[English] The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Rrincess

Author : Chantelle Shaw

NIKOSANGELAKIstood at the edge of the ballroom and surveyed the five hundred or so guests
who were dancing or sipping champagne beneath the ornate chandeliers. The men were uniform
in black tuxedos, while the women—dressed in couture gowns and flaunting a spectacular array
of diamonds and precious gems—flitted about the dance floor like gaudy butterflies. He flicked
back the cuff of his dinner jacket, glanced at his Rolex, and then began to make his way across
the room—aware of the interested glances he received as he passed. At thirty-two he was used to
the attention his looks and the rumours of his wealth attracted. An attractive blonde in a daringly
low-cut dress caught his attention, and his gaze lingered on her fleetingly before he stepped into
the lobby.
It was the first time he had attended the royal ball or visited the Aristan palace, and he was
impressed by the elegant splendour of the rooms where the silk-covered walls were lined with
priceless works of art. The ruling family of the House of Karedes was one of the wealthiest
families in Europe, and the guest-list included members of the aristocracy and heads of state—
grand people who had no idea that the Prince Regent’s honoured guest tonight had grown up in
the slums of Athens.
Nikos wondered cynically if the butler who had escorted him to the state drawing room to greet
Prince Sebastian...

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CHAPTER ONE

NIKOSANGELAKIstood at the edge of the ballroom and surveyed the five hundred or so guests

who were dancing or sipping champagne beneath the ornate chandeliers. The men were uniform

in black tuxedos, while the women—dressed in couture gowns and flaunting a spectacular array

of diamonds and precious gems—flitted about the dance floor like gaudy butterflies. He flicked

back the cuff of his dinner jacket, glanced at his Rolex, and then began to make his way across

the room—aware of the interested glances he received as he passed. At thirty-two he was used to

the attention his looks and the rumours of his wealth attracted. An attractive blonde in a daringly

low-cut dress caught his attention, and his gaze lingered on her fleetingly before he stepped into

the lobby.

It was the first time he had attended the royal ball or visited the Aristan palace, and he was

impressed by the elegant splendour of the rooms where the silk-covered walls were lined with

priceless works of art. The ruling family of the House of Karedes was one of the wealthiest

families in Europe, and the guest-list included members of the aristocracy and heads of state—

grand people who had no idea that the Prince Regent’s honoured guest tonight had grown up in

the slums of Athens.

Nikos wondered cynically if the butler who had escorted him to the state drawing room to greet

Prince Sebastian would have been quite so obsequious if he’d known that Nikos’s mother had

once worked as a lowly kitchen maid at the palace. However, that was something he hadn’t even

revealed to Sebastian, despite the close friendship that had developed between them.

He strode across the hall, pushed open a door, and found himself in the banqueting suite, which

was empty, apart from a waitress at the far end of the room who—unlike the other palace staff

who seemed to be rushed off their feet tonight—was idly folding napkins.

The guests had eaten earlier, but Nikos’s delayed flight had meant that he had missed the buffet

supper, and as he glanced at the mouth-watering selection of canapés he was aware of a hollow

feeling in his stomach. Business first, he told himself firmly. It was evening in Aristo, but early

afternoon on America’s east coast and he had arranged to call a client in New York. He strolled

towards the waitress who had her back to him and was still oblivious to his presence.

‘Can you tell me if there is somewhere I can be uninterrupted? I need to make an urgent

business call.’

The deep, gravelly voice was so innately sensual that the tiny hairs on Kitty’s body stood on

end, and she turned her head, her heart crashing in her chest when she stared up at the man who

had come silently into the room. She had recognised him instantly when he had walked into the

ballroom earlier in the evening—Nikos Angelaki, billionaire shipping magnate, notorious

playboy, and in recent months one of her brother’s closest confidants. Sebastian had explained

that he had met Nikos at a business function in Greece, and since then the two men had

discovered a mutual liking for poker and the roulette wheel in the nightclubs of Aristo and

Athens.

The photographs Kitty had seen of him in the tabloids had triggered her interest, but nothing had

prepared her for the impact of Nikos in the flesh. He was suave, sophisticated and spine-

tinglingly ***y. Taller than average; his tapered black trousers emphasised his long legs and taut

thighs, while his impeccably tailored dinner jacket cloaked formidably broad shoulders. But it

was his face that captured her attention. Handsome was a barely adequate description of the

chiselled perfection of his features: the slanting, razor-sharp cheekbones and square chin, the

heavy brows arched above midnight-dark eyes, and a wide, sensual mouth.

In the silence that stretched between them Kitty sensed his arrogance and devil-may-care

confidence, and she felt an unbidden and shockingly intense tug of ***ual awareness that sent a

quiver down her spine. He was gorgeous, but she suddenly realised that she was staring at him,

and she blushed.

‘There is a small sitting room through there,’ she mumbled, indicating the door at the far end of

the room.

‘Thank you.’

His eyes skimmed over her, making a brief inspection of her unexciting black ****tail dress, and

Kitty wished fervently that she had bought a new outfit for the ball—something slinky and low-

cut that would have made him look at her with male appreciation, rather than dismiss her without

a second glance.

But she had never been very interested in clothes, preferring her research work for Aristo’s

museum to shopping, and it had only been when she had flicked through her list of preparations

for the ball and seen the words ‘buy dress’ that she’d realised she had nothing suitable to wear to

the palace’s most prestigious social event.

She lacked the confidence to wear ***y outfits, anyway, she acknowledged dismally. And she

certainly wouldn’t stand a chance with a man like Nikos. He had given no sign that he

recognised her, but palace protocol dictated that she should make the first introduction.

Immediately she felt tongue-tied by the crippling shyness that had afflicted her since childhood.

Not for the first time she wished she shared her sister Princess Elissa’s self-confidence and

sparkling personality. Liss always made socialising look so easy.

She was Princess Katarina Karedes, fourth in line to the throne of Aristo, Kitty reminded

herself. She had been trained practically from birth to deal with social situations, but she had

never found meeting new people easy, and she was still steeling herself to offer her hand to

Nikos in formal greeting when he spoke again.

‘I’ve a feeling that you are needed to serve champagne in the ballroom. I understand from Prince

Sebastian that a number of the catering staff have been taken ill, and I noticed that many of the

guests have empty glasses.’ He gave her a faint, dismissive smile, as if he expected her to

immediately scuttle off, and turned his attention to his phone.

Kitty gaped at him, overwhelmed by his powerful personality, and taken aback by his

suggestion that she was needed to serve drinks. She was aware of the problem with the caterers

she had booked to work alongside the palace staff, and, having spent the past month planning

every detail of the ball like a military operation, she found it annoying that so many of the

waiters had succumbed to a virulent sickness virus. Anxious to ensure that the evening ran

smoothly she had come to the banqueting room to check over the buffet table, but the head butler

had assured her that everything was under control, and she was sure it was not necessary for her

to take on the role of waitress.

Usually she had little to do with the royal ball, but this year, with Queen Tia mourning the death

of the king, Sebastian had asked her to oversee the arrangements. Seb had enough on his mind,

Kitty thought ruefully. After their father’s unexpected death Sebastian should have immediately

become the new king. But the shocking discovery that the Aristan half of the Stefani diamond,

which was set in the Aristan Crown, was a fake, and that the real diamond was missing, had

thrown the plans for his coronation into disarray. By royal tra***ion Sebastian could not be

crowned if he did not have the jewel, and until it was found he could only assume the title of

Prince Regent.

Lost in her thoughts, Kitty suddenly realised that Nikos Angelaki was watching her with

unconcealed impatience. He moved away and began to punch numbers into his phone. ‘My client

is expecting my call,’ he said as he walked towards the door leading to the sitting room. ‘And

you had better get back to work.’ He paused, and looked back at her. ‘Actually, you could bring

me some champagne—and while you’re about it something from the buffet. The dolmathakia

looks good, and perhaps some bread and olives.’

