Pagan Lover

by Anne Hampson

  ‘Yes,’ she answered, the gruffness in her voice sounding strange even to her own ears.

  ‘Yes, Leon, you make yourself perfectly clear.’

  ‘Good! Perhaps our lives will be lived a little more peacefully now.’ His hand slid from her chin to her shoulder. The strap of her bikini bra was removed and she felt his hand curl round her breast. He was demonstrating his mastery, daring her to protest, or even to move. She dared not move, even when the other strap was released and she was naked but for the tiny covering lower down. His touch was roughly coercive; he was employing arrogant compulsion to bring her to the very depths of submission, because he knew what the fire of his touch could ignite within her, reducing her resistance to ashes. His other hand slid possessively down her spine, its progress that of slow, compelling temptation. She quivered throughout her entire body, quivered with expectation as every desire was awakened by his hands as they continued to explore. His pagan dominance was reducing her to total subjugation. He ordered her to kiss him and she obeyed, and. when he laughed with taunting mockery she endured the humiliation in silence.

  ‘You want me,’ he stated, and then made her say it. Cheeks flaming, she did as she was told. His hand was removing the one scant item of clothing and she knew as before that every act was designed to bring right home to her that he was her master. Every drop of blood in her body seemed to be flooding to her heart as he lifted her, with that familiar ease that more than demonstrated his incredible muscular strength. She looked into his ruthless face as he laid her on the bed; there was triumph in his eyes, and taunting satire. He gloated at her weakness, exulted in his own strength.

  And suddenly she forgot all her resolutions, even forgot her fear of him. For some power seemed to enter into her, providing her with the strength to spring off the bed and race for the communicating door. She passed through it, slamming it in his face. But in her wild fumbling with the key, which she had known was, on his side of the door, she lost precious seconds. With a moan of despair she fell backwards as the door was pushed towards her. Leon caught her, miraculously, before she touched the floor, his arm a steel hawser encircling her naked body, his mouth cruel against her quivering lips. Her unexpected action had inflamed him and he showed no mercy when, a few moments later, she as his prisoner, his submissive slave.

  CHAPTER NINE

  TARA was alone in the garden when Nico was announced by one of her husband’s manservants. Her heart gave a little jerk; she had known instinctively that she and Nico would meet . . . alone.

  ‘He asked for Mrs Leon,’ said Davos in an expressionless voice. ‘Shall I bring him here?’

  ‘No; show him into the sitting-room and tell him I’ll be there in about five minutes.’

  ‘Very good, madam.’

  She glanced at the gardener and smiled to herself. None of the servants had been told by Leon to be present if she had a visitor, simply because he had not expected her to have one.

  Excitement filled her mind as she changed quickly from the shorts and sun-top she had on, to a pleated linen dress, deep mauve with a narrow band of purple running round the hem. It was one of several that had come up from Margarita a few days ago, beautiful garments all of them, and there was silk underwear too, and a couple of blouses and skirts. She stood looking in the mirror for a moment after applying lip-rouge and perfume. Why had Nico come? As he had asked for her it was feasible, to assume that he knew Leon was not at home. He rose as she entered the room, his eyes appreciative as they roved her elegantly-clad figure.

  ‘Yassoo, Tara!’ he greeted her, extending both his hands so that she had no option but to put hers into them. ‘I knew Leon was away from home, so I decided to come and see you. Why didn’t he take you with him?’

  ‘He was going on business and I wasn’t really interested,’ she lied glibly as she swept a hand, inviting him to sit down again. She took a seat by the window, feeling oddly shy and tongue-tied, for after all she and Nico were still almost strangers to one another. And yet here had been that indescribable bond of which she had been aware, sure that he felt it too. And now as he looked at her across the room she wished she could confide in him at this moment instead of waiting. Yes, somewhere at the back of her mind she knew she would one day confide in him.

  And if that were the case, then why not now? There had to be an opening, and this would never come while this awkwardness existed between them.

