The Passionate Greek

by Catherine Dane

  She fingered a flame silk chiffon with fluted skirt and thin straps. Nicos had loved her in that dress. Her mood turned mischievous. Swiftly, she decided. She would wear it. Maybe it would annoy Nicos, but, she reasoned, he could not be more angry with her than he was already.

  He was standing at the end of the terrace when she made her entrance. As she walked towards him the skirt billowed about her long tanned legs. She knew she looked good. Her tawny hair fell about her lightly tanned shoulders, the flame of the dress intensifying the moss dark green of her eyes.

  She heard the sharp intake of his breath as she approached. For a moment she hesitated. His eyes looked haunted. In an instant she regretted her spur of the moment decision to stir up those old memories. But he seemed to recover himself quickly enough, handing her a flute of champagne and leading her to where a table and chairs looked out over the bay. At the other end of the long terrace she saw a dining table had been laid, candles softly glowing, starched white cloth. Melanie thought how romantic it would have been, but for what she presumed was to come.

  ‘I’m all dressed up for a real dressing down,’ she told herself, nerves wanting to make her giggle

  ‘I ordered rack of lamb for dinner,’ Nicos was saying conversationally.

  ‘I thought I was going to be the lamb on the rack tonight,’ she could not resist saying. He laughed with delight. ‘I always remember that about you. You make me laugh. Most women don’t.’

  The evening was not turning out at all the way Melanie expected. The moon looked as if it was moving swiftly through the sky, the warm night air clung deliciously on her skin, the man opposite her was undeniably the most desirable she had ever known.

  ‘Life can be very unfair,’ she thought wistfully.

  Once seated at the elegantly laid intimate dining table Melanie felt oddly vulnerable. Opposite her Nicos was disturbingly close, the sexual aura he excluded almost a visible thing. Her sandaled foot caught his under the table and she drew it back quickly. Nicos gave her a small knowing smile, which disconcerted her even more. He chatted inconsequentially to her as their first course of locally caught lobster was served, switching easily to Greek to converse with the dark jacketed elderly man serving them.

  Melanie was reminded of how when she had first come to the island she had learned that what had seemed to her his occasionally sharp and demanding manner with his staff hid a deep and abiding concern for them and their welfare. Now she asked, noting the old man’s stiff jointed movements, ‘Isn’t he too old to be working and so late?

  ‘Andreas would be mortified if I sacked him,’ explained Nicos. ‘He has been working at the villa since he was a young man. He is too proud to accept a pension so his job is to serve me when I am here which as you know is not all that often. I pay him a yearly salary so we are both happy.’

  ‘That’s generous of you,’ Melanie felt bound to remark. His eyes hardened ‘Oh, I can be very generous to those who are loyal to me,’ His barb stabbed Melanie as he clearly intended. Seeing his arrow had reached its target he gave a satisfied smile. ‘So are the gloves are about to come off?’ Melanie wondered. But Nicos continued to chat in a convivial fashion, commenting on the deliciousness of the food and attentively filling her wine glass like the perfect host. Only when Andreas had cleared their plates away and left them alone did Melanie feel the atmosphere between them subtly change.

  Swirling his brandy round and round in its balloon glass Nicos fell silent, his gaze fixed on the amber liquid warming beneath his long fingered hands. Finally he said, ‘We need to talk business.’

  ‘Oh, by all means let the board meeting begin,’ snapped Melanie, not wanting him to see how he had unnerved her. Ignoring her outburst he went on. ‘I am sure you think you have a valid reason for your behavior but I don’t want to go into that now.’

  ‘Well, I do,’ said Melanie, striving to keep her voice even, hoping with all her heart that their discussion was not going to descend to the level of their last ‘business’ meeting when Nicos had refused outright to consider her pleas to look after Electra.

  ‘I owe you an explanation for what I did and I am determined you will listen to me,’ she persisted. Nicos’s rejoinder confused her. ‘I don’t want explanations or apologies. I just want you to stay.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ she faltered.

  He looked up from his glass and met her eyes. ‘What I say. Stay here on the island for the summer and be with Electra.’

