Hostage to Love (Entangled Suspense) (11 page)

Expecting him to hand over the glass of water and leave, she almost choked on her first sip when he pulled up a chair and sat down. “What are you doing?”

“I always find company helps after a bad dream.”

“You’ve had nightmares?” She couldn’t quite mask her surprise.

A wry smile whispered over his lips. “I’ve had one or two in my time, believe it or not.”

And he’d probably had a warm, nubile body next to him to help erase the unpleasantness. The thought hurt more than she wanted it to. She clenched her hand to hide its trembling.

“Well, I’ll be fine, so feel free to return to…whatever you were doing.”

“I was in bed next door, but I wasn’t asleep.”

“You’re next door?” She couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Where did you expect me to be?”

“At the opposite end of the wing,” she blurted.

She tried not to let the thought of Nick sleeping so close by bother her, tried to ignore the frisson of awareness that shot through her at the thought that he’d been lying awake only a few feet away. She tried harder not to think of the Nick who’d slept in the nude during their marriage.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” he replied.

I’m not disappointed.
The words didn’t spill out, for which she was thankful.

Unable to stop herself, her gaze traveled over him. He’d donned a T-shirt over silk boxers, but that didn’t stop her from recalling the sight of his hair-roughened chest and the way it’d felt pressed against her minutes ago. Her heart thudded, this time to a different sensation, born not of fear but arousal. Lowering her eyes, she glanced at his thighs—taut and muscle-bound, and again sprinkled with silky hair. At the sight of his bare feet, her stomach somersaulted. She swallowed around a tight throat and raised her eyes to find his on her, a banked fire in their depths sending an undeniable pang through her body.

“Thanks for the water. Don’t let me keep you.” She put the glass down, hoping the dismissive move would send him on his way.

He merely shook his head, but his movements were jerky, a tension hovering over him as he frowned. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you alone. I’ll stay. Try and go back to sleep.”

From somewhere she managed to summon a laugh. “Not a chance.”

One brow shot up. “Am I a distraction?”

“Not by half! You’re sitting there like some overprotective bear, and whatever was bothering you earlier has obviously still got you fired up…” When he didn’t take up the veiled invitation to share, she sighed. “Fine, let’s both choose the strong-and-silent route.”

“We could be very English and banal and talk about the weather? Or art?”

“It’s half past two in the morning. I don’t have much need for the weather. Or art for that matter.” She sank back into her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. “But I do need my sleep, I guess. You don’t have to, but if you want to stay, it’s up to you. Goodnight.”

“
Kalinihta, pethi mou
,” he murmured.

The endearment brought sharp tears to her eyes. Lowering her lids so he wouldn’t see, she turned away from him and concentrated on regulating her breathing. Hopefully, she could fool him into thinking she’d gone back to sleep so he’d leave. Because there was no way she could sleep with him there. No way.

Sunlight sneaking around the cracks in her curtain woke her just after nine the next morning. Her gaze flew to the chair by her bedside.

It was empty.

…

“God, I haven’t slipped into a time warp, have I? Only I could’ve sworn Monday was a few days off yet.”

The sound of Liz’s voice soothed Belle’s ruffled nerves, although she knew the feeling wouldn’t last, not once her best friend realized where she was calling from.

“Nope, you haven’t fallen into a vortex. And…I’m not in Nawaka. Not anymore.”

“You’re back home? Excellent. Wine and pizza are on me Sunday night. Seven okay with you—?”

“I’m not back home, Liz. I’m in Greece. On Althea.”

The silence that met her declaration made her heart clench.

“You’re back with Nick? After what he did to you?” Her perplexed tone came through loud and clear.

“I’m not back with him. It’s not like that.”

“Tell me what it’s like.
Dammit
, Belle, don’t forget I watched you turn yourself inside out for him in six short months, and it
still
wasn’t enough. He made you miserable, and now you tell me you’re back there—”

“I was kidnapped, Liz. Nick came to rescue me.” She rushed the words, unwilling to be reminded just how much she’d diminished herself for the sake of her marriage.

“Wait. You were
what
?”

