Chapter 26
ALICIA
As Petros showed us around our hotel in Mykonos, I tried to focus.
Just like everything the Love Hotel did, it was stunning.
The whitewashed building was smaller than the Santorini resort, but that didn’t detract from its beauty. Petros explained that this wouldn’t be a main resort, just somewhere that they would bring guests to stay for one or two nights.
There was a cute restaurant and bar right on the beach, which was where we’d eat breakfast. And unlike the black volcanic sand in Santorini, Mykonos had a golden beach and clear blue waters.
The paths within the hotel had cute paving stones with a white border that I loved and the pink flowers decorating the outdoor areas were gorgeous.
My room was beautiful too. It even had a terrace, which was just a few steps away from the beach.
Yep. Everything was perfect.
But I couldn’t really take it all in properly because my mind was preoccupied.
All I could think about was what Noah had said on the boat.
‘You were upset. That’s why I left. Not because I didn’t want to kiss you.’
He wanted to kiss me.
And he said he wanted to talk about us.
We didn’t get to do that on the boat. Other guests kept walking past and giving us funny looks so he was right when he’d said it was best to do it in private.
Instead we’d spent the rest of the journey alternating between reading on our Kindles, checking our phones and admiring the views of the other Greek islands we passed.
Once the boat docked, we were driven to the hotel with the rest of the guests and now we were in our rooms. Our separate rooms.
There was a knock at my door.
When I opened it, Noah was standing there and as soon as I caught sight of him, my heart raced.
Maybe he’d come to finish what we’d almost started on the boat.
My horny vagina fluttered with excitement.
‘Hi!’ I said, a little too enthusiastically.
‘Hey,’ he replied. ‘How’s your room?’
‘Good. Great. Amazing! Do you want to come in? To have a look. At the room. Not to…’
See. This was what I was worried about. We hadn’t even kissed and stuff was already awkward between us.
‘No, it’s… thanks,’ he stuttered. ‘I came to see what you fancied doing. Want to get a car into Chora, the main town?’
‘Oh! Yeah. Right. Course! I’ll just grab my bag.’
Petros had said that we had the whole day and night to spend however we wanted. We had a chauffeur-driven car available for use at all times so we wouldn’t have to worry about how to get out and about.
Once I’d left my room, we headed to reception to order a car. Five minutes later the receptionist announced that it had arrived.
As I slid onto the back seat and Noah’s fresh scent surrounded me, I suddenly wished that we were being transported in the luxury coach with the other guests so that we wouldn’t be alone.
The pull between us before was strong, but now it was full-blown magnetic and I really didn’t trust myself not to jump him.
Especially as there was no such thing as an aisle seat in a car. My only option was the middle seat, which meant I had to sit even closer to Noah.
Our knees brushed then rested against each other’s.
I should move away or at least angle my legs to the side to create some distance.
But I didn’t want to.
Thick sexual tension filled the air and combined with the electricity that was pulsing between us, it was almost too much to bear.
I started playing with a loose thread on the hem of my dress in a feeble attempt to distract myself. But instead of taking my mind off how good Noah’s thighs looked in those shorts, all I could think of was how much I wanted him to slide his hand between my legs.
Oh God.
My clit throbbed with need.
Shit. I had it bad.
Sammie said there was a privacy screen in their chauffeur-driven cars, right? I looked up and sure enough, there was one across the back of the driver and front passenger seats.
Even if no one could see what we got up to, Noah wouldn’t make the first move. He might still think that I was upset.
No. If I wanted something to happen, I had to be the one to initiate it.
Just as I was contemplating whether or not I had the guts to be so forward, Noah broke the silence.
‘Do you want to go clubbing later?’ he blurted out. ‘I guess that’s what Mykonos is known for.’
‘I…’ I snapped myself out of the illicit thoughts that had just been swimming through my head and tried to focus on answering his question. ‘I’m not sure that I feel like clubbing.’ I wrinkled my nose. ‘Unless you want to?’
‘Nah. I’m happy just to explore the main town and play it by ear.’
‘Me too. We can do a bit of sightseeing, then just see how we feel…’
My voice trailed off as I realised that the end of my sentence had a double meaning. We’d said earlier that we’d talk about how we felt about each other. And now that we didn’t have any other guests around us, there was nothing to hold us back from discussing everything.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ Noah confirmed.
The silence returned and to avoid my mind taking another unauthorised detour down filthy-thoughts street, I stared out of the window.
