Dark Avenger

His mouth gave a sardonic quirk. ‘You have my personal assurance that your brother is perfectly safe and unharmed.’ He paused for a moment then added softly, ‘For the time being at least. His ultimate welfare is entirely in your hands.’

The colour drained from her face. ‘What is that supposed to mean? Where is he?’

‘Working in one of our olive groves under the strict supervision of my uncle and cousins. At least it’ll give him time to contemplate the error of his ways.’

Her eyes widened and she felt a chilling knot of fear in her stomach. ‘I…I don’t know what this is all about, Mr Spirakis, but I warn you that if anything happens to Jimmy I…I’ll—’

He dismissed her threat with a snort and his green eyes provoked and taunted her. ‘You’re very fond of your brother, I imagine.’

‘Dammit!’ she flared up at him. ‘What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I’m fond of him. He’s all the family I’ve got.’

His voice turned raw with cold condemnation. ‘So you simply turn a blind eye to his promiscuous way of life because he’s your brother?’

Her mouth dropped open in astonishment then she laughed uncertainly. ‘Jimmy? Promiscuous? You’re mad.’

‘Perhaps you don’t know him as well as you think you do,’ he growled. ‘He is an attractive youth with an easy charm. Most girls would find him irresistible. Do you expect me to believe that he hasn’t exploited those assets to his advantage?’

‘Jimmy isn’t like that,’ she said in heated defence. ‘I’m not saying that he doesn’t go out with girls whenever he has the chance but he would never cause any of them any…any harm.’

He mocked her with a derisive smile. ‘Come, now. A nineteen-year-old boy isn’t likely to boast of his conquests to his older sister, is he?’

That knot of fear was growing larger. She already had some idea what all this was leading up to but she prayed fervently that she was wrong.

For a moment he watched the conflicting emotions on her face then he nodded with quiet satisfaction as if he’d proved a point. Still mocking her, he said, ‘It may be some comfort to you to know that your brother thinks very highly of you. He seems to worship you. At least that’s the impression he gave my uncle, who had a very long and informative talk with him.’

‘We’ve always been close,’ she said stiffly.

‘Good. If it had been otherwise I’d be wasting my time here.’ The green eyes began stripping her again with obvious anticipation. ‘Now let’s talk about you for a change, shall we? Tell me about your boyfriends…your lovers. Does promiscuity run in your family?’

Her cheeks flamed and she clenched her fists. ‘You can go to hell.’

He eyed her in cold silence then shrugged. ‘If I go to hell then so does your brother. As I said before, his fate is entirely in your hands.’

The unmistakable note of menace in his voice sent another shiver down her back and she gulped. ‘I…I’ve only ever had one boyfriend. It was years and years ago.’

He raised an eyebrow in frank disbelief. ‘Do you take me for a fool, Miss Stevens?’

Her cheeks burned again and she gritted her teeth. ‘Look, I don’t give a damn whether you believe it or not. Running this ship has kept me busy. I’ve no time for emotional entanglements of that sort.’

‘No time?’ he mused. ‘Or is it a case of no inclination?’ The green eyes challenged her then he said softly, ‘Now is as good a time as any to find out.’

She tried to jump back but he was too quick for her and she found herself suddenly imprisoned in his arms. Her cry of protest died in a gasp as he crushed her to his chest.

Grinning down at her, he murmured in approval, ‘Such a soft, yielding body. Now we’ll see if your lips are as yielding,’ One of his hands came up to grab her hair and she found herself staring up in fear into the fathomless depths of his sea-green eyes.

She closed her own eyes quickly as his mouth descended on hers and the shock kept her rigid and tight-lipped. Undeterred by her initial refusal to respond, his tongue began teasing and probing and finally forced an entry into the warm, dark sweetness of her mouth. Oh, God, she thought. When was the last time she’d been kissed like this? When had she ever been kissed like this? This was provocation beyond endurance and she could feel her limbs losing their strength.

The warmth of his bare chest and the steady beating of his heart transmitted itself through her thin cotton T-shirt and she cursed herself for not having bothered to put on a bra. Surely he could feel her nipples hardening against his body and that would only inflame him further. The hands she raised in a half-hearted attempt to push him away betrayed her and slid under his arms to clasp his back and the touch of his smooth skin sent an aching tremor through her thighs.

