Venus in Love

by Tina Michele

  When Lee got to the apartment, she got out her phone and turned it on. She hadn’t turned it back on when she got off the plane. The voicemail light was blinking, but she would check it later. It was three thirty a.m., and she preferred not to stand on the street all night. She had another key, but she didn’t want to let herself in and scare Morgan to death. She called Morgan.

  “Hey. Is everything all right?” Morgan answered through a sleepy haze.

  “Hey. You get in okay?”

  “I did. I called but got your voicemail. I just wanted to say—”

  “Oh. I haven’t had any reception all day. I just saw the voicemail popup so I didn’t check it yet.”

  “Oh. Well, it’s nothing. Just letting you know that I got here. That’s all.”

  “Okay. So, how do you like the flat? Do you have everything you need?”

  “It’s beautiful, Lee. No wonder you love coming here. I think it’s got everything. Well, except one thing.”

  “What’s that? I’ll call Marguerite in the morning.”

  “You.”

  “I…oh.” Lee’s heart fluttered in her chest. Morgan did want her there. “ Well, I…I don’t think Marguerite can help with that, unfortunately.” Lee knew this was her opportunity. “Where are you?”

  “In bed.”.

  “Oh. My. Well, do me a favor. Go to the living room.”

  “Okay. What for?”

  “Tell me when you get there.”

  “I’m here.”

  “The front windows, the ones that face the museum. Go to them.”

  “What? I can’t.”

  “Why?” Lee wondered.

  “Well, I’m sort of…I’m sort of naked.”

  Lee was awestruck. The thought of Morgan sleeping naked in her bed made Lee’s pulse quicken. “It’s three thirty in the morning here. Nobody will see you.”

  “Yes they wi—what did you say?”

  “Go to the window. And look down to the street.”

  “No way…” Morgan appeared in the window as she screamed in the phone. “Oh my God, you’re here! What are you doing here? Hello?”

  Lee hung up and let herself in. She willed the elevator to move faster, but it refused. She hardly waited for the doors to open before sprinting down the hall to her apartment door. As soon as she reached for the knob, the door flew open and Morgan grabbed her by the jacket and pulled her in.

  Lee stumbled over the threshold and kicked her heel back to shut the door behind her. Morgan wrapped her arms around Lee’s neck and planted hungry kisses up her neck and over her jaw to her mouth. Lee stroked her hands down Morgan’s back down to her bare ass and squeezed, pulling Morgan hard into her body. She pulled her head back. “Morgan, wait…” Lee tried to curb her desire for the beautiful, eager, and completely naked Morgan in her arms.

  Morgan tightened her finger into the hair on Lee’s nape. “No, I need you now.”

  “I know, sweetie. You have no idea, but, not here…” Lee said through her quick breaths and Morgan’s urgent kisses. Resisting the urge to take Morgan on the floor in the foyer, she firmly grasped Morgan’s shoulders and pushed her away. Morgan growled like an angry cat and Lee laughed. Lee swept her eyes down the length of the smooth and bare body in front of her. “God, you’re beautiful,” she said as she ran her hands along the arms that were hanging loosely around her neck. Lee pulled Morgan’s down between them and stepped back to get a better look. “So beautiful.”

  “If you don’t stop looking at me like that I’m going to come before you ever touch me,” Morgan said as she inched closer and rubbed her warm center over Lee’s jean clad thigh.

  “I can feel how ready you are right now.” Lee added pressure by pressing her thigh into the heat.

  “And that, mmm, is not helping,” Morgan said breathlessly.

  “It’s not?” Lee asked as she surrendered to her own pulsing need. She put her hands on Morgan’s hips and pulled her back in. Lee slipped her hand down to Morgan’s thigh and inside to where their bodies connected. Slowly, she rubbed her thumb over Morgan’s engorged clitoris, and Morgan’s head snapped back. She looked at Lee with fire in her eyes. “How about now?” Lee whispered.

  “Oh my God…don’t…stop…please,” Morgan begged.

  But Lee did stop. “Not here.” Again, she was straining to sound confident in her decision.

  Morgan grinned and stepped back, the lust in her eyes melting Lee’s body and soul. “Really? How about here?” she said as she slid a hand down her bare belly and took another step back. “Or here?” Her hand sliding lower still. “Mmmm…” she moaned.

