The orchestra was packing up. Instruments were tucked lovingly away into their cases. After midnight, all masks were off. Ben Evan's suit jacket was long ago thrown over the back of his chair. Annie's shoes were in a neat heap on the table next to her mask. Alex's shoes were forsaken too. Roger picked her up and carried her to the limosine, her shoes dangling from his free hand. Caitlin, Sean and Tiffany escaped when Bette left.
Gregory finished with the caterers, thanking them again and passing them the check for their services. He moved on to the orchestra, shaking hands with their conductor and laughing. Ben and Annie passed Olivia in the doorway, Ben gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Ben collected his posessions and those of his date, grinning. "Over a million. Up from last year. Well done indeed fairy queen." Ben caught Annie's arm, she seemed a little more tipsy then he did.
"Goodnight." Annie wished cheerfully, as she swayed a little. "Excellent party Olivia, I had a wonderful time…" Ben gave Olivia a knowing smile and followed Annie's winding way out of the ballroom.
"Thank Gregory for me." He called over his shoulder.
Standing alone in the middle of the huge ballroom, Olivia called goodnight to his back. "I will, take care you two." She spun around slowly, taking in the decorations and sealng them in her memory. It was a magical night, she thought, swinging her mask from its ribbons on lazy fingers. Gregory caught her arm, reminding her with his that their evening wasn't quite over.
Olivia snaked her arm around his elbow, leading him towards their car and home. "Ben's thrilled, we've raised over a million this year."
Gregory whistled softly, taking a parting glance at the beautiful room. "Everything was just about perfect, wouldn't you say?" Stumbling a bit as she took the first step, Gregory helped her recover her balance. "You all right?"
Taking a firmer grip on his arm, Olivia nodded. Wincing as her shoes struck the marble but laughing softly to assuage his concern. "My feet hurt."
He caressed her arm, showing his sympathy without a word as Tim came around to open the door. Gregory waited for Olivia to get into the car, he cast a last look over the building. The lights were off, the caterers were leaving, his work was done. "Home then, thank you Tim."
"Of course." Tim responded with a half-smile as he closed the door. It would be something to have a chauffer drive you and your beautiful wife home from the biggest social event of the year. Maybe someday.
"Give me your feet." Gregory requested firmly as the car started moving. "Why didn't you take your shoes off?"
Sighing in false exasperation, she lifted her feet up to his lap, bunching her dress around her knees. "I didn't want to ruin the hem of the dress."
"It's just a dress Liv." He undid the tiny buckles of the straps of her shoes with patient fingers. "It could be cleaned."
She bit her lip as he eased off her shoe, keeping her sigh in the back of her throat as he removed the other one. Just having the shoes off was lovely enough, but Gregory found the pressure point in the center of of the ball of her foot and pushed into the soreness.
Olivia's breath caught in her throat for a moment, and he lowered the pressure until she relaxed. Gregory switched feet, working the stored tension free from the small bones of her right foot. "Did you have a good time?"
"It was beautiful." Her instantaneous response made him smile with quiet pride. "The decorations, the orchestra- everything was really beautiful, and everyone I talked to had a wonderful time. I'm very proud of you darling. Even Sean was impressed."
Gregory ran his thumb firmly up the arch of her foot, rubbing into the curve. "We've been doing well lately. Found some middle ground." He switched feet again, watching her toes wriggle. "Honesty goes a long way with him."
"He's a good boy." Olivia insisted, closing her eyes as both of his hands ran up her ankle, teasing their way beneath the hem of her dress. "If you let him in, I think you could really have a chance at something."
Gregory pulled one hand down the muscle of her calf, letting the other return back to her left foot. "It's not easy to let someone in."
"Especially for you, darling, I know." Moistening her lips with her tongue, Olivia opened her eyes again, watching the emotion play behind his eyes. "But I think it's worth trying. It would mean a lot." The car pulled into the driveway and came to a stop. "To both of us." She added as Tim came around to the door.
Gregory took her shoes, dangling them by the straps from his hand as he exited on the other side. Olivia held her dress high, keeping it from the walk up to the door. He entered the security code with one hand, not even needing to look at the keypad. The living room was entirely dark, quiet and serene. Gregory dropped her shoes by the hall closet. Rose would put them away.
They didn't need to see to find the staircase. They both knew where each step was. Olivia's dress swished against the wall, whispering to the house in a secret conversation. The second to last step creaked a goodnight as they passed the top of the stairs. They reached for the doorknob in unison, chuckling as their hands met in the darkness.
"After you." Gregory whispered, resting his hand on the small of her back as he reached for the lights just inside the door.