As his tongue continued to explore her mouth she responded, slowly at first, then as desire swelled and swept aside reason her own tongue began replying in erotic abandon. Now every nerve-end in her body began to tingle as she felt his hand slide under her T-shirt and a low moan came from her throat as he caressed her breast. His touch was fire—a scorching heat that would brand her forever.

His knee began forcing itself between her thighs and she fought desperately to cling to the last shreds of her sanity. This had to stop. Here and now. Shocked and ashamed at the demon he’d unleashed inside her, she brought her hands round and pushed hard against his chest. Frantically she tore her mouth from his and gasped, ‘Stop it! Let…let me go, damn you.’

Denied the pleasures of her mouth, his lips found her neck and began to trace a path of incandescent sensuality from her ear to the tender hollow of her throat. As she teetered on the brink of complete and utter surrender, wanting him, needing him to relieve this intolerable aching desire, only one tiny spark of reason shone feebly in the dark maelstrom of her mind and she raised her hands to force his face away.

With a grunt he released her and she staggered back on her heels, her chest heaving.

He touched his cheek and examined the tiny spot of blood on his finger then his lips stretched in a feral grin as he surveyed her with approval. ‘So the fair English rose has a thorn. She’s willing to fight to defend her honour. You’ve no idea how much that pleases me, Carrie.’

The scratch had been unintentional but she wasn’t about to tell him that. Instead, she muttered darkly, ‘If you ever touch me again I won’t use a thorn. I’ll use something heavy and likely to be lethal.’

He dismissed her threat with a cold, derisory smile. ‘Don’t worry, Miss Stevens. I’ve no intention of forcing myself on you again. If it were merely your body I was after you’d be pinned helplessly to the deck right now and I’ve no doubt that you’d be writhing in ecstasy.’

Her breathing was returning to normal and her mind was beginning to function rationally once more. Lowering her eyes, she realised that her threat had been ridiculous. She could see that now. Her puny strength was no match for that of a man of his build and power and if he’d really intended taking her against her will a mere scratch on the cheek wouldn’t have stopped him. There was also the sickening realisation that he was capable of inflaming her passion to such a height. Now she felt nothing but self-disgust at her own weakness and easy arousal. Perhaps, buried deep beneath all that armour of self-discipline and moral rectitude, she really was a promiscuous little harlot at heart.

Eyeing him with resentful suspicion, she said accusingly, ‘You appear to think that you’ve some sort of hold over me because of my brother. What did he ever do to harm you?’

‘Not to me, Carrie,’ he said in a voice that was suddenly harsh with bitterness and anger. ‘To my sister—Helen, as you would call her in English.’

A cold hand clamped itself over her heart and she bit her lip. It was clear to her now. She knew the importance of family honour to men such as him. The idea of a practically penniless deckhand, and a foreigner at that, presuming to cast an eye on his sister must have been the ultimate insult.

‘Look,’ she said quietly, ‘Jimmy listens to me. I…I’ll warn him to keep away from your precious sister in future. Anyway I’m sure he meant no harm.’

The cold green eyes studied her in nerve-racking silence once more then he said bitterly, ‘Helen is a beautiful girl. Eighteen years old. She was betrothed to the son of a friend. They were to be married in six months’ time but thanks to your brother that wedding can no longer take place.’

‘Oh, come on now,’ she protested. ‘Just because Jimmy went out with your sister there’s no need to—’

His voice cut into her like a whip. ‘He did more than just “go out” with her. He dishonoured her. She is pregnant and your brother is the father.’

The colour drained from her face and she stared at him in shocked disbelief. Finally she whispered, ‘That…that can’t be true. Jimmy wouldn’t be so stupid…I mean…you couldn’t be mistaken about this, could you?’ As soon as she’d said it she knew that it was the kind of question only a fool would ask and she flinched at his withering reply.

‘Don’t take me for a fool. Did you think I’d come here unless I was absolutely certain of the facts?’

Feeling sick to the stomach, she bit her lip in frustration. How could Jimmy have been so bloody stupid? The damned idiot. It would have been bad enough had it been any other girl but he’d had to go and get himself involved with one of the Spirakis clan! Well, perhaps he hadn’t known who she was and the girl had neglected to tell him. But he should have had more respect for a girl no matter who she was. She felt nothing but shame that her own brother could do such a thing.

