Kidnapped the Wrong Sister (16 page)

“And I believe you… but I have a life to live Nikias.  When I thought that you…”  She bit her lip in pain remembering how destroyed she had felt, knowing that they had only been together for two weeks, wondering what it would be like after two months.  “I realised that I can’t keep living like this.  I’m not cut out to be somebody’s mistress” 

He
saw the tears rising once more in her eyes as she looked at him with such sadness.  “Please just let me go Nikias, I can’t stay here, I have to get on with my life”  He looked at her ready to demand that she stay, to tell her that he would never let her off that island if she did not promise to stay with him, but something in her eyes stilled him.  She meant it, he could see that in her face, he knew that he could not push her, but he was not ready to give her up without a fight.

“OK Diona, but only if I take you back myself”, he insisted, his voice so calm, so controlled, while hers shook.  Diona had not known what to expect from him, but his cool acceptance was like a dagger to her heart.  Rolling from the bed, she lifted her nightdress, grimacing at the damage he had done to it, as she started to move back to her own room.  “I want to stay in my room tonight”, she explained softly, as he frowned seeing her move away.  “I need to pack…all my clothes are there”  She saw how he nodded, his face calm as he watched her leave.

As she
reached her room, she slowly sank into the carpet, pulling the ripped material closer against her, as her whole body shook, the sobs finally able to break from her mouth in a low animal-like sound of pain.  She curled up into a ball as her heart shattered into a thousand pieces.  Diona knew that she had to go, knew that she had no future with Nikias, feeling the need to return to her own world as soon as possible.  He would never love her the way she loved him, she knew that, but still she just wanted to return back to his room, to throw herself into his arms and let him hold her, let him keep making love to her until...  Sobbing, she knew that one day there would be somebody else, somebody who would turn his head when he had bored with her, and she knew that he would end the relationship.  At the end of the day, to him, Diona was just another mistress and with that she began to cry yet again.

That night Diona slept little, her mind returning to the way they
had made love.  She tried to push the memory from her mind, still feeling his mouth on hers, his hands holding her so firmly.  She groaned with such pain and need knowing that he was only a few doors away, and bit her lip with the way she longed to return to him.  Finally the sun rose, and she began packing her bags.  She left the dresses he had bought for her along with the bracelet, suddenly not wanting the reminders of the wonderful nights she had spent with him.  As she finished packing, she moved from the room, taking one last look from the balcony, enjoying the feel of the sea-air against her tired heart-sick body.

Downstairs, she
was surprised to see Nikias already sitting at the dining room table, eating cereal and drinking coffee.  He watched her, taking in how pale and tired she looked, his eyes resting on the case in her hand.  “So you really want to leave?”, he asked softly, seeing how she nodded, her expression firm.  “Yes, I think it would be for the best”, she replied softly.  “Best for who?”, he asked, a small edge in his voice, as she stood silently before him.

With a
deep sigh, he moved out of the room into his study, leaving her alone.  She moved to help herself to tea, not choosing any food as she felt that she would not be able to swallow anything, her throat feeling so tight.  As she was nearly finished her cup, he returned.

“My plane will be ready in an hour for us, which should give us just enough time to catch the boat”  His voice was calm, cold almost, as he looked at her.  Diona only nodded, not trusting herself to speak, afraid that she would start crying again.  Putting down the cup, she rose.  “I’m ready”, she managed, moving towards the door as he lifted her case into his hand moving ahead of her to the car which was parked outside.  As he put the case in the trunk he moved to open her door, pausing for a second to look her in the eyes, Diona seeing a flash of something in them.

“Are you sure Diona?”, he asked softly, his voice less calm as he held her look.  Diona felt the tears prickling the back of her eyes, as she dropped her gaze from his, only able to manage a small nod before he opened the door fully for her.  The car ride, like the boat ride, was made in complete silence, with both lost in their own thoughts as they stood beside each other like strangers.  As they were collected by a chauffeur-driven car to take them to the airport, she glanced over at Nikias, thinking how he looked as tired as she did.  She wanted to reach over and touch his cheek, ask if he was OK, ask if he could ever love her, this thought causing her to look away quickly to hide the hurt which filled her eyes. 

