by Penny Jordan
His muttered, ‘Cristos, Chloe,’ jerked past gritted teeth, his hands hauling her upwards and against the aroused heat of his body as his mouth possessed hers in a kiss that left them both shuddering mindlessly with the full force of their desire.
In the distance Chloe could hear a sound, familiar and intrusive. She tried to blot it out, pressing her body against Leon’s, feverishly entwining the slender length of her limbs with the heated power of his, but it was no use; she could feel him moving away.
‘The telephone’s ringing,’ he muttered hoarsely.
‘Then let it,’ Chloe longed to plead, but Leon was already sitting up, and reaching for the receiver. He listened in silence for several seconds, his face gradually growing grimmer, and Chloe could almost physically feel him withdrawing from her.
‘What’s happened? What is it?’ she demanded when he replaced the receiver and sat staring into the distance, his forearms resting on his knees.
‘It’s Marisa,’ he said sombrely at last. ‘She’s disappeared. Apparently she went for a walk this afternoon, and hasn’t returned. They’re searching the island for her. We have to get back.’ He reached for the receiver, pressing the buttons decisively. ‘Give me the latest weather report, will you, Captain?’ he demanded curtly, ‘and prepare to return to Eos—as fast as we can.’
He listened for several seconds, frowning, and tapping impatiently on the bedside table, his thoughts so obviously removed from her that Chloe doubted that he was even aware of her presence.
A feeling of intense bitterness swept over her. She had wanted to ask him about his feelings for Marisa—well, now she was seeing for herself exactly what they were. There could be no doubting his concern for the other girl. Only minutes ago he had been on the point of making love to her, and yet now, after one phone call, she was completely forgotten. Pain welled up inside her, and she reached automatically for her robe.
‘The weather report is bad,’ Leon told her briefly when he had hung up. ‘I hope you’re a good sailor, because we’re heading right for the storm. Ari was right, apparently. The meltemi has come early.’
‘But won’t it be dangerous?’ Chloe queried, shivering a little as she remembered stories she had read about the danger of these Aegean storms. In Ancient Greece they used to think they were caused by the wrath of Poseidon, the sea god, and some islands had even made human sacrifices to him to appease that wrath; as she was being sacrificed to Leon’s desire for Marisa!
Sickness welled up inside her.
‘Surely it can wait until morning?’ she protested. ‘Surely Marisa can’t have gone far? You said you were out looking for her.’
‘You don’t understand! I have to go back, I have….’ Leon broke off, but not before Chloe had seen the determination burning in his eyes, the inward-looking gaze which obliterated everything but his desire to be with the other girl. Very slowly she got to her feet, gathering up her clothes.
‘Chloe….’ She hesitated. ‘I’m sorry, but this is something I have to do. Bear with me, will you?’
Almost against her will Chloe nodded her head slowly, trying to bury the feelings of fear rising up inside her. What was Leon asking her to do? Forgive him for being unable to fight his feelings for Marisa? Wait patiently in the background? It was natural that he should be concerned about his half-sister, she told herself, she must stop jumping to foolish conclusions. Leon wanted her. He had told her so; shown her. She must have faith in him. She drew a shaky breath, filling her lungs with air.
‘I’ll go and get dressed.’
‘Good girl. I’d better go up on deck. It could turn out to be a very long night!’
CHAPTER NINE
BY the time she had dressed in jeans and a serviceable blouse, Chloe had managed to convince herself that she had read more into Leon’s natural concern than she need have done. She must learn to stop tormenting herself by imagining things, she remonstrated with herself as she went to look for Leon, and yet still the niggling doubts persisted, the regret that she had not tackled him about Marisa when she had had the opportunity. Only the most insensitive of human beings would choose now to demand a statement of his future intentions, and yet she couldn’t help wishing that things had been resolved between them before they returned to Eos.
She found Leon with the Captain. He greeted her with a brief smile, reaching for her arm to steady her as the yacht wallowed suddenly in a deep trough of water.
