His Forbidden Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

terrace had been fragrant with them, and she
    could see even more in the beds that bordered the lawn. And sexual
    predators in Greek mythology had nothing to do with it.
    Without knowing why, she stretched out a hand and touched one of the
    heavy golden heads, almost as if it were a lucky charm. Then she reached
    for the heavy iron door handle and tried it.
    To her amazement, it yielded, and the door opened silently on wel -oiled
    hinges. The Vil a Danaë was welcoming her, after al .
    She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, standing for a moment,
    listening intently for a footfal , a door closing, a cough. The sound of a
    human presence to explain the unlocked door. But there was nothing.
    She found herself in a wide hal , confronted by a sweep of staircase leading
    up to a gal eried landing. On one side of it was the glass wal of the atrium.
    On the other were more conventional doors leading to a long living room,
    where chairs and sofas were grouped round an empty fire-place. A deep
    alcove at the far end of the room contained a dining table and chairs.
    Everything was in pristine condition. No one had ever lounged on those
    cushions, she thought, or lit a fire in that hearth, or eaten a meal at the table.
    On the atrium side, she found a tiled and fully fitted kitchen, with a walk-in
    food store, and a laundry room leading off it, al of them bare as if they'd
    been somehow frozen in time, and were waiting for the spel to be broken.
    Taking a deep breath, Zoe went upstairs, annoyed to find she was tiptoeing.
    The first room she came to was the master bedroom, dim and cool behind
    its shutters. She trod across the floor, unlatched the heavy wooden slats and
    pulled them open, then turned, catching her breath.
    It was a vast and luxurious room, with apricot walls and an ivory tiled floor.
    The silk bed covering was ivory, too, as were the voile drapes that hung at
    the windows.
    There was a bathroom with a screened-off shower cubicle, and a sunken
    bath with taps like smiling dolphins, and a dressing room as wel . There
    were toiletries on the tiled surfaces, and fluffy towels on the rails. Everything
    in its place—an enchanted palace waiting for its princess. But for how long?
    Zoe walked slowly back to the window, and slid it open with care, then
    stepped out onto the balcony, lifting her face to the slight breeze. Before her
    were the misty shapes of other islands rising put of the unruffled blue of the
    Ionian sea.
    More roses here, too, she saw, spil ing over the balcony rail from their
    pottery tubs in a cascade of cream and gold. Their scent reached her softly,
    and she breathed it in, feeling herself become part of the enchantment.
    She thought, Can this real y be mine?
    And in the same heartbeat, realised she was not alone after all. That there
    was someone below her on the terrace.
    She froze, then peered with infinite caution over the balcony rail.
    A man, she registered, with his back to her, moving unhurriedly along the
    terrace, removing the dead heads from the blossoms in the stone troughs.
    The gardener, she thought with relief. Only the gardener. One of the support
    team employed to keep Vil a Danaë in this immaculate condition.
    He was tal , with a mane of curling black hair that gleamed like silk in the
    sunlight, his skin like burnished bronze against the brief pair of elderly white
    shorts that were al he was wearing. She saw broad shoulders, and a
    muscular back, narrowing to lean hips, and long, sinewy legs.
    The kind of Adonis, she thought, with a faint catch of the breath, that Adele
    had warned her about.
    Of course, she could only see his back view, so he might wel have a squint,
    a crooked nose, and dribble. But somehow she didn't think so.
    And anyway, his looks were not her concern. What she needed to do was
    get out of here before he looked up and saw her.
    With infinite caution, she backed away into the room. She dragged at the
    windows, tugging them together. They came with a