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Lysander was stunned to appreciate that he had lost control with her Questioning eyes screened by his thick lashes, Lysander gazed down at her and marvelled at his appetite for her ‘Did I hurt you?’

‘No,’ she fraruffly,her head away

‘I was rough and you’re tiny, yineka mou’ His dark drawl hoarse, he bent his handsome head and pressed his sensual mouth to the tender skin of her throat

‘Hh Ophelia in response She was sensitised to his every caress

‘I’razing her delicate skin with his teeth ‘But I don’t think you could take ht now’

When she realized that she was being asked a question, Ophelia’s face fla there she was conscious of the ache of discoreed in stifled embarrassment

‘My little virgin wife—I should have beenas he levered back fro and smoothed back his black hair He looked cool and in control Yet after that wild conflagration, Ophelia honestly thought that she would never be the sa hands she yanked down her skirt over her nakedness

Without warning a frown line divided his well-shaped brows ‘Are you using any contraception?’

In a daze at that query, Ophelia shook her head and sat up

Lysander had fallen very still and there was an ashen quality to his skin, for he was shattered by his carelessness and unable to explain it even to his own satisfaction The very last thing he wanted was a child As he had no desire to be a father, he had always been very careful not to run any risks in that department If his caution had occasionally restricted his enjoyment he had accepted that

‘Theos…I’m afraid that I didn’t take any precautions either,’ Lysander is on the subject very clear ‘I won’t atteence It’s not a mistake I’ve made before and I hope that there won’t be any repercussions’

Ophelia dropped her head and very much hoped so too because his attitude chilled her He was appalled by the very idea that she ence was a serious word to use She was frantically counting dates inside her head and stiffened at the acknowledgeerously within reach of the most fertile part of her cycle ‘Let’s hope for the best,’ she muttered stiltedly

‘I have some calls to make before we head for the airport’

Ophelia let hiain ‘Did you believe me about Matt Arnold? That his sister, Pamela, didn’t leak the fact that ere married to the newspapers?’

Sardonic eyes rested on her anxious face ‘Of course I didn’t believe you How could I? Perhaps you leaked that story yourself Your conduct today underlined your guilt’

‘And how on earth do you make that out?’ Ophelia snapped in disconcertion

Lysander dealt her a derisive look of disbelief ‘You married me yesterday Today you invited a newspaper into erness for media attention speaks for itself’

Ophelia went for a shower in the state-of-the-art bathrooer, frustration and the most awful hollow sense of homesickness It should have occurred to her that he would make that rather obvious deduction An exercise intended merely to annoy him had rebounded on her, for she kneould never accept now that she had not tipped off the press about their wedding He saw her as a cheap publicity-hungry trollop, fine for sex but nothing else

So why did that bother her so h how did she dare to ask herself such a question when he had put her on his bed and she had de doll in the passionate encounter that had followed? When she looked at him, she burned for him and all her defences cru truth she had ever had to deal with She had believed that she was strong but now she was confronting her weakness and her pride was in the dust

But as she so hurt? That hat scared her the most Why did she feel so rejected? Naturally he didn’t want her to conceive, but had he had to turn pale as death at as surely only a small risk? She didn’t want a baby either, of course she didn’t—well, at soht person, and Lysander Metaxis was er for his, she reasoned fiercely It was disgusting that it should be that way and she was ashamed of it, but she was not remotely like her mother No, she wasn’t, she absolutely wasn’t She was too intelligent to get fixated on a man ould never love her, ould never offer her exclusive affection or fidelity and ould never want to walk down the street with her and show her off Much, ent…

CHAPTER SEVEN

IT WAS late afternoon the following day before Lysander and Ophelia finally landed in Greece

A late seasonal fall of snow the night before had led to a cessation of flights and long delays Hiring accommodation at an airport hotel, Lysander used the extra time to ith his business teaet the chance to talk to hiain Indeed, faced with his cool detachues that centred solely on the stock market, derivatives and interest rates did not improve her mood Once or twice, when she looked at Lysander, she found herself helplessly reliving the raw heat of their love the previous afternoon; his aloofness since then could only make her feel furiously ashamed of that episode In the early hours she took a nap in the bedroom of their suite while still fully clothed

Overlooked in the excite, she was the last person to be roused and she e out of her creased clothing, so had to take care of that necessity when they finally boarded the jet By then she was in a defiantthe more dressy options in her suitcase, she pulled on casual combats and a T-shirt Lysander had insisted that they pretend that their e was normal He had threatened her with court action, then had wrenched her froarden and her parrot while persistently refusing to offer her the smallest explanation for his behaviour But as he planning to start acting like a newly e was an empty charade? Albeit a charade with a little sexual action thrown in for colour, Ophelia reflected, squir

When she eed from the luxurious cabin an odd little silence fell and absolutely nobody looked in her direction, while her husband’s attention seemed welded to his newspaper It was a response that did nothing to relieve her suspicion that on board a Metaxis jet non-working personnel ranked as the lowest of the low in the pecking order

Lysander, however, was gripped by the article on his bride in the newspaper for which Matt, Pamela Arnold’s brother, was a writer Unfortunately the old link between the Metaxis and Stewart fa that never took place between Aristide and Cathy—had been dug up and given a freshLysander hoped his mother didn’t come across the item, since she tended to be sensitive about that episode and he was deter her medical treatment

Ophelia’s intervieas only the jewel in the crown of a spread that contrived to flatter her froue had been polished clean of the sifts of very expensive jewellery as the best bit of having married a billionaire Indeed in the published version Ophelia noaxed lyrical about how she hoped to use her privileged position to do soirl with traditional values

He was very surprised to learn that until the age of sixteen years she had lived in a tough housing estate with a mother

who had problems with alcohol and unsuitable men Social Services had been frequent callers There was a photograph of Ophelia about the age of ten clutching a dark-haired toddler They looked like half-starved waifs

‘Ophelia was a great littlefor her, but then she didn’t have a choice, did she?’ a for ‘Her ma, Cathy, was more of a child than she was’

Lysander wondered if the little sister had died with the mother in the train crash as there was no further mention of her Without doubt, as sob stories went, it was a blinder and the unnamed contributors must all have been close friends, for nobody had a bad word to say about his bride Had her difficult childhood , ee?

Why did nothing about Ophelia add up? Why was she such atraits? She had trained for three years to be a low-earning horticulturist and there was a picture of her dressed like a scarecrow—albeit one with shining eyes and a happy s muddy and clearly always had He found it hard to equate that Ophelia with the wos and with a vacuous smile for the cae when, just twenty-four hours later, she had done her utmost to attract the very worst kind of publicity?

When Lysander handed Ophelia a newspaper she felt bewildered—until she saw the picture of herself and Molly Her tuot worse as she ploughed through the article that laid bare her chequered childhood Her late mother’s inadequacy as a parent was now revealed for all to see and it filled Ophelia with sha over of Cathy’s doomed ro stupid enough to court publicity in the first place A lesson had been learned, she conceded painfully

‘I’m afraid I have some matters to take care of before I can join you on the island,’ Lysander murmured as they disembarked the plane

‘What island?’ Ophelia enquired stiffly without looking at him

Even Lysander’s tough hide was pierced by the raht an island a few years ago’