Finding Hope

by Krystal Shannan

  “Why aren’t you picking her up, sweetie?”

  “I can’t. I have a fitting at the dressmakers with Mama.”

  “Missy, I can’t get her either. I have to be at work by four. Her plane doesn’t land till five thirty.”

  The lack of conversation over the commentator on the ballgame continued unnaturally long. The creepy sensation of being watched raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He muted his game and looked up at Tom and Missy. They were both staring at him. A pout formed on Missy’s face.

  “Hell no! It’s my night off.” He jumped up from his chair and dashed into his bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him. As if a locked door will stop Marissa Wentworth. He pulled off his tee shirt and flung it across the room at a half-full laundry basket. I should have kicked him out last year when they got engaged? At least then she wouldn’t have a key to my house and feel like she could pop in at any time.

  “Adrian.” Her voice dripped with honey as she leaned against his closed door. “Please.”

  “Come on, Adrian,” Tom begged.

  He pulled a long-sleeved green-and-gray flannel shirt off a hanger and pulled it on.

  “What am I supposed to do with one of your belles all evening? Talking flowers, dresses, and wedding invitations is not my idea of a night off,” he complained through the closed door. All he wanted to do was relax in his chair, watch the ball game, drink a few beers, and forget that he had seen an entire family dead in their home yesterday. Was that too much to ask for?

  “Now you listen here, Adrian Colter. I agreed to let you take Tom out hunting last weekend. If you can’t do this little favor for me… so help me…”

  He snorted through a laugh and waited. There was a short period of golden silence, but Adrian knew better. Her brain was switching gears for another angle of attack.

  “You won’t have to talk flowers and dresses with Addi. Lord knows, I can’t even remember the last time she wore a dress. She lives on a ranch in Montana. Surely you can come up with something to say to a cattle rancher’s granddaughter. She might even watch the damn football game with you.”

  Adrian ran his hands through his hair. He grabbed his brown leather coat from the edge of his bed. “Fine.” He took a few lumbering steps to the door, and opened it. Missy’s smiling face greeted him and Tom was standing a few feet back –arms crossed, grinning. “If I didn’t know better, I might think you two planned this little scene.”

  He caught a downward glance from Missy and another from Tom. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I have no desire to be set up with anyone, especially a wedding hookup. How lame do you think I am?” Adrian shook his head and stomped past Missy into the living room. “This is really low, you guys. I am not desperate.”

  “Adrian,” Missy started, “we know you’re not desperate, but you and Addi…”

  Realization struck. The setup wasn’t for him; it was for her friend. Adrian whirled around to face Missy again. “Dammit, Missy. There’s a reason some women can’t get a man. Usually it’s because there’s something wrong with them.”

  Damn it! He regretted the words as soon as they’d left his mouth. Missy’s eyes watered, and even Tom’s gaze held utter loathing. His own self-disgust made him grimace.

  “You are an asshole, Adrian Colter.” Her voice was sharp, anger clipping every word. “Daddy will pick her up. You can just sit here and drink your beer. Alone.” She grabbed her yellow handbag from the couch and her coat from the hook at the front door. “Tom?”

  Adrian frowned as Tom hurried to her side and helped her into her long pink wool coat.

  “You need to chill out, Adrian,” Tom shouted before slamming the door closed.

  Damn it all to hell! Adrian kicked off his boots and sank into his huge recliner. He’d made a mess of this one. Why hadn’t he just gone and picked up her friend? She couldn’t be that bad. A shudder went through his body. Several of Missy’s friends were “that bad” –hoity-toity, look-down-their-nose, over-the-top, powder-puff girly. The list could go on for miles. Already, the thought of being trapped at the resort all day Saturday and then Sunday morning with Amber and Haven, two of Missy’s bridesmaids, had him wishing a contagious disease would strike him down so he’d be quarantined at the hospital.

  ***

  “Mr. Wentworth!” Addison smiled at Missy’s dad. She was surprised to see him standing there and not Missy.

