Vacation in Greece: Chapter 9 of 9 Finale!

Vacation in Greece: Chapter 9 of 9 Finale.

Chapter 9: Champagne

After the first week, Jim and Dana did venture out of the room. Jim’s logic was that they would need at least a couple of stories to tell Janet and the kids about their travels, some public stories that were fit for young and old ears. They rose early one morning and brewed some coffee in their hotel room and watched the sun come up from beside the Acropolis, high on a hill across from their hotel. As the sun crept up on the horizon, Jim suggested they take a walking tour of the Acropolis later that morning.
They hiked their way up and owing to the fact that they had arrived early, they were relieved to have the popular landmark nearly completely to themselves. As they hiked, they came first to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a magnificent amphitheater built in 161 A.D.

Though it was under reconstruction like many of the ancient monuments in the area, it was still a beautiful sight to see. Jim, of course, stopped to admire the workmanship of the construction that was in progress, pointing out various aspects of the project to Dana in a voice that reminded her of what he sounded like at home when he talked on his two cell phones to contractors. She frowned. She wasn’t ready yet to hear his construction voice. She grabbed his hand and nudged him back onto the path, hoping he would understand her message.
As they hiked, they held hands, unwilling or unable to be parted from each other’s touch for even a few moments. Dana thought about this as they hiked, smiling with wonder at how deeply they had fallen in love again. And Jim had a bounce in his step. He seemed so happy to feel eager and able again to please his lady and make her smile, and to know how much she was enjoying the simple pleasure of simply being close to him. They both felt they had not been this close to each other, physically or emotionally, since the early days of their first year of dating, and they were both enjoying the closeness immensely. How had they let this slip away?
The pathway to the top of the hill where the Acropolis stood was made of pea sized gravel, and Dana was glad she had the foresight to pack a pair of running shoes in addition to the countless pairs of worthless, but beautiful, sandals and strappy heels. Interestingly, she had yet to have a single occasion to wear any of those beautiful sandals, or strappy heels, or shirt skirts and dresses she had packed with such anticipation.
A light breeze blew through the trees as they walked and soon they were at the top of a hill overlooking Athens. They stood and took in the sheer size and space that the Acropolis and surrounding ruins took up on top of the hill that stood as a constant backdrop to the city of Athens. They walked over to the edge of the hill, and Jim put his arms around Dana. They admired the view of the city below.

They stood this way for half an hour at least, enjoying the breeze and the view and the feeling of being in each other’s arms. After a time, the crowds started coming and their quiet view of the city was obscured by others, by tourists snapping photos, by college students taking selfies, and by tour guides walking the pathways with their groups.
They walked down the steep rocky path on the north side of the Acropolis, carefully choosing their footing and holding hands for balance. A fountain at the base of the path was a welcome sight and they stopped for a cool drink of water in the growing heat of the day.
The following day, in the evening, they took the metropolis mass transit system from the city’s heart out to the coastal neighborhood of Piraeus, a port area where trading ships moved in and out of the docks at all hours of the day and night.

From Piraeus they took a ferry which left at sundown and travelled through the night to the Greek island of Santorini. Janet had said that Santorini was an island that should not be missed and she was right, as usual.
They spent several days on Santorini, taking in the Mediterranean Sea from their perch at a variety of cafes and wine bars. The Sea sparkled below, and the characteristic white-washed walls of homes with their bright blue roofs dotted the craggy rocks of the island on which an entire town was perched. Dana had never felt so close to the edge of the earth before. As far as her eyes could see was water, sparkling blue, and ships dotted the horizon miles away from the coast.

