Where the Gods Dwell

by Celia Scott

  The delicious stroking stopped. 'And that was the only reason?'

  'Jason do we have to have this… this post-mortem?' She tried to turn her head away but he held her chin so tightly that she could not move.

  'You are driving me mad!' he hissed. 'Whenever I try to find you, you are not there. You slip in and out of the house like a shadow… but I cannot forget you. You… you haunt me.' He glared at her accusingly. 'I must know if the other night was nothing more to you than… than too much champagne.' He released her chin and thrust his hand into the warm silk of her hair, tugging it back so that she was forced to look up at him. 'It was more than that, was it not, Lorna?'

  He was so close she could see the texture of his skin, the close-shaven blue shadow of his beard. 'It was more than that,' she said softly. 'Much more.'

  'Ah!' He loosed his grip on her hair but kept his hand on the nape of her neck. 'And what will you do, Lorna? About Nikos?'

  'It has nothing to do with Nikos,' she said. 'Nothing at all.'

  'Indeed!' His hand left her neck and fell on to the seatback. 'Is that not very… dishonest… not to tell your lover?'

  'Sure it is. But Nikos doesn't happen to be my lover. He never has been.' Her mouth curved in a smile.

  At that moment there was a blast from a loud klaxon horn that nearly sent her shooting through the sunroof. Through the rear-view mirror they saw the bus for Iraklion just turning the bend, the driver blaring away on the horn to tell them they were blocking the narrow road.

  With a curse Jason put the car into gear and shouting 'Endaxi! Endaxi!' with Cretan zeal at the irate bus-driver he started down to the village.

  Susan, who had been getting more and more anxious as the minutes ticked by, watched this cacophonous procession pull up at the bus-stop. Her round eyes grew rounder when her friend leaned out of the window of the gleaming car and called, 'Susan! Here! We're getting a lift. Don't get on the bus!'

  'Lorna I must speak with you alone,' said Jason.

  'Leave it to me.' Susan came up to them and Lorna said, 'Jason's going to drive us. Isn't that great? So we might have time for a swim in Iraklion, do you have your swim-suit with you?' Susan couldn't see Lorna's hands, or she would have noticed that her friends slim fingers were tightly crossed for luck.

  'No. I didn't think…'

  'Well why don't you get it, Susie? Jason doesn't mind waiting. Do you Jason?' She darted a look at Jason who sat tensely at the wheel. 'And don't forget your sun-tan lotion and a towel.'

  'Okay!' Susan started to trot towards the taverna.

  'Don't hurry, Susie!' Lorna called after her. 'We've got loads of time.

  'There!' she said triumphantly as Susan's plump figure disappeared, 'she'll be gone for ages. She always takes forever to find things.'

  He turned off the engine and put his arm along the top of the seat. 'Is it true about Nikos?' he asked hoarsely. 'Is it true that he has never been your lover?'

  'Quite true.' She felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart and she could breathe fully for the first time in days.

  'But why did you never tell me?' he demanded.

  'Because I was angry with you. Oh! I know it was dumb. But you just assumed we were lovers without any kind of evidence.'

  'But that first night,' he protested, 'Nikos was so possessive. I thought…'

  'I know you did. And I was so mad at you I let you go on thinking it.'

  'And since then… and the other night…' His eyebrows drew together grimly. 'In spite of what had happened between us you still did not tell me.'

  'I wanted to… but… it seemed the wrong time.' She coloured in spite of herself. 'I didn't want to tell you when we… when we both weren't thinking too clearly. You might have thought I was tricking you.'

  'So you used this… this lie… to protect yourself from me. Is that right?' His gold-flecked eyes looked at her sadly.

  'At the beginning… Yes.'

  'And later?'

  She twisted in her seat so that she faced him squarely. She wanted to will him to see into the depths of her heart. To see the truth there. 'I showed you how I feel when you made love to me by the pool. That wasn't a lie, Jason. I swear it.'

  He looked at her for a long moment, then cupping her face in his hands he kissed her softly on the lips. His mouth felt warm on hers. 'Agapi mou,' he said huskily, 'my love. My lovely, lovely Lorna.' He put his arms around her and held her tightly, kissing her eye-lids, her forehead, her hair. Time stood still for Lorna while she gave herself up to the voluptuous pleasure of his caresses.

