Athena's Daughter (27 page)

But the wine – which was excellent and did
contain alcohol – helped. By the time they finished eating, the
bottle was empty and their tongues were loosened. The frisson of
unrelieved desire Athena had been dealing with for so long mellowed
to a pleasant hum, allowing her to admire the gorgeous man across
the table with no worries about who might feel what for whom. In
fact, she was so relaxed about things that she brought out another
bottle of wine which Derek opened and poured out with no
protest.

They carried it with them into the den, and
Athena grabbed up a stack of 45s and put them on the stereo. Then
she got him talking about the new album, a subject she knew would
keep him occupied and talking so she could just sit and watch him
without having to do more than interject an occasional “Wow!” or
“That’s interesting.”

It was so nice to be able to look at him
unimpeded, not worrying about what he might think if he caught her
at it. His after-shower attire was beyond casual; soft, faded
jeans, bare feet, and a shirt he’d not bothered to button hanging
open over his chest. During dinner his hair had mostly dried and
was curling up at the ends. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, and
he didn’t seem to mind a bit, returning her admiring stares with a
heavy-lidded gaze of his own. Athena’s mind took that look and
combined it with the view of him she’d glimpsed in the pool, and
wondered if it would be so horrible if she took Andi’s advice and
made a move.

The alcohol in her system was in fervent
agreement, and she drank more wine to better get its opinion on the
matter. Refreshed, it urged her to bang this man, the sooner the
better. One night of unrestrained passion wouldn’t hurt anyone, and
it would most certainly relieve the ache that grew higher and
hotter every time she looked at him. Okay, that sounded good; but
how could she bring it up – in more ways than one?

With a start, she realized he’d quit talking
and was regarding her with a calculating expression.

“What?” she asked, trying to appear
innocent.

“You’re looking at me funny.” One eyebrow
arched in inquiry.

“Oh, that.” She gulped more wine, and it
rewarded her with courage and a grape-infused honesty. “It’s just
that I saw you in the pool this afternoon when I came home from
work.”

“Oh, you did?” He poured the last of the wine
from the bottle, shaking it to get every last drop into his
glass.

“Mm-hm. Thought about joining you.”

His eyes met hers, his expression lazy and
relaxed. “Why didn’t you?”

One shoulder lifted. “Didn’t know how you’d
react.”

Tilting his glass up, he drained the contents
without breaking eye contact. The left side of his mouth curved
into that familiar smile, and a blaze of heat shot to every one of
Athena’s nerve endings.

“What is it they say?” he asked softly. “You
never know until you try.”

And by God, she was going to try. The alcohol
cheered as she lurched to her feet and weaved her way to the stereo
where she picked up the tone arm, cutting off “At Seventeen” while
Janis Ian was in mid-lament about never receiving valentines. Fuck
getting valentines; she was going to get laid.

She shuffled through the records until she
found the new Eagles single she’d brought home from the store. As
she put it on the turntable, she glanced over her shoulder. Derek
was staring with rapt absorption at her ass, and her knees weakened
as lust loosened her muscles. All of a sudden the halter top she’d
donned after her shower felt too tight under the arms, and she was
intensely aware of the way her cut off shorts rubbed the tops of
her thighs.

The insinuating bass line that began “One of
These Nights” resonated through her, and she swayed with it, her
hands going to the bottom tie of her top. Without turning around,
she pulled the tie loose and backed closer to the chair where Derek
sat. One hand rose to her neck, and at the first guitar lick she
loosened the top tie, leaving her back naked. Undulating in what
she hoped was a sensuous way, she turned to face him, holding the
top against her breasts.

He was watching her with an intensity that
caused her to stop dancing for a moment, only to begin again as
pure wantonness overtook her. She let her blouse fall, and was
rewarded by the fire that kindled in his eyes, a blue flame that
touched her with such passionate force it was almost physical.
Feeling sexier than she had before in her life, she closed her eyes
and ran her fingers through her still-damp hair. Her head fell
back, and she gave herself over to the rhythm of the music and the
knowledge that he was watching her.

