Her legs clenched with the onset of her orgasm and she gave a long, shuddering gasp, her entire body locking as the intense pleasure shot through her.
He muttered something in Latin, clutching her against him, and she felt his hot warmth explode inside her as he reached his own climax. Titus thrust roughly one last time as she quivered and clenched over him, then pulled her close, rocking her forward to lay against his chest.
Boneless with her orgasm, Chloe clung to him, pressing light kisses along his face as he
shuddered and rocked into her one last time. ―Thank you,‖ she murmured against his mouth. ―That was amazing.‖
―You were—― he stiffened underneath her, his sleepy gaze going wide with alarm.
Before she could ask what was wrong, he leapt to his feet, dumping her on the floor. The light began to shimmer and glitter around him. His body shuddered hard and his muscles rippled. He surged forward, the color leaching from his skin, and as she watched, he staggered to the statue‘s base, struggling to fight the curse…
…And lost. As soon as his feet touched the pedestal, the spear and helmet reappeared in his hands and he froze in place, becoming marble once more. The shimmerlight stole him away from her once more.
2Chloe was left all alone, sprawled and naked on the floor of the art gallery.
At least she wasn‘t crazy.
Instead, it was much, much worse. Titus was real, but he was under a two thousand year old
curse, and she had no idea how to free him.
2
Two weeks later.
―Evening, Stuart,‖ Chloe said as she headed in, and dropped off a bag of McDonald‘s at the
reception desk as she passed it. ―Got you your favorite.‖
―Thanks,‖ he mumbled, barely looking up from his paperback.
She sauntered in, whistling to herself, another bag of McDonald‘s in her hand. It smelled
delicious – all salt and fried grease – but it wasn‘t for her.
To her surprise, Muffin was still in the office, going over the newest shipment of Minoan vases that had come in. She barely glanced up as Chloe entered.
―Good evening, my dear,‖ she sang out. ―Lovely weather we‘re having, isn‘t it?‖
Chloe agreed, and sat up at her table to work. She stole a furtive glance at the old woman but opened her laptop and continued to open up programs, as if she was going to start working as soon as she‘d sat down. ―The catalog is coming along great, don‘t you think?‖
―Mmmhmmm,‖ Muffin said. ―I need a new page, though.‖
Chloe pulled out a pen and paper from the desk and took a sip of the shake she‘d brought for herself. ―You got it. What do you want?‖
Muffin came over to Chloe‘s desk and began to sketch a banner of some kind. ―Roman
extravaganza,‖ the elderly woman said aloud. ―Liquidation sale – everything must go by Sunday.‖
Chloe‘s head jerked up and she put down her drink. ―I‘m sorry, what did you say?‖
2―Roman extravaganza,‖ Muffin trilled again, raising a hand in the air as if she could drape her imaginary banner across the room. ―Everything must go by Sunday. We‘re overstocked, my girl. One of the investors suggested running a liquidation sale, and I think it‘s a brilliant idea.‖
She stared at Muffin, then her gaze slid to the sheet covered statue. She shook her head and focused on her laptop screen, trying to pull her thoughts together. ―I thought you weren‘t getting rid of the Roman stuff until the end of the month? That‘s a few weeks away.‖
―Yes,‖ Muffin agreed, opening the bag of fast food and peering inside. ―But that was before we got a new shipment of junk in and now we‘re overstocked. You‘ll have to catalog it all tonight and get it up on the website for our liquidation sale, my dear.‖
―Okay,‖ Chloe said numbly. What about Titus? What was going to happen to him?
―My goodness, you are a hungry girl, aren‘t you? There‘s six different burgers in here,‖ Muffin exclaimed.
Oh dear. How to explain. ―I-I-I think they gave me extra at the drive thru,‖ Chloe said hastily, then picked a sandwich up and offered it to Muffin. ―Want one?‖
―Oh no, my dear. It goes straight to your hips,‖ she said with a little twirl that made the leather fringe on her canary yellow skirt bounce. Muffin sure liked bright colors. ―Anyhow, I really must be running. You‘ll get the Roman Extravaganza up on the website tonight?‖
―Tonight,‖ Chloe echoed, staring at the computer without seeing it. ―I promise.‖
―Good girl,‖ Muffin said, patted her on the hand, and left.
Chloe sat on her stool for a long moment, not moving as she tried to digest this newest bit of information.
