The Greek Tycoon's Virgin Mistress Read online

  ‘Did you enjoy your trip to South Africa? It boasts some spectacular scenery.’

  The sensual resonance of his voice curled around her so that she found it suddenly hard to swallow. ‘It was a working trip and there was no time for sightseeing,’ she replied politely. As usual, the trip had been a whirl of airport lounges and hotel vestibules with a few days on the beach where she had been too busy modelling a range of swimwear to take more than a cursory interest in her surroundings.

  ‘That’s a pity. The wild flowers on the veldt are stunning at this time of the year. Do you often work to such a tight schedule?’ Damon enquired lightly, his tone plainly implying that he did not consider standing around in a selection of designer frocks hard work. He’d made other, faintly disparaging, comments about her job the first time they’d met and his attitude fanned Anna’s irritation.

  ‘Surprising though it may seem, modelling can be a demanding profession and I take my work seriously. I was paid to do a job in South Africa, not enjoy a freebie holiday,’ she informed him coolly.

  ‘Your attitude is commendable,’ Damon assured her gravely, although she detected the glimmering amusement in his dark eyes. Nothing infuriated her more than the belief that pretty women were, by definition, airheads. For a second she was tempted to tell him that she had recently completed a four-year home study course and been awarded a business degree, but then thought better of it. Why did it matter what Damon Kouvaris thought of her? she thought defensively. It wasn’t as if she cared about his opinion of her.

  She returned her attention to her starter and found that her appetite had deserted her. He, on the other hand, was eating with evident enjoyment. She was aware of every movement he made and when he reached for his drink she stared, transfixed, as his strong, tanned fingers curled around the stem of the glass.

  From her brief conversation with him on Zathos, she knew that his father had once insisted he should learn every aspect of the building trade. His family might own the multimillion-pound Kouvaris Construction company but Damon had started his working life as a labourer.

  Twenty years on, he had an expert knowledge of his trade and, although he now spent most of his time in the boardroom rather than on site, he still retained the superb physique he’d gained through hard physical labour. His hands were strong and darkly tanned. She watched him lift his glass and could not repress a tremor at the thought of those lean fingers caressing her body.

  His touch would be slightly abrasive against her skin. She wondered if the black hairs she glimpsed on his wrist covered the whole of his body. Certainly his chest, she decided. She doubted that he shaved his body hair, as was common with many of her male friends in the modelling industry. And his golden tan was from the hot, Greek sun, not hours stretched out on a sunbed.

  In the superficial world she inhabited, Damon’s overwhelming masculinity was alien and unnerving, but undeniably sexy. He evoked thoughts and feelings within her that were as unexpected as they were shocking. Her tension returned with a vengeance and as her throat closed up she choked on a prawn.

  ‘Easy…try to drink a little water.’ His quiet concern made her eyes sting with stupid tears and she forced herself to take a sip of ice-cold water from the glass he held to her lips.

  ‘Better?’ His eyes were not black, as she had first thought, but a deep, dark mahogany, velvet soft as he focused intently on her.

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ she mumbled, groping for her self-possession to disguise the fact that she felt a fool. Get a grip, she ordered herself impatiently. She spent a good part of her life attending social functions in the company of some of the world’s most eligible men. Surely it wasn’t beyond her to cope with Damon Kouvaris for a couple of hours without making a complete idiot of herself?

  The main course was served but Anna could not do justice to Mrs Jessop’s excellent cooking and toyed with her food, hoping to give the appearance that she was eating.

  ‘Are you simply not hungry, or are you one of those women who religiously count every calorie?’ Damon murmured in her ear. ‘You have a spectacular figure, Anna, but I wouldn’t like to see you any thinner,’ he added, plainly unperturbed by her fierce glare.

  His words were the last straw. How dared he make personal comments? She wouldn’t be affording him the opportunity to see her at all, whatever her shape, Anna vowed furiously, unaware that he could read the murderous thoughts that darkened her eyes to the colour of cobalt.

