The Power of the Legendary Greek(27)

'But the only trip you made was against your will, to a barren island  with no legends of any kind. So I shall take you wherever you want to  go,' he promised as they turned down the tree-lined drive to the villa.  'I spoke to Andres earlier, by the way. The Karras sisters finally  confessed in their more lucid moments that they hired both men, who are  workers on the Karras family estate up north.'

'Did the women order the kidnapper to kill me once they got the ransom?' asked Isobel as he lifted her out of the jeep.

Luke held her tightly for a moment, kissed her fiercely, then set her on  her feet. 'If they did, they chose the wrong man to commit murder for  them. Which is why he told me where to find you. Not that it mattered,  because I had found you first.'

'Thank God,' said Isobel, and buried her face against his chest. 'I confess that I was bit frightened, Luke.'

'Enough to give you nightmares,' he agreed as they went into the house.  'I think I should guard you from them again tonight, ne?'

'Yes, please,' she said fervently as Luke bent to pick her up.

'I can walk now.'

He slid an arm round her waist. 'Like this, then.'

Isobel leaned against him happily. 'Like this,' she agreed with a sigh. 'I had such a good time tonight, Luke.'

'So did I, hriso mou. Are you tired?'

'Just pleasantly so.'

'Where would you like to go tomorrow?'

'I'd like to explore Chyros properly,' she said eagerly. 'Since I've  been here at the villa I've seen only quick glimpses of it. And the day  you rescued me I travelled back to the villa rolled up in a rug like  Cleopatra.'

Luke closed her bedroom door behind them and took her in his arms. 'You  shall do whatever you want tomorrow, Isobel, I promise. But tonight we  do what I want. Tell me you want it, too, kardia mou.'

'You know I do,' she said honestly, her eyes falling before the blaze in his as he picked her up to put her on the bed.

Later, when Isobel was quiet at last in Luke's arms, he lay with his  face buried in her hair for a long time before he raised his head to  look into her heavy eyes.

'It was never like this for me with others,' he said in a tone which melted her bones.

She heaved in a long unsteady breath, wanting passionately to believe  him. 'Nor for me, either.' She raised an eyebrow. 'Though there have  been fewer others by far in my life, Lukas Andreadis.'

'I can tell,' he said with satisfaction.

'How?'

'Because you are so plainly-and enchantingly-surprised by the joy we find together, ne?'

Surprised seemed hardly the word. Luke's caresses had been revelations,  not only in themselves, but in her wildly uninhibited response to them.  'I said it was different with you,' she reminded him.

'Because I am a good lover?'

'You want marks for your performance?' she demanded, laughing, and he smiled smugly.                       
       
           



       

'No. Your response was accolade enough, agapi mou.'

Isobel laughed again, and Luke rolled over, hugging her to him.

'Now we sleep. Tomorrow we explore my island.'

And soon after that she would be leaving. Secure in Luke's arms, Isobel  firmly shut all thought of the future away and concentrated on the  blissful present.

The programme Luke had mapped out was everything that Isobel could have  wished for except that it made the time go by far too quickly. He took  her on a tour of Chyros the next day, as promised, and drove up beyond  the villa, following a road which wound up through olive groves and  stands of pines. They passed a monastery, with a white dome glimmering  like a pearl in its crown of cypress, and soon afterwards Luke halted on  a promontory of rock near the highest point of the island, with a view  of such beauty spread out below Isobel wished she had brushes and paint  to capture it.

'You can make a painting from here next time you come,' said Luke, reading her mind.

Her face fell. 'I won't be coming back.'

He shook his head, the sun catching glints of gold in the bronze curls. 'You will return for Alyssa's wedding, ne?'

'No, Luke. I can't expect my boss to let me take more time off. And I need the job.'

He gave her a long introspective look, then started the car without  further argument. Which left Isobel more forlorn than ever. A touch more  coaxing would have been nice.

Over dinner Luke gave Isobel details of the conversation he'd had with  Andres while she was reading on the veranda earlier. 'I am sorry it took  the entire afternoon, but there was much to catch up on with the  airline, also with my freighters. And,' he added dramatically, 'Andres  had more news of the Karras sisters. Loss of the ransom money, added to  claustrophobia at being locked up separately, tipped them over the edge  into insanity. They have been committed to a secure mental institution.'  He leaned to grasp Isobel's hand. 'So you can sleep easy now, agapi  mou.' His eyes narrowed suddenly as he gazed out over the pool. 'Do you  want a trip in the Athena tomorrow?'

