Apollo's Daughter

by Rebecca Stratton

  Maybe it was the effect of more retsina than she was accustomed to, as well as the breathtaking scenery, that made her feel slightly heady, but the instant she caught the sound of footsteps behind her, she thought of the man she had seen standing up there earlier and swung round quickly. Too quickly, as it happened, for she lost her footing and before she could save herself she went tumbling down the slope until she was brought up sharply and painfully by the stump of a fluted pillar some three or four metres below, and the breath knocked out of her.

  'Bethany!* Only when she heard Theo cry out did she realise whose footsteps she had heard on the steps

  behind her, and she lay there for a moment too dazed to move and conscious of a dull pain in her left side. Theo came swiftly down the ancient steps in a sideways gait to balance himself, then dropped on to one knee and bent over her anxiously. 'Bethany, are you hurt?'

  Too winded to answer him for the moment, she shook her head, not even attempting to get up off the ground, and as she moved her head she caught sight of someone else coming quickly down the steps, with that same curious sideways gait. *Niko!' she whispered, not even sure if he heard her, but Theo turned his head quickly.

  *Holy Mother!' He murmured the prayer as he stood upright, and Nikolas came hurrying down to join them, dropping on to one knee beside her, just as Theo had.

  'What happened?' he demanded, barking the question at his brother while he gave his attention to Bethany.

  *She fell from the top,' Theo explained, and already his voice had a suggestion of defensiveness, as if he realised he would be called to account for the accident. 'Something startled her—someone; I don't know.'

  Nikolas glared back over his shoulder. 'You didn't '

  'No, damn it, I didn't!' Theo declared angrily, but Nikolas offered no apology.

  As he turned back to Bethany, his expression was more fiercely angry than she had ever seen it. He was breathing hard too, as he crouched beside her, and she noticed that the speed of his descent had dislodged a thick swathe of black hair, so that it swept down over one eye and covered half his brow.

  'You could have broken your neck!' he breathed, as if the possibility only now occurred to him.

  In other circumstances Bethany thought she might have suggested the remark was wishful thinking, but she was still feeling dazed and her left side still hurt, though it was easing just a little, she thought. Instead

  she made an attempt to sit up, and caught her breath sharply when he pressed his hands to her shoulders and forced her back on to the ground.

  'Stay where you are for a moment/ he insisted, 'until I see what damage has been done. Do you hurt anywhere?'

  Bethany ignored her aching side and shook her head automatically. Not that she really expected him to take her word for it, and she made only a barely audible murmur when he pressed on. Monosyllabic questions and answers determined that her legs and arms were unhurt apart from a graze or two, but when he placed his hands on her ribs, she cried involuntarily.

  'That hurts?' Long fingers probed carefully, and Bethany gnawed at her lower lip but said nothing, only nodded her head. 'Is it bad?'

  She swallowed hard, hastening to deny it. 'It's better than it was, Nikolas, honestly. I'm not hurt—^not seriously.'

  Seemingly she wasn't believed, for the gentle probing continued for another second or two before he pronounced himself satisfied. 'Can you breathe without pain?' he asked, and she nodded her head again, summoning a faint smile from somewhere.

  'Are you a doctor as well as a lawyer?' she asked, and realised how small and breathless her voice sounded.

  Ignoring her question, Nikolas put his hands behind her and raised her into a sitting position, watching her face as he did so for signs of hurt. Bethany felt better sitting up, but she was alarmingly conscious of the muscular arm that supported her and the warmth of the body she rested against. Reaching down with his free hand he once more laid his long fingers over the area below the curve of her breast, his palm warm and firm through the thin dress she wore.

  *I think you've escaped with nothing worse than bruising,' he told her. 'You've been very lucky to escape so lightly/

  There was a rapid and unfamiliar urgency to her heartbeat, Bethany realised, and glanced up at the

  dark face close to her own, catching an expression in his eyes that was even more disturbing. 'Can I—can I standmp now?' she asked in a soft small voice, and he nodded.