He was a guest, Kitty reminded herself, and her duty as hostess of the ball was to ensure that the

guests enjoyed the evening. But his haughty tone rankled. It was usual for people she did not

know to address her as Your Highness, but Nikos was either unaware or unimpressed that he

should use her royal title. Throughout her life Kitty had been treated with a deference suited to

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her royal status. She did not expect to be fawned over, but Nikos had spoken to her as if she were

a lackey. Didn’t he know who she was?

‘You want me to serve you?’ she queried, taken aback by his arrogant demand.

Her sharp tone caught Nikos’s attention and he glanced across the room, his eyes narrowing

when he noted the waitress’s mutinous expression. He had paid scant attention to her when he

had first walked into the room, and had formed a vague impression of a dumpy, rather plain girl

in a badly fitting dress. But now, as he studied her more closely, he realised that she was far from uninteresting.

She was unfashionably curvaceous, he mused idly, allowing his gaze to roam over the swell of

her hips that flared below her neat waist. Her voluptuous breasts straining beneath her dress

would make a generous handful. A vivid mental picture came into his mind of her wearing a

strapless, low-cut couture gown that displayed her breasts like plump, round peaches. In his

imagination he saw himself slowly removing the gown, drawing it down and feasting his eyes on

her nakedness, and he felt his body tighten with unbidden ***ual awareness.

She wasn’t his type, he reminded himself irritably. He liked tall, elegant blondes, and she was a

short, curvy brunette. Her heavy-rimmed glasses were unflattering, but he noted that her skin

was smooth and tinted a pale olive-gold, her slanting cheekbones highlighted by a flush of rose-

pink, and her mouth was wide, her lips full and lush and eminently kissable.

Hell! He’d obviously been celibate for too long, he thought sardonically. He was a self-

confessed workaholic, and under his leadership Petridis Angelaki Shipping’s profits had soared.

He worked hard and played hard, but recently he hadn’t played enough. It was time he redressed

the balance—but he doubted Prince Sebastian would be pleased if he seduced a member of the

palace staff.

‘If it’s not too much trouble,’ he drawled sarcastically. ‘It is your job, after all.’

Kitty thought of the hours she’d spent organising the party, and felt a spurt of temper. She’d

been run ragged for weeks, anxious to ensure the ball was a success for Sebastian’s sake, but her

duties didn’t include acting as a personal attendant to one of her brother’s friends. Twin spots of

colour burned on her cheeks, and she put her hands on her hips.

‘The idea of the buffet table is that guests can help themselves,’ she informed Nikos tightly.

She saw him frown as his eyes trailed over her, and it suddenly struck her that her high-necked,

long-sleeved black dress—which she had bought two seasons ago in the hope that the starkly

simple style would make her look slimmer—was almost identical to the uniform that the female

serving staff were wearing. Her job! Understanding slowly dawned. Could it be that Nikos

Angelaki had no idea of her identity? They had never met, and, unlike Liss, who was often

pictured in the tabloids, she was rarely recognised by the paparazzi. Nikos clearly believed she

was one of the palace staff, and she didn’t know whether to be amused or insulted by the

mistake.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she was Princess Katarina, not a lowly servant, but

something held her back. It was humiliating that he had mistaken her for a waitress. She wished

now that she had made more effort with her appearance instead of blithely assuming that no one

would take much notice of her. She was acting as the Prince Regent’s consort tonight, and

people had noticed her, but for all the wrong reasons.

During the evening she had overheard various unflattering comments from the guests that she

was the Plain Jane Princess who had missed out on her sister’s looks: ‘… twenty-six…oh, no,

notmarried…must be hard to be in the shadow oflovely Liss. Apparently Princess Katarina is

thebrainy one, but she doesn’t share PrincessElissa’s beauty.’

Kitty wondered how Nikos would react when she told him she was a princess. Would he share

the general consensus of the guests that she was the ugly duckling of the family? It didn’t help

that he was so stunningly good-looking. She could feel her heart thudding erratically as she

absorbed the masculine beauty of his face, and she was startled by a fierce longing to run her

fingers through the lock of silky black hair that had fallen forwards onto his brow.

She was terrified that he could somehow read her mind, but she could not tear her eyes from his,

and she sensed something indefinable pass between them that made her skin prickle and her

breasts tingle. To her horror she felt her nipples swell beneath her dress and she hastily crossed

her arms over her chest, her cheeks burning.

Nikos recognised the flare of ***ual awareness in the waitress’s eyes and was infuriated by his

own body’s involuntary reaction to it. He did not have time to waste dealing with a stroppy

domestic, even though the chemistry between them was tangible. ‘I suggest you look up the

word “servant”,’ he said coldly. ‘You’ll find it means “someone who is paid to serve”. I’m sure

Prince Sebastian is a fair employer who pays you a generous wage, and I would be grateful if

you could do as I’ve asked without further argument.’

He should walk through into the private sitting room and make his call—but for reasons he

couldn’t explain, he hesitated. He could not dismiss the ridiculous urge to pull the girl into his

arms and kiss her senseless. Not a girl, he corrected himself, his eyes drawn once again to the

firm swell of her breasts. She was very much a woman, with a gorgeous hourglass figure that

might not be ‘in’ with the fashion police but was incredibly ***y. He felt a fierce tug of ***ual

hunger in his groin and inhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. ‘What is your name?’ he demanded

harshly.

‘It’s…Rina.’ The words spilled from Kitty’s lips, and the moment they were out it was too late

to retract them. She didn’t understand what had prompted her to withhold her true identity, but

she knew that Nikos had previously met Liss at a party in Paris and, although it was stupid, she

could not bear the idea of him comparing her with her beautiful, glamorous sister. ‘I’m new

here,’ she mumbled, assuring herself that she had only lied to save him the embarrassment of

learning that he had mistaken a member of the royal family for a servant.

‘I see.’ Nikos strolled back across the room towards her and Kitty felt her pulse-rate quicken

with every step he took. He swamped her senses and she was tempted to turn and flee, but when

he halted inches from her she saw the gleam of ***ual curiosity in his eyes and shock held her

immobile. Surely she was wrong? Nikos had dated some of the world’s most beautiful women

and it was rumoured that he had been having a white-hot affair with the stunning Hollywood

star, Shannon Marsh, for months. It was inconceivable that he could be attracted to a frump like

her— wasn’t it? She licked her suddenly dry lips and was startled when the expression in his

eyes hardened to a predatory gleam that caused her heart to pound.

‘Something tells me you have a lot to learn, Rina.’

The mockery in his voice was mixed with a blatant sensual message that sent a quiver of

excitement down Kitty’s spine. She had led a sheltered life at the palace, and at twenty-six was

painfully aware of her ***ual inexperience, but the feral heat in Nikos’s eyes was unmistakable,

even to a novice like her.

‘I’d better go…and bring you some champagne, Mr Angelaki,’ she said breathlessly, jerking

away from him before she gave in to the temptation to close the space between them and press

her soft body against the muscled hardness of his. Dangerous thoughts; and instinct warned her

he was a man who was way out of her league.

‘Yes, you better had.’ Nikos laughed softly, self-derisively; breaking the web of ***ual tension

that curvy little waitress had somehow woven around him. ‘Out of interest, how do you know my

name?’

‘I’ve seen your photograph, and read about you in the newspapers,’ Kitty admitted, although she

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did not add that she regularly scanned the tabloids for articles about him or that she was rarely

disappointed by his absence in the gossip columns. Nikos Angelaki’s luck at the roulette table

was as legendary as his business acumen. He was a gambler and a risk-taker, a high-flier who

was frequently snapped by the paparazzi driving around Athens in his Lamborghini with a

seemingly inexhaustible supply of beautiful women at his side. ‘You have a reputation as a

millionaire playboy with a different blonde on your arm almost every week,’ she said stiffly.

Nikos shrugged carelessly. ‘You shouldn’t believe all you read in the papers, Rina. Some of my

“blondes” have lasted much longer than a week, and a few have even made it to a month,’ he

added sardonically. ‘But I think my private life is nobody’s business but my own—don’t you?’

‘Absolutely,’ Kitty replied tightly, stung by his rebuke. ‘It’s no concern of mine that you change

your women as often as other men change their socks.’