Santorini, like the rest of Greece, they found, was a delightful mixture of warm hospitality, delectable foods and wines, and stunning views of the Mediterranean in all directions. They dined on fresh octopus and bread; tzatziki sauce made from fresh yogurt, cucumber and garlic; and fish wrapped in delicate pastry flavored only with light, fresh herbs and squeezes of lemon; and tomato-based stews that tasted of the open sea and were hearty enough to fuel the two of them through a full day of hiking and swimming and exploring the tiny island. It was a beautiful few days and they agreed it would be nice to come back to Santorini one day and stay an entire two weeks exploring further.
“Maybe next year,” Jim said one evening, on their last night on the island. “Athens is beautiful, of course, but there is something wild and free and sweepingly beautiful about this white and blue island. And the food…and the wine…and the music…”

Dana squeezed his hand. The two had become nearly inseparable at all times, connected always by even the lightest of touches. “I know it, my love, I couldn’t agree with you more. Maybe we could bring the kids sometime…”
Jim glanced quickly at Dana’s face to see what she was thinking. In the early part of their trip, she hadn’t been able to mention the kids without getting tears in her eyes and lapsing into a funk and missing them horribly. But he felt she had moved past that and, though he was quite certain it didn’t make them bad parents, the fact was that they had barely spoken of the children in days. They knew the kids were fine with Janet, and they were making every moment of their precious time together count.
As he looked at her, he saw that she was fine, and not starting to cry at all. He smiled at her. “You’re a wonderful mother, Dana. It’s one of the things I love the most about you and our life together. But just remember, the best way to be the best mom is to take the best care you can of yourself first. If you aren’t strong and healthy and happy, how can they be?”
“You are so right, Jim. I see that so clearly now, on this trip. I know when we return home that things will be different. I’ll make a bigger priority of taking care of myself and us, and I know we will be a stronger, happier family because of it. I hope Susannah hasn’t signed up for too big of a class load this semester, because I might be calling on her more often, just to have some time to take care of me and to spend some alone time with you here and there. We need that…”
“I know, I know. I’m going to miss you when we go back. Going to work and leaving you for days at a time is going to be so challenging, especially after all that we’ve been through together these past two weeks. I never want to leave your side again, you know?”
Dana smiled. She felt the exact same way. They stood then and left their table where they had been sitting and enjoying a glass of champagne. It was their last night in Greece. The following morning they would be leaving on the ferry back to the mainland, and flying home.
“Let’s take that to go,” Jim said.
“What? The champagne?”
“Yep,” he said, with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
They left behind a generous tip on their table and, hand in hand as usual, navigated the crowds dancing to the lively music of a local band. Even in the semi-darkness of the fading daylight, they were able to find the lantern-lit path at the side of the courtyard, the path that led down to the beach.
“Good idea, my love,” Dana said. “I didn’t want to miss the last sunset either.”
They walked to the edge of the beach and noticed how the shadows were growing longer. They took turns taking swigs from the bottle of champagne they had brought with them, and walked hand in hand, slowly, enjoying the night air. After a time, the noise of the crowds had faded, the crowd of sun-bathers was growing more and more sparse until they were all gone, and Jim and Dana felt as though they had the entire coastline to themselves. To shade her eyes from the glare of the setting sun, Dana was wearing an oversized sun hat that continued attempting to fly off her head with each passing breeze. Also, she was wearing the sarong and white bikini they had picked out together on their first day in Greece.
Dana’s mind wandered back to the scene in the changing room, which she knew she would never forget no matter how many annual, romantic trips they took in the years to come. She grew quiet as she relived every moment of that first moment of reconnecting that had occurred in a changing room in Athens when, for the first time in a long time, she had enjoyed being intimate with her man again. She squeezed Jim’s hand, wanting to feel him close to her, and he caressed the back of her hand with his fingertips.
As they walked, she recalled how she had felt that day when they had met on the lawn, when a renegade breeze and a solid helping of providence had blown her bookmark to his feet. The first thing she had noticed about him was his forearms, and then his shoulders. The strength of his arms and shoulders had made her feel safe in the years that followed soon after, and she loved how we would pick her up and swing her around effortlessly when he was feeling playful. Back then, such small gestures had made her burn and ache for him on the spot, and she hadn’t been able to get enough of him even back then.

A cool breeze swept in from off the sea just then, picking up Dana’s hat and carrying it away. Without thinking, Dana lurched forward and attempted to clutch at the hat, but the champagne from the day had made her loose-footed and she started to trip and fumble for her footing.

