Catching Moonlight (Man Season) (2 page)

She watched him as he made his way
gracefully back down the valley to the dock. He walked like a panther, stalking
everything in his path. It gave her chill bumps wondering what kind of lover
he’d be.

“My God, Toby,” she whispered to
herself. “You’d think you were a cat in heat! Get a grip!”

Once Stephan had hopped into his
sleek motorboat and disappeared into the blue, Toby breathed deeply and turned
towards the big, carved wooden doors of
Moonsea
. The
design on the doors was intriguing – a full moon gracing a sea view, with a
beautiful siren flinging her arms and chest to the sky, her face beaming, as if
she were in love with the moon itself.

The interior of the house was as
bright and white as the outside, furnished in comfy English sofas and chunky
wing chairs. Enormous, stone-faced fireplaces were ever ready to ward off the
evening chill. Grand paintings and sculptures revealed the wealth of her
ancestors, some of whom graced the walls in vivid portraits. She walked along
slowly, recognizing her own features in some of the faces.

“Ah, there you are, Miss!” a lilting
voice called out. Toby turned to see a robust woman of about forty with
short-cropped mahogany hair and gray, darting eyes. “I’m
Aella
,
the housekeeper here.” She came close, stood straight before Toby, examining
her with an aggressive stare. “You look like him, my Gregory! He was beautiful,
like you!” With that she hugged Toby like a lost long aunt. “We’ll get along
fine, I think.”

“Yes, I think we will,” Toby uttered,
a bit out of breath.

“Your room is at the top of the
stairs, on the right. Wash up, lunch will be ready soon. Do you like feta
cheese?”

“Very much.”

“And olives?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Good, you’re my kind of girl! We
make the cheese ourselves, and my husband, Kosmas grows the olives. See?”

She pointed out the window. Beyond
the back of the house she could see goats grazing on the hillside, and far out
towards the sea, a grove of olive trees danced in the gentle wind. Toby noticed
a ruin standing rather precariously at the edge of the sea.

“Oh, what’s that?
An
old temple?”

“It was a temple, used in ancient
times as a place to worship the moon goddess,
Selene
.”

“That’s fascinating. Maybe after
lunch I’ll explore it.”

“I don’t think you should. The rocks
are not strong there. They slip out from under your feet too easily. Believe
me, I know. I almost fell into the sea myself. Luckily, Kosmas was nearby, and
caught me. You will meet him at lunch. Go on up now, and wash.”

Toby nodded and scurried up the
stairs with her bags, feeling a bit like a new child at camp. Her room was
lovely, white walls and a faded plank ceiling, with subtly pink draperies and
bed linens, and a wonderful chaise lounge upholstered in
a
rose
-covered damask.

She unpacked, folding some of her
clothes into a carved-wood dresser and hanging the rest in a mirrored armoire.
She paused at the windows, open to the scintillating sea breezes, and noticed
the gardener Kosmas, talking to a young man near the temple. As far as she
could tell, the boy was quite attractive, with unkempt black hair flapping in
the wind, his body shapely and firm. Some mad whim had her digging in her
satchel for a pair of vintage binoculars that she’d brought to watch ships on
the sea. But when she found them she didn’t aim them at the water – she pointed
them towards the boy standing with Kosmas.

Toby shivered all over at the sight
of him. She was right – he was very attractive, in an unspoiled, primitive way,
much like the untamed hills and sea about him. His eyes flashed emeralds in her
direction – she hid quickly, afraid he might have spotted her. But then he went
on talking with the gardener – and Toby resumed her spying.

“Damn, he is fine!” she whispered.
“Now I know I’m going for a walk after lunch!”

She freshened up, spraying a delicate
mist of her new French perfume in her hair, hoping that the boy would join them
for lunch. But when she arrived in the kitchen, Toby was disappointed to find
only
Aella
and Kosmas.

The cook introduced her husband; he
was a charmer with his mustached smile and sparkling brown eyes. And his
English, which he said was learned from watching old American movies, was quite
good. They discussed the state of modern cinema – he was very opinionated,
thought
Hollywood
had ruined its reputation by
exporting superhero blockbusters and vulgar comedies. Toby rather clumsily
brought the conversation back to the island – and the boy at the temple. When
she mentioned him she noticed a change in both
Aella
and Kosmas. It was like a cold wind had enveloped them.

“You saw him?”
Aella
asked.

“Yes, when I was unpacking, I glanced
out the window. He was at the temple, with Kosmas. Who is he?”

Aella
thought a moment.

“He is … my nephew. His name is
Dio
. He helps us with the chores.”

She looked at Kosmas; he offered an
approving nod.

“Then he lives on the island, too?
Here at the house?”

“No. I mean, he does live on the island,
but he has a room of his own behind the temple.”

“Yes,” Kosmas spoke up. “He’s a
solitary boy; reads poetry and books when he isn’t working. He doesn’t have
much use for the rest of the world.”

“Oh, I see,” Toby said, feeling a bit
let down. The idea of talking to someone her own age, especially a gorgeous boy
who read books, was enticing. “I guess I won’t bother him then. I thought it
might be nice to say hello.”

“No, no, it’s better to leave him
alone.
Dio
is a strange boy …”

“She doesn’t mean he’s strange,”
Kosmas laughed. “He isn’t dangerous or frightful. He’s what you call a
recluse.”

“Well, I don’t blame him for that! I
should think if I had this place to live in, and steady work, and a good supply
of books, I’d be a recluse, too!”