An ominous pause followed her defiant statement, and then Nikos threw back his head and

laughed. ‘I wonder if Prince Sebastian is aware that he has a rebel among his staff?’ he drawled,

moving before Kitty had time to react, and capturing her chin between his strong fingers. ‘If

you’re not careful that sassy mouth could get you into a lot of trouble, Rina.’

She was trapped by his closeness, and the heat from his body mingled with the sensual tang of

his aftershave stole around her and held her prisoner. The gleam in his eyes sent a tremor through

her, and for a few electrifying seconds she thought he was going to lower his head and kiss her.

She held her breath, torn between fear and fascination, and felt a crushing sense of

disappointment when he abruptly released her. Of course he hadn’t intended to kiss her; stupid of

her to have thought it.

Nikos wondered if she knew how easily he could read her mind—or how tempted he was to

accept her unspoken invitation and crush her soft mouth beneath his. It took every ounce of his

will power to step away from her and retrace his steps back across the room. ‘Go back to the

ballroom before I decide to tell the prince of your reluctance to do the job you are employed to

do,’ he said tersely. ‘And, Rina—’ he paused in the doorway of the sitting room ‘—don’t forget

my champagne, will you?’

His arrogance was breathtaking. It was on Kitty’s lips to tell him that under Aristo’s ancient

laws his lack of respect for a member of the royal family was a serious offence. He was lucky

she did not call for the palace guard, and have him thrown out, she thought angrily. She was

renowned for her calm and peaceable nature, but she was infuriated by his insolence.

But it was her own idiotic fault that he believed she was a waitress, and, uttering a most

unprincesslike curse, she swung on her heels and marched out of the banqueting hall.

CHAPTER TWO

KITTYspent the rest of the evening carefully avoiding Nikos Angelaki, but she could not forget

him, or the electricity that had fizzed between them when they had been alone together. No man

had ever looked at her the way Nikos had done—with a raw, ***ual hunger in his eyes that had

evoked a wild longing deep inside her and left her wishing that he had swept her into his arms

and made passionate love to her on the banqueting table.

Unable to dismiss her shocking fantasy from her mind, she had been too embarrassed to face

him again with the food and champagne he had requested, and had asked one of the staff to serve

him. Later, she had hovered behind a pillar, and watched him partner a steady stream of beautiful

women on the dance floor. If it hadn’t been for her stupid lie she could have asked Sebastian to

introduce them, and maybe he would have asked her to dance. But if she revealed her identity to

him now she would look a complete idiot in front of Nikos, and her brother.

She wouldn’t know what to say to him anyway, she acknowledged bleakly. She was hopeless

with men. The few fledgling romances she’d had at university had been disastrous and she knew

her family despaired of her ever finding a husband. Kitty sighed, weighted down by the familiar

feeling that she was a failure. Her dress was uncomfortably tight and tendrils of her hair had

come loose and curled about her hot face. She wished the ball were over. She’d spent so long

fretting over it and she was glad it was a success but she longed for the quiet solitude of the

palace library and her books.

The king had shared her fascination with the history of the Adamas Kingdom, and she treasured

her memories of the evenings they had spent together researching their ancestors. Nothing was

the same without her father, she thought bleakly. One day soon Sebastian would be crowned

King and she would give him her full support, but she missed King Aegeus desperately.

Grief surged through her and she bit her lip, knowing that she must control it as Queen Tia

managed to do when she was in public. She was tired of the party, and she stepped through the

French doors leading onto the terrace. The night air was warm and heavy with the perfume of

jasmine and honeysuckle, and the silence was blissful after the hubbub of voices in the ballroom,

but her peace did not last long.

‘Well, well. Kitty Karedes! I didn’t realise it was you. I saw a woman slip furtively out of the

ballroom, and assumed she was meeting a lover, but, unless the ice-princess has thawed

considerably since we last met, that’s not likely, is it?’

‘Vasilis! I won’t lie and say it’s a pleasure to see you. But the idea of you sneaking out to spy on lovers is wholly believable,’ Kitty replied contemptuously. She glanced at Vasilis Sarondakos,

felt the familiar wave of revulsion sweep over her and turned her back on him, hoping he would

get the message and leave her alone. But Vasilis was not renowned for his sensitivity.

The Sarondakos family were leading members of Aristo’s aristocracy, and Vasilis’s father,

Constantine, had been a close friend of the late king. At eighteen, Kitty had been painfully naïve,

and had never had a boyfriend. With her father’s encouragement she had gone on a date with

Vasilis, but she had been deeply traumatised when he had subjected her to a drunken assault. His

taunts that her voluptuous body was designed for *** had been devastating, but she had been too

ashamed to tell her family what had happened, believing Vasilis’s assertion that because she had

worn a low-cut dress she had been—in his words— ‘gagging for it’.

The memory of his hot, alcohol-fuelled breath on her skin and his sweaty hands tearing her dress

and touching her breasts still haunted her, and when her father had suggested a couple of years

ago that he would be pleased if she married the son of his dear friend, Constantine Sarondakos,

he had been taken aback by her fierce refusal.

‘So, still no sign of a husband on the horizon, then, Kitty?’ Vasilis taunted, coming to stand so

close to her that she found herself trapped between him and the low stone wall that encircled the

terrace. ‘You should have married me while you had the chance.’

‘I’d sooner swallow poison.’ Kitty tried to edge away from him and tension knotted her stomach

when he leaned closer still and rested his hands on the wall on either side of her, effectively

caging her in. Five hundred guests were packed into the ballroom less than six feet away,

including her three overprotective brothers. She had nothing to fear from Vasilis but she detested

his ****y smile and the way he was looking at her as if he was mentally undressing her.

‘Is that so?’ Vasilis gave a sneering laugh. ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t be so hasty, my prim little

princess. I was talking to Sebastian just the other day and he confided his concern that you’ll end

up on the shelf; a lonely spinster with only her books for company.’

‘I’m twenty-six, not ninety-six,’ Kitty snapped. ‘And I don’t believe for a minute that Sebastian

would discuss my private affairs with you.’

‘He’d have great difficulty; you don’t have affairs.’ Vasilis laughed again, clearly proud of his

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wit. ‘I bet you’re still a virgin, aren’t you, Kitty? Of course, a lot of people think you’re a

lesbian,’ he added conversationally. ‘Maybe that’s why Sebastian would like to see you married.

With rumours that the Stefani diamond is a fake, and Sebastian delaying his coronation, the

gossip is that your Calistan cousin Zakari is laying claim to the throne. The people of Aristo are

already unsettled. The Karedes family don’t need another scandal.’

‘There is no scandal! Sebastian is the rightful king and he will be crowned as soon as possible,’

Kitty said fiercely. ‘Zakari Al’ Farisi is the King of Calista but he has no right to Aristo’s crown, or to be the one ruler of the Adamas Islands.’ Kitty wasn’t sure how Vasilis had heard the news

the diamond was a fake, but she certainly wasn’t going to confirm the rumour. ‘The people of

Aristo have nothing to worry about.

‘As for me ever marrying you—hell will freeze over first!’ Using all her strength, she pushed

against Vasilis’s arm until she broke free. ‘Leave me alone, Vasilis. You sicken me. I never told

my family about what happened between us out of respect for the affection my father felt for

yours. But now Papa is dead and if you ever come near me again I’ll tell my brothers what kind

of a man you are, and you will no longer be welcome at the palace.’

‘It’ll be your word against mine,’ Vasilis muttered, but his bravado was short-lived. The

Karedeses were a tight-knit family who he knew would close ranks around one of their own.

‘Anyway, do you really think I’d want to marry a woman who’s as ***ually responsive as a lump

of ice?’ he demanded spitefully. ‘You’ve got some serious hang-ups about ***, Kitty. Maybe you

should see a therapist.’

‘I don’t have any hang-ups…’ Kitty ground her teeth in impotent fury as Vasilis grinned and

sauntered through the French doors. She stared after him, knowing she should return to the

ballroom, but simply unable to face it. Vasilis’s cruel jibes played over and over in her head,

compounding her misery that she was a hopeless failure.