  ‘I can’t…..’

  He interrupted her. ‘What do you mean you can’t? It’s what you begged me for, isn’t it?’

  Melanie glared at him. ‘If you would let me finish, I intended to say that I can’t believe you have changed your mind’ His savage words from her ill-fated interview with him in England rose unbidden to her mind. ‘I seem to remember you didn’t want a jailbird looking after your daughter.’ As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wanted to bite her tongue off. Here was Nicos inviting her to stay with Electra and she was dragging up the very thing that might prevent it.

  But Nicos looked sharply at her, ‘I believe I have apologised for that. I would like an answer. Would you be prepared to stay for the summer to look after Electra?’

  Melanie’s mind reeled and her heart surged with happiness. She felt as if all her dreams were coming true. She did not care what had changed his mind. She only cared that he had. She felt alight with joy. His next words brought her down to earth with a bump. ‘But only for this summer, of course. After that you will have no contact with her as you had previously agreed.’ His voice, so charming over dinner, was perfunctory and cold.

  She felt bound to ask, ‘If you don’t want me to have contact with Electra after the summer why do you want me here now.’

  ‘For Purely practical reasons. You are needed.’ He looked at her sharply. ‘You have deceived me, hoodwinked my office staff and invaded my private island and I do not forgive that.’ Melanie opened her mouth to protest, but he held up his hand to silence her. ‘Anna is getting old, it is not fair to expect her to cope with the demands of childcare and she tells me you are very good with the baby as I, myself, have seen.’

  In a flash of understanding Melanie thought back to the afternoon when she had been playing in the sea with Electra. She had had a strong feeling that she was being watched. ‘You were spying on me today on the beach,’ she accused. He ignored her interruption and continued.

  ‘As of course you know, the excellent nanny we engaged had an unfortunate accident and however you inveigled yourself on to Skiapolos and into my house the fact remains that you are here. It’s too late now to think of getting anyone else.’

  ‘What will you do if I refuse?’ Melanie was driven to ask. Never in a million years would she give up the chance of the summer with Electra, but some devil in her wanted to hear what he would say.

  For the first time a look of uncertainty crossed his face. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. Melanie had never seen Nicos at a loss. He was always so in command of himself, so sure of the way forward. She could not help but put a reassuring hand on his arm. ‘Of course, I will stay,’ she said, but could not resist adding, ‘As long as you know it is for Electra’s sake and not for yours.’

  ‘Oh, I never doubted it,’ he said, but the look on his face was one of profound relief. He took her hand across the table and the familiar feel of his long fingers caused her heart to lurch. ‘Thank you,’ he said simply. She went to withdraw her hand but he held it fast and circled his fingers around hers.

  ‘No ring I see,’ he said.

  ‘No, she replied. ‘Did you expect one?’

  ‘I thought you might wearing his ring by now,’ he said

  ‘Whose ring?’ she asked angrily, and snatched her hand from his grasp.

  ‘We both know the answer to that,’ he said, his anger matching hers.

  Sharply she pushed back from the table, her chair scraping noisily on the tiled floor, the brief truce between them over. ‘I have no wi
sh to continue this conversation with you.’ Her voice shook. ‘I didn’t come here to go over old ground. You didn’t listen before and you won’t listen now.’

  She turned on her heel and stalked away from him. In her confusion she realised she was at the wrong end of the terrace to gain entrance to the villa. The only exit left to her a low gate beyond which was a flight of stone steps she knew led down only to the sea. She could not retrace her steps without passing Nicos. Feeling more than a little foolish she hesitated. She heard his sharp voice behind her calling her name.

  She turned briefly to see he was on his feet and looked furious. She had had enough of confrontation for one night. She grasped the handle of the gate only to find it locked. Without a thought she swung her long legs over the gate and fled, down the steep stones steps, stumbling in her stilettos and clinging to the rail for support.

  ‘Come back! Don’t go down there.’ The sound of his voice propelled her on, the only thought in her head to get away from him.

