Chapter 12

In Crete they anchored in the bay at Heraklion and took the tender ashore, they shopped in the tourist sector where they wouldn’t stand out. Once they got their supplies, they got a taxi back to the beach and were soon back on board Bee Jay. They lay at anchor for the rest of the day and Samantha did a little sunbathing while Ryan did what maintenance he could with his one hand. In the evening, Sam cooked dinner and they shared a bottle of wine. By the time they turned in Samantha was a little drunk, which made her more amenable to Ryan’s advances. When she woke the following morning, she found that she was not alone. She found herself torn between just accepting the way things were and trying to fight against it. In the end, she decided to go with the flow. She got up and prepared breakfast while Ryan prepared to set sail. As they sat on the deck, Sam looked out at Crete.

‘I wish we could just go ashore and explore. I never knew Crete was mountainous, from here it looks really beautiful.’

‘It won’t be long before we can go anywhere. I’ll get us new identities and we can go where we want.’

‘Anywhere except Britain. I still won’t be able to go home to see my friends and family, will I?’

‘No, but once we are established they can come and see us.’

‘That’s still a long way from freedom though isn’t it?’

‘Yes, it’s also a long way from being locked in prison. I know it’s not ideal but I’m making the best of a bad situation.’

`And who made the situation bad?’ She thought but decided to keep it to herself. She still entertained the thought of giving herself up.

‘Well, tomorrow we can explore Rhodes. Maybe that will make you feel a bit better. I’m going to get underway.’

He got up weighed anchor and started raising sails. In less than five minutes, they were underway. Late that evening they dropped anchor in Kathara Bay near Faliraki. After a day of exploring what they could of Rhodes, they set sail for Northern Cyprus.

Kyrenia was once a small fishing village. Prior to the Turkish invasion, it started to develop as a tourist destination. Since the invasion, it had become the main port for the Turkish sector of Cyprus. Samantha looked nervously at the two Turkish gunboats as they entered the harbour. Ryan contacted the harbour master and was allocated a berth. Ryan seemed more relaxed than Samantha had seen him since his attack on Will. They tied up at midday and they spent the evening in a quayside restaurant having there first proper dinner in weeks. For the whole of their first day, they did nothing but relax and soak up the atmosphere of the town.

On the second day, Ryan went out to find a hospital and get his plaster cut off. Samantha wandered through the town, she bought a few postcards to send to her friends and family. She sat in a café and wrote out a card to send to Will.

My Darling Will,

I am so sorry for what has happened. You must know that I had nothing to do with it. I pleaded with Ryan to go back for you but he refused. I was powerless. I’m so glad you are alive. Please forgive me, my love.

Samantha

She wrote out another to her best friend Jane and one to her parents. She finished her coffee and set off to find a Post Office. With the postcards sent, she made her way back to the harbour and Bee Jay II. Ryan came back later with a bandage and a plastic support on his arm. He didn’t seem particularly happy and his arm was in a sling.

‘Why is your arm still in a sling?’

‘They thought I should support it for part of the day.’

‘Does it hurt?’

‘It hurts to straighten it. I won’t be able to carry anything for a while. What have you been up to?’

Samantha told him how she had spent her day and Ryan got more and more agitated.

‘Please tell me you didn’t send them. We are on the run from the authorities, There are probably European arrest warrants out for us, and you want to send postcards telling everyone where we are.’

‘Mum and Dad will be worried about me. I wanted them to know that I was all right. You said we were safe here, that no one could touch us.’

‘I know what I said and we probably are safe. I’d still prefer people not to know where we are. One thing is for sure now. If we are going to visit the south, we’ll have to do it before those postcards reach England. After that, we won’t get through the border.’

The following day they rented a Jeep and drove across the border to Nicosia. Sam was still considering giving herself up to the Cypriot police. She talked to Ryan about it and he did his best to persuade her to stay with him. They spent the day shopping and site seeing. Ryan bought a three-day-old copy of The Guardian They stopped in a small café and while Samantha went to the toilet, Ryan sat reading the newspaper. He was just flipping through the business section when a headline caught his eye.

