The Holiday Escapes Collection. Sandra Marton

three weeks is hardly as long as four years, is it?’

      She opened her mouth to answer, but he had already gone.

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      ‘MUMMY look at me!’ Emily called to Charlotte from the pool on the terrace outside a few days later. ‘I’m swimming!’

      Charlotte smiled as her little daughter flung her body towards her beaming grandmother, her tiny arms and legs thrashing at the sparkling water.

      Alexandrine gathered Emily close as she came up for air. ‘Why do you not join us, Charlotte?’ she asked.

      ‘Yes, Mummy, come in and I’ll show you what else I can do,’ Emily piped up excitedly.

      Charlotte slipped off her sarong and slipped into the cool embrace of the water with a sigh of pure pleasure.

      ‘How are you feeling today?’ Alexandrine asked after Emily had bobbed under the surface to show off her bubble-blowing.

      ‘Much better,’ Charlotte said. ‘I think I’m finally over my jet lag.’

      ‘You still look a little fragile,’ Alexandrine said. ‘Damon is concerned about you.’

      Charlotte focused her gaze on her daughter rather than meet the older woman’s eyes. ‘He’s been very kind,’ she said with complete honesty.

      She still couldn’t quite believe he had taken control of Stacey’s problems so effectively. She had finally been able to speak to her sister, who’d assured her she was making good progress. It touched Charlotte very deeply that he had done everything in his power to pull Stacey back from the brink. She couldn’t make sense of his motives, for while he had made love to her each night, he had revealed nothing of his feelings. It felt as if hope and dread were constantly jostling for space in her chest.

      ‘Emily has made him so happy,’ Alexandrine said. ‘And me too, of course.’ She released a little sigh and added, ‘Every time I look at her I see a glimpse of Eleni.’

      Emily popped back up, her brown eyes dancing with excitement. ‘Did you see me, Mummy? Even Janie can’t do dat!’

      Charlotte pressed a soft kiss to her daughter’s little button nose. ‘You are very clever but I think you have a very good teacher in your granny. She is much more patient than me.’

      ‘Patience is something I have had to learn the hard way,’ Alexandrine confessed once Emily had scampered off to play with her toys in the shade by the pool. ‘Every day is a challenge not to be angry at God for what has been taken away from me.’

      Charlotte turned to look at her mother-in-law. ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I was to hear of your loss. You must miss Eleni dreadfully.’

      ‘It has been so hard,’ the older woman said, her eyes filming with tears. ‘But you have given me such a gift in Emily. I could not believe it when Damon called to say he had found you at last and that you had had his child.’

      ‘I tried to tell him, but—’

      Alexandrine put a hand on her arm. ‘Please do not apologise. He was so angry back then and far too stubborn for his own good. I told him there could have been another explanation but he would not hear of it.’

      Charlotte wanted to reiterate her innocence but Emily was coming back towards the pool, this time with Damon holding her hand.

      ‘Daddy’s going to swim with me,’ she announced proudly.

      Charlotte felt the sweep of Damon’s gaze as he entered the water close to her, the rippling waves his large body set off brushing against her breasts as if he had reached out and touched her.

      ‘You finally have some colour in your cheeks,’ he observed, as his thigh brushed against hers beneath the screen of the water.

      She began to turn away but encountered a contemplative look from her mother-in-law and turned straight back and smiled up at him. ‘I feel wonderful.’

      His eyes blazed with intense heat as they roved over the up-thrust of her breasts in her bikini top. ‘You certainly look wonderful.’

      ‘Emily and I are going inside,’ Alexandrine called out diplomatically.

      Damon sent his mother a grateful glance before meeting Charlotte’s flustered look. ‘It looks like we are alone again, agape mou,’ he drawled silkily.

      She backed against the wall of the pool, her breathing escalating. ‘Don’t even think about it.’

      He pressed closer, his aroused length probing the quivering jelly of her belly. ‘No one will see us.’

      ‘Th-that’s completely beside the point.’

      He ran his hands lightly down her arms. ‘You are shaking, Charlotte.’

      ‘I’m getting cold.’

      ‘You feel hot to me.’

      She ran her tongue over her lips, trying to put some distance between them, but he wasn’t allowing it. She could feel every ridge and plane of his body until she was uncertain of where she ended and he began.

      She watched in mesmerised fascination as his mouth came down, her eyelashes fluttering closed at the first whisper of warmth over the tingling surface of her lips. She felt the subtle probe of his tongue seeking entry and her lips parted on a deep sigh of pleasure, her stiff limbs loosening as soon as he took control of her mouth.

      Her breasts swelled and ached for his attention, her inner core contracting in anticipation of his surging presence.

      He reached down to cup her tender mound, his fingers sliding into her with a deftness that stole her breath and heightened her excitement. She pushed against him greedily, wanting more of his exquisite touch, uncaring that they were in full view of the villa.

      Before she knew what was happening, he had lifted her from the water to settle her on the edge of the pool, stepping into the silky embrace of her open thighs.

      ‘No…not here…’ She made a vain effort to stop him, but it was too late. He had already uncovered her to anoint her with his mouth and tongue while her fingers dug into his scalp to anchor herself against the torrent of feeling she knew was just seconds away.

      She felt herself lift off, the rush of sensations overloading her until she couldn’t think of anything but how he was making her feel. Wave after wave of rapture rolled over her, leaving her spent and useless.

      She opened her eyes once the storm was over, hot colour seeping into her cheeks. ‘You shouldn’t have done that.’

      His black eyes glinted. ‘I had a score to settle from the other night.’

      ‘You could have chosen a less public venue,’ she said with a reproachful look.

      ‘Ah, yes, but we have an audience who need convincing that this is a real marriage. What better way to demonstrate it than my uncontrollable desire for you and yours for me?’

      ‘I hardly think we have to go to such extremes as this.’

      ‘I will go to whatever extremes I consider necessary,’ he said.

      She sent him a blistering glare. ‘I don’t want Emily to see us pawing at each other like animals. It’s disgusting.’

      He smiled as he ran a hand down the length of her arm, his fingers encircling her wrist like a steel bracelet. ‘It is not disgusting, agape mou, what is between us. We cannot make it go away by ignoring it. We want each other like a drug. Your sister’s addiction is nothing to ours. Four years of detox has done nothing to quell my need for you. I want you as much, if not more than the first time I met you.’

      ‘You want access to your daughter,’ she said. ‘Don’t let’s cloud the issue