The hurricane had swept through, leaving behind a trail of destruction and, yes, the small airport had been out of commission for two days, but it was now up and running, yet she and Nico were still here, and the only placetheywere running to was the bedroom, so that they could lose themselves in wild, crazy passion.
Of course, work continued. Of course she still went through his emails and arranged his conference calls and participated in various Zoom meetings concerning deals coming to fruition.
The difference? The prissy outfits were gone, as were the ramparts she had studiously erected to protect herself against the inconvenient attraction she’d kept under wraps for years. There were no busy eyes in an office that had to be avoided. Out here, they had complete freedom to do whatever they wanted to and what they wanted to do was touch one another.
He stroked her inner leg as he chatted on the airwaves to company directors scattered across the globe. He reached to cup her wetness, his hand moving rhythmically against her panties as he finalised the details about the sale of the hotel and the bar and the fishing business. Only yesterday, as he had lounged on the leather sofa in Steve’s office, with her next to him and the computer winking in front, he had lazily slipped his finger underneath her dress and inserted it with devastating efficiency into her wetness. She had zoned out from the conversation he had been having with one of his CEOs on the telephone, which had been on speaker. As he had stroked the engorged slit between her thighs, she had done the unthinkable and spasmed against his finger, barely able to contain her urge to scream out her satisfaction, acutely conscious of the business discussion taking place. He had shot her a wicked smile, mouthedHave you had fun?and she had felt her body go up in flames, mortified and blisteringly excited at the same time.
When they were in the company of other people, when they were dealing with various employees, they were the soul of discretion but once those doors were closed behind them, they couldn’t keep their hands off one another.
Of course, it was going to come to an end. That was a given. There had been no need for him to tell her because she knew him well enough to know where his flings led and what they had here, in this bubble, wasn’t even a fling.
It was more a weakness to which they had both succumbed...a fleeting moment in time soon to be papered over by a return to routine.
Grace didn’t know when that return was coming, and she had shied away from asking because she was having fun. For the first time in her life, she was having fun. Was it so wrong to want to prolong this forbidden situation? She would return to London and head straight back to life on the straight and narrow. Meanwhile, Tommy seemed content enough to manage without her, but by the time she went to see him he would be back to his usual self, dissatisfied and querulous and in need of guidance. That being the case, she would be a saint not to want to snatch this stolen pleasure.
Sitting on the wide porch, to which the outside furniture had been returned from the spacious shed that was used for storage in bad weather, Grace drew her knees up to her chest and watched the distant figure in the ocean. It was a little after six and after a day of meetings, calls and the usual tidying of the beach area, Nico was striking back from his ocean swim.
He was a powerful swimmer, had laughed at her concern the first time he had sauntered down to the water’s edge and plunged straight into the bright blue sea.
He liked swimming at night. She could feel the build of excitement as he sliced through the water, getting closer and closer.
They had become accustomed to having the hotel to themselves. It was small and cosy, and the employees had been only too glad to be relieved of their duties, not that they were overworked because, aside from the two of them, the place was empty.
The solitude lent itself to all sorts of titillating situations and Grace shivered with pleasure just thinking about them.
Four days felt like four weeks because time seemed to stand still out here.
She straightened as Nico emerged from the water, rearing up from the softly breaking waves like a monolith.
He paused to sweep his fingers through his wet hair and then, eyes locked to her, headed in her direction, a dark silhouette in the fast-fading light.
He stopped just in front of her and then leant down, hands firmly planted on the arms of her chair, caging her in.
‘You should try some night swimming with me,’ he murmured.
‘I don’t think so.’ Grace smiled back at him and then curled her finger into a wayward strand of dark hair. ‘I’m too much of a coward, I’m afraid.’
‘What’s to be afraid of? When you’d be swimming next to me?’
‘Oh, right. I forgot. Nothing would dare attack if they sensed that you were in the water...’
‘Correct.’ Nico leant into her, kissed her long and slow until her eyelids were fluttering and the ache between her legs made her brain shut down the way it always seemed to. ‘Besides, you swim like a fish. Whoever taught at school did a good job.’
He grinned. In response, Grace said nothing. She’d never had swimming lessons at school. They had been an adult treat at the local swimming baths. She could have told him but what they had did not include intimate sharing of confidences. He had admitted to his uncle’s past because it had formed the backdrop for their trip to the island. Grace had savoured that titbit, but she had not returned the favour and nor would she.
Nico walked alone. Any girlish desire to share secrets about herself would send him into rapid retreat because it would make him think that she might be reading a depth to what they had that wasn’t there and never would be.
In essence, she was his loyal secretary who had stepped outside the box for a moment in time.
He knew nothing about her background and nothing about her circumstances and he hadn’t asked. He hadn’t asked because this was about sex. When it came to knowingher, he knew enough. He knew that she was reliable and did a good job and knew how to take the initiative at work when she had to.
The fact that he had caught her on an Internet date had opened a door between them, but this was where that open door had led to. Great sex.
Yet, if this was just lust, then why did he fill her head every waking moment? If she didn’t care, why was there a sneaking suspicion that she would be hurt by all of this? If she really thought that by sleeping with him, she might get him out of her system, then why did the thought of losing him fill her with dread? Why did the prospect of returning to normality, picking up where they had left off, pretending that nothing had happened between them, fill her with panic?
Because she was falling for him? How could that be possible when it made no sense?
For Grace, whose life had always made sense, who had mastered the art of turning chaos into order, the recklessness of falling for Nico Doukas brought her out in a cold sweat.