Athena's Story

Part 15: Too close for comfort?

Athena was having the time of her life. At George's instruction she had allowed her grandmother to believe she and George were an item and that weekend she was having a big party, so the hostess could not afford the two of them separate rooms.

"You either sleep with your cousin," Thalia began as if that was the dumbest thing to do, "or you bunk with that scrumptious blond man."

Of course, she opted to sleep in George's bed. Even if they didn't do anything... she would definitely enjoy it either way. The idea of waking up in his arms every morning was too much to resist by far.

When she showed up with house help carrying her bags, he raised an eyebrow. "To what do I owe the delight?"

"Grandmother insists," she said, brushing past him with a kiss on the cheek.

She waited until they were alone and getting ready for bed before saying, "She may as well think we are a couple! If she finds out we're not together, she'll start match-making on my behalf. It's a wicked skill she possesses."

"Great," George said to the ceiling as she slid into the bed. She snuggled up to him, just like the night she had the nightmare back in France. No sooner than she had, did she let out an alarmed cry.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," he said calmly. "I don't usually wear anything to sleep... it's better for my circulation."

"But that night..?"

"In Paris? I'd been chased by a car and then gone partying, kiddo. I was too tired to strip more than necessary." He grinned in the darkness.

"Oh," she said in a small voice and scooted away from him.

George almost burst out laughing. "Good night Athena."

"Night." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to imagine what he looked like without clothes. She was so aware of him in every way right now that she wondered if she'd ever get to sleep. To make it worse, he slept on his back when he wasn't on his side facing her.

So she tried sleeping on her side, this time much away from him. Sometime in the night, she rolled over and bumped into him, still on his back, and was instantly awake.

"Sorry," she whispered miserably, not even sure he was awake.

Not quite, he mumbled, "S'ok," and he wrapped a lazy arm around her, trapping her to his naked body.

Athena tried to place her hands close to her own body, not wanting to touch his naked skin. She felt his warm breath on her and realized he had gone back to sleep but not before she saw a smile on his face.

He even laughed at her in his sleep! She tried to ignore the proximity to his nude self, failed and ended scooting the lower half of her body away from George so she was sleeping diagonally across the king size bed.

When George woke up, Athena was still asleep. The sheets had slid down past his waist and he smiled.

He, being a light sleeper, had actually felt her slide herself away from him during the night. It had been all he could do to keep from laughing out loud. The smile had been bad enough as he'd heard her moan with something akin to embarrassment. But she seemed to have gravitated back to him quite strongly, he observed with amusement.

Her head was resting on his chest, her leg crossed his at the ankle, but what got him best was her hand. It was in the cradle of his thighs, just below- actually brushing- all that she'd been trying to avoid.

But it was only funny for a few moments.

As she moved against him in her sleep, her hand unconsciously caressed him. He may have had the iron-solid willpower to resist her but he was not immune to the feel of a soft warm woman touching his most intimate parts first thing in the morning.