Her Greek Doctor's Proposal (13 page)

“Thank God.” Her stiff posture seemed to relax just a little and she dropped her head to his chest, wrapping her arms loosely around his back. “I have to tell everyone he’s worse. I have to give them a choice about whether they want to work at the site anymore. I still can’t imagine
they got sick from the dig, for all the reasons we’ve talked about. But who knows?”

“Wouldn’t it end your stress to just shut it down, like I said before? Let your people go on home? You wouldn’t have to worry about someone else getting ill or the media badgering you.”

“I can’t this second. Have to think. I don’t expect you to understand.”

No, he didn’t understand, but now wasn’t the time to get on at her about it. Not when she was feeling so upset and anxious. “I’ll come talk to your crew with you. Explain his condition and answer any more questions they might have.”

“Thank you. I’d…I’d appreciate that.”

She slipped from his hold in what seemed like slow motion, as though it was a supreme effort. He was glad she didn’t feel she had to shoulder the entire burden of talking to everyone about John’s health.

They walked back to the hotel, silent but for the sounds of their feet on the pavement, the breeze rustling leaves in the trees, the mewls from hidden cats. The hotel seemed equally silent, and Laurel led him through a few cavernous rooms toward a door that led to a deck. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, it was obvious even in the low light that the deck was empty.

“When I left awhile ago, they were all back here.” She nudged open the door, and he followed
her outside. The deck spanned the distance along the entire back of the hotel, but the only visible people were a couple in an embrace at the far end.

“Maybe they went to a bar. Or to bed, since I told them we’d be getting an early start.”

“You want me to come back in the morning to talk with them then?”

“That’s sweet of you, but no.” She shook her head. “It’s part of my job, though if he’s any better in the morning, I’d really appreciate it if you tell me early.”

“I admire that you’re serious about your job and your responsibilities. Taking care of your sisters.” He reached for her, stroked his hands up and down her soft arms. Soft, yet strong, just like her. “You step up to any task forced on you, no matter how difficult.”

“Doesn’t everybody?”

“No.” Quite a few had doubted he could step up when he’d found out about Cassie. “You have a lot to be proud of, Laurel.”

The eyes that lifted to his were somber. “Not enough. Not yet.”

He wondered what she meant, but when he opened his mouth to ask, got sidetracked completely when she suddenly twined her arms around his neck, pressed her soft curves against him. Pressed her sweet mouth to his.

Her lips plied his, gentle yet insistent. A controlled kiss, but with a slight desperation to it he knew came from her fears for the Wagners, the stress of the dig, the worry of John’s worsening illness. Of her parents’ deaths just a mile from where they stood. He could sense all of it, feel all of it, as though their hearts and minds had melded together along with their lips, and he hurt for her. Wanted to erase some of that hurt as best he could.

He let his hands roam down her back, to the curve of her waist, found them sliding farther south to grasp the round, firm globes of her rear, pressing her against his hardness. He’d wanted to touch her like this, hold her like this, every time they’d been near to one another, every time they’d kissed. The feel of her was everything he’d known it would be, and it was all he could do to not let his hands explore more of her. Tug the straps of her dress down her arms to cup the small mounds beneath, learn their sweet shape. Help her forget anything but this moment.

Her fingers slid to the sides of his neck, into his hair, making him shiver, sending his pulse ratcheting even higher. He knew he had to get control of himself before he lowered her into one of the deck chairs and made love to her right there under the stars.

It took Herculean effort to pull his mouth from
hers and suck in a deep breath. “Don’t think either of us wants to be caught out here by your dig crew or, God forbid, somebody working at this hotel who lives in Kastorini. Or, best of all, media types back for another interview and photo op.” And wasn’t that a hell of an understatement?

“Then let’s go to my room.”

His heart jolted hard at her words at the same time every muscle in his body tightened, ready to grab her hand and head there at a dead run. “Laurel. I want you. Which I’m sure you know. But not when you’re hurting. Not when you might regret it tomorrow.”

