I slipped a hand around her waist, suddenly needing her close, then tipped her chin up so she was looking at me. Without her heels, she was at least a foot shorter than me. So small. But clearly, so strong, in body and mind.
“I see you, Ariadne,” I told her.
I bent down to kiss her, but before I could, she spoke again. “Why do you call me that?”
I straightened. “What?”
She slipped out of my grasp. “Ariadne. Why do you call me that?”
I frowned. “I thought you knew.”
I looked around until I found the bookshelf I’d spotted earlier that carried her Greek and Roman collection—all the famous works I’d read myself in Classics courses, plus many more that I hadn’t heard of. No surprise there. She was supposed to be a professor herself, wasn’t she?
I found the book I was looking for, then plucked it off and flipped to the section I was looking for.
“‘Bassarids, shake not your tambours, let there be no sound of pipes or feet. Let Cypris rest.’” I looked up. “Recognize that?”
Laney rolled her eyes as she leaned against one of the windows next to a large snake plant. “Are you really asking if I’m familiar with one of the most famous Greek myths of all time?”
“No, I’m asking if you remember what’s happening in this specific passage, Professor.” I cocked my head, waiting. I was toying with her, sure. Being more than a little condescending.
But like any good professor, Laney couldn’t help but jump in and lecture.
“Of course I do. That’s from Dionysiaca by Nonnus of Panopolis. Not my favorite translation, but it will do. It’s the moment when Dionysus discovers Ariadne asleep on the beach at Naxos after she’s been abandoned there by Theseus, her betrothed.” She tipped her head. “Iwasn’t asleep in the Naxos you found me in, Ronan.”
“No, but I was,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing. If you remember, before this moment Dionysus was having a ball wreaking havoc on the Ilissos. Partying,creating mayhem, and all that. Typical chaos agent stuff.” I smirked. “I identified with this scene for reasons you’ve probably figured out by now.”
Laney didn’t seem entertained by the notion. Not that I blamed her. I’d all but admitted to living a life of abject hedonism before meeting her. And, well, she wasn’t wrong to be cautious.
“So, what, you called me Ariadne because we met at a nightclub called Naxos, you think of yourself like the god of partying, and we ended up getting married?” She shrugged. “I mean, I guess. But that cuts out the best parts of the story.”
“You mean the parts where he suddenly wants quiet when he sees her?” I returned. “Or the next part, where he’s completely befuddled by this creature he comes upon, so much that he spends the next entire section of the book reciting the glossary of the Greek pantheon trying to figure out who she is, since there’s no way someone that incredible could be a mere human? Or the part after that, when he spends hours trying to show her how amazing she really is, if only she could see herself through his eyes?” I shook my head. “No, I’m not skipping those parts. In fact, they all sound pretty familiar to me too.”
By the time I was finished, Laney’s mouth had fallen open, and she was staring.
“At first, I thought you were just another girl.” I snapped the book shut and took a step forward. “Someone out to party. Just like all the others. But even with the drinks, even with the chaos, the world quieted when I saw the stars in your eyes. I knew you weren’t just someone. I knew you were mine.MyAriadne.” I picked up her left hand, where the gold band had returned. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
She studied me for a long time, then looked back at the book clutched in my other hand. “‘Only linger upon my eyes, that I may know the unreal passion of married love in a dream,’” sherecited as her gaze flickered between the book and the ring on her finger. “I suppose I can’t.”
And then, to my surprised, she kissed me again.
15
A TIARA OF STARS
LANEY
Not Laney was back.
Well, that wasn’t totally true.
I wasn’t doused in alcohol or trying to forget I had a heart condition. And instead of running from the realities of my life, I’d brought my stranger right to the heart of them and shown him everything.
So maybe the part of me I’d thought of as Not Laney actually belonged here too, because the second Ronan Black said “I see you,” I couldn’t help but believe him.
