbed her as much as a brilliant and enthralling soap opera. Her cheeks warmed as memory served up the length of time they had spent in bed, the new skills she had been expertly taught, the amount of practice she had put in and the sheer exquisite pleasure of learning that Nik could be as helpless in the grip of passion as she was.

  ‘Dress formal,’ he told her, sliding his arms into a white silk shirt. ‘I believe there is to be dancing. Since my mother is not a fan of the pastime, I can only assume she is pulling out all the stops to impress the Kiriakos clan.’

  Leah sat up, pushing a hand through her wildly tousled hair, watching him with a wealth of tenderness in her still sleepy eyes. ‘Why would she do that?’

  Nik laughed wryly. ‘Our families stopped socialising together when the engagement was broken off. There has been a definite coolness ever since.’ He shrugged with fluid grace and then his mouth tightened. ‘However, I cannot say that I admire the timing. Good manners should have dictated that this be a family evening alone.’

  Leah knew what he was getting at but couldn’t have cared less. When Evanthia Andreakis chose to entertain Nik’s former fiancée and family the same day that she finally got to meet Nik’s wife it was undoubtedly not a coincidence. It was a snub, as much of a snub as Leah had been dealt when her mother-in-law had barely acknowledged her existence earlier, but for Nik’s sake she was prepared to dismiss such behaviour as being supremely beneath her notice. If anything she sympathised with Nik for having a mother still bent on signifying her disapproval five years after the event.

  ‘If my mother were a younger woman I would have told her how I felt about her conduct towards you this afternoon,’ Nik breathed grimly.

  ‘Please don’t get into any arguments over me.’ But she was
pleased that he had noticed, pleased that he was annoyed on her behalf.

  ‘I would not have believed her capable of such foolishness. What does she hope to achieve? If you are not accorded respect, I will not visit this house again,’ he intoned very quietly.

  Leah was dismayed by the hard, unyielding edge to his level assurance. She knew he meant it. ‘I don’t want you to do that.’

  ‘To be frank, I come here only out of duty. I hate this house and I despise most of the people currently staying in it. It is as though a cloud lifts when I walk out of it again.’

  She was shocked by his ruthless candour. He was lowering his guard for the first time with her, the emotional distance he usually observed abruptly cast aside. Paradoxically, it shook her that Nik could hide so much from her. Earlier she had not even realised that he had either noticed or been angered by his family’s reception of her. Now she could see that he was quietly seething about it, letting her know that the fur would fly if it continued. But that was the last thing she wanted.

  ‘Nik...let them get used to me,’ she heard herself urge tautly. ‘Ponia made me laugh earlier because she said that all of them were hoping you’d dump me and get back with Eleni, and because your mother is obviously fond of her and they’ve never met me before I’m the one who must seem the intruder.’

  Nik viewed her with narrowed eyes and a curled lip. ‘Eleni is a happily married woman...even my family could not cling to hope in the face of that fact!’ he derided with impatience.

  He didn’t know. He didn’t know that Eleni’s marriage had broken up.

  ‘According to your niece, Eleni and her husband have split up,’ Leah murmured.

  Nik froze in the act of tying his bow-tie, an arrested expression stilling his features. He spun around. ‘Since when?’ he demanded.

  A curious chill ran over Leah. ‘I don’t know...I don’t know anything about it.’

  ‘Ariadne should put a padlock on Ponia’s tongue. Right now she’s running around like a grenade with the pin pulled out!’ Nik said curtly, his dark eyes hooded as he swung back to the mirror again.

  And then there was nothing but silence. Nik might as well have been in a room on his own. Leah slid jerkily out of bed and vanished into the en suite. She had dropped a bombshell, that was obvious. Nik had been astonished at the news and then his whole face had closed as he’d mulled it over. So what did it mean to him? What did the idea that Eleni might be free and available mean to Nik? Anything...nothing? Maybe he was simply irritated that Eleni had not chosen to tell him the news personally.

  Don’t get carried away with your imagination, she scolded herself now. But she remembered the way Eleni had switched on like a neon light when she’d seen Nik, her beautiful face shedding all that natural cool and reserve. And that was not an image Leah was particularly happy to recall...

  Naturally Nik hadn’t waited to escort her downstairs. Leah entered the crowded salon, luminously lovely in an azure shoulderless evening gown which matched her eyes. And the first thing she saw was Nik and Eleni seated together in a far corner in deep conversation. So he’s catching up on what he didn’t know, she told herself, only it was a little difficult to believe that Eleni’s radiant smile was accompanying the sad and stressful tale of a failed marriage. But Nik looked deadly serious, serious enough for both of them.

  Ponia gave her a vague wave but appeared to be welded to the spot in front of the very handsome young man talking to her. Nik focused on her and instantly rose to his feet. By the time he had joined her, dinner had been announced.

  ‘You cut in fine,’ he said with a constrained smile, and it was that constraint where there had been none before that leapt out at her, like a chill wind unexpectedly spoiling a sunny day. ‘But you look ravishing.’

  You’re a jealous, possessive, insecure idiot, a voice shrieked inside her head. But she could not resist the temptation to ask, ‘Has Eleni’s marriage broken up?’

  Nik’s gaze veiled. ‘Yes.’

