Bleeding Heart (12 page)

Chapter 11

Calix and I had toured the bustling city of white and sienna for what felt like forever - and I still hadn’t had enough. The air was different. It was warm and wet and salty. Strong scents of smoke warred with the stifling scent of diesel throughout the streets. Every now and again, I would catch the fresh scent of jasmine that made me pause in place, nearly desperate to catch the scent again - and capture it. It was sweet.

We’d passed numerous restaurants and unlike at home, I could smell the food being prepared within the building on the street. Warm spices wafted in the air, and my belly growled in hunger my eyes refused to allow me to satisfy. There was just so much to see, I couldn’t find it within me to take the time to eat. However, waves of garlic and oregano tickled my senses with every passing of a restaurant and I remembered, from my extensive research on Greek life, that both garlic and oregano were staples. I didn’t hesitate to share this fact with Calix as we walked, hand in hand, along the streets and walkways. When he mentioned the stifling scent of diesel, I also informed him that for the most part, the Greeks used diesel-fueled transportation.

I babbled on and on about the Gods and the interesting mythology that surrounded the culture. I informed him, with no lacking of exuberance, of the places I longed to see - Acropolis where both the Parthenon Temple and Athena Nike Temple stood. I also ached to see the Temple of Hephaestus, which incidentally, is the best preserved of the ancient temples in Athens, most likely owed to the fact that in the seventh century it had been converted to a church.

There was so much I desperately wanted to do and see and experience and I wanted to do it all in this minute. My eyes were everywhere. I couldn’t stop my head from bobbing up and down as I studied the stone of he buildings, memorizing their weathered lines and colored windowsills. Everything appeared to be an undecided mix of old and new, but I appreciated the abundance of colors and white.

Calix squeezed my hand and I stopped speaking my thoughts aloud to glance up at him. He wore a look of complete fascination and amusement on his face as he peered down into mine.

“Hmm?” I asked, stunned by his interruption and the many things I still had to tell him about this amazing city, the mythology, and the culture. Oh, there was just so much passion inside of me to teach all I had learned.

“I think we should eat something, love. We’ll need to retire for the night within the next couple of hours.” His tone was gentle and I was certain it was because of the look of utter heartbreak that settled into my features at the words
retire for the night
. There was still so much to see.

“Oh,” I nodded. “Okay.”

Calix chuckled, pulling me into his side. “Where did you learn so much about Athens?”

“Um,” I paused. “The internet.”

“All this from the internet?” He raised a speculative brow at me.

“Pretty much.” I shrugged. “It started when my mom’s friend and her daughter, who was a year older than me, came to stay with us over the Christmas break. They lived in Alberta and Gemma, her daughter, brought her Greek textbook with her. I was in grade five and she was in grade six. I’ve loved Greece ever since.”

“And being the nerd that you are, you read the entire thing.” Calix guessed.

I blushed. “Being the
bookworm
I am,” I enunciated the word bookworm before continuing quickly, sheepishly. “I read the book cover to cover.”

Calix laughed and I felt my eyes fasten to him with just as much interest as I would stare at the Temple of Athena Nike. He really was beautiful. But when he threw his head back, like that, and laughed. He was freaking amazing, breath-robbing, heart-stopping beautiful. And he was mine. Calix McKnight was mine - my husband. And I was his.

He led me into a restaurant that read
Aleria
over the door. We were lead to a patio table where plants and vines hung over the walls and in enormous stone pots. The chairs we occupied were cushion-topped wicker and they were a quaint kind of comfortable. I talked more about Greece over dinner, the places I thought Calix would like to see and the places I thought would irritate him - such as the famous Parthenon Temple, which stood upon Acropolis.

At this, Calix cocked his head to the side. “Why would this temple irritate me?”

“Well,” I scrunched my nose. “It’s incredibly busy. It’s one of the largest tourist attractions that apparently, isn’t very peaceful.”

He nodded. “I think you’re right.”

“About?”

“It certainly does sound irritating.”

I breathed whimsically. “But so worth it.”

