Page 35

Brooklyn

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“I should have fed you before all that,” he says, pulling me out of a fog of sleep.

I have no idea how much time has passed because I think I fell asleep on him, my body exhausted in the best way.

I lift my head from his chest. “Hmmm . . . I could eat something now because I’m starving, but I don’t regret reversing the order of things.”

It was meant as a joke, but he looks at me seriously. That wakes me up in seconds.

A strange feeling hits me as I realize I’m lying naked in the bed of a gorgeous, powerful Greek man who is light-years away from my world.

He called me his girlfriend yesterday, but wasn’t that because I admitted I needed a label?

Suddenly, the dreamlike atmosphere dissolves and shame crashes over me.

Athanasios must be used to having women like me every day of the week, and what we did must mean nothing to him.

I’m extremely sensitive to any emotional distance, perhaps because I experienced so much of it during my childhood and in the little over a year I lived with Moses. This feeling of inadequacy, of being out of place, works like a kind of poison in me.

I think about what to do. Should I get up and look for my clothes? If I remember correctly, the dress was left somewhere between the living room and the hallway.

I usually have no issues with my body, but having given myself to him so completely and now seeing this unreadable expression on his face makes me feel vulnerable.

“I think I’ll take a shower,” I say, sitting up with my back to him, my feet already touching the floor. “May I?”

“Look at me.”

I turn slowly, summoning all my willpower not to cover my breasts; I won’t let him see how I’m feeling.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just really want to take a shower,” I say, biting the inside of my cheek to keep my emotions in check. I stand up, holding my head high as if being naked in front of this Greek god is no big deal. “Where’s the bathroom?” I insist.

He stands as well, completely at ease with his own body, and stops in front of me. “You can’t hide what you’re feeling from me,” he says, surprising me.

“The only thing I’m feeling right now is the need for a shower.”

He lets his gaze roam over my body, a playful glint in his eyes, and one corner of his mouth lifts in an almost-smile. “I like the thought of my cum inside you.”

“That’s something a caveman would say.”

“Yeah, it is, but in my defense, I’ve never wanted to come inside a woman before.”

I put some distance between us because I’m afraid of doing something foolish. The very thought of him with another woman is driving me mad.

“Bathroom, please,” I repeat.

He grabs my arm. “Did I offend you? How? What did I do?”

“You didn’t offend me. I couldn’t care less.”

“You’re lying, but I still don’t know what happened. You said you were afraid of ruining everything with words, yet apparently, I’m the one doing just that.”

“No, I’m fine. I don’t care about how many sexual partners you’ve had.”

He looks at me, frowning. “Is that why you’re upset?”

“No, it’s because, like I told you, I’m not into casual relationships, and you’re acting like I’m just a fling.”

“You’re not a fling, and I’m not acting that way. I’m trying to show you how unique you are in my life. You have no idea who I am, Brooklyn. I don’t lie in bed with women after sex.”

“Stop, or we’re going to have a big fight.”

“Why?” He looks genuinely confused.

“Alright. Why bother with dignity, right?” I ask, more to myself than to him. “I don’t like hearing about your past partners.”

“I didn’t talk about partners . I said, in general, that I’ve never wanted to come inside a woman before and that I don’t share my bed after sex.”

“Fine. Case closed. I get it. I’ll leave now.”

“The hell you will. I meant that I’ve never shared a bed with anyone else. It’s different with us. If it were up to me, I’d tie you up in this room, naked and spread out for me, so I could fuck you every night.”

The shock his words cause me has nothing to do with the fear of being at a man’s mercy. That part, with him being the man in question, is incredibly arousing.

What leaves me speechless is hearing him admit that he wants me so much that such thoughts cross his mind. This isn’t just about sex; it’s about needing someone.

“I’ve never done more than fuck, but I don’t want you to walk out of my life because I’ve hurt you somehow. And I have a feeling that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

“Why do you care about me?”

“I want you. I want us to be together, but apparently, I don’t know how to be a boyfriend in the complete sense of the word. As I said yesterday, to me, it’s just a label. You’ll have to show me what you need, Brooklyn.”

Athanasios seems omnipotent. Hearing him admit that he’s willing to change his behavior for me leaves me speechless.

“What exactly are you saying?” I ask.

“Intimacy. I’ve never shared it with anyone.”

I approach him slowly and look into his eyes.

He’s gorgeous, sexy, and takes my breath away, but suddenly, I feel like I’m the more experienced one in this room.

“You want to be intimate with me?”

“I thought that’s what we were doing.”

“You were looking at me strangely when I woke up,” I say, taking a step forward and resting my forehead against his chest.

His arms wrap around me. “I was analyzing us, like I do with everything in my life, Brooklyn, because that’s how I operate.”

“I don’t know how to give myself halfway. If this is a relationship, I want everything, or I’ll feel like I’m just your sexual partner.”

“You’re not.”

I lift my head to look at him. “You said you’ve never shared intimacy with anyone? How intimate have you ever been with someone?”

“Sex. No sleeping. No cuddling.”

“Showers?”

“No.”

“Come here,” I say, taking his hand. “Let’s go shower.”