Adonis in Athens, page 19
“I’m actually hungrier than I am tired,” he admitted. “Can we go eat?”
“Sure. What do you feel like?”
His eyes crinkled into a deep smile. “A burger. A thick, juicy American burger with cheddar and bacon and BBQ sauce.”
She raised her eyebrows. “No cheddar, bacon or BBQ sauce in Greece, huh?”
“Not even close.”
“Let’s go.” She moved against him as they stepped into the elevator.
* * *
There was a local restaurant nearby that had great burgers so she drove them there, hands linked between them on the center console of her car. They didn’t talk, somehow content to just be together. They got out of the car, clasping hands again immediately, and sat on the same side of the table when the hostess led them to a booth. Finally, after they’d ordered and had drinks, Apollo shifted next to her and used his hand to cup her cheek.
“I don’t know what you heard or how much of a mess I made of things, but let me tell you this before anything else: I love you. I’m in love with you. My chest was so tight when Melina told me you’d left, I thought I might get sick. The thought of losing you again…it was more than I could stand.”
“It’ll take a lot more than a muffled conversation that I overheard by accident for you to lose me this time,” she said softly. “I heard you talking about sort of lying to me about moving to the U.S. and I couldn’t deal with it right that second. I was scared for Raegan and trying to get on that next flight… I knew if I stopped to find out what you were talking about I’d probably miss the flight and I couldn’t. And maybe…” She bit her lip.
“Maybe what?” His green eyes bore into hers.
“Maybe I wanted you to chase me.” She couldn’t break their gaze. “You walked away last time and never even gave me your number—just a business card. This time, I think subconsciously I didn’t want to make it that easy…you needed to want this as much as I do.”
“I do.” He pressed his cheek to hers and pulled her against him. “God, I do. If you want me to come to the U.S., like we talked about, I will. I can do everything we talked about—put out feelers, get a job, work in the shipping industry a few years. I just don’t know if I could live here forever.”
“I love the States and I was starting to really love Greece too.” She moved her head so her lips were just millimeters from his. “But I love you more than both. I love you more than anything. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth. I’m scared to move to another country, but the idea of being without you is a hell of a lot scarier.”
He crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her with three years’ worth of pent-up frustration, longing and passion. Yes, they’d had a lot of sex in Greece, but hearing her say she would follow him anywhere brought sex to a whole other level.
“If my stomach wasn’t literally growling and making me a bit nauseous,” he rumbled against her lips, “I would skip the burger and take you home.”
She chuckled. “I’m kind of hungry too—food at the hospital has been less than satisfying. Especially after the food in Greece.”
“Now that we’ve settled our feelings, let me explain what Mick and I were talking about.” He paused, though he kept her close to his side. “When I was in college I loved living here. By the time I got to my senior year, I didn’t want to leave. I was trying to convince my father that I needed my MBA too, and I’d applied for a job as a teaching assistant to offset the cost. That’s when you and I met—spring break of my senior year and my father still hadn’t agreed to let me stay. I was in a hurry to get back to school so I could make sure I got that TA position to use as leverage. My parents were coming for graduation and then…” He paused. “Look, there’s a whole lot of family drama in this part of the story, but let’s skip that for now and just focus on us.”
“Okay.”
“At graduation, my father was still on the fence about letting me stay because Sophia had had a baby during the school year and she and Giorgios were getting married.”
“Wait—what?” Paige looked confused.
He nodded. “I know, that’s the family drama I mentioned, but right now, I just want to talk about us.”
“She was still here in the U.S.? But she’s…like four years older than you, isn’t she? Wouldn’t she have been done with college by the time you were a senior?”
“My parents didn’t want her coming to the U.S. alone, so she did some classes online while she waited for Melina to graduate high school. They came together, got an apartment, all that.” He gave her a brief history. “Anyway, I was being pulled in a bunch of directions at that point… Sophia’s wedding, a new nephew, Lena suddenly keeping her distance. I didn’t know what to do, but it felt like my family needed me. So we compromised. I stayed through the summer and took a full course load, worked as a TA and got my master’s in just over a year. I had two classes left at the end of the next school year and purposely left the ones I could take online so I could take them from Greece.