  It was Nico who eased the moment by asking how she and Leon had come to meet.

  ‘I’d have asked him the other evening,’ he added, ‘but knowing him, I was cagey. Leon has never cared for being questioned, not about anything at all.’

  ‘We met when I was a nurse,’ she answered, smiling at him. ‘Leon had had an accident, and was occupying a private ward in my wing.’

  ‘It’s incredible that he should have wanted to marry you after such a short acquaintanceship.’

  She laughed and only then did he realise he had not been very tactful.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said with a rueful grimace. ‘Unless I think well before I speak I tend to forget tact.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she smiled. And then, ‘You came because you thought I’d be glad of the company?

  ‘Something of the sort,’ he admitted. ‘I felt you must be lonely, here on your own. Perhaps you preferred it, though, seeing that you didn’t want to go with Leon to Athens?’

  ‘I was lonely, Nico—I own to it. I’m glad you came; it was nice of you to think of me.’

  He was pleased by her words and it showed in the way his eyes lit up.

  ‘There’s a mystery, isn’t there?’ he was emboldened say after a slight hesitation.

  ‘A mystery?’

  ‘About your marriage to Leon—’ He stopped as if uncertain about continuing, but Tara, curious to learn anything she could, said encouragingly,

  ‘Do go on, Nico. I’m interested in what you have to say.

  He looked at her perceptively.

  ‘So I was right; there is a mystery. You see, Tara, Leon and Elene have been close friends for the past year and everyone had begun to take their marriage for granted. Then suddenly he went to England on business and came back with you. It’s a nine days’ wonder among all the people who know him, not only friends but business acquaintances and employees. Elene was very controlled that evening when we came here, but she was very upset when Leon phoned to tell her he was married.’

  Tara stared at him for a long moment, going over in her mind what he had said.

  ‘Did they quarrel?’ she asked eventually.

  ‘I believe they had a tiff. Elene’s very beautiful and the men run after her. She allowed one to take her out——’ Nico spread his hands and shrugged. ‘It’s just a rumour I heard which might or might not be true. I do know that Elene attracted Leon more than any of the other——’ He stopped and coloured slightly. ‘I’ve done it again,’ he said almost despairingly.

  ‘I know that Leon’s had other women,’ she said casually. ‘It’s only to be expected, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose so. But one doesn’t remind a man’s wife of such things.’

  ‘Forget it,’ she advised. ‘Tell me some more about Elene.’

  ‘Well, as I said, she was very upset.’ He paused and looked speculatively at her. ‘You really want to know more?’ he asked doubtfully.

  “Yes, I do, Nico.’

  ‘She believes that Leon married you on the rebound.’

  ‘I see.... So she obviously believes he was in love with her?’

  He nodded.

  ‘We all believed he was in love with her.’

  ‘Leon is not the man to fall in love,’ Tara stated, and, watching for Nico’s reaction, she saw his brows shoot up, but then he immediately nodded, not in agreement, but as if he had made a discovery.

  ‘So he isn’t in love with you?’

  ‘Neither of us is in love.’ It was out, and she knew full well that some explanation would be called for. She was still vague a
bout enlisting his help but was sure that she would attempt to get assistance from him.

  ‘How did he come to ask you to marry him?’

  Tara hesitated, feeling that to tell him everything might be risky since she had no idea just how deep the friendship was between him and Leon. She thought of what the consequences might be should Nico, after listening to her story, then go to Leon and repeat it all, out of a sense of loyalty. She had no wish to suffer again from her husband’s fury, for the fear he could put into her was very real. Nico was looking at her; he said she had gone pale and asked if she was all right.

  She nodded, still hesitant, still afraid. At last she said,

  ‘How deep is your friendship with Leon, Nico?’

