by Tina Folsom
“You brought lunch for me too?” Lisa asked, surprise evident in her raised voice.
“Of course. You need to put some meat on your bones.” He winked. The girl was entirely too skinny for his taste. Now, Ariadne’s lush curves, they were a totally different thing. When his gaze traveled up Ari’s hips and breasts and landed on her face, he noticed her miffed expression. Had he said something wrong? She couldn’t possibly have taken his comment to Lisa the wrong way, could she? Or was he prone to flirt with other women? “Now, both of you, eat.”
He walked into the store room when Ariadne called after him, “But you don’t know where to put them.”
“Sorted by country, then by varietal, then by year?” It was how his own wine cellar was stocked. His own wine cellar? Where would he have a wine cellar? There was no space in his small apartment in Charleston to have such a luxury. All he had was a wine fridge. Yet he knew with one hundred percent certainty that he had a wine cellar. Somewhere.
“Yes, just like that,” Ariadne confirmed.
The smell of the food wafted into the storeroom as he hefted case after case into it and stacked them up high. Soon, his stomach growled, and he was glad when the last case was in its place.
He emerged from the storage room and stopped for a moment to watch Ariadne and Lisa enjoy their lunch at the tasting counter. While Lisa was a pretty girl, and very young at that, his eyes were drawn to Ariadne and her figure. Everything about her was more mature and riper than the fresh girl by her side. Ripe for the plucking. And what a plentiful harvest it would be.
His groin tightened at the thought. If he didn’t get his hands on her soon, he’d burst into flames.
“Have you left me anything?” He walked over to them and peered into the cartons.
“You bought way too much,” Ariadne claimed.
“I’m famished.” For more than just food. Dio forced himself to shovel some pasta onto a paper plate and dig into it. The sooner he’d eaten his main course, the sooner he’d be able to move onto dessert. Which wouldn’t stop him from looking at his dessert while eating his entré.
Lisa cleaned off the last of the pasta from her plate when the little bell over the door tinkled, announcing the arrival of a customer. “I’ll get that.”
“I’ll help you clean up,” Dio offered Ariadne in the next instance.
“I’ve got it.” Ari reached for an empty carton just as he did, their hands touching. She gave a nervous giggle before she tossed the carton into the trash behind her. The remaining containers and paper plates followed suit. “Done.”
“Do you want to check on whether I put the cases in the right place?” Dio asked, a plan already forming in his mind.
“Yes, let me make sure I can find them later.”
He followed her into the storeroom and quietly closed the door behind them. He didn’t need an audience. As she walked between the aisles toward the far wall of the room, Dio admired the seductive sway of her hips and the elegant curve of her legs. He knew exactly what he wanted her to do with those long legs. They looked strong and well-toned, and he could fairly feel them wrapping around his hips as he thrust into her.
Despite the coolness in the room, a thin layer of perspiration built on Dio’s forehead and neck. His heart raced and pumped blood to his cock in anticipation of what his brain was planning.
Ariadne stopped in front of the cases and perused them. Dio approached from behind and placed one hand to the side of her shoulder, touching the box behind her. “Did I do all right?” He purposefully lowered his voice, allowing it to sound more seductive than he’d ever spoken to her.
“Y-yes. It’s fine.” Her voice stuttered slightly, attesting to the fact that she was aware of his nearness and maybe even his intention.
“Tell me, baby, have we ever kissed in here?” He placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him.
“N-no.” Her eyes were downcast as if she couldn’t meet his gaze, too afraid of what she’d see: the lust that was boiling over.
He shelved her chin on his palm and tilted her face up. “Why not?”
“We … we … I don’t know.” Her eyes skidded past him as if searching for an escape. There would be none.
“We’ll have to remedy that.” Without haste, he dropped his head to hers. “We do kiss, don’t we?”
“Y-yes.”
He felt a surge of power at her answer. “Good. Because I have the feeling that I like kissing you. And I’m a little starved for a kiss right now.” Then he crossed the remaining distance between them and brushed his lips to hers in a feather-light touch.
Her breath hitched at the contact, confirming that she was physically attracted to him. He would use this knowledge to free her from the stupid notion of practicing abstinence. In a few minutes, he’d have her panting for release.
Dio slid his hand to the back of her neck and slanted his head, sliding his lips over hers once more. His thigh brushed against her hip, the contact sending a flame of white heat through his groin. Of its own volition, his other thigh nudged between her legs to press against her center.
A sigh escaped her mouth and bounced against his lips. He parted his lips to drink in her scent before pulling her upper lip into his mouth. Slowly, he slid his tongue over the soft flesh and felt her tremble in response.
“Easy, baby,” he cooed and repeated his action.
When Ariadne parted her lips a moment later to take in a breath, Dio pressed his lips against her and allowed his tongue to glide into her. First slowly and with measured strokes, he explored her sweet cavern, tasting, touching, and caressing. An involuntary groan burst from his chest. By the gods, he enjoyed kissing her even more than he thought was humanly possible. As he pressed her against the cases at her back, he intensified his kiss and let all ideas of a slow seduction fly into the wind.
