Nor did he read them bedtime stories. "

"Well, perhaps that was my fault," Kate allowed."I was reading to them last night and he. . dropped by.""He's in love," said Chloe."Deep." Pandora."And he wants to be a daddy." Electra."Amazing," Sophia said, shaking her head yet again.Kate wanted to protest. She didn't dare. What was she going to say?That her husband wasn't in love with her, certainly not deeply so.And he didn't want children at all from her. He only wanted s.e.x.She wished she could dig a hole and bury herself. Instead she jumped to her feet.

"I need a swim," she said and strode quickly down the beach and plunged into the water, heading out past Damon and the girls without even stoppng, though

Leda shouted, "Hey, Auntie Kate, loo kit me swim!" and Christina said, "CanI come with you. Auntie Kate?" and Damon said, "Where are you going?"She didn't answer, just plunged beneath the incoming wave and stroked straight ahead. She needed coolness, she needed s.p.a.ce, she needed time to

think.

Damon's head popped up next to hers.

"What's going on?"

"I thought you were teaching the girls to swim."

"I took a break. They don't have long attention- spans." He winked.

"You taught me that." She had, d.a.m.n it. She'd said it only last night that a short book was betterthan a long one with them. She'd wanted to get back to the cottage withDamon and make love. She knew he remembered, that he was thinking about it now.

"Well, I'm sure they can use a little more than you've given them,"

Kate said, turning and swimming away.

Damon followed her.

"They'll get their turn. Is something bothering you? Are my sisters ha.s.sling you?"

"What do you care?" Kate said sourly.He reached out and caught her arm, stopping her easily. She scrabbled for atoehold on the ocean floor, but it was too deep, and she started to sink.

"Damon!"

He hauled her against him, keeping her head above water. "There Got you.Relax.""How'm I supposed to relax like this?" She was plastered against him, could feel the slip of his thigh between her legs and the hard press of his chest

against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"You did a pretty good job of it last night," he said into her ear, then kissed it, nibbling lightly on the lobe. A shiver ran through her.

"Damon! Stop it! They're watching!""So?" He kissed her again, this time trailing light kisses along her jaw,then taking her mouth with even more thoroughness. She gripped his shouldersand tried to pull away. He held her fast. An unbroken wave surged pastthem, lifting them together, rubbing their bodies one against the other, and Kate could feel the evidence of his desire. She shut her eyes, rememberinghow he had looked last night, naked and aroused."What did they say, Kate?""W-who?" She shook her head, trying to think straight. It wasn't easy."Oh, you mean your sisters? Th-they're amazed. They think you're in love with me." She gave a weak half-laugh."You've really got them convinced.""Have I?" There was a note of strain in Damon's voice.Yes. "She gave him a shove and was delighted to find that he let her go."You really have," she added tightly."And you don't like that?"She tried to shrug it off."It's what we'd hoped for, certainly. And.we do have most of the year left so I suppose they have to think something. ""I suppose they do," Damon said quietly after a moment. He was treading water now, staying next to her, but not touching her. Kate felt better, more

in control.

"So," she said lightly,

"I guess it's all right. For the time being."

"Of course." He paused.

"And after, Kate?"

"After?"

"After Thanksgiving. When we're home again. What do you want them to think?"

She managed as carefree a smile as she could. "Oh, I don't care. I guess we can see what happens, can't we?" She allowed her gaze to meet his only for the briefest of moments. She was afraid he might see that their marriage was beginning to matter to her that he wasbeginning to matter.

But she wasn't sure how to feel when he gave her a small, lopsided smile.

"I guess we can."

What the h.e.l.l had he expected from her? A declaration of undying love?

Yeah, right, Alexakis. Damon had been arguing with himself all the way down

the beach, running as if the hounds of h.e.l.l were after him.

"Working out' he'd told his mother.

"Going for a quick jog," he'd told Stephanos. Trying to make some sense out

of the mess he'd been making of his life.

Probably, he thought as his feet pounded along the hard-packed sand, he shouldn't have suggested staying for Thanksgiving week. Lord knew why he had.

Well, actually he knew, too. He'd done it because he hadn't wanted to go back. He and Kate had connected that day at Rainbow. They'd had the most marvelous s.e.x he'd ever experienced in his life.

He'd only guessed that s.e.x like that existed. Probably he'd listened to his sisters long enough to have some sort of imprint on the back of his mind that convinced him there could be more to s.e.x than the simple physical satisfaction that he got from playing a good hard game of racquet ball or having a quickie with his most recent girlfriend.

But he hadn't really known for sure--until Kate.

And then he'd thought it was a fluke. A once-in-a- million type thing.

Except now it had happened eight times out of eight, and he was looking for chances to make it happen again.

And there was more.

He liked her.

He liked to talk with her. She was witty and well- read. She listened to him, then offered her own views. And she wasn't hesitant about disagreeing with him if she felt he was wrong.

"Don't you know you're not supposed to argue with your husband?" he'd teased her last night after the family supper and she'd taken exception to his view on a recent book they'd both read.

"Don't you know you love it when I do?" she'd countered. And they'd both stopped dead, flushing deeply, when they'd realised the truth of what she said.

"And now one of you had better haul the other off to the cottage and show each other just how much," Pandora drawled, and all the sisters giggled, while the nieces looked confused and Stephanos looked at Damon and Kate intently.

Helena's knitting needles clicked complacently as she smiled at her son and new daughter-in-law.

"I told you so," she'd said.

Damon's feet pounded harder now, trying to blot the memory out of his head.

Why?

Why did he care?It was what he wanted, wasn't it? To make his mother think he'd fallen inlove? To make sure he had the freedom to pick his own bride in his own time?

h.e.l.l, how long ago had Kate pointed out to him that that reason was no longer valid?

G.o.d, he was confused!

He stumbled and crashed down on to the sand, his heart hammering like ananvil in his chest, his ears pounding, the blood roaring in his veins. And all he could think was that the last time his heart had hammered and his ears had pounded and his blood had roared, he'd been making love with Kate.

"Where were you?"

"Out."

"What were you doing?"

"Thinking."

"About. . us?"

"What else?"

She was sitting in the bed, a lacy white cotton nightgown barely covering her

b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her glossy dark hair freshly washed and curling damply against herhead. She looked cool and self-possessed and absolutely delectable.He groaned."What's wrong?"He gave her a wry look."Pulled a muscle." He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts and peeled them down, kicking them off and moving towards the bathroom as he did so.

He went in and shut the door, then nipped the shower on to cold. For a moment he stood braced with his hands on the white marble countertop and hunghis head, breathing hard, fighting his desire. He had to be able to control it if he was ever going to control what he felt about her. He had to be able to walk past her and not want her, had to be able to look at her and see abusiness a.s.sociate, not a woman he wanted.

The door opened.

He looked around.

"What do you want?"

His tone was rough enough to make her hesitate. Then she gave him a hopeful

smile.

"I thought I'd help."

She was already moving past him, sticking her hand under the tap, shuddering