She looked hesitantly at the mask of anger directed at her and was on the point of asking him if he was quite sure that his sister hadn’t led Jimmy on then she thought better of it. He’d probably throttle her on the spot.

Adopting an air of quiet resignation, she said, ‘This is as distressing to me as it is to you. I really do feel sorry for your sister. There’s absolutely no excuse for what Jimmy did. He’s old enough to know better. But I really don’t see what I can do about it.’

‘You at least agree that he should be punished?’

‘What do you mean—punished?’ she asked warily. She’d heard some pretty graphic descriptions of the way these proud and arrogant Greeks repaid insults to their family honour. And if the family was rich and powerful enough the guardians of the law had a habit of looking the other way.

‘An eye for an eye, Miss Stevens,’ he said with a grim smile, ‘a tooth for a tooth. I’m sure you’re familiar with the biblical reference?’

For a moment she couldn’t fathom what he was talking about then a seed of suspicion exploded and bloomed sickeningly in her mind.

Seeing the effect his threat had on her, he nodded with ironic amusement. ‘Yes, Miss Stevens. It’s only common justice, after all. What your brother did to my sister I can easily do to his.’ He paused, then, as if to make sure that she was in no doubt as to the fate he planned for her, he showed his teeth in another smile of grim anticipation. ‘I’m going to make you pregnant, Miss Stevens. Gloriously and abundantly pregnant.’

For a moment her breath was taken away by the sheer callousness of the man then she glared at him with a mixture of scorn and downright anger. ‘So you lied. You do intend to rape me after all. Just like the brute you really are.’ She gave him a withering snort of contempt. ‘You may be rich and you may think of yourself as a man of honour but as far as I’m concerned any man who’d contemplate such a thing is worth less than the scum in the gutters of Piraeus.’

It was a deliberate and calculated insult made with an outward show of bravado but the cold smile remained to taunt her.

‘You’ve got it all wrong, my dear Carrie. I’m not going to rape you. On the contrary. You’re the one who is going to make the running. You’re going to plead with me to make love to you. You’re going to beg me on your hands and knees.’

Uncertainty flickered in her eyes and she attempted a laugh of derision. ‘You must be stark raving mad. Hell would have to freeze over before I’d do that.’

‘You have a month,’ he told her calmly. ‘This trip will last a month and by the end of it you’d better be pregnant. Or else.. .’

‘Or else what?’ she demanded with a sneer.

His green eyes bored into her and he spoke every word slowly and carefully so that she was left in no doubt whatsoever. ‘In that case your brother will be returned to you. But my cousins will make sure that he has neither the desire nor the ability to father any more children.’

He smiled contentedly at her look of horror then he rubbed his hands together briskly. ‘Now why don’t you go below and make us some coffee while I look after the boat? We’ve got a very interesting and exhausting month ahead of us, I should say.’

CHAPTER TWO

CARRIE stood on the makeshift wooden jetty and watched as Nikos expertly used the derrick to lift the last of the cargo from the hold and swing it ashore.

John Chambers, the man in charge of the archaeological team, checked the items against his list. ‘Everything seems to be there, Carrie. You just made it on time. We were getting worried. We’re down to our last gallon of paraffin and tin of beans.’ He took an envelope from the pocket of his bush shirt. ‘This is a list of the supplies we’ll be needing by the end of September. Just the usual stuff.’

She smiled brightly. ‘No problem, Mr Chambers. The Miranda has never let you down yet, has she?’

‘Who’s the new deckhand?’ asked John in a loud voice, nodding in Nikos’s direction.

‘Just a temporary replacement,’ she said in an equally loud voice. ‘The more temporary the better, as far as I’m concerned.’

John guffawed. ‘I suppose Jimmy is up to his usual tricks, eh, chasing the young dolly birds on Mykonos? By God, I wouldn’t mind being nineteen again myself.’

It hadn’t been the most tactful thing to say in Nikos’s hearing and from the corner of her eye she saw him stiffen. At least now that night had fallen he’d had the decency to put on his shirt again, she noted with relief. She stood idly chatting with John while he loaded the stores into the Land Rover then she waved goodbye as he drove off then stepped over the bulwark on to Miranda’s deck.

