unapproachable and she hadn’t known how to talk to him. Even when he had phoned
from the States, their conversations had been limited to how she was feeling in the first stages of
her pregnancy, and whether she was eating enough.
She had been able to reassure him on that point, Kitty thought gloomily. Apart from a couple of
mornings when she’d felt nauseous, she was fit and healthy and had an appetite like a horse. Her
mother said she was obviously one of those women who looked pregnant from early on, and that
she was blooming, but she wasn’t sure what Nikos’s reaction would be to her body that was
already filling out with his child.
More to the point, was he even going to see her body? she wondered. The wild passion they had
shared in the cave seemed like a distant dream, and if it weren’t for the fact that she was carrying his child she could almost believe she had imagined the pleasure of his mouth on hers and the
touch of his hands on her breasts.
Would Nikos expect her to share his bed tonight—their wedding night? Kitty stared at her
reflection as her face flooded with colour, and beneath her dress her breasts suddenly felt full and heavy. They had not discussed that aspect of their marriage, but Nikos was a supremely virile
male and she guessed he would not want to live a life without sex. But he had given no
indication, either on the day he had asked her to marry him, or the occasions she had seen him
since, that he still desired her.
There had been virtually no physical contact between them since the one time he had made love
to her. Even when they had posed for the official photographs to mark their engagement, Nikos
had pressed his lips lightly to her hand, but hadn’t kissed her properly on the mouth as she had
longed for him to do. And when a member of the press had asked if he was in love, he had
replied with some flippant remark that had made the journalists laugh but had emphasised to
Kitty that she meant nothing to him.
Liss glanced at the clock. ‘We’d better go. Are you ready?’
Was she? How ready could you be when you were about to leap into the unknown? Kitty took a
deep breath and nodded. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ she murmured. Her heart was beating
painfully fast when she walked over to the door, and as she turned and glanced around the room
that had been her bedroom for twenty-six years she felt a sharp pang of sadness that after today
the palace would no longer be her home. From now on home would be Athens, with Nikos, and
she could only pray that her decision to marry him was the right one.
The private chapel in the grounds of the palace was packed with guests. When Kitty stepped
through the arched doorway a murmur of excited voices seemed to echo around the nave, heads
turned and she was conscious of the faint gasp that rippled through the crowd as they caught
sight of her in her bridal gown. But her eyes were fixed straight ahead, on the tall, broad-
shouldered man in a charcoal-grey suit who was standing at the altar.
Nikos must have known from the reaction of the guests that she had arrived, but he remained
unmoving and did not even give a cursory glance over his shoulder towards his bride. His lack of
curiosity, and his obvious reluctance to face the woman he felt obliged to marry, hit Kitty as
painfully as if he had physically struck her, and trepidation knotted in her stomach. For a
moment blind panic swept through her, and she could not restrain a shiver as she faced the reality
of what she was about to do.
‘Are you all right?’ Sebastian whispered as he linked his arm with hers and stared down at her
paper-white face. ‘ Theos , Kitty, you’re not going to faint, are you?’
The deep, pure notes of the organ music swirled up to the roof of the chapel and seemed to
resound through Kitty’s body. She stumbled, and for a few seconds the urge to turn and flee from
the church, from Nikos, and the loveless future
from the States, their conversations had been limited to how she was feeling in the first stages of
her pregnancy, and whether she was eating enough.
She had been able to reassure him on that point, Kitty thought gloomily. Apart from a couple of
mornings when she’d felt nauseous, she was fit and healthy and had an appetite like a horse. Her
mother said she was obviously one of those women who looked pregnant from early on, and that
she was blooming, but she wasn’t sure what Nikos’s reaction would be to her body that was
already filling out with his child.
More to the point, was he even going to see her body? she wondered. The wild passion they had
shared in the cave seemed like a distant dream, and if it weren’t for the fact that she was carrying his child she could almost believe she had imagined the pleasure of his mouth on hers and the
touch of his hands on her breasts.
Would Nikos expect her to share his bed tonight—their wedding night? Kitty stared at her
reflection as her face flooded with colour, and beneath her dress her breasts suddenly felt full and heavy. They had not discussed that aspect of their marriage, but Nikos was a supremely virile
male and she guessed he would not want to live a life without sex. But he had given no
indication, either on the day he had asked her to marry him, or the occasions she had seen him
since, that he still desired her.
There had been virtually no physical contact between them since the one time he had made love
to her. Even when they had posed for the official photographs to mark their engagement, Nikos
had pressed his lips lightly to her hand, but hadn’t kissed her properly on the mouth as she had
longed for him to do. And when a member of the press had asked if he was in love, he had
replied with some flippant remark that had made the journalists laugh but had emphasised to
Kitty that she meant nothing to him.
Liss glanced at the clock. ‘We’d better go. Are you ready?’
Was she? How ready could you be when you were about to leap into the unknown? Kitty took a
deep breath and nodded. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ she murmured. Her heart was beating
painfully fast when she walked over to the door, and as she turned and glanced around the room
that had been her bedroom for twenty-six years she felt a sharp pang of sadness that after today
the palace would no longer be her home. From now on home would be Athens, with Nikos, and
she could only pray that her decision to marry him was the right one.
The private chapel in the grounds of the palace was packed with guests. When Kitty stepped
through the arched doorway a murmur of excited voices seemed to echo around the nave, heads
turned and she was conscious of the faint gasp that rippled through the crowd as they caught
sight of her in her bridal gown. But her eyes were fixed straight ahead, on the tall, broad-
shouldered man in a charcoal-grey suit who was standing at the altar.
Nikos must have known from the reaction of the guests that she had arrived, but he remained
unmoving and did not even give a cursory glance over his shoulder towards his bride. His lack of
curiosity, and his obvious reluctance to face the woman he felt obliged to marry, hit Kitty as
painfully as if he had physically struck her, and trepidation knotted in her stomach. For a
moment blind panic swept through her, and she could not restrain a shiver as she faced the reality
of what she was about to do.
‘Are you all right?’ Sebastian whispered as he linked his arm with hers and stared down at her
paper-white face. ‘ Theos , Kitty, you’re not going to faint, are you?’
The deep, pure notes of the organ music swirled up to the roof of the chapel and seemed to
resound through Kitty’s body. She stumbled, and for a few seconds the urge to turn and flee from
the church, from Nikos, and the loveless future
Similar Books
