Free A Stormy Greek Marriage by Lynne Graham Page B

of the same overwhelming finale.
    Afterwards, Billie felt emptied and adrift, totally shattered by the intensity of what she had just experienced. But this time, Alexei did not pull away from her, making her feel alone and uncertain at a most vulnerable time. Still trembling from the explosive force of his own release, he kept her in the circle of his strong arms and kissed her brow in a surprisingly gentle salutation.
    ‘Alexei…’ she whispered softly in acknowledgement,her body surrendering to her exhaustion, her eyes sliding closed.
    ‘You’re worth going to hell and back for,’ he murmured with growling carnal satisfaction. ‘Nobody has ever given me that much excitement, moraki mou. ’
    And Billie drifted off to sleep in his arms, happier than she had ever dreamed she might be after that awful nerve-racking two weeks apart from him. The sex was amazing, she was willing to agree, but that tender kiss and his relaxation with her in the aftermath meant a great deal more to her. She wondered if she would ever fully understand the man she loved. He was so complex, volatile and in every respect unpredictable. And on that frustrated acknowledgement she sank into the deepest sleep she had enjoyed in many weeks.
    She awakened, befogged by drowsiness and bewildered, to the bright light of an island morning. Alexei, fully dressed, was standing over the bed.
    ‘Is there no end to your deceptions?’ he demanded of her in savage condemnation.
    Astonished by that attack, Billie pushed herself up clumsily against the pillows, suddenly conscious of her nudity and holding the sheet to her breasts. Running trembling fingers through her wildly tousled red hair to rake it back off her face, she mumbled, ‘What are you talking about? What’s wrong?’
    ‘ This …this is what’s wrong!’ Alexei bit out rawly, flinging a newspaper down on the bed for her to look at. ‘You and Damon Marios holding hands on my private beach!’
    Her face stiff with shock, Billie glanced down at the page and froze, her skin turning clammy, her throat closing over. It was not the best photo she had ever seen andit seemed to have been digitally enhanced for clarity, but it did show her and Damon on the beach, clearly engaged in intent conversation, her hand in his, her face turned up to his. She was dismayed to recognise that even though her dialogue with Damon had been entirely innocent of even flirtation the photo was misleading, as was the closeness of their bodies.
    She flung her head back, green eyes very bright. ‘This is not what it looks like,’ she whispered shakily.

Chapter Five
    ‘I T WAS taken by a telephoto lens. The paparazzo must’ve been in a boat,’ Alexei grated between clenched teeth, and then he swept the newspaper off the bed again in an angry gesture of repudiation. ‘What the hell is going on between you and Marios? Is he the father of your baby?’
    ‘No, he is not. We’re friends, nothing more. All that happened between us was a rather emotional conversation. Damon was telling me why his marriage had ended.’
    ‘Exchanging sob stories, were you? Getting all touchy-feely?’ Alexei glowered at her unimpressed, his lean dark features hard with angry denunciation. ‘I don’t believe you. Damon was your first love and you’ve always had a thing for him. I can well understand too why you would want to conceal your child’s identity on Speros after Damon chose to reconcile with his estranged wife last year.’
    At that crack, Billie turned very pale, for it struck her as terrifying that it could take only one piece of misinformation to provide a foundation for a seemingly convincing case against her. ‘I’ve never been intimate with Damon. He is not the father of my child,’ she intoned afresh, desperate to make Alexei listen to her.
    Alexei swore only half under his breath. ‘ Na pas sto dialo! Go to hell,’ he told her roughly. ‘I’m leaving. In a couple of days the DNA results will be available and I