The Passionate Greek (10 page)

‘No, we’ll all go up now,’ said Nicos,
flashing her a look of irritation. Melanie hid a smile. She had won
several rounds tonight and if Katerina was determined to be on the
boat tomorrow Melanie would find another way to get Nicos
alone.

She was down on the harbor early, Electra
left behind in the competent care of Maria. Nicos was already there
talking to one of the boatmen. He looked up, smiling approvingly at
her. ‘We’ll get going as soon as Katerina gets here,’ he said.
Fifteen minutes later Katerina had still not arrived and Nicos was
looking impatient. Melanie hoped she wasn’t coming but after
another ten-minute wait she came sauntering down the path.

‘Sorry, darling,’ she carolled to Nicos,
ignoring Melanie completely. ‘I overslept. I’m so not used to early
starts.’ ‘Well, you’re here now,’ said Nicos shortly. ‘Jump in the
dinghy and let’s get going.’ Melanie, already seated in the sturdy
rubber inflatable, moved up to make room for her but Katerina
pointedly sat down next Nicos who was busy lowering the outboard
and locking it in position. ‘Shove over,’ he said to her. ‘Give me
room.’ Katerina looked affronted but Nicos didn’t seem to
notice.

The dingy headed out to the deep water where
the sloop was moored and Nicos courteously helped them up the
ladder into the cockpit. Once aboard he made them put on bright
orange life jackets. ‘This is so uncomfortable. I don’t want to
wear this,’ said Katerina peevishly trying to undo straps.

‘On this boat you will do as I say, ordered
Nicos, all courtesy behind him. ‘When I give an order you will obey
instantly and without question. This is for your safety and you are
my responsibility.’ Katerina looked mutinous and Nicos, softening a
little, added, ‘Storms can blow up without warning in these waters
and should that happen there is no time for argument. All crew must
react instantly to what the captain orders. And that’s me,’ he said
decisively.’

Leaving them in the cockpit he moved along
the deck making ready to sail. Melanie watched with interest as he
winched up the anchor and pulled in the weighty white rubber
fenders protecting the sides. Back in the cockpit he started up the
engine and headed out to sea. Melanie, watching the huge circle of
the ship’s wheel turn beneath his hands, felt a frisson of
excitement. His well-muscled forearms held it steady, his dark eyes
flicking from timed to time to the instrument panel, where the wind
speeds were recorded. His long well muscled legs were braced apart
as he learned against the helmsman’s seat. Melanie thought he had
never looked more attractive.

He set a course for a small group of islands
and moored in a cove where the blue waters lapped against the white
sand. Melanie thought what a great place for a seduction scene it
would have been. It was just the sort of beach she had imagined
them finding.

They swam off the boat, Katerina eyeing
Melanie’s well-worn bikini, its colors faded with the hot sun of
several summers with near contempt. She had the latest Christian
Dior and Melanie had to admit to herself that she looked good in
it. But she was more than sure that it was she that Nicos watched
as she made her way to the bows of the yacht and dived cleanly into
the clear waters. Nicos dived in after her, swiftly followed by
Katerina and the three struck out for the nearby shore.

Nicos outstripped them easily and Melanie
found herself in competition with Katerina who appeared bent on
beating her to the beach. Her fighting spirit surfaced and she
determined to be first ashore. But as she had seen before Katerina
was no slouch in the water. Nicos sat on the sand watching them an
amused grin on his face.

‘I think that was a tie,’ he said easily as
they waded ashore. They sunbathed for a while, and then set off
back to the boat for the picnic placed on board by one of the
boatmen. Melanie thought what an ideal day it would have been if
she had been there alone with Nicos. She realised with a guilty
start that it had nothing to do with her seduction plot. She just
wanted to be alone with him.

They set sail again in the afternoon and
Melanie forgot all her subterfuge of seducing Nicos in the sheer
enjoyment of having him teach her to sail. She learned to call
lines ‘sheets’ and the names of all the different sails. He
conveyed his enthusiasm to her in such a way that at the end of the
afternoon she felt she could sail round the world
single-handed.

