Chapter 23: In Which He Surrenders

“We’ll watch it together then. Come on,” Trish patted the space beside her on the bed.

Aurora rolled her eyes in reluctance. “I don’t want to watch it.”

“You can’t fool me, Rory. I’ve known you for ages. You are dying to know what’s in that d*mn video. So get your butt over here.”

Aurora groaned wearily - she hated it when Trish read her mind like an open book. She dragged her feet over to Trish and sat next to her. Earlier on, Trish had nagged at Aurora, and the redhead beauty told her best friend everything that had happened at the retreat, while carefully leaving out information about the secret deal.

She tapped on the link and the video started to play.

Right in front of her eyes was a table filled with empty glass bottles of hard liquor.

Aurora felt her chest tightened. She knew what she was about to see.

Sprawled across the couch was Theo in his office shirt, which was unbuttoned, revealing his broad and defined chest. Aurora recognized the shirt and realized that the video was taken yesterday.

Theo was taking long gulps from a bottle like a person downing a bottle of beer.

Only it wasn't a beer - it was brandy.

Aurora drew in a soft, shocked inhale. She caught Trish staring at her and cleared her throat to hide her emotions, then focused on the screen again.

Keane's voice sounded in a lazy drawl. "Hey man, let's get you home."

A hand reached out to Theo but the big guy grumpily pushed it away and took another large gulp.

"Go talk to her, for f*ck's sake! You said you have something to tell her."

The video zoomed into Theo's face and that powerful gaze bore into her eyes.

"I don't know… how to tell her."

"Okay, then let's rehearse it here." The voice sounded exasperated. "God, I feel like a kindergarten teacher--."

The video halted.

"Hey!" Trish shot a frown at Aurora. "Let it finish," she pleaded.

"I'm going over," Aurora snatched over her phone and headed for the door.

"Are you taking a cab?" Trish asked with a knowing grin.

The rushed slam of the door answered her.

Trish chuckled, "Yup, she's taking a cab."


******


Aurora dialed Theo's number and hailed a cab. The ringing continued in her ear as she hopped into the yellow car.

Sh*t! He's not answering.

She selected Keane's number. After two rings, he answered with a long drawl. Aurora checked the clock. It’s 1 a.m. They might have been at it for two hours.

"Aurora! Thank God! Stop it, Theo! Let go…" His voice broke into a length of scratching noise and then he was back on again, loud and clear. "Hey Aurora, Keane here."

"Yeah, you sound like him."

After a chuckle, the man said, "I'll send you my address. We've just had a few rounds."

"Alright."

Aurora removed the phone from her ear and told the grumpy driver the new address. Then, she slumped against the seat as the car sped into the new direction.


******


When Aurora arrived, Theo had stopped using the glass and was drinking straight from the bottle. He caught the sight of his enchanting goddess and went still.

"I'm here," Aurora breathed, her chest heaving lightly. "What do you want to tell me?"

Keane knitted his brows. "I thought the video--."

"I want to hear it from him," Aurora focused on the hardwood floor, her cheeks heating up.

Keane grinned widely. "Please do."

But there was silence from Theo. Then, all of a sudden, he stood and muttered, "I'm going home."

He took one unsteady step and Aurora rushed to his side. Pulling his thick arm across her shoulder, she led him past the amused spectator and out of the apartment.


******


The heaviest thing that Aurora had managed in her jobs was a mid-sized fridge.

Helping a tipsy Theo moved around felt the same. If he was passed out, she would have a huge problem.

When they finally climbed up the stairs and got into Theo's bedroom, the hulkish hunk plopped onto the enormous white bed with a huge exhale.

Aurora observed the giant lying with his back on the enormous white bed and sighed. She removed his shoes so he could sleep more comfortably.

The bedside lamp was off so she switched it on.

Then, she stared at him for a while more and realized that he needed to be under the covers. She stepped towards the bed and tried to roll him over, so she could pull the covers over his body.

But he wouldn’t budge.

After two more fruitless pushes, she gave up and started poking his huge biceps.

“Theo. Wake up. You need to move over. Theo--.”

With the blink of an eye and a loud gasp, she was on the bed. Disorientated, she blinked a few times, then realized he was hugging her like a pillow and she felt like she was wrapped in a cocoon. After a few struggles, she gave up and lay still in his arms.

He was breathing peacefully and it calmed her.

“I missed you,” he whispered huskily over her head.

She wanted to see his face but she was stuck staring at his collarbone.

He tightened his arms around her waist, bringing her closer, crushing her breasts against the hard planes of his vast chest. The feel of her sent a shiver up his spine and he groaned, “I missed you.”

“What did you want to tell me?” She asked quietly.

“I… was at the beach…,” he started.

Aurora felt a warm sensation in her eyes.

“... it grew dark so I… wanted to leave.”

Remembering her casual chat with Liv, it suddenly fell upon her why Theo was outside the entire night. He was waiting for her to fall asleep so he could sleep with the lights on later.

“Then, Audrey showed up and asked me to stay for a chat.” He took a deep breath and continued. “I didn’t want to. But she was my childhood friend. I just couldn’t… walk away.”

“I don’t like her,” Aurora whined. She circled her arms around his thick waist to snuggle deeper into his embrace when she heard his chuckle.

“You smell nice,” he inhaled lightly.

“You smell of alcohol.”

He chuckled harder.

For a long stretch of silence, they were in each other’s arms, listening to each other’s steady breathing, Aurora began to feel something nice and warm swirling in her stomach. Recognizing it, she opened her eyes in alarm.

In a panic voice, she whispered, “I need to go now.”

Theo didn’t move so she tried to pry herself out of his arms, but he held onto her.

“Theo! Let me--.”

In one fluid motion, she was on her back, staring into Theo’s intense gaze.

“Stay,” his voice was gruff.

She couldn’t look away from those arresting eyes. “No, Theo.” Her thin whisper betrayed her desires.

“Stay with me,” he repeated, his voice grew hoarse and his gaze darkened.

Aurora swallowed hard. If she stayed, God knows what would happen. He wants her, she can tell, and so does she. But she was the sober one and they had both agreed… F*ck, she cursed silently, she couldn’t remember what they had agreed.

She used up the last ounce of her willpower to be the sensible one in this situation. “Let me go, Theo. You’re drunk. This is not part of the deal.”

His eyes were like a magnet, pulling her in. “You’re mine.”

Then, his lips crashed onto hers.