She was a princess and she was supposed to be beautiful and glamorous. She was supposed to

sparkle at social events and impress everyone with her sophistication and wit, but instead of

being the belle of the royal ball tonight she had been mistaken for a waitress. She had never been

any good at the whole royal thing, she thought drearily—the pomp and ceremony and waving at

crowds—and it had been easier to leave the socialising that was a necessary part of royal life to

Liss, and bury herself in the library with her books.

Was that going to be her life? she wondered desperately. Was she going to end up a spinster as

Vasilis had prophesied—without love or passion, clinging to the memories of the night a

gorgeous, ***y Greek tycoon had almost kissed her? Tears blurred her eyes and misted her

glasses, and the sound of music and laughter from the ballroom made her feel lonelier than ever.

With a choked cry she raced down the terrace steps, away from the ballroom, and flew across

the lawn. Tonight, when she’d stood at the edge of the ballroom and noted how everyone else

seemed to be part of a couple she had faced the fact that she was a lonely, virgin princess, stifled by the formality of royal life. Her brothers and sister seemed to be moving on, but she felt as

though she were trapped in a time warp. She had been born at the palace and had always loved it,

but suddenly it felt like a prison and she was desperate to be free—to escape a life of duty and

find out who Kitty Karedes really was.

She ran through the formal gardens, away from the lights spilling from the ballroom. The

perimeter wall of the palace grounds was ten feet tall and built of impenetrable stone, but Kitty

knew of the secret gate, half overgrown with climbing roses. In the moonlight she easily found

the loose brick in the wall, and the hidden key, and seconds later she fled down a narrow path

that led into a small **** at the base of the cliff.

Blow Vasilis Sarondakos and his spiteful tongue! she thought as she scrubbed her eyes. She

wasn’t on the shelf; she didn’t have hang-ups about ***, and so what if she was still a virgin at

twenty-six? It didn’t make her less of a woman! She kicked her shoes off and wandered down to

the water’s edge, soothed by the gentle lap of the waves on the shore. She knew she would not be

disturbed here. This little cove was a private beach, and the only way to it was along the path

from the palace—a path that few people outside the family knew about.

Moonlight dappled the sea so that it shimmered like a flat silver pool. No one could see her here.

She was completely alone, and impulsively she wrenched open the buttons on the hateful black

dress and tugged it down over her hips until it dropped onto the sand. She placed her glasses

carefully on a rock and pulled the pins from her hair, shaking her head so that her glossy dark

chestnut tresses uncoiled and fell almost to her waist.

With each item of clothing she removed she felt as though she were discarding another hurtful

jibe. So what if she didn’t have a model-thin figure? Women were meant to have breasts, and she

wasn’t ashamed of hers. The silver sea beckoned her; she was already relishing the coolness of it

on her skin, and in a moment of defiance against the restrictions of her life she unsnapped her

bra, dropped it on top of her dress and stepped out of her knickers before running naked into the

water with her hair streaming behind her.

Nikos was not sorry that the royal ball was drawing to an end. He had flown to Aristo from

Dubai after a week of intense negotiations, and the eighteen-hour days he’d spent in the

boardroom were catching up with him. He liked and admired Prince Sebastian, but he was bored

of the other guests’ endless, inane chit-chat, the gossip about who was sleeping with whom, and

the unsubtle hints from a number of women that they were willing to go to bed with him.

Maybe he was simply tired of blondes, he mused as he stepped out onto the terrace, a half-full

bottle of champagne in one hand and his dinner jacket looped over his shoulder. All evening he

had been frustrated by his inability to dismiss the waitress, Rina, from his mind. He hadn’t seen

her again after their confrontation in the banqueting hall but he knew he hadn’t imagined the

chemistry between them. She intrigued him more than any woman had done for a long time, and

he had found himself scanning the ballroom for her, irritated by his disappointment that she

seemed to have disappeared.

He strolled through the shadowy gardens. The palace was as amazing as his mother had led him

to believe many years ago when she had recounted tales of the time she had worked here before

he had been born. As a child he had listened in awe to her description of the huge rooms and

opulent décor, and as he’d looked around the cramped, run-down apartment block where they

had lived it had seemed impossible that such a grand place existed.

He walked to the far end of the garden and was about to turn back when he recalled a distant

memory his mother had told him of a gate in the wall, and a path that led from the palace to the

beach. With a faint, self-derisive smile on his lips at his curiosity Nikos took one of the Chinese

lanterns that illuminated the path and held it aloft as he walked back to the wall. The gate was

tucked into a corner, and well disguised by the rose bushes that grew around it. He pushed it,

expecting it to be locked, but when it opened he was sufficiently intrigued to follow the path that

led from it.

The ground sloped steeply down until it disappeared between an opening in the rocks. Nikos had

to duck his head as he entered the ****. It was dry inside, he noted, when he swung the lantern

from side to side. Obviously the tide never came up this far. The air smelled faintly of seaweed

and through the **** he could see the sea shimmering silver in the moonlight, but as he emerged

onto the beach he stopped abruptly, and his heart kicked in his chest. For a moment he wondered

if his mind was playing tricks on him, but the woman standing a few feet away from him was

undoubtedly real, and her hourglass figure was instantly recognisable—even without her clothes.

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Kitty swam right across the bay and back again with clean, strong strokes and then flipped onto

her back and stared up at the moon, and the crystal stars that studded the midnight sky. She felt

bold and empowered—as unashamedly naked as Eve had been in the Garden of Eden. There was

something wickedly sensuous about the silken slide of the water over her bare limbs. She loved

swimming and in the water she felt as light and graceful as a water nymph—at peace with her

body instead of hating it for not conforming to the model slender form she had tried, through

numerous diets and exercise regimes, to acquire.

Vasilis wouldn’t be so ready to taunt her about her supposed ***ual hang-ups if he could see her

now, she thought as she turned onto her front and allowed the waves to carry her back to the

shore. The beach was shadowed and mysterious in the moonlight. The huge boulders that stood

guard at either end of the cove loomed like faceless giants, but despite the darkness and her

short-sightedness Kitty could distinctly make out the figure of a man, and her heart almost leapt

from her chest.

Dear God! Had Vasilis followed her? Fear uncoiled in the pit of her stomach, a wave caught her

unawares and dragged her under, and she bobbed back to the surface gagging from the salt water

she’d swallowed but desperate not to cough and attract the attention of the intruder. It had to be

Vasilis. Few of the other guests at the ball were aware of the path leading from the palace to the

beach, but Vasilis knew about it and had come here several times with her brothers.

The prospect of meeting her tormentor on the secluded beach sent a shiver of trepidation down

Kitty’s spine. She had seen the way he’d looked at her on the terrace, his lecherous grin that had

changed to anger when she’d made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. Vasilis would

not have dared lay a finger on her outside the ballroom, but here there was no one to help her—

or hear her scream.

Clouds drifted across the moon, blotting out its brilliant gleam and plunging the beach into pitch

blackness, and, seizing her chance, Kitty tore up the sand and crouched behind a rock. Her breath

came in shallow gasps and her heart was pounding when the figure strolled down towards the

water’s edge.

‘Hello, Rina,’ he drawled. ‘This is the second time tonight I’ve caught you playing hooky.

Shouldn’t you be busy at work at the ball?’

For a few seconds shock rendered Kitty speechless. ‘ You! ’ she spluttered at last as the clouds above them parted and moonlight danced across Nikos Angelaki’s sculpted features. Attack

seemed the best form of defence and although her nakedness forced her to remain behind the

rock her voice was sharp when she snapped, ‘Do you know you’re trespassing? This is a private

beach.’

‘Indeed it is. It belongs to the royal family, and I have express permission from Prince Sebastian

to be here,’ Nikos replied coolly. ‘The only trespasser is you—unless the prince has suddenly

opened up the beach for use by the palace staff. Do you have permission to be here, Rina?’

Kitty stared at him wordlessly, not knowing how to answer without revealing her true identity.

