Chapter Six
IT WAS WHEN MJ STARTED loading the dishwasher that she realized she was not alone in the kitchen. Heart jumping to her throat, she spun around, arm raised in a defensive stance, ready to beat the intruder to death in case he wanted to do something nasty.
But it was only Helios.
She let out a loud sigh of relief. “You scared me. I thought you were a bad guy.”
Helios raised a brow. “And if I were, would you have tried scaring me away with a...whisk?”
MJ glanced down at what she was holding. Oh. She was indeed holding a whisk. Deeeeym . She put it in the sink. Looking back at Helios, it suddenly hit her that it was just two of them in the kitchen. Her heart started beating faster again at the realization.
Helios still stood at the kitchen’s doorway, wearing only a pair of sweat pants and nothing else. He looked, as always, larger than life, and when he took a step inside the kitchen, MJ’s mouth went dry. Each step that took him closer to her made MJ feel more nervous and restless. His hair was unbound, which meant he had been about to sleep – or had already been sleeping. Helios only left his hair untied when he was inside his bedroom.
“D-Did I wake you up?” Logically speaking, that couldn’t have been possible if he had been in his bedroom, which was four floors above the kitchen.
Instead of answering, Helios closed the distance between them. He had paced his room endlessly while waiting for her to come back. It was her first time to stay out this late, and not knowing the reason for it ate at him.
“Where have you been?”
She did not even think of lying or asking why it was his business to know. There was something ominous in Helios’ voice, telling her she would be better off not arguing. And so she said quietly, “I joined a photography club. Tonight was a lunar eclipse...”
A photography club. Maybe that club was made up of yet another group of men?
The words were out before he could stop himself. “And do you have a secret crush there, too?”
Helios’ snide question had her blinking in hurt confusion. “What are you saying?”
“You tell me.” His control had snapped, his mind filled with visions of MJ surrounded by men. And this time, those men were not of his club, men who were not under his control and did not owe him allegiance.
“I’m beginning to wonder if your secret crush even exists at all. Or maybe it’s all a product of a cunningly crafted strategy so you can flirt with everyone, have everyone’s attention, and nobody will think you’re a slut—”
MJ’s slap cut the rest of his words off.
For a moment, they stared at each other. MJ’s eyes flashed with hurt anger. Helios’ gaze seared her with contempt...and something else that she couldn’t name.
And then he moved.
The next thing she knew, he had her half-lying on the table and he was standing between her legs. “ No one ever touches me .”
That was when she remembered Hallie’s words.
And her heart broke.
The pain his cruel words had caused left her, pushed away by the pain she felt for him. She whispered, “I’m sorry. I won’t ever touch you without your permission. I’m sorry.”
There was so much she wanted to say but knew it wasn’t the right time to say any of them. So she could only stay quiet and immobile, looking at him and yearning. She yearned to touch him. She yearned to touch him so he would know he wasn’t alone. The same way that she had thought of him all these years, all those times she had lain on the ground and told herself that she wasn’t alone because somewhere in the world, there was a person like him who could save her. Who would want to save her.
Just wanting to save her was enough.
“Don’t look at me like that.” His voice was raspy with need. With her soft and pliant body under his, Helios knew it would never be the same between them again. Now that he knew how she felt, how perfect she damn felt next to him, it would not be the same. He wanted to fuck her, wanted to possess her, wanted her to make him her world.
But something had changed , Helios realized. One moment, she was hurt and confused. The next moment, she wasn’t. Instead, she was...she was looking at him like she wanted to be kissed. Like she wanted to be touched. Like she wanted to be his.
His breath hissed out. She felt so fucking nice under him. He wanted to touch her skin, wanted to feel her hair curl in his hand, wanted to know the shape of her breast.
He watched her brow furrow.
And then she asked, “Is this okay?”
A pained laugh escape him. He had told her not to look at him a certain way, and she had taken him literally. No one was like her. No one. And , Helios realized grimly, that was exactly why he wanted her .
MJ’s frown had Helios looking grimmer, and she tried to scowl instead. At that moment, she would have done just about anything he asked her. Anything just to make sure he would never think of the time when he was made to feel alone and rejected. Screwing up her face in her most terrifying scowl, she asked, “What about this?”
The question, asked so earnestly, destroyed what little hold he had over his passion. Helios managed to say, “I don’t like how you look when you’re scowling either.”
“Then how do you want me to look at you?”
“Like you’ve had the best kiss in your life.”
MJ’s lips parted. “H-how do I even...”
“Like this,” Helios growled, and he finally did what he had always wanted to do the first time he saw her. He covered her mouth with his, and when she gasped in surprise, it only made him deepen his kiss. He drove his fingers into her hair, seeking her nape so he could hold her still and kiss her hard, wanting to brand her completely.