  “Addi, it is so good to see you. Missy’s been coming apart at the seams without you. Her mother tries, but… well, you know how they are.” He shrugged and then enclosed her in a warm bear-hug.

  “I know.” She drank in the spicy cologne that surrounded him – home away from home. He had always acted like a surrogate father. “Where is our dear Missy?” She stepped back and looked Mr. Wentworth over. He seemed well and had lost a little weight. His wife should be pleased.

  “Dress fitting,” he answered.

  “Again?” She laughed when he shrugged again and grinned.

  “I just go and do what they need me to. Let me take that bag from you.”

  She handed her carry-on to him. “Thank you, Mr. Wentworth.”

  “Addi, we’ve talked about this before. You’re old enough to call me Paul.”

  “Paul.” She rolled the name off her tongue. “I’ll try, but it’s going to be strange. You will always be Mr. Wentworth in my mind.”

  “I know.” His laughter was relaxing. She slipped her arm through his offered elbow. “You are like another daughter, Addi. We’ve missed you terribly.”

  “I’ve missed y’all too.” Addison leaned against his shoulder.

  “How is your grandfather doing?”

  “Better, but he has a tendency to work too hard. Hopefully Roger, our foreman, will be able to keep him in line while I’m away.”

  “I’m sure he will be fine. Try not to worry. He would want you to have a good time while you are here.”

  “I will do my best.” Addison smiled up at him. When her parents had died thirteen years before, Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth were the first people to take her in until arrangements had been made for her to move to Montana. Paul Wentworth graciously housed her for the entire rest of the school year so she didn’t have to leave right away.

  ***

  Cars and taxies stretched as far as the eye could see. The busy Nashville airport teemed with people hurrying this way and that.

  “I’d forgotten how busy it is here. Wolfe Point has a population of like two thousand.”

  Paul Wentworth chuckled and waved at a black Town Car. She took a deep breath of the chilly evening air. It wasn’t as cold as Montana, but it was surprisingly nippy. She was glad she’d packed her red parka in addition to her long white wool coat. Always good to be prepared.

  “No worries, our car is pulling up right now.” He looked down and she saw flicker of concern in his eyes. “Did we forget your luggage?”

  She grinned. “Nope. I brought a few things, and I’ll fill in the rest from Missy’s closet.”

  “I should’ve known.” He winked.

  A black Town Car pulled up to the curb. The driver’s door opened, and she smiled. A tall, blond, older gentleman stepped out.

  “Larry!”

  “Miss Addi,” he exclaimed. “It’s been too long. We’ve missed you. It’s been what?”

  “Three years.” She embraced the driver, and he gave her an affectionate pat on the back. She hadn’t been back to Nashville since graduating college and breaking it off with Billy.

  “It will be nice to have you around the house again.”

  “It is so nice to be back. I have missed all of you.”

  “Mr. Wentworth, let me take that bag.”

  “Thank you, Larry.” Paul handed him her carry-on bag and then opened the back passenger door.

  “Where’s the rest of your luggage, Miss Addi?”

  She leaned her head back out of the car. “That’s the only one, Larry.”

  “Our little Missy would have so m
any bags I would barely be able to fit them in the trunk.”

  She giggled. It was true. She’d seen Missy pack before.

  “I’m a light packer.”

  He flashed her a grin and closed the trunk. Paul closed her door and then walked around to the driver’s side and slid into the back seat next to her.

  Larry closed his door and carefully pulled out, expertly weaving through five lanes of taxies, Town Cars, and other vehicles. It was like trying to cross through a herd of milling cattle. Car horns blared, hands waved signs in the air, and several drivers shouted obscenities.

  She pulled out her phone and checked her messages. One from Carrie about a sick cow. That could wait. Nothing from Grandpa or Roger. Good.

  “Everything okay?” Missy’s dad asked gently.

  “Oh, yes.”

  He nodded and went back to his newspaper. She popped up her email and checked it as well. It felt strange for no one to need her. What was she going to do with herself for a week and a half?