She was agonisingly aware that she was naked, and she wished a hole would appear at her feet

and swallow her up. ‘The party hasn’t finished yet. What are you doing here?’ she mumbled in a

voice thick with embarrassment.

In the pearly light cast by the moon she saw Nikos shrug. ‘It was hot in the ballroom, and I

decided to walk down to the beach for some fresh air. I could hardly believe my eyes when I

came through the **** and caught sight of you.’

‘You should have said something. I believed I was alone,’ Kitty said miserably, burning up with

mortification when she recalled how she had stripped out of her clothes. She prayed Nikos had

arrived after she had run into the sea, but he swiftly shattered her tenuous hope.

‘I was afraid I’d startle you,’ he drawled. His voice dipped and the amusement in his tone was

mixed with something else. ‘Besides, what red-blooded male would have spoken out and risked

spoiling the show? I was so careful not to make a sound that I barely drew breath.’ He paused for

a heartbeat and then said quietly, ‘Watching you slowly reveal your body was the most erotic

experience I’ve ever had.’

In a corner of her mind Kitty registered that the teasing note had disappeared from his voice, and

the undisguised sensuality in his deep tone sent a quiver of reaction down her spine. But the idea

that she had unwittingly revealed her curvy figure, which she so despised, to him, made her want

to weep with shame. ‘You are disgusting!’ she choked. ‘I can just about swallow the line that

you didn’t want to scare me, but if you were a gentleman you’d have shut your eyes.’

Nikos’s rich laughter swirled around the empty beach. ‘Ah, but I have never professed to be a

gentleman, Rina. I am a pirate, an opportunist who answers to no one, and I do what I please.’

His voice lowered to a ***y growl, ‘And I promise you, agape , you pleased me very much.’

Kitty did not know how to react to that startling statement, and she hugged her arms around

herself and peeped warily over the top of the rock.

She was as tempting as a siren from Greek mythology, Nikos owned as he stared at bare

shoulders and her mass of dark hair that fell in damp tendrils down her back. But he was not

about to admit that he’d been so turned on when he had watched her remove her clothes that he’d

almost embarrassed himself.

When he had first seen her, he had assumed that she must have come down to the beach for an

assignation with a lover. But no one else had appeared, and if he was honest he’d been so

stunned by the sight of her stepping out of her dress and running down to the sea that he had

been struck dumb.

Before his eyes Rina had emerged from her cocoon of drab clothes, and he had been riveted by

her beauty. Pale fingers of moonlight had illuminated every dip and curve of her body, and tinted

her satiny skin with silver brushstrokes. He had held his breath when she’d released her hair and

it had tumbled down her back like a river of pure silk, and exhaled sharply when she had

unfastened her bra and bared the creamy mounds of her full breasts to his hungry gaze.

His arousal had been instant and uncomfortably hard and his urgency to pillow himself between

her soft thighs was still so acute that he was glad of the all concealing dark. It didn’t seem to

matter how much he tried to rationalise his reaction to her or remind himself that he liked slim,

graceful blondes—and preferably the comfort of a large bed when he made love.

Rina had intrigued him in the banqueting hall earlier, when he had recognised the sizzling

chemistry between them. Now, he desired her with a stark, primitive hunger that sent his blood

thundering through his veins. He wanted to make love to her here on the sand, beneath the stars,

and with a passion that was as wild and elemental as the untamed beach.

CHAPTER THREE

DESPITEthe warmth of the night air Kitty was shivering—as much from the shock of Nikos’s

sudden appearance on the beach as from her swim. Her hair was hanging in wet coils and her

skin was covered in goose-bumps but she reassured herself that her nipples had hardened into

tight, tingling peaks because she was cold, not because of her overwhelming awareness of the ***iest man she had ever met.

She gritted her teeth to prevent them from chattering, and wished he would go back to the

palace. Her dress was somewhere on the other side of the beach, but she would rather stay

behind her rock all night and risk hypothermia than parade naked in front of him. She had

already done so once, she acknowledged, blushing furiously again at the memory, but she had

been unaware of his presence in the ****. No way was she going to make an exhibition of herself

again.

‘Here, put this on while I go and find your clothes.’ Nikos stepped closer and dropped his jacket

over the rock, and Kitty seized it gratefully and slipped it on. It was immense on her; the arms

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were several inches too long and to her relief the hem of the jacket reached to her mid-thighs.

The silk lining felt deliciously sensuous against her skin; still warm from the heat of Nikos’s

body and carrying the faint musk of his aftershave. She burrowed deeper into the folds and

inhaled deeply. She had been short-sighted for most of her life, but, as if to compensate for her

poor vision, her other senses were particularly acute and she could detect his clean, male scent.

Molten heat stole through her veins as she imagined him wrapping his arms around her rather

than his jacket. She remembered the fantasy she’d had earlier of him making love to her on the

banqueting table, and pictured with shocking clarity him stripping out of his own clothes and

tumbling her down on the sand. What was the matter with her? Scarlet-cheeked, she lifted her

eyes to his, and caught her breath at the flash of fire she glimpsed before his lashes fell and hid

his expression. But she had seen the desire in his gaze, and despite her inexperience she had

recognised his need and found that it evoked an answering ache inside her.

She shivered again, and this time her whole body trembled—with reaction to Nikos rather than

cold. She saw him tense, saw his eyes narrow, and knew that the wildfire awareness between

them was terrifyingly real. Incredible though it seemed, Nikos Angelaki—playboy and serial

womaniser—found her attractive. For the first time ever in her twenty-six years she felt as

though she was a desirable woman, and she wanted to savour the moment—certain that any

second now he would blink and realise that she was too short, too plump and too plain to hold his

attention for long.

‘You had better wait in the ****, you’ll be warmer there,’ he said, suddenly breaking the silence.

His voice sounded so harsh that Kitty wondered what had angered him. He turned and strode

away, and Kitty hesitated, her heart hammering, before she stepped from behind her rock and

hurried up the beach. Almost instantly he reappeared at her side and caught hold of her arm to

swing her round to him. ‘I assume you need these,’ he murmured as he unfolded her glasses and

placed them on her nose.

‘Thank you.’ Kitty stared transfixed at his features, which were now sharply defined rather than

blurred. Moonbeams highlighted the angles and planes of his incredible bone-structure, and she

could not tear her eyes from the firm line of his mouth.

She heard him draw a sharp breath, and she gasped when he slid his hand beneath her chin and

tilted her face to his. ‘Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s dangerous to swim in the sea alone?’ he

demanded impatiently. ‘You could have got into trouble in the current, and no one would have

known.’ His eyes dropped to her small frame enveloped by his jacket, and he tried

unsuccessfully to dismiss the image of her running naked across the sand. ‘Tell me, do you often

swim naked in the moonlight?’

‘No, of course not,’ Kitty replied quickly, squirming. It was not entirely the truth, she

acknowledged silently. She loathed the sight of her body in a bikini and often came to swim

alone in the dark when no one would see her. ‘I know this is a private beach, and I thought I

would be undisturbed here,’ she said pointedly. ‘Like you, I came down for some fresh air, but

the sea looked so inviting that I was overcome with a mad impulse to…strip off and dive in.’

‘Is that so?’ Nikos’s voice was no longer harsh, but velvet soft, stroking over Kitty’s skin so that each tiny hair on her body stood on end. The chemistry that had been simmering between them

since he had appeared on the beach was at combustion point, and her head spun with a dizzying

mixture of trepidation and breathless excitement.

‘What are you doing?’ she mumbled when he removed her glasses and put them back in his

jacket pocket.

‘Following my own mad impulse,’ he growled, ignoring her shocked gasp when he suddenly

jerked her up against his chest. ‘The same impulse we both felt in the banqueting hall. Don’t

deny it, Rina,’ he warned silkily when she frantically shook her head from side to side. ‘I saw

what was in your mind.’