“Careful,” Jim said as Dana came crashing down on top of him.
Dana just giggled. The hat was gone, off into the sea to be tossed on the waves until it sank, and the champagne had made her giddy. She lingered there for a moment in Jim’s arms. Her face turned and she buried it in his chest. She breathed him in. His scent held a delicious mixture of sweat and sand and salt, and she melted into him, burying her face deeper into his chest.
Dana wrapped her leg around Jim’s, like a vine, trying desperately to be closer to him. Her fingers danced gently across his chest and he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, taking in the delicious smell of her hair. Dana’s hand wandered; from his chest to his thighs, her fingers traveled lazily. Jim felt himself stir and begin to harden as she touched his thigh. Then her hand ventured just inside the leg of his shorts. There was only a few inches between him and her fingers, and the thought of her fingers closing the gap and touching him was driving him mad. It didn’t take long for him to start throbbing, aching for her touch.
Dana looked at his face, noticing how intently he was watching her, and the look of longing in his eyes was unmistakable. She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew she was driving him wild.
As her head lay on his chest, gently rising and falling with each one of his breaths, she gazed out across the water and watched the sun turn the horizon into brilliant shades of orange and red. She raised her head and reached up to his mouth, kissing him gently, barely touching his lips. Jim kissed her back, his lips meeting hers hungrily and inspiring her to kiss him harder, longer, and deeper. Their tongues met and in the same moment, her hand slipped in his shorts and traveled farther to the top of his thigh until she cupped him. He gasped and kissed her harder.
Dana moved her hand up to run her fingers over his entire length. He was rigid and he twitched as her fingers made their way over his sensitive parts. Jim moved forward to kiss her even more deeply, but Dana moved away. Instead, she removed her hand from his shorts and pulled off her bikini top. Her breasts fell heavily like two perfect tear drops. The pale white skin was a perfect backdrop for the tender, pink nipples that perched at the tips of her beautiful breasts. Jim simply stared at her beauty. The way her long blond hair framed her face, the curve of her breasts, and the way she seemed so perfect in the fading light of their lonely stretch of beach simply took his breath away.
She saw him staring at her, and she began to blush. She gathered up her hair and placed it into a pony tail. She saw the way his eyes widened as she reached over her head and the way her movement made her breasts rise to meet his gaze. Then she dropped to her hands at the level of his waist. His shorts were fastened by a draw string and a Velcro zipper, both of which fell away easily, and she pulled his shorts down to his knees, eager for what was waiting inside for her touch.
She gripped him firmly at his base and slid his length into her mouth. Slowly at first, she moved up and down his length, taking all of him inside her mouth. She could sense his pleasure mounting, and she tasted him beginning to fill her mouth. She paused her mouth’s stroking and instead ran her tongue over the underside of his thick shaft. She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were closed. He was enjoying this.
Jim felt every one of Dana’s strokes. His pleasure was building deeply inside him and he didn’t want her to stop. When she took him deep inside her mouth again, he could feel himself sliding deeper and deeper into her. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, her long pony tail whipping through the air with each stroke of her mouth. His eyes met hers and he could no longer resist her. He surrendered and felt himself explode, his entire body clenching as he came.
Dana struggled to swallow as Jim flooded her. When he was still again, Dana reached behind her for the champagne bottle and tipped it up; she took a long, hard pull on it. Some of the champagne spilled down her front and Jim watched as droplets of bubbles moved down her skin. He sat up and licked each one off of her, pausing to take her nipples into his mouth and run his tongue over them.
Dana stopped drinking for a moment, holding the bottle by the neck, and pulled Jim’s mouth harder against her breast. She took another long pull from the bottle and held it in her mouth. Bending down to kiss him, she forced the champagne into his mouth as their lips met. She needed him, she needed him deep inside her.
Dana grabbed Jim’s strong shoulders and with her feet, forced his shorts all the way off so he was fully exposed beneath her.
“I want you,” she said.
As she leaned over him, he reached down with his mouth until he was able to grasp her bikini bottoms in his teeth. Kissing and nudging and pulling and coaxing, he slid her bikini panties down her thighs and used his feet to kick them off of her legs. Dana groaned to have his mouth so close to her, and she was dripping wet and eager for him in a matter of seconds. They were tossed aside into the sand, along with his shorts. The two articles of clothing had been spending a lot of time together the last two weeks.
Dana straddled Jim, rocking into him as the sun started to vanish behind the horizon. As the last rays of light faded from the sky, Jim rolled her over onto her back, enjoying the look of her splayed out before him in the sand. He thrust into her over and over again, moving more quickly inside her, both of them anxious for release. Dana placed her hands on his shoulders, urging him to pump into her, enjoying the firmness and strength of his sexy shoulders beneath her grasp. He quickened his pace, slamming into her as she cried out, “More, deeper, harder, I need you.” And then Dana was free falling through time and space; her orgasm passed through her like a wave and she screamed his name. He let go, rocking one final time into her, surrendering to her heat and their passion.
Jim collapsed on top of her, gasping for air, while they clung to each other and rode out the rush of exhilaration they had just shared. He rolled to his side and held her, stroking her hair and telling her over and over again how much he loved her. As Dana and Jim lay together on the beach, the sun vanished suddenly behind the water line and finally, all the light from the sunset winked out with a green flash. They were alone in the darkness, clinging to the love they had found again.