Already it had grown colder, the wind blowing Chloe’s hair back off her face as she stood on the deck.
‘I’ve charted a course, and with luck we’ll miss the worst of it,’ the Captain was saying to Leon.
Chloe could feel the wind picking up as he spoke, a distinctly rolling motion replacing the yacht’s previous swift progress.
‘You go down to the cabin, Chloe,’ Leon told her. ‘You’ll be warm and dry down there at least. I’ll stay with the Captain.’
She wanted to protest that she would have preferred him to go below with her, but the precious closeness they had enjoyed earlier seemed to have vanished, obliterated by the fierce wind whipping up the surface of the sea.
To Chloe, waiting below, time seemed to drag. She tried to read one of the books she found on the study shelves—stories of Greek mythology—but found it impossible to concentrate. Several times she longed to go up on deck and plead with Leon to tell her of his future intentions towards Marisa, but on each occasion pride stopped her.
The turning of the door handle brought her to her feet, her smile fading as one of the stewards walked in carrying a cup of coffee.
Chloe thanked him and sat down again. Presumably Leon was drinking his coffee up top with the Captain. She debated the advisability of going to join them, but a glance through the porthole showed her seas of such roughness and ferocity that she judged it wiser to remain where she was.
Four hours after they had first left Ios they were approaching the small harbour of Eos. Leon came down to warn Chloe that they were about to arrive.
‘Spiro is standing by with the jeep. He’ll drop you off at the house, and….’
‘They still haven’t found her, then?’ Chloe said bleakly.
Leon shook his head.
‘Leon…’ she reached towards him impetuously, trying to break through the barrier he seemed to have retreated behind, her eyes pleading with him for understanding. ‘Let me come with you,’ she urged. ‘Please!’
‘It’s too dangerous. You don’t know the island. For God’s sake don’t look at me like that!’ he demanded hoarsely. ‘Try to understand, Chloe.’
She turned away so that he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes, seeing in his refusal to take her with him a rejection of her in favour of Marisa, but common sense told her that the most selfish thing she could do now was to give in to an emotional outburst. Her love for Leon rose above her fear and jealousy, and swallowing hard on the painful lump in her throat, she managed to summon a brief smile.
‘Good girl!’ Cool, salt-fresh lips brushed hers, and then Leon was gone, disappearing in the direction of the crew’s quarters. He returned only when they were on the point of docking, dressed in a padded, protective anorak, his expression coolly controlled as he shouted orders to the captain.
‘I told him to make for Piraeus,’ he explained to Chloe as they walked along the gangplank. ‘The harbour here isn’t sheltered enough to provide sufficient safety in a bad storm.’ He swore suddenly as the wind drove icy rain into their faces and Chloe winced against him. Her thin dress was already soaked through and clinging to her, but she was determined to do nothing which might later be construed as a pathetic attempt to prevent Leon from going to look for Marisa.
Leon helped her into the jeep in silence, climbing in himself next to Spiro and slamming the door.
As the vehicle was open, Chloe was even damper and colder when they reached the house than she had been when they left the yacht.
During the drive, Leon questioned Spiro quickly, listening intently a
s the other man described their search for Marisa, his face growing grimmer with every passing second.
‘You say she was heading for the cliffs when Petros saw her?’ Leon demanded at one point.
‘But she is not there now,’ Spiro assured him. ‘We have searched—both the cliffs and the beach.’
Knowing that Leon was anxious not to waste time, Chloe reached for the door handle the moment the jeep stopped, but she was so numb with cold and damp that her half frozen fingers refused to respond to the commands of her brain, and it was Leon who had to get out and open it for her.
She tried her best to stand up and walk past him, wincing as pins and needles shot through her chilled legs, and thought she had succeeded until Leon cursed suddenly, sweeping her up into his arms and striding towards the door, which was opened immediately they approached.
Chloe barely had time to see much more than the housekeeper’s worried face, and Gina’s surprised one, as Leon strode past them towards their room.
