by Lindy Corbin
“I don’t like oysters,” she pointed out, trying to control the twitch of her lips.
“Then you can skip the appetizer and go straight for the main course.” As he spoke, one hand slid down the curve of her hip to the hem of her dress and slipped under it while his other arm pulled her snug against his lower body. His long, fabulous fingers skimmed across the roundness of her cheeks to find the strap of the lacy thong he’d selected to match the push-up bra. “You can have it any way you like. It’s your choice.”
With the hard length of his erection pressing into her hip and his fingers sliding into the soft folds of her damp core, she could barely breath, much less think. “What did you say you ordered for my main course?”
“I didn’t say,” he said, his voice low, knowing.
She arched her back as his questing fingers found what he sought, her moan lost in the first scattering of raindrops against the sun shield over their heads. Grasping the lapels of his jacket, she pulled him toward her. “Tell me,” she demanded against the strong column of his throat where his shirt collar was unbuttoned.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like tonight, but I’m beginning to get a pretty good idea.” His breathing seemed to deepen as she began to unfasten the buttons on his shirt.
The soft purr of her dress’s zipper releasing was loud. The draft of cool air along her spine was followed by his warm hands against her back.
“Focus, Niko,” she said gently as the rain began in earnest, drumming against the canvas covering, drawing around them like a fluid gray curtain, shielding them from prying eyes. “The food?”
“Umm, yes. I, umm, requested a second steak and oriental stir-fry. Whichever you don’t eat, we’ll have as a midnight snack.”
The thought that they’d still be awake at midnight sent the blood throbbing through her veins. The man was incredible. Every sexy, sultry dream she’d ever had come true. “What comes after the main course?”
He lifted his arms away from her for mere seconds to allow her space to pull his shirt from the band of his slacks then his hands were back, hard and urgent, sliding the straps of her dress down so that it pooled in a shining puddle at her feet. Lightning flashed, illuminated his face for a brief moment, exposing his need that seemed as natural and uncontrolled as the elements that surrounded them. “Chocolate cake.”
She skimmed her palms around his bare torso, pulling him with her as she tipped backward onto the padded sunbathing recliner. He caught himself on his elbows, shifting so that he could cradle her face with a tenderness that made the tears lingering in the back of her throat threaten again. She sighed against his mouth as she opened to his kiss. “Perfect.”
*
Days passed in a blur of activity by day and Niko by night. During the day, he was a charming companion, anxious to show her the islands. They didn’t take the yacht out because they were short on crew, but borrowed jet skis from the resort and wave-jumped until Kara’s arms ached from holding on to the handles. Lunch was a picnic on the beach or hamburgers cooked by staff members on grills located next to the swimming pools. In the huge water park, they floated lazily in rafts on the man-made river. At night, they tried their luck in the casino, although Kara admitted to being more impressed with its stunning glass artwork than interested in games of chance. When they were alone, Niko was warm, considerate and always temptingly passionate.
As the week progressed, however, there was something in his expression that disturbed her. Some bleak undertone to his words and actions that left her feeling that he was gripped in the memory of a recurring nightmare. At times, she’d catch him watching her with that smoked blue gaze shuttered by his lashes and wonder what made him look so desolate. Finally, she’d had enough. “You need to talk to me.”
It was mid-afternoon and the heat was rising in lazy waves from the black hull of the yacht. The air was crystal clear, the sky cloudless as it had been all day. They were lying side by side on one of the huge recliners under the shelter of the sun canopy on the fly deck, hoping to catch a stray breeze or two to alleviate the intense temperature. She rolled to her side, propped on one elbow and surveyed him from behind dark sunglasses. He lay on his back, dressed only in a pair of navy swim shorts.
“I’ve done nothing but talk for days,” he said, his tone drowsy. “You know more about me than my mother.”
She made an unattractive sound in her throat then placed one palm carefully against his chest to gain his attention. Leaning over him, her breasts pressed against the hardness of his ribs, she saw her reflection in the silvered lenses of his sunglasses. “Movies, favorite foods, but not the important things. I want to know what makes you sad.”
His lips pursed for a moment as if he were considering the question. “Homeless puppies, not getting what I want for Christmas and running out of coffee beans for my favorite espresso.”
Kara slapped him playfully on the chest. “No, really.”
When he didn’t respond, she prompted him again. “Is it because the Defense Force delivered our passports this morning?” The investigation had concluded. They’d said the culprits were impossible to locate at this time. In case any of the suspected pirates were ever picked up for another reason, they’d kept the security camera’s tapes as evidence. Kara had shuddered at the thought of ever viewing the tapes again or being asked to testify at some future court hearing.
Silence stretched between them. She felt his chest expand in a deep inhalation. He released it then spoke. “The new sliding doors have arrived.”
Her teeth clenched down on an automatic protest. It was nearly the end of the week, yes, and she was expected back at work on Monday. Still, she’d thought they would have the weekend together. A slow trip back to Sanibel, sweet goodbye kisses.
Her father and Elaina were still there, as they had planned to spend a few days alone on the island after the other guests left. They were flying home together on Sunday.
