“Dareios, is everything okay?” Alexandra asked.

They’d had dinner and the table had been cleared. Dareios had been more like her brother again—polite, distant, and cold. What happened to the fling? Was that it? She cursed her own lack of experience. She didn’t know.

After she’d touched him on the deck, he’d turned away. The crew would be back soon, and she’d gone to her cabin. She didn’t know what else to do. She didn’t want to swim, couldn’t really sunbathe not with the marks he had left on her. She showered and changed into a loose, white sundress, and she left off her bra and panties. She brushed out her hair and tried to be interested in a book. But she kept thinking about Dareios.

Was this what a fling was? Brief sexual encounters and then you went off, back to your own life. She was starting to think this was not what she wanted from Dareios. All this had done was to leave her hungry for more.

And now dinner had been cleared. They’d had kakkavi, a lovely fish chowder and fresh fish in a wine sauce with rice and a plate of tiropita and honey walnut cake for dessert. The crew seemed in a good mood, but Alexandra still felt restless and unsettled.

Dareios told the crew they would not be needed for the rest of the night. He turned to face her, toying with his wine glass with one hand. “What is it you want, Alexandra? Tell me so there’s no misunderstanding here.”

“I want you.” She met his stare and swallowed. “For as long as you’ll have me.” Was that true? She wasn’t sure any more.

He lifted one eyebrow. “You sound as if you can’t foresee a point in time where you would not want me. That would make this a very long fling.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to pretend to understand how things are going to work out for us. But I do know that if you don’t finish what you started with me, I’m going to become very hard to deal with.”

He smiled. “You sound like you used to when you were little. I remember when Antonio didn’t give in to your demands, you became a pest. Didn’t you once hold it over him that you would tell your father that Antonio had dug up the rose bushes in your garden, hoping to find treasures and antiquities? He replanted them, but they looked terrible. I seem to remember your gardener having a fit.”

She put her hands flat on the table. “I’m sexually frustrated and really not in the mood to play nice.”

Dareios stood. He held out his hand. She took it and followed him down to his cabin. But she couldn’t wait. In the narrow corridor, she pulled him back to her. She kissed him the way he had kissed her—taking possession of his mouth. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. His eyes seemed huge and dark. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her with him to his cabin.

Moonlight came in through the windows of the main stateroom. She could just make out that the room was decorated in warm, earth colors. Bronze and tans and golds. A huge bed dominated the room. Dareios pulled her down on the bed with him.

She swung a leg over him and sat with her knees on either side of him. She knew she was wet—she could feel herself rubbing against his hardness. He grasped her hips. “You’re naked under this.”

Reaching up, she pulled off the sundress. “Now I’m just naked.” She ripped open his shirt. Buttons popped and flew. He already had his belt undone and his pants unzipped. She pulled the loose trousers off his hips and he kicked out of them.

Grabbing her hips, he lifting her up and positioned himself at her entrance. Slowly, he lowered her until he was completely inside her. “God, you’re so tight, Alexandra,” he told her, holding her hips still with his hands.

Alexandra closed her eyes as the feelings swamped her. Finally! I knew it would be like this between us. When he relaxed his hold on her hips, she began to move, rocking back and forth. Dareios gave a low growl. Taking her hips, he urged her to move faster. He pushed up into her, his hips bucking.

She threw her head back. Sensations rushed through her body—waves of pleasure and heat. She felt herself tightening around him, and heard his groan. She trembled, on the brink of coming apart. She felt joined with him—utterly. She gave a wiggle of her hips and the world exploded.

Dareios kept thrusting up into her and the world went white again. He gave a harsh cry and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She could feel his heart beating and his ragged breath brushed over her check. She tightened around him and he gave another groan.

Turning her, he nestled her close to him. He brushed his lips over her temple. “You are amazing.”

Alexandra watching the moonlight sift over the cabin. It was a very masculine room—Spartan almost, with no pictures on the wall, no decoration. Just a bed. She traced a finger over his chest. He had very little hair on his chest or arms. She hoped he wasn’t regretting being with her. “Dareios, what are you thinking about?”

He squeezed her and then kissed the top of her head. “I was trying to remember why we haven’t done this before now. But you have to promise me one thing.”

“I thought this was no ties—no promises?”

“Oh, this is the only one. You have to promise me that when we arrive in Athens…if your brother ever learns what we’ve done, you’ll protect me from Antonio.”