Nikos had finished securing the derrick and now he glanced at his watch and grunted, ‘We can be on Paraxis within an hour. Cast off the lines and I’ll start the main engine.’

She glared at him and said stiffly, ‘This is still my boat. I’m not taking orders from you. Tomorrow we’re heading south. Paraxis is in the other direction.’

‘I need to buy some clothes,’ he said sharply. ‘I’ve nothing but the things I’m wearing.’

‘That’s not my fault,’ she retorted. ‘You should have thought of that before you took it on yourself to—’ Her sentence ended in a squeal as he grabbed her and unceremoniously lifted her up and dumped her back on the jetty.

‘Have it your own way,’ he growled. ‘You can stay here tonight. I’ll be back to pick you up in the morning.’

Furiously she watched as he turned his back on her and ducked into the engine compartment. His head reappeared for a moment and he shouted, ‘You can spend the night with your archaeological friends. I’m sure they can find you a spare tent.’

If only she could, she thought bitterly. Anything would be better than having to spend the night anywhere near him but the Land Rover had gone and it would be a four-mile trek in the darkness to the excavation site. Anyway, why should she be the one to go?

Defiantly she jumped back on board and, quivering with rage, she waited to confront him. If only some fairy godmother would turn her into a man for five minutes. A great hulking brute of a man with no neck and tattooed knuckles. Two minutes would be enough. That would give her enough time to teach Nikos Spirakis a lesson he’d never forget. She’d…she’d…

The main diesel rumbled protestingly into life and Nikos emerged and grinned at her. ‘So you’ve changed your mind? Good. Now go and cast off the stern line.’

Her voice smouldered with a low, barely contained fury. ‘Let’s get one thing straight here and now, Mr Spirakis. No one, not even someone as high and mighty as you, will give me orders aboard my own boat. And I’d remind you of something else. The Miranda is not only my boat, it’s my home. If anyone spends the night ashore it’ll be you.’

He raised a darkly amused eyebrow. ‘Your comments have been noted. Now cast off the stern line.’

‘Cast it off yourself,’ she snapped. ‘I’m going below.’

In the privacy of her tiny, cramped cabin she sat on the edge of her bunk with her chin despondently in her hands and stated at the blank bulkhead. God, what a mess! How was it possible for her life to have been turned upside-down in so short a time? If it hadn’t been for that cretin up there tonight would have been no different from countless other nights. She’d have been making dinner while Jimmy pottered about on deck, checking and doing routine maintenance. They’d have their dinner on deck then she’d wash up. Later they’d have a game of cards and share a bottle of wine and reminisce about their father and the good times they’d had. Jimmy would usually turn in first. On a warm night like this he’d fetch his sleeping-bag from below and spread it on the forecastle. She’d sit outside the wheelhouse for a while gazing contentedly at the stars until drowsiness overcame her and she too would turn in.

It had been a healthy, happy and uncomplicated way of life. They’d known they’d never make a fortune but that didn’t matter. Some day Jimmy might get married—or she might meet someone and fall in love herself. Who could tell? But neither of them had worried about it. Like their late father they’d been content to leave their future in the hands of fate.

It had all turned sour now, though. Instead of being kind fate had turned out to be a mugger in a dark alley.

She still hadn’t really come to terms with the ultimatum she’d been given but one thing was certain—she couldn’t allow the Spirakis family to carry out their threat against her brother. It was too barabaric and horrendous to contemplate.

There was really no choice, she realised bitterly. She would have to give in to Nikos’s demand. It would mean humiliation. Utter degradation. But what was that compared to being crippled for life?

Becoming pregnant and having a child she didn’t want was a prospect that filled her with dismay, but how was she going to avoid it? And when she had this child, what then? She’d have to support it and look after it as best she could but how was she going to do that and continue with her carefree, nomadic way of life? The Miranda was no place to try and bring up an infant.

As for Jimmy, he’d have to support the girl and the child he’d so thoughtlessly fathered. His hands would be full and he’d have no time for her in spite of the fact that it was all his stupid fault.

