Theodora had been kissed before, secret and stolen moments behind closed doors that never went any further. But now, to call anything that came before it a kiss… the comparison didn’t feel right. She had never been kissed like this, the Mikaelidas lord’s lips caressing hers again and again, slowly and luxuriously as if memorizing the plush curve of her mouth. His body pressed to hers in dizzying proximity, his hands sliding along her flesh in a way that invoked desire, but was somehow not… lascivious in their intent. It was heady, intoxicating, and Theodora was utterly consumed by Emilios and Emilios alone.

Her nerves fluttered with the heat he promised, blood searing from the inside out. Her skin flushed with his touch as she yearned into it, her own fingers lightly dancing along his face before burying themselves in the depths of his inky curls. His tongue gently probed along the outline of her lips and without even a moment’s hesitation, her mouth parted to invite him in. Her earlier worries were vanished in the wake of this new sensation, a passion that roused her in a way she’d never known.

There was a soft sound of pleasure in the back of her throat as he deepened the kiss, surrendering to the skill of his mouth. She reveled in it, the way just a kiss had stirred her so thoroughly—the flood of desire thrilling through her impossible to ignore. If he could wind her up this way with a simple kiss, what would the rest of the evening bring? Theo thought she might melt for the fire his touch brought, the fingers in his hair slowly exploring down his neck, along his back. She was clay in his hands, eager at his molding as she gave herself over to the gentle insistence of his touch.

There was little skill in the way her own hands moved; rather, there was curiosity. Curiosity in the way his body was different than hers, something she had obviously seen, but never felt for herself. Where her flesh was soft and yielding, his was hardened with muscle, fingertips exploring the dips and curves along the backs of his shoulders. Slowly, her hand curled around his shoulder and along his bicep where his arm braced himself against the blankets covering the ground beneath them. She found she liked the way he felt, the way he smelled, the way he tasted as he kissed her. So constantly surrounded by the ideal of femininity, the constant reminder that she was a delicate flower to be protected from the whims of men… It was exciting to be caught up in something so distinctly different, something that had always been forbidden to her.

Her tongue tentatively and almost clumsily brushed against his where it still so leisurely explored her mouth, one hand moving back up to cup his face, curling around his cheek as she returned his kisses. Doubt in her ability quickly dissolved in this tutoring of passion, letting the man lead her through such tempestuous waters and trusting that he wouldn’t let her drown in them.

Nikos and Evangelina at the River
Her head spun and she focused on him, she could see him almost perfectly in the light of the full moon that shone above them. Narrowing her eyes at his feigned concern, she lifted her thumb and deliberately bit it, flipping him off with the inappropriate gesture as her only reply to. She went deeper into the water, if anything his mock concern just made her all more reluctant to come out of the water.

‘Why don’t you come back to the bank and have a drink with me? Be civil for once?’ A biting smile formed on her lips at his little dig at her. So he thought she wasn’t civil… She hadn’t even begun to be savage yet where he was concerned.

Little did he know that her telling him to go away, was in fact, her being civil. Ignoring him, she rolled over onto her back in the water and floated easily. ‘Are you still on that Evie? It was years ago! And I’m not the one that ran out.’ She jerked and lost her composure almost going under the water before she bobbed back up to see him sitting on the river bank with his wine making himself entirely too comfortable. Treading the water, she wiped the water out of her eyes and glared at him.

‘You left me in that room. Left me wanting, just because you weren’t the only woman in my life at the time. You knew who I was.’ Evangelina felt her fury rising up and without thinking she was swimming a little closer to the bank of the river. ‘Why were you so surprised?’ Her lips thinned into a fine pinched line.

“You want to know why I was so surprised?...” She murmured quietly, but still loud enough for him to hear her. Her voice quivered, “I’ve never been so humiliated in all of my life, and Condos… I’ve done some pretty stupid things.” Waving her hand indicated at a level above her head, “And thinking I was in love with you was at the absolute top of that list.”

Realizing how close she’d gotten, she did a couple of back strokes to keep her out of reach of him. Clearing her throat, she smiled tightly and looked away. “Oh, and darling,” The words hung there a long moment as she turned, pinning him with a dry, deadpan look, “If you going to tell that story, best remember it correctly, you left me a looong time before that night in that room and don’t you ever forget that.”

