AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s tonight?”
“Not just a party. A wedding reception in our honor.”
She was shocked. She didn’t know anyone in Greece. “Who’s hosting it?” She thought of the only faint possibility. “Not your sister?”
“No.” He chewed and swallowed a bite of bacon, washing it down with more hot black coffee. “I might have another chance at Paris. I’m hoping to discuss it tonight.”
At first Emmie thought he hadn’t answered her question. Then she realized he had.
“TheParis project?” she said. “The one we’ve chased for years? The property owned by Pierre Harcourt?”
Theo nodded. “There are rumors that he’s not happy with the new development team.”
“Harcourt is hosting a reception for us?”
Theo pushed his food around his plate with his fork, then said reluctantly, “His daughter.”
Emmie blinked, suddenly feeling a slight chill across the yacht’s deck, even beneath the warm Greek sun. “Your old girlfriend?”
He shrugged. “Ancient history. Long before your time.”
“Celine Harcourt? The one who smashed a plate on your head at Per Se?”
“She smashed it against the wall, at Le Bernardin. Though she was aiming at my head.” His lips twisted humorously. “Celine didn’t take rejection well.”
She hid the tremble of her hands as she set her linen napkin on the table. “No one does.”
Theo’s handsome face lifted in a sudden grin. “Jealous?”
She muttered under her breath. He leaned forward, taking both her hands in his own.
“You have nothing to worry about,” he said. “You’re the only woman I want. Forever and ever.”
She searched his gaze, her heart pounding. “Am I?”
His head tilted, his expression turning wicked. “Well. Let me think.” He kissed the back of her hand, then the other. “Perhaps...” turning the hands over, he kissed her palm “...I should...” he kissed the other palm “...be certain...”
Taking her finger in his mouth, he suckled it, swirling her fingertip with his tongue, as he’d done so expertly to other parts of her that were even more sensitive.
She shivered at the wet heat of his mouth. Her nipples were hard as desire coiled inside her. Pulling her finger from his mouth with one last kiss, he rose unsteadily to his feet.
“Now I know you’ll join me...” He lifted dark eyebrows with a crooked grin. “I’m going for a swim.” His powerful legs shifted as he turned on the yacht’s deck. “Catch me if you can.”
Without warning, he ran straight off the edge of the deck, falling the long distance. She heard a splash far below, against the hard sapphire surface of the water.
Emmie caught her breath. Standing up so fast she felt dizzy, she rushed to the edge to look down.
He was swimming in the water, totally unconcerned about any danger, his slick, wet dark hair shining in the sun. He laughed when he saw her face. “There’s nothing for you to be scared of. Come in. The water’s fine.”
Later that night, Theo sat beside Emmie on the speedboat en route to Santorini, his arm around her. He could not remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed, so sated, so... He didn’t know how to describe it.
The summer sun was lowering fast over the Aegean, turning it the color of Homer’s wine-colored water. Ahead, he could see the lights of Oia shining in the twilight.
But it was nothing compared to the way his wife glowed.
Theo looked down at her. The red sequins of her short dress shimmered as the boat swayed and leaped over the waves of Amoudi Bay. Her long hair, streaked with honey highlights from their time in the sun, flew behind her, and she’d added a hint of makeup to her flushed, pretty face. His gaze fell to her bare legs beneath the short hemline, her pedicured feet in strappy high heels, her toenails glistening baby pink.
As the vintage wood speedboat flew across the water, her full breasts, pressed into deep cleavage by lingerie, bounced with every hard wave. He tried not to look. Tried and failed and wanted her even now, even though they’d made love three times today, just since they’d gone swimming in the sea.
