“Now what do we do?”
“Get you a cup from up there on the shelf and cut out the biscuits,” Maybelle said as she pulled out a pan from beneath the sink.
Clio again followed the older woman’s instructions and soon the pan was full of biscuits. She grinned and clapped her hands.
“I did it!”
“That you did. A’course, the real test is how they taste. Let’s get ‘em in the oven then I’ll start frying up the ham.”
*****
Ace paused in the doorway to the kitchen and took in the view. Clio was covered head to foot with flour, grease and God-only-knew what else. It was in her hair, on her cheek and chin, her hands were scary-looking, and her dress, which had to be at least twenty-years-old, was more white than blue.
She was laughing. Her beautiful face was lit up like a sunrise and the expression on her face could only be described as joy. Pure joy. An emotion he hadn’t felt since he was about five years old, before his father died, before his mother had to sell her body to feed him.
He felt a funny hum echo through his body that made him shift his position. His boots creaked on the floor and Clio’s gaze snapped to his. For some reason, her smile got wider.
“I made biscuits,” she announced proudly.
He nodded. The woman sounded more and more touched in the head. What grown female didn’t know how to make biscuits? “Congratulations to you then. Maybelle, chow at six?”
Maybelle straightened from putting the biscuits in the oven. “Yep, you’ve got about half an hour to wash up, Ace.”
“Are you staying for the meal?” Clio asked.
He decided she talked funny. Funny words and sentences he didn’t normally hear in small-town Texas. To talk so fancy she must have come from the big city and lived with servants and maybe even a cook.
“I live here, Clio. I’m here for every supper.”
He wished he could bottle the expression on her face. Surprise and a whole bunch of other things all mixed together. He couldn’t help himself. A grin crept across his face and he actually felt a chuckle rumble in his chest. It never made it up his throat though. Instead, he swung around and slammed his hat back on his head and headed for his room to wash up.
What the hell?
This was some crazy woman who had just dropped into his life two hours before. Why the hell did he feel like his head was all twisted up?
Chapter Three
Clio had never sat down to a meal at a table like Maybelle’s, or with a group of people like the boarders. There were five of them and they were all like characters from a book.
Gus Penderson was a clerk at the bank who had the annoying habit of playing with his hair while he ate. Although he did have beautiful hair, Clio was sure that it didn’t need to be adjusted every three minutes. His blond locks had waves that swept across his handsome visage like Adonis and his blue eyes sparkled with an inner laughter that he could only hear. He ate very neatly, cutting his meat into precise pieces. None of the food on his plate ever touched and he did not even glance at Ace once. He bowed over her hand when they were introduced and she just barely pulled her hand out of his grasp before he could plant his lips on her skin.
The sisters, Eunice and Peony Hildenbrant, were unmarried friends of Maybelle’s who had moved in the house after their father died. Both of them were like little birds, fluttering and twittering. Ace would glare at one of them and she would twitch away from him. Eunice was the younger of two, with light-brown hair in a tight bun and sad, brown eyes. Peony was older with much darker hair than her sister, and her eyes were a hard brown.
Eunice was a quiet wren while her sister was a squawking peahen. They ran a seamstress business out of a room in the general store. Clio had the feeling Eunice did most of the work while Peony took the credit. When they met Clio for the first time, Eunice smiled politely and Peony’s expression told her that her borrowed dress was the only thing the older woman saw.
Lefty Volaro was an old cowboy who had lost his arm ten years earlier. He did all of Maybelle’s repairs and was a general handyman for her and a few others in town. There was genuine affection in her gaze when she introduced Lefty to Clio. To her delight, he bowed to her and doffed his hat like a true gentleman. Clio curtseyed and ignored Peony’s snicker behind her. Lefty’s faded-blue eyes sparkled with friendliness and Clio liked him immediately.
The last boarder was Ace. He apparently had been in Peyote for a year, the old sheriff’s successor. His brown eyes were unreadable yet when they turned to her to say hello, she couldn’t stop the shiver that ran up and down her spine, leaving a tingling awareness in its wake.
Clio was surprised to hear her stomach yowl noisily when they sat down to eat. Peony snickered again; Lefty grinned under his napkin; Gus ignored her and Maybelle laughed and set the biscuits down in front of her. Their golden-brown looks were tempting. She only hoped they tasted as good as they smelled.
“Dig on in, girl. You get first dibs on the biscuits since you made them.”
Clio grinned at her hostess and took one of the biscuits. She glanced at Ace; the corner of his mouth was kicked up like he was sharing in her private pride at making something with her hands. Without a recipe. She was quite proud of herself and grinned at him. His gaze turned away and she felt the urge to throw the biscuit at him. She must have imagined the connection between them earlier.
What she didn’t imagine was the way her stomach tightened when she looked at him, or the warmth that grew between her thighs. It was sexual excitement; she knew that much from Aphrodite’s teachings. What she didn’t know was what to do about it. So she focused on her first meal as a mortal.