Recalling her shamefully erotic fantasy, which had involved him sliding his hand beneath her

skirt, and touching her where no man had ever touched her before, Kitty prayed he hadn’t. But

Nikos was lowering his head towards her, and it seemed to her shell-shocked brain as if

everything were happening in slow motion. She tensed, torn between wanting to pull out of his

arms and race back to the palace, and another, shocking need to stay and allow him to fulfil the

determined intent in his dark gaze.

She moistened her suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue—and, watching her, Nikos felt

his stomach muscles clench. This had been building since she had stood up to him earlier in the

evening. He hadn’t felt such a searing ***ual attraction to a woman for a long time, and he

dipped his head slowly, savouring the anticipation, and exploring the shape of her lips with his

tongue before he claimed her mouth with a hunger he could no longer control.

Until the split second before Nikos slanted his mouth over hers, Kitty hadn’t really believed he

would kiss her, but her little gasp of shock was smothered beneath the pressure of his lips firmly

coaxing hers apart. He was totally in control and he let her know it with the determined sweep of

his tongue as he probed between her lips, demanding access to the moistness within. And she

was powerless to stop him; lost from the moment he’d first touched her and caught up in a

maelstrom of emotions as she felt the piercing sweetness of intense ***ual desire for the first

time in her life.

Nikos slid his hand round to Kitty’s nape, tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged gently,

angling her head so that he could deepen the kiss. Her response was instant and had a devastating

affect on his libido so that he closed his other arm around her waist and dragged her hard up

against the solid length of his arousal straining urgently beneath his trousers.

Rina was small and soft, and through his jacket he could feel the outline of her ripe curves that

had proved such an unbearable temptation when she had stripped in the moonlight. She smelled

of the sea; tasted of it too, he noted when he moved his mouth to her throat and stroked his

tongue along her collarbone. He was used to women who wore designer clothes and drenched

their skin in expensive perfumes, but there was something earthy, almost pagan, about this

woman that struck a chord deep inside him. She was naturally sensual and totally in tune with

her femininity, and instinct told him she would be a generous and adventurous lover.

His eyes were drawn to the deep valley of her cleavage and with a tortured groan he claimed her

mouth once more, crushing her soft lips beneath his while he slid his hand into the front of his

jacket and stroked his fingers lightly over one of her full, firm breasts.

He must have startled her because her whole body jerked with reaction, and, sensing her

hesitation, he withdrew his hand, feeling a sharp tug of regret that he was denied the pleasure of

caressing the erect point of her nipple. Theos , she was a sorceress; a sea-witch enticing him to forget everything but his desperation to sink his swollen shaft deep within her and possess her,

but he could feel the sudden tension that gripped her, and calling on all his will power, he tore

his mouth from hers and stared down at her, fighting for breath. ‘This is madness,’ he grated

harshly. ‘If either of us had any sense we should return to the palace. But my sanity seems to

have deserted me, Rina, so the choice is yours. Will you end this now and go back? Or stay and

drink champagne with me in the moonlight?’

It felt like a defining moment in her life, but Nikos had only asked her to drink champagne with

him, Kitty reassured herself as she snatched oxygen into her lungs and tried to control the frantic

thudding of her heart. He was watching her intently, waiting for her answer, and she gave a little

shiver. No man had ever asked her to drink champagne on a beach in the moonlight; no man had

ever kissed her the way Nikos had, or stirred the passion that had been locked deep inside her for

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so long.

After a life spent adhering to duty and protocol Nikos Angelaki was like a breath of fresh air. He

was dark and ***y and dangerous to know, but he made her feel daring—and the heat in his eyes

made her feel desirable for the first time in her life.

She swallowed and forced herself to meet his gaze, feeling as though she were about to cast

herself over the edge of a precipice. ‘I love champagne,’ she whispered shyly, shocked by her

temerity.

He made no reply, and for a few agonising seconds she thought he had changed his mind and

was going to send her away. But then he relaxed, and his slow smile stole her breath.

‘Come, then,’ he said, holding out his hand. His fingers closed around hers and even that tiny

gesture was wonderfully new. She was twenty-six and she had never walked along a beach hand

in hand with a lover, she thought despairingly. She didn’t know where the years had gone, but it

seemed as though one minute she had been a child and suddenly she was a grown woman who

had been so absorbed with her studies and her work for the museum that romance and boyfriends

had bypassed her.

She had taken on her share of royal commitments uncomplainingly because that was how she

had been brought up: dutiful, obedient, always conscious of her position and grateful for the

privileges that came with being a member of the royal family. But Nikos did not know she was a

princess; he thought she was a waitress called Rina, and for a few hours she could be normal—

just a woman who had met a man and was free to respond to the chemistry that smouldered

between them.

The **** was illuminated by a lamp that he must have brought from the garden. The pale beam

of light that spilled from it highlighted the sculpted beauty of his face, and Kitty felt a fluttering sensation in her chest as her eyes focused on the sensual curve of his mouth. She hovered

uncertainly while he dropped down onto the dry sand, the common sense for which she was

famed telling her to go—now—before she did something she would later regret. But her feet

seemed to be melded to the floor of the ****, and when he patted the sand next to him she

walked slowly forwards.

He held out a bottle of champagne. ‘Here, have some. You’re shivering again. It’s a pity it isn’t

brandy, but I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with vintage Bollinger.’ He stretched out so that

his lean, hard body was spread temptingly before her. His white silk shirt was open at the throat

revealing the tanned column of his throat and a mass of dark body hair that she’d noticed also

covered his forearms. He was so male , so overwhelmingly virile, Kitty thought shakily as she sank onto her knees beside him and took the bottle.

‘It doesn’t seem right to drink champagne from the bottle,’ she murmured. ‘It’s

very…decadent.’

‘ Decadent? ’ Nikos’s low rumble of laughter echoed around the ****. ‘What a curious mix of

contradictions you are, Rina. You sound as prim as a Victorian governess, and yet you’re happy

to go skinny-dipping in the moonlight. Do I need to remind you that you are naked beneath my

jacket?’

He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen a woman blush, Nikos mused idly. The ***ually

confident women he dated were sophisticated game-players long past the first flush of virginal

innocence. The thought caused him to frown as he watched Kitty take a sip of champagne. She

seemed to be a curious mixture: shy one minute and eagerly responsive to him the next. When he

had first kissed her he’d gained the impression that it was a new experience for her, but after her

initial hesitation she had parted her mouth beneath his and kissed him back with such fiery

passion that he had dismissed the idea.

He didn’t need to remind himself that she was wearing nothing, he acknowledged grimly when

she handed him the champagne bottle and he took a long draught. The dinner jacket was far too

big for her and fastened so low that he could see the rounded contours of her breasts. He did not

know what crazy impulse had made him ask her to stay, and he was already regretting it. He

never made rash decisions. Even when he gambled he carefully weighed up the odds before he

threw the dice. But for some reason Rina disturbed his cool, logical brain—and disturbed other

areas of his body too. He wanted to kiss her again and never stop, but instead he forced himself

to relax and tried to ignore the temptation of tasting champagne from her lips.

‘So, Rina,’ he queried lightly, ‘what made you decide to become a waitress?’

Oh, Lord—how did she answer that? ‘I…um, I need to work,’ Kitty mumbled awkwardly,

thinking that now might be a good time to bid him goodnight. ‘Like most people, I have to earn a

living, and I’m not trained to do anything else.’ She thought of the years she’d spent studying for

her degree, and her absorbing work at Aristo’s museum, and tried to imagine what life would be

like if she hadn’t had the benefit of an excellent education, and really did have to work in some

menial job. She had little idea of life outside her gilded cage, and although she supported various

charities she couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be poor. The only experience she’d had of

life in the real world was when she had worked as a volunteer at Aristo’s hospital, but, although

she had found the work rewarding, her father had disapproved—citing concerns for her safety—

and forbidden her from going.

‘Have you always lived on Aristo?’

That was easier to answer, and Kitty nodded. ‘I was born here, and I never want to live

anywhere else. Aristo is the most beautiful place on earth.’

Nikos laughed. ‘Have you visited many other places, then—on a waitress’s pay?’

