106
The moment she sat, he cupped her cheek. “Was it too much?” he asked. "Did I hurt you?"
She shook her head immediately. “No. That’s not it.”
Hurt her? It would take much more than that to hurt her.
His thumb traced the curve of her jaw. “Good. You can breathe, you can calm down."
Her eyes fluttered shut, and it was only then that she let herself breathe slowly, it was only then she let her thoughts quiet.
Ioannis leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You'll be fine." He assured her. "Regardless of however you feel now, however uncertain and unsure, you will be fine."
“But I…” She swallowed, voice trembling. She trailed off, she didn't know what to say. But he seemed to understand her, seemed to understand that she was still finding it hard to make peace with the fact that they had sex last night.
“It’s not wrong,” he said, firm but quiet. “It’s healing. It's a process.”
She opened her eyes, and her tired gaze met his. They stared for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her again, slower this time. A gentle reminder of what she had felt last night, a gentle question; did she want to feel it again? She answered with a sigh, her hands moving to rest on his bare chest.
When he pushed his shirt from her shoulders, she didn’t resist. She let it fall around her elbows, leaving her exposed to his gaze, to his touch. But this time, there was no urgency. No rush. Just a slow unraveling.
He laid her back down on the bed slowly, all the while looking into her eyes, still gauging her reaction. His body covered hers, warm and solid. His mouth trailed over her collarbone, her throat, her breasts, each kiss was soft and lingering.
Yalda’s hands moved of their own accord, exploring the now familiar lines of his back, the strength of his shoulders. She felt everything this time, the flutter in her stomach, the growing ache between her thighs, the swelling emotion in her chest.
"I don't understand what you're doing to me, Yalda." He said. His voice has deepened, he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. "I've never wanted someone so much."
He was painfully hard already, and when he entered her, they both stilled. Their foreheads touched, breaths mingling.
She pried her eyes open and found his already on hers, still watching, still gauging, still looking out for her. And when he was sure that she wasn't falling apart, he began fucking her slowly but hard enough to make her toes curl and her eyes roll behind her head.
She arched into him, her body aching for more, and he gave it to her in slow thrusts that rocked her gently, the kind that didn’t just touch the body, but the soul.
But then, a voice, small and distant, whispered inside her.
He had a wife once.
What had happened between them? Why had they divorced? She had been young and beautiful, so why was he here fucking her so tenderly when he could have been with Maria instead?
She felt her body tense for just a moment. The thought unsettled her.
She felt his fingers traced her cheek. “Still with me, Yalda?” he asked like he had done yesterday.
She nodded, blinking fast. “Yes.”
And she was. She was here, with him, feeling everything, her grief, her guilt, her longing, and something else too. Something new. Something terrifying and warm, something overwhelming.
So she kissed him, hard, silencing the voice. They would deal with the past later. His, hers. All of it.
But now? Now she would let herself feel.
Their bodies moved in perfectly sync as his thrust continued to rock her. And when she came, she clung to him, burying her face in his neck as her body quivered.
He followed her about a minute later, with a groan that sounded like her name, barely withdrawal completely before spilling himself on her thighs. She whimpered from how hot it was, from how intensely he made her feel everything.
He didn’t pull away immediately, he held her. His hand found hers. Their legs still tangled under the sheets. He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and kissed it softly.
Nothing was said; there was no need to speak.
But even as her body relaxed into him, her heart continued to beat with a rhythm she didn’t fully understand.
~~
The clink of cutlery against porcelain was the only sound that filled the sunlit dining area of the suite.
Yalda pushed a piece of toast around her plate uninterestedly, she wasn’t particularly hungry. Across from her, Ioannis sat in a crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled to his forearms, sipping his espresso while reading something on his phone. He hadn’t said much, but neither had she.
And she hated it. She hated the silence, she hated how it made her think too much, she hated how it dragged her back into the void she was trying so hard to leave.
The silence was thick; the kind that pressed down on her chest like a suffocating weight. The kind that made her hyperaware of every movement, every breath, every thought racing through her head.
She wanted him to say something, anything. But she reminded herself that he was probably working; going through a report maybe. And besides, what could he say to her?
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, freshly washed and still damp. She wore a soft beige sweater and light blue jeans she had packed as s second thought. It fit well, and yet she still felt like an imposter in her own skin. Like, what was she doing here?
“You’re quiet,” he said finally, glancing up from his phone.
She gave a small shrug, trying to keep her tone light. “Still waking up, I guess.”
He didn’t push. Instead, he set the phone down and leaned forward slightly. “Would you like to come with me to see a friend today? She lives nearby. You'll like her."
Yalda blinked. He wanted her to meet his friend who was a 'she'? “You want me to come?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
She hesitated. The idea of meeting someone close to Ioannis sent a wave of unease through her. But the thought of staying here alone with nothing but Loki and her thoughts… that was worse.
“Okay,” s
he said. “I’d like that.”
He smiled, and it made her stomach flutter, just a little.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
