The Innocent's Surrender by Sara Craven Read Free Book Online Page A

that the house would be struck by a thunderbolt if nothing else could save her from this?horror.
    Eventually she said, not looking at him, ?Whatever you saw on your spying mission, kyrie , I still did not write those things to you. I?I couldn?t.
    ?And you don?t really want me,? she went on in a low voice. ?If you?do what you?ve threatened, it will only be another form of revenge against my family. You?ve said as much.
    ?But I?I have a life in England. A man I could love. And you?you?re seeing someone too. You?don?t need to do this. So, I?m begging you now to unlock that door and let me go.?
    She took a deep breath. ?I?ll tell my brothers my plane was delayed, and I won?t say a word about what?s happened here tonight. I swear it. No one will ever know except the two of us.? She added, ?And I?ll thank you every day of my life.?
    ?Your brothers are expecting you to arrive tomorrow, just in time for the meeting,? he told her softly. ?And I want them to know about us, Natasha mou. Also to imagine what they cannot know.?
    She said, ?I am not your Natasha.?
    ?But you will be,? he said. ?And your life will belong to me?until I decide otherwise. Did I not make that clear to you??
    He smiled at her. ?However, you plead with passion, agapi mou. I hope you will bring the same intensity to the pleasure we shall soon share, when I prove beyond any doubt that I do indeed want you, and not just for revenge.?
    He paused. ?My attentions may even console you for the English lover you have lost.?
    He took two of the pillows from behind him, and placed them beside him on the bed. ?But we have talked enough. Now, my lovely one, it is time you came to me. So, take off your clothes.?
    She took a step backward. ?No,? she said fiercely. ?I won?t do it.?
    His brows lifted. ?Would you prefer my men to help you?? he enquired pleasantly. ?I have only to summon them.?
    ?Oh, God.? Her voice cracked. ?Do you possess even a scrap of decency??
    ?When it is required.? He shrugged. ?To judge from your letter, none is needed in your case. To find yourself being stripped by strangers might even have appealed to you. But no matter. Now, do not keep me waiting any longer,? he added. ?A pretence of coyness is hardly appropriate.?
    Pretence? she thought. When I?ve never knowingly undressed in front of anyone in my life. When I?ve never actually seen a man naked either, apart from paintings and statuary.
    The door was locked, but the window might not be, she told herself desperately. If there was a balcony outside, she might be able to jump?
    And stopped right there, knowing that a broken arm or leg might be the least harm she could do to herself.
    She was trapped?caught between Scylla and Charybdis, the monster and the whirlpool, in the story of ?The Odyssey? that Thia Theodosia used to read to her.
    She touched dry lips with the tip of her tongue. ?Will you at least?turn off the lights??
    ?No,? he said. ?And I am becoming impatient.? The dark eyes scanned her again more slowly. ?You may begin by taking down your hair. I prefer to see it loose.?
    Instinct warned her that she had nowhere else to go. That tears?the only option she had left?wouldn?t move him any more than her protests had done, her pleading.
    She had abased herself for nothing, and she would not do so again, she told herself with cold determination. From now on, she would concentrate on survival alone.
    She had never understood or been part of this feud between the two families, and had always found it faintly ludicrous that grown men should so implacably pursue each other?s downfall.
    But all that had changed forever when she?d entered this room, and found him waiting for her. Because Alex Mandrakis was now her enemy too, and someday, somehow, he would pay for tonight.
    I?ll make him sorry that he was ever born, she vowed silently as she took the clips from her hair and shook the long, silky strands free over her shoulders.
    He said softly, ?Like a cloud of gold. Now, continue.?
    She took off her jacket,