When she heard him shift with impatience, she
opened her eyes and ran her hands down her body, stopping to cup
her breasts before letting her fingers trail down to the waistband
of her shorts. The sight of Derek’s tongue peeking out to moisten
his lips roused her further, and she popped open the snap of the
shorts and lowered the zipper.

Derek’s chest expanded with a deep, indrawn
breath as Athena shimmied out of the shorts. As she stepped out of
them and kicked them aside, she ran her hands up the inside of her
thighs, stopping where the bands of her panties hugged her legs.
When he groaned in frustration, a burst of power glowed in her
chest. There was no denying he wanted her now.

Tossing him a hot smile full of promise, she
turned around and hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her
underwear. Still letting the music move her, she lowered the
panties inch by inch, feeling his heated gaze on her skin. When she
reached her knees, she bent forward to remove the last of her
clothing, and heard him draw in his breath with a hiss, followed by
a low growl, “Damn, angel.”

The sound went straight between her legs, and
she started to quiver. She stepped out of her panties and stood
upright, looking over her shoulder and dangling the undergarments
in front of him. From the look on his face, it was like waving a
red flag at a bull. Hunger made the muscles in his cheeks tense,
and beneath his moustache she saw his lips press together in a
tight line. With a low laugh, she tossed the panties at him.

Lacing her hands together across the juncture
of her thighs, she faced him once more, reveling in the way his
eyes devoured every inch of her body. Moving forward, she stood
over his outstretched legs and let her hands fall away from where
his gaze was fixated. Athena lifted her hair off the back of her
neck, and let her head roll on her shoulders as she danced for him.
Her skin felt ultra-sensitive, just waiting for the touch of his
warm hands, his calloused fingers, his hot mouth.

In the next instant his feet nudged her
ankles further apart, spreading her legs wider for him. She looked
down to see him wriggling out of his shirt with determination. His
breath came in urgent pants and a light sheen of perspiration
gleamed on his forehead.

Derek flung his shirt aside and grasped
Athena’s hips to pull her closer. His hands slid over her ass as he
pressed his lips to the bare skin of her belly and started downward
until he reached his goal.

A deep moan was wrenched from her at the
touch of his tongue. Electric shocks of pleasure jolted through her
and left her vibrating with anticipation. Somehow her hands were
tangled in his hair, holding his head tight as he tripped her out.
Just when she was on the brink, he stood up and captured her mouth
with his.

Reaching down, she opened his jeans with
trembling fingers and pushed them down. Derek groaned into her
mouth as she took him in both hands, squeezing and stroking that
magnificent hardness trapped between her palms.

Derek kicked his jeans from his feet and
half-carried, half-walked Athena backward until her calves came
into contact with the low couch. She lowered herself onto it,
pulling Derek down on top of her. With no hesitation he plunged
into her, her name a caress on his lips.

“Oh, yes,” she moaned, and arched against him
to meet his urgent thrusts. The climax that had built in her before
now exploded. She writhed under him, sharp cries of pleasure
escaping her throat.

“That’s right, angel,” Derek panted in her
ear. “That’s it. Damn, you feel so good when you come on me.”

That soft purr threw her over the edge again,
and she clung to his shoulders as her release surged through her
like molten honey. Shudders still wracked her as Derek grew still,
his warm weight pushing her into the scratchy surface of the couch.
Gentle fingers smoothed her hair back from her forehead, and she
opened her eyes to his tender blue gaze.

“That was some kind of beautiful,” he
murmured.

“Mm-hm.” Athena ran a finger over the silky,
damp hair of his moustache. A smile of promise curved her lips.
“Now it’s your turn.”

Derek’s answering smile could be described by
no other word than naughty. “Not yet,” he whispered, and moved
against her in a sinuous squirm. “I’ve been waiting a long time for
this. I haven’t even begun to fuck you yet.”

A quivering gasp of anticipation was wrenched
from her as he drew back and then rammed into her again before he
froze deep within her. His smile widened as he stared down at
her.

“Hang on, angel. It’s going to be a wild
night.”