  And that was it. Confirmation, no further discussion. Nor was a large, formal dinner party the background for a private conversation. To her surprise, Leah found herself seated to the immediate right of her hostess, with Nik directly opposite and Eleni several seats further down. Mrs Andreakis even made several frozen attempts at conversation in perfect English and Leah responded with the generosity of her nature but underneath she was thinking in some discomfiture, My goodness, Nik’s been busy. Lines of strain marked his mother’s face and she looked her age, something she had not looked earlier in the day.

  It was a relief to be released from the dinner-table. Leah had eaten little. Ponia collared her as soon as she rose from her seat. ‘I want you to meet somebody.’

  The very handsome young man was yanked forward. His name was Dion. Wasn’t he cute? Dion flushed and bristled but when he looked at Ponia Leah could see that he was helplessly hooked if not yet quite accustomed to the sensation of being shown off like a prize poodle.

  ‘We’re going to get engaged next year,’ Ponia announced in a stage whisper.

  So young, so sure, Leah reflected, feeling a hundred years old as she recalled just how she had felt about Nik at the same age. And five years on she was in even deeper. So who was to say that Ponia was too young to know her own mind?

  ‘She told me at fourteen that she was going to marry him,’ Nik sighed from behind her as the happy couple moved away, Ponia dragging Dion in her breathless wake. ‘She even told me why.’

  ‘Why?’ Leah smiled.

  ‘She wanted to see him smile...and he does, continually around her. He’s twenty-two, coming to the end of his business course at Harvard and as serious as she’s flighty. He’s absolutely terrified she might find him boring by next year.’

  ‘Do you think she will?’ The music was playing in the ballroom and Dion and Ponia were already circling round the floor.

  ‘No.’ Nik gave a rueful laugh. ‘I think she had the guts to follow her own heart and she didn’t let pride come between them either when his family made it clear they didn’t care for the connection. For that strength and that clarity I believe I even envy her.’

  Leah shot him a veiled glance, catching the undertone of bitterness in his dark drawl, seeing it matched by a flash of stark regret in his clear gaze. Was he thinking about Eleni? Was he looking back and regretting the arrogance which had made him decide that Eleni was not for him all those years ago? And had Eleni let him go freely or with a brave smile that concealed her heartache? Watching her with Nik, Leah found it hard to believe that Eleni regarded him solely as a close friend.

  Nik danced with her. He was a marvellous dancer but Leah was in an edgy mood, unable to relax, more prone to thinking unfortunate thoughts that harked back to the past she had sworn to bury. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and the familiar scent of him filled her with pain. Losing him...the idea of losing him terrified her. The knowledge that she couldn’t lose him unless that certificate turned up was no consolation. All that did was remind her that Nik was not with her by choice.

  She was introduced to Eleni’s parents. They were polite and pleasant but she sensed the coolness underneath, knew that they were thinking that she was the woman who had stolen their daughter’s fiancé from her five years ago. After a little while she excused herself and she was heading for the terrace and some fresh air when Stavros fell into step beside her.

  ‘I haven’t seen Ariadne tonight,’ she remarked.

  ‘Sadly, my wife didn’t feel up to the festivities. She’s resting,’ he sighed.

  ‘Is she ill?’ Leah asked gently.

  ‘Sick with nerves. She only suffers that here with her loving family,’ he said, his mouth flattening with unhidden contempt as he closed his hands tautly over the wrought-iron rail which girded the terrace from the gardens. He swivelled round and looked searchingly at Leah. ‘Nik treating her like the plague doesn’t help.’

  Leah went pink, unprepared for that bluntness. ‘I’m sorry...I—’

/>   ‘I watched you together. You and Nik. You’re close. I promised Ariadne faithfully that I would never speak to Nik, never approach him on this subject, but I gave no promise about you,’ Stavros said with grim emphasis, each word carefully measured. ‘So now I will talk to you and hope you have the heart to act as an intermediary.’

  ‘An intermediary?’ Leah frowned at him.

  ‘Between us and Nik. Nik knows...I could tell you the very month and the year he changed towards my wife. I wanted to speak to him then. I wanted to know what he knew, what nonsense he had been told which could turn him against her to such an extent. But Ariadne almost had a nervous breakdown over the idea and I was silenced...but much against my will!’

  Leah stared at him uncomfortably. ‘Stavros...I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Not you too.’ The older man sighed with immense weariness. ‘Of course you know. Nik had only found out when you were newly married. He could not have kept that to himself. Thirty years ago Ariadne gave him up, but in her heart she never gave him up and she truly believed that she was doing what was best for him...’

  Comprehension hit Leah in a sudden wave, leaving her dizzy and reeling with shock. Ariadne was not Nik’s sister but Nik’s mother, her child given up to her parents to raise as their own within her sight but not within her care. And Nik knew...Nik did know, and the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. Was this the family skeleton that her wretched father had threatened to drag out into the light of day? That Ariadne was not Nik’s sister but in fact the woman who had brought him into the world?

  ‘I want to be sure that Nik knows the truth,’ Stavros asserted, too emotionally charged up now to take note of her reaction. ‘All of the truth, not merely whatever his grandmother chose to tell him. Nik was never adopted. A birth certificate was falsified to enable Evanthia and Alexos to pretend that he was their child but though they went to great lengths they could not hope to fool Ariadne’s sisters and the adoption story was coined for their benefit. Alexos wanted a son and he prevailed over his wife’s wishes and insisted that they keep Nik, a child whom he could raise as his own but who was at least half an Andreakis.’