  The supporting arm slid a little further round her and he used his other hand to assist him in raising her to her feet, still supporting her when she stood. Her legs felt shaky and she clung to him unhesitatingly, Theo's presence in the background completely forgotten for a moment while she sought to recover her composure. So far his anger was confined to the gleaming darkness of his eyes, but she could guess that once he was certain of her recovery he would give vent to it.

  He had said nothing yet about Takis, but it would come very soon now, she knew, and with the idea of delaying the moment as long as possible, she prolonged her recovery. Resting her head on his chest, she turned her face to the smooth softness of his shirt. His dash down the steps, his anger and also his anxiety all contributed to a burning heat that emanated from him, and her cheek throbbed with the hard, steady beat of his heart as he held her close for a moment.

  *Can you stand alone?'

  There was a throaty harshness in his voice that she took to be yet another sign of his anger, and she nodded, though she was reluctant to move away. 'Yes, I think so.' She experimented, found she was much more steady than she realised, and nodded. 'I'm all right, Nikolas.'

  As if her recovery was a sign for him to bring matters to a head, Theo spoke up quickly, his voice harsh and resentful. 'How long have you been around?' he asked, Nikolas. 'Were you Bethany's mystery man? The one she saw at the top of the hill earlier?'

  'No, of course it wasn't Nikolas 1' Bethany stepped in quickly, and answered Nikolas's frown with a hasty explanation. 'I noticed someone up here just before we had lunch, and I thought I recognised him—I thought it might have been the same man I saw on the harbour when we arrived.*

  'And was it?'

  She shook her head. *No. I mean, I don't know really. He just looked vaguely familiar somehow, like he did last time I saw him, but I don't know him, I'm sure I don't.' She laughed uneasily, wanting the subject dropped even if it meant bringing Nikolas's anger down on them both. *When I heard someone behind

  me just now I wondered ' She lifted her shoulders

  uneasily. It must have been Theo—I didn't know he'd followed me; I turned too quickly and missed my footing.'

  Nikolas frowned curiously at his brother, then at her. 'Wasn't Theo with you?'

  *No.' She too glanced at Theo and deliberately avoided telling Nikolas that she had left his brother sulking because she wouldn't stay and let herself succumb to that undoubted charm of his. 1 wanted to walk to the top of the hill, and Theo didn't, so—I came on my own. I might have known he'd follow me.' *You might have known,' Nikolas echoed. *And you knew it wouldn't be Takis, of course.'

  His voice sent little trills of ice-water trickling along her spine, and it was all too easy to realise that he knew exactly where Takis was and why he had been left behind. It was instinctive when she lifted her chin the way she did and looked at him with a sparkling glint of defiance in her eyes.

  'You know he-isn't here, Nikolas, or you wouldn't be here!'

  'Don't be clever, Bethany—^not with me!' Although he still held his anger firmly in check, it burned fiercely behind his eyes. But it was not from fear of him that she trembled, it was from some strange reaction she did not even pretend to understand. 'I called in to see Heracles, and Sophie told me he'd taken the boys to see a football match.' His eyes narrowed and they concentrated on her so unwaveringly that Bethany hastily looked away. 'Unfortunately for you, Sophie isn't as glibly deceitful as you probably hoped, and she let slip that Takis had gone with them. Or I should say fortunately for you.'

/>   'So you came chasing after us, fearing the worst!'

  Theo issued the challenge rashly, and Nikolas half turned his head, his opinion unmistakable.

  *As you would expect/ he said, his cool control contrasting sharply with Theo's obvious discomfiture. *Oh, I don't have to be told whose idea it was to leave Takis behind with Heracles, I'm fully aware of how devious you can be, brother, but I've no doubt Bethany fell in with your plans willingly enough. Didn't you, Bethany?'

  *No, she didn't, as it happens!' Theo denied firmly. 'If you must know Bethany tried to dissuade me from leaving Takis behind because she said you'd be furious!' His eyes gleamed maliciously as he watched his brother's sternly set features. *She seems to be afraid of you for some reason—a reason that no doubt you understand better than I do!'