Finally they
arrived and Diona knew that there was only one more hurdle to overcome until she would be able to escape from him and to find her own little corner and huddle up until she was strong enough to rebuild her life, to put this wonderful man behind her.  She wondered if he would even miss her, as her heart cried out for him.

Moving
up the steps onto the plane, Nikias was angry at her continued refusal to change her mind.  He wanted her to stay, he had explained about Anya, and yet she still insisted on returning to Britain.  He remembered how they made love, and he knew that she still wanted him as badly as he wanted her.  He also remembered how cold and lonely his bed felt without her, knowing that he wanted her back.  He spent most of the night fighting the desire to carry her back to his room and tell her that he was not letting her go, that she was staying there with him.  However, he remembered the look in her eyes, that determined yet almost dead look and he knew that she meant what she had said.  Nikias knew that had he not offered to take her himself, she would have taken a scheduled flight, and he wanted time to persuade her, to make her see it his way.

During the night h
e considered offering her a more financially agreeable set-up, but remembering the way she reacted when he asked her to be his mistress, he dismissed this option.  There was no reason why she could not stay with him.  Her insistence that she had her own life to lead was angering him.  She had no job at that moment, and he knew that she still desired him as much as he did her.  Nikias frowned, wondering what little scheme she was up to now, feeling an almost desperate need to give her what she wanted.  His whole being waited for her to lay her cards out for him so that he could pay her price and have her back, but as each hour passed with nothing from her, he felt the rising panic swamping him. 

Dio
na moved onto the plane, suddenly reminded of a similar plane.  She frowned, realising that in spite of having already flown on this one, she had not really taken in then how it looked, realising that she had been so out of it that day that she had slept all the way.  When she saw it again, it took all her willpower to keep moving up the steps, her whole body suddenly full of fear with only her need to get away from Nikias keeping her moving forward.  This man was tearing her heart apart and she had to get back to what was so familiar to her. 

Diona
had already decided that the day after they returned she would take up a position abroad, feeling the need to put as much distance between them as possible.  She could not keep living her life like this.  She truly did believe him about Anya, but the whole incident had made her realise that she was only his mistress, the latest in a long line.  Somebody completely disposable and that one day there would be somebody else, somebody he would replace her with, and suddenly she had felt so broken, so sad.  She could not live like that – she would not live like that, waiting for the axe to fall. 

Diona knew that he would try to change her mind.  She knew that he was not ready to give her up yet, but she also knew that one day he would be, and she realised that when that day came she would not be able to handle the pain of being thrown over, to know that he
had tired of her.  She knew that she had to go.

Nikias
helped Diona onto the plane, sitting beside her in one of the large plush seats, pulling his seatbelt on in preparation for takeoff.  Beside him, he could sense Diona’s nervousness, seeing the way her fingers shook as she fastened her seatbelt.

“Still nervous about flying?”, he asked, his eyes meeting hers.  He was surprised to see how pale she looked.  “A little”, she managed, a small nervous laugh leaving her soft lips.  “You do know Diona that flying is the safest form of transport?”, he said, in what he hoped was a reassuring voice.  However, she gave a small derisory laugh, her mouth opening to speak, before she closed it again and looked away.  “So they tell me”, she muttered.

Looking at her with confused eyes, he
sighed, everybody had their demons he thought softly to himself, feeling as the plane started to move, preparing to taxi along the runway.  As the plane took off, Nikias gently took Diona’s hand, pulling it from the arm of the chair, where it gripped the seat so hard that her knuckles were completely white.  “Have you always been nervous of flying?”, he finally asked her as she looked up at him.  “No...I used to love flying, I worked abroad a lot, but after…”  He could see how she stopped herself, seeing also a strange haunted look enter her eyes as she bit her lip.  “After what?”, he asked softly.Diona however, was shaking her head.  “I really don’t like talking about it”, she said evasively, her eyes once more moving to look out of the window, unfocussed and far away.

