The Enigmatic Greek (16 page)

He shook his head. ‘In England my mother has a housekeeper whose sole aim in life is to ensure her comfort—physical and mental. Grace is the ex-policewoman who left Mother to get married, but the marriage was short-lived. When my grandfather died, Mother decided to make England her permanent home and asked Grace to join her.’ He handed Eleanor a cup of tea. ‘She is not only intelligent and loyal but also a crack shot. Talia Kazan is in safe hands.’ He filled his coffee cup and sat down in the big bedside
chair, frowning at Eleanor. ‘I wish you had someone like Grace in your life.’

She grinned. ‘I don’t need ordinary household help for my place, let alone a crack-shot ex-policewoman!’

Alex put their empty cups on the tray and sat on the edge of the bed, tracing a finger over the bruise on her jaw. ‘When I came back to find you missing, I thought you’d persuaded someone to take you over to Karpyros to catch the ferry to Crete.’

She stared up at him blankly. ‘Why on earth would I do that?’

He shrugged. ‘To find you gone was so bad a shock I wasn’t thinking straight. Then I looked in your room and saw nothing had been taken, and questioned Sofia, at which point Theo came rushing to say Markos had confessed his sins—so we knew where to look for you, even without the clue of your bracelet.’

‘With no handy ball of string to unwind, or crumbs or pebbles to trail like Hansel and Gretel, it was the only thing I could think of to leave as a clue. My hands were tied behind me, so I managed to work the fastening open without Paul noticing in his tearing rush to get me down the stairs. It’s only by good luck I got to that nasty little hidey-hole in one piece.’ Eleanor smiled at him. ‘But I knew you’d come for me.’

‘I would have torn the place apart!’ Alex drew her into his arms and held her close.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the part that wasn’t fully engaged with the sheer pleasure of contact, Eleanor was surprised. She had expected Alex to make love to her the moment they were alone, yet he seemed happy just to hold her and talk.

‘What are you thinking?’ His warm breath against her cheek almost made her purr.

‘That it’s good just to lie here like this with you and talk.’

He raised his head to smile at her. ‘The other men in your life consider talk a waste of valuable time in this situation?’

Eleanor thought it over. ‘There is absolutely no one in my life I could picture in this particular situation. The only men interested in actually talking to me are colleagues.’

‘I take great pleasure in your conversation.’ He kissed her fleetingly. ‘This period on Kyrkiros has not been peaceful for
you
, Eleanor, but I will look back on it as a halcyon time when I was granted the privilege of your company.’

‘That’s such a lovely thing to say,’ she said huskily.

‘It’s the simple truth.’ His eyes were abruptly searching. ‘Paul subjected you to a very bad experience today. Are you fully recovered?’

‘No, I’m not.’ Her eyes lit with a smile which tightened his embrace. ‘I’m in desperate need of someone to guard me against nightmares.’

He laughed deep in his throat. ‘You have him, right here in the hollow of your hand,
agape mou.
’

‘How lovely!’ She kissed him so ardently heat flared in his eyes, igniting a response which shot fire through her body down to her toes. ‘But if you want to stop talking for a while now, it’s fine by me, Alex.’

His breathing quickened. ‘Are you asking me to make love to you?’

‘Do I have to ask?’

‘
Ochi
!’ He kissed her with a hunger she responded to with such abandon he undressed her rapidly, managing to render her naked without taking his mouth from hers.

‘Very clever! You’ve done that before,’ she gasped when he stood up to take off his clothes.

Alex gave her a smile which took away what little breath she had left. ‘I have,’ he admitted, and returned to his place in her embrace. ‘But with you it is not skill, but reluctance
to stop kissing you even to—’ He broke off with a smothered curse as his phone rang. With a swift apology, he listened intently and then began a conversation in Greek so fluent and rapid she couldn’t understand a word of it. At last Alex closed the phone and stretched out to put it on the bedside table, then took her in his arms and rubbed his cheek against hers.

‘Bad news?’ she asked after a while.

‘No, it was very good news.’ He raised his head, smiling down at her wryly. ‘Arianna has just presented Dion with a second son. He regrets that due to this he cannot come from Crete in person to collect Paul as promised. To avoid any distress for Arianna, he will send some of his men to take our prisoner to Naros. Dion begged me to tell her nothing about her brother’s behaviour until she is recovered from the birth.’

‘I should think not!’ Eleanor eyed him with sympathy. ‘Are you a little bit jealous? It would be only natural if you were. Arianna was yours before she married Dion.’

Alex shook his head. ‘Arianna was never mine in the way you mean. We were loving friends at one time, and still are. But her relationship with Dion is different. He worships her.’

‘Does she reciprocate?’