  Lee watched, torn between watching just how far Morgan would go or replacing her hands with Lee’s own. Her eyes focused on how close Morgan’s fingers were to the place Lee wanted her mouth.

  Morgan had now backed up to the back of the sofa and rested her hips against it. “No. Here.” She slipped her hand between her legs and stroked herself. “Oh yeah, right here.”

  Lee’s legs wobbled and her mouth watered. “There is perfect,” she said as she quickly moved toward Morgan and dropped to her knees in front of her. With one hand, she removed the one Morgan had swirling between her legs. With the other, Lee pressed the inside of Morgan’s thigh, opening her for a quick stroke from Lee’s tongue. They both groaned at the touch, and Morgan leaned back offering herself freely to Lee’s kisses.

  Lee lifted Morgan’s legs to rest on her shoulders, not stopping her mouth or her tongue from dipping in and out of Morgan’s sweet ridges, making sure now to avoid Morgan’s hard trigger. Morgan weaved her fingers into Lee’s hair and writhed against Lee’s mouth. “Holy shi—oh—I’m going to—please make me come!”

  Lee grabbed Morgan’s hips and took all of her into her warm mouth, flicking her tongue over Morgan’s clitoris. As Lee sucked her hard into her mouth, she slipped two fingers deep into Morgan and pulsed them in rhythm with her dancing tongue. Morgan shook and tightened around Lee’s hand and screamed as Lee pulled the orgasm from Morgan, coating her face and mouth with sweet pleasure.

  Lee stood and took Morgan into her arms so she didn’t fall off the back of the couch. “You taste like heaven.”

  Morgan moaned into Lee’s neck.

  *

  Morgan held on to Lee as her body recovered, but as Lee stroked her back, Morgan found herself wanting more. She fingered the buttons on the front of Lee’s shirt. She wanted Lee to be as naked as she was. Morgan flicked the fastenings open slowly, exposing a strip of bare flesh. Morgan skimmed her soft fingers over the exposed curve of Lee’s breasts causing Lee to moan softly. Encouraged by the sound, Morgan slipped her hand between the shirt and hot skin and rolled a hard nipple between her finger and thumb. As Morgan continued to tease one nipple, she took the other into her mouth, flicking it with her tongue until it too hardened into a tight tip.

  “Oh God…” Lee hissed.

  As Morgan slid her hands up to Lee’s shoulders to slip off the offending shirt, Lee stopped her.

  “What now?” Morgan asked as she looked into Lee’s dark eyes filled with longing. “I want you now.”

  Lee only smiled as she pulled Morgan into her arms. Their lips brushed, so close. “Not here I said.” Lee drew Morgan off the couch, grabbed her hand, and led her swiftly to the bedroom. “Here,” Lee said when they stopped in the middle of the room.

  “Well, why didn’t you just say so?” Morgan smiled and reached up to remove Lee’s shirt.

  “After I take a shower.” Lee laughed as she moved quickly into the bathroom.

  “Are you kidding me?” Morgan growled as she followed Lee.

  Morgan stopped in the doorway with her hands on her hips. She might have been irritated if she couldn’t see the desire in Lee’s eyes as she slowly undressed herself in front of Morgan. Morgan’s eyes devoured every inch of Lee’s bare flesh as she watched her slip off her shirt and then leisurely unbutton and unzip her jeans. Morgan shivered with anticipation as Lee bent over and out of her pants
. She couldn’t take it anymore, and before Lee was completely upright, Morgan was in front of her, grabbing her face and kissing her fiercely. Morgan needed to feel her and now. Continuing the kiss, she thrust her hand between Lee’s legs, finding her slick and ready. “You are so wet.”

  “And about to get wetter.” With a smile, she reached back and turned on the shower, grabbed Morgan, and stepped into the steaming spray.

  Morgan didn’t think she could get hotter, but between the water sluicing off her skin and Lee nipping at her neck, she did. Morgan’s hand found Lee again, still wet and still ready. She rubbed the pad of her finger over Lee’s clitoris and felt Lee tremble. Too soon, she didn’t need Lee to explode just yet. She ran the palm of her hand over Lee’s soft ripples, teasing her with her fingers, moving, massaging, and manipulating the smooth, slick skin.

