39. Galena
GALENA
I lias’s scent, soaking into the pillow beneath my cheek, wrapped around me like a second skin. My thighs ached, the burn delicious. My lips were swollen from kisses I could still feel. There were faint marks along my hips, from his hands.
I didn’t move for a long time. Just breathed.
Let the morning light cut across the sheets in gold ribbons.
Let the throb between my legs remind me that I was alive in the very best of ways.
There had been so many months that I’d woken up sweating and screaming, thinking that I was being cracked open and shattered all over again.
Now I was loved, warm, and safe. I would never take it for granted.
A soft rustle made me lift my head. Ilias was sitting in the armchair across the room, shirtless, a mug in one hand and the New York Times folded open in the other. My lips curled in a smile. “Are you reading the paper like someone’s grandfather?”
He glanced up, and the look that crossed his face made my core flutter. Dark and amused and utterly devoted. “You’re awake.”
“Clearly.”
“Come here.” I rolled onto my side, making no effort to cover myself with the sheets. He watched, eyes dragging down my body with slow appreciation. He always looked at me like that. Like I was art. Like I was the only thing in the room worth noticing.
“I can’t walk,” I muttered dramatically, draping my arm across my face.
“I could carry you everywhere for the rest of your life. That would suit me just fine.”
My breath hitched. It was just a lazy murmur into his coffee, but the memory of his voice last night—rough and commanding—flashed through me like fire.
I shoved back the covers and stood. Slowly.
Testing my legs. I crossed the room and slid into his lap, wrapping myself around him like a vine.
He set the coffee aside and pulled me close, pressing a kiss to my shoulder, then my temple.
His arms wrapped tighter. He didn’t press, didn’t ask how I felt. He just let me exist, wrapped in his silence and strength. After a while, I pulled back and looked at him. “You going to the office?”
He frowned. “Yes. We still have a few things to work out, but we should be able to get everything organized within the next few days, and then we’ll finalize everything. Have you decided where to go first?”
“I had been talking to the girls yesterday, and we’d talked about the West Coast.” I almost laughed at the sour look on his face.
I still wanted to go and meet my cousins and see some of the States.
I hadn’t changed my mind about that. “But, then I was talking to Evgenia, and I think we should start in Greece. I really want to see it. Lie on the beach. I’m cold. ”
His smile widened. “I like that idea a lot. Remind me to give Evgenia a raise.”
“I thought you might like it. Hey,” I warned. “I haven’t changed my mind about wanting to visit Veronica and Natasha. I still want to visit some of those places on the West Coast. I want to go see the biggest ball of string or whatever.”
“If you want to see some string, I’ll take you to see the string. I don’t know what that is, though.” He nuzzled into my neck and licked it. “Or the trees.” He kissed another spot. “Or go to some theme park with a bunch of people. I’ll do it. Anything.”
I leaned against his chest and let his heartbeat thud against my ear, grinning, knowing that he meant it.