Welcome To Crete Chapter 51

Arrival in Hania

As they turned onto the main road leading into Hania town centre the traffic became heavier and their progress slowed down considerably. Fay directed Tom towards the harbour, past the main shopping area consisting largely of cafes, bakeries, supermarkets, electrical stores and banks that ran down the main street and around the central square. They turned however, away from the busy centre and down a small, paved road which was lined with more exclusive boutiques and tourist trinket shops. This was the main tourist area and people could be seen, wondering the old pavements wearing the tell tale shorts, sandals and hats of the non locals. At the end of the road they could see the picturesque Venetian harbour so they parked at its entrance, jumped out of the car and assessed their surroundings.

"If we walk along the harbour we can cut across to an area behind it which has lots of small hotels and guest houses," Fay pointed out.

"Sounds good to me, I'd like to see a bit more of the harbour anyway," Tom replied. "We can leave our bags here though and come back for them when we have found somewhere to stay for the night."

They strolled along the paved walkway edging the water and glanced around at the old Venetian and Ottoman style buildings with ornate wrought iron balconies and arched windows. Most of the buildings lining the harbour were restored Venetian mansions, now housing hotels, restaurants and bars but, unlike Malia, they still kept a lot of their charm and created a much more aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. The harbour looked almost semi circular from where they were standing but further to their right, in the opposite direction from which they were heading, the pavement made an abrupt turn by the old mosque and continued out of sight. It reappeared however, seemingly jutting out from the buildings in the foreground, and finally led across the top of the harbour walls to the old Venetian lighthouse at the end, which could be seen all around the harbour from its prominent position in the distance.

"You know, I think that if I didn't love Agios so much I would chose to live here," Fay admitted.

"Really," Adam said with surprise, "it's a bit bigger than Agios though, and a lot further away," he added.

"Yes, but it has a similar feel about it, and there is still a surprisingly close social network here considering that it's Crete's second largest town," she pointed out.

"You know the place quite well then?" Tom asked.

"I've been here a number of times and I know some of the locals fairly well."

"So I see, someone is waving to you over there," Tom said, pointing to a café just ahead of them.

"Pedros! That's a stroke of luck," Fay laughed as they headed for the café.

"You're here at last!" Pedros exclaimed. " This is Michaelis," he smiled, gesturing to the man sitting next to him, "Michaelis this is Fay, Sally, Adam and..."

"Tom," Tom supplied, reaching out to shake both of their hands.

"Oh, I forgot that you haven't met Pedros before," Fay said, turning to Tom.

"Well, I have visited your bar before but I think that you were busy on your opening night," Tom explained, addressing Pedros.

Pedros nodded. "So you are coming sailing on Michaelis's yacht with us, yes?"

"That would be wonderful," Fay smiled. "We are just going to book into a hotel now but what time were you thinking of going?" she asked.

"Meet us by the marina in about forty five minutes eh Fay."

"Great, see you then," she waved, as they moved away.

A little further along the harbour they came to a path cutting through two tavernas that led to a back road. They took the path and turned again into another extremely narrow, cobbled street. About halfway up the street Fay stopped outside what appeared to be a souvenir shop selling costume jewellery, ornaments and wind chimes.

"Now is perhaps not the best time for shopping Fay," Adam said in bewilderment.

"Wait and see," she smiled, entering the shop and catching the immediate attention of the shop owner who was standing behind the counter.

"Hello, you have been here before," he pointed out, "I remember."

"Yes, I stayed here last summer for a few days. We were wondering if you have a couple of free rooms for the night," Fay enquired.

"Yes, maybe I can help you," the man said, "follow me."

He led them through another door to a corridor and up a set of steps to the pension rooms. Stopping at a door on the first floor, he produced a key from his pocket and unlocked it, gesturing for them to enter.

"I have the same kind of room upstairs too," he explained, hovering by the door as they took a look around the room.

It was surprisingly spacious and airy considering their first impression from the entrance of the building. There were two single beds in the room, a kitchenette, wardrobes, a dressing table and a television. Another door led to an en suite bathroom, which was clean and bright, and the shuttered windows of the main room opened up onto the narrow street below but also afforded a view up the cobble stoned alleyway to the harbour in the distance.

