She slid his polo shirt over his head, running her fingertips along his shoulders and down his well-defined smooth chest. She curled her fingers into the waistband of his trousers, releasing the belt and zipper.
She loved the intense, almost amazed expression on his face as he leaned back on his arms and let her pull off his pants, briefs, and loafers.
He looked irresistible smiling up at her. The long line of his flat belly and strong thighs was gorgeous, and every part of him showed that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Her body felt warm and flushed within the thin confines of lavender silk and lace. “I’ve always been the shameless hussy who wanted to see you naked.”
He ran his hand up between her legs, parting the silk. At his gentle urging, she lay down beside him. He cradled her head, rocking his lips over hers. “No, you’ve always been Athena the wise.”
He slid both straps off her shoulders and the gown fell to her waist. “Athena the beautiful.” His lips opened against her breasts, and his tongue made slow circles on the sensitive sides.
She couldn’t keep her breathing quiet, couldn’t stop her body from shuddering. She’d been waiting a lifetime for this.
With one gentle tug, he threw the gown to the foot of the bed. He pressed a kiss on her hot, naked belly, “Athena the wonderful.”
More silken kisses on the inside of her thighs. “Athena the perfect.” His voice, the one that had always drawn her, made her love him.
Her hips moved against his mouth and he sucked gently, his tongue stroking her.
The sizzling shock released every aching desire, drowning her in him, his caresses, and his hands cradling her hips.
Pleasure built under his mouth stroking her deeper and deeper, and she couldn’t stop the purr at the back of her throat.
“Drew,” she gasped.
He slid up over her body, taking her mouth and, at the same instant parting her thighs and pushing inside her in a movement so exquisitely perfect for her needs, her desires, she lost her breath.
Pleasure erupted in waves, one after another. She gripped his shoulders, the tension almost too much to bear. It went on and on until they were both shaking, moving together, one body hurtling through space and time, at last, at last with nothing keeping them apart.
Her face rosy, her hair a beautiful, golden, perfumed silken mess against the pillow, Drew couldn’t stop watching her.
In sleep her lips parted a little, luscious and pink. He gave in to his desire to kiss her again. He had years of kisses to make up to her.
“Drew.” She breathed his name, like she had earlier beneath him, her face flushed, her eyes glistening. She shifted closer, and he held her safe in his arms. He wouldn’t waste a minute of this.
I don’t need to tell her now. Later. Later I’ll tell her I’m leaving.
Drusilla Junior’s persistent meows and her rhythmic scratching at the gate woke Athena during the coldest part of the night.
Beside her on the pillow, Drew slept through it all. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, his every feature made him look like an antique Greek statue, except with astonishing eyelashes.
Where did they go from here? Did they need to talk about the future? What would happen when her father returned soon?
No! I want nothing to mar this new beginning. Later. Later, we’ll talk.
She snuggled closer, spooning their bodies together, and promptly fell asleep again.
A tiny beeping sound made her open her eyes and blink. Had she imagined it?
Another tiny beep and she realized it had to be coming from the watch on Drew’s wrist, positioned under her left breast.
She glanced at the small clock on her bedside table and sat straight up in bed. “Oh, no, I’m late for Pandora’s Box.”
He stretched, muscles rippling across his shoulders. “What time is it?”
“Nine-ten.”
“Christ, I need to be at Clayworth’s.”
Both naked, covers tangled around their waists, they stared at each other. Drew had the strangest look on his face, almost disbelief. His eyes were definitely letting her in, and his lower lip looked so kissable she couldn’t resist nibbling on it.
“Go! Shower is in the hall bathroom unless you want to join me in the tub.”
“Yeah, I do,” he growled, nuzzling her neck.
Trying to be mature, she gently pushed him away. “Can’t. Go shower. Meet you at the front door in twenty minutes.”
She scurried out of bed, bathed, dressed, and met him in the hallway in record time. She didn’t know if she should be embarrassed, or weepy with joy, or if she should try to appear nonchalant.
She’d always been the one who could say something witty in the middle of most long silences. But at the moment, words failed her.
Drew solemnly uttering “We need to talk” broke the spell.
Refusing to let anything spoil this moment, this pinch-myself-to-prove-this-isn’t-a-dream new beginning, she put one palm over his warm lips. “No. If you’re embarrassed, I don’t want to hear it. And I certainly don’t want to hear that you had a fine time but making love with me wasn’t all you’d thought it would be.”
She knew it wasn’t true.
He stopped her nonsense with his lips on her mouth. “Christ, Athena, you’re perfect. I’m worn out.” He chuckled against her ear. “However, I feel myself reviving.”
“Far be it from me to deflate the vaunted Clayworth ego. You were pretty spectacular yourself.” Again, she forced herself to be mature and gently push him away. “Now go do good deeds. Call me later.”
She watched him run down the steps and climb into his Porsche. Only when the car, with its low roar like a lion suffering a sore throat, rounded the corner did Athena go inside to turn her phones back on and reluctantly return to stark reality.
An edge of concern bit into her bliss when she saw Venus had called her on both phones every five minutes between five and six last night. Plus she’d sent a text demanding to know what Athena was doing and where she was and why she wasn’t returning her calls about a lead on Bertha’s dresses.
Of course the dresses were important. She shoved away the guilt. Just not as important as being with Drew.
Half an hour later, Athena rushed into Pandora’s Box, welcomed by Venus’s look of stunned disbelief.
“I can’t believe you didn’t race right over here when you got my message. I kept Mrs. Strong here for as long as I could last night.”
“Sorry. I was buried under unfinished business.” She remembered the weight of Drew’s body pressing down on her, and hot desire curled through every cell of her body. She took a deep breath and blinked away the image. “What makes you so sure Mrs. Strong is a lead to the Bertha Palmer dresses?”
“She practically described the champagne gown with the train when she was trying to explain what jewelry she wanted to purchase.”
“Is she coming back?” Athena mustered interest for her once overpowering need to find the missing gowns. Of course she still worried that others might become infected, but the concern had been buried under her hot anticipation and desire to spend every free moment with Drew, thinking about him, making love to him. The intimacy of two consenting adults trying to build a meaningful relationship.
“I told her I would bring in the perfect jewelry for her, so I could get a promise that she’ll be back tomorrow or the next day. I tried, but I couldn’t get an address or a phone number out of her. Are you all right?” Venus asked. “You look like you have a fever.”
Her core temperature was still at a sexual high after hours of bliss, but she couldn’t share yet with Venus. She wouldn’t understand.
Athena shook her head. “No, I’m fine, really. Just disappointed about Mrs. Strong. But I’m sure we’ll get another chance with her.” She looked away, straightening a piece of jewelry on the table, trying to appear nonchalant even though her heart pounded and her pulse raced.