There was a moment’s pause while he opened the door, then kicked it shut behind him before placing Chloe on the bed and disappearing in the direction of the bathroom. She opened her mouth to protest that there was no need for him to delay, and was immediately silenced by the damp folds of her dress as Leon pulled it over her head, enveloping her in the thick warm towel he had brought from the bathroom, and proceeding to rub life and warmth into her chilled body.
‘Cristos!’ he swore at one point. ‘My poor Chloe! I had forgotten you had nothing warm to wear.’
Chloe could not reply. His touch was doing much more than restoring life to numbed limbs; it was reminding her almost unbearably of the desire which had flamed between them earlier, and to her chagrin she could feel her body reacting to his touch. That Leon was aware of it she could not help but realise, because his hands stilled suddenly, faint colour running up under his tan.
‘Chloe,’ he muttered thickly, pulling sharply away from her, groaning suddenly as the towel dropped away to reveal the contours of her body, his arms going round her, as his mouth sought for and found her own in a kiss that left them both trembling with the onslaught of desire.
‘Cristos, I have to go,’ Leon protested hoarsely, removing her arms from his neck. ‘I have to, Chloe… God knows, I would give almost anything to stay here with you but, this is something….’
He left while she had her back to him, not trusting herself to look at him without begging him to stay.
She had just stepped out of the bath when she heard someone moving about in the outer room. Slipping on her robe, she found Gina placing a tray with a bowl of soup and fresh rolls on the table.
‘The kyrios said you were to have something warming,’ she said shyly, shivering suddenly as she crossed to the windows, closing the curtains. ‘The meltemi is always bad when it comes early. I told the kyria it was not wise to go out, but she would not listen, the wind affects some people like that, they are unable to resist its call. Some say the wind is the voice of the Furies, luring those foolish enough to listen to it to their death.’
‘What nonsense!’ Chloe had to fight to keep the sharpness from her voice. Gina was a simple island girl and had doubtless been brought up on such stories. ‘I’m sorry, Gina,’ she apologised gently. ‘The wind must be affecting me too.’
‘The kyria is not to worry,’ Gina comforted her. ‘The kyrios will be safe.’
Some time towards dawn Chloe fell asleep. Urgent voices outside the bedroom woke her and she sat up abruptly, remembering instantly what had happened. She glanced towards the adjacent pillow, but Leon had quite obviously not slept there. Fear pounded through her veins, her mouth dry with an apprehension she was loath to name, as she pushed her feet into mules and hurried towards the door.
Spiro was outside, talking to Gina, and it was apparent from both their expressions that something was wrong.
‘My husband,’ Chloe begged anxiously. ‘Is he….’
‘The kyrios is fine,’ Spiro assured her, ‘but the thespinis Marisa—–’ he shook his head doubtfully.
‘They still haven’t found her?’
‘She is found—yes,’ Spiro told her, ‘but is not so good. She was in a… a cave at the bottom of the cliffs, you understand, and because of the sea had been trapped there. The kyrios went down to her by rope and stayed with her until the men were able to get them out.’
‘Where is he now?’ Chloe demanded, almost sagging with relief as she heard Leon’s voice in the hallway.
She rushed to the top of the stairs, pausing transfixed as she looked down into the hallway below. Leon was standing there, holding Marisa in his arms in much the same fashion as he had her a handful of hours earlier, but now his face was grey and lined with exhaustion, the skin clinging to his bones in stark relief, the beginnings of a beard on his chin. He looked up and saw her and for one second Chloe could have sworn she saw tenderness and love in his eyes—however, if she had it was banished as the figure in his arms moved slightly, and Marisa lifted her head.
Her skin was the colour of Chloe’s pearls, her eyes dark and bitter, her damp hair clinging to her face and throat.
‘Chloe….’ Leon began, but before he could continue, Marisa whimpered sharply, ‘No…. No, Leon, don’t leave me—please, don’t leave me!’ her whole body trembling as she clung fiercely to his shoulders.