“There just wasn’t any way for me to see you again, to figure out if things could work between us and at that point I knew I couldn’t stay in the U.S. It didn’t make sense that you would come to Greece after spending three days together, and to be honest, I let it go because it was easier. Had things in the family not gone crazy, I might have looked you up, maybe made plans to spend more time together, but I didn’t have control of my life and you were just another casualty of me having to leave my life in the U.S. behind.”
“What does this have to do with what I overheard?” she asked softly.
He sighed. “It’s been three years but I still waffle between loving the States and loving Greece. When my father pissed me off with that deal, it was like everything fell into place. I’d get back at him and teach him a lesson. I’d get to come back to the U.S., something I’d wanted to do since before I left college. And I’d get you.”
“But you already—”
He put a finger over her lips. “You weren’t there yet. You were scared and apprehensive, and I get it. It seemed like the stars were aligning for me for once.”
“But?” She squinted slightly, looking into his troubled face.
“But I’m not a 22-year-old college student anymore. I’ll be 26 this fall and I love Lakkas, International. I’ve spent the last two years truly making it mine, in spite of my father’s meddling. I love Greece six months of the year and like it a lot the other six months. My family is big and crazy, but really close and loving and fun. My grandmother is getting older and I hate the thought of something happening to her while I’m living far away…”
“So you don’t really want to leave,” she said softly.
“Not completely.” He swallowed. “But if the choice is you or Greece, I pick you. I’d love for you to give Greece a chance, but it doesn’t matter. If it takes a year, or five years, or never, I still choose you.”
She felt emotion coursing through her veins, a wave of love mingled with pain that made her a little light-headed. She rested her head on his shoulder and tried to breathe, struggling to articulate the disparate thoughts racing through her mind. She wanted to go with him, but she was unsure. Staying married wasn’t optional, but how could she force him to choose? It was too much to process, making her a little nauseous. The indecision was overwhelming and she suddenly just squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could before whispering, “You don’t have to move here for me.”
“Oh, but I do.” He kissed the top of her head, noting she was shivering. “Just thinking about the situation is making you shake—hey, look at me.” He tilted her chin up so their eyes locked. “I was telling Mick about all these things going on in my head, the same ones you seem to be struggling with right now, and how I didn’t know what to do. He’s my closest friend and he was helping me talk it out, probably the way you and Raegan do, except in guy language. I didn’t actually lie to you, or even purposely mislead you—I was just trying to figure out how to have it all. But once you left, there wasn’t any doubt about what I had to do.”
“I don’t want you to give anything up for me.”
“Isn’t that what love is, though?” He frowned, fingers trailing her damp cheek. “Aw, baby, don’t cry.”
“It just seems like you’d have to give up so much more than I would,” she whispered. “I don’t know why it feels that way—because I love my family and my friends—but I want you to be okay with whatever we decide.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” He brushed his lips across hers. “I love you. That’s all there is. We’ll figure out the details.”
“Really?” Her breath sped up a little, still surprised at the way a simple touch from him affected her.
“Really.” He was leaning in to kiss her just as their food arrived and he reluctantly pulled away. “But right now, the only detail on my mind is this burger—you mind sharing me for a few minutes?”
She grinned. “Just this once.”
He picked up the burger and took a big bite, moaning with satisfaction. “As soon as I’m done, I’m going to show you how grateful I am.”
16
An hour later she used the spare key she kept in the glove compartment of her car to let them in to her apartment. They felt like naughty teenagers who’d stayed out past curfew, trying not to giggle. They were exhausted but their need for each other far outweighed the need to sleep. Quietly, so as not to disturb Nora, they kissed hungrily as they made their way towards her bedroom.
“Nora’s asleep,” she reminded him, tugging his hand and pulling him into the bathroom. She locked the door behind them and smiled.
“Shower,” he murmured, leaning over to turn on the water as he yanked off his shirt. “Brilliant.”
Watching him get undressed made her heart start beating faster and she dropped her own clothes in anticipation of what was to come; just these few days apart left her yearning for him.
“Damn, I like watching you take your clothes off,” he said softly. “But I love your bare body even more.”
Strong but gentle fingers fondled her breasts, and she slowly backed against the wall because the pleasure made it hard to think, much less concentrate on standing still. He was cupping one of them now, rubbing the nipple with his thumb and watching as her eyes got heavy. “How does it feel to know you’re really mine?” he whispered.