She watched the others and took portions similar to the other women’s. Gus and Lefty seemed to have bottomless stomachs and filled their plates until they were heaped with food. Maybelle must have been expecting that though, because there was more than enough food for everyone. Clio took a deep breath and picked up her fork and knife. She thought she could use them as Eunice had, but they slipped out of her hands and clattered to the table.
Heat flooded her cheeks. “Excuse me.”
She picked up the utensils and focused on the ham on her plate. She could do this. She was a goddess for pity’s sake! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ace staring at her. As she looked up, he glanced at his plate then at hers, then back up into her eyes.
Watch me he seemed to say. Gratefully, Clio mimicked his movements as he cut his ham. With a good deal less finesse than he showed, she cut a piece and grinned at it like a fool. She looked up at him and he winked.
Her cheeks heated once again, along with the rest of her, and she looked back down at her plate. With Ace’s surprisingly kind help, she made it through dinner without making a complete fool of herself. She didn’t know how the gruff, hard man had turned into such a gentleman.
Ace was the only one who thanked Maybelle politely for providing the food. The other boarders were as entertaining as the production her sister Thalia had done for her birthday last year. Clio watched them, fascinated by how they interacted, how they spoke, and how different they all were from each other.
“Well, I heard that floozy Ruth was found out behind the church last Sunday afternoon. Her bloomers were down around her ankles,” Peony was saying with no small amount of glee.
Eunice frowned. Gus’ eyebrows went up and Lefty shook his head.
“You need to stop gossiping about that poor girl, Peony.” Maybelle shook her fork at her friend. “She cain’t help it if her mama was free with her favors. She don’t know any better.”
“What kind of favors does she give away?” Clio asked.
Maybelle threw up her hands. “Lord have mercy, Clio! Did you just come out from under a rock?”
She didn’t understand what was happening but she mumbled an apology and decided to keep quiet and just watch.
“Well, Reverend Shaeffer gave her a good talking to, I’ll tell you that. I heard him blistering her ears al
l the way from the front stairs,” Peony continued. “I’ll bet she tried to seduce him, too.”
“Who is this girl?” Gus asked.
Maybelle glared at him. “We are going to stop talking about Ruth! You stay away from her Gus, and Peony, I swear by all that’s holy I’ll throw you out on your behind if you don’t shut up this instant.”
Peony’s cheeks turned an alarming shade of pink and she pinched her lips shut. Clio was hard pressed not to laugh at her expression. She looked like a pink fish. Clio glanced at Ace and saw a sparkle down deep in their chocolate depths of his eyes. She imagined Peony wasn’t put down very often and there probably weren’t too many people who could do it. Clio’s respect for the gruff Maybelle grew.
“Maybelle, you are not setting a good example for this wayward girl tonight,” Peony finally sputtered.
Clio realized she was talking about her. And that Peony had called her wayward. Wayward? She was definitely not a wayward girl and was the least experienced of her sisters. She’d never even been around mortal men, even if she had spent time in a god’s bed time and again.
Ace was the first man to stir deeper feelings, despite the fact she’d spent time with Apollo and then Dionysus when he’d gotten her drunk.
But wayward? Not likely.
“Excuse me, Miss Peony, but I am not a wayward girl.”
The older woman’s eyes bored into her. “Then why did I hear tales of you coming out of the brothel in nothing but purple underclothes?”
“A brothel? I was nowhere near a brothel. It was a saloon and I fell into the horse trough.”
“And your purple underclothes? I suppose you’re going to tell me those weren’t real?”
Clio felt the stirrings of anger within her. She was not an angry muse by nature, she left that to others—most of the time. It took a great deal to stir her ire and this small-minded woman had accomplished that feat in an incredibly short period of time.
“They were not underclothes. It was a costume. I resent the implication that it was anything other than that.”
Ace glanced at her and nodded.
“Sheriff Nevada kindly found me something to dry off with and brought me to Miss Maybelle’s. Anything else you’re implying is not only untrue, but malicious.”
Peony sniffed. “Performance, hmm? Actors, no less. I should have known.”
Eunice threw down her napkin and stood. “Excuse me, Maybelle.” She left the room quietly.
Clio narrowed her eyes at the poisonous Peony. “Where I come from, I am considered royalty. In fact, my father is a king.” Oh now that was out of her mouth and she couldn’t snatch it back. Fie on the woman for provoking her.
Peony snorted. “A king? So you’re a princess?”
Clio let her temper fly since the damage was already done. She stood and put her hands on her hips. “No, I am a goddess.”
*****
He sat on the porch after supper and smoked one of his favorite cigars. The tip glowed amber in the summer night. The sound of katydids, frogs and whippoorwills echoed through the darkness. It was peaceful. His mind wandered and ended up on Clio. Again.
Goddess.
Ace shifted uncomfortably in his trousers. When she called herself a goddess she had pushed out those incredible tits right next to him. He had barely been able concentrate on how to eat, let alone remember the taste of anything at dinner—except the taste of her scent. She was scrubbed clean and smelled fresh, like soap, and woman.
No, not like a woman, like a goddess.
He had no idea where Clio had come from, but it was evident obviously she didn’t even know how to cut her own meat. Maybe she was some kind of princess, had servants or slaves or something to fix her plate for her. She was a crazy mix of innocence and sexiness that had him dangling like a catfish on a hook.