They all smiled; everything seemed
fine again. But Toby’s mind kept drifting back to
Dio
,
and to the sentence she’d uttered – this place to live in, and steady work and
a good supply of books – at that moment, it sounded like a perfect life.

After eating a wonderful salad full
of feta and olives, of course, and an egg-lemon soup, plus a bit of
Spanakorizo
, a spinach and rice stew, Toby was more
than ready to go for an extended walk over the countryside.

The air absolutely tingled with salt
and wind and earth and fresh sunshine. Toby was lit up from the magic of it.
And the realization that it was all hers. More and more she found herself
thinking that a person could spend the rest of their days happy in such
tranquil surroundings, never caring whether they had a degree or a career or
even a new pair of shoes. She wondered what her dad, Matt, would say to that.
He was determined to make her his mirror image, in action if not flesh. He’d
been a hard-nosed, no-nonsense workaholic, and she’d been on her way to
achieving that dubious status, too, when his sudden stroke and death changed
everything. She questioned whether living on his terms was what she still
wanted. She knew one thing, though: a career on the fast track wasn’t worth
dying for. There had to be more meaning to life than that.

Toby took a strenuous path through
the goat pastures then strolled slowly for awhile through the olive grove. The
island wasn’t huge but it seemed vast to a city girl used to the vertical
instead of the horizontal. Once she reached the temple she sat down for a rest,
observing the sea as it calmly swayed back and forth. The rhythm was hypnotic,
made her lids heavy. She curled up on a soft mound of earth and drifted easily
to sleep.

Strange dreams made her restless.
Voices crying out in pain as a scene from some ancient drama unfolded before
her. There was a tall, frowning crone, a cruel glint in her dark eyes, speaking
in thunderous tones to a delicate younger woman. The latter was raven-haired,
very pretty, and pale. She bowed her head as if in the presence of royalty as
the crone assailed her with crude accusations and threats. Once alone, the
younger woman went to a hidden chamber in the temple and brought out a
beautiful boy – he was around nineteen years old, with white skin and sad emerald
eyes, his hair a shock of ebony. The woman cried and said, “Oh Lord Zeus, I can
only pray that you protect my child, your son, from Mother
Hera’s
wrath.”

But Zeus did not hear. In his stead,
the angry
Hera
reappeared and laid down an oath:
“From this day forth that bastard child will be tied to this temple with a rope
of shame! For all eternity he will remain here. He will never age, or marry, or
bear children. He will be alone, forever!”

“No, you cannot do this!” his mother
wailed. “Curse me, not my child!”

“It is punishment enough for you to
see your child frozen in time. Maybe it will teach you not to dally with the
husband of a goddess, hum?”

“Wait, please? I am a goddess, too!
There must be a way to free him! Tell me, and it will be done!”

“The only hope of freeing him lies in
the heart of one who would love him enough to take his place! And I don’t think
you will find any female quite
so
foolish as that!”

With that she disappeared in a blast
of thunder – waking Toby from her dream. It was raining. She rose, tried to
seek shelter from the storm, slipped on the gathering mud and went barreling
towards the cliff. She screamed as she plummeted over the edge.

A hand reached out, caught her;
pulled her up swiftly. Then pale strong arms lifted her, carried her through
the rain into the temple. When they set her down on a bench she glanced up into
a pair of sad emerald eyes. Her breath stilled in an instant – her rescuer’s
face was the same as the boy in her dream!

CHAPTER TWO

“
Dio
!”
Toby gasped. “It was you!”

“How do you know my name?” His voice
was cool and low, sent shivers up her back.

“
Aella
told
me.”

“Good
Aella
.
She usually doesn’t mention me to strangers.”

“I saw you talking to Kosmas, and
asked who you were. But I’m no stranger.
Moonsea
belongs to me now. I’m Toby Styles.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I don’t think so. There’s a
little
scrape
on my elbow but otherwise …
Dio
, who are you, really? Where did you come from?”

“I thought you knew.”

“Well, I only know what
Aella
and Kosmas told me; that you’re her nephew and you
live a hermit’s life out here behind the temple.”

“Sure, she’s my aunt. I take care of
the goats and the olive grove for Kosmas.”

“But there’s more to it than you say,
I can sense it.
Dio
… what kind of name is that?”

“It’s short for
Dioscuri
.”

“
Dioscuri
?”
She whispered the word slowly,
letting it flow through her mind. It was familiar, had something to do with
Zeus and the Gemini. But she couldn’t quite remember what. He was too close,
made clear thinking impossible.

Toby couldn’t take her gaze off of
him. His face was pale and sorrowful but exquisite, with high cheekbones, a
lean, perfectly aligned nose and a full, sensuous mouth. His eyes seemed on the
verge of tears, glowing like emerald pools. And his body, dressed only in
tight, faded jeans and a white T shirt, was as perfectly muscled as the ancient
athletes depicted in bas-relief on the temple walls. Toby felt faint, not from
the fall but from the overwhelming desire that was building like a tidal wave within
her. His touch was like a cold fire, inciting her – she impulsively moved her
lips towards his, kissed him tenderly. He was shocked at first then began to
kiss back. She found herself clinging to him, using her tongue to explore that
glorious mouth. It was not like her to make the first move, or to get intimate
with strangers, for that matter. But something happened to her when she saw
him, a gate of some kind seemed to open, a door offering pleasures she’d never
dreamed of before. Dreams – she thought to herself – he was in my dream!

Toby backed off, embarrassed.

“My God, I’m sorry! I don’t know what
came over me! You must think I’m insane!”