WAINWRIGHT SHOWS HE’S NOT DEAD YET.

Millionaire businessman William Wainwright, who only recently survived an attempt on his life, is rumoured to be the driving force behind the hostile takeover of McMahon Construction. Although the official line is that a corporation based in Grand Cayman is behind the takeover, it bears all the hallmarks of a Wainwright operation. In the weeks leading up to the takeover, the previous owner of the company, Sir George McMahon has been seen in negotiations with a woman recently identified as Mr Wainright’s Personal Assistant.

When Sam came back and sat down, he put the paper on the table.

‘What’s the main reason for wanting to go home?’

‘I want to talk to Will. I have to make him see that I had nothing to do with what happened. Maybe if I can do that, there may still be a chance for us, Will and me.’

‘I think it may be too late for that.’ He tapped the newspaper on the table. ‘It says here that he has already filed for divorce.’

Tears ran down her cheeks as she read the newspaper article, as she got further down the page she looked up at Ryan.

‘It says here that he’s lost the use of one leg. He’s in a wheelchair now. You did that to him, Ryan. Now he hates me and it’s all your fault.’

Ryan felt the anger rising up in him and almost said what he felt. That his only regret was not making sure Will was dead, before putting him in the water.

She wiped her eyes and blew her nose on a tissue before gathering herself together.

‘Have you read this?’ Ryan nodded. ‘All of it?’

‘No, just the important bits.’

‘So you didn’t get to the bit that says they know exactly where we are? Two policemen flew into Malta the day we were there. They must have missed us by hours. You thought you were so smart, making them think we went to the Canaries, and all this time they knew we were in the Med. To think you had the nerve to ridicule me for sending postcards. They’ve probably already worked out where we were going.’

Ryan had never seen her like this before. She was angry, really angry and she was also starting to doubt that he knew what he was doing. He felt he had to say something to reassure her.

‘Well we must still be one jump ahead or they would have arrested us as we came across the border. We can go back to the north and stay there.’

‘And then what? The money on Bee Jay won’t last the rest of the year. We’d have to get jobs, but what jobs would we get? I don’t see much call for an English actress and a deckhand who can’t leave territorial waters. Anyway, I can’t live like that. Knowing that I can’t come and go as I please, I might as well be in prison.’

‘I keep telling you I’ve got a plan. We’ll get new identities and we’ll be able to go where we want.’

‘Just not England.’

‘No, not England, if we go back there you will find out what it’s really like to be in prison. Just trust me, Sam. Give me a couple of weeks here to get my arm working again, then we’ll be off. Two weeks after that, it will all be over.’

They finished their coffees and left. Both were very nervous as they approached the checkpoint. Ryan heaved a big sigh of relief as they were waived through. His delight was tempered somewhat when they got back to the boat and he heard the latch go over on Samantha’s cabin door.

It was three weeks into our new relationship that he said the words that gave me a warm glow inside. We’d been trying to cope with working together all day. It was hard trying not to let our feelings show. There would be the odd touch here and a stroke there. We thought we were keeping it under wraps but I’m sure that people suspected. I know that Jean suspected something, though I never admitted anything to her. Probably the way we sat on the same side of the desk for discussions gave her the hint. We spent our weekends together and took it in turns to choose where we wanted to go. Four or five evenings a week we went out together. We went to first nights for plays and shows, concerts, even the opera which I never really understood. When he asked me if there was anything I desperately wanted to see, I had my answer ready, ‘Swan Lake’.

Will never really understood ballet, or that is what he said. Any form of dance seemed to leave him cold. I thought he’d forgotten all about it until the courier turned up with the envelope. He took a quick peek in the envelope, smiled and looked at me.

‘Glad rags on tonight Fletcher my girl. We’re going out, the Royal Opera House, no less’

‘Will I understand this one? Is it even in English?’

‘It’s not opera, not tonight. Swan Lake you wanted and Swan Lake you shall have. The Royal Ballet, if that’s alright’

All the restraint I’d managed went out the window. I rushed across the office, bent down and hugged him.

‘Are you sure you don’t mind. I mean I know you don’t like it?’

