A Wanderer's Safe Haven

by Maggie Kane

  He realized that in their short time together, he had developed a deep connection to her. He had never been as easy and happy with anyone like he was around her. Abigail had been the result of a brief, but intense affair just after his parents’ death in a car wreck. He had been lost in grief and looking for a way to feel something other than overwhelming sadness. The woman had not wanted a daughter or a husband, but Nikos had paid her handsomely to see the pregnancy through. She signed over her parental rights and disappeared the day after Abigail was born.

  Emma watched Nikos get lost in his thoughts. He was far from their little table in the afternoon sunshine thinking intently on something. She was just about to ask him to share when movement across the street caught her eye. A large man stood looking at their table. He wore jeans, a tourist t-shirt that said GREECE in blue letters, sunglasses, and heavy thick-soled work boots. He was talking on his cell phone and turned his head to look up the street. Emma’s heart rate was climbing. He looked very familiar. She swallowed a scream when a tall, wiry man wearing pointy cowboy boots rounded the corner, tucking his cell phone into his jacket pocket.

  “We should go,” Emma said, abruptly jumping to her feet. She bumped the table in her haste making water slosh onto the tablecloth, and the dishes rattle.

  Nikos looked up at her in alarm. Her tone was close to panic, and she looked ready to bolt. She was already heading toward the bike. He quickly got up, tossed some cash on the table, and jogged to catch up with her. He grabbed her elbow and spun her around.

  “What’s wrong?” Nikos looked around trying to find the source of her agitation. There were several tourists milling around on the streets, but he could see nothing that should have caused this reaction.

  “I don’t feel good. I want to go home.” Emma pulled her elbow free of his grasp and crammed the helmet onto her head. She stood waiting for him to get on the bike, twisting her hands to keep them from shaking. It can’t be them, she thought. She scanned the crowd again and didn’t see the two men. I’m overreacting and making something out of nothing, she decided. However, now that it was in her head, she needed to get away from here- quickly.

  Nikos frowned as he pulled his helmet on, still looking around. It looked like a very typical day on the streets of Kalamata. He swung his leg over the bike and pulled it off its kickstand. He held it steady as she slipped on behind him and grabbed him in a fierce hold around his waist. He steered the bike onto the road, resolving to have a long discussion with Emma when they got home. It was time for some answers.

  Chapter 17

  Emma bailed off the bike the instant it stopped. She ripped her helmet off and left teetering on the seat in her wake. She was through the door before Nikos even got the kickstand down. Practically running, she made a beeline for her room, and for the first time since she had gotten to the villa, locked the door behind her. She pulled her backpack out of the closet and had it halfway stuffed before she forced herself to stop. What am I doing, she thought. Am I really going to leave all of this, leave Nikos, because two guys on the street resembled some monsters in my past?

  In the end, Emma put the pack back in her closet but left it stuffed. The urge to run coursed through her. It made her edgy and restless. She avoided the family, pleading a stomachache. After walking laps around her room all evening, she slipped on her bikini and headed out her French doors to the pool.

  Nikos prowled around the library. He alternated between worry and anger and impatience as he paced and thought about Emma and her behavior. His bad temper had spilled over on Gretchen and Abigail. Before he could make it worse, he apologized and excused himself for the evening. Fuck this, he thought and wrenched open the door. She is going to talk to me, like it or not.

  His knock went unanswered, and he frowned when he found her bedroom door locked. Quickly, he went to his room and used his nightly route from patio to patio. The French doors to her room stood open, and Nikos’ stomach sank. She’s gone, he thought, like a thief in the night.

  Nikos walked into the empty room. His gut tied itself in knots worrying, and anger burned in his heart at her for just leaving without a word of explanation. Half hoping for a note, he glanced around. The closet door stood ajar. He pulled it open, and his heart squeezed with relief and confusion. Her backpack stood, fully packed in the corner. She’s still here, but ready to run, he thought. A bigger question followed that- where is she now?

  He considered as he closed the closet door back to how it had been. The library was obviously out, and that would have been the first place he looked. He decided that she wasn’t inside the house and set out to explore the grounds. He checked the gazebo and patios. Finally, he saw her floating in the pool.

  Nikos’ heart raced with dread. She wasn’t moving. “Emma,” he shouted as he ran toward the pool. He skidded to a stop as he got closer, seeing she was actually floating peacefully on her back, eyes closed, arms and legs outstretched. Her hair floated out around her head, and Nikos could see that her ears were underwater. He tried to slow his racing heart and control his breathing. He cursed quietly in Greek, beginning to appreciate the beauty of the moment.

  Emma floated in dark stillness. She loved the sensory deprivation of no sound, no light, just peace. She had learned meditation traveling with a group of hikers on the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain. Among predominantly Catholic pilgrims, many faiths, cultures, and spiritual paths were also represented among the dusty travelers. She had gained a new perspective on faith and repaired part of a ragged hole in her psyche on the journey thanks to the teachings of a patient, kind man who shared his knowledge and part of his soul with her.