  There was a discreet cough and Susan's found face peered into the car. 'Er! I've got my swim-suit,' she said, 'are we still going to Iraklion?'

  Lorna gave a yelp of laugher and buried her head in Jason's shoulder. 'Mou Theos!' he exclaimed, 'the plane!'

  Lorna giggled happily. 'What plane, darling?'

  'The plane from Athens. I am to meet guests for the wedding tomorrow.' He slewed round and opened the rear door for Susan. 'For some reason that had completely slipped my mind,' he said with a smile that made Lorna's heart turn over.

  Susan grinned. 'You don't say!' Settling back in the seat she added, 'It's nice you two have stopped barking at each other. And if I may so it was about time.'

  'You may say so,' Jason said. 'And now, ladies, fasten your seat-belts while I overtake that bus.'

  He drove fast and skilfully all the way to the city. But on every straight stretch of highway his hand caught and held Lorna's, and whenever his eyes met hers he gave her a look of such ardour she melted inside, and it seemed to her that the sun had never shone so brightly, nor the air felt so sweet.

  Jason dropped the two women at a shopping area before going off to the airport. They arranged to meet him later at the beach.

  Lorna's daze of happiness even extended to Iraklion, which she had never found to be an attractive town, since apart from its gigantic Venetian walls and harbour fortress it seemed to be built entirely of reinforced concrete. But this afternoon it glowed with charm, and the clamour that is one of the trademarks of the place sounded like a symphony to her ears.

  She helped Susan choose a cream linen dress, and wavered between a white cotton dress embroidered with pink flowers, and a pink cotton dress embroidered with white flowers for Irene. Unable to make up her mind she bought them both. She also bought sandals for Irene, and hair-ribbons, and a large box of candy for Maria.

  On their Way to the beach Susan said, 'Aren't you going to buy anything for yourself, Lorna?'

  Lorna held up her beach bag. 'I bought film… remember?'

  'That's for work, dummy. I mean something you want… something pretty.'

  They were walking by a row of jewellers' shops at that moment. Lorna stopped, looked in the window, and then went inside one of them. The shopkeeper greeted her in English but she tried out her Greek on him and he courteously switched to his own tongue. He brought out a tray of glass pendants shaped like blue eyes rimmed in silver. Lorna pored over the tray, her hair swinging forward in a flaxen curtain. 'I'll take this one,' she said in Greek, pointing to one of the smaller 'eyes', 'and a chain too, please.'

  Susan, who had followed her friend into the shop, looked dubiously at the tray of garish charms. 'Are you sure you want that, Lorna? Look! There are some much cuter ones over there.' She pointed out some attractively carved ivory animals.

  'Ur-hur!' Lorna shook her head vigorously. 'I want this. As a charm against the future.' She chose a slender silver chain and threaded the blue 'eye' on it, then fastened it round her neck. She paid the shopkeeper and they went back on to the street.

  'What do you mean—charm against the future?' Susan demanded, hurrying to keep up with Lorna's long-legged stride.

  'It's a charm to ward off the evil eye. My gesture of appeasement to the gods.'

  'Appeasement. What are you talking about!' Susan's round face was turning pink with exertion.

  Lorna stopped and put her hand on her friend's arm. 'I'
m so happy "Susie Q". I don't want anything to go wrong… I couldn't bear it. So I've armoured myself against bad luck, that's all.' She fingered the bright piece of glass at her throat.

  'You nut!' The older girl hugged her. 'Nothing's going to go wrong. He adores you. Don't be such an idiot.'

  'But we're… different.'

  'Of course you're different. He's a man!'

  'You know what I mean, Susan.'

  'Not entirely.' Susan's moon-face grew serious. 'You have to take happiness on trust, honey, not question every little thing, otherwise you might spoil it.' She squeezed Lorna's hand. 'Let yourself be happy with him, Lorna,' she said, 'and now we'd better get going or we'll be late for him.'

  'What!'

  Lorna started off at double speed as Susan wailed behind her, 'I was only kidding Lorna. We've got two hours yet!' But Lorna paid no attention and they arrived at the beach breathless and sticky.