Instead, he captured her, allowing her no reprieve, and issued his demand. With determined strokes, he slid against her tongue, initiating a passionate dance, one she answered without hesitation. This wasn’t the kiss of a woman who didn’t know carnal pleasures. The kiss she shared with him was passionate and all-consuming, and the sounds coming from her body, the soft moans and sighs issued from her chest, were not those of a shy virgin.
Dio ground his hips into her, letting one hand travel down her torso. As he caressed the outside of her breast with his thumb, Ariadne’s arms went around his neck, one hand burying itself in his hair. He relished the feeling of her fingers digging into his scalp to hold him closer to her.
Encouraged by her reaction, he moved his hand over her breast, feeling the outline of her bra. The heat under his palm burned into his skin, but he needed more. Before she had a chance to stop him, had she intended to, he pulled her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt and tunneled underneath it. His fingertips met naked skin, soft and warm.
He moved his hand upwards, connecting with the underwire of her bra before he slid over the gauzy fabric and found the hard peak that had formed there. When his fingers brushed over it, a strangled moan issued from her lips together with a protest. “Stop.”
But the word was so soft and accompanied by a thrust of her hips against his that he couldn’t take the demand seriously. He could already smell her arousal, the sweet scent drifting into his nostrils, turning his entire body into a single-minded machine wanting only one thing: release.
“Shh, baby,” he whispered against her lips, briefly interrupting the kiss. But a moment later, he was back, taking her lips more fiercely so she wouldn’t be able to think of resistance.
His hand slid under the fabric of her bra and captured the ripe peak. Her flesh was firm and warm and more responsive than he’d dreamed. As he kneaded the globe that fit his hand perfectly, his cock turned into a rod so hard it could have been used as a crowbar. The charges of heat and energy racing through his body made his skin perspire and his heart beat in a frantic rhythm. His breathing was as labored as if he’d been running a Marathon, but he couldn’
t let that deter him from his goal. He had to have Ariadne, now, here. No matter what. Standing up, pressed against cases of wine, he’d fuck her until she admitted freely that abstinence had been a silly idea. And then he’d take her home and make love to her properly like a fiancé should.
Dio ripped his mouth from hers at the same time as he gripped the bottom of her blouse and pushed it upwards, exposing one breast. Then he pushed the bra aside, freeing one beautiful tit and dropping his lips to it. Capturing the hard nipple in his mouth, he sucked it.
Ariadne’s head dropped against the cases as she let out a surprised gasp. But he wasn’t about to give her a chance to pull back. As he sucked greedily and teased the nipple with his tongue, his hand went to her thigh. He found the seam of her swinging summer skirt and slid underneath it, moving his hand upwards toward the ultimate prize.
She wore no pantyhose, leaving her thighs bare to his touch. He caressed the soft skin and moved inwards, sliding his hand between her legs, which she so obligingly parted wider. When his fingers connected with her panties, he realized that they were already soaked.
Her nipple popped out of his mouth. “Oh, baby!” Did she want him as much as he wanted her? Dio sucked her breast back into his mouth and slid one finger along the outside of her panties. The heat that greeted him was almost unbearable in its intensity. Once he buried his cock in her, he’d flare up like a single sheet of paper carelessly thrown into the fire, burning out just as quickly.
But not even that knowledge could make him slow down. He was past the moment of no-return, unable to control his urges any longer. Nothing could stop him from making Ariadne his now. Her response to him was unmistakable: she was aroused by his touch and wanted more. He wasn’t going to deny her, and he for sure wasn’t going to deny himself.
Dio pushed her panties lower and slid into them, passing the nest of curls until he felt the warmth and wetness that oozed from her core. His finger rubbed against her moist entrance, then pulled further up to find her clit. He pressed against it with his dew-covered digit and heard her moan. In a few minutes, he’d breach her delicious portal and slide home.
“Ari, did you …” The voice in the background trailed off just as Ariadne jolted under his hold and stiffened.
“Sorry,” Lisa added before the door was shut loudly.
Shit! The girl had terrible timing.
Ari pushed against him, making him release her. When he noticed her flushed face, she avoided his look and instead hastily adjusted her clothes. “I have to get back to work.”
A second later, she brushed past him and left the room without a backwards glance.
Chapter Fifteen
Dio slammed the door to his apartment shut and cursed six ways to heaven. In Greek, of all languages! It made him realize instantly that Greek was his mother tongue, but not even this revelation could quell his frustration.
He’d been so close! And then Ariadne had simply dismissed him like a schoolboy who’d been naughty. Well, he’d been naughty all right, but so had she. And to make it seem like he was the only culprit was simply outrageous.
He slumped on the couch and kicked his legs against the coffee table, causing a stack of magazines to tumble to the floor.
How could she do this to him? Did she have no heart? How could she just stop like that when he knew she’d been aroused? Hell, he’d bathed his fingers in her wetness. That hadn’t been an illusion. She’d responded to him with abandon. Next time, he promised himself, the door would be locked so nobody could interrupt them. Then there would be no escape.
With an impatient movement, he rose and bent to the magazines on the floor, picking them up one by one and placing them back on the coffee table when a white note card caught his eye. He pulled it out. On the outside, two gold rings were embossed. Curiously, he opened it and read the inside.