‘Well…no,’ Kitty faltered. She could hardly tell him that she had spent a year travelling around

Europe and had visited Paris, Rome, cosmopolitan London, Venice and Florence, followed by

six months at an exclusive finishing school in Switzerland. She had been a guest at royal palaces

and country mansions, had wandered around fabulous art galleries and been taken on tours of all

the famous sights, but nowhere compared to Aristo, the jewel of the Me***erranean. ‘Aristo is my

home and I love it here,’ she told Nikos firmly.

Her passion for the island intrigued him, and he wondered why she felt so strongly about it. Was

it the place or people that held her heart? ‘Do you have a family here?’ he asked curiously.

What would he say if she revealed that her family had ruled Aristo for generations? Kitty felt as

though she were falling deeper and deeper into a mire. She wasn’t lying exactly, she told herself.

She just wasn’t telling the whole truth. ‘I have a mother, sister, brothers…’ She faltered, thinking of the person who was missing from the list, and her heart contracted. ‘My father died a few

months ago.’

‘I’m sorry.’

It wasn’t a throwaway remark—Kitty heard the note of compassion in Nikos’s voice, and tears,

sudden and unbidden, stung her eyes. ‘I miss him so much,’ she admitted thickly. ‘Sometimes I

see his face in my mind, hear his voice, and I can’t believe he isn’t here any more.’ She brushed

her hand across her wet eyes, and was startled when Nikos captured her fingers in one of his

strong hands and traced his thumb pad down her cheek, following the damp trail.

‘I’m sorry.’ She didn’t want to cry in front of him. Her grief was a private matter that she shared

with no one, not even her family. She had been especially close to the king, and he had called her

his gentle dove, but she had been taught never to display her emotions. One of the golden rules

of the royal family was to exert self-control at all times. Embarrassed by her weakness, she tried

to draw away from Nikos but he curled his arm around her shoulders and tugged her towards

him.

‘Don’t be sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I know how devastating it is to lose a parent. My mother died

many years ago, but I will never forget her. You won’t forget your father, Rina, but the

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memories will become easier, and eventually you will think of him without the sadness you feel

now.’

He smoothed her hair back from her face, and Kitty closed her eyes, soothed by the rhythmic

stroking of his fingers. She felt his warm breath on her face and when she lifted her lashes she

drowned in the depths of his midnight-dark gaze. He was so strong, so alive , and she wanted to absorb some of his strength because she felt weak and lost and achingly lonely inside.

Tentatively she rested her hand on his chest and felt the steady thud of his heart beneath her

fingertips. It was utterly silent in the ****, as if they were cut off from the outside world and

were the only two people in the universe. She could hear the sound of Nikos breathing—no

longer steady but quicker, like his heartbeat; and she lifted her eyes to his face and stared at him, mesmerised by his masculine beauty.

Nikos knew he should move and break the spell that had been cast on him in the witching hour,

but his muscles were locked. In the lamplight the tears that spiked Rina’s lashes glittered like

tiny diamonds and the shadow of pain in her eyes moved him. It was more than fifteen years

since his mother had died. He had been sixteen, a boy suddenly forced to be a man, but he still

remembered the pain in his gut, the feeling that his insides had been ripped out, and the dull

acceptance that the only person who had ever loved him had gone.

Rina’s loss was clearly still raw, the unspoken plea in her eyes asked for comfort, and that was

all Nikos intended to give when he lowered his head and brushed his mouth softly over hers. For

a moment she did not respond, but neither did she pull away and he tasted her again, delicately,

offering her the warmth of his body and silently letting her know that he understood the agony of

grief. Even when she parted her mouth beneath his and tilted her head back a fraction for him to

deepen the kiss he was sure he was in control. But her lips were so beguilingly soft and the

temptation to dip his tongue between them and drink the lingering nectar of champagne became

overwhelming.

Slowly he tightened his arm around her and slid his hand into her hair. It felt like silk against his skin and his heart began to pound with a thudding drumbeat of desire as he tangled his fingers in

the chestnut strands and drew her closer still so that her breasts pushed against the wall of his

chest.

Kitty couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when Nikos’s kiss changed from a gentle caress that

soothed her fragile emotions to one of hungry passion that stirred her soul and sent molten heat

flooding through her veins. All she knew was that the pressure of his mouth increased and slid

over hers with increasing urgency, and his tongue no longer traced the shape of her lips but thrust

between them with a fierce demand that made her tremble.

The voice in her head warned her that she was heading into dangerous waters and she should

pull back now, before she was swept away. But she did not want to move out of his arms and feel

cold and alone again. She wanted him to hold her even closer so that she could absorb the

warmth of his body, and she curled her hands around his neck and pressed herself against him,

making no protest when he drew her down so that they were stretched out on the sand.

Now they were lying hip to hip, and the unmistakable evidence of Nikos’s arousal jutting

against her thighs caused her muscles to tense. This was wrong, very wrong, and it had to stop—

now. But when he found her mouth once more in a slow, drugging kiss, she could not help but

respond. Just a few more minutes in his arms, and then she would draw away from him, she

promised herself. Surely it wasn’t too much to ask—a few passionate kisses with the ***iest man

she had ever met before she returned to her lonely life. But now she no longer felt relaxed, she

was aware of a restless ache deep in her pelvis, and when he lifted his mouth from hers she gave

a little murmur of protest.

‘ Theos, Rina!’ Nikos’s ragged voice echoed harshly in the cloistered quiet of the ****. ‘This is insanity. You should leave while I still have some measure of control.’ He stared down at her, his

blood thundering in his veins when he saw the dazed passion in her eyes, and said slowly,

‘Because if you do not, I can’t guarantee that I will be able to stop.’

CHAPTER FOUR

NIKOS’Swords were an unwelcome intrusion, slicing through the fog that clouded Kitty’s

brain. She didn’t want to think, she wanted to feel and touch and lose herself in the world of

sensory pleasure that his kisses evoked. She felt as though she were standing on the threshold of

some new and wonderful place and Nikos was giving her the choice of stepping through the

door, or closing it and turning back. Her mind flew to the royal ball and the loneliness she’d felt

as she’d watched the couples on the dance floor. Everyone seemed to have a partner except her.

All her friends were getting married and starting families but she had never even had a proper

boyfriend. She recalled Vasilis Sarondakos’s cruel taunts that she would end up a virgin spinster,

and despair tugged her heart. She didn’t want to be alone any more, and the flames of desire in

Nikos’s eyes told her that tonight she didn’t have to be.

Tentatively she touched his face, and traced her finger across his mouth. She could hardly

believe she was lying in the dark **** with the ***iest man she had ever met, and that sense of

unreality numbed her to everything but her longing for him to kiss her again. Her innate shyness

trapped her tongue, but the silent message in her eyes was enough for Nikos, and his chest

heaved as he drew a harsh breath. The flare of feral hunger in his dark gaze sent a frisson of

trepidation through Kitty, but then she forgot everything but the feel and touch and taste of him

as he kissed her with an unrestrained hunger that warned her she had opened Pandora’s box and

had better be prepared for the consequences.

The feel of Nikos’s hands brushing lightly against her skin as he unfastened the buttons on his

jacket caused Kitty’s heart to jerk frantically beneath her ribs, and doubt flooded through her.

The memory of Vasilis roughly pawing her breasts filled her mind, and she tensed, her breath

coming in sharp little gasps of panic. But Nikos was not rough, and the glitter of male

appreciation in his eyes as he slowly pushed the edges of the jacket apart and revealed the

pouting fullness of her breasts sent a shiver of another kind through Kitty. Her panic gradually

receded as he gently cupped each breast in his palms and felt their weight and softness.

He muttered something indistinct beneath his breath and colour flared briefly along his

cheekbones. ‘Beautiful,’ he said thickly, and stroked his fingertip across one nipple in a feather-

light caress. The sensation was so exquisite that Kitty gasped and then closed her eyes and felt

the pleasure build when he brushed his thumb pad lightly over the crest of her other breast.