  ‘We’re not really friends. We live here, on this small island, so it was natural we should get to know one another, and that we’d mix socially. But apart from that we have little in common. Elene has a luxurious house here but spends most of her time in Athens, modelling clothes for the famous fashion house of which Leon is the head.’ He paused, examining her face for a moment.

  ‘You can trust me, Tara,’ he assured her eventually. ‘I feel that you need to confide in someone, but it’s natural that you are hesitating. Did you not sense a sort of— How can I describe it?’ he said, considering. ‘A bond if you like?’

  ‘That’s exactly how I felt, Nico! I’m glad you felt that way too.

  ‘So we’re friends?’

  ‘Yes, we’re friends.’

  ‘Then you can answer my question without any fear of my ever repeating anything I hear.’

  ‘Leon did not ask me to marry him,’ she said slowly, Nico’s surprise bringing a thin smile to her face.

  ‘He didn’t ask you?’

  ‘Nico, you’re not going to believe the story I’m about to tell you.’

  ‘I don’t think you would lie,’ he returned emphatically. ‘In any case, to do so wouldn’t serve any purpose, would it?’

  ‘No,’ she agreed. ‘But to tell you the truth might just serve a purpose.’ She stopped, but he said nothing, and Tara also remained silent because she had no idea how to begin such a fantastic story. However, her uncertainty soon passed and she began at the beginning, and carrying on through the little exclamations that periodically issued from her companion’s lips.

  ‘He actually kidnapped you!’ gasped Nico when at last she had ended her story. ‘Good lord—no one would ever believe such a thing of him! He’s a well-known distinguished figure in the capital, respected— I can’t believe it, Tara!’

  ‘You just said you didn’t think I would lie,’ she reminded him.

  ‘I know....’ He seemed dazed still, and his brow was knitted in a frown, as if he were endeavouring mentally to accept what he had heard.

  ‘On your wedding day,’ he murmured slowly. ‘What a dreadful thing to do! You must have been heartbroken?’

  ‘Of course I was, and very frightened.’

  ‘But now ...? You seem to have got over it?’

  ‘So much has happened that I seem to be living all the time in the present, and the past is vague. David is often real but just as often forgotten completely.’ Mainly when her husband was making love to her, she thought, but naturally kept that to herself.

  ‘So you’re a prisoner here?’ Automatically he glanced through the window. Davos was over by the fountain, clearing some weeds from the pond.

  ‘Yes, I’m a prisoner. Leon wants me to promise not to try to escape and if I do promise he’ll take the guards away.’

  ‘It’s diabolical! What the devil got into him! Was he so mad with Elene that he married the first woman he set eyes on?’

  ‘I couldn’t have been the first woman he set eyes on, could I? He’d travelled from Greece to England.’

  ‘He was over there on business and I believe Elene should have gone with him; she often did. But what possessed him to commit a criminal act like that? If he merely wanted you he could—’ Nico stopped, looking embarrassed, and Tara eased the moment by asking if she could give him some refreshments. He said he would have ouzo, and this was brought on a tray after Tara had rung for a maid. A mezé came with it, as it always did. Tara had fresh orange juice. She was not hungry, she said when Nico offered to share the mezé with her.

  ‘I wonder why he went to the lengths of marriage’ Nico decided to say presently. ‘He could—’ He stopped again and shrugged.

  ‘Have had what he wanted without?’ Tara shook her head. ‘As he explained, he’d have been in serious trouble with the law, because once he had—er—cast me off I’d naturally have gone to the police.’

  ‘You can still do that.’

  ‘Only if I escape—and he won’t give me any freedom at all until I promise not to escape.’

  ‘But you’d not keep the promise,’ he said in astonishment. ‘Make it, and then get away.’

  ‘I couldn’t go back on my word, Nico.’

  ‘Then you must be crazy! You couldn’t possibly consider yourself bound by a promise like that!’

  ‘I could, and Leon knows it.’

  He looked at her, his eyes wide with admiration. A flush rose to highlight the beautiful contours of her face and she noticed a sudden movement in his throat, the slow pulsation of a nerve.

