seeming happy.
He saw her watching him and waved before being drawn back into the dance by three young females at once, while their menfolk looked on wryly. At the end he blew each of them a kiss before holding out his hands to Petra and drawing her onto the floor.
‘Dance with me,’ he murmured. ‘And save me from getting my throat cut.’
He was showing her off in public, but why? To make a point to the others, or simply because he was more than a little tipsy? Joyfully she decided that she didn’t care. This was the man nature had meant him to be before the demons got their destructive hands on him, and if it was the last thing she did she would open the door that led back to that world and lead him through it.
‘We ought to be going,’ he gasped at last. ‘The trouble is, that wine Kyros serves is…well…’ He sat down suddenly.
‘And everyone else is as woozy as you,’ she said. ‘Even me.’
‘I’m not.’ The young man who spoke was the eldest son of the house, wore a priest’s garb and was stone cold sober. ‘I’ll drive you home.’
‘And I’ll pay for your taxi back,’ Lysandros said sleepily. ‘Done.’
On the way home they sat in the back, with his head on her shoulder, his eyes closed. As the car came to a halt the priest looked back and grinned.
‘I’ve never seen him let go like that before,’ he said. ‘I congratulate you.’
She didn’t ask what he meant. She didn’t need to. Her spirits were soaring.
Lysandros awoke long enough to hand over a bundle of notes. ‘That’ll pay for the taxi. Anything over, put it in the collection box.’
The priest’s eyes popped as he saw the amount.
‘But do you know how much you’ve given-?’
‘Goodnight!’ Lysandros was halfway up the path.
She undressed him while he lay back and let her do all the work.
‘You think you’re a sultan being attended by the harem,’ she observed as she finished.
He opened one eye. ‘It seemed only fair to show you that I can behave as badly as any other man who dances with a dozen women, gets smashed out of his mind and lets his wife wait on him. Goodnight.’
He rolled over and went to sleep on his front, leaving her with the view of the most perfectly shaped male behind she’d ever seen, and wondering if he knew he’d called her his wife.
He slept late next morning, unusual for him. She rose and made coffee, returning to find him leaning back against the pillow, one arm behind his head and a wicked look in his eyes. Nor was the wickedness confined to his eyes. A glance at the rest of him told her that he was ready to make up for the deficiencies of the night before.
But she decided not to indulge him at once. They drank coffee sedately, although the look in his eyes was far from sedate. She showed no sign of noticing this, but after a while she slipped off her flimsy silk nightdress and began to find small jobs to do about the room, knowing that they gave him a perfect view of her from various angles.
‘Do you have to do that?’ he asked in a strained voice.
‘Well, I thought one of us should do some tidying up,’ she said innocently.
Wasting no further time, she raced to the bed and took him in her arms.
‘Just let me love you,’ she said.
‘As long as you do love me,’ he said heavily.
‘I do. I always will.’
He would have spoken again but she silenced him by laying her mouth against his, taking his attention so that at first he didn’t notice her softly wandering hands until the excitement building with her caresses overtook him totally and he drew a long shuddering breath.
‘I have ruthless ways of making my wishes known,’ she whispered against his mouth.
‘I believe you,’ he groaned.
‘You think you know me, but you haven’t begun to discover what I’m capable of.’
‘Why don’t you-show me?’
She let her fingers explore a little further, reaching the place between his legs where his response was rapidly growing out of control. ‘Like that?’
‘Just like that.’
Now her fingers were enclosing their object, revelling in its size and the thought of having it inside her. Then she moved over him so that she could fit her legs astride him and make him hers in her own way.
She had the glorious sense of being able to do anything she wanted. Everything was right because they were together and did everything together. It was right to celebrate their hearts but also right to celebrate their bodies as they were doing now. So she did as she pleased, confident of pleasing him at the same time, and knew by his expression that she’d outdone herself.
‘That was very nice,’ she said, luxuriating in his arms afterwards.
‘Very nice?’ he growled. ‘Is that the best you can say?’
‘Do you have anything else to suggest?’
‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘I have plenty more to suggest. Come here-’
‘Suppose I don’t want to?’
‘You’ve left it much too late to say that.
Carolling with laughter, she raised her arms over her head and cried, ‘Shan’t!’
‘Oh, yes, you will.’
So she did.
When Lysandros’s cellphone began to ring he regarded it for a long time before saying reluctantly, ‘I suppose I ought to answer that.’
‘I’m amazed you haven’t been on the phone more often,’ she said. ‘In fact I’m amazed it hasn’t rung more often.’
‘I gave strict instructions to my staff not to disturb me unless it was vital. Linos, my assistant, is pretty good that way. He’s called a couple of times, I’ve given him instructions for managing without me and so far he’s not done too badly. But I suppose-’ He sighed.
‘We have to get back to the real world.’
He kissed her. ‘After this, the real world will be different.’ He answered the phone. ‘Yes, Linos? Oh, no, what’s happened? All right, all right, one thing at a time.’
Sad but resigned, Petra made her way upstairs to start packing. The dream life couldn’t last for ever, and now was the time to see if it could be carried into reality. The omens were good.
‘I’ve called the airport,’ she said when Lysandros appeared. ‘There’s a flight to Athens in a couple of hours.’
He sighed and put his arms around her. ‘I wish you’d said a couple of years, but I suppose we have to take it. There’s a big meeting coming up that Linos says he can’t manage without me.’
‘It had to happen some time,’ she said. ‘The sound of battle, summoning you to the fray.’
‘It’s funny how that doesn’t sound so good any more. But you’ll be with me, and we can start making plans.’
Her lips twitched. ‘Plans for what?’
He rested his forehead against hers. ‘Plans for the future, and if I have to explain that to you, then I’ve been wasting my time recently. Unfortunately, this isn’t the moment to make the point. But I think you know what I’m talking about.’
Marriage. He hadn’t posed a formal question but he acted as though matters were already settled between them, and she knew it was a sign of their closeness that he felt free to do so.
She went with him upstairs to take a last look at the smashed room he’d shared with Brigitta, but she refused to go with him to the grave.
‘You need to say goodbye to her alone,’ she said gently. ‘If I’m there it will spoil it for her.’
