by Sara Craven
His hand moved down, brushing a few damp strands of hair from her temples, then tracing her cheek and the delicate line of her jaw with his fingertips. Impelling her silently to look up at him. To read his intention in the sudden flare of his gaze as he bent and his mouth found hers, gently, sensuously coaxing her lips to part for him.
She leaned into the heat and strength of his body, this time welcoming his kiss, responding with bewildered ardour as it deepened, and a shiver of pleasure feathered enticingly across her skin.
His hands slid down her body to clasp her hips and pull her even closer, making her frankly aware of his arousal, and, to her shocked astonishment, of the heated, melting ache of her own needs. Unguessed-at, perhaps, unbidden—certainly, but frighteningly potent just the same, turning her suddenly into a stranger to herself.
When, at last, he took his lips slowly from hers, she made a small, lost sound in her throat that never became an actual word, even if she’d been able to think of one.
She lifted her shaking hands and pushed aside the edges of his shirt, her fingers tracing the uncompromising line of his shoulders before they drifted down to discover his muscular torso and the way it clenched under her untutored touch.
His hands were moving, too, swift and deft as he unfastened the buttons that closed her tunic and slipped it down, baring her to the waist. He cupped her rounded breasts in his palms, his fingertips teasing her nipples into hard and aching peaks, then drew her against him, grazing them with his hair-roughened chest until she could have cried out with the delight that pierced her to the core of her womanhood, that made her burn and melt.
As if the body she had fed and clothed but never been remotely tempted to share with anyone had taken on a life and purpose of its own, fierce and unrecognisable.
That showed her, at last, the mystery of desire.
But not, she realised dazedly, its answer.
Because the hands that held her, although still gentle, were putting her away from him. Distancing her.
Isolated on the other side of the space between them, she saw those same caressing hands ball into fists and become hidden in the pockets of his chinos. Watched the muscles move in his throat as he swallowed.
He said quietly and harshly, ‘This—should not have happened. Forgive me.’
For an instant, she was transfixed, knowing there was nothing to forgive. That wherever he had led, she would have gladly followed. That he must have known that.
Yet he had still turned away.
Pride came to her rescue, and the self-containment that the past nine years had taught her. She turned her back, pulling her top back into place, fumbling with the buttons.
She said over her shoulder, ‘I should apologise, too. I—I’m not usually afraid of thunder, but I thought the roof was going to collapse and I—panicked.’
In the part of her mind still functioning on the rim of reality, she registered that the crackle of the lightning had become less frequent and the answering thunder had become a sullen mumble in the distance.
She added, with a kind of ludicrous brightness, ‘But at least the storm is over.’
There was an odd silence, then he said quietly, ‘On the contrary, Selene mou, I think it is just beginning.’ He paused again. ‘Now let us resume our search.’
And he led the way out of the cave and back to the Jeep.
CHAPTER FIVE
BEHAVE AS IF it didn’t happen, she told herself repeatedly as she scrambled back up the cliff, this time without assistance. Or as if it was just a random incident to be shrugged away and forgotten.
Back on level ground, she paused, shading her eyes against the emergence of a watery sun and staring out to sea as if she could conjure up Adoni’s boat by sheer force of will. Then, her breathing under control, she followed Alexis over to the Jeep.
When she arrived, she found that he’d produced a towel from somewhere and was using it to wipe away the rain that had gathered on the front seats.
‘So, where do we go from here?’ She gestured towards the Aegean, keeping her tone brisk. ‘If they’re just sailing around, how can we possibly trace them?’
‘By helicopter, perhaps.’ He screwed up the damp towel and tossed it in the back of the Jeep.
‘Helicopter,’ she repeated and managed a short laugh. ‘Now why didn’t I think of that? And I suppose you have one available?’
‘Of course.’ His glance was sardonic. ‘Or I would not have suggested it. It is at my house.’
She absorbed that with a gulp. ‘You didn’t think of using that first?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But I decided, wrongly it seems, that tracking them this way would be a simple matter.’