  She rushed headlong downwards in a mindless panic, conscious now of the sound of his feet behind her. The handrail she was clinging to came to an abrupt end and where the last step should have been there was a steep drop. She fell awkwardly on to the sand. The fall knocked the breath from her and shocked, she began to sob. Suddenly Nicos was there on the sand his strong arms about her and he was lifting her up.

  Holding her tightly to him, he spoke softly into her ear; tell me you are all right? I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. Why did you run like that?’ He held her till her sobs subsided, rocking her gently and stroking her hair. Suddenly aware of his closeness she tried to struggle free but Nicos held her to him.

  ‘Let me go,’ she said weakly.

  He half released her and with one hand cupped her cheek and gently stroked her face wiping away the tears. ‘You know I would never hurt you. Why did you take off like that?’

  ‘You were shouting at me.’ Even to her own ears she sounded childish. ‘You looked furious.

  ‘I wasn’t angry. I was just worried. We keep that gate locked because the men are working on the steps at the bottom. I had terrible visions of you falling and lying injured on the beach. I only wanted to stop you. It’s dangerous in the dark’ Without thinking he had used the old Greek endearment for her. ‘I can’t afford to lose another nanny,’ he said softy teasing and was rewarded with a muffled sob and choked laugh.

  ‘What on earth were you going down there for anyway,’ he asked. A look of understanding crossed his face. ‘Ah, you didn’t want to admit you had flounced off in the wrong direction.’ But his voice was low and tender, just the way he used to be with her, All the while he was talking he was stroking her face and now she felt his hand trail softly down her neck to her bare shoulder.

  ‘I will have to give you a tour of the island tomorrow to refresh your memory. Had you forgotten we never came down here? The rocks here are slippery and dangerous.’

  He was stroking her shoulder in a soft circular motion. Melanie, mesmerized, felt his hand slip under the silk top of her dress and felt his touch was on the soft mound of her breast. He pinched her nipple between his fingers, gently at first then harder, and she felt control slipping away from her, swept away by surging sexual need of him.

  ‘His was looking into her eyes intently and questioningly, as if trying to gauge her desire for him. ‘I want you. I’ve always wanted you.’ His voice was harsh with need. His lips crushed down to hers and she opened her mouth willingly under his probing tongue. He dropped his head to the base of her throat and began licking, at first gently, then moving down and down to her breast till she felt his teeth bite her nipple. His arms had dropped below her waist, folding her to him as he moved her rhythmically against him. ‘Say it’s me you want. Say it, say it,’ he groaned.

  Wordlessly, she pulled him down to the sand with her and he was tugging the flame silk chiffon from her body. His own clothes were heaped on the sand. He knelt over her and almost reverently parted her. They moved in unison, locked in a world where only their desire for each other mattered.

  Melanie could not judged how long they lay there afterward, their passion spent. It might have been ten minutes, it might have been an hour. They were silent, wrapped in their own thoughts. He no longer touched her. For her part she did not want to meet his eyes. Regret swept over her. At last he spoke. His voice seemed to come from a distance. ‘I suppose I should say sorry.’

  ‘There’s no need,’ Melanie said in a tight voice. ‘I was as much to blame.’

  ‘You can’t fix something that’s broken with sex.’ His words jarred Melanie into saying ‘I didn’t realise we were trying to fix anything.’ He was on his feet and pulling on his clothes. Melanie awkwardly reached for her dress. He bent down and handed it to her. ‘If you like to go first I will wait down here until you are back in the villa.’ Melanie felt they were like two strangers trying desperately to be polite to each other. She dressed hurriedly in deep embarrassment. As she turned to go he caught her hand. His expression was unfathomable to her...

  ‘I never meant this to happen, you must believe me.’ Melanie, at a loss for words, gazed at him miserably. Suddenly, he pulled her towards him and held her close. Melanie, near tears, let him. ‘I don’t want to hurt you,’ he was muttering into her hair, burying her head into his shoulder. ‘But there are things I need from the woman I am going to spend the rest of my life with. If you knew you would understand.’ He stroked her hair. ‘Don’t you know I would have given anything for things to have stayed the same as they were between us?’

