Cassidy’s eyes gazed into his.
Theron leaned closer. Her heavily lashed lids lowered. Gently his lips covered hers.
Paradise!
Her lips were so soft. So warm.
He could hear her heart thumping. Or was that his?
He realized it was the two combined, in a perfectly matched rhythm. He had never felt such excitement from anything before, especially not from a simple kiss. He had to end this. He could not take advantage of her in her weakened condition.
Last year he had been involved with the actress named the sexiest woman in the world. She was an expert with her mouth and tongue. He had never reached this level of excitement with her, not even when she had used that talented mouth of hers on him in the lavatory at a White House function. Never mind from a closed mouth kiss.
He did not like kissing, but this was not a kiss. This was a connection of two lost souls.
Cassiopeia’s arms were wrapped around his neck. One hand slid into his hair. She sighed against his mouth.
Without another thought his tongue savored the shape of her lips before slipping into the opening she provided. The feelings, the desire, overwhelmed him. It was more than he could ever have imagined. His arms pulled her closer. Their bodies touched from lips to hips and his erection was pushing into her belly.
“Thee. Theee!”
Theron’s hard-on pushed against her belly. Erotic tension pulsed through her.
His hands tugged at the hem of her long tee shirt. Cassidy wore nothing underneath the shirt. Was this it? Was she about to make love for the first time in her life?
His mouth left hers and went directly to a newly bared breast. As soon as his mouth touched her nipple she felt a gush of moisture in her most private of spots.
“Mama. Mama.”
“Did you hear something?” She didn’t want to break the moment, but she was sure she heard something.
“Ummm.” He transferred his attention to the other breast.
“Thee. Theeee!”
Abruptly he jerked his mouth away. He cursed under his breath. He was not sure how it had happened but he had joined her on the bed. He never lost control He always knew what he was doing.
“Theee!”
“Theos!” He jumped off the bed. Once again he pulled the shirt down to cover her tempting body. He hoped she did not see the tremor in his hands. “I must get your son. Remind me when he starts bringing girls home to interrupt him often.”
“We are alone here?” Her voice was husky, he hoped from desire. His control slipped dangerously. If she said another word he would be ripping the shirt off her and climbing back onto the bed.
Then he realized he heard apprehension in her voice and did not understand the cause. They had been on the verge of making love. Surely, she was not afraid of being alone with him. Or perhaps that is what frightened her.
“Ne, yes, it is just the three of us here.” He could read the question in her beautiful eyes “It is you, Enzio, and I.”
“Oh.”
“I will bring Enzio to you. If you feel capable of watching him, I will leave him with you for a few minutes while I go to the kitchen and get you something to eat.”
“You don’t have to wait on me. I can go down to the kitchen and get myself something later. I’m not very hungry right now.” Cassidy did not meet his eyes as she spoke.
“My darling pyrotechnia mikros, you cannot stand up, even with the wooden post of the bed as your backbone. It is imperative you begin to eat so that you may regain your strength. For now I will limit the food to some toast, orange juice, and tea. The doctor says not to put heavy food into your system yet.” He left the room in order to prevent her further arguments. Theron could not suppress the smile that burst on his face at the evidence that her spirit was returning after her ordeal.
Chapter 15
Cassidy snuggled under the sheet and light blanket Theron had covered her with. He had been right. She had started to feel much better after she had eaten the toast and jam he had fixed for her. Of course the O.J. and tea helped a great deal to increase her energy, but she knew she was far from feeling back up to her fighting strength.
Enzio and Theron had stayed in the bedroom with her for over an hour. She had admired Z’s new clothes and read him Goodnight Moon. It was kind of Theron to get her son new clothes and books while she was not able to care for him herself.
She could barely keep her eyes open when Theron carried Zio out of the room so she could nap. She had wanted the baby to sleep in the bed with her, but Theron wouldn’t hear of it. “He has been inside all day. He is very happy to have his mama back, but you must not be selfish. While you sleep he can be outside and enjoy the fresh Greek sunshine.”
