Full Exposure. Diana Duncan

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СКАЧАТЬ moonlight burnished copper highlights in her hair and bathed her creamy skin in luminescence. Still and perfect, she stood before him a glowing alabaster sculpture—Venus rising from the sea.

      When it came to the intriguing Ariana Bennett, his body bypassed his brain. It made him crazy in more ways than one, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. His arms opened for her. “Come here, Ariana.”

      “I suppose it’s better than hypothermia,” she muttered.

      Put firmly in his place, he laughed. “The sentiment every man awaits from a woman’s lips.”

      “You weren’t supposed to hear that.” Stiff and reluctant, she lowered herself to his lap.

      He tucked her against his chest and wrapped his coat around her. She not only looked like a marble statue, she felt as cold and unyielding. He rubbed his hands over her back to generate heat. “Think warm thoughts.”

      Her slender limbs trembled and her teeth chattered. “This takes the prize for the most…friendly first date I’ve ever had.”

      “It’s survival,” he reminded himself as much as her. “It’s nothing personal.”

      Her breathing rapid, she was trembling too hard, betraying her unease with their intimacy. “From where I’m sitting, it feels…ah…enormously personal.”

      Their mutual misgivings didn’t quench the simmering attraction. He swore softly. The troops had bounced back from medical furlough to active duty. “I am a man.” With a gorgeous, nearly naked woman cuddled in his arms.

      “As if your manliness was ever in doubt.”

      “Relax, Ariana. I would never take advantage of a woman in distress.”

      “What are we going to do, Dante? We could die.”

      She was striving to be brave, and the quiver of fear in her voice tore at his heart. “I am not so easy to kill. And I won’t let you die, mia cara.” He knew some of her stiffness was due to the fact that she was hurting, but to her credit, she didn’t complain. He had no weapons, no food, no water. The only thing he could do was keep her warm and prevent her from going into shock.

      He sought a diversion. For her and himself. “Tell me a story.”

      She started. “What?”

      “You have an affinity for stories, yes? I have never had time for such things. It will take our minds off our discomfort, pass the hours until morning.”

      “Hmm…okay. I’ll tell you one of my favorites.” She inhaled. “Once upon a time, on a Greek island far, far away, a mortal princess named Psyche—which means soul—grew famous for her beauty. Have you heard this one?”

      “No.”

      “All right. Well, Psyche was kind and generous, and everyone adored her and claimed she was more exquisite than Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Even on her best day, Aphrodite was temperamental, and she grew enraged. She ordered her son Eros, the god of love, to shoot Psyche with a magical arrow and make her fall in love with a revolting monster. But Eros tumbled headlong in love with the princess and couldn’t force himself to carry out his duty.”

      She finally relaxed in his embrace, and Dante smiled. “I am all ears.”

      Ariana chuckled. “While it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, it’s deadly to mess with Aphrodite. She cursed Psyche with a spell so no man would find her appealing. Psyche’s worried parents trekked to the Oracle at Delphi, who proclaimed that the princess was destined to belong to an entity who flew through the night like a huge winged serpent. A being so powerful that even Zeus, the king of the gods, could not withstand him.

      “Psyche was smart enough to understand she’d annoyed the goddess and courageous enough to protect her family. She accepted the future the Fates had decreed. Her grieving family accompanied her to the top of the mountain where the beast would find her. Psyche couldn’t stop her tears as she hugged her parents and sisters goodbye.

      “Alone, she braced herself to die, but instead, a gentle wind lifted her up and rocked her to sleep. She awoke inside a palace. A kind male voice proclaimed her mistress of the mansion. After she’d bathed, gowns and jewels appeared, along with a sumptuous banquet.”

      “Va bene. I am beginning to see why you like this story.”

      She returned his smile and his pulse skipped a beat. “That night, when darkness enveloped the castle, the man spoke again, and said he was her new husband. Psyche couldn’t picture the compelling voice belonging to a hideous beast. His words were loving and sweet, and he treated her tenderly.

      “Unbeknownst to Psyche, Eros had secretly taken her for his bride. Because he feared Aphrodite’s wrath on his beloved, he couldn’t reveal his identity.

      “Psyche grew to deeply love her undercover husband. He promised her everything she wanted, except seeing his face. He warned her if that happened, he would be forced to leave. She assured him his appearance didn’t matter, she loved his heart. She pleaded for him to come to her in the daylight, but he sadly refused. He said the day she saw his true form, their happiness would die.”

      Dante shifted, and his abused muscles protested. Suddenly, he wasn’t liking this story so much. When Ariana hesitated, he rubbed her back. “Go on.”

      “One night, Psyche reminisced about her family. Because Eros was a god, he knew a visit would rain down doom, but surrendered to the aching loneliness in his bride’s voice.

      “When Psyche’s sisters arrived and saw the spoils, they jealously taunted her with the rumor that gullible Psyche was married to a dragon who planned to devour her. They urged her to peek at him while he slept. Psyche resisted, but finally curiosity prevailed, pushed by peer pressure. Was her husband her true love…or an evil monster? After he fell asleep beside her, Psyche lit a lamp. Instead of a deformed beast she saw the glorious beauty of the god of love…and realized he’d been protecting her from the mother-in-law from Hades.

      “Overcome by shame, contrition seared her heart. In her shock, her hands trembled and she spilled hot oil onto her lover’s shoulder. Eros startled awake and realized what she had done. He cried out in sorrow, ‘Where there is no trust, there can be no love.’ He fled, and the palace crumbled into dust, leaving Psyche alone and miserable.”

      Ariana’s voice softened, and she curled into him. “When Aphrodite learned her son had disobeyed her, she imprisoned him in a high tower. But Psyche refused to give up her one true love. Aphrodite wanted Psyche to suffer. She gave Psyche two impossible tasks with lethal consequences. Psyche was aided in the first by a colony of ants and in the second by the river naiads. What neither Psyche nor Aphrodite realized was that Eros was watching over Psyche from his prison and sending her help.

      “When Psyche succeeded, Aphrodite decided to send her son’s bride to hell…literally. Aphrodite commanded her to go to the Queen of the Underworld and capture her beauty in a box. She was warned not to open it.

      “A forlorn Psyche thought Eros had abandoned her, and resigned herself to the fact that no human could find their way back from the dark Underworld. But as she descended into Hades, a voice whispered the escape route in her ear. It was Eros, disguising his identity on the secret telepathic channel.”

      Dante’s СКАЧАТЬ