The Helen Bianchin Collection. HELEN BIANCHIN

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СКАЧАТЬ and the tree-lined avenues cast looming shadows. Many of the houses were in darkness, but every now and again a lit window revealed activity within.

      ‘All talked out?’

      Katrina turned slightly at the sound of that musing drawl, and could determine nothing from his expression. In the shadowed interior, his features were all angles and planes.

      ‘In recovery mode after playing charades,’ she declared, and heard his throaty chuckle.

      ‘That bad, hmm?’

      In their hosts’ home there had been security in numbers. Now they were alone, and effects of the game still lingered. Yet she was conscious of an elemental danger, aware that if she didn’t tread very carefully she could unleash a situation she wasn’t ready to deal with…now, or at any stage in the future.

      Had Nicos’s affectionate attention been entirely contrived? She told herself she didn’t want to know. Except there was a part of her that reacted to his touch, and it irked unbearably that she hadn’t been in total control of her emotions.

      It didn’t take long to traverse the distance between Woollahra and Point Piper, and Katrina slid from the car in one fluid movement, entering the lobby a few steps ahead of her inimitable husband.

      The click of her heels on marble tiles sounded loud in the night’s silence, and her steps were quick as she entered the spacious lobby and headed for the elegant staircase.

      She was aware of Nicos resetting the alarm system, closing lights, and she fought against the instinctive need to run.

      From what? a tiny voice demanded. Yourself?

      She deigned not to answer, nor even give the thought any credence as she reached the sanctuary of her room.

      Nicos hadn’t attempted to stop her.

      So why did she harbour the intuitive feeling he had a strategy and a hidden agenda?

      To seduce her?

      Why? Except to prove he could?

      And he had as much hope of achieving that as a snowflake’s chance in hell, she vowed as she slipped off her heeled pumps and discarded the beaded gown.

      Make-up removal came next, then she donned a nightshirt and slid into bed, all too aware that sleep was never more distant.

      After an hour of tossing restlessly from one position to another she pulled on a wrap and made her way downstairs to the indoor pool adjacent the gym. There, she cast aside the wrap and dived neatly into the sparkling, crystal-clear water.

      Katrina stroked several lengths, then changed style, enjoying the feel of cool water against her skin as she covered length after length.

      It was mindless exercise, but one she welcomed in a bid to bring on a state of semi-exhaustion that would enable sleep.

      Maybe then Nicos’s image wouldn’t haunt her, or invade her dreams.

      Her muscles were beginning to tire, and her breathing was no longer smooth or even. Time to stop, she decided as she reached the tiled edge, then rested there for several long seconds as she caught her breath and smoothed excess water from her hair.

      ‘Had enough?’

      She gasped at the sound of that familiar male drawl, and went under as she’d inadvertently released her hold on the pool’s edge.

      Seconds later she rose to the surface, spluttering with indignation. ‘You frightened the life out of me! How did you know I was down here?’

      ‘Sensor security,’ Nicos informed. ‘A modem beeps beside my bed if lights are activated inside the house after the alarm is set.’

      Katrina trod water as she tilted her head to look at him. It seemed a long way up! ‘So you decided to investigate.’ In the reflected pool lighting he resembled a dark angel, and his navy towelling robe made her supremely conscious she wasn’t wearing so much as a stitch.

      There were towels stacked in a nearby cupboard, but she’d have to emerge from the pool and walk several steps to reach one.

      ‘Are you through expending excess energy?’

      ‘Yes.’ Please, God, he wouldn’t guess why she’d chosen a midnight exercise stint.

      He hunkered down and extended a hand. ‘I’ll help you out.’

      ‘One way to help would be to fetch me a towel,’ she declared dryly.

      ‘Skinny-dipping?’

      Suspicion darkened her eyes. ‘Just how long have you been standing there?’

      ‘A few minutes.’

      She scooped up a handful of water and aimed it at him. ‘You fiend!’

      Nicos rose to his feet, loosened the tie on his robe, discarded it, and dived into the pool to emerge close beside her.

      ‘Now we’re on equal ground.’

      Katrina lashed out a hand, and had it caught before it could connect. ‘Let me go.’

      His smile held a dangerous quirk that made her instantly wary.

      ‘Please,’ she added quietly, desperate to put some distance between them. He was too close, too physical, too much.

      ‘Is it me you don’t trust,’ Nicos mused thoughtfully. ‘Or yourself?’

      She swallowed the faint lump that had risen in her throat. ‘I won’t play mouse to your cat.’

      ‘Is that what you think I’m doing…playing?’

      Her gaze was steady. ‘I think you’re deriving a certain amount of amusement from the situation.’

      ‘And you’d like to escape?’

      ‘I’d like to get out of the pool,’ Katrina corrected.

      ‘Then, go, pedhi mou,’ he bade. ‘I won’t stop you.’

      She watched as he moved away from her and stroked a leisurely pace towards the end of the pool.

      With quick movements she levered her body onto the tiled surround, stood to her feet and quickly pulled on her discarded robe.

      She should have felt cold, for the water had been cool, but instead heat flooded her veins and her heartbeat quickened measurably as she extracted a towel and wound it into a turban over her wet hair.

      This wasn’t the first time she’d shared the pool, naked, with Nicos. Except then… No, she determined resolutely, don’t think about then.

      Without a backward glance she quickly negotiated the two flights of stairs to her bedroom, showered and shampooed her hair before engaging the hair-drier, then she slid into bed.

      A faint groan left her lips as she caught sight of the time. In too few hours her alarm СКАЧАТЬ