Greek's Pride: The Stephanos Marriage / A Passionate Surrender / The Greek Bridegroom. HELEN BIANCHIN
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need.’
‘I have money of my own,’ she declared fiercely, and saw one eyebrow lift in silent quizzical query.
‘Call it a housekeeping allowance,’ Aleksi insisted as he leaned against the servery. ‘And don’t argue,’ he warned with dangerous softness.
Without a further word she turned and filled a glass with chilled water, then drank it. With head held high she crossed the kitchen, her expression one of icy aloofness. ‘I’m going to bed.’ It was after eleven, and she was weary almost beyond belief.
‘I’ll show you how to operate the security system,’ he insisted, straightening to his full height.
Five minutes later she entered the master suite, aware that he followed in her wake. Her back was rigid with silent anger as she made her way through to the sitting-room, and once there she flung off her robe, slid into bed, closed her eyes and determinedly shut out the muted sound of the shower operating in the en suite bathroom.
Much to her annoyance she remained awake long after the adjoining bedroom light was extinguished, and lay staring into the darkness, incredibly aware of Aleksi’s proximity.
She hated him, she denounced in angry silence. Hated him. Why, he had to be the most damnable man she’d ever had the misfortune to meet. Indomitable, inflexible, impossible!
She must have slept, for she came sharply awake feeling totally disorientated and unsure of her whereabouts for a brief few seconds before memory surfaced, and she lay still, willing conscious recognition for the sound which had alerted her subconscious mind.
Georg? Perhaps he was unsettled after the long flight and restless in new surroundings.
Slipping cautiously out of bed, she trod silently across the room to the cot, her eyes adjusting to the reflection of the low-burning nightlight as she anxiously inspected his still form.
Wide eyes stared at her with unblinking solemnity, and Alyse shook her head in smiling admonition. With practised ease she changed his nappy, then covered him, only to hear him emit a whimpering cry.
Within seconds it became an unrelenting wail, and, quickly flinging on a wrap, she picked him up, murmuring softly as she cradled him.
‘Problems?’
Alyse turned in startled surprise at the sound of Aleksi’s voice so close behind her. ‘He’s only very recently started missing a late-night feed,’ she told him quietly. ‘I think the flight may have unsettled him.’
‘Give him to me while you heat his bottle.’
‘I can easily take him into the kitchen, then you won’t be disturbed.’
‘Go and do it, Alyse,’ drawled Aleksi, calmly lifting Georg from out of her arms.
Her chin tilted fractionally as she met his unequivocal gaze, then just as she was about to argue the baby began to cry in earnest and, defeated, she stepped past Aleksi and made her way from the bedroom, fumbling occasionally as she searched for elusive light switches.
The tap emitted hot water at a single touch. Boiling hot, she discovered, biting her lips hard against a shocked curse as she withdrew her scalded hand. Ignoring the stinging pain, she warmed a bottle of prepared formula, then hurried back to the bedroom.
Aleksi was sitting on the edge of the bed cradling the tiny infant, and Alyse experienced a shaft of elemental jealousy at his complete absorption.
She wanted to snatch Georg out of his arms and retreat from the implied intimacy of the lamplit room with its large bed and the dynamic man who seemed to dominate it without any effort at all.
‘I’ll take him now,’ she declared firmly, and her hand brushed his as she retrieved the baby, sending an electric charge through her veins.
Sheer dislike, she dismissed as she tended to Georg’s needs, and on the edge of sleep she took heart in the fact that she would have most of the day to herself. A prospect she found infinitely pleasing, for without Aleksi’s disturbing presence she could explore the house at will, even swim in the pool while Georg slept. And attempt to come to terms with a lifestyle and a husband she neither needed nor coveted.
ALYSE ENTERTAINED NO qualms whatsoever as she followed Georg’s pre-dawn routine. If Aleksi insisted that she and Georg occupy the master suite, then he could darned well suffer the consequences of sleep interrupted by a baby’s internal feeding clock, she determined as she settled Georg after his bottle. Gathering up jeans, a warm long-sleeved sweater and fresh underwear, she crossed to the en suite bathroom and took a leisurely shower.
When she re-entered the bedroom Aleksi was in the process of sliding out of bed, and she hastily averted her eyes from an expanse of muscular flesh barely protected from total nudity by a swirl of bedlinen.
‘Good morning.’
His drawled amusement put her on an immediate defensive, and her eyes lit with ill-disguised antagonism as she uttered a perfunctory acknowledgment on her way to the sitting-room.
Damn him! she cursed as she quickly straightened her bed, tugging sheets with more than necessary force. He possessed an ability to raise her hackles to such a degree that she was in danger of completely losing her temper at the mere sight of him!
Aleksi was already in the kitchen when she entered it some five minutes later, and she cast his tall rangy jeans-clad, black-sweatered frame the briefest of glances as she took a cup and filled it with freshly brewed coffee, blithely ignoring the fact that he was in the process of breaking eggs into a pan.
‘Breakfast?’
She met his dark gaze with equanimity. ‘It’s barely six. I’ll get something later.’
A newspaper lay folded on the servery and she idly scanned the headlines as she sipped the contents of her cup.
‘There’s an electronic device connected to the intercom system that can be activated to ensure that Georg is heard from any room in the house,’ Aleksi told her.
‘You were very confident of succeeding, weren’t you?’ Alyse couldn’t help saying bitterly. ‘The abundance of nursery furniture, toys—everything organised before you left for Perth.’
He skilfully transferred the contents from the pan on to a plate, collected toast and coffee and took a seat at the breakfast table.
His silence angered her immeasurably, and some devilish imp urged her along a path to conflagration. ‘No comment?’ she demanded.
He looked up, and she nearly died at the ruthless intensity of his gaze. ‘Why indulge in senseless fantasy?’
‘Don’t you mean fallacy? Somehow it seems more appropriate.’
‘Are you usually this argumentative so early in the morning? Or is it simply an attempt to test the extent of my temper?’
There could be no doubt he possessed one, and she cursed herself for a fool for daring to probe the limit of his control. Yet beneath that innate recognition was a determined refusal to be intimidated in any way.
‘Do you have a problem with women who dare to question your opinion?’ she countered, permitting one eyebrow to lift in a delicate arch. ‘Doubtless all your female friends,’ she paused with faint emphasis, ‘agree with everything you say to a point of being sickeningly obsequious. Whereas I couldn’t give a damn.’
‘That’s a sweeping generalisation, when you know nothing about any of my friends.’
‘Oh, I’m sure there’s any number of gorgeous socialites willing to give their all at the merest indication of your interest,’ she derided. ‘I wonder how they’ll accept the news that you’ve suddenly plunged into matrimony and legally adopted a son?’
Aleksi