Chapter 21
Emma wasn’t sure that a family outing to the beach was a good idea. The weather had been rainy for days, and their ‘family’ was more than a little on the dysfunctional side. Gretchen actually agreed with her for once, but they were no match for the combined will of Abigail and Nikos. They all loaded into the Rover and headed out the next morning.
Emma’s nerves were ragged by the time they arrived at the remote beach an hour and a half later. Gretchen refused to speak in English, even though she was actually quite fluent when she wanted to be. Nikos tried to talk to Emma, but Gretchen had kept a separate conversation going with him that kept him distracted and irritable. Abigail had tried to help by translating some of Gretchen’s sharper comments about Emma’s appearance or presence earning both Gretchen’s and Nikos’ disapproval. In the end, everyone had just sat in stony silence.
Abigail piled out of the back and took off at top speed, as usual, Gretchen hard on her heels shouting at her in Greek. Nikos and Emma grabbed the beach gear from the rear of the Rover. Laden with a picnic basket, beach chairs, blankets, and toys, they trudged toward the sand.
“Well, I hope we can find a spot,” Emma said sarcastically. The beach was deserted, despite the mild day and bright sunshine.
Nikos smiled at her. “Of course it is empty. It is private property. I own it.”
“Really? You own a beach. That’s actually pretty cool,” she said giving him a playful shove with her elbow.
The fingernail shaped beach was just over 3 kilometers long with a private beach house on the south side. Nikos pointed out over the water and named several of the large rocks that jutted from the surface of the water. It was a truly lovely spot. Emma’s shoulders relaxed a bit as she dropped into a beach chair. Gretchen and Abigail were well down the beach splashing in the surf, so there were no snide comments or scathing looks.
Nikos watched Emma as she arranged herself in the lounge chair and started slathering on sunblock. He never had to bother with sunblock thanks to his natural olive complexion. He sighed and settled back to listen to the waves. Her hand slipped into his, and their fingers laced together. He smiled and closed his eyes feeling contentment wash over him.
“Emma! Come play!” Abigail’s voice penetrated Emma’s dozing mind. She forced her eyes open just in time to see the little girl rocketing toward her. She braced for the impact a split second before Abigail’s tiny body pounced on her. “Wake up! You and Papa have been sleeping forever!”
Nikos groaned and reached out to rescue Emma from his daughter’s attack. He pulled Abigail to him and wrapped her up in a huge bear hug. “Alright, you little torment, we will come play. Shall we build a sand castle?”
“Not you, Papa! Emma!” Abigail wiggled out of his embrace and began pulling on Emma’s hand. Nikos grinned, and Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise as she allowed herself to be towed down the beach.
The sand castle leaned badly to the left, and one of the turrets was half the size of the other, thanks to Abigail’s foot. Emma had declared it finished, and they were munching on snacks while admiring their work. Gretchen had taken Emma’s vacated chair when Abigail had brought Emma down to build the castle. That had suited Emma just fine since she could only imagine the old woman’s critical comments on their castle building skills- or lack thereof.
Emma buried her feet in the sand and built up a small mound covering up to her ankles. Abigail watched her intently, and with her juice box in one hand and sand shovel in the other, began adding sand to Emma’s rapidly growing pile. Soon her legs were covered up to mid-calf and then to her knees. Nikos wandered over about the time the sand was up to her waist. Chuckling, he helped his daughter finish burying her up to her shoulders.
Abigail shrieked with laughter and ran around and around. She brought shells and decorated the top of the mound while Nikos sat close to her head and absently stroked her hair and watched his daughter. Emma’s heart overflowed with happiness in the simple moment. Even Gretchen didn’t say anything to ruin it when she joined the group and announced it was time for Abigail’s nap. She took the protesting child by her hand and led her toward the Rover. They would go to the beach house to get Abigail cleaned up and lie down for a nap.
Emma looked at Nikos. “Did you arrange that?”
“Me? Arrange to have some alone time with a beautiful woman on a private beach? Why would I do that?” He lowered his mouth to hers in a tender kiss that promised much more. Slowly he began to clear the sand from her body. He unearthed her shoulders and down to her breast, taking extra care to squeeze and caress as he cleared the sand.
Emma smirked as he made a big show of making sure all the sand was gone off her breasts. “Get this stuff off me. I’m starting to itch like crazy,” she said as she started to shift and squirm in her sand prison.
“I like having you at my mercy,” Nikos said but started clearing the sand with large sweeps of his arm. He stood and grabbed her hand to pull her to her feet. He generously helped her to brush the sand from her skin, running his hands all over her body. His hand slipped between her legs, and he cupped her mound in his large hand. He massaged and squeezed making her sigh with sudden desire.
Emma’s body responded instantly to his touch, but her skin itched with maddening distraction. Even as he pulled her to him and lowered his mouth to kiss her, she squirmed and couldn’t stop her hands from scratching down her arm.
Nikos pulled up short in the middle of the kiss. He looked down at her as her hands constantly in motion trying to brush off sand and scratch at the same time. “Go rinse off in the water. Just be careful, the surf is a little rough. I’ll get you a towel.” He turned and headed up the beach. “You’ll probably want to take that suit off to make sure you get it all off,” he said over his shoulder with a wink.
Emma stuck her tongue out at him and eyed the rolling waves with suspicion. The ocean intimidated her with its immenseness and never ceasing motion. Gingerly, she stepped in and was surprised to feel how warm the water was. Gradually, she waded out further until she was waist deep. She splashed water over her upper body, and the itching gradually decreased. Nikos had been right about sand in her suit. Even though she knew they were alone, she looked around cautiously before removing her top. She bent her knees to submerge up to her neck. The warm water moved around her, and she massaged her breasts and nipples in anticipation of Nikos’ touch. A glance at the shore confirmed he was watching her. She stood so he could see her naked breasts and stretched her arms over her head to give him a good view. Her head was itching like crazy. She was going to have to rinse her hair, though she didn’t like the thought of going under water.
Nikos’ smiled at her and took off his own shirt in response. He kicked off his sandals and then remembered he had been heading to get a towel. He turned back to the beach bag and grabbed two towels. When he turned back to the water, Emma was nowhere to be seen.