  Anna Christiansen was as exquisite as a fine porcelain figurine, Damon thought appreciatively, unable to tear his gaze from the delicate beauty of her face. Her classically sculpted features were perfect, the tilt of her wide mouth offering a sensual invitation he longed to accept.

  It was impossible to travel anywhere in the world without seeing her face on a billboard or featured in a glossy magazine. He’d read somewhere that the cosmetic house she represented had offered her a new contract worth several million pounds and it was easy to see why. With her pale blonde hair drawn back into a sleek chignon and her huge eyes defined by carefully applied make-up, she was every woman’s style-icon and every red-blooded male’s fantasy.

  As his gaze dropped to the soft curve of her mouth he felt his body’s involuntary reaction to the sight of her scarlet lips, glistening and moist and so damn sexy that heat surged through him.

  He’d wanted her since the moment he’d first seen her on Zathos, but his godson’s christening had hardly been the place to indulge his carnal desires. Anna had obviously thought so, too. She had treated him with a cool indifference that had both amused and intrigued him, particularly when her prim air had been unable to disguise her fierce awareness of him.

  He’d noted with interest the way her cheeks suffused with colour whenever he approached her. Doubtless it was all part of a clever act, but the innocence of her rosy blush added to her sensual allure and he’d had to forcibly restrain himself from taking her in his arms and exploring her tantalisingly soft, full lips with his own.

  He had received the phone call requesting his urgent presence at one of the Kouvaris developments with uncharacteristic regret. For as long as he could remember, work had been his overriding mistress, coming a close second to his family. But for once he’d felt frustrated that he could not spend longer on Zathos to woo the elegant, slender-limbed blonde who dominated his thoughts.

  He’d spent much of the last two months in Athens attending to the necessary task of rearranging his personal life, and in particular ending the affair with his mistress. He wanted no messy loose ends to mar his pursuit of Anna and had viewed Filia’s tears with irritation. It was not as if Filia had been in love with him, but rather his wallet, he acknowledged cynically.

  He’d made it clear from the start, as he always did, that he wasn’t looking for love and commitment, and could offer neither. Filia had eventually been consoled by several expensive gifts and now he was free and eager to discover if the chemistry he’d felt between him and Anna on Zathos would live up to its explosive promise.

  Anna was speaking to him and with an effort he dragged his mind from the erotic fantasy of exploring her slim body. He guessed from her clipped tone that he had riled her and his lips twitched at the flash of fire in her eyes.

  ‘I fail to see that my eating habits are any of your business, but, if you must know, I have a normal, healthy diet,’ she told him indignantly.

  ‘I’m glad to hear it. In that case you’ll be able to have dinner with me tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at seven.’

  Another guest caught his attention and he smiled as he responded to the query about where exactly in Athens he was based. Beside him Anna seethed silently, waiting for the opportunity to tell him that she was unavailable tomorrow night, or any other night for the foreseeable future.

  How dared he just assume that she would jump at his invitation? To her over-sensitive mind it seemed to be another example of his belief that she was a dumb blonde who couldn’t think for herself. He was the most arrogant man
she had ever met and as soon as she could get a word in edgeways she would turn him down flat.

  To her chagrin Damon paid her scant attention for the remainder of the meal and she had drained the last of her coffee and was debating whether Kezia would be offended if she pleaded a headache and went home when he turned to her again.

  ‘Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go tomorrow night?’ he queried casually, as if they had been dating for months. Anna gave him one of her cool smiles guaranteed to freeze the most ardent admirer and swallowed her desire to tell him exactly where she’d like him to go.

  ‘I’m afraid I must turn down your kind offer, tempting though it is,’ she said with barely concealed sarcasm. ‘I’m busy tomorrow night.’

  ‘That’s not a problem,’ he assured her blandly. ‘We’ll make it the following evening.’

  ‘I’m busy then, too.’

  ‘And the next night?’ His brows lifted, his tone faintly sardonic now, as if he was growing bored of the game that she was playing.

  ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘I had no idea that modelling made such demands on your time.’

  ‘I didn’t say I was working,’ she snapped, feeling thoroughly hot and flustered. Was his ego so inflated that he couldn’t take a simple no for an answer? ‘Had it not occurred to you that I could be dating someone else at the moment?’

  He paused and reflected for a moment. ‘Are you?’

  Anna was aware that conversation around the table had lulled and they were attracting attention, Kezia’s in particular. It was tempting to lie to him, but innate honesty made her shake her head. ‘No,’ she admitted ungraciously, her tone sharp. She knew she was overreacting, but she had never felt so acutely aware of a man in her life and she was terrified that he would realise the effect he was having on her.

  ‘So what are you doing every evening this week?’ Damon enquired silkily, although she wasn’t fooled by his indolent tone when she caught the glint of battle in his eyes.

  Damn him. How had he managed to turn the conversation around so that she felt guilty for declining what was, in all honesty, a simple request to join him for dinner? She had no reason to feel guilty, she assured herself. If he was conceited enough to believe she was his for the taking, like a ripe plum ready to fall into his hands, he deserved to be disappointed.

  ‘I’m washing my hair,’ she snapped, not bothering to disguise the asperity in her tone. She glared at him, quivering with tension as she waited for his response.

  ‘You obviously lead a full life,’ he murmured lazily, his mouth curving into a smile that made no effort to hide his amusement. He turned away from her to speak to the guest on the other side of him, leaving Anna with the distinct impression that she had lost the first round.

  She was aware of the faintly embarrassed, pitying glances from around the table and knew that her cheeks were scarlet. She’d got what she wanted, hadn’t she? Damon could not have made it plainer that he had lost interest in her and the idea of taking her to dinner. So why did she feel so put out?

  She didn’t want to have dinner with him, she reminded herself irritably, but the words sounded as unconvincing to her own ears as they did when Kezia demanded an explanation later in the evening.

  ‘I thought you liked Damon,’ her friend muttered, after insisting that Anna accompany her upstairs to check on Theo. ‘He only asked you out to dinner, Anna; it’s not as if he issued an invitation to leap into bed with him.’

  ‘I had the impression that one was merely a prelude to the other,’ Anna replied dryly. ‘You said yourself that Damon Kouvaris is a notorious womaniser and I have no intention of becoming another notch on his bedpost.’

  ‘More’s the pity,’ Kezia muttered beneath her breath, but Anna’s keen ears caught the comment and her eyes narrowed.

  ‘Meaning what, exactly?’

  ‘Meaning that you cannot spend your whole life pushing people away through fear.’

  ‘I’m not afraid of Damon,’ Anna replied fiercely, although not entirely truthfully. The enigmatic Greek disturbed her more than she cared to admit.

  Kezia glanced at Anna’s tense expression and sighed. ‘When will you accept that the sins of your father won’t necessarily be repeated by every man you meet? Not every man out there is a serial adulterer.’

  ‘Are you honestly suggesting that Damon would be a committed and faithful lover?’ Anna queried tightly. ‘His track record is appalling. I know his type, Kezia. I meet men like him every day and, trust me, he’s only interested in one thing.

  ‘Well, he’s not getting it from me,’ she hissed. She followed Kezia out of the nursery, her steps slowing when a figure emerged from the shadows.

  ‘Damon! You startled us,’ Kezia murmured while Anna prayed that a hole would appear beneath her feet.

  ‘Forgive me—Nik said you were checking on Theo and I was wondering if I could take a peep at my godson. I hope I didn’t disturb you,’ he replied, his smile encompassing them both but his gaze fixed firmly on Anna.

  ‘Not at all, we were just…chatting,’ she mumbled, her face flaming at the sardonic expression in his eyes.