I’d noticed on the short journey to the hotel that Mykonos was a much flatter island than Santorini, so I felt more comfortable taking in the sights.
We passed various whitewashed buildings including multiple hotels, as well as restaurants and bakeries.
It didn’t take long to get to Chora and the first thing that caught our eyes when we stepped out of the car were the windmills.
There were several striking cylindrical whitewashed stone structures lined along the seafront with small windows, topped with conical thatched roofs and dark windmill sails at the front.
We headed straight over then took dozens of pictures of the windmills and the stunning sea views.
‘Let’s head over to Little Venice,’ Noah said.
‘Little Venice?’ I frowned thinking he’d got the wrong country.
‘That’s what the area over there is called.’ Noah pointed to some old buildings positioned directly on the edge of the sea with water splashing right at their foundations.
Although they had the traditional whitewashed walls, many had colourful blue shutters and balconies.
Judging by the huge volume of people I could see enjoying food and drink along the waterfront, a lot of the buildings were now bars or restaurants.
‘It’s called Little Venice because the old fishermen’s houses there were inspired by Venetian architecture and if you look at the two- or three-storey buildings and the balconies that hang over the seafront, it has a similar vibe to the views you get in Venice too. We’ll have a look around in a bit.’
‘Cool. And after that maybe we can find somewhere to get something to eat? I’m starving.’
‘Sure.’
Just as we walked down the slope towards the sea and the entrance to Little Venice, I gasped.
‘Oh my God! It’s a pelican!’ I grinned, taking in the sight of the bird with peachy-white feathers.
‘Cool! I was hoping we’d bump into Petros!’
‘Petros? Where? I can’t see him. Isn’t he back at the hotel?’ I asked.
‘No!’ Noah laughed. ‘That’s Petros!’ He pointed to the pelican.
‘He’s the mascot of Mykonos. That’s why you’ll see pelicans on souvenirs and stuff associated with the island.
I was reading about it on the boat and apparently the OG Petros was a wounded pelican that was rescued in the late 1950s. Sadly he isn’t alive any more.’
‘Oh no!’ I said.
‘Yeah. Got hit by a car I think, but after that, the island received new pelicans who’ve carried on the tradition. This is where they normally hang out – around the windmills, port and Little Venice.’
‘You’re a right little font of knowledge!’ I smiled.
‘I try.’ Noah did a little bow.
‘Are we allowed to take photos?’ I asked. Noah tipped his head to the crowd of tourists enthusiastically holding up their phones and cameras. ‘Ah, that answers my question!’
We waited patiently, then eventually we seized our opportunity. Noah and I stood a comfortable distance away from our new friend Petros, then took a few snaps on our phones.
There was a woman standing nearby who I assumed was a guardian looking out for the national treasure. Although he seemed like a total pro and didn’t seem to mind being the local celebrity.
We wandered into the main part of Chora, devoured a chicken kebab for lunch, then continued exploring.
The town was beautiful. I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, but the streets seemed wider and less congested than in Oia.
I loved the paving stones, which all had a distinctive white border just like the ones at the hotel and the maze-like passageways were enchanting. Every time we wandered down one, I wondered where it would take us.
As I’d expected, the streets were lined with an endless array of tourist shops selling T-shirts, fridge magnets and also loads of keyrings, towels, jewellery and other items with the ‘Mati’ – the blue and white Greek evil eye design that apparently was a charm created to ward off and protect against negative energy.
Noah and I went into more shops than we needed to, considering a lot of the stuff they were selling was similar, but we couldn’t resist checking them out just in case we found some hidden gems.
As well as buying each other Mykonos postcards (of course), I bought half a dozen different magnets for my friends and family.
Then whilst Noah was looking at some gifts for Colin and Shania, I quickly bought a T-shirt and mug that I saw Noah eyeing up.
I wanted to buy him something nice as a small token of thanks.
‘Here.’ I handed him the bag.
‘What’s this?’ A smile crept onto his lips.
‘If you open it, you’ll see!’
‘Oh, wow!’ Noah held up the T-shirt. ‘“Mykonos Made Me Do It”, eh?’ He laughed at the slogan on the front of the white T-shirt. ‘What exactly did this island make me do?’
‘Not sure yet.’ I cocked my head playfully. ‘The day is young, so who knows what shenanigans you’ll get up to you…’
I pushed an illicit thought of exactly what I’d love Noah to do to me out of my mind.