Read Online Hostage to Love (Entangled Suspense) by Maya Blake - Free Book Online
Authors: Maya Blake
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constant pressure to “sort out this silliness with Nick”?
She’d refused to tell anyone but her best friend, Liz, why she’d walked out on Nick, and she wasn’t about to admit to the whole world why her marriage had ended after six short months. She had her pride, if nothing else.
The aching memory held her rigid in her seat, until the plane’s brakes jarred her from her thoughts.
Ignoring the hand Nick held out to her, she released her belt and stood up. She cursed the weakness in her body and pain in her bandaged feet as she moved with slow stiffness to the door.
But when she started to descend the stairs, Nick appeared at her side, and without pausing a beat, swung her into his arms, his movements sure as he navigated the short steps onto the tarmac.
She gritted her teeth as her senses zinged to life. “Put me down. I’m perfectly capable of walking.” She pushed at his chest, trying to ignore her body’s leap of pleasure at his proximity.
“You may be, but I don’t want to be here all day. It’s been a long flight and you need to rest. And I need a stiff drink and a shower, in that order. So oblige me, would you?” His long strides ate up the short distance from the plane to the electric-powered golf cart parked nearby. Once there, he placed her on the seat and slid in beside her before accelerating toward the villa half a mile away.
The sharp retort on her lips evaporated as the beauty of her surroundings washed over her.
Althea was a five-kilometer-long, lush green paradise dropped into the middle of the Aegean Sea, with nothing for miles but the jeweled brilliance of the warm turquoise-colored water. Located due east of the Cycladic group of islands, it enjoyed almost year-round sunshine.
The four weeks she’d spent here after their wedding had been the happiest of her life, and she bit her lip in sharp remembrance as the Byzantine-themed villa came into full view.
Whitewashed and red-roofed, the two-story building sat resplendent on a small hill in the late afternoon sun. Bordered on either side by cypress and eucalyptus trees, the villa enjoyed a constant soft breeze, which lessened the sometimes harsh impact of the Greek sun. The view from the front was spectacular, offering up panoramic scenes of landscaped gardens in the foreground and a private cove and white sands of the beach beyond. She knew the vista from the sea view deck at the back of the home was equally breathtaking, having spent many a morning breakfasting there during their honeymoon.
Nick had barely stopped the golf cart outside the solid oak doors when they flew open. A plump old woman stood on the threshold, her wrinkled face creased into a beaming smile.
Belle couldn’t help but smile in return. “Demetra, how are you?” She could be polite, even if she didn’t want to be here.
“ Kyria Andreakos! Good, you’re home. Very, very good.” She clapped her hands together in glee before rushing down to throw her arms round Belle.
Nick spoke curtly to the older woman, who drew back with an apologetic but assessing look. She mumbled under her breath, cast Belle another smile, and then turned to supervise her husband, Yannis, as he unloaded the suitcases from the cart.
“What did you say to her?” Belle asked sharply.
“I told her you weren’t in the best of health, so she should contain her exuberance.” Nick stated unapologetically, unfolding his lithe body from the vehicle and coming to help her up. With reluctance, she accepted his help, unwilling to cause a scene in front of Demetra. But it didn’t stop her voicing her thoughts.
“I’d thank you not to give everyone the impression I’m made of fragile glass, primed to shatter into a million pieces at any moment.”
“If you say so, pethi mou .”
“Stop calling me that! I’m not your little one, nor your little anything for that matter.” Her voice came out in a screech, and her face burned.
She saw the smile that played about his lips, and her
She’d refused to tell anyone but her best friend, Liz, why she’d walked out on Nick, and she wasn’t about to admit to the whole world why her marriage had ended after six short months. She had her pride, if nothing else.
The aching memory held her rigid in her seat, until the plane’s brakes jarred her from her thoughts.
Ignoring the hand Nick held out to her, she released her belt and stood up. She cursed the weakness in her body and pain in her bandaged feet as she moved with slow stiffness to the door.
But when she started to descend the stairs, Nick appeared at her side, and without pausing a beat, swung her into his arms, his movements sure as he navigated the short steps onto the tarmac.
She gritted her teeth as her senses zinged to life. “Put me down. I’m perfectly capable of walking.” She pushed at his chest, trying to ignore her body’s leap of pleasure at his proximity.
“You may be, but I don’t want to be here all day. It’s been a long flight and you need to rest. And I need a stiff drink and a shower, in that order. So oblige me, would you?” His long strides ate up the short distance from the plane to the electric-powered golf cart parked nearby. Once there, he placed her on the seat and slid in beside her before accelerating toward the villa half a mile away.
The sharp retort on her lips evaporated as the beauty of her surroundings washed over her.
Althea was a five-kilometer-long, lush green paradise dropped into the middle of the Aegean Sea, with nothing for miles but the jeweled brilliance of the warm turquoise-colored water. Located due east of the Cycladic group of islands, it enjoyed almost year-round sunshine.
The four weeks she’d spent here after their wedding had been the happiest of her life, and she bit her lip in sharp remembrance as the Byzantine-themed villa came into full view.
Whitewashed and red-roofed, the two-story building sat resplendent on a small hill in the late afternoon sun. Bordered on either side by cypress and eucalyptus trees, the villa enjoyed a constant soft breeze, which lessened the sometimes harsh impact of the Greek sun. The view from the front was spectacular, offering up panoramic scenes of landscaped gardens in the foreground and a private cove and white sands of the beach beyond. She knew the vista from the sea view deck at the back of the home was equally breathtaking, having spent many a morning breakfasting there during their honeymoon.
Nick had barely stopped the golf cart outside the solid oak doors when they flew open. A plump old woman stood on the threshold, her wrinkled face creased into a beaming smile.
Belle couldn’t help but smile in return. “Demetra, how are you?” She could be polite, even if she didn’t want to be here.
“ Kyria Andreakos! Good, you’re home. Very, very good.” She clapped her hands together in glee before rushing down to throw her arms round Belle.
Nick spoke curtly to the older woman, who drew back with an apologetic but assessing look. She mumbled under her breath, cast Belle another smile, and then turned to supervise her husband, Yannis, as he unloaded the suitcases from the cart.
“What did you say to her?” Belle asked sharply.
“I told her you weren’t in the best of health, so she should contain her exuberance.” Nick stated unapologetically, unfolding his lithe body from the vehicle and coming to help her up. With reluctance, she accepted his help, unwilling to cause a scene in front of Demetra. But it didn’t stop her voicing her thoughts.
“I’d thank you not to give everyone the impression I’m made of fragile glass, primed to shatter into a million pieces at any moment.”
“If you say so, pethi mou .”
“Stop calling me that! I’m not your little one, nor your little anything for that matter.” Her voice came out in a screech, and her face burned.
She saw the smile that played about his lips, and her
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