Cassidy hated to admit it, but he was right, Zio did need to be outside. After all, he was a Texan and there was nothing a Texan loved better than being out in the wide open spaces. Theron said something that niggled at her brain, but as she snuggled deeper into the pillow she couldn’t imagine what it was. She’d think about it later when she wasn’t so exhausted.
When she awoke her “boys” were back with soup and toast.
After dinner they joined her on the bed until Zio dove into her arms and excruciating pain shot through her entire body. A groan escaped her before she could bite it back. Theron had Enzio in his arms and away from her before the stars had stopped exploding in front of Cassidy’s eyes.
“It’s okay, I can hold my son,” she whispered around the pain.
“Later. After you have rested,” was his cruel answer. “Kiss your son and I will bring him back to you later. He lowered Enzio for her kiss and then he placed the child on the floor while he held out a pill and a glass of water. “Take this.”
“What is it?” she asked suspiciously.
“It is just medication for your pain. Take it and rest. I will bring the child back after you have both had a chance to nap.”
“You promise?” She hated the pleading sound in her voice.
“I promise.”
After she complied with his wishes, he placed the refilled glass next to her bed, covered her with a light blanket, then walked out with her son.
They looked so cute together, the tall, dark haired man and her small dark haired son, she thought drowsily as she dropped into a deep sleep.
The next few days fell into a pattern of Theron bringing Enzio in to share breakfast with her. After the food was eaten Cassidy was allowed to play with her son until the boy became rambunctious. Then Theron would swoop the boy away and insist on Cassidy resting. The boys would return with lunch and repeat the morning pattern. Early evening a freshly bathed Zio snuggled with his mama while she read him stories and sang to him. She was self-conscious singing in front of Theron, she knew she couldn’t hold a tune, but babies did not criticize, they just loved you, bad voice and all.
As the doses of pain medication were lowered, her dreams began filling in the horror of what had happened to her. She didn’t mention it to Theron. She couldn’t bring herself to talk about it, even though she knew she had to thank him for saving her. But how do you thank someone for what he had done, for what he was doing?
Words were inadequate.
She would have to withdraw her injunction and let him marry Julia.
Chapter 16
After what felt like forever, Theron carried a comfortable armchair into the bathroom so that she could oversee Enzio’s bath. It was startling to see how close Zio and Theron were and the amount of fun they had with the bath water. Rico had died when the baby was only a few weeks old, and although she had Mountain Man and Moose around the boy a lot, they weren’t daddy and didn’t do daddy things with him. The boy obviously enjoyed the boats and water animals that inhabited his bath and the stories and games that went along with them.
Enzio’s delighted chortle brought her attention back to the tub where a fleet of ships were in danger of being sunk. Cassidy couldn’t help but notice the front of Theron’s shirt was s
oaked and molded to his finely developed chest. The two boys played with the ships until they were sunk, then the three of them returned to the bed where she and Theron took turns reading to Zio until he was ready to fall asleep.
Tears were too close to her eyes, so she didn’t fuss when Theron picked Enzio up to leave. Z put his little hands on the sides of her face and kissed her goodnight. Theron followed it with a quiet kiss of his own. It was nothing more than a peck, but the tingle went all the way down to her toes. Before the guys left her room. Theron made a great show of tucking her in. “If you are a good girl in the morning and eat all your breakfast, perhaps Enzio and I will allow you to join us outside on the veranda for a while.”
She had slept for hours, but at three o’clock in the morning she awoke and couldn’t go back to sleep. She laid there replaying all that had happened since she woke up to the sponge bath. She suddenly realized that in the whirlwind of pain and excitement she hadn’t really thought about where she was.
Enzio was with her and appeared to be happy, healthy, and safe, so she had let herself remain in a haze as to where here was. But at three o’clock in the morning she suddenly remembered the first conversation she had with Theron, right after she found him washing her. He had said they were in Greece.
