Exotic Nights: The Virgin's Secret / The Devil's Heart / Pleasured in the Playboy's Penthouse. Natalie Anderson

look beautiful tonight.’

      Angel exerted iron control over her emotions and turned slowly to face Leo, not a hint of her inner turmoil showing on her face. She smiled and it felt brittle. ‘Well, you paid enough for it.’

      Leo’s eyes were dark, with those golden lights lurking in their depths, already undoing some of Angel’s rigid control. She left her hand lax in his, even though she wanted desperately to pull away. His dark tuxedo elevated his appeal to another level. And he just said, softly now, while shaking his head, ‘Money has nothing to do with true beauty. And you are, Angel, truly beautiful.’

      Leo found that he was saying the words with a reverent sincerity that he couldn’t help. When he’d walked into her room earlier he hadn’t known what to expect. His heart had beaten a curious tattoo, and he’d found that his chest had been tight with anticipation. She’d been standing at her window, slender back to him. He’d seen many women, in many beautiful gowns for his pleasure, but none he’d ever seen had taken his breath away before they’d even turned around.

      The dress was floor length, and a deeply turquoise colour. Silk. Apart from that Leo hadn’t known much, because he’d felt dizzy with lust. It draped and fell in such a way as to turn her into some sort of goddess creature. Her hair was twisted up and held in place by a flower of a similar colour to the dress.

      Disgusted with his reaction, he’d had to call her name to get her to turn around, and she’d done so, so slowly it had had the effect of a striptease on his body, even when she was fully clothed!

      Her breasts were lovingly caressed by the silk of the dress, the deep V between them a shadow of promise. Her head had been high, chin tipped up in a gesture that had seemed almost defiant. It had been all Leo could do to stand still and extend an autocratic hand, gesturing her to come to him. And when she’d walked, and the soft silk had swirled around her body—

      Leo came back to the present and shifted uncomfortably in the back of the car.

      For a second the cool and controlled woman suddenly looked slightly unsure. And Leo reacted. What was he doing, all but drooling over her like this? His hand tightened on hers for a second, and he felt the small delicate bones, the slight roughness of her skin that hinted at the work she’d been doing, and his chest tightened again for a second.

      He thrust aside all the nebulous feelings he didn’t understand, and asked, ‘How do you think your father will react to seeing us together when he gets the papers tomorrow? Because this is going to be all over the world, Angel …’

      Angel shivered and tried to pull her hand away, but Leo held it tight. She hated him in that moment. Really hated him. The only thing stopping her from trying to jump out of the car as it idled at a set of lights was the memory of the ecstatic phone call she’d had from Delphi earlier, telling her that she would be marrying Stavros in a month’s time. And also the surprise that Angel had felt at Leo acting on his word so soon.

      Her voice was unaccountably husky, with all the confusing emotions rushing through her. ‘I think you know very well how he’ll react. He’ll be apoplectic. He’ll be utterly humiliated.’

      Leo lifted a brow, speculation all over his face. ‘Will he, though, Angel? Or have you and he planned exactly this all along?’

      Hating feeling so cornered and mistrusted, Angel hit back. ‘What if we have? You’ll never know, will you?’

      Leo moved close and Angel arched back, but it was no good. Leo’s hand came out and caressed the back of her neck. His other hand came up and cupped her silk-covered breast. She hadn’t been able to wear a bra, and she was horrified to feel her nipple peak and thrust against the silk. His thumb moved lazily against her nipple and Angel bit back a moan. How could he have this effect on her?

      ‘I’ll know, Angel, because from now on, until I’m bored with you, I’ll know every move you make. So any plans you and he have cooked up will be futile.’

      ‘But we don’t—’

      Her words were crushed under Leo’s mouth and everything disappeared into a haze of urgent desire. Since he’d come into her room earlier, when she’d not even been able to turn around to face him until he’d called her name, finally doing so with her heart beating so loud he had to have heard it, Angel had, in some deep and traitorous place wanted to feel his mouth on hers again.

      And now it was, and she was being sucked under all over again. Mindlessly helpless to fight him. She wasn’t aware of the car drawing to a halt, or the driver clearing his throat. She was only aware of Leo pulling back, and her gasping in of breath when she opened her eyes and tried to focus. Her body felt jittery and on fire. Leo just smiled at her, triumph in his gaze, and Angel could only watch as his eyes travelled down and took in the obvious state of her arousal, her nipples as hard as berries, standing out starkly against the unforgiving silk.

      ‘Perfect.’

      And before Angel knew what he meant Leo was out of the car, coming around to open her door and pulling her out. She still felt dizzy, spaced out, and then there was nothing but Leo’s hand around hers and a barrage of lights and questions. She’d just become Leo’s very public property.

      Later, Angel sat in her chair and felt thoroughly out of place. She’d been away at boarding school for so long, and then at college, so that she’d never really integrated into Athens society. Her mouth twisted. Well, not the way Leo believed, anyway. Despite that, she did know people in the room, and she saw their looks and their whispering and she hated that it affected her. She’d gone to the bathroom earlier, and heard two women talking by the sinks.

      ‘Can you believe he came with her?’

      ‘I know. I mean, no one would be surprised if he crossed to the other side of the street to ignore her and that awful family after what they did …’

      The other woman had laughed nastily. ‘Can’t you just imagine her buffoon of a father’s face if he saw them together? I wouldn’t be surprised if Leo Parnassus is only taking her as some sort of revenge. He’s practically ignored her all evening …’

      The other woman had sighed lustily then, and said, ‘I wouldn’t mind him taking me for revenge … Obviously he sees something in her too-innocent-to-be-true face.’

      The stinging words came back to Angel now, and she held her head up high and gritted her teeth. This was all part of Leo’s plan. Ritual humiliation.

      Just then Angel saw Lucy Levakis return to the table where they’d been seated. She was the English wife of Aristotle Levakis, Leo’s business partner, and the only person who’d been genuinely sweet to Angel—no doubt because she didn’t know of the history. Ari Levakis, though, had been sending her dark speculative looks all night, clearly of the same mind as Leo, and suspicious of her motives. After all, he’d been one of the people she’d recognised at that party in the villa all those weeks ago. Angel felt sick. Did he know about Leo’s revenge?

      Lucy sat down and said chattily, ‘You looked lonely over here, so I thought I’d come and join you. Honestly, men—they get so wrapped up in themselves.’

      Angel smiled tightly. She didn’t want to taint this nice woman with her dubious reputation. ‘Really, I don’t mind if you want to go back. I’m fine here.’

      Lucy shook her head, and just then Angel noticed something and felt her heart lift for the first time in days. She’d obviously not noticed before, too preoccupied with everything. She sat forward and asked shyly, ‘That necklace you’re wearing, where did you get it?’

      Lucy beamed and told Angel all about how Ari had known how much she loved it and had proposed to her with it. ‘To this day I don’t own an engagement ring.’ She touched the necklace reverently. ‘This is my engagement ring.’

      Angel smiled, blushing with pride. ‘I designed that necklace.’

      Lucy gasped. ‘You what?’

      Angel nodded. ‘I did