Pulling in a sustained breath, Belle quickly rehashed her ordeal.

“And
Nick
came to get you?”

“Nick and Alex and a bunch of guys I wouldn’t want to meet in an alley on a dark night. Or the middle of the day, for that matter.”

“Alex, huh? I guess he’s good for something after all…” Her voice drifted off for a second, then she cleared her throat briskly. “I still don’t get why you’re
there
and not here.”

She gripped the phone tighter. “I…I agreed to stay here for a while…to recover.”

“You agreed?” Suspicion bristled in her tone, rousing a touch of irritation in Belle.

“Yes, it was
my
decision. I’d rather not face anyone right now, at least not the damned paparazzi. Right or wrong, I’m staying here until I’m ready to come home, okay?”

“I guess.” Her voice softened a touch. “Sweetie, don’t get me wrong, I only want what’s best for you. For your own sake, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I know you have my back. I just wanted you to know where I am so you wouldn’t worry when you called Nawaka on Monday.”

She hung up shortly after, promising to call again soon. But the unease didn’t leave her as she set the phone down on the table next to the poolside lounger and picked up the book she hoped would distract her from her chaotic thoughts.

“Are you all right, Tinkerbelle?” The throaty voice sounded somewhere close to her left shoulder, and she immediately went on the offensive, fighting to dispel the unwanted rush of pleasure she experienced every time Nick came close.

“I’ve told you not to call me that, goodness knows how many times. Why won’t you listen?” she snapped. She lowered the book, her annoyance escalated both by the interruption of her reading and her shortened breath with every step he took closer to her.

“I use your full name because I know no matter how much you protest to the contrary, you like it.” His words tumbled lazily into the dappled sunlight, like pearls dropping onto smooth silk.

Her very brief idyll shattered, she grew painfully aware of her near-naked state in the minuscule white bikini she wore. She pulled up her legs against her torso to hide the telltale peaking of her nipples. She speared him an accusatory look, which he ignored. With easy grace, he lowered himself onto the poolside lounger next to hers.

Thinking he’d be closeted in his study as he had been most afternoons for the past five days, she’d decided to spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool. Now she wished she’d stayed indoors, fully clothed and immune to the arousal he inspired.

She watched him lean back, cross his ankles, and tilt his face to the warming sun. He was dressed in casual khaki shorts and a white T-shirt, and her mouth went dry at the gorgeous display of hair-dusted thighs, calves, and arms. She shifted to ease the disconcerting tingling between her thighs and looked away.

“Well, you’re wrong, and I’d thank you to remember my name is Belle, not…not—”

He breathed in deeply, his eyes glinting at her. “Tinkerbelle? And what about you,
hmm
? Do you remember your other names? In particular your married name? Or did you decide to forget all about it while you were embarking on your suicide mission in Africa?” Gone was the husky laziness his tone. In its place came a note of barely repressed anger as his legs swung off the lounger. He turned to face her, muscled arms resting on his knees.

She stopped herself from drawing back from the fierce light in his eyes. “Yep, that was my aim. To go where I was wanted and valued and forget I was ever foolish enough to take the Andreakos name!” Self-protection made her wrap her hands around her legs as she tried to ward off the pain that flooded her insides.

“Watch your tongue,
eros mou
.” The frosty warning dripped into her thoughts, and she blinked to find Nick regarding her with eyes the color of polished gunmetal. She ignored his advice, her angry focus on the one painful, mocking word.

“Don’t call me that! I was never your
love
, you bastard, nor am I now.”

He frowned. “It’s just a harmless term, baby. Calm down.”

His response only served to anger her further. “Of course it is. Because you never loved me enough to mean it.”

Tension snapped in the air. The skin around his lips whitened as he pressed his lips firmly together.

“We agreed we wouldn’t do this. Not while you’re still recovering. And I won’t tolerate slurs from you,” he continued, although a peculiar look flitted through his eyes. “As to taking my name, you did it of your own free will. You don’t get to regret it because things are tough between us.”

She gasped. “Don’t you dare say that to me.
I
wasn’t the one who threw our marriage away, Nick.”