Her last memory was of being in Texas. She remembered something about Jane Bowen whipping Jack Franklin’s butt with a stick and Joan Franklin wanting to hurt Annie May Cox. She had to get back to the Scorpion’s Tail and make sure everything was all right.
Cassidy didn’t know how she got out of the Lone Star state or why Theron brought her to Greece. Had he orchestrated her kidnapping?
She should be afraid, but she wasn’t. She felt safe. Was he drugging her to ensure her compliance?
Cassidy didn’t fear Theron, she was excited at the thought of going outside with her son. She was dying to see where she was. Cassidy cocked her head toward the window trying to listen for clues. All she heard were the love calls of night insects and the gentle whirring of the ceiling fans. It wasn’t anything like home where you could hear the owls hooting in the night sky as they dove for the little critters they were so good at spotting or the bats as they captured mosquitoes on the fly. The lonely howl of the wolf whose mate was murdered last year always echoed through her own heart. The occasional horse’s neigh, the crickets, and peepers always filled the night with music at her ranch.
Here all she heard were the crickets.
She missed Pegasus, but she looked forward to seeing more of the Greek countryside before she went home. From the little she had seen on her last “visit” to Greece, it was a spectacular country. That is as long as she stayed on the ground. Lynda had dragged her off to the Acropolis on their last visit. It was a gorgeous structure. An amazing structure. She loved the artistry in the statues of the museum, the beauty and grace of form that was captured forever in marble.
Her problem was that Athena’s temple was built on a “hill” as high as Mount Everest. Lynda called her crazy, but when she looked out and saw Athens spread out so far below her booted feet, she knew the gods would laugh as she fell off that mountain. It had taken Lynda hours to lead her quivering body down the path to the safety at the bottom of that monstrous height. Elderly men on walkers passed them, but her legs shook so badly she could barely stand. Her body still got all cold and clammy just thinking about it. Never again would she allow anyone to take her higher than the second floor, and even that would be under duress.
To get her mind off her disturbing memories she once again listened for clues as to where they were. There were no traffic sounds. No trains. No planes. No other voices could be heard. Well, she thought, Theron is a Greek tycoon. They all own private islands. Perhaps he brought her to his private island. Alone with Mr. McHottie. Ooooh! Wasn’t that romantic? Except, of course, for the fact that her face was now a lovely shade of mustard yellow from where it had previously been black and blue.
Maybe Theron would kiss her again. He was a great kisser. In fact, he was the best kisser she had ever met. She might still be a virgin, but she had been kissed. Many times.
Just a few more hours and she would find out everything she wanted to know. Perhaps more than she wanted to know, a little voice whispered in the back of her mind.
Chapter 17
Something wasn’t right about this place, Cassidy thought. The air didn’t feel right. It felt thinner, harder to breathe, like when she had to do that horror drive into the Rockies.
She sat in the shade, on a beautiful patio overlooking the pool. Back home the folks who had pools either had above ground pools or large rectangular ones such as those that were favored by the town facilities. This pool looked like pictures of a romantic grotto she had seen in the picture books Grammie kept on the coffee table. She was surrounded by shade trees, grassy walkways, and exotic flowers. The blue water looked soothing; it called to her.
Unfortunately when Theron came with her breakfast this morning he had brought along a very small pile of clothes consisting of a man’s white button down shirt, and her own lavender lace bra and panties. There wasn’t a bathing suit or a pair of jeans or anything that was going to cover much.
Theron’s rueful grin didn’t fool her. She could see lust in his eyes as he explained that her clothes had been ruined before he had reached her. She shuddered as she remembered the look on that horrible monster Jenkins’s face as he had cut the clothes off her trembling body. She had been really lucky Theron had arrived in time to save her. She knew Jenkins would have raped her if he hadn’t been stopped. After the things he had tried to do to her when she was only fifteen, she wasn’t surprised. The only surprise was that he hadn’t raped her while she was unconscious. To a deviant like Joe Jenkins it wouldn’t have mattered if she was conscious or not.