His eyes heated at my breathy sigh and I took a sip of my red wine as I glanced down into my empty dish. I’d finished my entire bowl of pasta - which told how hungry I really had been.

Calix spoke and his voice was thick. “If it’s something you really want to see, then we’ll go.”

I felt butterflies swirl in my stomach and I wondered if it was from the wine, or the way Calix’s eyes were settled on me. Again, I felt my skin heat and my heart raced.

Gaining my bearings, I nodded. “I do. Um, it is - I’d really like to see the Parthenon Temple.” Needing to keep the conversation flowing between us, I asked. “We should go early in the morning - when we do visit.”

Catching on to my need to keep conversation, Calix humored me. “Why?”

“It’s uncomfortably crowded and hot by mid morning. By noon, it’s just - it’s almost not worth it.”

His lips curled and I tried to measure my breaths - we were finished dinner - that meant we would be soon retiring for he night. Oh God, which hotel would we be staying in? Oh my Gods,
yes Gods
, I was in Greece, I could talk to them all here. And that meant I could pray to them all as well - holy shit! What would we do in the room tonight?

“Then we’ll go early in the morning when we go to see this Temple.” Calix interrupted my internal panic and I stared, stunned at him. I couldn’t even muster a squeak much less an actual
word
. As though sensing this, Calix leaned into the table. “You alright, love?”

“Hmm?” I smiled forcedly and Calix frowned. His brows pulled together as he stared down into his lap before I saw his phone appear.

Placing the phone against his ear, I vaguely heard him rattle off the name of the restaurant before he hung up. “We’ll be heading in for the night soon, love. I can see you’re exhausted.”

I nodded - because it was true. I was exhausted. Very exhausted. Too exhausted, in fact, to experience any sort of funny business. Oh hell, even the thought of funny business had my belly aching in anticipated excitement and fear. I was conflicted. There was no doubt, I was sitting on the middle of the fence and I just didn’t know which way I was supposed to lean toward. Did every woman, when faced with the first night of her honeymoon, face the fear I was feeling inside at the thought of losing the part of me I had held so dear for so long?

I suspected they did. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t care, and they would never have held on so long.

For me, I waited for a prince. What I had was more of a dark knight, yet in spite of all his imperfections I wanted him. I wanted him with every fiber of my being - I wanted to know him in every way, and I wanted to give myself to him - a gift I prayed he forever cherished. Calix wasn’t a prince of light, but in my mind he was still a prince - he was still everything I held out for.

He was a dark prince and like so many other wounded men, his armor was black. When he swept me off my feet, he didn’t woo, but rather forced me to accept his suffocating strength. The man I loved, the man I knew I would give my everything to, was not a man of light and noble action. He was a man who had allowed a darkness to seep inside his soul, a need for revenge festered and brewed until that very darkness became the man himself - and now he owned me. But I was light. My soul hadn’t been tainted by the damaging need for revenge and my quest was no other than love. Even the most tainted of waters could be filtered by something pure. I prayed, with all my heart and soul that I could be the filter that purified Calix’s dark soul. I prayed I could fight the demons of his shadows with the grace of my light - that I could heal his scars with a gentle touch. I wanted to be this for him. I wanted to be everything for him. I knew my reasons for this were dangerous, but when the heart wants - it wants. My heart wants Calix - prince of light or not - he’s mine.

Lifting my eyes to meet the curious light of his blue irises, I confirmed. “I am exhausted.”

***

Calix had paid and tipped the waitress generously before leading me from the restaurant with a firm hand on the small of my back where the material opened from the crisscross over my back.

Now, we were in the back of a small black sedan with tinted windows and a man I didn’t recognize was driving. It was clear he knew Calix, although I didn’t think Calix had been to Greece before. He also didn’t introduce me to the man, so I didn’t ask. Instead, I pressed my face to the glass and watched as the sights passed me by. We were driving toward the water and I wondered which grand hotel Calix had booked us a room in. I knew, that whichever one he booked, it would be grand. And I mean - grand. The man had a freaking private plane for goodness sakes!

