A sense of exposure skated over Ares’s skin. Cassie wasn’t meeting his eye. It would be so easy to sayyes, that had been his plan, exactly. And it was a good plan to keep her out of the public eye and harm’s way. But that hadn’t crossed his mind once.
‘No,’ he said simply, turning his back on the view and resting against the terrace wall to look at her. ‘You’re free to go, Cass.’
She glanced up at him. ‘And what would happen then?’
‘I’d get one of my team to shadow you.’
Her hands went to the wall. ‘So, you are ready to let me just…go?’
The thought of her leaving sent a visceral response through him.No way.‘No, I’m not. But if you wanted to leave, I couldn’t go with you. It wouldn’t be a good idea for us to stay together because I could no longer be professional.’Ha!Ares hadn’t been thinking professionally since about five seconds after he’d seen her for the first time.
‘Oh,’ she said.
‘Yes. Oh. I want you, Cass. It’s not about me letting you go, it’s about whether or not you want to stay and to explore this…heat between us.’
She looked up at him, a smile playing around her mouth, her extremely distracting and provocative mouth. ‘That’s what it’s called—heat?’
He reached for her, pulling her into him, relishing the feel of her lithe body and curves pressed against him. She made him feel lighter.Thée mou, he would pay for this transgression but not now. Not yet.
‘Among other things like lust, chemistry, desire. Take your pick.’
‘Yes, I’d like to stay, and I like lust,’ she said with a devilish glint in her eye. Ares thought of watching her dive into the sea naked, how she’d looked like a faerie nymph, a mermaid, with her long golden hair and blue eyes and perfect skin.
She might have been innocent but she was a fast learner and she was moving against him now in a way that was fast short-circuiting his brain cells. Obeying some semblance of self-protection from deep down, he forced himself to say, ‘You know that this…between us can’t go beyond here, out into the world, into our real lives.’
She went still and pulled back, suddenly avoiding his eye. ‘Of course, I know that. We both want very different things, and I…do want a marriage that will be as real as I can make it. Caius might have been happy to have a marriage in name only for heirs and appearances and keep someone on the side, but I want more than that.’
She was a romantic. She might deny it but Ares could read between the words. But then he thought of her with some chinless well-bred prince and a red mist coloured his vision. He told himself it was just because he felt possessive of her. He’d been her first lover.
But, no harm to put some space between them. He said, ‘I should go to my office and make some calls, check in on things. Let your brother know you’re safe.’And thoroughly debauched.Ares wouldn’t be divulging that. Not if he wanted to keep his head attached to his body. And he wouldn’t even blame Caius.
She was still avoiding his eye. She wasn’t like the women he was used to. He caught her chin between his fingers and tipped her face up. ‘Don’t underestimate how much I want you, Cass. We’ll have dinner later. Relax for now, make yourself at home.’
He pressed a swift kiss to her mouth and walked away before he changed his mind and his full weakness for her was made brutally apparent.To her or to you?asked a mocking voice. Ares ignored it.
Cassie looked at herself in the mirror. She felt different. Did she look different? She peered at her face. She was a little sunburned, there were freckles across her nose, visible even under light make-up. She could imagine Pierre’s look of shock to see his pristine princess looking more human. She grinned. She didn’t care. She felt reckless.Free.Which was ironic, or maybe tragic, considering that she was about to embark on a life of being followed and scrutinised almost every waking moment.
Her grin slipped when she thought of how Ares had made it painfully clear that there was no chance he would be a part of that future. Not that Cassie had imagined for a second that he could be. Even if he wanted to be, the pressure to marry someonesuitablewas immense. And Ares Drakos, even with his upper-class pedigree, didn’t have blue blood running through his veins.
Cassie rolled her eyes at herself. Neither did she. It was red, like everyone else’s. The only thing that marked her out was the fact that her upper-class family line could be traced back to pre-medieval times and at some point along the way they’d been decreed royal.
She knew what this was with Ares. A moment. A totally unexpected and amazing moment. She’d hoped for this, but hadn’t really believed it might happen. And with someone so…compelling. And interesting. And intriguing.Stop.
She focused on checking her reflection again. She was wearing a dress she’d bought in Mykonos in one of the boutiques. White. Silk. Loose and flowy to just below her knee, the kind of thing she’d never be allowed to wear. It was too young, too sexy. Too revealing.
It was sleeveless and backless. A halter-neck design with a deep vee between her breasts. The top of the dress was held in place by a choker-style neck design, pearl buttons.
The waist was nipped with a band of the same material as the dress that met at the back, just above her buttocks, in a pearl clasp, matching the ones at the back of her neck.
She paired the dress with strappy high-heel sandals and a simple pair of pearl earrings and matching bracelet. Jewellery of her mother’s that she’d brought with her. She pulled her hair back and up into a rough chignon.
Cassie stepped back and headed for the door. She was going to meet her lover for dinner.Her lover.The thought of seeing Ares made her feel bubbly. Effervescent. Light. Who knew that the taciturn man she’d first met would sneak under her skin and change her life so comprehensively? That a smile from him could make her breathless with a sense of victory?
She knew it was dangerous to indulge in this little game they were playing, but she couldn’t seem to care enough to stop it. To walk away. This was just a massive tick off her wish list, that was all.Sex. Losing her virginity.
Once she landed back on Sadat Sur Mer, her life would not be her own again, and she would have a lifetime to regret the choices she was making right now.
Ares stepped into the living/dining area holding a bottle of champagne and two glasses. But he stopped in his tracks when he saw the figure of the woman standing on the terrace through the open French doors.