  Susan had been telling the truth. They did have two hours, so after they'd changed into swim-suits and rented a couple of deck chairs, which they placed in a strategic spot near the entrance to the beach, they had a swim.

  The sea was clear as pale green glass, and the late afternoon sun struck the waves with streaks of gold. Lorna lay on her back and trod water, looking at the mountains that seemed to hover in the distance as if suspended in mid-air. Again she was struck by the magical quality of this country… Jason's country, so beautiful and mysterious. Hiding the secret of a lost civilisation in its soil. Where rivers ran underground, and blood feuds still flourished.

  A tiny niggle of doubt came into her mind. How did she fit into this exotic background? True, the country and Jason had enchanted her, but was enchantment a sound base for a relationship? And where exactly was this heady enchantment leading? To a summer affair… or something more? And if it was to something more… to marriage… would she be capable of adapting herself to his country and its customs? From what she'd observed women played a very subservient role in Cretan society, and Lorna knew herself well enough to recognise that she wasn't the subservient type. Irritated with herself she turned over and struck out for the shore. What was she thinking of? Mooning about marriage when all that had passed between them was a few kisses and a brief confession of love. They hadn't even had time to talk properly yet. To discover each other. She was behaving like a fool.

  She waded out of the water and headed for the outside shower to rinse the salt from her hair. Her skin shone like dark gold satin against the bright blue of her bikini as she strode, lithe and lovely, across the sands. A group of young men stopped playing a game of beach soccer to stare and whistle appreciatively. She ignored them, but it was comforting to know she looked good, for now that some time had elapsed since Jason's kisses she was beginning to wonder if he was having second thoughts, and by the time she was lying next to Susan (who had dozed off on her chair), she was convinced he wouldn't come.

  She was sure he was regretting the whole thing and right now was trying to get a message through to the beach cafe to let them know he couldn't make it. Later on he would let her down lightly. But the message would come through loud and clear that he had been swept off his feet, and now realised it had all been a terrible mistake.

  She was so caught up in this depressing train of thought that when he stood beside her and murmured her name she gasped, 'Jason! It's really you!' and he laughed and put his hand on her arm.

  'Did I wake you kookla?' The touch of his warm brown hand made her skin tingle. She jerked up, hugging her knees.

  'I wasn't sleeping.' He sat at the end of the chair. She felt such a surge of happiness that he was really there, looking at her so tenderly, she could have laughed aloud. 'I was just day-dreaming. Well… more like a nightmare really.'

  'What was this nightmare?'

  'Nothing.' She slid to perch beside him and slipped her arm through his. She wanted to feel the solidity of his bronzed arm against hers, to remind herself that the magic was still working. 'It was nothing. I… I'm glad to see you.'

  He leaned over and kissed her cheek. 'That is as it should be,' he said.

  She bristled a little at this. 'Nice to know I'm playing by the rules,' she said, pulling her arm away. He smiled and tucked it firmly back under his.

  'It does make life easier,' he agreed, 'and now I think we should wake your sleeping duenna.' He nodded at Susan. 'I have ordered some coffee and then we should start for home. I have phoned my mother and they expect us for dinner.'

  And all without consulting me, Lorna thought. But he was looking at her with such undisguised love that she bit back her irritation and said lightly. 'Endaxi, bossman! Let's wake sleeping beauty and get this show on the road!'

  Over coffee and marvellous sticky sweets called melogarida Susan told them that she and Harvey had arranged to meet in Iraklion later that evening for dinner. 'You were invited too, Lorna,' she said, 'I wasn't going to ditch you.'

  Jason said, 'But you will not mind if I spirit Lorna away? I suspect it will not spoil your dinner party.'

  Susan grinned at him. 'I'll survive,' she said, helping herself to more melogarida, 'and I don't imagine you two are desolate at the thought of driving back alone.'

  'One of your charms, Susan is your perceptiveness,' chuckled Jason, 'and I know you will not take it amiss if I say how happy I am that Harvey comes to Iraklion to dine.'

  Susan licked her sticky fingers. 'Mmmm! It's all worked out very well,' she said, winking at Lorna, 'very well indeed.'

