by Lacuna Reid
“Come, follow me.”
As Gino turns to leave, I get a whiff of his cologne. It’s clearly expensive: musky, with hints of lemon, pine and elderflower. Yum.
I follow him out of my room and down one flight of stairs, and then across an enclosed bridge joining the silos to the main building. I look out over El Cielo, enjoying the magical view. Gino turns and smiles at me as I slow my pace. He slips one arm around my waist. It’s a casual gesture but also intimate… it takes my breath away, but it feels so right.
We pause, looking out across at the cement silos covered in vines, below at the lush courtyard, and up towards the forest.
I lean toward Gino, inhaling his delicious scent, and find his other arm wrapped around me too. Arousal is building inside me, humming through me. I enjoy the warm feeling, like sunshine inside, spreading right out to my fingertips.
Gino sighs, “Oh… Mira.” He kisses the top of my head and then steps back.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to have you here.”
The familiarity in his voice is jarring. It’s as if he actually thinks we are old friends, or reunited lovers… yet, we’ve only just met.
Gino stutters, seeing the confusion in my expression.
“Coffee?” I say, not really feeling as if my brain is fully functioning yet.
“Of course.”
Gino keeps his arm around me, leading me to a large metal door. It’s unusual, amid the more classical looking design of the rest of El Cielo.
“Security reasons,” he says, putting in a passcode. The door opens, and Gino leads me down a hallway. I catch a glimpse of a room as we pass, full of computer monitors. He opens a red door to reveal a modern apartment. It’s all white and grey with splashes of bright primary colors and square edges in contrast to the usual design style of El Cielo, which is mostly crème and brass and tan and green.
“It’s… different,” I say.
“I wanted to make my space a bit different from Theo’s. It can get a bit claustrophobic living inside someone else’s architectural masterpiece.” Gino laughs, and I join in.
Tell me about it… I think to myself. When I was with Cliff, my whole life was inside his design. Claustrophobic is exactly the right word for it.
Gino leads me over to the state-of-the-art kitchen with an exquisite copper espresso machine. It looks like it would cost more than what I used to make in a year.
“How do you like your coffee?” Gino asks.
“Latte, extra hot,” I smile.
“I like a girl who knows what she wants,” Gino says, giving me a look that sends a hundred shivers through my body right to my fingertips.
“Take a seat.” He gestures out to a balcony, where a scandi-minimalist wooden table and chairs sit overlooking the forest. I go out and lean against the railings, wondering if he’s watching me. I look out at the gorgeous view feeling incredible just to be here… how is this my life?
For so long, everything has been a struggle, and now this…
“Voila!” Gino says, producing a latte in a large glass for me, and a tiny cup of espresso for himself. He sets both down on the table. The tiny cup has the effect of making him look even taller than he is.
I smile and sip my latte. It’s good. Possibly the best coffee I’ve ever had.
This is heaven.
“I’m curious, Mira…” Gino says, reaching over and stroking a stray strand of hair from my face.
“I like that about you,” I say, wanting to return his compliment from earlier.
Gino’s smiles; mischievous, sensuous, delicious. The look he is giving me is melting what’s left of my self-control.
“You like that I’m curious? How so?” he asks.
“You asked for my favorite word when we first met…”
“Quince,” Gino says, raising his hand to his chin, thoughtfully.
“Petrichor,” I say in response… This feels like something special between us, something private we share even though it’s just a simple exchange of words.
“Anyway – I interrupted you,” I say, forcing my attention back towards the stunning view and away from the stunning man who has invited me here to share it and made me coffee…
“What are you curious about now?” I ask.
Gino clasps his hands together and looks at me intently.
“What is it you are learning about in your life at the moment?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have this theory – this belief – that we are all here in our lives to learn things… lessons,” Gino says.
“And that’s the meaning of life?” I ask, leaning slightly closer, wanting to close the distance between, to climb on top of Gino right now and show him exactly what I want to be learning about… but I hold myself back, trying to maintain my professionalism.
“A meaning, yes,” Gino leans towards me, his green eyes and the notes of blonde in his hair gleam in the sunlight.
I want more than ever to dive into him and forget everything else but I try to focus on his question instead… What am I learning?
“I don’t know. Things were hard.” I sigh. “Before you offered me this job, I was really struggling.”
Gino nods.
A wave of guilt overtakes me as I remember the “relocation costs” that Gino paid me when, really, I had nothing to move. I consider holding back, but something tells me I need to clear the air. I hate secrets.
“Gino, you paid me $5000 in relocation costs and you bought my air fare. I didn’t have any furniture to move or anything…”
Gino raises his eyebrows.
I look down at the ground, and brace myself to confess.
“I was just in so much debt. I still am, but it’s mostly my student loans… I’ll pay you back. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t give it another thought, Mira,” Gino says. “We wanted you here at short notice, if the fee we paid went some way to easing your debt, then I have no qualms about you keeping it.”
Did he really just give me $5000 of free money?
“Okay…” I breathe deeply. “I’m confused, and I still feel like I should pay you back… actually that might be what I’m learning about.”