“I won’t regret it. Just tonight. Just this once.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I can’t let myself be distracted from what has to get done at the dig. But right this minute I don’t want to think, I just want to feel. Not feel alone, but feel good. With you. Which, if I’m honest, I’ve wanted to do since we first met.”

“Laurel.” His hands tightened on her behind, which pressed her pelvis tighter against him. He nearly groaned. All he wanted was to make her feel good. But would he be taking advantage of a weak moment? The same way he’d often thoughtlessly done, not all that long ago?

“Andros.” There was a flicker of slightly amused impatience in her eyes when she said his name in return. Her hands slipped to his chest
as she took a half step back. “I’m not a wilting violet you need to look out for or worry about, if that’s the problem. I’m strong, and I’ve been on my own a long time now. You have about five seconds to say, ‘yes, that sounds great’ or ‘no, thanks.’ So which is it?”

A surprised chuckle escaped him. The woman standing in front of him definitely wasn’t a needy, weepy, sad soul. She was fire and light, toughness and softness, and he was the luckiest man alive that she wanted to be with him tonight.

“Yes, that sounds great.”

Her response was to grasp his hand and tug him along behind her through the foyer, up three flights of stairs and into a tiny room. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, wanting to give her one more chance to change her mind. One more moment to decide if this was really what she wanted tonight.

When she turned to him, the desire that shone in her eyes reflected his own. He took a deliberate step toward her, keeping it slow and easy, giving her just a little more time. A little more space.

“Something about the way you’re moving toward me reminds me of a lion on the hunt,” she said, taking an equally slow step as the gap between them closed from four feet to three.

“And something about the way you’re moving makes me think of a siren. Sending me out of my
mind. Making me crazy. Which has occurred to me more than once, by the way.”

“Has it?” Another step brought her close enough to touch. Her fingers reached for his shirt buttons, began flicking them open one by one, and his heart thudded thickly in his chest in response. “I never thought of being a siren, until I met you. What if I confessed that, the moment I saw you on the mountain, you made me think of a warrior god? Maybe even Apollo himself.”

His laugh morphed into a low moan as her hands slid across his skin to spread open his shirt, her fingertips caressing his nipples. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think I have much in common with Apollo.”

“Are you sure? I can think of several things.”

If his self-discipline hadn’t already disintegrated, it would have at the way she was looking at him, smiling at him, touching him. “Such as? I’m not musical, never shot an arrow in my life and can’t claim to be a prophet.”

His stomach muscles hardened, along with notable other parts of his body, when her hands tracked down his skin to unbutton his pants. “You’re a healer, right? Not to mention you seem to create heat and light whenever I’m around you. And as for physical beauty, you—”

“Okay, enough of this torture.” He swept her hands aside, lifting his fingers to the thin straps of her dress. “Part of me wants to let you keep going, so I won’t have to wonder if I’m taking advantage of you. But that concern is dwarfed by wanting to give you what you asked for.” He slipped the straps down her arms. “Which is to just feel.”

“Believe me, touching your skin is a good way for me to just feel.”

“I have a better way. And can’t wait another second to see
your
physical beauty, which I’ve fantasized about for days.” He reached behind her, unzipped her dress. Slid it down the length of her body until it pooled at her feet, and he could see her luminous skin. He smiled at the paleness of her belly compared to her tanned arms and legs. Swept his fingertips across her stomach and over her white bra, lingering at her hardened nipples. “I like your archaeologist’s version of a farmer’s tan.”

She gave a breathless laugh. “No time to sunbathe at the pool. Sorry.”

“I love it. It’s just like you. A woman of contrasts, all light and dark.” He kissed her throat, moved his tongue down her delicate collarbone. “Soft.” He slowly moved down over her bra to take that tempting nipple into his mouth through the fabric. “And hard.”

Her hands grasped his head again, holding him against her. He reveled in the little gasping sounds she made as he moved from one breast to the other, dropping to his knees to softly suck on her belly. The scent of her arousal surrounded him, so delicious he groaned as he pressed his mouth over the silky fabric covering her mound, moistening it even more.

“Come back…up here.” Her voice was a little hoarse as she grasped his arms, tugging.