  Floating in the pool, Emma pulled back to that small, still place deep inside her that she had discovered on that journey. The events of the day had unleashed a maelstrom of emotions. The fractured parts of her heart and soul had started to fly apart, reminding her how fragile her peace really was. She focused on finding her center and let her body and mind drift.

  Nikos sat in a deck chair and silently watched her. The urge to hold her close to him and protect her from whatever it was that haunted her was almost overpowering. He didn’t want to disturb her, though, and forced himself to just sit and watch over her.

  She was perfect floating still in the water. Her skin had lost some of its tans since she had been staying at the villa. Her white bikini revealed her flat stomach that Nikos knew felt soft and smooth under his touch. Her skin was baby soft, and his hands flexed with the thought of touching it. He saw her nipples tight and firm under the white fabric. Her breasts stood like two peaks above the water. He tormented himself with the thought of how they felt in his hand and how she gasped when his lips clamped around her taut nipple.

  His body responded to his thoughts. His dick throbbed and thickened as he thought of how it felt to slide inside her. His hands clenched the arms of the chair while he wrestled with his thoughts and desires. He wanted her, now. He should respect her peace and quiet. But he needed to feel her, to hold her, to make her his.

  Chapter 18

  The demands of his body ultimately drove him beyond his willpower to stay in the chair. Nikos stood and silently slipped out of his clothes. He waded softly down the marble stairs in the shallow end, moving slowly so he wouldn’t startle her. His hard erection twitched when the warm water swirled around it. He thought about how her heat would feel surrounding him. It made him even harder, and he had to stifle a groan of desire.

  Gradually, he made his way across the pool, closing the distance between them. Nikos knew how easily alarmed she was and kept several feet between them. He pushed water in small waves toward her. She would eventually feel the disturbance. His eyes roamed her body as the pool lights bounced light off of her skin. Water droplets clung to her kneecaps, and her toes and fingers were wrinkled. Another surge of longing coursed through him. His waves grew with his desire to have her in his arms.

  Dimly, Emma felt the water sloshing around her. It rolled over her belly and finger
s in gentle waves. The warm rivulets left cooling trails evaporating over her body. It was a delicious sensation. Finally, it occurred to her that something must be making the waves, and that thought penetrated her daydream with a shock. Her eyes snapped open as she started to flail in the water, suddenly unable to maintain her form to float. She was too deep to touch the bottom, having floated far from where she started. Not a strong swimmer, a jolt of panic went through her as she splashed and sputtered trying to find her equilibrium. A strong arm grabbed her and towed her toward the shallow end. Her feet touched the bottom as her body slammed into Nikos’ hard chest.

  Nikos held her close to him. “Don’t you know how to swim? Why were you in the deep end if you can’t swim?” His tone was rough, but his touch was light roaming all over her body.

  Emma shivered at his touch as the panic drained from her body. He had caught and held her, yet again. She wiped the water from her eyes and pressed herself against him, feeling his arms tightening around her.

  “I can swim- a little,” she confessed. “I took lessons as a kid, but I’m not very good. You just surprised me.”

  “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Judging by this,” she said, wrapping her hand around his still hard cock, “I think you might have an idea or two.”

  Nikos sucked in a breath at her touch, his desire raging through his body again. Her distress in the deep end had momentarily distracted him, but as soon as her body had touched him, his need for her had returned with a vengeance. “An idea or two or three,” he murmured through kisses he brushed over her mouth.

  Deliberately, he stepped toward her, pushing her back into deeper water. Emma felt her feet leave the bottom, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around him. His hard shaft pressed against her through her bikini. She tightened her grip on his legs to increase the pressure and flexed her hips against him.

  Nikos growled low in his chest. He wanted her in a way that he had never wanted anything else. He worked the back of her halter top and flung it away to let her breasts float free in the water. He boosted her higher to his waist, dragging her along his shaft until just the tip of his cock was pinned between their bodies. Her beautiful nipples were ripe for sucking. He took one in his mouth and his arms instinctively wrapped around her back to support her as she arched into him. Her hips rocked against the tip of his cock, squeezing it with delicious pressure as he sucked. His teeth closed down in a delicate bite, and her nails raked across his back as her arousal climbed.

  Emma’s hips flexed again, driven by a need for firmer contact. Her clit was pulsing. She needed more. Her hand slid between them and pushed the fabric of her bikini to the side. She pulled the tip of his cock between her lips to rest on her clit. Moaning with the pleasure of him hard against her, the warm water between them and his mouth sucking her breast, her hips began to move to the rhythm of her body’s need. She kept her legs wrapped tight around him as she rocked against him. Her hands clamped on his powerful shoulders to brace herself as her pace quickened. He grabbed her ass and added his strength to her thrusts, his mouth never ceasing its assault on her nipples. Her nails bit deep as her head fell back, and she screamed his name as she came hard, shuddering against him.