  Bethany was shaking like a leaf, but it was not from fear, as Theo suggested, although being fixed with those fierce dark eyes did nothing to help her composure. 'You don't have to defend me, Theo,' she told him, 'Nikolas is always ready to believe the worst of me. Nevertheless, I still deny he has the right to '

  'I have every right to be angry when arrangements made for your protection are deliberately flouted/ Nikolas told her harshly.

  *I don't need to be protected, Nikolas, I've told you that!'

  His head shook slowly. 'Too much freedom, too

  little guidance, and no experience of men Bah!

  I have need to be angry! And you, brother.' He turned on Theo and his lip curled angrily. *Just two days and you are finding ways to seduce your cousin!'

  *Oh no, Niko!' Bethany reached instinctively and put a hand on his arm to draw his attention back to her. But when she saw the look in his eyes, she drew back hastily. 'Theo brought me to see the old city because I wanted to see it, that's all.'

  Nikolas gazed at her in silence for a moment, then he shook his head slowly. 'Holy Mother I' he breathed

  piously. 'Can you really be such a child?'

  Bethany's gaze darted beyond him to Theo, and she knew that Nikolas was right; Theo had had seduction in mind, and she had known it when she came with him. The reason she had not protested more vigorously when he left Takis at Heracles's, was because she had been reluctant to let Theo see her as too inexperienced and naive to go with him alone.

  Tm old enough to look after myself,' she said in a small voice, then winced at Nikolas's sharp bark of laughter.

  Tortunately for you, I don't agree,' he told her harshly. 'And if you've seen all you wish to see here, I'll drive you back.' It was automatic to glance at Theo, and Nikolas caught the look. 'Theo has to collect Takis when he returns from the football match,' he said, and glanced at his wristwatch, 'If you start now, Theo, you should be in time to meet them as they come out.'

  Theo's handsome features were distorted for a moment in a furious scowl, and he glared at his brother with narrowed eyes. 'I don't see the difference,' he stated clearly and firmly, 'in Bethany being alone with you or with me. If you '

  'I'm exercising the privilege of a guardian,' Nikolas told him, 'and Bethany has no need to fear any action of mine.'

  *I seel' Theo's eyes gleamed maliciously. 'And does Bethany know that you're not quite the paragon of virtue you seem? Does she know of your predilection for beautiful women, or have you omitted to mention that point? Of course,' Theo went on, his thirst for vengeance making him rash, 'you prefer something a little more—sophisticated as a rule, don't you? So maybe she's safe with you after all!'

  Bethany could feel her heart thudding at her ribs as if it would burst free, and the throbbing ache in her left side caught at her breath so that she put a hand to it as she stared aghast at Theo's flushed and angry face. Nikolas's staggering self-control had never been more

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  sorely tried, but still he managed to remain calm, cool even, although his eyes blazed with a fury that made her tremble.

  *I£ you leave right away,' he told Theo in a flat, cold voice, *you should still catch them on the way out/

  Theo hesitated, glanced at Bethany as if he expected her support, then shrugged and turned away. Striding down the slope where the car was parked and leaving her there with Nikolas. There was a burning fury in Nikolas that was almost tangible, and she said nothing to bring his attention back to her, only stood and waited to see what he would do.

  He watched Theo's angrily striding figure until he disappeared lower down the hill, then turned swiftly and caught her looking at him. The colour flooded into her face and she hastily looked away, but she was unprepared for the hand that slid beneath her chin suddenly and raised her face to searching dark eyes.

  'You're shocked?' he asked, and a hint of gentleness in his voice both startled and touched her. 'By what Theo said about me?'

  She wanted to ease away from the firm fingers, but it wasn't as easy as she hoped. Keeping her eyes downcast, she answered him truthfully. *I suppose I am, in a way ,' she confessed, and heard him expel his breath in a sigh of resignation. 'And yet I suppose I shouldn't be,' she added hastily, before he decided that his own belief in her innocence had been confirmed. 'You are a man, after all.'

  There was no one else about, only the cool wind in the trees and the persistent chirping of the crickets in the warm grass, and Nikolas laid his long fingers against her cheek lightly, stroking downward until small shivers ran through her body and she clenched her hands tightly. 'I'm a man,' he agreed softly, and just for a moment a gleam of white teeth teased her for her simplicity. 'And because I am, I'm going to drive you home, just as I told Theo I would. Because I'm not going to give him or anyone else the slightest reason to doubt my suitability as your guardian. Come!'