‘Maybe you don’t know Kostas as well as you thought.’
‘I will not,’ he said softly, ‘make the obvious remark about your sister, Selene mou.’
Her search for a crushing retort was halted as she realised he was stripping off his shirt.
‘What—what are you doing?’
‘Making sure you are comfortable for the rest of our trip.’ He folded the shirt into a neat pad and put it on the still-damp passenger seat. ‘Shall we go?’
He was about to start the engine when there was a loud trill from the mobile phone in the well between the seats.
He answered it brusquely, then listened for a moment, his expression, she saw, changing from impatience to incredulity. Then he barked off a response and switched off the phone, sitting in silence for a moment, staring through the windshield.
She said, ‘Has something happened?’
‘Why, yes, agapi mou.’ He started the Jeep. ‘It seems that we shall not need the helicopter after all. Adoni’s boat is back in the harbour and Kostas and your sister are now at my house, together with his mother, who shares your views about their relationship and has been saying so very loudly.’ His lip curled. ‘My staff have had a dramatic morning.’
She bit her lip. ‘I—I’m sorry.’
She could only hope that all this signalled the parting of the ways and that Millie would be glad to put Rhymnos and its mistakes behind her and go quietly back to England.
And she won’t be the only one, she reminded herself without pleasure.
He said, ‘I thought you would be jubilant.’
She looked down at her hands, clenched together in her lap. ‘I’m just trying to figure out what to say to them both.’
‘You have only to talk to your sister,’ he said, adding with a touch of grimness, ‘I shall deal with Kostas. And his mother.’
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Well—thank you.’ She paused. ‘Millie—and Kostas. Do they still seem to be speaking to each other?’
‘Speaking, holding hands and refusing to be parted, also loudly. Not, I think, what you wanted to hear.’ He glanced at her frowningly. ‘You were hoping she would simply leave without an argument?’
‘Well, naturally.’
‘You are an optimist, Selene mou.’ He paused. ‘So—let us speak of your aunt. Clearly, she has money. How much do you think she would be willing to pay for your sister’s return?’
‘You mean—Kostas might be bought?’
‘Who knows?’ His tone was cynical. ‘But, in the end, money tends to speak louder than words of love.’
Selena bit her lip. She said quietly, ‘I doubt she’d even consider it.’
‘And, in that event, what awaits your sister in England?’
‘School. Some important exam results. College interviews.’ She saw his mouth twist and added hastily, ‘Oh, and her eighteenth birthday in a few weeks’ time.’
‘A few weeks,’ he repeated softly. ‘Po, po, po. Then you do not have much time,’ he added and put his foot down hard on the accelerator.
She was braced for another bone-shaking trip, but almost at once found they were joining a broad, level road, apparently of recent construction and cutting across the middle of the island. It was a bleak landscape consisting mainly of wide stretches of stone and scrub and do
minated by the huddle of rugged hills at the centre and hardly, she thought, justifying an access like this.
Until she saw they were approaching a collection of single storey buildings, composed of concrete blocks and corrugated iron, enclosed by a high wire fence, with a large sign at the entrance displaying three golden pillars.
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Is that where the olive oil is produced?’
‘Ne.’ He slanted a smile at her. ‘Not beautiful, I agree. But efficient.’
‘Is that why it’s here—in the middle of nowhere?’
He tutted reprovingly. ‘Rhymnos,’ he said, ‘is too small to have a nowhere. Everything is close to somewhere. In this case—where a dream became an idea and the idea moved to reality.’
‘I’m not very good at riddles.’
He shrugged a shoulder. ‘If you were staying, I could explain.’
She kept her voice light. ‘As it is, I shall just have to live with my curiosity.’
‘And so,’ he said softly, ‘shall I.’
A comment she deemed it wiser not to pursue.
The road stretched out in front of them, winding its way round the bottom of the hills, the barren landscape giving way to more olive groves, but interspersed now with well-kept orchards growing lemons, peaches and figs.