The bed was tempting, waiting for them with many promises. Gregory tossed his suitcoat over it, undoing his cufflinks and dropping them into the box on his table. Olivia should have started on the jewels in her hair, but she couldn't stop watching him. She let her toes slip into the carpet. Even with her shoes off, her feet still ached from the hours of standing. Funny how they didn't ever hurt until the party was over.
Gregory's cumberbund and shirt joined his jacket. He undid his belt as he turned back to her. The soft longing on her face was adorable. "I'll be with you in a moment." Taking his clothes to the closet, he disappeared inside for a moment. She was half tempted to follow him, picturing him stepping out of his tuxedo pants was making her cheeks flush.
Tieing his robe loosely around his waist, Gregory reappeared at the closet door. The expression on her was was unmistakable. Amused, he circled her and began the slow work of the buttons on the back of her dress. "Did you have a favorite part?"
Pulling diamonds carefully from her hair, Olivia paused as she searched through her curls. "Honestly?"
"Please." Giving up, he opened the top drawer of the vanity, finding the little hook she kept around for dresses that insisted on being difficult.
She shut the top drawer and pulled it out of the second one with a smirk. "You were my favorite part. It's been a long time since we went to a party together without arguing, one of us storming out or me being too drunk to remember it."
Touched, he brushed the skin of her back above the top of the strapless blue silk with a grateful hand. "Unfortunately, I think you're right about that." Gregory kissed the nape of her neck. "But not anymore."
She dropped her hands from her hair again, trying to keep the tingling feeling from running all over her body. "Not anymore." Olivia echoed, desperately wishing that would be the case.
"No low points at all?" Gregory questioned as he moved down the row of buttons.
"Actually," she closed the little box for the diamonds and started on the bobby pins, loose curls of dark hair cascading down her back as she freed them. "There was this man in the devil's mask. He made me nervous."
A protective note crept into his voice. "Did you get his name?"
"Cole something." Gregory cursed as he tore one of the buttons completely off her dress.
She turned around, startled by the noise. "-He was really interested in my necklace."
Gregory's eyes had gone cold.
"What is it?" Olivia reached for his face, but he caught her hand, calming her as he rubbed her fingers.
"Nothing." He assured quietly, but his eyes were anything but comforting. "What did he say?"
"He asked a lot of questions about my necklace, Caitlin, Sean, you. He was polite enough-" She trailed off, starting to be frightened by the cold in his eyes.
"But?" Gregory pressed further, still without explaination.
"I didn't trust him." Olivia admitting anxiously. "What is it? Gregory-"
"Cole St. John," He explained with the gruffness of deep dislike. "Is the jewel thief who pretended to be Ethan. He's bolder then I expected him to be. I thought he'd skip town as soon as we came home."
Her hands both went protectively to her throat, holding the sparkling jewels to her chest. "Why didn't you warn me?"
Gregory's face softened with guilt. "I meant to. There was just so much going on. I forgot." He cupped her chin, smiling in the way that always melted her heart. "Please forgive me."
Olivia stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before turning her back to him again. "If you didn't ruin my dress when you ripped off the button, all is forgiven."
"I'll ask the cleaners to get you another button." He offered as he finished the line of buttons without incident. "There. Ready to get out?"
Sighing in relief as the dress pulled away from her ribs, Olivia held the dress up with her hands and waited for him to face her. Holding on to his shoulders for support, she let him guide the dress down and off of her body. It collapsed to the floor, empty like a dying flower. Stepping out into his arms, she forgot about the dress for a moment when their eyes met.
Gregory's eyes could still consume a room. Drawing the color and life from everything else and pulling her in. The connection was so intense that her own breath startled her.
He took the dress to the closet, letting her finish teasing the pins out of her hair. Biting her tongue between her teeth, Olivia was so involved in trying to free her hair from the elaborate knot that she didn't even know he was back until his fingers massaged into her scalp.
Moaning under her breath, she leaned back into his chest, dropping her arms and letting him finish the chore. Gregory took his time, enjoying the feel of her hair in his hands. "How many are in here?" He asked finally, setting the most recent on top of the steadily growing pile.
"Half the package." Olivia replied softly. Wishing he'd keep his hands on her foerver.
Gregory ran his fingers through the curls of her hair from the crown of her head down, one last check for stray bobby pins. She curled her fingers around the edge of his robe, tightening her grip as he removed her earrings. "Did I tell you the story of your necklace yet?"
"No" She reopened her eyes, smiling innocently. "I didn't know it had a story."
Gregory kissed the base of her neck at the shoulder, letting his teeth brush against her skin for a split second before he slipped away to steal the candles from the bathroom. Setting them up in a row on the bedside table. "It has a beautiful story. A legend really, it's what drew me to the piece." Blowing out the match, he shut off the light overhead and sat down on the bed, pulling her over and sitting her down with her back to him.