He smiled crookedly. ‘As I told you before, once she met Dion she had eyes for no one else.’

Eleanor knew the feeling. One look at Alexei and she had fallen head over heels in love. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here in his arms, taking full advantage of every fleeting moment until she flew home and crash-landed back to earth.

‘What are you thinking?’ whispered Alex, smoothing a caressing hand down her spine.

‘I’m counting, not thinking.’

‘This is a time for mathematics?’ He chuckled and kissed her nose. ‘What are you counting,
kardia mou
?’

‘The minutes left before I go.’

‘Stop!’ he commanded, his face stern as his arms closed round her. ‘I know you must leave tomorrow, but it does not mean goodbye. I will come to you in England very soon.’

‘Let’s not talk about it now,’ she pleaded. ‘We’re wasting those minutes I mentioned.’

‘I thought you liked men to talk to you!’

‘I do. But right now, Alexei Drakos, I want you to—’

He smothered the rest of her sentence with a kiss which made it clear that, whatever she wanted, he wanted it even more. His mouth roved her face, gentle as it reached her bruised jaw.

‘I could kill him just for this,’ he growled against her parted lips.

‘Never mind him,’ she ordered fiercely. ‘Just kiss it better. And then move on down to my other bruises too. If you like.’

He gave a delighted laugh and did as she commanded, then raised his head to look into her eyes. ‘To make sure no bruises are left unattended, I must kiss you all over.’

‘Lovely! Have you got any bruises in need of attention? Or shall I just kiss you all over too?’ She bent her head to begin with his chest, teasing him with the tip of her tongue in open-mouthed kisses that tensed every muscle in his body.

Alex drew in a deep, shuddering breath. ‘This is hard to endure.’

‘Endure? You don’t like it?’

‘I like it so much I am ready to explode.’ And with a swift move, he rolled her on her back and held himself poised above her. ‘Eleanor, are you sure you want me this way tonight?’

She stared up at him in astonishment. ‘How clear must I be? You want an email in confirmation?’

He laughed unsteadily. ‘I thought that after your treatment at the hands of that man you might not want to make love tonight.’

‘I want to make love with
you
tonight, Alex.’ In sudden desperation, she caught him in a caress that put an abrupt end to all verbal communication. Their bodies joined together in such immediate urgency their loving was savagely short, but so sweet they remained entwined as they came slowly back to earth, his arms possessive around her, his bright curls tangled with her dark, tumbled hair as they lay cheek to cheek.

Alex stirred a little and kissed her. ‘Are you thirsty,
kardia mou?’

‘Yes. But I don’t want you to move. Stay just as you are a little longer,
parakolo.
Or even a lot longer,’ she added shamelessly.

He chuckled. ‘As long as you wish. Though there is risk like this, you understand.’

‘I do.’ She gave him a smile as old as Eve as she felt him harden and kissed him to show her appreciation.

Alex’s response was immediate and impassioned, his mouth possessive as his hands moved over her in caresses that slowly turned her entire body into an entire throbbing erogenous zone. She gasped, her fingers caressing his back, delighting in the strength of his long, flat muscles as he began to move, urging her with him, slowly at first, then gradually faster in breathless, heart-pounding rhythm on the quest for completion which overtook her before him. He held her tightly as she gasped in the throes of her climax, and with super-human control waited until she relaxed before surrendering to the overwhelming pleasure of his own.

Later, Eleanor lay awake in Alex’s arms, determined to savour every moment of the swiftly passing night. She could
sleep when she got home. Tonight she would drain every last drop of pleasure from this once in a lifetime experience.

‘You must be tired,
glykia mou
,’ said Alex in her ear. ‘Can you not sleep?’

‘Am I disturbing you?’

‘No.’ He pulled her closer. ‘This bed will seem very empty next time I sleep in it, though God knows when that will be.’

‘Where will you go after I’m gone?’

‘To Athens first. Stefan is growing very insistent. Will you go straight back to work, Eleanor?’

‘I’ll spend a day or so with my parents, then get back to my desk to polish my series up, ready to meet my deadline—and afterwards do whatever comes next.’ A yawn overtook her and Alex chuckled as he held her closer.

‘You need sleep,
kardia mou.
’

Eleanor knew it and, though she struggled to keep awake, the events of the day, followed by the passionate love-making of the night, finally conquered her as she fell deeply asleep in the security of Alexei Drakos’ embrace.

E
LEANOR
woke late next morning to the scent of coffee and found Alex, bright-eyed and damp of hair, smiling down at her as he offered her a cup.

‘
Kalimera
, sleepy-head.’

‘Good morning.’ She struggled upright and pushed the hair out of her eyes, wishing he’d given her time to look at least human. ‘I didn’t hear you in the shower.’

