Page 24 of Modern Romance December 2025 1-4

Another low burr, this time of a seat in recline, sent her heart from a gentle trot to Speedy Gonzales-on-steroids in a beat.

She tried to breathe, spent an age trying to concentrate on feeding herself air and not thinking of Draco lying so close to her, but the growing ache inside her made that impossible, and she wished she could live that moment of waking in his arms again, a moment she looked back on with regret for not savouring it while she had it.

He’d saved her and protected her the whole night through. No one had ever done anything like that for her before, and though she’d been drugged, there had been such a sense of safety in his arms, and she longed to feel it again almost as much as she longed for the man who’d provided that safety.

But how could it be? she despaired. How could she take from him without giving anything of herself? She’d always worn her selfishness with pride, all part of the Athena everyone loved to hate persona, but she didn’t want to be selfish with Draco. She just didn’t know how to be any other way and didn’t know how to give of herself either.

She’d thrown the duvet off, swung her feet to the floor and opened her privacy door before she could question what she was doing.

Draco’s privacy door was only a step away. Heart pounding, she took the step and lightly tapped her fingers to it.

The roaring in her ears was so loud she only just heard the low, ‘Come in.’

She pushed it open a fraction. Her heart stopped and then exploded before the rest of her senses took in the hulking bearded figure lying on the narrow bed.

She opened it some more. In the dim lighting, their eyes locked.

Without saying a word, he lifted the duvet in invitation.

Maybe if he hadn’t been wearing grey pyjama bottoms and a white T-shirt, she would have frightened herself into backing away. She would never know because hewaswearing them. And so she slipped into his private space and closed the thin door.

CHAPTER EIGHT

HAD HE WILLEDher to come to him telepathically? Draco wondered dimly. He’d chosen the space closest to Athena consciously because positioning himself further up the aisle away from her would only add a layer to the torture of this insanity he’d fallen into. Here, he was as close to her as he could be with only the thin walls of their respective privacy screens separating them. And she knew it too.

He wouldn’t go to her, not after the way she’d backed away when he’d thoughtlessly asked her to invite him into her apartment, before she’d kissed him, that sweet, sweet kiss, and delivered those enigmatic words. But he’d hoped she’d come to him. Hoped without any expectation. The spiking of her drink had made Athena vulnerable, and for him to knock on her privacy door without explicit invitation would put her in an invidious position. The first move had to come from her.

The bed was so narrow there was barely space for him on it, but, as silent as a ghost, she laid on her side and snuggled into him. His chest swelling, he covered her with the duvet and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close in a tangle of limbs.

It didn’t need saying that nothing could happen. It didn’t matter that the plane’s engine made an ambient background noise; the three closest members of his workforce were only feet away from them.

But knowing something intellectually and feeling it were two very different things, and as much as he willed his body to behave itself, he was only human and this was Athena in his arms, pressed so tightly against him, her breasts crushed against his chest, her thigh slipped between his. Her soft fragrance he was breathing in with each inhalation.

She shifted slightly and his arousal pressed into her abdomen. She sucked in a breath.

‘Ignore it,’ he commanded softly, kissing the top of her head.

Athena wrapped her arms tighter around him and sighed shakily into his throat. Though she was half-draped on top of him, it felt as if she was cocooned in Draco. So many feelings and emotions were careering through her, feelings and emotions she’d spent her life avoiding and hiding from, but here, cocooned in Draco, the fear that had always driven her had fallen silent.

The beep of his watch woke Draco from the light sleep he’d fallen into. He hadn’t expected even that, not when sharing such a tight, intimate space with the woman who’d taken over his mind and for whom desire coiled in the very essence of his being.

With a deep sigh, he stroked Athena’s back, knowing he should wake her. There was a routine to the long flights to California, sleep kept to a few hours due to the ten-hour time difference. Soon, the cabin crew would serve the human fuel needed to power them through the last three hours of the flight. When they landed it would be six in the morning in Athens but evening in California.

Knowing he should wake her and wanting to wake her were two very different things. The only thing that could improve this awakening would be if they were both naked and he could roll her over and…

He cut his thoughts off sharply. He needed the brain in his head functioning, not the brain between his legs.

Just as he was telling himself hehadto wake her, she lifted her head from his chest and smiled sleepily. ‘I should go.’

His chest tightened then swelled. Spearing his fingers through her hair, he nodded. God, she was so beautiful it hurt to look at her.

Her smile widening, she carefully levered herself up and pressed the softest of kisses to his mouth.

At the privacy wall door, she turned for one more look before slipping out with the same silent grace she’d slipped in.

As they were heading straight to the hotel from the airport, Athena donned a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a heavy bright pink poncho. She’d been to California in January before and had not liked the coolness of the weather. Greece was sunny all year round, and yes, temperatures in the winter months dipped, especially at night, but California felt much colder on her sun-loving skin. For extra weather protection, she donned a pink woolly hat and pink leather gloves before disembarking, matching it all with funky high-heeled, multi-coloured ankle boots and ignoring the amused glances exchanged between the others. If they wanted to be cold, that was their problem.

There were two cars waiting for them. One was for Draco, who had his own home near Silicon Valley, the other for his entourage. Athena, as part of this entourage, would have headed off with the others if Draco hadn’t caught her eye and beckoned her to his car.