“Wonderful,” she breathed. “Like it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Does the idea of being mine forever arouse you?” He was toying with her, playing with her breasts, circling her nipples as they tightened with need.
“Y-yes.” She gasped as he pinched one nipple harder than before and then bent his head to soothe the burn with his tongue.
“My wife,” he growled under his breath. “You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy making love to my wife.”
“Who did you make love to before?” she panted, fire running through her at his touch.
“A woman who didn’t realize she was mine.”
“You’re a little possessive,” she grunted as he moved his hand down her torso, abandoning her breasts, which resulted in an immediate sense of loss. One hand cupped her backside while the fingers of his other hand spread the lips between her legs and began to explore.
“You have a problem with that?” He slid a finger into her and could feel the urgency, her frantic need for him, escalate. She’d become so incredibly wet, so quickly, it excited him to think he had that effect on her.
“No.” She could barely talk as he rolled his finger from side to side, finding her already engorged clit and teasing it until it was so stiff and hard she could feel the pressure as he moved over it. She wanted him inside of her and pressed against him, lifting one leg and wrapping it around his legs.
Their mouths locked together feverishly, and he plunged his tongue in and out in a motion similar to what he was going to do with his cock shortly. The whimpers escaping her made him harder than ever and he roughly pulled up her other leg so she was completely off the ground and her wetness rubbed onto his skin. He turned and set her beautiful bare ass on the counter, spread her thighs and used his hand to put the head of his penis against her pulsing entrance. They’d talked about dispensing with the use of condoms when they were still in Greece and he was damned if he was going to worry about it now that she was going to remain his wife, so he drove into her, sheathing himself completely.
“Damn, you feel good,” he sighed, closing his eyes against the pleasure. This wasn’t just good, it was beyond his wildest dreams. She was so slick the sensations were almost overwhelming when she rocked up her hips in a frantic attempt to bring him deeper, hold him closer.
“Don’t ever stop,” she moaned, arms around his neck, her lips seeking his greedily.
“Never.” He surged deeper, going faster and harder as he felt himself swelling, trying to keep from coming too soon. He reached down to find her clit again, stroking through the tender folds that were now afire for him. She was so ready, he could feel her clenching him, legs tightening around his waist, sweat starting to trickle between her breasts.
He caught her lips in a sweet but scorching kiss just as she broke apart, jerking against him, her scream swallowed in his mouth until he followed suit, his orgasm hard and seemingly endless as they continued to move together. Their torsos remained pressed tightly against one another as if they couldn’t bear even the tiniest separation of skin. She was still shaking, her breath coming in little hiccups of need, eyes still closed. In that moment, he became aware that this was exactly what he’d wanted, what he’d been waiting for—the only thing missing in his life. Now that he had her—really had her—he was never letting her go. Whatever it took, she was his and he was hers. Nothing else made any sense.
* * *
They woke up late in the morning. After a long night of talking and lovemaking that had them up until nearly dawn, it was almost noon before they stirred. Nudging him with her elbow, Paige sat up and smiled down at him.
“I’m hungry!” she announced. “And there is no food in the apartment, so get up!”
Though he barely opened his eyes, he arched a brow. “I live alone, without a kitchen, and there was always coffee at my house.”
She poked him with her toe. “I’ve been gone for three weeks! Normally I have coffee and bagels!”
He opened his eyes. “Yeah? I’m gonna like that.”
“Get up!” she repeated, laughing. “We need to take a shower!” She grabbed her phone to see if she’d missed any calls and found a line of green dots, showing five missed calls and 11 texts. All were from Raegan except one, from Tom:
Stopping by at noon to pack Raegan’s things.
Her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. “Shit!” She called Raegan back immediately but there was no answer.
“What’s wrong?” Apollo asked, following her into the bathroom.
“Something is going on with Raegan—get dressed!”
He didn’t answer but by the time she’d used the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth, he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and traded places with her so she could get dressed as well.
Her phone rang just as she pulled a tank top over her head and she grabbed it. “Raegan!”
“Oh my God—where have you been?”
“We were asleep! What’s going on?”
“Tom and my mom talked the doctor into getting me released into his care and when I tried to say no they said I couldn’t leave without someone to care for me and you didn’t pick up and my insurance won’t pay for another day unless—”
“Fuck!” Paige slid her feet into a pair of sandals. “Where are you? Tom texted that he’s on his way over here to get your things!”