‘I stole out for a swim so I wouldn’t wake you.’ He sat on the edge of the bed, watching her drink. ‘How are you this morning,
glykia mou
?’

‘Half-asleep.’ She drained the last of the coffee and felt the caffeine start to take effect. ‘I’m not a morning person.’

‘So I see.’ He took the cup from her and threw the covers back, laughing as her eyes sparked at him like an angry cat’s. ‘I brought my mother’s robe, so you can shower here, ready for the breakfast Sofia will bring to the tower room in fifteen minutes.’

She shook her head as she wrapped herself in the robe to collect her discarded clothes. ‘I’ll just sprint along to my bathroom, thanks just the same. See you in ten.’

Alex tried to change her mind by underhanded means but she laughed and dodged away to run along the hall, determined to look as presentable as possible for their last breakfast together. After the fastest shower on record she
tied her damp hair up in a pony-tail rather than attempt to dry it. In jeans and T-shirt, ready to travel, she slapped moisturiser on her glowing face, added a lick of lip gloss and made it to the tower room seconds before Sofia appeared with their breakfast.

‘You were very fast, Eleanor,’ said Alex, holding her chair for her.

‘Years of practice,’ she assured him. ‘Though I don’t eat a breakfast like this every day.’

‘You should,’ he said, looking oddly tense as he sat down. ‘Does your housemate leave early also?’

‘Yes. Pat is usually out of the house before me.’

‘You get on well together?’

‘Very well. We’ve known each other for years.’ Eleanor looked at him anxiously. ‘Have you seen Paul this morning?’

Alex nodded briefly. ‘He looked ready to murder Christina when I told him she had left him to face the music alone.’

‘When are Dion’s men arriving to collect him?’

‘He rang me while you were dressing. They are on their way. Arianna and the new baby are doing well, he reported.’ Alex met her eyes. ‘But someone else is arriving first, Eleanor—my father wants to confront the man who caused harm to my mother.’

‘Heavens!’ She took in a deep breath. ‘Would you prefer me to keep out of the way until he leaves?’

Alex eyed her in surprise. ‘
Ochi
! My father wishes to speak to you, Eleanor.’

She bit her lip. ‘Does he know I’m a journalist? If so please tell him I have no intention of writing about him.’

Alex gave a short, mirthless laugh. ‘Milo Drakis would not care a damn if you did. But he would care very much
if you wrote about my mother.’ His eyes softened. ‘But I have your word that you will not.’

Eleanor downed her coffee and stood up. ‘Yes,’ she said with emphasis. ‘You have. I must go and pack. I’ll be in my room if you want me.’

Alex got to his feet, frowning. ‘Why not stay here with me?’

‘I need to get my belongings together, send off a few emails and so on,’ she said, evading his eyes.

‘As you wish—’ Alex broke off to answer his phone, then closed it and smiled wryly. ‘My father is at the jetty. He is early.’

‘I’ll get out of your way, then,’ Eleanor said hastily and made for the door, but Alex caught her before she reached it and swept her into his arms to kiss her.

‘I will come for you later,’ he promised and retained her hand as they hurried along the hall to the lift. He raised her hand to his lips then went inside, his eyes holding hers until the lift doors closed on him.

After nearly three weeks of constant travelling, Eleanor had packing down to a fine art. Once her clothes were put away she tucked her camera in her battered tote bag with her travel documents and wallet and a couple of paperbacks, her mind on what was happening down below with Paul Marinos. She checked that nothing was left in the bathroom and then took a last look round the room, suddenly so impatient to get the pain of departure over with, it was a relief to hear the expected knock on her door.

‘My father is waiting,’ Alex informed her. ‘He would like to see you before he leaves.’

‘What happened with Paul?’ she asked as they made for the tower room.

‘When he saw my father he was all grovelling apologies, but insisted that Christina should share the blame,’
said Alex with disgust, and stood back for her to enter the tower room, where the imposing figure of Milo Drakos stood at the windows, gazing out at the view.

He turned as they entered and took Eleanor’s hand to bow over it. ‘I am glad of this opportunity to thank you for your brave help to my wife, Ms Markham—also to express my deep regrets for the hurt you suffered at the hands of Paul Marinos.’

‘I’m fine now, except for a few bruises,’ she assured him.

He smiled at her warmly, and looked at Alex, eyebrows raised. ‘The man is not short of money, so revenge on you was obviously his sole motive.’

‘And he didn’t care who suffered in the process of achieving it,’ agreed Alex harshly. ‘He’s lucky I didn’t kill him yesterday.’

‘I am grateful you did not,’ said Milo Drakos dryly. ‘I would have objected to seeing my son imprisoned—Marinos is not worth paying such a price.’