Feeling stunned still by the extravagance of our travel, I thought, not for the first time, about his house and land back in the Alberta Rockies. I figured it was a pricy chunk of land and house, but I hadn’t thought he had as much money as he obviously had. I mean, how rich did one have to be to own a private plane?

I didn’t know the answer to that question. It boggled my mind - the idea of my being married to a man so obscenely wealthy. Actually, it made me sort of uncomfortable and I decided I didn’t want to know the level of wealth my new husband held. If my mind couldn’t fathom him owning a plane, I doubted I would be able to fathom the millionaire, or worse yet, billionaire title.

Yes, I was most definitely better not knowing.
When that decision was final, I found myself feeling excited by the space we were traveling, getting nearer and nearer to the water. I loved water. I was excited that Calix had chosen to spend our stay in a hotel near the beach. It would be not only beautiful, but also relaxing.

In all my studies of Greece, I had never looked up a hotel - so I was utterly clueless when it came to the ones available. My confusion skyrocketed when the car bypassed every hotel I could see, driving down to the marina. I had a mini vision of being murdered and then dumped in the water by our driver, but Calix was sitting beside me as though he expected this, so I nestled in closer to him before settling back into the seat. Surely, if Calix wasn’t questioning the man, then he was driving us to the right place?

Noticing my unease, Calix curled one arm around my shoulder before moving his other hand to rest on my thigh beneath the skirt of my dress. If I wasn’t so concentrated on our whereabouts, I might have blushed at the feel of his hand there on my thigh - in a public-ish place. The car was a public place, wasn’t it? I mean, there was a man in the driver’s seat only a few feet away from us - that did constitute, in my mind, as public.

Leaning into Calix, I asked in a whispered breath. “Do you know where he’s taking us?”

His lips curled up at the corners. “You can calm your imagination, love. I know exactly where we’re going.”

I narrowed my eyes and muttered under my breath. “Calm my imagination.”

Calix’s body shook beside mine and feeling in a huff, I made to move away from him, but he held me tight against his side. “I don’t think so, Nova. You can stay right where you are.”

“Calix,” I hiss-whined.

He settled determined eyes on my face and I knew there was nothing I could do to untangle myself from his arms. So I didn’t try. Instead, I folded my arms over my chest and harrumphed. Again, he chuckled quietly.

My attention shifted to the driver as the car came to a stop. The sky had turned dark at least an hour ago, probably more, and the there didn’t appear to be much in the way of life outside the car. Again, I felt my heart thump nervously in my chest as I recalled a few of the thriller movies I’d seen. There had only been a few considering the fact that I do have a wild imagination and I’m a bit of a chicken.

The driver unfolded from the car and Calix opened his door before stepping out. I followed closely after him, careful not to allow too much space between us as I stood, looking out over the massive marina.

What on earth were we doing here? At night? Why weren’t we going to the hotel?

“Everything has been brought aboard, sir.” The man announced as he closed the car door behind Calix. “Shall I accompany you?”

Calix shook his head, pulling out an embarrassingly large lump of money from his pocket. Gods! The man was begging to be robbed, I thought to myself as my eyes darted to the driver in warning. “This is spending money for your stay.” He handed the man the wad of cash. “Neil and Jared are waiting on board, I assume?”

The man nodded and I felt understanding flash in my mind as the man answered. “They are, sir.”

“Good.” Calix nodded before placing his hand once again on my back. “We’ll be on our way now.”

“Goodnight, Mr. and Mrs. McKnight.” The man smiled at me for the first time. “Enjoy your trip.”

I blushed furiously as I forced a smile. “You as well.”

And then the man was lowering himself into his car and Calix was leading me over the long wide dock where numerous large boats had been stowed for who knows how long. I walked numbly, my brain still trying to piece together the fact that not only were we staying on a yacht, but Neil and another man, presumably on Calix’s staff, were also staying on this yacht.

My mind was spinning and I felt my feet stop moving forward. Beside me, Calix also paused to turn to stare at me.

“Nova?” Calix spoke my name in question. “Is there something wrong?”

“We’re staying on a boat?”

He nodded. “A yacht, yes.”

“Hmm.” I squeaked the sound and he raised a brow. “With Neil and Jared?”