He wanted to stay exactly where he was for a while longer, but he was here to make her feel good. Do what pleased her, what made her happy. He stood and flicked off her bra, thumbed her panties down her legs at the same time she shoved his pants to his ankles. Kicking them off along with his shoes, he took her into his arms and kissed her, backing her toward the bed.

He broke the kiss to flick back the covers. When he looked at her, standing there gloriously naked, he realized there was one more thing he needed to see. He reached around to her ponytail, gently tugging at the elastic band there. “I want to see your hair down. I want to see it spread over you, feel it touching my skin.”

A sensuous smile curved her lips and she reached behind to pull off the band, dragging her fingers through her hair as she brought it
over her shoulders to cover her breasts, her pink nipples peeking out of the silken strands.

He touched its softness, stroking from her ears down over her breasts, and could barely speak at how beautiful she was. “I’ve wondered how you’d look. It’s better than any of my fantasies. Just like etchings of beautiful sirens rendering men helpless with one glance.”

“I hope you’re not helpless.” She reached for him, and he picked her up to lay her on the bed. Touched her and kissed her, wanting to give her the pleasure she deserved.

The little sounds she made nearly drove him wild, and he lay on top of her to feel all of her skin against all of his. Then suddenly froze in horror.

“I don’t have a condom.”
Damn it to hell.
“But I can still make you feel good.”

“Well, I, um, I bought some recently. Just in case, you know?” She looked at him with an adorably embarrassed expression before leaning over to rummage in her purse, handing him one. A breath of relief whooshed from his lungs.

“Smart, beautiful, responsible and even resourceful. A woman a man can only dream of.” He took care of the condom as fast as possible, because he couldn’t wait another second to join with her, holding her close, slipping inside her moist heat with a groan.

They moved together, their eyes locked, and the universe narrowed to that one moment, skin to skin, breath to breath, soul to soul. Seeing her lying there, her beautiful hair billowing all across the pillow, his name on her lips, sent him over the edge. Watching her eyes, darkened with bliss, hearing and seeing her fall with him, was a moment he knew he wouldn’t forget if he lived a thousand years.

* * *

Laurel stared at the pastel pink-and-blue sky, the morning sun still low over the mountains beyond their Delphi hotel. How was it possible to have so many different balls of emotions rolling all around in her stomach at the same time?

Last night, she and Andros had been lying bonelessly sated and content, skin to skin and heart to heart, when his phone had rung. A call that had obliterated every ounce of pleasure, delivering the shocking, unbelievable news that John had passed away.

Her throat and eyes filled with tears as that terrible tragedy, that horrible reality, took precedence over everything. When she’d called a late meeting to somehow tell everyone about his tragic death, the horror on their faces had been every bit as intense as her own.

Those other balls rolling around were from grief and fear. Worry and anxiety. John’s death
likely wasn’t connected to the dig, but it was still a terrible, heavy loss. A loss that added to her determination to finish what she’d come here to do. Finish the work her parents had died for. And now John too.

She swallowed hard at the sickly churning in her stomach as she waited for the dig crew to show up again. She’d asked them to meet with her again after breakfast to give them options. A breakfast she hadn’t joined them for, since she doubted she could get one bite of food down anyway.

John. Dead. How was it possible? She still couldn’t wrap her brain around it.

And was that going to be Mel and Tom’s fate as well? “No,” she said out loud, fiercely. Willing it to be true. Praying for it. Andros had promised her they would be fine.

Somehow, the thought calmed her stomach and helped her breathe slightly easier.

“Laurel. Are Mel and Tom…still okay?”

She looked up to see Becka hobble into the room on her crutches, looking pale and upset. Worried. As they all did, now filing quietly behind her to lower themselves into the mismatched crowd of overstuffed chairs and sofas, their faded fabrics showing varying degrees of wear.

“Yes, they’re okay. Apparently anyway. Dr. Galanos told me they’ll likely be released soon,
which would be wonderful. I…I need to talk to them, find out what their plans are.” Did their plans include coming back to the dig? Or going home? Certainly, after what they’d been through, no one could blame them for doing exactly that.