“He took my keys so he’ll be there any minute! Stop him, Paige, please! I was asleep and he and my mom had breakfast! I wasn’t aware of what was going on until about an hour ago.”
“Hang tight, I won’t let him get your stuff.”
“Someone’s coming!”
Raegan disconnected abruptly and Paige turned to Apollo just as they heard a key in the lock. “She doesn’t want him to take her stuff!” she whispered urgently. “What do we do?”
He just smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. “I meant for this to happen in a more romantic setting, but I want you to wear it. So put it on now and we’ll have a do-over when we’re alone.” He showed her Thespina’s ring.
“Is that…?”
“Yaya’s wedding ring—she wanted you to wear it until we bought something else, so it would feel more official.”
She smiled and pressed her lips to his as he slid the simple band on the ring finger of her left hand. Amazingly, it was a perfect fit and they broke apart long enough to grin just as Tom opened the door. He scowled at them.
“I guess I should have knocked,” he said sarcastically.
“You should have.” Paige levelled a look at him.
“I’m getting Raegan’s things—she’s moving in with me.”
“She’s not.” Paige shook her head. “I don’t know what you and her mother are trying to do, but she doesn’t want to move in with you, Tom.”
“That’s not what she told me.” He smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.
“I think you need to leave.” Apollo spoke quietly, but his voice was intense.
“I think you need to make me.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Tom, you haven’t been in a fistfight since Robby Carlson punched you in the nose in the second grade! So knock it off. Look, Raegan is terrified of her father and—”
“Her mom told me you would say that,” he snapped. “So just let me get her things.”
“No. The only way you’re getting her things is if she tells me herself. Go ahead and call her, Tom.”
Tom gave her a dirty look but pulled out his phone and dialed. He tapped his foot impatiently and then his face morphed into a smile. “Hey, Raegan… No, I’m here at the apartment and—what do you mean?” His smile tightened and he turned his back, as though doing so would keep Paige and Apollo from hearing what he was saying. “We talked about this… No, it’s not. Dammit, Raegan, we made a deal!” His free hand clenched into a fist and he stalked out of the apartment, still talking.
“Sure. What do you feel like?”
His eyes crinkled into a deep smile. “A burger. A thick, juicy American burger with cheddar and bacon and BBQ sauce.”
She raised her eyebrows. “No cheddar, bacon or BBQ sauce in Greece, huh?”
“Not even close.”
“Let’s go.” She moved against him as they stepped into the elevator.
* * *
There was a local restaurant nearby that had great burgers so she drove them there, hands linked between them on the center console of her car. They didn’t talk, somehow content to just be together. They got out of the car, clasping hands again immediately, and sat on the same side of the table when the hostess led them to a booth. Finally, after they’d ordered and had drinks, Apollo shifted next to her and used his hand to cup her cheek.
“I don’t know what you heard or how much of a mess I made of things, but let me tell you this before anything else: I love you. I’m in love with you. My chest was so tight when Melina told me you’d left, I thought I might get sick. The thought of losing you again…it was more than I could stand.”
“It’ll take a lot more than a muffled conversation that I overheard by accident for you to lose me this time,” she said softly. “I heard you talking about sort of lying to me about moving to the U.S. and I couldn’t deal with it right that second. I was scared for Raegan and trying to get on that next flight… I knew if I stopped to find out what you were talking about I’d probably miss the flight and I couldn’t. And maybe…” She bit her lip.
“Maybe what?” His green eyes bore into hers.
“Maybe I wanted you to chase me.” She couldn’t break their gaze. “You walked away last time and never even gave me your number—just a business card. This time, I think subconsciously I didn’t want to make it that easy…you needed to want this as much as I do.”
“I do.” He pressed his cheek to hers and pulled her against him. “God, I do. If you want me to come to the U.S., like we talked about, I will. I can do everything we talked about—put out feelers, get a job, work in the shipping industry a few years. I just don’t know if I could live here forever.”
“I love the States and I was starting to really love Greece too.” She moved her head so her lips were just millimeters from his. “But I love you more than both. I love you more than anything. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth. I’m scared to move to another country, but the idea of being without you is a hell of a lot scarier.”
He crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her with three years’ worth of pent-up frustration, longing and passion. Yes, they’d had a lot of sex in Greece, but hearing her say she would follow him anywhere brought sex to a whole other level.
“If my stomach wasn’t literally growling and making me a bit nauseous,” he rumbled against her lips, “I would skip the burger and take you home.”
She chuckled. “I’m kind of hungry too—food at the hospital has been less than satisfying. Especially after the food in Greece.”
“Now that we’ve settled our feelings, let me explain what Mick and I were talking about.” He paused, though he kept her close to his side. “When I was in college I loved living here. By the time I got to my senior year, I didn’t want to leave. I was trying to convince my father that I needed my MBA too, and I’d applied for a job as a teaching assistant to offset the cost. That’s when you and I met—spring break of my senior year and my father still hadn’t agreed to let me stay. I was in a hurry to get back to school so I could make sure I got that TA position to use as leverage. My parents were coming for graduation and then…” He paused. “Look, there’s a whole lot of family drama in this part of the story, but let’s skip that for now and just focus on us.”
“Okay.”
“At graduation, my father was still on the fence about letting me stay because Sophia had had a baby during the school year and she and Giorgios were getting married.”
“Wait—what?” Paige looked confused.
He nodded. “I know, that’s the family drama I mentioned, but right now, I just want to talk about us.”
“She was still here in the U.S.? But she’s…like four years older than you, isn’t she? Wouldn’t she have been done with college by the time you were a senior?”
“My parents didn’t want her coming to the U.S. alone, so she did some classes online while she waited for Melina to graduate high school. They came together, got an apartment, all that.” He gave her a brief history. “Anyway, I was being pulled in a bunch of directions at that point… Sophia’s wedding, a new nephew, Lena suddenly keeping her distance. I didn’t know what to do, but it felt like my family needed me. So we compromised. I stayed through the summer and took a full course load, worked as a TA and got my master’s in just over a year. I had two classes left at the end of the next school year and purposely left the ones I could take online so I could take them from Greece.
“There just wasn’t any way for me to see you again, to figure out if things could work between us and at that point I knew I couldn’t stay in the U.S. It didn’t make sense that you would come to Greece after spending three days together, and to be honest, I let it go because it was easier. Had things in the family not gone crazy, I might have looked you up, maybe made plans to spend more time together, but I didn’t have control of my life and you were just another casualty of me having to leave my life in the U.S. behind.”
“What does this have to do with what I overheard?” she asked softly.
He sighed. “It’s been three years but I still waffle between loving the States and loving Greece. When my father pissed me off with that deal, it was like everything fell into place. I’d get back at him and teach him a lesson. I’d get to come back to the U.S., something I’d wanted to do since before I left college. And I’d get you.”
“But you already—”
He put a finger over her lips. “You weren’t there yet. You were scared and apprehensive, and I get it. It seemed like the stars were aligning for me for once.”
“But?” She squinted slightly, looking into his troubled face.
“But I’m not a 22-year-old college student anymore. I’ll be 26 this fall and I love Lakkas, International. I’ve spent the last two years truly making it mine, in spite of my father’s meddling. I love Greece six months of the year and like it a lot the other six months. My family is big and crazy, but really close and loving and fun. My grandmother is getting older and I hate the thought of something happening to her while I’m living far away…”
“So you don’t really want to leave,” she said softly.
“Not completely.” He swallowed. “But if the choice is you or Greece, I pick you. I’d love for you to give Greece a chance, but it doesn’t matter. If it takes a year, or five years, or never, I still choose you.”
She felt emotion coursing through her veins, a wave of love mingled with pain that made her a little light-headed. She rested her head on his shoulder and tried to breathe, struggling to articulate the disparate thoughts racing through her mind. She wanted to go with him, but she was unsure. Staying married wasn’t optional, but how could she force him to choose? It was too much to process, making her a little nauseous. The indecision was overwhelming and she suddenly just squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could before whispering, “You don’t have to move here for me.”
“Oh, but I do.” He kissed the top of her head, noting she was shivering. “Just thinking about the situation is making you shake—hey, look at me.” He tilted her chin up so their eyes locked. “I was telling Mick about all these things going on in my head, the same ones you seem to be struggling with right now, and how I didn’t know what to do. He’s my closest friend and he was helping me talk it out, probably the way you and Raegan do, except in guy language. I didn’t actually lie to you, or even purposely mislead you—I was just trying to figure out how to have it all. But once you left, there wasn’t any doubt about what I had to do.”