“Eduardo has gone to meet with the contractor who will install the doors. They’ve picked the boxes up at the airport and will mount them this afternoon.”
“Then we leave.”
It wasn’t a question. He had obligations, a family company that he helped to run. He’d shielded her from his work, but there had been calls on his cell phone that he’d had to take and a meeting he’d attended by video conference, using the hotel facilities.
He nodded his agreement. “The ship will depart this evening, as soon as the repairs are completed.”
“You should have told me.” She could have mentally prepared herself to tell him goodbye. Perhaps then, she wouldn’t feel this deep ache that had started in the middle of her chest and threatened to spread to every cell in her body. It hurt so much that she had trouble taking a breath.
He shrugged, that casual flick of the shoulders that she now knew could mean anything. A lack of care, agreement or disagreement, but without the need to argue. “I’m sorry, Kara, but you knew it had to end.”
“Yes, yes, I suppose it does.” The words were soft and tentative.
*Niko pulled her hand from his chest and kissed each finger slowly, memorizing the feel of her skin with his lips. Not that he thought he’d ever forget. He kept a loose clasp on her hand as he lowered it back to his chest. “You know it does. My home is in Greece and you live in New York. We can’t change that.”
When she started to speak, he reached with his other hand to place a gentle finger against her lips. “And you will not want to, once you get home and things are back to normal. This will be just a memory, a pleasant little holiday that you once had.”
She pushed his finger away. “How can you be sure?”
“It is the way these things work. You and I are no different than thousands of other couples who met on a cruise ship or at a resort this week. The real world has its claws in deep and is dragging us back to reality, whether we want to go or not.”
She rolled to her back, staring up at the sun screen over their head. For a moment, he th
ought she was going to give in quietly, admit he was right, but there was a strength inside her that wouldn’t allow it. Sitting up, she turned to face him, her legs crossed under her. She reached to pull her long hair over one shoulder to cool her neck. He couldn’t see her eyes for the dark glasses, but he recognized the determined tilt of her chin. “Tell me about her.”
His heart began to thump heavily in his chest. He didn’t talk about Jessica. Not ever. He pretended to misunderstand, simply quirking an eyebrow in inquiry.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Niko.” Her voice was hard, but with a frayed edge that tore at his heartstrings. “What happened? You made plans to meet after you got home and she never showed?”
He sighed, raising his hands in supplication to the heavens for help before he let them fall back to his sides. The deities would not aid him in dealing with this woman. Most likely, they’d sent her to cause him grief. And enormous pleasure. Letting her go was going to be one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He was only glad that memories of her would be tied to the yacht and Nassau, not to his apartment in Athens. There he could survive without smelling her lingering perfume, sensing her presence, enduring the crushing disappointment when he turned and she wasn’t there. “It wasn’t like that.”
She poked him in the chest with one sharp fingernail. “Admit it. There was another woman and you’re using what happened with her to judge me. I won’t have it. I am not like that woman.”
“Yes, you are.” His tone was sharp, much firmer than he’d intended.
The words hung in the air between them and he saw the tension in her body as she struggled to grasp his meaning. He reached to wrap one long strand of her hair around his finger then released it, watching it hold the curl for a few seconds before falling back onto her shoulder. It was time to tell her about his wife.
“I met Jessica at a nightclub in South Beach several years ago. She was attractive. Fun. We ended up back at my place.”
He risked a glance at her face, wondering if she were as jealous about his past loves as he was of Frank. Her lips were a firm line, but she didn’t interrupt. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to continue. “I didn’t know it at the time, but she was taking anti-depressants and perhaps other things as well. I was a little too drunk to ask the right questions and she was too messed up to give me a straight answer. She told me she was using birth control and I believed her. A few weeks later, she showed up at my door. Pregnant.”
“Oh, Niko,” she breathed.
Now he was grateful for the dark sunglasses that blocked her gaze from his view. He couldn’t bear to see the same condemnation there that he’d faced from his friends and relatives. Even more so from himself. “I couldn’t allow my child to be born without my name, so we married.” His laugh was grim. “The honeymoon was over before the signatures were dry on the marriage license.”
His voice dropped to a lower tone as he fell deeper into the memory. “Poor Jessica. She didn’t want to be pregnant, and she was so sick the first trimester. After that first few months, she lost all interest in me.” His lips quirked in a deprecating grin. “Not just sexually. I could have handled that; blamed it on the difficult pregnancy. She became withdrawn, obviously miserable. The only conversations we had revolved around the baby, the nursery, or hospital plans.”
“How did you handle it?”
He wondered at the soft, almost hushed sound of her voice. She didn’t appear upset or angry as he’d expected, but offered something deeper and more gentle. Concern? Sympathy? “I was worried about her and the child, of course, but excited too. It wasn’t the way I would have chosen to start a family, but it was my family. My little girl.”
“Was the baby….” she trailed off as if she couldn’t voice the words.
“She was beautiful. A little early, but a good weight, healthy, all ten fingers and toes.”
She was silent, waiting, barely breathing. He searched desperately for a way to explain without exposing the extent of the blow that he’d felt at the moment of the baby’s birth. There was nothing to be said but the truth.