“Hmm?” Gino says, raising his left eyebrow.
“My best friend Lana always says I have to face things – you know, face reality, stop running away. Maybe that’s what I’m doing? I just felt like I should be honest with you, since you’ve given me so much… and I didn’t want it to come back to haunt me.”
“Lana sounds very wise.” Gino smiles.
“She certainly thinks so.” I laugh.
I continue to sip my coffee, listening to Gino chat about El Cielo, and how it evolved over time, and the role each of the guys played.
“It’s a partnership – five ways. Theo, Elias, Helio, and I. We have a silent partner who invested early on. He doesn’t have much to do with it.”
Something about the “silent partner” makes me feel uncomfortable, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I want to be the fifth partner… but of course, that’s ridiculous. I’ve barely been here five minutes and I already want to be running the place.
I finish my coffee, and Gino says he has business to attend to. I stand to go, and he pulls me into a long slow hug. I’m so tempted to lean just that little bit further into him, so tempted to reach up and kiss him… but I restrain myself. Keep your hands to yourself, Mira… if you want to keep this perfect job in paradise.
Gino pulls away and looks me in the eyes.
“You feel it, don’t you? The connection between us?”
I nod, inhaling his musky floral scent.
“It’s real, Mira,” he smiles and pulls me close again.
I let myself collapse against him just a little, let myself linger there for longer than a usual hug, and sure enough, I feel the tingle of Gino’s kisses on my neck. His fine stubble and soft lips send a flame shooting up through my body.
Gino pulls back again.
; “I’m sorry,” he says, but looking into those forest green eyes, into that face, so smooth and symmetrical that he should really be a model; into that expression of deep curiosity and desire… I’m not sorry.
I lean up and kiss him. A flame burns through me, and I want nothing more than to tear away his expensive clothes and find out who he really is but I can tell he’s holding back. Everything about Gino, from his dress sense to his kiss, is refined, elegant, and gorgeous.
“Thank you,” I say. He raises his left eyebrow in question. It does seem an odd thing to say over a kiss. I blush… but I do feel grateful… and Gino has brought me much more than just a kiss. “Thank you… for everything,” I add and then walk out of there as soon as possible before I can embarrass myself any further.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mya
“The sacred rite of the Spring festival of Thargelia falls on the next new moon,” Alesia says. “The ceremony brings the favor of the gods, to bless the harvest of our surrounding lands this year. It is a chance to commune with the God and Goddess in their highest capacity,”
I give her a blank look.
“Every temple, every part of Greece, has its own customs. On this new moon, our custom is to give our bodies over to the divine feminine and masculine that descends into all the gods and goddesses.”
“Isn’t that heresy?” I ask, “to treat the gods, as if they are just representations of some other divine source?”
Alesia smiled at me with her sad eyes. “If you think that’s heresy, wait until you hear what is involved in the ritual.”
I lie in bed that night thinking about it – how all the priests and priestesses, and even the head eunuch, are bathed and anointed in oils and then cleansed again in sacred incense. Then, they are guided by divinity itself... Alesia was not specific about the act itself: The Great Rite. She explained that a priest and priestess would give themselves over to the pleasure of the great God and Goddess; she said it would be different depending on the sign of the moon.
“Do they all participate?” I ask Alesia the next day.
“No.”
“Oh – then do the others watch?!”
“No, the others are blindfolded. They may chant to keep their focus on the divine.”
“I thought the priests and priestesses were meant to be celibate – aren’t we meant to be virginal? To give our minds and bodies over to the service of the gods?”
“You must not take the crudest meaning of those terms, Mya. Artemis is a virgin goddess who has many lovers – her handmaidens, the nymphs, and of course Orion. Being a virgin means she does not submit to any man – she does not belong to Orion, she cannot marry. Her body is wholly hers alone, to do with as she pleases.”
“So, you’re saying that this sex in the temple does not take away virginity.”
“Mya, those who are chosen submit themselves to the divine God and Goddess to enact their love for all creation. They are not simply mortal, in that moment.”
“Who chooses?” I ask, trying to sound casually curious but it’s obvious that I’m dying to know.
“Sometimes, the High Priest seeks advice from the oracle. Sometimes, he simply meditates, and decides based on the will of the great God. Traditionally, it has often been one of my duties as High Priestess,” she says with that sad smile again. “But you are new, and I can tell Amedes likes you. There is a connection between you two. I can feel it.”
I shrug.
“Soul connections make for the best sacred sex,” Alesia continues.
“Why does the priest choose? If this is the temple of Artemis, why is it not the high priestess?”
“Artemis is our patron goddess; however, we must honor all the gods and goddesses. As you know, we are the only temple in this town and on this sacred new moon we honor the divine energies in their purest forms.”
I try not to seem too excited, but my blood is racing so fast in my veins I can feel it thudding in my ears.
“Alesia,” I say. “What is it that makes you so sad?”
Alesia sighs. “It is none of your concern, Mya.”
“But it affects you.”
“I was in love,” she says. “And love is not for priestesses.”
There is a note of warning in her voice that I know is genuine, but I cannot bear to listen.