“I don’t want you to give anything up for me.”
“Isn’t that what love is, though?” He frowned, fingers trailing her damp cheek. “Aw, baby, don’t cry.”
“It just seems like you’d have to give up so much more than I would,” she whispered. “I don’t know why it feels that way—because I love my family and my friends—but I want you to be okay with whatever we decide.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” He brushed his lips across hers. “I love you. That’s all there is. We’ll figure out the details.”
“Really?” Her breath sped up a little, still surprised at the way a simple touch from him affected her.
“Really.” He was leaning in to kiss her just as their food arrived and he reluctantly pulled away. “But right now, the only detail on my mind is this burger—you mind sharing me for a few minutes?”
She grinned. “Just this once.”
He picked up the burger and took a big bite, moaning with satisfaction. “As soon as I’m done, I’m going to show you how grateful I am.”
16
An hour later she used the spare key she kept in the glove compartment of her car to let them in to her apartment. They felt like naughty teenagers who’d stayed out past curfew, trying not to giggle. They were exhausted but their need for each other far outweighed the need to sleep. Quietly, so as not to disturb Nora, they kissed hungrily as they made their way towards her bedroom.
“Nora’s asleep,” she reminded him, tugging his hand and pulling him into the bathroom. She locked the door behind them and smiled.
“Shower,” he murmured, leaning over to turn on the water as he yanked off his shirt. “Brilliant.”
Watching him get undressed made her heart start beating faster and she dropped her own clothes in anticipation of what was to come; just these few days apart left her yearning for him.
“Damn, I like watching you take your clothes off,” he said softly. “But I love your bare body even more.”
Strong but gentle fingers fondled her breasts, and she slowly backed against the wall because the pleasure made it hard to think, much less concentrate on standing still. He was cupping one of them now, rubbing the nipple with his thumb and watching as her eyes got heavy. “How does it feel to know you’re really mine?” he whispered.
“Wonderful,” she breathed. “Like it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Does the idea of being mine forever arouse you?” He was toying with her, playing with her breasts, circling her nipples as they tightened with need.
“Y-yes.” She gasped as he pinched one nipple harder than before and then bent his head to soothe the burn with his tongue.
“My wife,” he growled under his breath. “You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy making love to my wife.”
“Who did you make love to before?” she panted, fire running through her at his touch.
“A woman who didn’t realize she was mine.”
“You’re a little possessive,” she grunted as he moved his hand down her torso, abandoning her breasts, which resulted in an immediate sense of loss. One hand cupped her backside while the fingers of his other hand spread the lips between her legs and began to explore.
“You have a problem with that?” He slid a finger into her and could feel the urgency, her frantic need for him, escalate. She’d become so incredibly wet, so quickly, it excited him to think he had that effect on her.
“No.” She could barely talk as he rolled his finger from side to side, finding her already engorged clit and teasing it until it was so stiff and hard she could feel the pressure as he moved over it. She wanted him inside of her and pressed against him, lifting one leg and wrapping it around his legs.
Their mouths locked together feverishly, and he plunged his tongue in and out in a motion similar to what he was going to do with his cock shortly. The whimpers escaping her made him harder than ever and he roughly pulled up her other leg so she was completely off the ground and her wetness rubbed onto his skin. He turned and set her beautiful bare ass on the counter, spread her thighs and used his hand to put the head of his penis against her pulsing entrance. They’d talked about dispensing with the use of condoms when they were still in Greece and he was damned if he was going to worry about it now that she was going to remain his wife, so he drove into her, sheathing himself completely.
“Damn, you feel good,” he sighed, closing his eyes against the pleasure. This wasn’t just good, it was beyond his wildest dreams. She was so slick the sensations were almost overwhelming when she rocked up her hips in a frantic attempt to bring him deeper, hold him closer.
“Don’t ever stop,” she moaned, arms around his neck, her lips seeking his greedily.
“Never.” He surged deeper, going faster and harder as he felt himself swelling, trying to keep from coming too soon. He reached down to find her clit again, stroking through the tender folds that were now afire for him. She was so ready, he could feel her clenching him, legs tightening around his waist, sweat starting to trickle between her breasts.