All
the Roman antiquities were going in some sort of bizarre liquidation sale this weekend.
Titus‘s statue would be included in that – it was a gorgeous piece of art, and they‘d gotten a ton of 2inquiries ever since she‘d showcased it on the main page of the website. Stupid, she told herself, but he was so beautiful that she couldn‘t help it.
What was she going to do if he was sold and she never saw him again? Depression overwhelmed her. She knew without looking that her bank account was modest, not nearly enough to entertain the thought of buying a marble statue.
What could she do? She had to do something. Unhappy and feeling a surge of loneliness, she
checked the doors to the storage room, then pulled the sheet off the statue.
He came to life almost as soon as she glided her fingertips over his chest, responding eagerly to her touch, the shimmerlight nearly exploding into the room with his eagerness to see her.
―Good evening, my beautiful muse,‖ he whispered before tangling his hands in her hair and
pulling her in for a deep, sultry kiss that made her toes curl.
―I brought you something to eat,‖ she said softly, and nearly melted at the flashing white grin he cast at her.
―Is it more of what you brought last night? I hope it is not.‖
―The sushi?‖ she said, her spirits lifting a little at the memory. He hadn‘t been a fan of the sushi in the slightest, and they‘d laughed so hard at his expression once she‘d told him what it was. ―No, I brought you something else.‖
He linked his fingers with hers and kissed her again – hard – pulling her close. His cock was already hard with anticipation, and she felt her own excited flutters in her breast – though they died at the thought of losing him so soon.
She said nothing as they sat at the table, and she rested one hand on his thigh as he ate, tearing through the fast food. As she‘d suspected, he enjoyed the burgers, even licking his fingers when he‘d 3gone through the entire bag. She ran her fingers over his skin as he ate and chatted, telling her of things he‘d eaten as a soldier, or the times that he‘d gone without, and her heart began to ache so much that she couldn‘t bear it.
They‘d had ten days together so far – ten beautiful days – and she craved him in the hours that he was away from her. She worked on weekends just so she could come in to the gallery. As soon as the others were gone, she‘d race to free him and they‘d hold hands for a few hours, sitting close together and just talking and talking as the evening passed, and then they‘d make love until the curse returned, sweeping him out of her arms once more.
―Do you have a lot of work tonight?‖ Titus asked, poking a greasy finger at her keyboard in curiosity. He knew that she did something with it, though he hadn‘t been able to grasp the ‗what‘ yet.
―Shall I rub your back while you work? We can talk as you slap your hands on that thing.‖
―Not slapping,‖ she murmured. ―Typing.‖
And then she burst into tears.
Warm hands slid over her shoulders and to her face. He cupped her cheeks and brushed away her tears. ―Why the sadness, Chloe?‖
―You…I…I don‘t own your statue, Titus.‖
His smile was soft and understanding. ―This I know. You work for whoever owns the things
here.‖
―That‘s right, and they‘re going to sell you on Saturday. And I can‘t afford you. You‘re too expensive. After Saturday….‖ Fresh tears slid down her cheeks.
―I understand,‖ he said, his voice soft. ―I will enjoy what few days we have together, then, Chloe, and will not regret our time.‖
3―We need to find that tablet,‖ she said softly. A thought occurred to her and she gasped. ―Muffin said the museum recently got a large shipment of Roman artifacts in. Perhaps it‘s included there?‖
He looked skeptical, and touched her cheek. ―I have been cursed for a very long period of time, Chloe. I find it hard to believe that the Gods would hand me everything in one fell swoop.‖
It did sound awfully convenient. Still, she was not above grasping at straws. ―We‘ll look for it tonight.‖
He leaned in and brushed his mouth over hers, his tongue licking at the part of her lips. ―We can look in a few hours.‖
That sounded good to her.
****
They‘d made love for long, sweet hours, and then held each other. They‘d talked afterward – they always did – and too soon, he‘d stiffened and become magically compelled to return to the pedestal. He gave her one last look of longing that broke her heart as he stepped onto it, and became a statue once more.
She was starting to hate the shimmerlight that heralded the return of his curse. Every time she saw it, her stomach seemed to twist into an unhappy knot, because she knew he‘d be gone from her arms in mere seconds.
She needed to free him. And free him before the auction on Sunday. Chloe cleaned up the
evidence of their lovemaking and dressed rapidly. She had a few hours before daylight and wanted to go 3through the new boxes of artifacts. She opened the storage room, pulled out one of the boxes for the auction, and began to dig.