  “Inside me…I need you inside me,” Lee pleaded.

  Morgan kissed Lee’s swollen lips and smiled. “Here?”

  Lee rumbled, clearly not expecting to have her own words used against her. “God. Yes. Here.”

  “Or…here?” Morgan said just as she thrust two long fingers into Lee, drawing a deep moan of pleasure from both of them.

  “Oh God, right there. Shit. Don’t stop.”

  “I won’t. Not until you come for me. In my hand.” Morgan moved in and out of Lee. When she added the pressure of her thumb to Lee’s firm point, Lee gasped and tightened instantly around Morgan’s hand. Her whole body jolted as she cried out Morgan’s name. Morgan wrapped her arms around Lee as the last of her tremors subsided.

  “Now, let’s get you washed up,” Morgan said as she reached for the body wash and loofah.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Lee woke around seven a.m. to the light rhythmic breathing of a very gorgeous and still very naked Morgan wrapped in her arms. They’d teased and touched each other until the sun began to peek over the horizon, and they fell asleep satisfied in each other’s embrace. Lee stroked Morgan’s back as she felt her stirring.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” Lee said when she looked back at the bright eyes staring back at her.

  “Mmm. Good morning to you.”

  The sexy purr from Morgan caused a warming sensation to spread low in Lee’s belly.

  “What time do you need to be there?”

  “Ten. I was worried I wasn’t going to get enough sleep to be coherent. Turns out I was right.” Morgan began outlining small circles with her fingers across Lee’s bare stomach.

  “Hmmm, well, if we don’t get up you will be late.” Lee watched Morgan’s fingers circle lower on her belly.

  “I know, but there’s a little time for this.” Morgan said innocently as she moved down to lick one of Lee’s nipples at the same time she slid her hand between Lee’s legs.

  Lee sucked in a breath. “Oh!”

  *

  Thirty minutes later, Morgan finally made it to the shower and refused to let Lee come with her for fear that she would never make it to her meeting. When Morgan got out, she smelled coffee and bacon, and her stomach started growling. The sight in the kitchen brought her to a screeching halt. Lee was in low-riding pajama pants with a skintight, white tank top that was too thin to be considered appropriate and did little to hide Lee’s perfectly pink and perky nipples. Morgan’s stomach fluttered, and she must have made a noise because just then Lee looked up.

  “Is that look for me or the bacon, because one or the other is going to get attacked and I need to be prepared.” Lee grinned.

  Morgan made her way to the kitchen. “Well, you better be glad I’m starving and have a meeting in forty-five minutes.”

  “No part of that sentence makes me glad.” Lee laughed as she took Morgan into her arms and kissed her sweetly.

  “Are you going to the museum today?” Morgan asked as she snuck a piece of bacon from the plate and popped it into her mouth.

  “Maybe. But I was thinking about checking out the auction later. I could meet you there after your meeting.” Lee watched Morgan’s mouth as she chewed and then licked her lips.

  “I would like that. And then, after I get my Veronese, we can come back here and…” Morgan wagged her eyebrows.

  “Now you’re talking.”

  “Okay.” Morgan twisted from Lee’s embrace. “If I stay here, I will most definitely miss my meeting. Stay. Over there.” Morgan stepped behind the island. “I’m not sure what time. But I will call you as soon as I’m done. Now eat.” Lee raised her eyebrows at her. “Your breakfast.” Morgan laughed.

  *

  Morgan was in a fantastic mood, and as the cab pulled up in front of the Christie’s auction house, that feeling doubled. In spite of the reason why she had made the last-minute trip, she was thrilled to finally see Veronese’s Venus Disarming Cupid. Madam Dautry greeted her with a wide smile as she climbed out of the car onto the sidewalk. Christie’s Paris was housed in a 1913 mansion built by Rene Sergent, and surrounded by some of Paris’s most prestigious art galleries and museums. Like most of the city, Avenue Matignon in the Eighth Arrondissement was a beautiful and historical gem.

  “Madam Dautry, I cannot thank you enough for this,” Morgan said as the two of them made their way inside.

