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Lukas chuckled, dropping another kiss on my mouth, but pulling away before it could escalate. He was really holding onto his decision not to take it any further. “I promise you, you didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed watching you come on my fingers.”

“Fucking hell,” I cursed, which only made Lukas chuckle again.

I frowned up at him. “Are you trying to torture me?”

“Only sometimes,” he said, reaching up to cup my chin. "Maybe when we were kids. Now I just like to see you blush. And while this blush," Lukas coasted his fingers across my cheeks, "is rather distracting, I'm about to pass out."

“You seem awake enough,” I protested. I’d gone from denying any feelings to practically begging in the span of a few days. But with a new day came a conversation I was worried wouldn’t end very well. And if I had only one chance to feel him…

“I’m just as eager, Daph, trust me,” Lukas said, his tone promising a deeper meaning I didn't quite understand. “Tomorrow. We talk, then I get you uninterrupted.”

Nerves fluttered at that promise. Tomorrow I could panic.

Tonight, I freshened up then followed Lukas back into the bedroom and sat on the bed while he changed. When he finally got under the covers with me, I practically launched myself at him, burrowing into his warmth.

Lukas chuckled and his side vibrated against the side of my head.

By the time his hand descended onto my back and made its first comforting pass over my skin, my eyes closed. As I drifted asleep, I felt myself curl tighter around him, filling myself up with as much of him as I could get, lest it all fall apart in the morning.

Chapter 28

Daphne

Lukas wasn’t there when I woke up. Disappointment washed over me, the kind that comes from having a much-loved routine broken.

My ridiculous heart was already attached, even though it had only been the second day back at this.

Change had certainly occurred. I was pretty sure Lukas understood that I had feelings for him, maybe not the full extent, but at least their existence. It was time we talked, even though I wanted to bask in this state of limbo where he dropped casual kisses on my lips and I made him smile.

Getting up out of bed, I almost jumped when I saw my reflection in the mirror. I must have slept like the dead.

Makes sense, I thought, given he’d made me come so hard I saw stars. A promise he’d made me before this went to shit.

We. Were. Talking. Today.

Wrapping a dressing robe around my shoulders, I walked out into the dining room to find Lukas relaxed in a chair with a spread of coffee and pastries.

Lukas looked up from his papers at the noise. We stared at each other for a tense moment before I remembered that you normally greet people when you walk into rooms. “Hi.”

“Good morning.” Lukas smiled at me, and my feet moved toward him on their own accord.

When I got to him, I placed my fingers tentatively on the little divots next to his eyes, where his smile didn’t quite reach. “Why do you look like you’re in pain?”

“We have the Nereus brunch.”

“Oh. Right.” To honor Eleni and the anniversary of the line’s emergence from the depths of the sea. I’d completely forgotten amidst the chaos of the past few weeks.

Lukas gripped my wrist and nipped playfully at my fingertips. “Shouldn’t be too long.”

“She’s been excited about this for a while,” I said. “I’m happy for her.”

“Me too.” Lukas poured my coffee into a mug with his free hand. I sat, placing a small pastry on my plate while he topped my drink off with some cream. “But Daph?”

“Yeah?”

“Afterwards, we need to talk.”

I kept his stare by sheer force of will. “I know.”