And beyond them, at last, standing alone in its spacious grounds was the Villa Helios, a sprawl of white stone, topped with faded green roof tiles and set against the coruscating blue of the sea.
Now that, thought Selena, catching her breath, that is beautiful. She was aware of Alexis shooting her a sideways glance and smiling as he interpreted her reaction.
He drove round to the rear of the villa and parked in a yard where chickens scattered, clucking indignantly at the intrusion.
Selena followed him to an open doorway, bracing herself as they walked down a passage lined with store and laundry rooms to another door leading straight into a large kitchen, seemingly crowded with people.
For a moment there was silence, then, just as Selena had registered that Millie was not one of the crowd, this was hideously broken by a series of piercing shrieks from a thin woman clad in funereal black from her headscarf to her shoes, who was seated at the massive central table.
Selena took an involuntary step backwards, stumbling a little, and felt herself caught and steadied by Alexis’s hands on her shoulders. Immediately the screeches increased in volume and a middle-aged woman in a neat grey dress came forward spreading her hands in a kind of helpless embarrassment, murmuring in Greek. She was plump, her dark hair streaked with grey and drawn into a bun on top of her head. Her round face suggested that her expression was usually merry and that her black eyes would twinkle, given the opportunity. Only they weren’t twinkling now.
Alexis said something quiet and savage, half under his breath, then crooked an imperative finger to summon a young girl in a maid’s uniform.
‘Go with Penelope to your sister, Selene,’ he directed. ‘I will join you when I have spoken to Kostas.’
Selena found herself guided out of another door and down a short passage into an impressive entrance hall and across to a pair of double doors. As the girl reached to open them, Selena halted her. ‘Do you speak English...er...Penelope?’
‘Ne, thespinis. When I was a child, I lived in America.’
‘Then can you tell me why that woman started screaming when we arrived?’
Penelope’s pretty face was lit by a swift smile. ‘Madame Papoulis is very devout—very modest, thespinis. She was offended that Kyrios Alexis was not wearing a shirt.’
Selena’s eyes widened. ‘But she’s been married,’ she exclaimed. ‘Surely she can’t be that shocked.’
Penelope shrugged. ‘There are many kinds of marriage, thespinis. Maybe we should pity her husband, ne?’
And on that, she ushered Selena into the room beyond.
‘What are you doing here?’ was Millie’s defensive greeting as the door closed behind Selena.
Her face mutinous and unsmiling, she was perched on the edge of a sofa, clad in tiny white shorts and a skimpy black bikini bra, her finger and toe nails lacquered gold.
‘And hello to you, too,’ Selena returned equably. ‘I came to see if you were all right.’
Millie hunched a shoulder, putting the bra top in peril. ‘Of course I am. Didn’t Daisy and Fiona pass on my message?’
‘Such as it was.’ Don’t lose your temper. Just walk to a chair and sit down. ‘Didn’t it occur to you that Aunt Nora would be worried sick?’
‘Worried, no,’ Millie returned calmly. ‘Mad as fire, yes. However, I’ve now written to her, explaining everything, and asking her to send my birth certificate and some other stuff. Will you make sure she does it?’
‘Your birth certificate?’ Selena stared at her. ‘Why?’
‘Because I’ll need it to get married as soon as I’m eighteen. Greek law.’
‘Married?’
Oh, God, thought Selena. I sound like an echo. And that’s why Alexis said there was no time to be lost.
She took a deep breath. ‘Millie, for heaven’s sake, think what you’re doing. You’re throwing away your future...’
‘On the contrary, my future is going to be with the man I love.’
‘Someone you hardly know.’
‘I knew within the first hour. So did he,’ Millie said defiantly. ‘You may be content to slave away for our beloved aunt for the rest of your life, but I want something different. Something better. And I’m taking it.’
And if she means it, thought Selena, with a sudden, joyous lift of the heart, then I’m also off the hook.
She said slowly, ‘I had my reasons for doing what Aunt Nora wanted, but now they no longer apply. So, let’s get back to you. Do you really imagine you can both live on what Kostas earns from seasonal bar work?’
