Greek Mavericks: His Christmas Conquest. Cathy Williams

a man’s eyes, shamelessly juddering until every ounce of pleasure had been squeezed from her and then releasing one long breath of deep satisfaction.

      She looked at him as he got to his feet and leaned forward to kiss her. He had seen her enjoy her most intimate experience and she wasn’t horrified at the thought. In fact, she smiled and told him very nearly what he wanted to hear, which was that this was the most pleasurable bath she had ever had. She wound her arms around his neck. ‘And I’m going to return the favour, never you fear.’

      It was a little under an hour later by the time they emerged, sated, from the bathroom and Sophie’s eyes were glowing. Lunch was something they threw together—bread and cheese and, in keeping with the unconventional nature of the day, a bottle of wine. And they talked, Theo stepping over certain topics, encouraging her to open up so that he could broach the topic of Robert, which had been temporarily set to one side.

      Eventually, in an atmosphere of domesticity which Theo succumbed to because it was a one-off, and with mugs of coffee set in front of them as they sat in the small sitting room, cosy, warm and content, he tentatively broached the subject of her relationship with Robert. In an oblique fashion. And he watched her as she spoke, lazily playing with her hair, maintaining a physical contact that his body seemed to crave.

      ‘I’m a possessive lover,’ he told her. ‘I can’t say I even like the thought of another man looking at my woman.’

      My woman. It had a glorious ring to it until Sophie reminded herself that this was a blip on the horizon, two ships meeting in the night, soon to go their separate ways.

      ‘Robert’s just a friend at the moment,’ she said, tucking her feet under his thigh and resting back on the arm of the sofa.

      Theo didn’t like the sound of at the moment even though he was quick to acknowledge in his head that her future dealings with the man were not his concern. This was passion born of the moment and with a predetermined time span.

      ‘Just like this is simply something that’s happened at the moment,’ she added, squashing the feeling of sharp regret that washed over her. ‘I think we both know where we stand,’ she continued, determined to make sure that she drove the point home, that he needn’t fear that she would become wrapped up in him. She was a modern woman, able to handle a modern relationship, which meant wonderful, passionate, fulfilling sex with no questions asked. She was well aware that his departure date was in her diary, with a two-week break before a couple and their two children rented the cottage for a week over the New Year period.

      Robert, she knew now beyond any doubt, was never going to be a contender to her heart and she would tell him, but why should she let Theo know that? Didn’t modern women have their secrets? And some instinct she never knew she had warned her to hold back.

      ‘Enjoy the moment,’ Theo murmured, pulling her towards him so that she was lying against his chest, hearing the thud of his heart.

      ‘I never thought I would do that,’ Sophie confessed. ‘I mean, have a relationship with a man and be perfectly happy that it was going nowhere…’

      ‘But you can with me…’ Why was it that he didn’t like to hear that? She also wasn’t ruling Robert out of her life, which he would have liked—yet another illogical thought that he pushed away.

      ‘Mmm.’ She squirmed round to straddle him and clasped her hands behind his neck. They had both changed, he into his boxer shorts and nothing else, she into a T-shirt and underwear. Just enough to preserve propriety, which she had insisted on, much to his amusement as he would have been happy to stroll through the flat in the nude. ‘No tomorrow.’

      ‘Oh, I think tomorrow is a certainty,’ Theo drawled, cupping her rear with his hands. ‘In fact, I can think of quite a few things we could do tomorrow…’

      ‘Yes—’ Sophie laughed ‘—your writing and my work!’ But the temptation to bunk off reared its ugly head and held her captive.

      ‘Our work…’ Theo said, tilting her face so that she was looking at him, green eyes tangled with brown. ‘I’m going to install that program, Sophie, whether you like it or not, so you’ll have to put your pride in a cupboard and bring it out some other day.’

      ‘You won’t have time—I don’t want to interfere with your writing.’

      ‘Don’t worry about…about that…’he told her. ‘I’ll find it relaxing. Of course, I shall have to lay down a few provisions which I consider essential to my successful programming…’ He felt her laugh into his chest and a thrill of intense satisfaction snaked through him. Satisfaction and…peace.

      ‘And that would be…?’

      ‘Oh, sex in unusual places and possibly at odd times…Walks on the beach so that we can talk about work and computers and other stimulating topics like that…You cooking at least one meal for me without anything on…’ He wondered where that last had come from but, having said it, he already felt turned on at the thought of her ladling food on to his plate while he watched the sexy movement of her bewitching body. With a disturbing leap of imagination, he thought that that request would never have been on the agenda with Elena. She had aroused other things in him but certainly not this fierce desire rushing like burning acid through his veins. But already Sophie was distracting him from following the thought through, teasing him, reminding him how much there was to life outside the work that had dominated his for so many months, showing him his humanity.

      Right now, right here. That was all that mattered. Accustomed to controlling the course of his life and a future that was as ruthlessly marshalled as was humanly possible, Theo allowed himself the unique indulgence of just going with the flow.