Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
He said quietly, “Mairi?”
Now was her time to let him know she was awake, Mairi thought.
But a second later, what she ended up doing was...
“Yoooooaaaaaarrrrrrr...”
Damen tried his best to suppress his smile as Mairi let out the most grossest-sounding snore. Aside from knowing for a fact that Mairi did not snore when sleeping, no human female could produce such a sound naturally. It sounded more like a cross between a rhino’s roar and an ogre’s phlegm-filled cough.
Deciding to tease her a little, he said again, “Mairi?”
Now’s the time to let him know she was awake, Mairi thought. But if she did, what would he say? What would she say?
“Mairi?”
Panicking, she ended up flipping to her side as if in deep sleep.
Swallowing back a silent, startled chuckle, Damen deftly swerved away from Mairi’s flying kick as she almost kicked him to the floor while flipping to her side.
He waited for her to “settle” before speaking again. “I guess you’re tired, mm?”
Mairi almost stopped breathing. Oh my God, she knew what was going to happen next. He was going to confess Something Important. It always happened like that in books and movies. Always!
If she squeezed her eyes any harder, Damen thought with amusement, she might end up bursting a blood vessel or something.
Clearing his throat, Damen continued in a grave voice, “I suppose it’s better this way, matakia mou. It would be easier to tell you without you seeing me.” He almost had to bite his tongue to keep himself from reminding Mairi that people still breathed in their sleep.
Mairi was dying of anticipation. Oh my God, the wait was killing her!!!
“I just want to tell you that——”
Thaaaaaaaat?
The pilot’s voice suddenly boomed out of the speakers, cutting Damen off as he announced that the jet would be starting its descent in a few minutes.
Mairi wanted to scream. Nooooooooo!
But there was no going back. The moment was gone, the mood broken, and it was time for her to “wake up”. She tried to channel Sleeping Beauty as she did, thinking she should flutter her lashes several times before she could open her eyes.
So fucking hard, Damen thought, not to laugh out loud when Mairi seemed to be aiming for a Guinness record for the most number of times she could flutter her lashes under one minute.
Mairi finally opened her eyes.
And the first thing she saw was Damen’s dazzlingly handsome face, which was too close for comfort and made her cheeks flush red. The second thing she saw was the gleam of wicked amusement in his silver eyes.
She gasped. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Knew what?” he asked with complete innocence, but the grin tugging at his beautifully shaped lips ruined it.
Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red. Her voice turned into an embarrassed wail. “You knew!”
Damen allowed himself a small chuckle. “Yes, I did know you’ve been awake for quite some time.”
She wailed again, but when she started to cover her face, Damen was there to pull her hands away, and just like that the air between them sizzled, the simple contact of their hands generating enough heat for Damen’s smile to disappear and Mairi to swallow audibly.
Awkward.
Hot.
Awkward.
Hot.
She felt like she was picking off petals from a flower to determine the exact nature of her feelings. Damen’s gaze was on hers, intense but unreadable. It made her feel more self-conscious the same time every inch of her body tingled into life.
Awkward.
Hot.
Awkward.
Hot.
This man was her husband.
Oh dear Lord, Damen Leventis was her husband.
The Greek billionaire she had dreamt of had married her, and she was now Mrs. Leventis.
It was the most bittersweet feeling, but underneath it was the unmistakable sense of joy, quiet and deep. Damen Leventis was the only man she could ever love, and no matter what had happened – no matter what the world thought – marrying him felt right.
She just had to remember that he could never love her – could never trust her – the way someone who was truly in love would.
Chapter 3
Damen was so attuned to his new wife’s feelings that he noticed the moment her smile dimmed ever so slightly. His heart clenched at the sight of it. “Mairi?”
Looking at his eyes, Mairi found whatever she had thought of saying dying in her throat. The look of fierce concern on his gorgeous face made her every misgiving fade.
How she loved this man.
Loved him so, so much it was just impossible to explain the magnitude of it.
And so in the end all she could whisper with a tremulous smile, akin to the old days, was, “Hi.”
But the concern on his face did not ease. “Something is troubling you.”
Her smile widened a little at the words. He spoke them as if they were an accusation and that she had no right to feel bad because he was there to go to battle for her.