The screen door behind him opened and he felt himself harden all over again.
Without looking, he knew it was Clio even before she sat down beside him on the step. His body recognized hers, like two magnets that couldn’t stay apart. She fluffed out her skirt and smoothed the material like she was wearing a fancy getup at a ball. He chuckled and she stopped.
“Did I do something wrong again?”
“Nope, you just confuse the shit outta me lady. One minute you talk like a book, the next you act loco. Where are you really from, Clio?”
Clio laced her fingers together and rested her arms on her knees. “I told you. Mount Olympus.”
“And your father is a king?”
As she nodded he heard her braid switch up and down her back. Her hair was enough to keep him up for two weeks. Just the thought of having it wrapped around him, everywhere. Hell, he couldn’t stop a shudder from racing through him. He needed to get laid.
“Yes, he is. You see, my mother isn’t married to him—he had nine daughters with her. My sisters and I are all goddesses.”
Lord Jesus, there were eight more of her? His mind hurt trying to imagine so many of them.
“Where are they now? Your sisters, I mean?” He tried to keep his mind, and his cock, on what she was saying.
“Home I suppose. They likely don’t even know I am here in Peyote.” She sounded wistful and he heard the love in her voice for her family.
“Do you think they’re looking for you in Texas? I could put out a wire to the other sheriffs to keep their eye out for them,” he offered, figuring it was the least he could do.
“Ace! That would be wonderful! I don’t know if they are in Texas, but it would make me feel as if I was doing something to improve my situation. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Before he could stop her, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. His entire body reacted like it had been dipped in exploding dynamite. He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, her nicely-rounded derriere sitting like a delicious piece of heaven on his aching staff. Her soft curves snuggled in like they belonged there. He wrapped his arms around her and those tits pressed into his chest. Groaning low and deep in his throat, he cupped the back of her head as he flicked his tongue along her lips.
“Open for me, Clio.”
“Open what?”
He grinned. “Your mouth, darlin’. Open your mouth.”
Just as her mouth opened and Ace knew he’d get this little goddess into his bed, the door swung open behind him and Hurricane Maybelle swept out onto the porch.
Shit.
“Ace Nevada! Get your hands offa that girl!”
Ace pushed Clio off his lap back onto the step where she landed with a thump. “She kissed me, Maybelle.”
Maybelle snorted. “And I’m the Queen of England. Clio! Get yourself back in this house!”
Clio jumped up and darted into the house. He waited for the rest of it. Maybelle smacked him across the back of his head and ended his waiting.
“Leave that girl alone, Ace. She ain’t quite right in the head and she don’t need a smooth-talker like you ruffling her drawers.”
With one last smack, Maybelle went into the house behind his goddess. Ace cursed his luck. It would be a long time before he slept that night.
Chapter Four
Clio lay in bed that night and missed home. She was tired. Her body ached and her yawns nearly overtook her entire face, yet she couldn’t sleep. The bed was so different from what she was used to. Most of the time she and her sisters slept wherever they were, including on the padded benches in Mother’s garden.
This bed was a bit stifling. Not to mention the voluminous tent Maybelle made her wear, which twisted around her like a mummy’s wrap. She didn’t like it. Frustrated, Clio swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She pulled the hated nightdress off and watched it flutter to the floor.
Better. Much better. The cool night air drifted in through the open window and caressed her bare skin, making her nipples pebble.
Her thoughts turned to Ace, and how she wanted to continue what Maybelle had interrupted earlier. Clio had no idea
what she was supposed to do, but she was enjoying following his lead. He had felt so hard, so alive. She could practically feel his blood coursing through his body. His cock had been hard against her hip and she longed to explore more than just a stolen rub on the front step in the velvety darkness.
She wanted Ace. As a woman wants a man.
A woman, not a goddess. Her mortal form was becoming more appealing by the minute. Or was it perhaps just the fact she’d never touched a mortal man before? Never felt the rush of sensation at the feel of his body against hers. How warm, moist and firm his lips were, or how his whiskers gently scraped her skin.
Clio closed her eyes and thought of home. Of her family and her father. She missed them, truly she did. A part of her wanted to be home with them, but another part of her wanted to stay here and grab every moment with both hands.
It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She accepted her predicament as a blessing rather than a curse. She wanted to savor her experience as a mortal woman, not just read about it or write about it in a book. Now was her opportunity to live.
Clio walked over to the window and looked out into the night. A few lights burned here and there in the town, but for the most part it was dark. An orange glow brightened in the blackness across the street. As she watched, it moved down and then a few moments later, back up, brightening again.
It was a cigar or cigarette! Someone was standing there watching her! She knew who it was without even seeing his dark-chocolate eyes.
Ace.
Her body clenched in excitement and awareness pulsed through her, that of a woman who had power over a man. Clio stepped closer to the window and allowed him to see her, naked, in the moonlight streaming through the glass.
The orange tip burned brightly one more time before it was dropped to the ground and winked out. A shadow moved toward the boardinghouse and Clio knew a moment of uncertainty. Ace was coming to her.
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