Nikos guided her hands to the front of his shirt and aided her in freeing the buttons. Hands

shaking, Kitty pushed the material aside to reveal his broad, muscular chest; olive-gold satin

covered with whorls of dark hair that arrowed down over his taut abdomen. He drew her to him

and she caught her breath at that very first contact of a hard male chest pressed against the

softness of her breasts. It felt so good, so right, and so very seductive that she burrowed closer

still, loving the strength of his arms around her as he found her mouth once more and kissed her

until she was breathless.

Nikos had convinced himself that he was in control and that he would only allow things to go so

far before he called a halt. He had occasionally had one-night stands: brief, mutually satisfying

encounters with ***ually confident women who, like him, wanted to answer a basic need without

the complication of emotions. But those occasions had always been on his terms and, although

the *** had invariably been enjoyable, he had never been driven by uncontrollable desire. For

reasons he did not understand Rina was different. The raging need he felt to make love to her had

never happened before and he was shocked to realise that he couldn’t fight it.

Perhaps it was because she was so amazingly responsive and so unguarded in her pleasure when

he caressed her? Frustrated by his inability to resist her, he gave her a hard, almost angry kiss,

The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Rrincess
The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Rrincess Page 9



but she responded with such sweet passion that he gave up battling with himself and eased the

pressure of his lips until the kiss evolved into a sensual tasting that became increasingly erotic.

When she was utterly pliant in his arms he trailed his mouth lower, following the path of his

hands to her breasts and drew lazy circles with his tongue around one nipple until it hardened to

a taut peak.

The sensation of Nikos’s mouth on her breast was indescribable, and when he drew her nipple

fully into his mouth Kitty instinctively arched her back. She curled her fingers into his hair and

gave a soft cry, shifting her hips restlessly beneath him as the tugging sensation on her breast

became unbearably exquisite.

‘Nikos…’ His name left her lips as a whimpered plea and she tossed her head from side to side

when he transferred his mouth to her other swollen crest and metered the same delicious torture.

He growled something she did not catch, but his intention became clear when he unfastened the

last button of his jacket and spread the material to reveal the faint curve of her stomach and the

triangle of dark curls clustered at the junction between her thighs. He moved so that he was

kneeling above her, and Kitty blushed when he trailed his eyes deliberately down her body. The

knowledge that he had watched her undress earlier was no help. She had been unaware of his

presence, and even beneath the bright moon she must have been partly in shadow. Now she was

completely exposed to him. No man had ever seen her body before, and desperate shyness,

combined with her insecurities about her figure, caused her to try and shield herself with her

hands.

It was time to end this craziness, Nikos acknowledged, trying to ignore the stomach-dipping

sense of disappointment that clawed at his insides. He couldn’t quite comprehend how they had

got to this point. He’d had no intention of actually having *** with the waitress he’d met only

hours before, but she was so ***y she would tempt a saint, let alone a mortal man who was

burning up with ***ual frustration.

But Rina had tensed, he could sense her uncertainty, and it would be unfair of him to try and

persuade her to take their passion to its ultimate conclusion—even though he was certain that

with patience and restraint he could arouse her to a level where she would willingly make love

with him. Another moment and he would refasten the jacket and bring them both back down to

reality, he told himself. He took a deep breath, nostrils flaring as he fought for control, but he

could not resist stroking his hand lightly over her stomach, and then lower.

Her thighs were silky smooth, and he caught her faint gasp when he brushed his fingers through

her silky curls. ‘Why do you want to hide yourself from me?’ he murmured huskily. ‘You have a

beautiful body, Rina. I’m sure you can be in no doubt that I’m massively turned on by you,’ he

added self-derisively, knowing that she could hardly miss the throbbing hardness of his erection

pressed against her thigh.

‘Are you?’ her breathy little voice whispered in the silent **** and Nikos stiffened, thinking that

she was taunting him. But there was no hint of teasing in the big brown eyes that were focused

on him. She reminded him of a timid deer that was poised for flight, and yet, with gentle

handling, might stay and allow him closer.

‘What do you think?’ he said quietly as he took her hand and laid it over the bulge beneath his

trousers. He watched her eyes widen, her pupils hugely dilated, and could not resist lowering his

head and kissing her softly swollen mouth. The feel of her lips parting beneath his threatened to

shatter his self-control, and, tempted beyond bearing, he slid his hand between her legs and

delicately probed the tightly closed edge of her femininity. Her whole body jerked with reaction,

and he thought for a moment that she would reject him, but then she slowly relaxed, and his

blood thundered in his veins when he gently parted her and discovered the unmistakable

evidence of her arousal.

Kitty’s heart was beating so fast that she was sure it would burst through her chest as she felt

Nikos part her, and she caught her breath when he slowly inserted a finger between her silken

folds. She could feel the betraying dampness between her legs and was embarrassed that he

would know she was aroused, but he gave a low growl of satisfaction and eased deeper inside her

while his thumb pad found the tight little nub of her clitoris and tenderly stroked across it with

devastating effect.

‘Oh…’ The shock of experiencing her first intimate male caress caused Kitty to cry out. The feel

of Nikos’s finger moving inside her was bliss, rapture beyond anything she had ever imagined,

and she trembled as intense sensations rippled through her. To her untutored body it seemed

impossible that there could be more, that she wasn’t already at the peak, but the ache deep inside

her was growing ever more demanding, and following an instinct as old as time she tried

clumsily to pull him down on top of her.

‘Wait, agape .’ His voice was hoarse, as if he too was no longer in control of himself and was driven by a deeply ingrained, basic need that could no longer be denied. Kitty did not know how

he divested himself of his clothes without her being aware of it, but suddenly he was naked and

he spread the edges of his jacket that she was still wearing wide open and came down on her, the

rough hairs that covered his thighs and abdomen feeling slightly abrasive against her skin. She

felt the jutting length of his ***** press into her belly—so shockingly rigid and alien to her that

her eyes flew open and she stared up at him as he loomed over her, and swallowed at the hard

gleam in his eyes.

What on earth was she doing? Was she really going to allow Nikos—a man she had never met

until tonight—to make love to her? A tremor ran through her. She shouldn’t be here, should

never have allowed the fiery attraction between them to burst into flame. Nikos was a notorious

playboy and she was a princess from the royal house of Karedes—yet even knowing that it was

wrong, she acknowledged with searing honesty that she didn’t want Nikos to stop.

‘ I bet you’re still a virgin.’ Vasilis’s sneering voice echoed in her head, and rebellion flared in her heart. She was twenty-six, and it was time she became a woman, but out of fairness to Nikos

she knew she must confess her inexperience.

‘Nikos,’ she whispered faintly, ‘I think I should tell you…’ But the rest of her words were lost

beneath his mouth as he claimed her lips in a searing, soul-shattering kiss that dismantled the last of her doubts and fears.

‘Tell me what?’ he muttered. ‘You’re not on the Pill—is that it? Don’t worry. I’ll take care of

it.’ The sensual smokiness of his voice wrapped around Kitty like a cocoon, and she was only

dimly conscious of him reaching into his jacket pocket and donning protection with a swift

efficiency that spoke of plenty of practice. Then he came down on her once more, settled his

hard, muscular body between her thighs, and she could feel the pulsing thickness of his shaft

press impatiently against her opening.

This was it, the moment she had wondered about all of her adult life, and she still couldn’t quite

believe that it was going to happen. Her heart was galloping, her breath coming in short, shallow

pants, and suddenly her nerve deserted her and she tried to bring her legs together. But she was

too late, Nikos was already surging forwards, and he gently but firmly pushed her thighs apart

and entered her with one deep, powerful thrust that brought a shocked cry from Kitty’s lips.

‘ Theos! ’ He stilled instantly and stared down at her, his brows lowering in a harsh frown. ‘Your first time? How can it be?’ Nikos demanded in stunned incomprehension. He began to withdraw

from her, but now that Kitty was over the first shock of penetration her muscles were stretching

around him and the brief pain was fading. She loved the new and wondrous sensation of having

him fill her completely, and the restless ache inside her was once again clamouring to be

assuaged.

‘Don’t stop…please.’ She clung to his shoulders, urging him down again, and, sensing his