‘I don’t think you’re quite ready for that
yet,’ he laughed. ‘But you’re a good pupil and when we go out again
I’ll let you take the helm.’ Melanie’s heart lifted at his words.
‘When we go out next time…..’ clearly he intended to take her
sailing with him again. Her plan was working, but somehow the
elation she felt was not only due to the success. She’d been so
happy all day, being close to Nicos, his bare arm brushing her own
as he taught her the rudiments of sail and every time they touched
she felt as though an electric current had passed between them.

Intent on each other Katerina had faded into
the background. Melanie suddenly realised that she was no longer in
the cockpit, but had gone below and was lying on one of the narrow
bunks, eyes closed. ‘I don’t feel well,’ she complained. Seasick,
thought Melanie gleefully and then felt guilty. She and Nicos had
been so wrapped up in each other all afternoon they hadn’t given a
thought to her. Contrite, Melanie offered to get her a cold drink
from the icebox and was rewarded with a groan.

It was late afternoon when they return to
the harbor. Ashore once more Nicos stopped to give the boatman
instructions and Melanie and Katerina set off up the path for the
villa.

‘I don’t think those sailing boats are very
comfortable.’ Katerina huffed. ‘Thank goodness Nicos and I will be
on the big boat soon.’ Melanie’s heart dropped. ‘You mean Nicos’s
motor yacht? The Athena?’

‘Of course. We have been planning the trip
for some time. We’ll be leaving very soon to sail round the Greek
Isles. But I think I will get Nicos to go back to the south of
France. I can’t wait to get away. It is so boring here. There is no
one to talk to.’

Melanie was dismayed. She needed time on her
side to seduce Nicos, she told herself, time alone with him, time
to work her wiles on him. Time to make love to him, time to hold
him in her arms, time to make him fall in love with her all over
again.

That evening there was no dinner laid on the
terrace. Mr Chalambrous, Maria proudly informed Melanie, was dining
with her grandfather and her grandmother had been busy all day
preparing. Melanie learned from Maria that Nicos often ate at the
village houses of the islanders, a feted and welcome guest. Melanie
couldn’t imagine it was Katerina's idea of fun and she wasn’t
surprised to learn that Nicos would be the only guest.

The next day with Electra firmly strapped
into her buggy Melanie was drawn down to the harbor. The “Athena”
rode serenely at anchor, but of “Dancing queen” there was no
sign.

She gazed out to sea feeling forlorn. Nicos,
for all his promise, had gone sailing without her. A plan began
forming in her mind. If Nicos was not going to invite her she would
invite herself. First she had to find out when Nicos next planned
to take the boat out. A casual query to the boatman and she had
what she needed to know.

Nicos was sailing the next day and wanted
the dinghy made ready for a nine o’clock start. A timetable began
to form in her mind. Electra woke early, plenty of time to get her
up and give her breakfast and for Maria to arrive. Time for Melanie
to get down to the harbor but how to get aboard without Nicos
knowing? The boatman would mention it if she asked him to take her
out to the boat. There was only one thing for it. She would have to
swim out, and do it without being seen.

The yacht was moored in deep water, but a
pathway let down to where the sea beat against rocks at the
entrance to the harbor. Melanie had discovered it one afternoon
when she was exploring for new places to take Electra. The rocky
promontory protected the harbor and Melanie reasoned a swimmer
could slip from the rocks and approach “Dancing Queen” from behind,
out of sight of anyone watching from the harbor front.

The swim proved longer than she had
anticipated and the water rougher than she had thought it would be.
She had a panicky moment when it seemed the yacht instead of
getting nearer seemed to be getting further away. The tug of the
current was strong and she found she needed all her strength
against it. It felt like ages before the boarding ladder was in her
grasp and she hung on to it breathless. Her strength restored she
hauled herself aboard; confident she hadn’t been seen from the
shore.

She hadn’t thought the door from the cockpit
to the cabin might be locked and her breath caught in her throat
when she saw a padlock and chain round the door handle. But it was
hanging loose and she was down the steps into cabin below. She made
her way forward to the small cabin separated from the main area by
a Louvre door. She curled up on a bunk and waited.

It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of
an outboard engine and felt the yacht rock gently as someone
boarded. There was a thump as something was heaved on board and she
heard Nicos humming to himself as he moved about the deck, his
footsteps clearly audible to her. Then the engine started up and
the motion of the boat changed in the swell at the harbor bar.