Gregory started down the intricate row of tiny hooks that held her corset in place, falling into his storyteller's voice. "Once, thousands of years ago in India, a great king was known as the Mahadevi, the demon king. His armies were as numerous as the grains of sand in the desert. For that everyone feared him. But he was lonely."
"Why was he lonely?" She asked when he paused the narrative. Gregory hushed her, taking his time with the hooks.
"I'm getting to that part." He assured her as he ran featherlight fingers across the skin of her shoulders.
"Because everyone feared the demon king, no one would even dare look upon his face. He grew angry in his isolation and rode for days through the desert, terrible in his rages. When he stopped to water his horse in the garden of a small kingdom, he found a woman filling her water pitcher. She moved aside for his horse, but when he dropped to the fountain to drink, she told him to wait his turn."
Gregory sighed dramatically, showing the demon king's frustration. "The Mahadevi was tired and thirsty and had no patience for the woman at the fountain. He dropped the cloak from his face, thinking that the very sight of him would frighten her into submission."
"But?" Olivia turned around taking her clothing away from his hands.
"She wasn't afraid. She was a princess in her kingdom, no matter how small, and she did not intened to let him push her around. She told him he was a foolish man and destined to die alone." Gregory turned her back around firmly.
"She sounds wise."
Gregory sighed melodramatically. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"
She patted the hand on her shoulder, putting her other hand over her mouth and promising to stop interrupting. "I'm sorry darling."
"The Mahadevi flew into a rage and galloped away on his horse, out of his mind with her inpudence. How dare she speak to him that way? But as he rode his anger faded. Maybe she was right, he would die alone and unlamented. In the middle of the desert, he turned his horse around. Spurring the animal to great speeds he flew back to the fountain. He waited at that fountain for three days but the princess was nowhere to be seen." Gregory finished the hooks of her corset, continuing his story as he fetched her robe from the door of the closet.
"Finally, nearly convinved he had imagined her in a fit of madness, he asked an old blind man about the princess of this city. The blind man told the Mahadevi her father had locked her away because she had been seen talking to the demon king. Her father was afraid the demon would try to steal her away forever, and he wouldn't let anyone have her."
Gregory released the corset, letting her slip nearly nude into the robe he held out in front of her. "The Mahadevi was furious. He stormed to the gates of the city, swearing an oath that he would tear through the desert like a mighty river to reach his beloved, for he knew now that he loved the princess beyond reason."
"Did he have to fight his way through?" Olivia asked as she lay back on the bed. The necklace gleamed on her chest in the open neck of her white silk robe. The candlelight made each stone take on a life of its own. Glistening like droplets of water caught on her skin.
"He collected his army," Gregory continued earnestly. "Enlisting every man who had ever pledged allegiance to his name. They filled the desert like a great typhoon, raising enough dust to block out the sun. When he surrounded the city he called for his love."
"Gregory-" She interrupted urgently. "He can't call for her. He doesn't even know her name."
Advancing on her, pushing her down to the bed with the warm weight of his body, Gregory's hand rested on the necklace. "Of course he knew her name. It's just been lost to history."
She slipped between the pillows, sliding more of her body beneath his chest and pulling her outside knee up next to his arm. "I apologize." Olivia replied in a whisper as the heat ran up from her belly. "Please continue."
"When her father looked out and was unable to see the desert for the horses surrounding his palace walls, he knew he had been defeated. Without spilling a drop of blood, the Mahadevi rode his mount victorious through the gates of the city. Stopping only when he reached the palace steps. Dropping from his horse, he knelt at the feet of his love. He took the water of his canteen and poured it to the stone at her feet."
"The water struck the stone and formed a circle, then the circle became stones." Tracing the skin just beneath the necklace, he coaxed a moan from her throat. "These stones. Picking them up and placing them around the neck of his love, the Mahadevi told her that the necklace was their river. The waters that connected them no matter where they were in the world."
Olivia reached for the belt of his robe, undoing the knot as she spoke. "What did she say?"
"I don't think she said anything." Gregory whispered huskily as he nibbled the skin of her neck.
Running her cool hands up beneath his robe, Olivia nodded slowly in agreement as she pulled him down. "She didn't have to. She knew they were connected."
Gregory twisted the antique clasp of the necklace and laid it reverently on the stand by the bed. He lowered himself over her, tracing the bare skin where the necklace had been. "Always."
Parting her lips, she invited him down to her as she opened her robe to let him in. As he reached for her hungrily, Olivia leaned up to whisper into his ear. "I think it's a beautiful story." Her breath was moist, hot on his cheek.
Gregory smiled, a bit of his own demons glowing in his eyes. "I think you're beautiful." Her mouth devoured him then, preventing him from saying any more.