Triton Waters and Sophia Olympia Baker request the pleasure of your company for their nuptials.
Then the date and an address in Charleston. Dio looked at his cell phone to check on today’s date and bolted upright. The wedding had been a day before his amnesia had set in. The invitation could only mean one thing: these people were his friends. Why else would they invite him to their wedding? He smiled at the good news. All he had to do now was to go and see them and with their help find out more about himself.
He found the address on his map and headed out the door, putting the invitation into his shirt pocket.
The house on Battery Street was a huge, three-story mansion with large terraces on one side, and a spacious garden behind a high wall. The sign at the entrance indicated that the building was a Bed and Breakfast. Dio’s hope deflated slightly. This was clearly not the home of the couple who’d gotten married. It was probably only the venue for the ceremony. And there was no guarantee that the employees at the Bed and Breakfast would give him their address. He’d have to use all his charm to tease the information out of them.
As he entered the foyer and enjoyed the slightly cooler air inside, he took in his surroundings. The staircase leading up to the second floor, where, according to a sign, the reception was located, was of dark wood and creaked under his feet. A familiar scent of freshly baked cookies wafted his way and mixed with the rich smell of old wood. He’d been here before.
At the top of the landing, he turned left and popped his head through the open door he encountered. A girl of barely seventeen sat behind a computer, her cell phone attached to her ear. By the looks of it, it would have to be surgically removed one day.
“That’s what I told him,” she blabbed while she moved the mouse of the computer. “No way! … Get outta here! … That’s insane!”
Realizing that she would never notice him if he didn’t announce himself over her clearly very important phone call, Dio took a step into the room. “Excuse me, please.”
She shot him an annoyed stare, then spoke into her phone once more. “Gotta go. Work.” She listened to her friend for a moment. “Yeah, it blows,” she added and disconnected.
“Can I help you?”
Her bored expression didn’t bode well for his attempts at charming the pants off her so she’d reveal what he needed to know. Maybe bribery would do the trick? She was of high school age, and looking at her, he figured she was probably always in need of money to support her excessive clothes habit. The stuff she wore couldn’t be cheap.
Dio pasted a fake smile on his face and sauntered toward her desk. “As a matter of fact, you can.” He cleared his throat and pulled out the invitation, showing it to her. “About this wedding ...”
She glanced at it, then back at him. “You’re a few days too late. Can’t you read the date?”
Great, the brat wasn’t only bored, she was also rude. Dio forced himself to remain cordial. “I know that the wedding has already taken place. What I’d like to know is where I can find the happy couple.”
The girl tilted her head and gave him a strange look. “Jilted lover?” She grinned knowingly, seeming suddenly much older.
He shook his head at the downright annoying teenager. “Just a friend.” Then he wondered, “We haven’t met, you and I?”
She raised her eyebrows unexpectedly batted her lashes. Did she think he was coming onto her? “I’m just tempting here for the week, so I don’t think so. And Triton and Sophia, they’re not here right now.”
“I figured that much. Where are they?”
She straightened in her chair. “Well, on their honeymoon of course. Where else?”
Dio hadn’t thought of that. Of course, it was only logical. “Oh. That blows.” He figured if he spoke the girl’s language, maybe she’d be more forthcoming about her answers.
“Yeah, totally, doesn’t it?”
He felt like a fool when he agreed, “Totally.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll be back in three days.”
That news wasn’t too bad. “Any way to reach them before that?”
“Nah. The only one who’s got an emergency number is Alice,
and she’s out shopping. I doubt she’d give you the number anyway. She’s way too protective of them if you ask me.”
Did he really want to ask? “Alice?”
“The cook. She pretty much runs the place while the two are gone.”
“Triton and Sophia are staying here?”
“They own the place.”
Relief washed through him. Bingo! He had friends, and they lived in Charleston. Now all he had to do was wait until they were back. As impatient as he was, he could do that. “Back in three days, you said?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Do you wanna leave a note or something?”
She appeared relieved when he shook his head, obviously not interested in doing any more work than she’d already done. Poor, overworked teenager!
“Thanks. I’ll come back when they’re here.”
With a spring in his step, he left and walked out into the sunshine. He’d finally made some progress. Now all he needed was to develop some patience and hope that once the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon, they could help him shed some light on his past.
Chapter Sixteen
Knowing that Ariadne’s shop was closed on Sundays, Dio had made arrangements for a picnic with her. He wanted to escape his small apartment and enjoy the sunshine with her. After realizing that he was hopeless when it came to putting together a picnic basket, he had a local deli arrange a basket for him. Half an hour later, Ariadne had met him at his apartment and they’d hailed a cab to take them to Hampton Park near the Citadel.
“That was a nice idea of you,” she now praised him as they lounged on a blanket he’d spread out. They rested under the shade of a large oak tree. Several yards away, other people were doing the same, and kids kicked a soccer ball around while others played catch with a baseball.
Dio rubbed his belly and chuckled. “Food is always a nice idea.”
“You do like your food,” she agreed and brushed some crumbs off her shorts, drawing Dio’s eyes to her long and shapely legs.