“I won’t be drawn into another fight, baby. For one thing, the doctor told you to take it easy. And you’re far from fit enough to take me on. So don’t even try.”

He traced a fading bruise on her thigh, and her senses went into immediate overdrive.

She jerked away, curling her legs to hide the bruise. “Don’t touch me!”

His lips formed a thin line and he stood. “Fine. Have it your way.”

A harsh laugh scraped her throat. “If only having my way was as easy as that.”

“Explain.”

She glared up at him, unable to stem the tide of pain coursing through her. “You know the one thing I crave more than anything, Nick. The one thing you’ve never wanted to talk about.”

He paled and his face froze into a blank mask. “Belle—”

“Don’t bother. I know how this goes. I mention
children,
and you shut down. Go on, walk away. Far be it for me to throw a wrench in our
truce
.”

A very pithy Greek curse ripped through the air. “I came out here to tell you what’s happening on Friday, not to get drawn into an argument.”

She swallowed hard and tried to find some semblance of peace amidst the warring emotions coursing through her heart. “So tell me. What’s happening?”

Her flippant tone made his frown deepen but he took a breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. “There’s a newspaper guy sniffing around for a story. I’ve invited him over for a meeting.”

Surprise made her stare blankly for a moment. “You’re obliging a
reporter
? You normally avoid them like the plague.”

He shrugged, although tension continued to snap through his frame. Whether it was from their argument and the taboo subject of children, she wasn’t sure. “He mentioned Mwana and said it was urgent he spoke to me. I merely want to find out what he knows.”

Fear mingled with the myriad emotions battering her. “He mentioned Mwana,
specifically
?” The news of the kidnapping hadn’t hit the international press yet. In fact, Edda, Hendrik, and Father Tom were likely still in Morocco recovering and being debriefed by the authorities.

Nick gave a tense nod.

“How can he possibly know?” Nick’s people were wizards at protecting his privacy.

“No idea, but I intend to find out.”

“You mean
we
will find out, right?” she said.

“No. I think it’s better that I talk to him first…
dammit
, don’t give me that look.”

“What look?”

“The one that says you’re about to rain hell on my head again. You’re not coming anywhere near this guy until I know it’s safe. And sure, you can hate me for that, too.”

“Nick!”

“Nope, I won’t change my mind. I’ll see you later. In the meantime, I suggest you take a swim or find a better book to read. This one’s obviously not doing the trick with calming your frame of mind.” Leaning down, he planted what she could only call a hard, possessive kiss on her shoulder, then he straightened and started to walk away. “As for not touching you, baby. It’ll only happen when I have no breath left in my body.”

Livid at his arrogance and at her body’s leap of pleasure at his touch, she jerked her feet off the lounger and twisted around to glare after him.

“This book is perfectly adequate. And my frame of mind has never been better!” But she didn’t even get a backward glance before he disappeared from view.

For your sake, I hope you know what you’re doing.
She gave in to the childish urge to fling her book after him, mourning its loss for only a second when it skidded along the ground and landed in the pool. Lips pursed, she tracked the progress of the now sodden novel.

When she sprang up in agitation a few minutes later and dove in after it, she wasn’t sure which emotion reigned supreme—her unsettled feelings where Nick was concerned or her sheer terror that there was someone—perhaps several someones—out there, digging into what happened to her at Nawaka.

Chapter Six

Nick closed his study door with a decisive
click
, resisting the temptation to slam it. He looked around the dark-paneled room—the only room in the villa not painted in bright colors—and thought how well it suited his mood. He was spending so much time in here that he might as well move in his bed and start taking his meals at his desk. Then he wouldn’t have to annoy his impossible wife with his presence. He ran an agitated hand through his hair and sank into the leather chair behind his desk.

He knew Belle needed time to heal, but hell, this tiptoeing around her was driving him nuts. It didn’t help that she insisted on picking fights and touching on subjects he’d rather leave alone.

Children
. His mind skittered away from the subject. It was inevitable that he’d have to reveal all the gory details to Belle one day.