It did not bode well for the day when the
simple act of lying still in the bed with eyes closed brought about
excruciating pain and roiling nausea. Moving with extreme care,
Athena raised her arms and grasped her head in both hands to keep
it from rolling off the pillow and bouncing on the floor.

“Jesus God,” she whispered, and was
immediately sorry. Soft as it was, her voice reverberated in her
skull like a gong. She needed to go back to sleep and not wake up
until…

Good grief, what time was it?

Face scrunched in a grimace of trepidation,
she cracked her eyes open and winced at the muted sunlight that
peeked in around the closed curtains of her bedroom window. The
only time the light came through her windows like that was early
morning. Damn it, early morning was not on the agenda after the
amount of wine she’d consumed the night before.

Curiosity about the hour got the better of
her, and she used her hands to turn her head toward the alarm clock
on the nightstand. Instead of a clock, she beheld the tousled head
of Derek Marshall on the pillow next to hers. Oh, dear God.

A whiff of something odd pushed her nausea,
her pounding head, and the beautiful man in her bed aside. Brows
furrowed, she pulled a hank of her hair under her nose and took a
bigger sniff. Chlorine. They had been in the pool? A fragment of
memory came creeping back in and a blush suffused her whole body
when she remembered that yes, they had indeed been in the pool. As
sexy and uninhibited as it sounded, it proved unsatisfactory. That
is, until Derek lifted her from the water and sat her on the edge.
Still floating below her, he spread her legs wide and…

The throbbing in her head intensified as the
flood gates opened and the whole night came roaring back, the
memory tinged with the fuzzy edges of inebriation. After the pool,
they came back into the house where they had …

Athena sighed. She was going to have to do a
thorough job of sanitizing the kitchen table. Worth it, though.
Then after the kitchen interlude they came into Athena’s bedroom
where Derek got really inventive. Thinking about it made her squirm
a little which made her aware of the fact that she was sore between
her legs. Not a painful kind of sore, but a pleasurable one. One
that made her wonder if sex cured hangovers. She glanced over at
Derek again, and thought the theory was worth testing.

Raising up on one elbow, she regarded him
with optimism. He wouldn’t mind being woken up to have sex, right?
Especially not if they were going to make medical history.

Huh. Her new position was kind of
uncomfortable. It wasn’t doing her stomach any favors, that was for
sure. The thought of sex was driven from her mind, replaced by the
urgent need to get to the bathroom as soon as possible.

She didn’t remember leaving the bed, but she
was very aware of kneeling before the toilet as the contents of her
stomach came up at roughly the speed of light. When it was over,
she reached up, eyes still closed, and pushed down the flush before
collapsing on the floor. She lay shivering on the cold tiles, and
recalled that the last time she’d knelt on the bathroom floor
hugging the toilet in the early morning it had also been Derek
Marshall’s fault. That thought made her eyes pop open and was
enough to propel her to her feet.

She stumbled to the medicine cabinet and
fumbled her birth control pills onto the counter. Telling him about
Elizabeth had been hard. Explaining another baby would be
impossible.

Her head resumed its pounding – or maybe it
had never quit – and after she swallowed her pill, she shook three
aspirins into her hand before washing them down with a gulp of
water from the faucet. Maybe her stomach would accept medicine
since it had put the brakes on sex as a cure.

She needed a shower. Now that she was up and
moving, she could smell Derek all over her along with the chlorine
in her hair. But that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. All she
could think about was getting back to the bed, laying her head on
the pillow and drifting back into oblivion. She would deal with the
rest of her life when she wasn’t dying.

The next time she woke, the light in the room
was brighter but not as immediate, and she could tell several hours
had passed. Other than a lingering tenderness, her stomach felt
okay, and the pounding in her head was gone. She had no desire to
get up and dance the Twist, but at least she did think she might
live.

A whiffling snore let her know Derek was
still sleeping it off next to her. Now that she was reasonably sure
that sex would not cure hangovers, she resisted the urge to wake
him. Besides, with the residual alcohol cleansed from her system, a
cloud of uncertainty colored her feelings. Last night was amazing,
but she wasn’t sure how things would stand in the light of day.