‘I can work, too. Besides, he won’t always be just a barman,’ Millie said defiantly. ‘He has ambition. He’s going to have his own taverna.’
‘But until then, where will you live?’
‘Well—at the hotel.’ For the first time there was a note of uncertainty in her sister’s voice. ‘Of course, Kostas will have to clear it with his boss, but that shouldn’t be a problem. And I can be—a chambermaid or something,’ she added with a vague gesture.
Bold talk from someone normally incapable of making her own bed, Selena thought cynically.
She said, ‘I wouldn’t count on it, Mills. If there are any staff vacancies, they’ll almost certainly be offered to local people.’
She paused. ‘Anyway, you’re so young to be making this kind of decision. You need to see more of life—meet other men—before you settle down.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Lena.’ Her sister sighed. ‘I’m not a virgin, and I’ve been on the pill since I was sixteen, so I probably know more about “life”, as you put it, than you do.
‘I came out here to have a good time with a couple of mates and I certainly didn’t expect to fall in love. Nor did Kostas, let me tell you. But it happened, and whatever you think, it ain’t going to change.
‘And I’m relying on you to get Aunt Nora on side,’ she added. ‘After all, you’ll be the blue-eyed girl from now on. Make her see I’m entitled to live my own life.’
At the same time curing world hunger I suppose, Selena thought despairingly.
As she tried to marshal her arguments for another attempt, there was a rap at the door and Alexis walked in, once again fully clad, and trailed by a young man, who, in spite of his sulky expression, still managed to be spectacularly good looking with the build of a Hollywood action hero.
Selena could see the attraction, but was far from reassured.
‘Kostas. Darling.’ Millie jumped up and hurled herself at him. ‘Is everything fixed?’
‘Ochi. No, kougla mou.’ He sighed. ‘Kyrios Alexis says that you should return to England with your sister.’
‘But I’ve already made it clear to her that I’m not leavin
g Rhymnos.’ She turned wide eyes and a pretty smile on Alexis who appeared curiously unmoved.
‘Surely you can understand we want to be together and find a little corner for me, while we wait to be married. I promise that I’ll be no trouble.’
Alexis spoke bleakly. ‘Forgive me, thespinis, but you have already caused more trouble than you can imagine. The staff accommodation at the hotel is for single occupation only and I make no exceptions. Also your presence may continue to distract Kostas from his work.’ He paused. ‘You wish him to keep his job, do you not?’
‘Yes, of course.’ The blue eyes began to swim with tears. ‘Why are you being so cruel?’
‘Perhaps in order to be kind.’ His dark face was harsh. ‘Marriage is a serious business and this has not started well. You both need time to think—to reflect. Mistakes once made are not easy to put right.’
‘But this is not a mistake.’ Kostas turned on him. ‘My Amelia is the only woman I shall ever want.’ He struck his chest with a clenched fist. ‘I cannot live without her.’
Alexis’s mouth tightened. ‘Very dramatic,’ he said coldly. ‘Perhaps you should seek work with the National Theatre.’ He jerked his head towards the door. ‘There is food waiting for you in the dining room. Go and eat while I talk with Kyria Blake.’ He paused. ‘And you, thespinis, should dress in something more discreet before you are seen by your fiancé’s mother.’
They went reluctantly, Millie, having apparently abandoned the idea of weeping, sending him a fulminating glance instead.
‘So,’ Alexis said when they were alone. ‘As I feared, you are having problems, Selene mou. What will you do now?’
‘I don’t know.’ Selena bit her lip. ‘I can hardly force her to the aircraft, kicking and screaming. I suppose I should really talk to my aunt.’
He pointed to a side table. ‘The telephone is at your disposal. You know the code?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
‘Then I will leave you to make your call.’ At the door, he turned. ‘I wish you luck, agapi mou.’
She was sitting on the sofa Millie had vacated, gazing unseeingly into space, when he came to look for her some ten minutes later.