Her skirt and blouse were filthy and torn, and Chloe could see bruises forming on the too pale skin.
‘It’s all right, little one, I’m not going anywhere,’ Leon soothed. ‘Chloe, pack a change of clothes for both of you as quickly as you can. Marisa is in shock, and I want to get her to Athens as quickly as possible. We don’t have any medical facilities on the island to cope with something like this. The helicopter is waiting. How long will you be?’
‘Five minutes,’ Chloe promised him, refusing to think about the hatred she had seen in Marisa’s eyes when she had turned and seen her.
Her questions must wait until later; until Leon was rested and Marisa was in capable medical hands.
Chloe was as good as her word and within five minutes was back in the hall dressed in serviceable jeans and a warm sweat-shirt, a case at her side.
Spiro was waiting for her in the hall. Leon and Marisa were already in the helicopter, he told her, and when Chloe got there she found Leon at the controls while Marisa, apparently asleep, was lying prone on two seats in the back.
‘Keep an eye on her, will you?’ Leon instructed Chloe. ‘I’ve given her a tranquillising shot. Dr Livanos, whom I telephoned, told me it would be perfectly safe. It should last until we are able to get her to the hospital.’
‘What happened?’ Chloe asked him ten minutes later when they were airborne. The storm had abated with the coming of dawn and although rags of cloud still discoloured the sky, the sea below them was definitely calmer. ‘Spiro said something about you finding Marisa in a cave….’
‘That’s right.’
He vouchsafed no further information, concentrating on the helicopter’s controls, his lips drawn together in a line which discouraged further conversation.
‘But how… how did she get there?’ Chloe pursued, ignoring the warning signs. ‘I thought she was walking along the cliffs—surely she didn’t actually climb down them?’
‘I don’t know what she did,’ Leon said crisply. ‘Once I had found her all that concerned me was getting her to safety. The mouth of the cave had been sealed off by the sea, but luckily Marisa had found a ledge and crawled on to it. We wouldn’t have found her if Spiro hadn’t spotted her jacket hanging from a gorse bush halfway down the cliff face. We should be in Athens within the hour,’ he added. ‘I’ll drive you straight to the apartment and then go on to the hospital with Marisa.’
Something was niggling at Chloe, something that was eluding her, and remaining annoyingly just out of reach, but in the face of Leon’s obvious disinclination to discuss the matter further, she could hardly press him with more questions.
They
continued the journey in silence. One of Leon’s employees was waiting at the airport with a car to which they were ushered with the speed and lack of fuss that only great wealth and privilege achieve.
True to his promise, Leon took Chloe first to the apartment, where she had spent the brief months of her marriage.
Seeing it again brought back memories which she would far rather not have have resurrected, and she wandered from room to room as she waited for him to return, trying not to remember the ill-fated day on which Marisa had told her of her true relationship with him.
Marisa! That was it! That was what had been bothering her! It was as though Leon had not wanted to talk to her about finding Marisa, as though there was something he wanted to conceal from her!
Nonsense, she told herself firmly, she was letting her imagination run away with her.
It was late afternoon before Leon returned from the hospital. Dr Livanos wanted to keep Marisa in overnight, he told her, just to check up on her.
‘I still don’t understand what possessed her to go out for a walk in the first place,’ Chloe commented in puzzlement. They were sitting in the drawing room, Leon lying back against the pale green upholstery, his eyes closed in weariness, a glass of whisky in one hand. ‘It isn’t exactly one of her favourite pastimes, in fact I thought she loathed walking.’
‘Does it matter why?’
His eye flew open, the question terse, almost antagonistic and Chloe fought against a growing sense of unease.
‘Not really,’ she said lightly. She mustn’t forget the strain he must have been under. ‘I was just speculating really. Leon….’ instinct warned her that this was not the time for discussing the future, but all at once she had to know the truth. ‘Leon, I know you want us to stay together, to provide a stable background for the children we could have, but there’s something I have to ask you, something I have to know!’