‘And, even worse, I would have earned Arianna’s wrath,’ said Alex wryly. ‘He’s her brother, and blood is blood.’

‘What will happen to him now?’ asked Eleanor.

‘I have discussed this with my son,’ said Milo. ‘Alexei is hot to see Marinos imprisoned for his intentions towards my wife, and the hurt he inflicted on you, Miss Markham—’

‘He
struck
Eleanor, Father, and so did the man he hired to kidnap my mother!’ broke in Alex. ‘Eleanor has many more bruises than the one visible on her face.’

‘You are embarrassing her, but I am in complete sympathy with you, Alexei, since your mother suffered bruises also,’ observed Milo as Eleanor’s face crimsoned. ‘However, since you inflicted far more on Paul Marinos—relieved him of two teeth, and his nose will never recover its shape—you have exacted
your
revenge,
ne
?’

‘Not enough,’ said Alex harshly.

His father turned to Eleanor. ‘To avoid publicity to my family, Ms Markham, and because Arianna Aristides has just given birth, I will not have her brother changed with the crimes he intended to commit against my family, because he was ultimately prevented from committing them. You, however, are at liberty to have charged him with bodily harm and attempted abduction.’

Eleanor shook her head. ‘I’m about to leave for the UK, Mr Drakos. I’d rather forget about the whole thing.’

‘And will you write about your adventure?’ he said gently.

She looked him in the eye. ‘No. I’ve given my word to Alexei that I won’t mention your wife, nor what happened to me here. I will, of course, give a glowing account of the festival and the idyllic life
other
people lead here on Kyrkiros.’

Milo Drakos smiled and raised her hand to his lips. ‘It has been a great privilege to meet you, Miss Markham. I hope we meet again in pleasanter circumstances.’

‘It’s kind of you to say so, but I doubt it.’ Eleanor exchanged a look with Alex. ‘This kind of experience doesn’t happen twice.’

‘I will leave it to Alexei to change your mind,’ said Milo, eyes gleaming.

Alex closed his phone. ‘Dion’s men are here, Father. It’s time to throw Paul Marinos off my island.’

Milo Drakos bowed over Eleanor’s hand. ‘Goodbye, my dear.’

She smiled. ‘Goodbye, Mr Drakos.’

‘Once Paul has gone, I’ll see my father off, Eleanor,’ said Alex. ‘Wait for me here—
parakolo
,’ he added at a look from his parent.

Eleanor went back to her room to look from her windows at the beach below and watched as Milo Drakos talked at length to his son and then offered him his hand.
Take it,
she said silently and, as though he’d heard her, Alex not only grasped the hand but even received the kiss his father bestowed on his cheek. Eleanor turned away rather than intrude, even from this distance, on something so intensely private. When Alex eventually joined her in the tower room, she was presiding over the coffee tray Sofia had sent up with Yannis.

‘So Paul is on his way, Alex.’

‘Not yet.’ He turned to her, a wry look in his eyes. ‘You’re not going to believe this. Before he left, my father asked for my blessing. He wants to marry my mother again.’

Eleanor gazed at him, wide-eyed. ‘What on earth did you say?’

‘I told him it was her blessing he needed, not mine.’ Alex shook his head in disbelief. ‘What the hell was I supposed to say? In the end I assured my father that if she is happy about it, I won’t raise any objections.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘He was pleased.’

From the tableau she’d witnessed Eleanor, could well believe it. ‘I hope it works out for them. And for you.’ She disengaged herself to pour coffee. ‘I’m sorry to introduce a more mundane subject, but I must leave after lunch to catch the ferry.’

‘You could leave a lot later if we went by helicopter—’ He broke off as his phone rang. ‘
Me
synchoreite
—I must answer this.’

Eleanor gazed out at the view as Alex spoke to the caller with increasing urgency, then closed his phone, his face grim.

‘That was Dion again, asking for my help. He wants me to follow his men over to Naros to make sure Paul gets there. Once he is sure all is well with Arianna, he will arrive there later today himself—but in the meantime he wants to make sure little brother doesn’t feed some sob story to
his captors and persuade them to take him home to Crete to upset his sister.’

‘Would they do that?’

‘The men have known him all his life, and because his face is a mess right now they might.’ Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ‘If you wait to go by helicopter, I can be back in time to fly you to Crete. But, if I can’t make it in time, simply stay another night.’ He took her in his arms, rubbing his cheek against hers. ‘In fact,
kyria
, that is a very good idea,
ne?’

‘A brilliant idea.’ Eleanor smiled at him and gave him a little push as he drew her to her feet. ‘In the meantime, go and evict Paul Marinos from your island,
kyrie
Drakos.’