  After arranging to deliver Susan's packages to the taverna they dropped her off at Venizelou Square and headed for home. When they had driven for a few miles, and had started to climb the steep deserted road. Jason pulled off into the shelter of the mountain, switched off the engine, and took her into his arms. 'This time we will not be interrupted,' he smiled. Lorna tried to smile back, but her heart was beating too hard for her to manage it. She felt she would suffocate from her need to feel his mouth on hers. To taste him, and feel his warm, sure hands caress her. When he bent his head over hers and brushed her lips tantalisingly lightly with his own, she moaned involuntarily, and putting her arms round his neck she pulled his mouth down on hers in a yearning kiss.

  When the kiss was over he still held her close and she could feel his heart hammering under the thin cotton of his T-shirt in a wild tattoo that matched her own. She wanted him so badly it was a physical pain, and she knew that any desire she had felt in the past was a pale shadow of the real thing. She also knew that the root of this passion was love, not lust. And that she had never known an emotion like this before in her life.

  'S'agapo. S'agapo, Lorna,' he muttered huskily, his lips brushing her ear. He gave a shuddering sigh and leaned away from her; in this light his eyes looked almost colourless. 'It is true? It is really true?'

  She traced the line of his cheek with her finger. 'It's true,' she whispered and gave a little breathless laugh. 'I can't quite believe it myself, but it's true.'

  He caught her hand and kissed her tracing finger, and her palm, and tasted the inside of her wrist with the tip of his tongue. Her breath caught in her throat with pleasure. 'I long to make love to you,' he murmured. 'To really make love to you.'

  'Yes… yes…'

  'But not in a parked car in the middle of a mountain road.' He gently pulled her ear-lobe. 'Do I not recall that you disapprove of making love in cars?'

  'That seems to slip my mind when you kiss me.' She pushed her slim fingers through her hair. 'But now that you mention it I guess it is rather public… not to say dangerous. We don't want any more buses escorting us to the village, do we?' She was so happy to discover this other, lighter side of him she could have sung aloud.

  He stroked her cheek. 'When I make you mine it must be perfect, Lorna,' he said softly, 'for us I will accept nothing less.' She nodded wordlessly, revelling in the feel of his fingers and the erotic sound of his voice. 'And now stop looking at me like that or I shall forget all my fine sentiments and take you here and no
w, and a fleet of buses would not stop me.' He lightly kissed her before starting the engine and heading once more into the mountains.

  It was dark now and the headlights stabbed at the sun-dried rocks and patches of tough dusty grass. Jason turned on the radio and the lilting strains of bouzouki music filled the car. Lorna settled back and felt the red leather seat against her naked shoulders. She closed her eyes and felt the rush of warm night air against her face. It was heavy with the scent of dittany, which is called erontas on the island, a Cretan variation of the word for love. Please, please don't let anything spoil this, she prayed silently. And all the way to the village she fingered the 'evil eye' charm around her throat, as a shield against misfortune.

  When they left Susan's parcels at the taverna Lorna remembered her gifts for Maria and Irene. 'Oh Lord! I can't come straight back to the villa, Jason. There's something I have to do first,' she said.

  'And what is that?' His eyes glinted suspiciously. 'What… or who… is it that you have suddenly remembered?'

  'These.' She leant over and poked at the paper bags lying on the back seat. 'I have to deliver them to a friend of mine.'

  'To whom?' He still looked at her with suspicion and she felt her own temper stirring.

  'Hell's bells, Jason! I don't know their last name,' she snapped. 'They live in a cottage near the church.' She made a grab for the bags. 'I can walk from here.'

  'No! You will not walk!' He pulled the parcels out of her hands, tearing a corner of paper in the process. 'I will drive you to these friends. We will make this delivery together.'

  They glared at each other. 'You talk a lot about love, Jason,' she said, 'but I wonder if you really know the first thing about it?'

  He went white under his tan. 'And what do you mean by that?'

  'I mean that if you love someone you also trust them.' If he was pale she was not. There were two bright spots of colour on her cheeks. 'You don't trust me, do you?' When he did not answer she repeated, 'Do you?'

  'Mou Theos! I want to Lorna,' he said desperately.