He pressed his lips tightly together. “I will try to be less conscientious of your…health, though I reserve the right to be concerned.”
She smiled then, and the relief that hit him almost caused him to stumble. He hadn’t realized just how much her happiness was important to him. Was he crazy to be so concerned when she’d had no regard for his happiness in the past?
She leaned up to kiss him, and he caught her against him, holding her possessively as he devoured her lips.
“Thank you,” she said as she pulled back. “I just want…” She stopped, and longing flooded her eyes before she look away.
“What do you want, pedhaki mou?”
Her gaze flickered back to his. “I want us to be happy,” she said huskily. “I want to be sure of my place in your life. I want to remember, but more than that, I want to feel like I have more than just a small piece of you and your time.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. She’d never been so direct before her memory loss. She’d been shy and hesitant about voicing her wants and desires. But had she felt like this before? Had she resented his prolonged absences? The way he fit her into his life at his convenience? Was that why she’d lashed out? Had it been a bid to gain his attention?
“I want you to be happy, too, Marley. I want this very much. And while I can’t convince you of your place in my life with mere words, hopefully I can prove it to you over time.”
Her smile warmed him to his toes. It was like watching the sun break over the horizon. She reached for his hands and slid her palms into his grip.
“Come walk with me,” she invited.
Unable to deny her anything in that moment, he gathered her close and began walking down the beach.
Marley knelt in the cool soil of the garden and plucked the few weeds from around the flowers and greenery. With Chrysander’s morning ritual of working, she’d found other ways to occupy her time, much to the dismay of the gardener who flew out twice a week to tend the grounds.
Ever since her outburst on the beach, Chrysander had ceased to push Patrice and Dr. Karounis at her for every little health concern. Instead, they stayed firmly in the background on an as needed basis, and Chrysander had relented on her traveling the stairs alone.
Despite the fact that he continued to work in the mornings, he came out to have breakfast with her before returning to his office. Then the fun began for Marley. Each day she found a new method of driving him insane. He’d come looking for her when work was finished, and invariably she tried the restraint he’d promised to exercise when it came to demanding that she rest.
When Chrysander had found her in the garden on her hands and knees, she thought he was going to burst a blood vessel. He’d promptly carried her inside and up the stairs, stripped her down and put her into the bathtub.
She’d giggled at his ferocious scowl, listened with pretended solemnity to his decree that she not endanger herself in that manner anymore and promptly plotted to return as soon as he was caught up in work again.
It began a fun game between them, although the amusement was entirely hers because Chrysander failed to see the hilarity in her continued disobedience.
So here she sat, waiting with amused delight for his arrival.
She heard his sigh behind her and grinned even as she found herself lifted into the air. She tumbled against Chrysander’s hard chest and smiled serenely up at his dark expression.
He strode for the house, grumbling the entire way.
“I promised to ease up on my overprotective tendencies. I stopped insisting you rest and even allowed you to walk unaided up and down the stairs.”
Marley rolled her eyes.
“But you would try the patience of a saint,” he growled.
As he had done before, and as she was counting on, he stripped her down and deposited her into an already drawn bath. He glared balefully at her, and she giggled as she sank lower into the water. He watched intently as she slowly washed herself, hunger glittering in his eyes.
Relishing the fact that she had his full attention, she took advantage as she worked the cloth over every inch of her body. When she was finished, she glanced innocently up at him as he towered over her. She flashed him her best smile, but he continued to glower at her.
“Your cuteness is not going to get you out of trouble, pedhaki mou,” he said.
“Well, at least I’m cute,” she said pertly.
“Why do you insist on provoking me? My hair is turning gray, and it is solely your fault.”
She glanced up at his dark hair, not marred by a single gray strand, and raised an eyebrow. “You poor baby. Are you too old to keep up with one little pregnant woman?”
“I’ll show you old,” he growled as he plucked her from the bathtub.
He barely took the time to dry her before he strode into the bedroom and deposited her on the bed. Her eyes widened appreciatively as he began stripping his clothing from his muscled body.
“Clearly I need to be bad more often,” she murmured. “I could learn to live with the punishment.”
“Little minx,” he said as he lowered himself into her waiting arms.
He was always in control in their lovemaking, and she knew this was the way it had always been, but now she had a sudden desire to turn the tables. To make him as crazy as he made her.
She pushed at him, and he withdrew with a frown. She followed him up and placed her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to lie on his back. She straddled his legs and stared at his shocked expression, a mischievous grin working at her lips.
“I want to touch you, Chrysander,” she said softly. She placed her palms on the tops of his thick legs and smoothed them slowly upward.
His eyes smoldered and sparked. “Then by all means, touch me, agape mou.”
With a little nervousness, she touched his male flesh, and he jerked in reaction. Feeling a little bolder, she wrapped her fingers around the turgid length and stroked lightly.
A groan worked from his throat, and she could see sweat beading on his brow. He was beautiful. Hard, male, his strength rippled through his every muscle.
She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his taut abdomen and then worked her way up to his flat nipples. A thin line of hair dusted his midline, and she ran her fingers over it, liking the feel of it on her skin.
She knew what she wanted to do but was unsure of exactly how she would accomplish it. He must have sensed her uncertainty and her hesitation, because he reached down with his strong hands and grasped her hips.
He lifted her then eased her down over the length of his erection. She closed her eyes as he slid inside her.
“You’re killing me, pedhaki mou,” he rasped. “God, it’s so good. You’re so sweet.”
Encouraged by the satisfaction and approval in his voice, she made love to him, raining kisses over his chest as his hands helped guide the movements of her hips.
Her body trembled, and she knew she was nearing her release, but she wouldn’t succumb until he went with her. He tensed beneath her, and suddenly his hands tightened around her hips. He arched into her, and with a cry, the world exploded around her.
She fell forward, but he caught