  APOLLOS DAUGHTER Ql

  'Nikolas '

  *No arguments, please, Bethany!' He took her arm to help her on the steps, his grip reminding her that she had sustained quite a few bruises during her fall. 'Can you manage the climb down?'

  Her face flushed, and feeling resentful of his determination to play the stern guardian, Bethany looked up at him with a glint of challenge in her eyes. 'Suppose I can't?' she asked.

  He said nothing, only came to a halt suddenly and turned to face her on the worn stone steps, regarding her for a moment in a way that made her shake her head slowly from side to side without having the least idea why she did it. Then he bent suddenly and lifted her off her feet and into hjs arms, his hard fingers pressing into the tender spot over her ribs so that she caught her breath.

  'Nikol'

  She clung to him tightly, one arm about his neck as he made his way down the rest of the incline, her heart thudding wildly as she nestled against firm, warm flesh through a thin shirt. His car was parked close by where Theo's had been, and he stood her on her feet while he opened the door, sliding his hand from her waist in a stroking movement that skimmed the curve of her breast.

  The door open, he held it for her, dark eyes watching with gleaming intensity as she stood there, too dazed for the moment to move. 'Get in!' he told her, and slammed the door closed the moment she swung her legs inside. 'And don't ever play those games with Theo, or I will personally see that you get the beating of your life! Do you hear me girl?'

  'I hear you!' Bethany waited until he came round and slid into the seat beside her, uncertain what the emotions were that churned chaotically inside her. She glanced at the dark, slightly Oriental profile and tried to still the sudden almost choking urgency of her heart. As he started the car's engine, she found her voice and her courage and challenged his warning in a

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  small, uncertain voice. 'What I don't understand is why you condemn Theo for behaving as you do.'

  With the engine just ticking over, Nikolas turned and looked at her silently for a moment, then he shook his head. Again giving the impression that he found her naivete hard to believe, 'Not as I do,' he said quietly but firmly. 'Theo would not have resisted the temptation you offered back there, Bethany, that is the difference.' She began to protest that she h
ad not intended any such thing, but then realised just how intentional her provocation had been, and hastily lowered her eyes to the hands on her lap. 'I'm glad you're beginning to realise your own potency,' Nikolas told her. 'But have a care how you use it, little one.' He reached over and squeezed her hand, his strong fingers again arousing that alarming flutter of excitement in her. 'I'll take you home,' he said, and Bethany wished he meant it.

  She suddenly felt very vulnerable and, as she always did at such times, she thought of Apolidus as her haven, even if Papa wasn't there any more. Nikolas did not inspire the same kind of feeling at all.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Apolidus looked so very tiny at a distance, but from the moment it first appeared as a green dot on the ocean Bethany never took her eyes otf it. In a surprisingly short time the summit of its dominating hill loomed hazily against the sky, then white mushroom dots became recognisable as houses. Most of them clustered around the harbour, but two very small isolated farms balanced one either side of the island on the slopes of the hill, while half-way up the hill, overlooking the harbour, the raggle-taggle of buildings where the shifting artist population lived, sprawled in the sunlight.

  Almost hidden by its overgrown gardens and on its own, just beyond the end of the quay, was the house that Bethany had been waiting so anxiously to see. She hoped Nikolas wouldn't notice how misty her eyes were when she caught sight of it, and she felt a little disillusioned with Takis because he showed no sign of sharing her pleasure. Aunt Alexia's feelings were difficult to define, but when Bethany caught her eye for a moment and she smiled, Bethany thought she might be glad to be coming home too.

  She wasn't quite sure by what means she had expected to return, but it had come as a surprise when Nikolas brought them himself in the same swift, luxurious craft he had taken them over in. Taking everything in to account, it was rather odd that she felt glad he had come too. As the buildings on land became more and more recognisable, she felt her heart beating hard and fast with excitement and stood on tiptoe so as not to miss a moment of this homecoming.