  Melanie looked up at him. ‘But you didn’t give anything, did you?’ she said sadly. ‘You gave me lawyers, blocked phone calls and sent my letters back unopened.’ His mouth tightened and the hand stroking her hair stilled. His look soured.

  ‘The letters marked Her Majesty Prison?’ he said bitterly. Melanie felt her face flame. Freeing herself from his hold, she said ‘If you had bothered to read those letters you might have understood.’

  ‘Understand!’ His voice rose. ‘I understand that you lied in court for another man. You committed a criminal offence, you were sent to prison for perjury and you want me to understand?’’ His tone was incredulous. Melanie, stung beyond endurance, felt her anger rising. ‘I am not even going to attempt to answer that,’ she hissed. ‘You are determined to believe the worst. So believe the worst.’ She spun away from him and made for the steps. He grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her back.

  ‘I would have stood by you through thick and thin. But not for another man. I will not stand for deception in a woman. I won’t have excuses. And I demand absolute loyalty. To me loyalty is the most important thing.’

  ‘Oh, it is, is it?’ Melanie seethed. ‘Well, let me tell you something. You don’t know the meaning of the word. Loyalty is keeping a promise and standing by it no matter your personal loss. Loyalty is not going back on your word even when it costs you months of your life and everything you hold dear.’ As she spoke her anger faded and tears came in to her eyes. ‘Perhaps you and I never really knew each other,’ she said sadly.

  She stepped away from him and he let her go. At the foot of the steps to the villa she turned to look at him. He was staring after her, a look of profound regret on his face. The next morning he had gone.

  Chapter Six

  Anna delivered the news grim faced as if she knew it was Melanie’s fault. ‘Mr Nicos no stay,’ she said accusingly. ‘You no have nice dinner last night? You no wear something pretty?’ Melanie, who was feeding Electra her breakfast yoghurt, stopped the spoon half way to her daughter’s baby mouth. She was not expecting this. A sense of loss assailed her, startling her with its intensity. ‘But he say you stay here,’ Anna went on, sounding mollified. ‘Maybe he come back soon.’

  Melanie doubted it. Nicos, she thought, would stay away until Gabby was back to look after Electra and she, Melanie, was safely off the island.

  Anna’s next announcement bewildere
d Melanie. ‘Mr Nicos got baby sitter for Electra.’

  ‘What for?’ she blurted.

  ‘He say he show you island again when he comes back and he take you out on boat. That one he like to sail. Need good girl to sit with baby. We get Maria, granddaughter Andreas. Very good girl’

  Melanie was bewildered. When Nicos had told her the evening before at dinner that he would show her over the island again she had presumed it was for Electra’s sake, so that she would know where to safely take the baby.

  But take her on his boat? She knew it was his pride and joy. Not the glossy super yacht so often moored in the world’s pleasure spots from the French Riviera and the Greek isles in summer, to the Caribbean in winter. This was a sloop rigged sailing boat fast under wind and bare of anything that impeded its swift progress through the waves.

  He would teach her to sail it, he had promised in their happy days, warning her not to expect luxury below. ‘It’s very basic,’ he explained. ‘Built for ocean racing. I usually don’t take people sailing with me. They expect carpets and power showers,’ he had said dismissively. ‘You will not be like that.’ Melanie had wondered if by “people” he meant other women and had to suppress her jealousy. He was a man in his thirties. Of course, there had been other women before her.

  But here was Anna telling her that Nicos had intended to take her sailing with him when he was back on the island again.

  ‘Well,’ she sighed to herself, ‘we certainly sailed into rough waters last night.’

  Electra, her mother distracted, had upturned the yoghurt pot on the table of her high chair and was drawing patterns in the mess with her spoon. Melanie mentally chastised herself for allowing thoughts of Nicos to take her mind away from her baby.

  She determined to put the enigma of Nicos out of her mind. The most important thing in her life now was Electra. Whatever he thought about her now after last night’s outburst she knew one thing for certain. Nicos had said she could stay with Electra and she knew him well enough to know that he would not go back on his word.