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even for a moment by my agreement to marry you.?
    She turned and walked to the door, with an assumption of calm she was far from feeling. ?However, the joke?s worn thin for me now, so I?m out of here.?
    She grasped the door handles, twisted them one way then the other, but the heavy panels they controlled did not move an inch.
    ?You are wasting your time.? His voice was tinged with amusement. ?The door is locked and will remain so until morning.?
    She swung round. ?But you can?t do this,? she said thickly. ?You can?t shut me in?stop me leaving. I?I don?t know what game you think you?re playing here, Kyrios Mandrakis, but please believe I have no intention of becoming your wife. Now or ever.?
    ?Then we are at least in agreement about that,? he drawled. ?Because there is indeed no question of marriage between us, Natasha mou . And you are the one playing games, not I.?
    He paused. ?You must understand that I am referring to your second letter, which was couched in very different terms from the first, and which promised me a range of intimate delights that few unmarried girls would dare admit they knew, let alone suggest to any potential husband.? He added mockingly, ?And least of all to a man they had never met.?
    Her lips parted in shock. ? Second letter ?? she repeated helplessly. ?There was no second letter. I only signed the first under duress. You must be raving mad.?
    ?And you are a hypocrite, which I find a disappointment,? he told her coolly. ?I had expected that a girl who spoke with such mesmerising frankness of her sexual desires and fantasies would at least have the courage of her convictions, when finally confronted with the focus of her?longings.?
    ?You?re the focus of nothing, Kyrios Mandrakis, except my dislike and disgust,? Natasha said curtly. ?I thought my brothers had cornered the market in arrogance and conceit, but you beat them?hands down.?
    ?And I shall continue to do so, Kyria Kirby,? Alex Mandrakis retorted, ?in every way that occurs to me, therefore your ludicrous assessment of my character does not concern me.
    ?You may well regret your candour in writing to me, agapi mou ,? he added, the firm mouth twisting. ?But I do not. And, while I may never have believed in you as a future wife, I look forward with eagerness to enjoying your versatility as my mistress.
    ?Which is why you are here with me tonight, as you must know by now. To begin your new career in my bed.?
    The breath seemed to choke in her lungs. She stared at him incredulously, her startled eyes taking fresh stock of his state of undress and its devastating implications.
    The formal evening dress he?d worn at their first encounter had concealed broad shoulders, and a sculpted chest shadowed by body hair tapering down towards his flat stomach and lean hips. His tanned skin was almost shockingly dark against the white bedlinen.
    She didn?t want to imagine how the rest of him might appear.
    Her voice seemed to come from a great distance.
    ?I?d rather die!?
    His brows lifted cynically. ?When it was your own idea?? he challenged. ?I hardly think so.?
    ?But I keep trying to tell you,? she protested, hating the edge of growing desperation she could hear in her own voice. ?There was never any second letter. Oh, why won?t you believe me??
    ?Because I have the evidence which makes a liar of you.? His tone was almost casual. ?In which, of course, you are no different from the rest of the Papadimos clan. Liars and cheats all of you, and, like most of your persuasion, only sorry when you are found out.
    ?But your foster brothers will have even more to regret,? he went on. ?They will have to endure the shame of knowing you belong to me as my eromeni ?my pillow friend?and that when I tire of you they will have you returned to them?used, and discarded.? He paused. ?Maybe?even pregnant.
    ?A final blow to their family honour from which they can never recover,? he added harshly as Natasha caught her breath.
    ?You can?t do such a thing.? Her voice was ragged.