Three hours later, she was elbows-deep in the second to the last auction crate, when the door to the gallery opened, and in walked Muffin. She looked at Chloe in surprise.
Chloe shot upright, trying not to seem too guilty. ―I‘m almost done with the photos for the auction pieces,‖ she hastily explained. ―Just two crates left.‖
―I changed my mind,‖ Muffin said cheerily. ―We don‘t need the auction pieces on the website.
It‘s going to be an in-person auction, so the contents will be a pleasant surprise to all buyers.‖
―Oh, of course. Gotcha.‖ She gave Muffin a sheepish smile and stood, dusting off her skirts.
The old woman continued to peer at her, even when Chloe moved back to her computer and
began to type. Muffin circled Chloe, her big white floppy hat nearly falling in her eyes.
When Chloe looked up, she gave Muffin a bright smile. ―What can I help you with?‖
―Nothing.‖
―Okay,‖ Chloe said, uneasy. She picked up her shake – now watery – and took a sip.
Muffin straightened her hat, and then gave Chloe a long, lingering look. ―Young lady, are you fucking my statue?‖
Chloe choked on her drink and began to cough.
Muffin came up behind her and thwacked her on the back, repeatedly, until Chloe waved a hand, indicating that she was fine.
―How did you know?‖ Chloe stammered between coughs.
3―My dear, you look incredibly guilty. And he‘s lonely. I put one and one together.‖ Muffin looked proud of herself for a moment, then added, ―And I‘m guessing that you‘re digging in that crate for curse tablets.‖
―How did you know that he‘s cursed?‖
―I‘m his fairy godmother.‖
Chloe stared at the old woman. ―Come again?‖
―Fairy godmother.‖ She wiggled her fingers as if casting a spell. ―I‘m charged to look after certain individuals and help them in times of need.‖
―You failed,‖ Chloe said bluntly, thinking of Titus trapped in the statue. Then, she brightened. ―If you know he‘s cursed, do you know where his tablet is?‖ She asked eagerly, hoping. ―Is it here at the museum?‖
―No, my dear,‖ Muffin said sadly, and patted Chloe‘s hand. ―I‘m afraid his tablet is not here. It‘s been lost in time. Not even I can find it. But don‘t worry. I have a plan to free him.‖
―You do?‖
―Of course.‖ Muffin straightened her hat. ―Do you know anything about the nature of his curse?‖
―I know that he was cursed while in Egypt.‖
―His is a curse of selfishness,‖ Muffin said. ―The Egyptian priestesses cursed him for serving a selfish army. After all, Octavian could have simply taken over Alexandria, but he decided to destroy the temples to teach the people a lesson. So they decided to teach him one. He can only be freed in one of two ways. One way is to find his tablet, but I believe that is buried somewhere in the sands of Egypt.‖
―And the other?‖
3―Someone must perform a genuinely unselfish act on his behalf.‖
Chloe got excited. ―I can do that.‖
―No, you can‘t,‖ Muffin explained. ―Now that I‘ve told you about his curse, you will have a motive any time you try to help him. It doesn‘t matter how good your intentions are, the ulterior motive will always be there.‖
That couldn‘t be true—
―The good news is,‖ Muffin continued. ―Is that Titus will be bought by a benefactor this
weekend, setting off a chain of events. And a hundred years from now, a nice young woman will discover him again, and perform a completely unselfish act to free him, and he will be fine.‖
―But…‖
―I know, my darling,‖ Muffin said gently. ―But you‘re a hundred years too early. Titus has a different fate than with you. You must accept it.‖
―But if I give him up to this woman, it‘s an unselfish act, right?‖
―No,‖ Muffin said. ―The basis behind it is unselfish, but your motivations would not be pure. The curse would not be broken because you would benefit from it.‖
Surely not. There were a dozen ways she could help Titus, all of them unselfish. As she mulled them over in her mind, she realized, to her horror, that Muffin was right. Everything she thought of had a tie back to her own wants and needs. She would do these things because she wanted to free Titus, not because it was what was best for Titus. ―Crap! What do I do?‖ She buried her face in her hands. ―I just want to help him.‖
―You want to help him because you are falling in love with him. My dear, I know. Trust me. I see it in your heart. If it were another time and place, and he another man, it would work beautifully.‖