Melanie waited her moment. She wanted to be
far enough out to sea so that Nicos wouldn’t think of turning back.
She had found herself a towel and dried off after her swim but once
at sea she shivered in her bikini in the cabin‘s cool. Now it was
time to confront Nicos she felt her courage desert her. But she
couldn’t stay in the cabin all day. She had to make a move.
Stealing herself she moved determinedly through to the main cabin.
The cockpit was open and all she could see of him was his tanned
lower legs as he stood at the wheel.

Grasping the handrail she pulled herself up.
As she mounted the steps she kept her eyes fixed on him. First his
legs, up to his taught stomach, to his chest and finally his face
came into view.

He let out a shocked expletive, but then
incredulously he was laughing. ‘A stowaway! I ought to throw you
overboard

His eyes swept over her body and in her brief bikini
Melanie suddenly felt vulnerable. ‘You promised to take me sailing
again so here I am,’ she said breathlessly.

‘Why is it you never fail to surprise me,’
he said wryly. ‘I’m curious. How did you get aboard without anyone
seeing you? Please don’t tell me you swam out.’

‘Yes, from the rocks. It’s not far,’ she
said. She wasn’t going to tell him how difficult the swim had
proved to be. He threw back his head and laughed. ‘Melanie,
Melanie, you’re crazy. Don’t you know how dangerous the mouth of
the harbor is? You were lucky not to be swept out to sea. I should
be really angry with you except no woman has ever put her life in
her hands to spend the day with me.

He looked at her amused. ‘I’d be really
flattered if I didn’t think you had some ulterior motive.’ Melanie
felt herself flush, but he didn’t seem to notice. ‘Were you going
to sabotage the engine so I’d be lost at sea and never seen
again?’

She looked genuinely shocked that he could
think she’d do such a thing. ‘Only joking,’ he said lightly.
'Anyway, if you’re here to learn to sail you’ve chosen a bad day.
There’s no wind forecast. I only came out to check the engine. It’s
been giving problems since it was overhauled. I also presume that
if you swam out here you have nothing with you but what you are so
delightfully standing up in. No deck shoes, no proper sailing
clothes. That would never do.’

Melanie looked crestfallen. Her plan hadn’t
gone beyond getting Nicos alone and instead of a day’s sailing it
looked like he would be heading for the home harbor before very
long. Mistaking her look for disappointment Nicos relented. ‘I’ll
tell you what. I’ll teach you something about the instruments that
give your wind speed and the depth of water beneath the keel, all
that sort of thing. Come and stand in front of me.’

Still with his hands on the enormous
steering wheel he pushed himself further back and placed Melanie in
front of him. ‘Lean back against me,’ he commanded. ‘Put your hands
over mine on the wheel and you’ll get the feel of it,’

He began to explain the uses for the various
black panelled instruments in front of them and Melanie did her
best to take it all in. But she was acutely conscious of his arms
each side of her and the feel of his hands under hers.

As he talked his mouth was unnecessarily
close to her ear and his legs each side of her closed her in. The
yacht’s motion as it ploughed its way through the seas rocked them
together in unison as if they were one. It was undeniably erotic.
His voice fell silent. Melanie was mesmerized. His thighs tightened
around her and she could feel his rising excitement. Unconsciously
she responded, moving her body back against him and from side to
side. He groaned softly into her ear. ‘Keep doing that.’

Melanie felt her desire rising to meet his.
She wanted to turn in his arms and feel his lips on hers, his
tongue licking her, his hands on her breasts. She half turned in
his arms and her sudden movement broke the spell. He put his head
back and sighed heavily, loosening his thighs from around her and
moving her body gently from his. ‘I think we might have been about
to run aground,’ he said, but she noticed his voice was not quite
even.

‘He still wants me,’ she told herself
triumphantly. ‘And you still want him’ her inner voice came
back.

‘I think that’s enough tuition for today,'
he was saying. ‘I’ll head for Mikos where we anchored the other
day. We can moor up there and have a swim before lunch.’ He was
cool now, as if their erotic encounter had never happened.