Beware of the Beast by Anne Mather Read Free Book Online

Dimitrios ?" He shrugged. "They will follow by sea with the luggage. It is not too long a trip from Piraeus in a power launch."
    "Oh, I see." Charlotte massaged the leather of the vanity case.
    "You'll have your belongings before it's time for bed, if that's what you're concerned about," Alex assured her dryly, and Charlotte, who had been thinking of this, felt furious that he could read her thoughts so well.
    "I was — curious, that's all," she replied shortly, and turned her own attention to the scenes outside the car.
    When his hand descended on her knee, she almost jumped out of her skin, and her head jerked round so that she could stare at him with horrified eyes. "Charlotte," he said heavily ,   “ don’t be so - frightened of me."
    “I’m not frightened of you," she lied chokingly.
    “God - you are!" he muttered exasperatedly. "And lying it isn't going to make it any easier for you."
    "I don't know what you're talking about."
    “ Yes, you do." His fingers were hard through the fine material of her pants. "Charlotte, you're my wife now. That's in indisputable fact. And as I'm not going to allow you to get an annulment or anything, I suggest you start behaving a normal human being. All this - this jumping around when I lay a hand on you, the fear in your eyes when you thought we might be staying the night in Athens, worrying about whether your nightgowns will arrive in time !   My God, what am I? A monster or something?"
    “ What do you expect me to do? Welcome the knowledge that you're my husband? Be transported by delight at the thought of bearing your child? I hate you, Alex Faulkner, and I refuse to make things easy for you!"
    "Easy for me? My Godl " He released her and sank back hi his seat. "All right, Charlotte, have it your own way. But on your head be it."
    Charlotte felt a twinge of remorse. "I - what do you mean I" "You want to keep everything on a business footing, that's okay by me."
    Charlotte caught her breath. "I -! don't know I said that." He turned his head sideways against the soft upholstery, looking at her. "You can't have it both ways, Charlotte. Either we can pretend, and make things easier. Or we can keep to the terms of the contract. Either way, it's all the same to me."
    "What do you mean — pretend?" His eyes narrowed. "Now what do you think I mean?" Charlotte could feel the hot colour burning her cheeks. "Oh - oh, no!" she gasped. "How - how dare you suggest such a thing?"
    He shrugged and looked away from her, staring straight ahead. "I was only thinking of you, believe me. But if that's not the way you want it. ..." He paused. "At least behave civilly in public. That's one thing I insist upon, do you under stand?"
    Charlotte did not answer him.
    She had never flown in a helicopter before, and in other circumstances she would have been delighted by the trip out over the blue green waters of the Aegean, south-east over dozens of small islands each shimmering beneath a haze of heat. To Charlotte's astonishment, Alex piloted the heli copter himself, and she sat between him and George Con- standis , her thigh wedged against the hardness of his. It was hot in the helicopter, and Alex had loosened the top buttons of his shirt and pulled down his tie. He was sweating freely and the scent of his hot body came to her nostrils. She turned her head away, not wanting to be any more aware of him than she already was in this confined space, but she could not sup press the thought that later tonight his hard powerful body would take possession of hers.
    The back of her own neck was wet, and the coppery hair clung in damp strands to her jacket. She longed for a shower and a change of clothes. The cream suit which had seemed so suitable in the coolness of London was far too thick for this climate. But until her suitcases arrived, she would have to content herself with what she was wearing. Even so, pushing more disturbing thoughts aside, she contemplated the con tents of her wardrobe with increasing