  The highway flew past. Only a few bright leaves clung to the trees surrounding Nashville Lake. The Wentworths lived on the west side of the lake. Some would call the house an estate, but she had always considered it her second home. It would take at least three-quarters of an hour to get there.

  “Can we stop and pick up something for you to eat?”

  Her stomach rumbled at the suggestion, and she giggled. “Sorry.”

  “We are going to pass Georgie’s BBQ.”

  “Oh, that’s my weakness. I can’t say no to Georgie’s. But I can just make a sandwich when we get to the house. There’s no need to stop just on my account.”

  “Nonsense.” He tapped Larry on the shoulder. “Stop at Georgie’s to pick up some dinner for Addi.”

  “Yes, sir. We are only a few minutes away.”

  “I really don’t want you to go to any extra trouble for me. You already picked me up from the airport. I could have taken a taxi.”

  “Hush. Addi, you are never any trouble. Plus this may be your only chance to eat Georgie’s while you’re here.”

  “Yes, sir,” she answered. There was no point in arguing with him. Once he set his mind there was no changing it.

  A few minutes later they parked just outside the restaurant, and Larry ran in. He couldn’t have been gone more than ten minutes before he came walking back to the car with a plastic bag full of Styrofoam containers. The spicy scent of Georgie’s special sauce filled the car. Her mouth watered in anticipation of the tender brisket slathered in the sweet and tangy sauce. The hint of vinegar made it just perfect.

  ***

  Larry pulled into the Wentworth driveway fifteen minutes later. A sense of warmth and belonging surrounded this big old house. Addison stepped out of the car. Home away from home. She’d grown up playing with Missy since kindergarten. Every summer since she was sixteen had been spent at the Wentworth estate. She’d missed the last three summers because she’d accepted the position as the vet for Wolfe Point Animal Hospital. No more college. No more summers off. Grownup life caught up with her, and she’d let it rob her of a social life. Not that Wolfe Point offered a lot anyway, but Addison had chosen to immerse herself in her job. It was better than dwelling on the mistakes she’d made.

  Her patients never required her to have a social life or know the town gossip. They just accepted her for who she was and asked for a pat of assurance that their pain would be alleviated. Animals were happy, simple, and never disappointing. Unlike men.

  “Addi?”

  She snapped out of her daydream and turned to face Mr. Wentworth. “Sorry, just remembering old times.”

  He smiled and grabbed her suitcase from Larry. “I’m going to put your bag in the room that adjoins Missy’s.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Wentworth… I mean, Paul.”

  He laughed. “Missy and her mother should be back from the fitting by seven. Just make yourself at home. You know where everything is.”

  ***

  The hairs on Aphrodite’s arms tingled. She could sense his essence in her palace. It reached for hers. Besides Dionysus, Ares was the only other Olympian with a pass through the wards to enter her palace uninvited.

  Sure enough, moments later, Ares came strolling into her bedroom. She turned from the window where she’d been staring out into the garden. Since the strange feeling she’d gotten the other day, she had kept a very close watch on the garden. Her wards were in place, but still she worried over them as a mother worries over her children.

  Ares slid his hands down her shoulders, along her arms, and came to a stop on either hip. He pulled her against his hard, muscled chest, his erection hot and throbbing against the small of her back.

  Gods, she had missed him. He had been off Olympus for almost three weeks. Her body trembled in response, and white tendrils of her essence crept outward to intertwine with his red.

  “I have missed you, Ditee.” His voice rumbled low in his chest.

  Red tendrils of his essence began weaving through hers, entwining around her body. It was like wearing a full body vibrator –if one could imagine such a thing.

  She twisted in his grasp to face him and draped her arms around his neck. He bent down and took her mouth. His tongue danced with hers. He tasted of sandalwood and spice. She pulled away and looked up into his brown eyes. Flecks of red glowed brightly in the irises. At the height of passion they would change completely to a brilliant crimson, just as her blue eyes would chance to an iridescent white. In that one moment, the moment of ecstasy, a god was vulnerable and unguarded, their essence could blend, linking them forever. But the risk was worth the pleasure of the reward. True ecstasy was difficult to find as an immortal or human.