  Chapter 19

  Nikos marveled at the woman in his arms as she let her pleasure consume her. He wanted more of her. As her body quieted, his mouth found hers. Their tongues dueled and clashed. He felt her trembling with her passion, and it fueled his own. He kissed down her neck and bit her gently so he could hear her moan. He knew all of her sensitive parts.

  “Float like you were before,” Nikos told her as he pushed her back from him slightly. Emma obeyed and brought her body up to float on the water. His hands supported her and slid over her back, legs, and ass. He lifted her fingers from the water and sucked the water from them. She watched through half closed eyes. Her orgasm had left her relaxed, but her body still hummed with desire and passion. When his lips sucked each fingertip, her stomach flipped with excitement.

  Nikos tugged at her bikini bottoms and worked them down. He tossed them over his shoulder as he maneuvered Emma’s weightless body through the water. He stepped deeper into the pool, so the water was around his shoulders. Draping a leg over each of his shoulders, he pulled Emma’s body to his wanting mouth.

  Emma kept her body relaxed as he moved her through the water. She knew he would keep her safe. She closed her eyes and relaxed her head back in the water again. Concentrating only on sensations of her body, she felt the heat of his breath as he kissed along her inner thighs. His hands pulled at her waist, drawing her closer. She held her breath anticipating the first touch of his hot mouth.

  Nikos didn’t hesitate. His tongue parted her lips in a firm stroke, tasting her arousal. He pulled her legs further over his shoulders and began to devour her. Over and over, he lavished his tongue on her clit. Her hands fisted his hair as her hips worked against his mouth. He slid back to slip his tongue into the deep well of velvety warmth. She moaned and her hips bucked in response. He darted it in and out reveling in her taste.

  “Oh, Nikos,” she whimpered. “More. Fuck, please, more.” Her hips were straining, and she ruthlessly pulled his hair. Emma’s mind was blank to everything except her intense yearning for more. She needed more of his mouth, his skin, his body, his everything. Her heart raced as his mouth settled once more on her sensitive, throbbing nub. Her focus was intent on the pleasure every stroke of his tongue sent through her, bringing her closer and closer to the edge of abyss.

  Nikos moaned as he licked and sucked her sweet pussy. She was so responsive. Every touch made her tremble and grind against him. He held her firmly against his mouth with one hand while the other was below the water stroking himself. He couldn’t wait until he could bury his throbbing cock deep inside her, but he wanted her to cum in his mouth first. He wanted to taste her pleasure. He flattened his tongue against her clit and worked it hard and fast before drawing back and sucking it hard. She responded with a hiss of his name. When he closed his teeth just slightly, she exploded.

  Emma’s body convulsed in pleasurable spasms as the orgasm overtook her. His name spilled from her lips in a rhythmic chant as her body found release. Her hands fisted in his hair, and she shamelessly ground her clit against his mouth. Finally, she loosened her grip and relaxed even as aftershocks rocked her.

  Nikos lifted his mouth from her and pulled her hips under the water to bring her back face to face with him. He kissed her hard, letting her taste herself in his mouth. He moved them to the edge of the pool and braced his hands on either side of her.

  “You are so fucking amazing,” he told her as he slid himself inside her. He used the buoyancy of the water to let her bob up and down on him. “God, you feel so tight and hot. I want to fuck you forever.”

  Emma had no words to respond. Every particle of her body burned for this man. He felt large and full inside her. Each time he entered her, she clamped around him to try to hold him, but the water always brought her back up. Devoid of words at the moment, her mouth covered his in a searing kiss to show him how much she wanted him.

  Nikos answered her kiss, and finally, all of his restraint left him. He pulled her to him, sinking home inside her hot, tight tunnel. He waded back to the middle of the pool in the shallow section. The water was around his waist.

  “Lay back, baby,” he instructed and anchored his hands around her waist. She released her hold and lay back in the water. He widened his stance and began to thrust into her. She weighed nothing in the water, and every time his hips thrust forward, he brought her down to him. The water sloshed and splashed as he fucked her. He was lost in pleasure. Her breasts jumped with every impact, and he watched with increasing desire as she rolled her nipples between her fingers. Her eyes shone with excitement as they locked with his. He groaned when she clamped down tightly on him with every thrust. Energy coiled inside him, and his pace increased. He pounded into her again as he erupted. He pulled her hips to him
and ground himself into her as he pulsed and spilled his cum inside her.

  Emma wrapped her legs around his hips and watched the release of pleasure play out on his handsome face. She felt his spasms inside her and pulled herself as tightly as she could around him. As he finished, he pulled her from the water to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He carried her from the pool and settled in a chaise with her on his lap. She laid her head against his shoulder as he cradled her and relaxed back. The night was warm, but she shivered as the water on her body cooled. Nikos grabbed a towel and flung it around her. With a sigh of contentment, she snuggled in and let herself relax in his protective embrace.

  Chapter 20

  Nikos hated to break the silence and peace of the moment. She was still and quiet against him. He almost just let the whole thing drop, but he needed to find out what had happened earlier.