Despite his ill-mood, Achilleas could not deny that the temple gardens were beautiful. Having walked in the opposite direction from the temple itself, he had followed a small path meandering through plum trees and almond blossom down toward a paved area. Lit by torches, he could make out fragments of coloured clay making a picture of the goddess’ face sprawled at his feet. The Lord admired the artistry in it for a few moments before the soft smile upon Aphrodite’s face felt too much like it might be at his expense, and he had to move on.

Theodora was infuriating. She always found meaning in his words that he hadn’t intended and then he’d get flustered and make it worse. And she never seemed to appreciate that he walked a fine line of propriety, Stephanos might scorn such things, and Achilleas knew for a fact his brother would too, given the chance but that wasn’t him. Much as he might like to, Theodora of Leventi was not the kind of girl you took for a tumble in the long grass and then walked away from. She was more than that, she was.

He stopped himself with the realisation that she was likely off with another because she thought him interested in nothing other than statuesand flowers. And to his annoyance, it didn’t escape him that now he was busy hiding from Theodora he was skulking about amongst statues and flowers.

He should never have let himself be persuaded to come to this event in the first instance. He knew better. And now he was in a terrible mood, and he had no wine, and he didn’t think he could bear the amusement his cousin and brother would find in this story when they rode back to Vasiliadon tomorrow. Maybe he would just leave tonight and avoid the conversation altogether.

So deep was he in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the encroaching footsteps, had no idea he had company until a hand settled upon his shoulder and the Lord spun - too quickly- a soldier’s instincts hard to leave behind.


‘...were you searching for some company as I was?’

Achilleas’ gaze took in the girl, dark-haired, dark-eyes like the one he wanted but distinctly not her. ‘No’ he almost said, because of that very fact, but then the word that actually left his lips was “Yes” because who wanted to be wandering alone in the gardens of Aphrodite at a festival supposed to celebrate love in all its forms? Whatever Theodora might think of him, the Mikaelidas lord was not devoid of a single romantic bone in his body. Just because he didn’t voice it terribly successfully did not mean it was not there. “Perhaps” he amended it to in the next as some on his usual reserve fell back into place.

He did not recognise this girl who stood before him, and that was a blessing perhaps because he held no expectations of her, and maybe she wouldn’t have any of him. He did not have to let this night be dictated by what had gone before. Achilleas smiled, a little hesitant. “Not searching” he corrected after a moment. “But I am not displeased to have found some.”

As the space between them closed Olympia lifted her fingers to brush softly across Stephanos' jaw, thumbs resting there as he stole the first kiss of the evening from all too willing lips. She wanted to keep him in her thrall until dawn, wake up in the tangle of his arms in the morning dew and laugh together at the state they found themselves in. It wasn't a foreign concept, but she found even in the newness of love and lust that she had never slept better than she did with Stephanos by her side. It was entirely unfair that the opportunities to wake up with him were rare, and she didn't want to let this blessed moment slip away.

His assertion that he liked lying to her mother and sisters drew a laugh from her as her nose brushed against his own, fingertips slipping down along his neck to rest on broad shoulders as they moved. The promise of him making her scream was punctuated by a soft nip of her teeth against his lower lip, a soft sigh of longing dissolving into a giggle that had her hiding her face against his neck as the name 'Patros' filled the air around them. It was so easy to laugh with him, to feel as if she could be fully herself in a way that she could only do with her sisters and closest of friends. She didn't have to be Olympia of Leventi with him, she could just be Pia.

"Then we shall do just that, and I look forward to it." If he spun her about or she stepped past him, it would be easy to land on the kline, but the alternative was more appealing at the moment. Stepping forward to close their gap once again, delicate hands pressed on his shoulders in an attempt to settle him on the bed instead, skirts rising to a near scandalous height as she took her place. On her knees over him she was tall enough his head could lay against her bosom, and she threaded her hands through his hair to keep him close as she drank from his lips in slow, luxurious moments.

"I suppose, we could speak of the evening. And the company who have attended." Pia guided his hands along her thighs, releasing him to do as he would to reach between them for the belt that kept his tunic in place. "Or we could discuss what the next great scandal will be. I'm quite sure it will come from this night, but really there are so many options.." His belt was draped over her shoulders once it was free, the temptation to use it through the night preventing it from being tossed aside. "What shall we speak of first, your highness?"