'Why? Is there something you'd rather do?'

'Zeus, yes,' he said with feeling, and smiled into her eyes. 'I think  Eleni and Spiro should take the day off tomorrow to visit family.'

Isobel frowned. 'I thought they didn't have a family.'

'No children, but they have numerous relatives all over the island. They  must be anxious to bring them up to date on what happened here at the  villa. Eleni can leave food for us and Spiro can take the Cherokee.'

She felt her colour rise. 'Won't they want to know why?'

Luke got up and drew her to her feet. 'They will think I want you to  myself for the last day before you leave. Which is the simple truth. Do  you want that, Isobel?'

'Of course I do.'

'Not,' he said very deliberately, 'that I mean to spend the whole day in  bed, you understand. It will be enough just to be alone with you by the  pool, and walk in the garden, and simply spend every minute possible  together. Though I hope-need-to spend some of those minutes making love  with you. But,' he added nobly, 'we can still go out in the boat if you  prefer.'

Isobel stood on tiptoe and put her arms round his neck. 'I prefer your plan,' she assured him.

And a whole day spent this way, thought Luke as he rubbed his cheek  against her hair, was all it would take to convince Isobel that she must  stay, to ensure many more such days together.



Isobel's last full day on Chyros with Luke would have been perfect, bar  one inescapable element-that she would be leaving the next morning. As  he wanted, they spent almost every minute of the day together. As the  sound of the Cherokee's engine dwindled into the distance, taking Spiro  and Eleni away, Luke smiled at Isobel with deep satisfaction.

'Alone at last!'

'So now we talk,' she said firmly. 'Tell me all about your life, Luke.'

'Not all of it is exciting, Isobel,' he warned, and began with the  freighter which had been his starting point, out of which he'd built up a  fleet so commercially successful it enabled him to take over the  airline Melina Andreadis had considered her own personal property. Now  it was his, he informed Isobel, it would soon have a very different  reputation for luxury and dependability instead of the cheap, too  frequent flights of her day. 'I have an apartment in Athens, also one in  Thessaloniki. You would like it there. Visitors rate it as a very hip,  cool city. And from there you can explore the mountains, go to the  oracle at Delphi and to Mount Olympus, the home of the gods.'                       
       
           



       

'I'd love to do that one day,' said Isobel wistfully, getting to her feet.

'You want to go back to bed?' he said, kissing her.

'No way, kyrie,' she retorted, laughing, and stripped off her sundress. 'Let's swim.'

They swam and sunbathed, ate the salad lunch Eleni had left for them,  then Luke got up, holding out his hand. 'Now we go to bed.'

A long time later, when they were holding each other close in the sweet,  languorous aftermath of passion, tears trickled down Isobel's cheeks.

'Why are you crying?' demanded Luke, kissing them away.

'Because I'm happy,' lied Isobel, and concealed a sharp pang of pain with a yawn.

'Sleep, hriso mou,' he said in a tone like a caress.

It seemed a wanton waste of the time left to them, but Isobel was so  tired she obeyed, and woke later to find him tickling her nose with a  lock of her own hair.

'I will leave you to your shower, then we take a walk in the garden  while the sun goes down. And after that we drink a glass of wine while  we watch the stars come out to play.' He kissed her swiftly. 'Ten  minutes, ne?'

Isobel was pleased in one way that Luke hadn't wanted to share her  shower. It was not the most graceful of procedures for someone balanced  on one foot. Though it would have been something to look back on, she  thought wistfully. Also a first for her. With Luke she wanted to  experience everything possible between a man and woman in love …  Her  breath caught. Love, the four letter word. It was pointless to pretend  she wasn't madly in love with Luke. But did he feel the same? Their time  together had been packed so full of incident there had been an  inevitable greenhouse effect on their relationship. Luke left her in no  doubt that he wanted her physically. But whether love was part of his  equation was hard to tell. Not that it mattered. Tomorrow she was going  home and would never see him again.