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Determination filled his thoughts and actions as he launched out of bed, putting his quick mind to work on a plan that would not only fulfil the last item on her list still left to complete, but also show her that she had a choice.
Marit looked at the blindfold with a great deal of suspicion. Not because she didn’t trust Lykos, but because she knew that her scepticism made it fun. And she wanted the rest of their time together to be that. Fun.
Last night Marit had come back from her shower to find Lykos deeply asleep. Yes, she’d missed his touch, the feel of him within her, the memory so powerful it made her ache with need but, knowing how difficult he found it, she couldn’t begrudge him the rest. Instead, she’d used the time to just take him in. To learn the rhythm of his breath, the pulse of his heartbeat, the pitch of the sigh that sometimes escaped his lips. She’d spent half the night just looking at him. Imprinting everything she would need to take with her.
‘Marit?’
‘A blindfold?’
‘We have one last thing to tick off your list. And this is the only way to do it properly.’
Tomorrow they would have to return to Svardia, but today he was making sure she had done everything she had wanted to do before she became the royal replacement for her sister. She reached for the blindfold in his hands, pulling him into a kiss she poured everything into.
Lykos groaned. ‘Agápi mou, if you do that we’ll never leave the bedroom.’
‘Would that be so terrible?’
‘No. But, despite my very healthy and totally warranted ego, I promise you this will be better.’
Marit let out a shocked cry of indignation. ‘Surely not! Wash your mouth out,’ she replied, making him laugh and chasing away the last of the shadows in his eyes. He circled her then, capturing her within his embrace, and gently placed the blindfold over her eyes.
‘Yes?’ he asked before covering them completely. She placed her hand over his, bringing the blindfold against her eyes.
‘Yes,’ she replied, handing him her complete trust.
Marit could smell the sea and hear the thrust of the waves against...not sand, not a beach, but against a barrier. They must be in a port. As if in confirmation, she heard the deep bass of a ship’s horn burst beneath shouted voices and gulls crying overhead. She smiled, the inkling of where Lykos was taking her growing by the second.
After a conversation between Lykos and someone, he led them forward, warning her to watch her step. She wobbled a little in his hold as the ground beneath her changed to what must have been a short platform and she was led carefully down some steps at the other end into what she knew was a boat by the way it swayed beneath her.
‘Can I take the blindfold off now?’ she asked with a smile so wide she couldn’t contain it.
‘Not yet,agapoúla mou. Your list was very clear. Twenty-four hours out of sight and contact with the world.’
You are my world.The thought threatened to rob her of her smile, of her joy, but she wouldn’t let it. There would be time to mourn the loss of what she would never have, but not yet. She wouldn’t waste their time like that. Instead, she nodded and allowed Lykos to lead her to a cushioned seat as a few more shouted exchanges were made and finally the boat beneath her was set free.
That was how it felt as the boat launched forward. As if once unleashed the boat danced on the water. There was something so musical about the way it swayed from one side to another. Still blindfolded, she held the edge of the seat, bracing herself against the rise and fall of the boat against the waves. She squealed in delight like a child on a rollercoaster when she was hit with the sea salt spray and, encouraged by the sound of Lykos’s laughter, she screamed again,surethat he steered them against the edge of the oncoming waves just for her.
Eventually the water became smoother and Lykos tried to remove the blindfold. But she shook her head. Here, in the darkness, there was no light on the sands of time that slipped through her fingers, there was no sun to illuminate the short steps left on their path.
The boat’s motor cut out and they drifted gently. Lykos’s steps towards her raised an expectation beneath her skin, wanting his touch, reaching out for it. She sensed him kneel before her, felt him take her hands in his own.
‘If you keep it on, you won’t see what I can see, and it is truly beautiful.’
He cupped her cheek and she leaned into what had become her most favourite place in the entire world. She didn’t doubt what he’d said, she imagined the view was nothing short of spectacular, but right there, leaning into his palm was better than hearing her favourite song.
‘The sea is sparkling, Marit. Like silk strewn with diamonds being shaken by the gods.’ His words were a feast for her senses and she was helpless to resist. She slipped the blindfold from her eyes and took in a sight that was everything he’d described and more. She stood, Lykos rising with her, and she turned in full circle, seeing nothing and no one other than nature’s beauty and Lykos.
Twenty-four hours out of sight and contact from the world.
She had written it as an impossible task. Something inconceivable. She should have known that this man,onlythis man, could have made it come true. He came to stand behind her, encircling her with his arms.
They were on a yacht. Not massive or obscenely ostentatious but perfect for two people. The sail was down, but she imagined that it would be a slice of brilliant white against the soft blue sky when raised. Wood the colour of butter lined the small vessel, every detail simple but exquisite. Silver lines gleamed in the sunlight and myriad shades of blue surrounded them as far as she could see. No land, no people, nothing but them.
‘This is... Lykos, it’s more than I could ever have imagined.’
There was a pause. ‘I know what you mean.’
Suddenly they were talking about something else. Something that she simply couldn’t face.