"What do you think?" Fay asked.

"I think we should take the rooms," Adam said, looking to Sal and Tom for confirmation.

"Yes," Sal said clapping her hands excitedly, "let's take them."

Adam and Tom went back downstairs to discuss the price of the rooms with the man, leaving Fay and Sal to test out the beds and inspect the room further. In one of the kitchenette cupboards they found a tin of coffee so Sal made up four cups whilst Fay searched the TV channels for something decent to put on as background noise. By the time the men had reappeared however, laden with all the baggage which they had collected from the car, their coffees had gone cold and were forgotten as Tom held up a key for the upstairs room.

"Want to come see?" he asked.

Sal and Fay jumped off the beds and went to follow Tom upstairs, although before Fay could reach the corridor Adam blocked her way and pulled her back into the bedroom.

"Aren't you going to see the room?" Fay asked, looking up at Adam with surprise.

He grinned. "No, it's the same as this one and besides I've been waiting to get you on your own since we left Agios."

An intense feeling shot through the pit of her stomach at his words and the way that he was looking at her suddenly. He drew her closer, putting his arms around her waist and leaning forward to kiss her. Their lips tugged at each others for a while as they both enjoyed a few slow, leisurely moments until Adam's hands moved up her back and into her hair to deepen the kiss. He reached down then to bring them even closer together so that he could feel every curve of her body pressed against his. She was suddenly finding it hard to catch her breath but she put her arms around his neck and lost herself in the moment when he entered her mouth and their bodies melted together.

"Damn, I can't seem to get enough of you," he moaned against her lips but she suddenly became anxious, struggling to return to reality and stop the spiralling sensations that he was creating. She went to pull her head away but his lips followed hers and claimed them again, throwing her body back into chaos.

"Adam," she gasped, "they'll be back in a minute!"

"Let them come, I can't stop kissing you!" he exclaimed. "I got no sleep at all this morning for picturing us on the beach, and I read your messages over and over again," he admitted, taking the strap of her top in his teeth and tugging it over her shoulder.

Oh lord, pull away! God but she didn't want to, she wanted him to make love to her!

In the distance the sound of Sal and Tom descending the stairs could be heard and Fay suddenly stiffened in his arms.

"They're coming back now Adam, we have to stop this," she reasoned, pushing him away and pulling the strap of her top back up.

He growled with frustration then but seconds later his expression changed as he strode to the door and locked it.

"Come on Adam," she said, joining him at the door, "they'll be wondering what's going on."

He turned with a grin and pulled her back towards him. "There's a problem with the door, it sticks."

She laughed. "No it doesn't! Unlock it before they get here."

"There's just something I've been wanting to do."

She looked at him warily as he leant towards her and continued the onslaught on her mouth, waiting until she relaxed a little to pull both straps of her top down with purpose. She only became aware of his intent when she felt the air on the skin of her upper body and she frowned, struggling to move away from him. He put his hands around her face then and lightened his kisses.

"I just want a little more time alone with you sweetheart, I don't want to let you go."

She felt herself weaken again with his words and she closed her eyes, promising herself just a few more moments with him. His mouth moved gently over hers but then she felt his hands fumbling on the clasp of her bra.

"Adam stop. Come on, we can't do this," she said, appealing to him.

His hands moved from her back around her sides to her front and she realised then that he had succeeded in undoing her bra as his eyes gazed down her body in fascination. She caught hold of his hands in panic before he could expose her breasts and she jerked backwards, refastening the clasp, pulling her top back up and giving him a look of disapproval.

"Don't look like that babe, I just..."

"Unlock the door," she cut in.

He turned the lock of the door but went back to her, stroking her cheek and kissing her on the forehead.

"Okay sweetheart, I might have got a bit carried away at the wrong time but I'm just a weak willed man and I find it so hard to slow things down with you," he said, as his eyes watched her longingly. "Let's stop pretending here and make it official, I want to tell everyone that you're my girlfriend," he smiled.

She looked torn and was grateful when Sal and Tom entered the room then and suggested that they should set out for the marina.

Her mind suddenly returned to the dreaded phone call which she had made that morning and she wondered if it would affect their growing relationship. She reasoned that it shouldn't. However one thing was for certain, something would have to be done soon.