“She was also racially mixed.”
He felt her jolt of surprise before she reached to touch his hand. “How could you be sure?”
He made an abrupt gesture. “Jessica’s family was German. She is a tall, big-boned blonde with blue eyes. Her child appeared African-American.”
She shoved her glasses up on her head with a shaky jerk. “She lied to you?”
He shook his head and sat up, pulling her against his chest. He badly needed to feel her against him.
“When she saw the child, she had a complete breakdown, right there in the delivery room. It was one of the worst moments of my life.”
Kara uncrossed her legs, draping them over his to scoot closer to him. He buried his face against her neck, breathing deeply of her sweet, special scent. “She’d been in a long-term relationship just before we met; hence, the anti-depressants. She was also pregnant when we met, but never suspected it. Until she saw the child.”
“You’re sure? She didn’t trap you in marriage deliberately?”
“I’m sure,” he said with calm acceptance. “Not that it matters. She never cared for me. She was in love with the father of her child and that’s not something you can recover from in a few days or months.” With stunned gratitude, he realized that the words no longer had the power to hurt him. “We divorced immediately and Jessica reunited with the child’s father. I understand they’re happy.”
“I’m so sorry, Niko.”
He leaned back, his gaze on her face. All he read there was empathy. Women were truly amazing creatures, capable of so much warmth and compassion. It made it even harder to say the words that he must. “I was a rebound relationship for her. Good to bolster her ego for a few hours, but never meant to be permanent.”
“Just like me.” The statement was low and sharp as if shards of glass ripped her throat as she spoke.
“Exactly.”
*
The word was flat, echoing with a finality that Kara refused to accept. Her fingers tightened on the skin across his ribs. She wouldn’t let him go like this.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, Niko. You and I, we’re different people. We’re good together. Don’t throw it away.”
“It’s not going to happen, Kara. I won’t be involved in a relationship with you.”
She wished he’d raise his sunglasses so she could see his eyes. She lifted her chin, determined to make him understand. “You are involved.”
“Don’t fool yourself, glykia mou. What we’ve had was quite pleasurable, but it’s over.”
Pleasurable. The word felt like a slap in the face. She reached to tug his sunglasses from his face, tossing them onto the teak deck. “Look me in the eye and tell me I was nothing but a holiday fling to you.”
He clasped his warm palms on each side of her cheeks, starring into her eyes. “I will forever cherish every moment that I’ve had with you, but you love Frank.”
“I–”
“Don’t deny it.” His voice was low and rough. “You told me so yourself that afternoon in Key West.”
She wanted to find words to refute it but couldn’t. It wasn’t possible that she could have been so in love with Frank last week, looking forward to spending the rest of her life with him and today she felt nothing. That would show a lack of depth to her own personality that she couldn’t believe of herself.
“It has taken me years to mend from my failed marriage.” His words were slow and deliberate. “It would be unkind of you to keep me dangling on a string for months or maybe years waiting for you to recover. Be fair to us both and end it here.”
Her mind screamed out against the truth of what he’d said, but she couldn’t form the words. She’d had the same thoughts herself. It was ridiculous to imagine that she had fallen in love with Niko so quickly. True, they shared a connection that was much deeper than her relationship with Frank had ever been, but it couldn’t be eno
ugh to form a lasting attachment. She had to be fooling herself. Rolling on a rebound high was the term she’d heard to describe it. And what an incredible high it was. He deserved better than that, but with his hands cupping her face and the warmth of his body heating her skin, she couldn’t let him go. She needed him with a desperation that she’d never felt for anyone else.
“You told me once that you wanted me so badly you were beyond caring what was fair. You’d want me even if I cried out Frank’s name when we made love,” she said low and urgently. “I don’t believe you’ve changed so much in the last few days.”
His eyes darkened to the navy of storm-tossed seas. “I lied. I would have killed him with my bare hands had you called his name, then I would have found a way to give you so much pleasure that it would never happen again.”
“You’re jealous,” she said triumphantly. “You want me!”
She leaned against the pressure of his hands on her face, drawn toward the fullness of his lips. The thrill of victory coursed through her veins for a brief moment as he allowed the touch, then he sighed against her mouth and raised his head. Dropping his hands from her face, he untangled his legs from hers and stood. Bending to pick up his sunglasses from the deck where she’d thrown them, he placed them back over his eyes as he stepped to the railing.
She swung to place her feet on the floor, longing to follow him, but something in his tense stance held her where she was. His back was to her, his gaze fixed across the resort grounds on the tall coral-colored towers of the hotel. She stood slowly, the beaded ankle bracelet she’d never removed brushing against the opposite ankle.
“What about the anklet?”
He turned slightly at that, leaning against the teak wood that topped the guardrail. “It was a gift, a small memento of your day in Key West.”
“Eduardo told me that, in some cultures, the bracelet is a symbol of marriage.”
He shrugged, his gaze not quite meeting hers. “Perhaps, but the ancient Greeks awarded bracelets to returning war heroes as a symbol of valor. I suppose I was thinking of that when I bought it. I was impressed by how well you held up that day. Most women would have been to pieces.”