As for Nikos Spirakis, he was nothing but a sadist. ‘An eye for an eye’, he’d said. But he was wrong. There was a big difference. Jimmy had presumably seduced the Spirakis girl—or for all anyone knew it might well have been the other way around—but he certainly hadn’t raped her. But that was exactly what Nikos intended doing to her. He might try to deny it and twist the words but the moral blackmail he was using was simply violence on a more refined level.

The more she thought about it, the darker and more insoluble her problems became and after half an hour she gave up in disgust and went up on deck to cool off.

Her abductor’s face was a mask of shadow and light as he glanced down at her from the dimly lit wheelhouse and she turned her back on him disdainfully and stared ahead. The starlight reflected from the still and silent sea and dead ahead she could see the brighter lights of Paraxis.

The Miranda seemed to be moving faster than usual and she scowled. That meant that the throttle was wide open, which meant more engine wear and higher fuel consumption, but of course he wouldn’t let a little thing like that bother him. Glancing aft, she noted the phosphorescent wake stretching backwards, true and straight, and she grudgingly had to admit that, apart from the engine, he certainly knew how to handle a boat—but considering that his family was big in the shipping business that was hardly surprising.

Soon she could hear the sounds of the island carrying faintly across the water—taxi horns and the steady thump from one of the discos. She had no time for the larger Greek islands during the tourist season. It seemed to her that the main seafront towns and villages tarted themselves up like goodtime girls out to make a fortune while the pickings were good. They made her feel sorry and ashamed for the inherently decent islanders.

However, that was their worry. She had enough of her own to think about.

Suddenly her heart was in her mouth as Nikos took the Miranda at full speed into the crowded harbour. He headed directly towards a vacant berth at the quayside, threw the engine into reverse at the last moment, spun the wheel and nestled the Miranda gently alongside. She let out her breath in a sigh of relief. Damn him! He’d just done that to frighten or impress her.

Standing resolutely with her arms folded, she left him to do the tying up. As soon as he was ashore she was going to go below again, have some supper then lock her cabin door and try to get some sleep.

Nikos had other ideas. Grabbing her by the waist, he practically lifted her off her feet as he pulled her on to the quay.

Pushing him away, she spat, ‘Let me go. I’m not going anywhere with you.’

The green eyes glittered dangerously for a moment then he relaxed and smiled coldly. ‘You’ve no option, Carrie. If I leave you alone you might decide to do something stupid like sailing off without me. Of course I’d catch up with you sooner or later but in the meantime I’m afraid that your unfortunate brother…’ He shrugged and left the sentence unfinished.

The anger in her eyes turned to bitter defeat and she muttered savagely, ‘All right! I give you my promise not to leave the harbour. Does that satisfy you?’

He contemplated her calmly for a moment then shook his head. ‘I don’t know yet whether you’re trustworthy or not. I’ll find out in time but until then I prefer to keep an eye on you.’

There had to be some sophisticatedly cutting reply to that but she couldn’t think of it. Finally her shoulders slumped in obvious surrender and he nodded in satisfaction. ‘That’s better. First I’m going to arrange for a change of clothes and other essentials. Then we’re going to enjoy a meal and a few drinks like any other normal and friendly couple. Now why don’t you cheer up and make the best of it?’

She looked at him with wrathful indignation and gritted, ‘I’ll make the best of it but don’t ever get the idea that I could conceivably enjoy your company.’

He tilted her chin upwards with his forefinger and grinned. ‘You can at least pretend, can’t you? After all, you’re going to have to do it sooner or later.’

The street along the seafront was a bedlam of noise with loud music blaring from speakers hung outside tavernas and nightclubs.

Ignoring the cheaper eating establishments, he led her to a quieter part of town and presently she found herself being ushered through the impressive foyer of a rather de luxe hotel and unerringly steered towards the room marked ‘gourmet restaurant’. She noted the white linen tablecloths and the gleaming silver.

They had barely entered when a large, rotund man with enormous whiskers issued from a sidedoor and greeted Nikos warmly. Like two long-lost brothers they spoke to each other in a torrent of Greek until Nikos paused and took the trouble to introduce her. ‘Stavros, this is Miss Stevens. She also is in the shipping business.’ He eyed her with cool amusement then added, ‘At the moment we’re discussing a merger.’