Later that night, I imagine being chosen to take the role of the goddess, to lie on the altar in the center of the temple. I imagine Amedes approaching, imagine him disrobing slowly, embodying the great God, the feel of his hands on my body…
The thought is enough to send shivers through me that I didn’t want to do anything about in a room of sleeping priestesses.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mira
“Hello?”
Lana’s face swims into view on my phone screen.
“Hey!” It’s so good to see her.
“So, you’ve finally figured out the time zones?” she asks.
“Something like that. I figured I have to call you before you go to work or on the weekends; otherwise one of us is bound to be asleep. It’s currently midday here.”
“Great,” Lana says. “Now, you have twenty minutes before I catch my train to show me around this paradise that you’ve somehow landed your lucky ass in.”
“This is my room,” I say, panning my phone around so she can see. “Or should I say ‘living quarters’?” I put on a silly posh accent.
“Very nice, very nice!” Lana imitates my fake accent. “Wait, check out that four poster bed! It’s like a fancy hotel suite!”
“I know. It’s perfect.”
I walk out to the balcony and show her the view.
“Oh, my goodness, Mira. How the hell did this happen? When can we come to visit?!”
“I don’t know how it happened, Lana, and I’m not sure when you can come to visit, maybe after I’ve settled in a bit? My contract is for a year, so there’s plenty of time.”
“And you’re sure it’s not a cult?”
“Definitely not a cult, but it’s strange… I get the feeling like I’ve been here before, like I’ve known them… the owners… before.”
“Those hot guys on the website. Ooooh, tell me which one you’re hooking up with. No let me guess, Gino from the bar?”
I think of Gino and a tingle of desire starts at my waist, moving down.
“You’re blushing!”
“I am not!”
“So, it is Gino!”
“Well… that’s the thing,” I say, lowering my voice even though no one else is around. “I do like Gino… but I also feel a connection with Theo and…”
“Ooh – the architect! He’s older than you’d usually go for but in a really sexy way.”
“Lana!”
“What? I’m being supportive of your new interests.”
We both laugh.
“And there’s someone else,” I confide. “Elias. He runs the kitchens. Although apparently, he’s trained as a chemist and does a bunch of other stuff. He’s the sweetest man I’ve ever met, and he has these gorgeous blue eyes and black hair… oh, and did I mention, he’s Greek?”
“He sounds like a total babe. Wait, you’re making it sound like you’re in love with every man there.”
“Not in love,” I say even though my denial feels like some kind of lie. “And that’s just three.”
“Just three!”
“Yes, the other owner is a total douchebag.”
“Wait a minute.” I can tell Lana is typing. “Ooh yes, Helio!”
“You’ve looked them up again!”
“Three words: What. A. Stud.”
“Lana!”
“Honey, he looks like he’s the wild-man model in a men’s fashion magazine – that long hair… oooh, I bet he’s ripped.”
“He is,” I say darkly.
“Sounds like sexual tension.”
“Lana!”
“Oh, okay, fine, he’s a douche, I get it. So, which one are you hooking up with…
or which one are you going to be…?”
“None of them!” I insist. “They are my employers.”
“I can tell you’re lying.”
“Well… I may have kissed Theo…” I don’t mention that I kissed Gino too because I still haven’t quite come to terms with that one yet… I mean, it was so elegant and sweet and I almost wonder whether it was just a normal European thing to kiss a friend. Nothing has changed between us, at least, unlike Theo, who seems to be avoiding me like the plague… If only I wasn’t so attracted to emotionally unavailable men.
“See! I knew it!” Lana says.
“I don’t think so – it was a one-off thing, a slip. I can’t just do that. It’s definitely not the way to keep my dream job.”
“Fair enough. What else is going on? How’s work?”
“Not much has happened yet, it’s only been a few days. I’ve only cooked one meal… but you know what’s strange? I keep having the Ancient Greek dreams. It’s almost, as if they are connected to this place… like my subconscious mind is trying to tell me something.”
“Like maybe it’s trying to tell you to sleep with that hot Greek chef?”
“Lana!”
“Hey, let me have some fun. You know I’ve been happily coupled for years and I’m just trying to live vicariously through you.”
“Fine,” I say, smiling. And something inside me wonders if she’s right – if the dreams are telling me that this connection I feel with the guys is bigger, deeper, and stronger than I could even imagine.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mira
A few days pass and I’m busy in the kitchen a lot of the time. “When Gino is around, there are always more functions,” Elias explains.
Fortunately, the kitchen helpers are all extremely competent, as is Calista, the kitchen matron, who is both sweet and kind, and hard as nails. We cook for a group of diplomats, some visiting entrepreneurs, and a couple of apparently famous Italian actors here on retreat.
Despite his obvious presence in El Cielo, Theo manages to avoid me as much as possible. I barely see him and when I pass him on the stairs, he nods politely and then avoids eye contact. At first, I think it’s just awkwardness from our kiss, but after a few days I realize that Theo probably has more important things to think about – the ‘moment’ we shared was just a minor inconvenience, a blip on his radar, and he’s now moved on to bigger and more important things while I can’t stop thinking about him.