‘I don’t know if I like it or not, I’ve never been before, but I thought it’s Tchaikovsky, the music is great so I’ll enjoy that. –Now I thought we’d agreed to be professional around the office.’

That night Thomas dropped us at the opera house and Will and I started what was to become a wonderful evening. Will was starting to get more control over his left leg so his movement was getting faster. We found our front row seats and settled in for the evening, It’s difficult to describe the way I felt. The costumes and the dancing were amazing, the music was wonderful. During the interval, I asked Will if he was enjoying it.

‘Surprisingly enough Yes I am, it’s giving me a new appreciation of the strength and fitness of the dancers.’

At the end of the performance, Will called Thomas who brought the car round to pick us up. It was in the car heading home that the conversation made my night.

‘Did you really enjoy it?’

‘Yes. I didn’t expect to but I really did. The performance was wonderful the music was great, but there was something else that made me feel good. –I looked at you and saw how much you were enjoying it and that made me enjoy it all the more.’

He didn’t say he loved me, it was more than that. My happiness made him happy, what more could I want. I made up my mind right then that would be the night. When we arrived outside my building I squeezed his hand.

‘Are you coming up?’

He looked a little surprised. ‘Is that what you want?’

I just kissed him. Thomas opened the door and we both got out. As he held the door for Will I gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

‘You can go home now Thomas.’

‘Are you sure Miss?’

‘Yes Thomas, we won’t need you again tonight.’

When we got to my flat, I poured us each a glass of wine and sat beside him on the sofa. We chatted for a while then I got up and stood with my back to him. I looked back over my shoulder and spoke to him.

‘I need to get out of this dress. Could you unzip me please?’

He reached up, pulled my zipper down as far as my waist, and stopped.

‘All the way down please.’

I knew that he must have noticed the fact that I wasn’t wearing a bra. Now as he took the zip all the way down he would notice the flimsiest thong that I could find. As the zip reached the bottom I shrugged the dress off of my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. I stepped out of the dress and bent to pick it up. I draped the dress over the back of the sofa and stood before him wearing nothing but a skimpy thong, stockings and suspender belt.

‘Wow!’

‘Do you like what you see?’

‘That’s a stupid question to ask a man with his tongue hanging out. Of course, I like it. – Does this mean what I think it means?’

I turned again, sat on his lap, and put my arm around his neck. I could feel his solid erection pushing up against my bum.

‘That rather depends on what you think it means.’ I gave him a short kiss on the lips. ‘We’ve had such a wonderful evening it would be a pity to stop now. I’d like to keep the enjoyment going, assuming that’s what you want too.’

I felt his hand move over my stomach then up my side to cup my left breast. I felt my nipple stiffen as he stroked it with his thumb. I kissed his lips and my mouth opened to accommodate his tongue. As we broke the kiss, my head went back and I pulled his head down to my right breast. He took my breast into his mouth and as he sucked, he stroked the nipple with his tongue. My head went back pushing my breasts up to him. My body was his, I felt so excited I craved more of his touch. I squirmed around on his lap rubbing that hard erection against my bum. I pulled him harder against me. Oh God, how I wanted him.

He struggled, against the pressure of my arms, to pull his mouth from my breast.

‘I think we need to take this to the bedroom, don’t you?’

‘Oh yes. Yes, I do.’

‘I’m sorry I can’t carry you. Maybe one day but not tonight.’

‘I’ll settle for walking.’

I got off his lap and slowly led him to my bedroom. As I peeled off his shirt, I couldn’t resist kissing those strong shoulders. Releasing his belt, I pulled down his trousers and jockey shorts. His cock sprang out at me hard and eager to be free. I gave it a small kiss before, standing once more, I held his gorgeous naked body close to mine. We climbed into bed and as I turned towards him, I felt his hands rubbing my back. I wanted him so much that I would have been happy with a rushed wham, bam, thank you mam, but that was not in Will’s nature. He pulled me close. I felt his mouth nibbling at my shoulders as his hands caressed then rubbed my back. I pushed my body harder against him. I felt his manhood pushing into me, trying to find its way between my legs. When his fingers reached into the crack of my arse, I wrapped my leg around him.