  She made short work of Ares’ black Led Zeppelin tee shirt. It sailed across the room and attached itself precariously to a wall sconce. His jeans were next. Kneeling before him, she slid the dark-washed denim from his hips. His hard cock sprang forward and she bit her lip in anticipation. A glistening drop of cum shimmered at its tip. Her tongue darted out for a sample, and Ares groaned his appreciation.

  “So good.” She peered up at him through her dark eyelashes. He met her flirty glance with a smoldering one of his own. Wetness from her arousal moistened her thighs. Her very core throbbed with desire. No man or god had ever satisfied her more than him.

  “By the gods, Aphrodite.”

  He threaded his hand through her hair and guided her mouth to his cock. She took him all. The head of his erection pressed gently against the back of her throat. He began to thrust in and out, gliding between her lips. She sucked hard and reached up to cup his sac with her right hand. Another groan rewarded her effort. With her left hand she clung to one of his thighs for stability. His thrusts were coming faster now. He held her head in place. A sudden twitch heralded his release, and liquid heat filled her throat. His fingers tightened in her hair, but the slight pain only added to her own pleasure. She swallowed every drop and playfully licked him clean before standing to face him.

  “You never cease to amaze me, Ditee.”

  She whirled on her heels, grabbed his hand, and led him to her bed. The sheer white canopy parted with a flick of her wrist. The snow-white bedding was softer than silk and smoother than satin. A little nymph in the forests of Russia had made it for her as a gift many years ago as a thank you.

  Aphrodite lay down on the bed and motioned to Ares to follow. He smiled and snapped his finger, making her clothing disappear. The sudden rush of air across her bared skin hardened her nipples. Hot, liquid arousal pooled between her legs again.

  “Ares,” she whispered. Her body thrummed. A moan escaped her lips. He parted her legs and pushed. She was open, vulnerable, and ready for anything he would give. White tendrils of her essence swirled around the bed, connecting with his as he climbed over her.

  She caught his gaze, and more heat flamed in her belly. His eyes were dark except for the fiery red sparks of his arousal shining through them. He settled his mouth on her sex, and h
er breath released in a long hiss. One lick across her clit and she arched her hips toward him, clenching handfuls of his hair. Tension held her body in place while he worked her like the strings on a violin. Their essence continued to dance, swirling around them, and sending pleasurable jolts of energy surging through her body every time it touched her skin.

  “Please, Ares. I need you inside me.”

  “Mmmmm. I love to hear you beg.”

  She smiled and gasped when he pinched a nipple. The pain was short-lived, but it made her so hot! She literally wanted to taste every inch of him.

  “You know you’re the only one that I –”

  “I know.”

  The weight of his body lifted, and a shudder of anticipation flittered through her. His velvet head brushed against her wet pussy. She needed him to be inside already! Why was he teasing her so much?

  He lowered his mouth to her breasts and swirled his tongue around her rock-hard nipples. She writhed, pushing up her hips.

  “Now,” she moaned.

  He bit one of her breasts and thrust deep.

  She screamed as the room exploded into bright, white-hot light. Sensations of pleasure bombarded her being. Her toes curled, and she pulled his hair. Ares continued to drive into her as the orgasm bloomed. His shaft slammed into her body, brushing against her womb. Another orgasm rippled through, setting off more fireworks around them.

  Aphrodite lowered her guard and sank into the moment, panting and sweating, and reveling in the pure pleasure of his attentions. She’d never felt so complete as she did when making love to Ares. Trust was not something she handed out lightly, but somehow, he had earned hers back. Every movement sent new sparks of pleasure spiraling through her body.

  In that moment, she would have given anything to know if he was truly her match. However, that information was not within her reach. The great goddess Aphrodite could see and feel whom everyone else would love, but her own match was hidden from sight.