  ‘So I heard.’ Damon’s tone was bland but his smile did not reach his eyes. Anna had been prickly and defensive all evening. He’d assumed she was playing the well-known game of hard to get and he had even been prepared to go along with it for a while. Often, the thrill of the chase proved to be the most enjoyable part of a relationship, he acknowledged cynically.

  But the snatches of conversation he had overheard between Anna and Kezia threw a different light on her attitude. The media had exaggerated his reputation as a playboy, but he had never professed to be a saint, he admitted ruefully.

  He knew nothing of Anna’s family situation, but if her father really had been a serial adulterer then perhaps it explained her unwillingness to acknowledge the attraction that had first flared between them on Zathos. The attraction was, however, undeniably still there; if he’d had any doubts before, he had none now, having noted how she had been unable to keep her eyes off him throughout dinner.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘IT’S been a wonderful evening, Kezia, but I really must go home,’ Anna announced firmly when she followed her friend down the sweeping staircase leading from the nursery. Call her a coward, but she doubted her ability to cope with Damon Kouvaris’s unsettling presence for a minute longer. ‘I’ve a busy couple of days ahead,’ she murmured by way of excuse.

  Damon was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. His brows rose quizzically at her words. ‘Yes, all that hair-washing must be exhausting,’ he commented dulcetly.

  Kezia valiantly hid her smile at Anna’s furious expression. ‘Of course I don’t mind. I’ll just fetch your jacket,’ she choked as she disappeared into the cloakroom, leaving Anna alone with Damon.

  The silence stretched between them until Anna was sure he must be able to hear the erratic thud of her heart. She searched her mind for something to say. She spent her life making witty small talk but it seemed that her brain had decamped and all she could think of were stupid inanities that would probably reinforce his belief that she was a brainless blonde.

  ‘So, you’re going to be tied up all week? A punishing schedule in the beauty salon, no doubt,’ he drawled, his laconic comment inciting her instant wrath.

  ‘Actually I shall be training all week,’ she told him stiffly, wishing that the sight of him in his black dinner suit didn’t affect her so strongly. She felt as gauche as a teenager and was aware that her voice sounded breathless and girly when she wanted to impress him with the fact that she was a sophisticated woman of the world.

  ‘Training for what?’ Damon couldn’t disguise his scepticism.

  ‘I’m running a half-marathon around Hyde Park next weekend. The event is to raise money for a number of charities and I’m supporting a charity that is trying to raise funds for a children’s hospice. Perhaps you’d like to sponsor me?’ she added, lowering her guard slightly.
He was reputed to be a multimillionaire and the charity needed all the support it could get. This wasn’t the time for pride.

  ‘I’d be delighted. How many miles are you planning to run?’

  ‘Thirteen,’ she admitted, her hesitant tone betraying her doubts. Her training schedule hadn’t gone quite to plan and it had come as a shock to realise that the race was only a week away. She had a naturally slender, athletic build and worked out in the gym regularly, but thirteen miles suddenly seemed an awfully long way.

  ‘So how far do you run on your training sessions?’

  ‘About half that distance,’ she mumbled, ‘give or take the odd mile.’

  ‘Ah.’ There was a wealth of amusement in his dark eyes. He plainly didn’t think she could do it and his scepticism brought her chin up defiantly. She’d show him.

  ‘I’m pretty fit and I don’t anticipate any problems,’ she told him coolly, crossing her fingers behind her back as she spoke.

  Damon stared at her speculatively for a few moments. ‘Nik is a devoted father and I imagine he’s pledged a large donation in support of the children’s charity. I’ll match his offer.’

  ‘Are you sure…? I mean, it’s a six-figure sum,’ she argued faintly.

  ‘Are you saying you don’t think the charity could make use of the money?’

  ‘Of course it could.’ It might even mean that the children’s hospice could open earlier than planned, she acknowledged as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. ‘But are you sure you would be prepared to sponsor me for such a huge amount?’ There had to be a catch. She didn’t believe for a minute that he would make such a generous offer, even if he hadn’t initially realized how much Nik’s donation was, without demanding something in return.