Page 94 of Until You Came Along

“Go to sleep, my love.”

“I'm going to the bathroom, I'll put on your t-shirt and curl up next to you. Do you have an unused toothbrush?” I asked, as I got up from the bed and Hermes devoured me with his gaze.

“Check the first drawer, if there’s nothing there, use mine.”

I quickly went into the bathroom while his gaze followed my every movement. When I returned to bed, he had freshened up in another bathroom and was lying down waiting for me. I slipped under the sheets and comforter and snuggled against his body. Hermes embraced me and pulled me even closer to him.

“I’m going to give you that t-shirt because it looks so sexy on you,” he stated.

“I accept the gift because it’s very comfortable,” I responded with a smile.

“Tonight I’ll be able to sleep peacefully because I have you with me. These past days I couldn’t sleep at all. You owe memany sleepless nights, and I plan to collect by doing with you everything I imagined when I couldn’t sleep.”

I smiled and kissed his chest. He shuddered.

“I also owe you a shirt, don’t forget that when you’re collecting,” I said, smiling.

“Aaaah, you’re right. I had forgotten about that. You ruined one of my best shirts, but I’m not complaining because it was the day I met you. When I looked into your eyes, you took my breath away. I suppose you noticed I was paralyzed, I couldn’t speak and couldn’t stop looking at you. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before, I couldn’t react and didn’t know what to do or say. After you fled from me, I was so bewildered that I left the place, feeling confused and terrified.”

“Something similar happened to me. When I looked at you, I felt my world stop. I was caught between being horrified by what I’d done to you and being dazzled by you. As you rightly said, I ran away from you, I left there as fast as my legs would carry me because I was also completely bewildered. That night I thought about you a lot, I couldn’t forget your eyes.”

“I couldn’t get you out of my thoughts either. When I saw you in what I thought was my brother’s apartment, I was also stunned, but then I got furious because I thought you were dating Baco and jealousy blinded me.”

“I noticed your fury, you went from being my Prince Charming to a grumpy ogre,” I said, smiling.

“Ogre?” he asked, and my comment seemed to amuse him greatly.

“Yes, a handsome ogre, but an ogre nonetheless.”

He leaned in and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips, then caressed my cheeks and said:

“You have every right to think that, I’ve treated you very badly. I didn’t know how to handle the jealousy that overwhelmed me when I saw you with my brother or with any of your friends, and I reacted in the way I knew best, with authoritarianism and sarcasm. I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you. You’re almost transformed back into the prince.”

“I promise to earn more points to transform completely,” he affirmed.

“That’s very good for me. I love you,” I said, looking at him completely enchanted.

“And I love you.”

I rested my head on his chest and Hermes held me tight. As sleep was taking over me, an idea came to my mind and I opened my eyes and looked at him. My movement also made Hermes open his eyes and look at me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You gave me the painting I was looking at in the exhibition,” I stated with certainty, because after what he had confessed to me, I had no doubt it had been a gift from him.

“Yes, I did. I couldn’t not do it when I noticed the emotion it provoked in you. I wanted you to have it.”

“Thank you. I never imagined it was you. At first I thought of Baco because he was the only one I mentioned to that it had made a big impression on me, but when he confirmed it wasn’t him, I was ready to return it, though I didn’t know to whom.”

“Don’t return it to me.”

“Now that I know it was you, I won’t,” I said, caressing his face. “Thank you again. That painting made me feel sad, but I think it’s wonderful. Baco says the sadness was because I was sensitive, because it gave him a sense of peace. It’s likely Iwas sensitive and distressed because I missed you terribly and thought I had lost you.”

“I’m sorry for behaving the way I did.”

“You’re forgiven.”