Nikias
frowned, not understanding her reluctance to tell him, and wondering why she was putting on such a dramatic show for him.  He had made it clear to her that he did not care about the way she had orchestrated their siblings’ relationship.  However, watching her, he wondered if she really was pretending, her reaction looking so very real.

For several hours the two
sat in the plane, Diona still a deathly pale, staring out of the window, her heart breaking with each mile that would bring her closer to her own familiar life, away from Nikias.  As he tried to talk to her, she was polite but distant, until he gave up with a frown, sitting back after pouring himself a large drink which he sipped, his expression unfathomable as the hours slipped away in silence.

As he
stood to get another drink a voice from the cockpit came across the intercom.  “Mr Dranias, are you and Miss Brown secured?”  Nikias flipped a switch, asking if there was a problem. “We are about to hit some turbulence, best remain seated for now Sir”, was the response as Nikias sat back down, smiling reassuringly at Diona, who was looking up at him with eyes suddenly as wide as saucers with fear.

“Turbulence?”, she stuttered nervously, her voice so low that he hardly heard her.  With a smile he brushed it off,  “Nothing to worry about...happens all the time”  Diona however, looked back out of the window, her face now completely ashen.  Seconds later, they were hit by the first wave.  As the plane shuddered violently, Diona cried out softly, her hand grabbing for Nikias who was sitting beside her; surprised, he put a reassuring arm around her, kissing her head gently.

“It’s OK Diona”, he laughed, feeling as she shivered beside him.  The next wave hit even harder, this time moving items around the body of the plane.  He felt as she pushed her face harder against him, moaning with terror as her whole body began to shake.  He looked down at her with real concern.  She was truly terrified, and pulling slightly back from her he could see how her eyes were wide with the real terror she was experiencing, her face deathly white as her body trembled uncontrollably.

“Diona, it is OK”, he repeated as calmly as possible, seeing how she shook her head.  “That’s what he said”, she stuttered.  “Who said?”, he asked, pulling her head in close to him.  “The pilot”, she answered, sobs coming from her.  “But it wasn’t Nikias… It wasn’t”, she cried.  Nikias had no idea what she was talking about, with a small frown once more asking her softly, “What happened Diona?”, hearing her moan as another tremor passed through the plane.

“We crashed”, she cried, jumping as the plane shook again, her arms moving around Nikias, who held her in complete shock.  Diona had been in a plane crash.  He closed his eyes softly, his arms moving around her to hold her securely against him.  Holding her so close, he made soft reassuring sounds against her, as she continued to shake in his arms.

After several minutes, the turbulence
passed, and the plane continued once more smoothly on its journey.  The pilot informed them over the intercom that the buffeting was over, and Nikias pulled off his seat belt to kneel in front of her, still holding her shaking in his arms.

“It’s all over Diona”, he said so gently, feeling how rigid her whole body felt against him.  Finally she was positioned before him, her hands in his as he looked at her face, taking in the sweat on her brow and her deathly pale complexion.  Moving his hand to wipe away one of the tears which ran down her cheeks, he felt so strange.  Diona had always been so in control, so strong; seeing her like this was foreign to him.  She was vulnerable and he felt an overpowering need to look after her, to make everything OK again, to protect her.

After several minutes, he could see her eyes start to focus on him, as the fear
receded, her hands pulling free from his, as she put them up to her hair, her hands trying to pull it back into its more controlled ponytail, pulling it together and knotting it over itself.  He let her, knowing that she needed to do something.  Finally she looked at him, her eyes full of shame and self-loathing.