His eyes held such flagrant desire that Talos’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. He watched as his business rival collected his wife, taking her hand in his own, and escorted her to the dance floor.
And as the music started, Talos was unable to look away.
Eve was a beautiful dancer. She always had been. Every step she took caused the silvery sequined dress to move in waves over her luscious body. Without touching the other man, she moved slowly, sensually, in front of him, holding her arms over her head. The bottom of the dress barely brushed her thighs as she swayed her hips, closing her eyes.
Jake Skinner, along with nearly every other man on the dance floor, had stopped to gape at her, slack-jawed. The other women on the floor, many of whom were also very beautiful, noticed their men had frozen in place and they, too, turned to glare.
With her eyes still closed, Eve swayed to the music.
She moved like the seductive siren of every man’s hungry dreams.
Talos suddenly felt as though he was choking for air—or dying of thirst. Grabbing a martini from a waiter who’d stopped in front of him to stare at his wife, Talos gulped it all down at once.
Then he looked back at Eve. Every man in the room was staring at her. He felt a sudden stabbing pain against his palm and looked down, realizing he’d just shattered the martini glass in his hand.
“Me singkorite!” With a gasp, a nearby waiter turned and scurried to grab a broom.
“Oriste.” Agata was suddenly standing next to him. She held out a small towel.
Talos took it. “Efkharisto.”
“You’re wasting your time with her,” she said quietly, nodding toward Eve. “You’re going to get hurt.”
“You’re wrong.” Talos wiped the blood off his hand with the towel. The cuts weren’t deep. “She can’t hurt me.”
But he knew he was lying. Eve had cut him to the bone long ago.
He watched her across the room, dancing with her eyes closed, her arms swaying over her head. His lust for Eve cut far deeper than any blade. Like every other man in the room, he wanted her so badly that every nerve in his body vibrated with her music. And after three months of constant longing, an increasingly frustrated desire had left him frayed like fabric, falling apart at the edges.
After being so close to her, courting her, of having her in his bed but not being able to touch her, he was going mad. Lust for her was killing him.
He’d been so certain that coming to the party tonight would cause Eve to regain her memory and return to the cruel, grasping seductress he remembered. And she had—but in a way he’d never expected.
She was taunting him.
Watching her move and sway, he swallowed his lust, his whole body in a hot sweat. As the song ended, Talos felt, rather than heard, the low deep growl of every man in the place wanting Eve. Felt the press of male footsteps and bodies leaning toward her.
As if coming out of a trance, Eve slowly opened her eyes.
Talos saw Jake Skinner reach for her as the dance ended. Reaching with his hands, with his hungry eyes, with his mouth—
Suddenly, Talos found himself across the room and in the middle of the dance floor.
He pushed his rival aside.
“Stay—away—from—my—wife!”
He drew back in shock. “Your wife?” Skinner gasped. He backed away, his face turning white. “You’re married?”
Eve just tilted her head quizzically. “As a matter of fact, we are.” She tossed Talos a look through narrowed eyes. “I didn’t know you cared.”
“I care,” he ground out. Tightening his jaw, Talos looked at his American rival. Every muscle was taut with the control it took not to attack the other man. “Stay away from my wife,” he said again in a low voice.
Skinner looked between them quickly. What he saw in Talos’s face must have convinced him, because he turned and ran, pushing his way past the party guests, nearly knocking over their hostess in his haste.
Talos felt the eyes of the whole room upon them. So much for telling Agata that he wouldn’t make a scene.
“Happy birthday,” he told Agata abruptly. “Thanks for the party.”