He caught her lips in a sweet but scorching kiss just as she broke apart, jerking against him, her scream swallowed in his mouth until he followed suit, his orgasm hard and seemingly endless as they continued to move together. Their torsos remained pressed tightly against one another as if they couldn’t bear even the tiniest separation of skin. She was still shaking, her breath coming in little hiccups of need, eyes still closed. In that moment, he became aware that this was exactly what he’d wanted, what he’d been waiting for—the only thing missing in his life. Now that he had her—really had her—he was never letting her go. Whatever it took, she was his and he was hers. Nothing else made any sense.
* * *
They woke up late in the morning. After a long night of talking and lovemaking that had them up until nearly dawn, it was almost noon before they stirred. Nudging him with her elbow, Paige sat up and smiled down at him.
“I’m hungry!” she announced. “And there is no food in the apartment, so get up!”
Though he barely opened his eyes, he arched a brow. “I live alone, without a kitchen, and there was always coffee at my house.”
She poked him with her toe. “I’ve been gone for three weeks! Normally I have coffee and bagels!”
He opened his eyes. “Yeah? I’m gonna like that.”
“Get up!” she repeated, laughing. “We need to take a shower!” She grabbed her phone to see if she’d missed any calls and found a line of green dots, showing five missed calls and 11 texts. All were from Raegan except one, from Tom:
Stopping by at noon to pack Raegan’s things.
Her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. “Shit!” She called Raegan back immediately but there was no answer.
“What’s wrong?” Apollo asked, following her into the bathroom.
“Something is going on with Raegan—get dressed!”
He didn’t answer but by the time she’d used the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth, he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and traded places with her so she could get dressed as well.
Her phone rang just as she pulled a tank top over her head and she grabbed it. “Raegan!”
“Oh my God—where have you been?”
“We were asleep! What’s going on?”
“Tom and my mom talked the doctor into getting me released into his care and when I tried to say no they said I couldn’t leave without someone to care for me and you didn’t pick up and my insurance won’t pay for another day unless—”
“Fuck!” Paige slid her feet into a pair of sandals. “Where are you? Tom texted that he’s on his way over here to get your things!”
“He took my keys so he’ll be there any minute! Stop him, Paige, please! I was asleep and he and my mom had breakfast! I wasn’t aware of what was going on until about an hour ago.”
“Hang tight, I won’t let him get your stuff.”
“Someone’s coming!”
Raegan disconnected abruptly and Paige turned to Apollo just as they heard a key in the lock. “She doesn’t want him to take her stuff!” she whispered urgently. “What do we do?”
He just smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. “I meant for this to happen in a more romantic setting, but I want you to wear it. So put it on now and we’ll have a do-over when we’re alone.” He showed her Thespina’s ring.
“Is that…?”
“Yaya’s wedding ring—she wanted you to wear it until we bought something else, so it would feel more official.”
She smiled and pressed her lips to his as he slid the simple band on the ring finger of her left hand. Amazingly, it was a perfect fit and they broke apart long enough to grin just as Tom opened the door. He scowled at them.
“I guess I should have knocked,” he said sarcastically.
“You should have.” Paige levelled a look at him.
“I’m getting Raegan’s things—she’s moving in with me.”
“She’s not.” Paige shook her head. “I don’t know what you and her mother are trying to do, but she doesn’t want to move in with you, Tom.”
“That’s not what she told me.” He smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.
“I think you need to leave.” Apollo spoke quietly, but his voice was intense.
“I think you need to make me.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Tom, you haven’t been in a fistfight since Robby Carlson punched you in the nose in the second grade! So knock it off. Look, Raegan is terrified of her father and—”
“Her mom told me you would say that,” he snapped. “So just let me get her things.”
“No. The only way you’re getting her things is if she tells me herself. Go ahead and call her, Tom.”
Tom gave her a dirty look but pulled out his phone and dialed. He tapped his foot impatiently and then his face morphed into a smile. “Hey, Raegan… No, I’m here at the apartment and—what do you mean?” His smile tightened and he turned his back, as though doing so would keep Paige and Apollo from hearing what he was saying. “We talked about this… No, it’s not. Dammit, Raegan, we made a deal!” His free hand clenched into a fist and he stalked out of the apartment, still talking.