He thought at first he’d managed to send her running without even opening his mouth, which would have been an achievement indeed and a fine cap to a failure of an evening so far. But as Achilleas gathered his wits to himself and shot her a smile, the girl’s own returned and it eased him a little.
Deftly her hand had slipped into his own, and the lord glanced down, a slight startle of surprise flickering across his face before he smoothed it away, lifted his gaze back to the face of the girl who would be so bold.

‘I suppose it is good, then, that I was searching.And you were here waiting. Better than two lonely souls roaming lost in the dark. We might have passed like two ships in the night.’

Waiting sounded somewhat better than hiding from the fiasco with Theodora, and Achilleas found himself smiling again despite himself because she somehow managed to make it seem that much more poetic than her having tapped him on the shoulder and grabbed him by the hand.

“Indeed” he agreed, deciding that her hand could remain in his for now, as he stood, still held in the rather intense meet of her eyes with his own. Achilleas was not a man much given to overblown ideas of sentiment, and he wasn’t sure what this girl was looking for as she gazed at him for such a long moment, but his ego was feeling bruised, and so he let himself be flattered by the attention.

‘Which would have been a shame’ Her words continued, and so did the staring, and after a beat longer, the lord cleared his throat, growing uncomfortable in such close scrutiny.
“I’m Ac..” Almost he went to give her his name, too schooled in the habit, but at the last moment, Achilleas caught himself. That wasn’t what this about after all, and given he’d had little success being himself, he did something that he was usually loathe to do unless it was absolutely required. He lied.

“Atticus. Well met”

It was the first name his mind had thrown up and felt strange on his tongue, but the baron was well-practised enough to make it sound believable. He had a belated thought that perhaps this girl might recognise him, but it was dark, and it was too late to pull back on it anyway. He’d committed, and maybe there was something freeing about the idea of being someone else.

Aware of her fingers still threaded with his own, Achilleas took the time to really see the girl who gazed up at him. Soft features, more rounded than those of the woman he’d mistakenly thought to pursue. Same dark eyes but warmer, he thought, even in the low light thrown off by the moon and the few lanterns dotted around and about. She looked at him like she saw something more than the play of shadow across skin and bone, and the lord’s brows lifted a fraction, both intrigued and a little discomfited by the fact. She stood too close to be proper, and the lord had to remind himself of the occasion, stamp down on all the instincts that had him careful in such scenarios and instead let himself enjoy the proximity of this stranger.

“And you are?”

Because even though he was trying to embrace the odd freedom this night supposedly offered, he needed something at least, and a name was usually exchanged for another, even if his own was false.

Even in this darkness, Nikos could see that fire in Evie’s eyes. How he’d always enjoyed bringing that fire out in her – even if it was against him. Evangelina being angry and hateful towards him was better than not having her acknowledge him at all. He’d already lived through that. He hadn’t liked it. Had liked it so little, he hadn’t put up much of a fight when his father had sent him to Colchis to negotiate trades, despite his loathing of the open waters.

So, let her berate him. Let her tell him how she thought having been involved with him had been the worst mistake she had ever made. She’d drew nearer to him, just for a moment there in the dark, the river waters churning around her. But he made no move to reach for her. It didn’t matter anyways. She pulled away as soon as she realized she was within arm’s reach. He took another drink. He stared down at the water, waving his feet below the surface as Evie continued, telling him he’d been the one to leave first, before that night. ”In your mind, perhaps. But I’m a man, dear Evangelina. I had needs that you were not willing to sate just yet. You cannot rightly blame me for not pressuring you into giving me your virginity before you were ready. I am not a man that is accustomed to letting a woman set the pace. But I did that. For you.” He cleared his throat and got to his feet, scooping up his sandals along the way. ”Blame me if you wish. You always did what you wished no matter what anyone said. But I am not the one that ignored you after that night.” He lifted his wine as a way to say farewell. ”Enjoy your swim, Lady Leventi.”

With that Nikos turned to start away. He wondered if Evie would call to him. Stop him. Would he heed that call if she did? Of course, he would, he realized a second later. He almost hoped she would just so as to enjoy her fire for a few more moments. If she did not… well… he’d continue his search for Arete, certain she was awaiting him somewhere in the passion filled night.