COUNTERPOINT
An original romantic serialFrom Alina Adams the author of "When a Man Loves a Woman" (DELL 4/00), "Annie's Wild Ride" (AVON 8/98), "Inside Figure Skating" (METROBOOKS 11/00 & 9/99), "Thieves at Heart" (AVON 12/95) and "The Fictitious Marquis" (AVON 6/95)
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CHAPTER SIX
Swaying lightly to the beat of the music, Victoria repeated, "Now that it's over, don't you think I deserve to be told what I was gambling with back there? The Kidnaping of Persephone, and all that?"
Robin smiled, twirling Victoria under one arm before catching her solidly against his chest, and, just as swiftly, twirling her in the other direction. His regulation was so masterful, Victoria couldn't have fought or resisted him even if she wanted to.
"The Kidnaping of Persephone." Robin's voice was soft and nearly hypnotic, blending in with the music and seeping inside her bloodstream like steam heat. "It's a myth about Hades conquering his eternal consort. He kidnaped her from a field where she was picking flowers. Just came riding up one day on his carriage, and swept her away. The Earth opened, and Hades sucked Persephone deep into his underworld, forcing her to serve by his side, a Mistress of lost souls for all of eternity."
Victoria swallowed hard. The top of her head barely reached Robin's shoulder, and so, in order to hear him, she had to tilt her face upwards, gazing deeply into Robin's eyes as he spun both his tale, and her body, across the dance-floor.
"How -- how did she, Persephone, feel about just being snatched like that?"
"She wasn't thrilled," he conceded. "But the one who really wasn't thrilled, was Persephone's mother, the Goddess Demeter. She demonstrated her less than thrilled state by causing all the plants on Earth to die while Persephone was held against her will."
It was starting to come back to Victoria. High-school English class. "That's the part about the seasons, right?"
"Precisely. Hades and Demeter compromised. Persephone would split her time between the underworld and the surface -- sort of a Greek God joint-custody arrangement. When Persephone is home, the Earth blooms. And, when she's back with Hades, the Earth dries up and wilts, mourning its lost daughter."
She could feel Robin's heart pulsating against their conjoined palms. It echoed through her, enticing Victoria's heart to beat in identical rhythm.
"I -- Persephone, do you think she was okay with the deal?"
"Frankly?" Robin's hand slid from Victoria's shoulder until he was caressing her back. Every nerve along her spine snapped to attention, straining towards the warmth of his fingers. "I believe Persephone eventually embraced her destiny. It is, after all, very easy to be seduced by the dark side."
He wasn't kidding.
As they spoke, Robin's face inched nearer and nearer to hers, his head dipping lower and lower. Their respiration synchronized. They breathed the same air. She couldn't look away. She couldn't move. Victoria couldn't do anything save follow where Robin led, so that, by the time his mouth at long last found hers, their kiss tasted not only inevitable, but long overdue.
It felt so natural, almost an extension of their dance, where Robin could sweep Victoria up to unimaginable heights, bring her to the precipice and let her enjoy the danger secure in the knowledge that, in the end, he would bring her safely back. She returned his kiss unquestioningly, as if she'd been planning to from the moment they first met. His lips were warm, soft, a stark contrast to the firm grip of his hands on her back as they crushed her ever closer to him. Her own hands slipped to his shoulders, then up his neck, and finally, the sides of his face, stroking the smooth skin below both his ears with the tips of her fingers. She opened her lips to his tongue in response to Robin's deft, insistent probing, knowing that any resistance on her part would be futile, and, also knowing that she certainly had no interest in putting up even a semblance of struggle. Her body had never responded so eagerly, so freely to a man's touch, and, no matter the consequences, she didn't possess enough strength of will to bring her pleasure to a halt.
And yet, eventually, she knew that it was up to her to break their embrace. For one thing, they were standing in the middle of a crowd, a crowd that included not only Douglas and Gabriel but a few hundred others who would be most amused by the sight of Cooper Shipping's heir in lip-lock with one of his father's less important employees. For another, no matter how sweetly her body shuddered from the merest brush of Robin's hand against her cheek, the more rational part of Victoria's mind still couldn't shake the suspicion that his attentions to her were based on a single factor -- Robin's reluctance to forfeit their earlier bet. After all, hadn't he told her, "I still intend to collect my prize. One way or another."
"No, Robin. Stop." She gathered every ounce of her available mettle to push him away to arm's length, struggling to stare any-where but at Robin's lips, stained slightly with the remnants of her coral lipstick. "Please. That's enough."
Amusement flared inside his bewitching hazel eyes. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a monogrammed handkerchief, and dabbed at his lips, refolding the linen neatly before returning it inside his dinner-jacket. "Is something wrong, Miss Morgan?"
She didn't trust her voice to articulate anything resembling a complete sentence, and so just settled for a croaked, "Actually, I -- yes. Something is."
"Really?" He took no offense. Merely curiosity. "I assure you, I've never had a complaint before."
"Well, I -- "
"What seems to be the problem?"
She didn't know where to begin. Robin had chased every semi-coherent thought out of her head, and the best Victoria could do in her attempt to articulate the maelstrom of emotions surging through her, was to seize upon her most concrete, indisputable objection.
She told him, "Sorry, Robin, but married men aren't my style."