Free Athena's Daughter by Juli Page Morgan Page A

was
filled with a happiness so intense she almost vibrated with it. The
light in the room hadn’t changed much, so she hadn’t slept that
long, but she felt as refreshed as if she’d been out for hours.
    Turning her head, she pressed her lips to the
hollow of his throat, and thrilled to the feel of his arms
tightening around her.
    “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.
    Athena shook her head. “You didn’t. I don’t
think.” A soft laugh bubbled up out of her. “Even if you did, I’m
glad.”
    “Good.” His hand smoothed her tumbled hair.
“When do you have to go back to the hostel?”
    “I don’t. I was supposed to leave London
today, so I’m not expected.”
    She heard an audible click as he swallowed.
“You’re leaving?”
    “I was. Now I’m not so sure.”
    Derek tilted her face to his, and kissed her,
hard and long. “Stay with me.”
    “Yes.” A wild, bright joy filled her. It was
what she wanted, but she hadn’t been sure he wanted it, too. “I
will.” The release of tension left her weak, and she snuggled
closer to his chest. “Derek?”
    “Mm.”
    “I want to do to you what you did to me.” She
took a deep breath and rushed on before he could say anything. “But
I’ve never done it, so you might have to…to tell me how.”
    “Well.” Despite the note of excitement in his
voice, she sensed hesitation. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you much
since I’ve never had anyone do that for me before.”
    Her eyes stuttered to his, surprised. “You
haven’t?”
    “No.” One side of his mouth quirked up. “I
told you I haven’t done this very much. In fact…” A wash of color
stained his cheeks. “When I did it to you it was the first time
I’ve done it. I think it was okay, though, right?”
    “Oh, my God, Derek. It was more than okay.”
She shook her head in wonder. “It was out of this world great.”
    A pleased expression lit his face. “And
whatever you do to me will be out of this world great, too.” His
smile widened into a grin. “I think we’re both going to enjoy the
hell out of learning to please each other.”
    Athena rose over him and pinned his shoulders
to the bed. “Then let’s get started.”
     
     
     

CHAPTER EIGHT

    Memphis, April 5, 1975
     
    Maneuvering through Memphis rush hour traffic
was tricky enough, but doing it while overwhelmed by a mix of
confusion and anger was just asking for trouble. Hands gripping the
steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white, Athena tried to
keep her mind focused on avoiding idiot drivers so she could make
it in one piece to Andi’s house. It was insanity to drive down
Poplar Avenue at five o’clock on a Saturday, but it was the most
direct route to Germantown, and despite the traffic and the four
hundred thousand stoplights, it was also the quickest. Besides,
Athena knew that in her present state of mind if she attempted to
negotiate any of the side streets that would get her to her
destination, she’d end up in Mississippi with no idea how she’d
gotten there, and there wasn’t enough gas in the car for such an
excursion.
    On the radio Elton John cheerfully sang about
“Philadelphia Freedom,” and a tiny part of Athena’s brain not
occupied with either avoiding a wreck or indecent proposals from
rock bands piped up to remind her that she needed to order more
copies of the single on Monday since it had just moved up to #2 on
the Billboard charts. It was shaping up to be a good little summer
tune, and it would be bad business to run out of copies. Even
though Athena didn’t care much for the song, at least it wasn’t
close to being as bad as the whole DeFranco Family fascination that
had swept the country two years ago.
    Of course, if she took Simon up on his offer,
she wouldn’t be at work on Monday to order anything. She shook her
head. She wasn’t really considering going off with Wolf for a
month, was she? Damn Rondall for interfering and messing with her
mind!
    After stomping away from Simon