“Pyrotechnia mikros, come. Join us!” Theron leaned his forearms along the edge of the pool closest to her; his bronzed shoulders as broad as any linebacker’s on the Dallas Cowboys’ roster. His muscles were so well developed Cassidy wanted to run her hands over them and see if they were as hard and smooth as they looked. As she stared at him, his nipples hardened into delicious looking points. The sudden desire to lick him overcame her good sense and her tongue had to moisten her lower lip.
She heard him groan. Was he in pain? Had he hurt himself carrying her around all the time? Was he having cramps from eating before he went in to swim? It was pain, but not from eating too much. She knew that hungry look, she had seen it often enough on the faces of the lonely cowboys who asked her out.
“Why do you call me that? I had Greek lessons when I was younger, but I don’t remember learning pyrotechnia.”
“When you waltzed down the church aisle with the sunshine glistening in your hair, you reminded me of a little firecracker. All fire and energy. Then you opened your mouth and confirmed it.” His grin lit up her heart.
Oh boy! I’m really in trouble here, she thought.
“Do you require help walking to the pool?” he asked.
“I-I can’t. I don’t have a bathing suit,” she stammered.
“You do not need a suit here, pethi mou. It is just you and I and Enzio. You do not need to wear anything if you wish, or you may wear just your shirt or your under things. We do not mind. Do we Enzio?”
“Well I would mind. I do not make a habit of running around naked in front of my son. Or anyone else for that matter!” She stood up with her arms crossed over her chest. Her legs felt like limp spaghetti, but they managed to hold her up.
A happy grin covered Theron’s face. Cassidy became instantly suspicious. That smile was definitely a happy smile, not a let me charm you out of your panties smile. It couldn’t be the result of her saying no to a skinny dip. Cassidy knew all too well she would never be offered the position of Playboy centerfold, but she only knew two men who had no desire to see her naked, and they were both gay. Theron didn’t seem gay. Then again, when she woke up that first day she was bare naked. Nothing covered her body
at all, except the wash cloth he was running over her, and her belly button ring. Maybe he saw enough of her and just didn’t like her body. Maybe he just didn’t like her.
So why did he have a smile on his face? He didn’t seem like the kind of fool who walked around with a smile on his face all day. At least not the kind smile that reached those deep dark eyes. Not smiles that came from the heart; smiles that came from the soul.
She shook her head and brought her attention back from admiring the sun shining on the drops of water that were sensuously sliding their way from his, umm, so-broad shoulders to his well-toned, bronzed pectorals. His brown nipples were peeking and calling to her. Her tongue wanted to taste him. They reminded her of the maple sugar candy Grammie used to buy her when they traveled to New Hampshire every autumn to view the foliage. She loved sucking on that candy; it was so sweet and tasty. Would he be as sweet and tasty?
Cassidy! Stop eating him with your eyes. He’s speaking to you and you don’t have a clue what he’s saying. Cassidy rolled her eyes as she castigated herself for her inattention.
OhmiGod! He’s climbing out of the pool!
“Don’t you dare!” She said as she pointed a finger at him.
“Dare? Dare what?” he asked as he hoisted himself onto the edge of the pool nearest her.
“You get right back in that water. You can’t leave Z in there all alone!”
“He is quite safe. He is wearing the best floatation devices on the market.” He lowered himself back into the water “They have received the highest rankings from the United States Government Consumer Products Board, Consumer Reports, and,” he paused and snapped his fingers as if he were trying to remember something, “We also have, um, what do they call it, ah, yes, the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. The devices are manufactured by one of my companies. They are used on my cruise ships. I have nothing but the best of equipment on my ships. My PA assures me Enzio is safer in these devices than he is in his mother’s arms.”
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