Twenty hours later, Jim and Dana were again in the first class accommodations of their trans-Atlantic flight, homeward bound. Exhausted from fourteen days of love, they both slept, hand in hand.
Pulling into the driveway at home, the weary travelers stepped out of the car into the waiting arms of tiny hugs from their three favorite children.
“Mama! Dada!” Caleb shrieked excitedly.
“Mama, I did not pull Caleb’s hair even one single time!” said Bethany. She was all smiles, clearly expecting to be petted and congratulated for being such a responsible big sister.
“Grandma got me a new Avengers shirt, Mom. Well, actually, she got me three of them, just in case you forget to wash them for me for a few days,” Asher said. “Oh, and Mom, don’t listen to Bethy. She pulled Caleb’s hair every single day!” Always the overseer, nothing Bethany did every snuck past Asher’s watchful eye.
Dana smiled at her babies, showering them with kisses and loving their hugs and hearing their little voices again. She had missed them so much, but she had also enjoyed her time away. She looked up at Jim, noting that he seemed more relaxed than she had seen him in years. The sunshine and water, the sand and relaxation, their endless days and nights of being together, had done wonders for both of them. They glowed. She could see it in their reflection in the glass of their car door.
Janet came out of the house then and joined them in the driveway. She hugged Jim and Dana tight and looked at them, from one to the other, looking for an unspoken sign that would indicate how their trip had been. Her gaze settled on their hands, still grasped tightly together, and she smiled.
“Come along, children. Let’s help Mom and Dad into the house with their luggage. Maybe they brought a surprise for you!”
Jim and Dana stopped in their tracks and looked at one another. “We forgot,” they both mouthed silently, simultaneously, over the heads of the children, in Janet’s direction.
Janet just smiled and nodded with understanding.
“Alright then, maybe there will be a surprise next time, but not today! Let’s go in the house, children. Maybe Mom and Dad brought home some pictures to show you of all the wonderful things they saw!”
Jim and Dana shook their heads at her frantically. They mouthed “No!” as they tried to signal to her that, in fact, there were no pictures to show.
Janet smiled again, knowing all without having to be told.
“Well, children, let’s go in the house and get Mom and Dad a snack and put them down for a nap. I can tell they have been very busy and have probably worked up an appetite! It seems like this was a very, very successful trip,” she concluded, winking at the two of them.
“Uh, Mom,” Jim said to Janet.
“Yes, Jimmy?”
“Well, it’s just that I know it’s too soon to talk about this, but Dana and I are thinking that we might like to go back to Greece next year on our trip.”
“Oh, and why is that, dear?”
“Well, there are some sights we didn’t get to see and we’d like to really focus on checking out the place next time,” he said.
“Jimmy, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” Janet leaned close, so only she, Dana and Jim could hear her words. “Your father and I went to Greece every year. We never made it anywhere else, though we had always thought we would travel the world. And we never saw any of the sights at all in Greece. If you go to Greece for sightseeing, you’re doing it wrong. All wrong.”
The three of them laughed.