The Mills & Boon Stars Collection. Cathy Williams

cared about, and she was a curiously attractive combination of downright old-fashioned sensible and mulishly spirited. Add in her looks and sex appeal and Delilah Moore-Zikos inhabited a class all of her own...

      Not that he was planning to share that high opinion with her, though. Particularly not when she talked as though she was indifferent to both him and the prospect of a baby. But he didn’t believe that. Like him, Delilah tended to hold back, judging a situation before she bared her soul or committed to a path of action.

      Having reached his decision at a speed which slightly stunned him, Bastien curved long fingers to her slim shoulders. ‘I want a baby with you.’

      ‘But that pre-nup—’

      ‘Thee mou...think outside the box,’ he urged. ‘I will settle down with you if you give me a child.’

      Lilah went pink. ‘And why would you think that I would be interested in that outcome?’

      Bastien elevated an ebony brow. ‘Aren’t you?’

      ‘Are we bargaining again, Bastien?’

      Lilah was so tense she could hardly breathe. The unthinkable was happening: Bastien Zikos, the legendary womaniser, was offering her fidelity and a real marriage.

      ‘Negotiating?’ he countered.

      ‘I may not even be able to get pregnant,’ Lilah countered with quiet practicality.

      ‘If and when that happens we’ll deal with it, glikia mou,’ Bastien told her levelly. ‘I don’t expect an easy ride. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.’

      Her heart swelled like a balloon inside her chest at that forthright opinion, which perfectly matched her own. Tears lashed the back of her eyes and she blinked them back furiously to focus on the beautiful burnished golden shimmer of his gaze.

      ‘In that case, I’ll... I’ll give it a go,’ she responded jerkily, afraid of the way she was laying herself open to getting hurt again, but desperately wanting to give him another chance.

      Another chance to smash her heart to smithereens? Another chance to walk away from her without a backward glance and console himself with other women? How likely was it that Bastien could settle down into marriage? Did she dare risk bringing a child into so potentially volatile a relationship? And why was she even considering doing so?

      Stealing a glance at his lean, darkly handsome face, she felt her breath hitch in her throat. The freedom of choice was suddenly cruelly wrenched from her, along with much of her pride. The reason she so badly wanted to give Bastien another chance was that she had fallen hard for him two years earlier and had struggled to fight feelings almost stronger than she was. Sadly, now that she was actually in Bastien’s life and wearing his ring on her finger, she was weaker, more open to hope and dream fulfilment and love.

      And that was the most basic truth, which she could no longer ignore or deny. She loved Bastien Zikos—had fallen like a giant stone the very first time he had settled those gorgeous dark eyes on her and smiled.

      ‘You look so serious,’ Bastien censured as he trailed off his shirt to reveal the torso that starred in her every fantasy. He was so wonderfully well-built, and he worked at staying fit—a reality etched in the lean hard sheet of roped muscle framing his pectoral muscles and abdomen.

      Lilah’s mouth ran dry. He brought his mouth down on hers, nibbling sexily at her full lower lip, swiping the upper with the tip of his tongue to gain entry to the intimate space beyond. A ball of heat mushroomed inside her when his tongue flicked against her own. Her hands spread on his chest, fingertips grazing hair-roughened skin and smoothing down to feel him jerk with sensitivity when she found the hard thrusting length of him.

      With a hungry groan he lifted her up and brought her down again on the bed, arranging her over him with careful hands.

      ‘I want you,’ Bastien growled, dark eyes shooting golden sparks over her warmly flushed face.

      ‘You sound so aggressive,’ Lilah scolded as she obediently bent forward for him to unclasp her bra.

      ‘It’s been a week.’ He swore bitterly. ‘An endless, frustrating week.’

      Strong hands pulled her down to him, to enable him to close his lips round a pouting pink nipple. He hauled her close to him and rolled her over.

      ‘Didn’t think I was going to get to stay on top,’ Lilah muttered with helpless bite.

      His broad chest rumbled with amusement. ‘Some day very soon...but not today,’ he agreed in a roughened undertone.

      Employing every sensual skill he had acquired, Bastien worked his way down over Delilah’s slim squirming body, revelling in each sound that revealed her enjoyment. As her hips bucked in climax and she cried his name he smiled and flipped her over, lifting her up on to her knees.

      He slid against her damp flesh to tease her, and then when she complained in frustration he sank into her, hard and deep.

      Lilah moaned, her head still swimming and her body still sensitised, floating on the aftermath of extreme pleasure. Extraordinarily conscious of Bastien’s every slight movement, Lilah felt her heart race and her pulse quicken with exhilaration. Intense excitement controlled her as he ground his hips into hers, quickening his pace until all she was conscious of was the wild, feverish climb of pleasure. As the ascent to satisfaction consumed her spasms of potent sensation coursed through her quivering body and then rose to an irresistible peak, leaving her thrashing in explosive convulsions of delight.

      ‘I’ll never move again,’ she whispered limply in the aftermath.

      ‘I’ll move you,’ Bastien husked, turning her round in the circle of his arms, his breath fanning her cheek, his body hot and damp against hers.

      The scent of his skin enveloped her and she smiled up at him.

      ‘I do hope you appreciate that you’re not getting out of this bed for the rest of the day?’ Bastien purred. ‘But I’ll make up for it tomorrow. I’m taking the rest of the week off. You will have my full attention, kardoula mou.’

      Lilah rubbed her face against a broad brown shoulder, gloriously relaxed and feeling amazingly happy. She loved him, and he was with her, and his entire attention was on her. For the moment that was enough. And for the first time she didn’t feel like Bastien’s mistress—she felt like his wife, and it felt good.

      * * *

      A week after their wedding day Lilah woke suddenly during the night to register that Bastien had got out of bed and was pacing naked while he spoke Greek into his phone, his lean strong features stressed and taut. He waved a hand to silence her when she mouthed a query and she had to be patient, even though she didn’t feel patient, lying back against the pillows and wondering what had happened to put that look of concern on his beautiful face.

      So much had changed between them in the course of a week. Bastien had let down some of his barriers and was sharing a bed with her every night. Only once had he had another bad dream, and wakening to find her leaning over him had put more exciting pursuits into his mind, she recalled, her body heating at that wickedly erotic memory.

      By day they had explored the chateau grounds before ranging further afield. They had gone to a jazz concert in the vineyards near Vaison-Ventoux-en-Provence. They had strolled round vibrant markets, walked through narrow cobbled streets to enjoy coffee in shaded squares with softly flowing fountains. The hilltop villages were wonderfully picturesque, and the views spectacular.

      He had bought her a gorgeous leather handbag in a workshop, and laughed heartily at the colourful pottery hen she had bought for Vickie, questioning that she could really like her stepmother and still buy her such a thing.

      On several evenings they had dined out in local restaurants, although truthfully they had yet to eat anywhere that could compete with the superb food Marie served at the chateau. Some nights they made love until dawn...some afternoons they didn’t get out of