MJ knew she should have expected the kiss. She wasn’t dumb, and those words of his were a dead giveaway. But she had not expected the kiss because she had never dared hope he would want to kiss her. He was Helios Andreadis. He was not only out of her league, but most times, he had her convinced he hated her.
But maybe not , MJ thought dizzily as she felt Helios’ weight settle over her. His body was hard all over, and she had to clench her fists so she wouldn’t touch him.
“You taste sweet.” His growl tickled her skin as his lips moved down, licking his way to her neck.
She shuddered at the contact but she couldn’t help arching her neck at the same time, wanting more of his kiss. When he started to suck on her neck, MJ bit her lip to keep herself from crying out. It was so erotic, this kind of kiss. It was nothing like she had imagined, and just the thought of how much hotter, how much stronger and rawer it would feel when he kissed other parts of her body made MJ’s head whirl.
Helios’ lips were moving again, and when she felt his hands on the hem of her tank top, she gasped.
His hands stilled. “Do you want me to stop?”
She shook her head.
Triumph burst inside him and he slowly raised her tank top up, inch by inch, savoring the sight of her naked flesh. When he had it all the way up to her neck, revealing her cotton bra, Helios couldn’t help it. He bent down and, shaping one breast with his hand, he plumped it in preparation before taking one cotton-covered nipple into his mouth.
A little cry escaped MJ, her back arching, pushing her nipple into his mouth.
“Do you like that?”
“Y-yes.” Her head twisted left and right on the table. Her legs dangled restlessly in the air. She wanted to touch him so badly now. A moment later, she had to bite her lip again as she felt him pulling her bra down. Cool air kissed her breast and then his mouth was on it again, sucking her already pouting nipple.
Oh, God.
The sensation was incredible, more than words could express.
“Please,” she gasped. She could no longer keep silent.
“Please what?” he murmured against her nipple.
“Please...” She swallowed. “Please let me touch you.”
The words had him closing his eyes.
Touch him.
She wanted to touch him.
MJ wanted to cry when she felt Helios slowly reaching for her hands.
“Touch me.”
Slowly, she allowed her hands to move. She felt Helios’ head moving, and then his mouth was on her other breast, taking her nipple in. She gasped. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, gripping him hard, and he, too, gasped.
She cried silently at the sheer pleasure of his kiss. Time moved indefinitely, but her world was centered on the point where her body and his mouth came in contact.
“Please...” She didn’t know what she was begging for. All she knew was that she wanted more. So, so much more. And then she felt his hand beginning to dip inside her jeans. Inside her panties. And her breath caught.
Oh.
She gasped and he groaned, the sounds blending together as Helios’ fingers came into contact with her wet flesh.
“You’re so fucking wet.” He started stroking her and groaned again when he felt her pussy blossoming under his touch, drenching his finger even more. “You want this, don’t you?”
She could only look at him, gripping his shoulders more tightly.
He started stroking her folds faster, not letting himself penetrate her pussy because if he did, he knew he would not be able to stop. “More?”
Slowly, she nodded.
“Say it,” he demanded.
“M...more.” The word was barely out when his strokes became harder and faster. Something inside her tightened, bit by bit, the pressure building, making muscles she didn’t even know existed clench inside her.
So, so tight...so, so hot...
Oh God, oh God.
And then he was touching her, that secret place of hers that she had never even tried to search for. He knew where it was, and oh, how wonderful Helios’ touch was. He stroked the nub lovingly then without warning, he pressed hard.
She came with a cry, her first orgasm taking her completely by surprise, and she couldn’t stop her body from jerking under him.
Turned on by the look of pleasure that dawned on MJ’s face, Helios lowered his head and kissed her, taking her cries into his mouth. He felt her arms wrapping around him, her legs doing the same around his waist as she continued to come with little choking cries.
He usually did not allow women to touch him in such a way, but with MJ it was all right.
In fact, it was more than all right.
When he felt her body slowly becoming lax, he lifted his head.
And what he saw on her face made his harden.
She looked like she cared for him.
Cared for him like he was her secret crush, when he knew he could never be the same person. He had heard her speak about her damn crush, had known she genuinely believed every word she said. And he hated it because he knew he could not be the man she had described.
Helios pulled away.
“Helios?” The look on his face stunned her, made her scared, and his name slipped out of her lips before she could stop it.
“I did not give you permission to call me that.”
She flinched.
The pain on her face made Helios want to hit somebody. His fists clenched at his side.
When she felt his eyes raking over her half-naked body, MJ felt tears stinging her eyes. She felt like a whore, and she felt even more so as she hurriedly rose from the table and fixed her clothes. Over her head, she heard him say, “I guess you don’t like your secret crush as much as everyone thinks you do.”