  “It is my pleasure. I know how much this piece means to you and your collection.”

  Morgan stood quietly as Adele greeted the auctioneer, Monsieur Bateaux, with French pleasantries. She was so very grateful that Madam Dautry had gone through such great lengths to help her with this. Had she not had such an influential connection in the Paris art scene, the entire acquisition would have been destroyed by Rita’s oversight. Although, Morgan felt there was a more sinister and underhanded explanation behind the mistake. She followed along as he led them into the showroom.

  Hundreds of master works lined the walls in their gilded frames. Brilliant renaissance paintings, tapestries, and sculptures glowed under the lights of the gallery. It was an exquisite exhibition of some of the world’s most splendid twelfth century artwork. And all of it was up for sale. Morgan could only dream of having an endless budget to spend on the masterpieces available to anyone in the world. But she was here for one piece, the one that would be the crowing pinnacle of her debut exhibition. Her heart raced at the excitement of seeing it for the first time. She tried to maintain her composure as they approached the extraordinary work of art.

  Morgan was mesmerized. The painting was more beautiful than she had even imagined. Its ethereal softness drew her in closer. Venus’s golden hair and luscious skin stood out in stark contrast to the dark green fabric behind her. The deep rich colors throughout evoked a full and sensual awareness within Morgan. Even as she playfully struggled with her son, Cupid, Venus’s sexuality was at the forefront of Veronese’s interpretation, and his intent was not lost on Morgan.

  When Morgan could draw her eyes away from the masterpiece, she looked at Adele. “I need this piece.”

  Adele laughed at Morgan’s declaration. “The auction begins at noon, my dear. That’s your chance.”

  Morgan could have stood for another hour and a half and stared at each detail and brushstroke. Her connection to the piece was deep and instantaneous. She vowed to herself that she would not leave Paris without it. Reluctantly, Morgan allowed Monsieur Bateaux and Adele to lead her away from the Venus and through the gallery to view the other works. She thought that if she had enough funding left over after winning the Veronese it might be possible to come home with a few extras, within reason of course.

  Morgan thumbed through the full color booklet of the available lots. Venus was Lot Number 230 with an opening threshold bid of one point three million. The idea of spending that amount of money on a single piece nearly gave her heart palpitations. Yet, Adele had warned her not to expect paying anything less than five million for it. Morgan was allotted eleven by the board, and she would spend every last dime of it to call that painting hers. Well, the Dencourt’s.

  *

  Morgan waited for Lee in the lobby as she
watched hundreds of people flood in. When she spotted Lee through the crowd, her heart leapt. She was already anxiously on edge about the auction, and she hoped Lee would be able to talk her down. Instead, her heart increased its pace when Lee smiled at her.

  Lee stopped in front of her, and Morgan smiled nervously. “Are you okay?” Lee asked.

  “Yeah. I’m fine. I just really want that painting.”

  “I guess the preview went well then?”

  “Oh my God, Lee. It is extraordinary! I have worked with some of the world’s most beautiful art, but I have never seen something that I connected to so instantly.”

  “Then we won’t leave here without it.”

  “Well, that’s as long as it doesn’t go over eleven million.” The idea of someone swooping in with an exorbitant bid scared Morgan.

  “No worries. Four to five mill, max. You’ve got this in the bag.” Lee smiled, and a small bit of relief settled over her.

  Morgan and Lee checked in and received their updated salesroom notice and auction paddles. She was grateful that they had several lots to go before they got to the one she came for, because she had never even been to an auction before. She kept that secret even from Lee. They were ushered into a large auditorium, and Morgan’s heart stopped. “Oh my God.” Morgan barely said the words out loud. There were hundreds of people milling about and chatting. The thrum of the room reverberated in her ears but did little to drown out sound of her pulse rushing in her ears. She stopped cold.

  Lee put her hand on Morgan’s back. “It’s fine. Not everyone is here to bid. It’s a social event, the who’s who of pretentious art collectors and socialites.”

  Morgan let Lee guide her across the room to a pair of open seats. She looked around the room at the men and women who chuckled and greeted each other with pompous smiles and kisses. It was a side of the art world Morgan had never seen before, but one she had to at least pretend she was comfortable in.