  ‘You’re a very wonderful person,’ he said softly. ‘I wish....’

  ‘Yes?’ she prompted, hope high within her.

  ‘I could like you very much, Tara.’

  She said in response,

  ‘Will you help me to escape, Nico?’

  ‘You’d go back to your fiancé, I suppose?’ His voice was bleak, and very quiet.

  ‘I don’t know.’ She thought of the possibility that she was having a baby. ‘He might not want me, after I’d been married to someone else.’ She tried to focus David’s face but failed to do so. How very strange that she had reached a state of mind where she was not torn with anguish any more! It seemed disloyal to David not to feel desolate at the idea of what she had lost.

  ‘There’d have to be a divorce, or an annulment, and it would take time.’

  ‘All I want at present is to get away from this island,’ she said. ‘What I do with my life after that is a matter to be decided later. Will you help me?’ she asked again.

  He looked at her and she knew a struggle was taking place within him.

  ‘You’d denounce Leon to the police. He’d be ruined.’

  But she was shaking her head even before he had stopped speaking.

  ‘I couldn’t denounce him to the police, Nico.’

  He looked puzzled.

  ‘Don’t you want revenge?’

  ‘I did at first, but not now.’

  ‘You’ve not fallen in love with him?’

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘Many women have. He has an attraction that’s quite exceptional.’

  She said nothing, but to herself she admitted the truth of what Nico had said. Leon’s attraction was exceptional; it had brought her to surrender too many times for her to deny it.

  ‘I promise I won’t denounce him, Nico... please help me.’

  ‘I feel I ought to, Tara, but Leon will find out it was me.’

  ‘How can he?’

  ‘You’ve thought of some way that I can help you without his knowing?’

  ‘No, unfortunately I haven’t. But surely we can think of something?’ She was a trifle breathless, with excitement. She had known, somehow, that Nico would help her, known because of that bond that had come between them only a few days ago, at the dinner-party.

  ‘It’s not going to be easy.’

  The shadow of a bird flashed across the sunlight on the floor and he looked towards the window. Tara, following the direction of his gaze, saw not only Davos, but one of the gardeners as well. Of course, it was only to be expected that the gardener would be working out there, but she had become so conscious of being watched that she resented even the sight of any of her husband’s servants.

  ‘I agree it�
��s not going to be easy,’ she said, ‘but, Nico, I shall go mad if I don’t get away soon.’

  He stirred uneasily in his seat.

  ‘What a mess! The man must have been out of his mind to do a thing like that! It’s so uncharacteristic of him; he’s level-headed, law-abiding—usually,’ he added as he saw the lift of Tara’s brows. ‘How long is he going to be in Athens?’

  ‘Until Saturday, so he told me,’

  ‘Three days more....’ Again Nico’s eyes wandered to the window. ‘How the devil are we to get rid of these fellows?’

  ‘I don’t know. Davos probably sleeps in the corridor all night, so he can be on hand if I try to leave my bedroom.’

  ‘My God! I’m beginning to feel sure that Leon’s mad!’

  Tara knew that was not so, knew that the reason for any action of Leon’s that concerned her was the result of his all-consuming desire for her.

  ‘I could probably get out of the window,’ she suggested thoughtfully. ‘If you could come when everyone’s in bed and put a ladder outside for me. There, are several ladders in a shed at the bottom of the orchard—’ She looked at him anxiously. ‘Could you do that, Nico?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘You seem doubtful.’

  ‘It isn’t that,’ he said rather flatly. ‘It’s just the idea that, once away from here, you’ll never see me again.’

  She bit her lip.

  ‘I’m asking you to help me and yet not giving anything in return.’ Her eyes were shadowed as she added, ‘It isn’t fair of me, is it? You’d have to take me to Piraeus on your boat— No, it isn’t fair for me to expect all that from you without offering anything in return.’