Chapter 12 #4
He nods, taking me by the hand and leading me to a quiet stretch of the beach near the lighthouse. We find a spot in front of a pile of driftwood, and he pulls me down onto his lap, helping me take off my helmet. After a moment, he indicates he’s going to remove his, and I keep my gaze forward.
When he’s done, he shelters me with his body, wrapping his arms around me to keep me warm.
His face is so close to mine, it would only take the slightest turn to catch a glimpse of him. It’s tempting, but something still holds me back. Right now, we’re existing in a perfect bubble, and I don’t want it to burst.
Everything will change if I find out who he is. It could ruin what we have, and something in my gut tells me it might.
So for now, I settle against him, enjoying the quiet as we stare out over the water. There’s something so peaceful about it, and I wonder whether Eros knows it calms me, or it’s just a coincidence. Either way, I try not to think about it too much.
“Question for a question?” I ask.
“You first.” His words brush against my ear.
“Biggest regret?”
His grip on me tightens subtly, and he doesn’t answer right away, which only makes me more curious. Usually, he has a sarcastic response ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. But this time, he doesn’t.
“Hurting someone to prove I don’t care.”
I let that sink in, and despite my resolve to remain casual, I can’t help feeling a sliver of jealousy. It makes me think this someone could be connected to the mystery behind his username. If it is, it’s probably better that I don’t know.
“You?” he asks.
“Well.” I stare down at my fingers, twisting them together. “I already told you.”
“Is this about your megalodon?”
I shrug noncommittally.
“I bet if he were here right now, he’d tell you to let it go,” he says solemnly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Maybe.” I try to push those thoughts from my mind. “But I don’t want to talk about that right now. It’s your turn to think of a question.”
He releases a rough breath, and it sends goosebumps down my neck. “You do another one.”
“Okay.” I think it over for a second. “What’s a real-life horror scenario for you?”
“You ignoring my texts.”
I laugh, and he nips at my ear. “You always think I’m joking. You have something better, little shark? Tell me what horrifies you.”
“Phone calls. Small talk. Ordering food. Unexpected hugs. Forced social interactions. Hmm…let’s see what else? Oh, saying something wildly embarrassing by accident in front of a large group of people, and now you have to replay it in your mind until the end of eternity.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is,” I admit, a hint of vulnerability in my voice.
“I guess for a lot of people, those are just normal things they don’t even think about.
But for me, navigating those situations takes a lot of mental energy.
How do I act natural? How much eye contact is enough?
Do I nod, or stare blankly when someone speaks?
Was that a joke? Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed. Why am I standing weird?”
He's quiet for a long moment, and I’m worried I may have overshared.
“Was that too much?”
“You’re never going to be too much, Gabi,” he says softly. “Not for me.”
An unexpected swell of emotion rises in my chest, and I can only nod in response. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that.
Sensing my vulnerability, he doesn’t ask me to say anything else. Instead, he grounds me with his touch, anchoring me to his body as his lips graze my neck.
A shiver coasts down my spine, and I close my eyes, tilting my head back to give him access. He kisses a path down to my collarbone, sending a surge of heat through my veins.
A spark of urgency ignites between us as he collars my throat, turning me toward him and capturing my mouth with his.
My body comes alive, acting on pure instinct as I shift in his lap to straddle him. I feel slightly manic as I paw at him, and I’m glad I’m not the only one.
“You have no fucking idea what you do to me,” he growls, grinding me down on his cock.
His words only spur me on, and I reach between us, fumbling with his belt buckle. It’s too hard to get a grasp of it with my gloves on, so I take them off, working blindly to release him.
Somehow, I manage to get it undone while he’s dragging my pants down.
We come together in a frantic rush, and I let out a strangled sound as he guides his cock inside me.
“Sore?” he rasps.
“Yes, but keep going. I want you.”
He groans, rocking me down against him, but in the next breath, he flips me onto my back.
“I don’t want anyone to see you.”
He covers my body with his, sinking inside me as I bite my lip to keep from crying out.
This is, without a doubt, reckless, and we could easily be caught, but I can’t find it in me to care. He doesn’t either, apparently.
Maybe that’s part of the thrill.
He thrusts into me, muscles straining as he tries to harness his restraint. It doesn’t work.
A dark, primal hunger overtakes him as he fucks me into the ground like he’s been waiting his whole life for this.
It feels like he could do this all night, and I want him to. But this kind of ache wasn’t made to burn out. It was made to detonate.
He wrenches an orgasm from me, breath gasping, body trembling, sparks shooting behind my eyelids. The intensity sends him over the edge with me, and he buries himself as deep as I can take him, shuddering out his release.
In the aftermath, he offers me a slow, languid kiss, contractions still rippling through his body.
Time stretches on as we lie there, neither of us in a hurry to stop. But eventually, the cold creeps in, and when he feels me shiver, he withdraws his hardening cock.
My body feels the loss, but I’m too boneless to protest as he adjusts my clothing and zips himself back up.
Once he’s finished, he brings my cold fingers to his lips and kisses them. It’s oddly sweet, and when he warms my hands between his, something melts in my chest.
It’s hard for me to reconcile that a man with a propensity for violence can be so gentle with me. I saw what he’s capable of, and there’s no question that brutality is part of his nature. But with me, he’s different.
You’re always the exception, Gabriela.
His previous words echo through my mind the entire ride back to the penthouse. That statement suggests a length of time more significant than we’ve known each other. The implication is something I’m not sure I want to acknowledge.
Darkness blankets the city outside, and by the time we reach my building, my eyes are growing heavy. As Eros navigates us through the parking garage, I close them for a minute, only intending to rest them. But the next thing I know, he’s carrying me to the elevator.
When I blink up at him, I realize my helmet is gone, and he’s wearing the balaclava again.
“What time is it?” I ask groggily.
“Ten.” He tilts his head to look at me.
“Oh.”
I’m not usually this tired right now, but I think he wore me out.
The elevator takes us up to the penthouse, where everything is dark and quiet. There are no signs of Julian, but Beppe is waiting for me under his blanket inside my room.
As soon as he sees me, he comes bounding over to check on me, nudging me with his nose. I give him a cuddle while Eros retreats down the hall, returning a few moments later with a bottle of water.
I open it up and take a sip while he watches.
“You didn’t get your dinner,” he says. “Are you hungry?”
I shake my head. I am a little, but mostly I’m just tired.
“Let’s get you cleaned up then.” He holds out his hand.
“It’s okay, I really have to pee,” I blurt awkwardly. “So I’ll do it.”
He gives me a stiff nod, and it feels like something has shifted, but I’m not sure what. He seems more withdrawn, but maybe he’s tired too.
I pad to the bathroom, clean myself up, and wrap up in a bathrobe before I brush my teeth and wash my face.
I’m in the middle of applying moisturizer when there’s a knock at the door.
I ease it open to find Eros holding a familiar pink pajama set.
It’s the one I wore when he surprised me in my bedroom, and he couldn’t keep his hands off me.
Apparently, he likes them.
A flush creeps over me when he thumbs the cat ear on my headband. I wear it to wash my face, but I wasn’t planning for him to see it.
“Hi, kitty cat,” he murmurs.
“Hi.” I give him an awkward smile. “I’m almost done.”
He hands me the pajamas with a nod, and after a few minutes, I return to the bedroom.
I find him sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor. Beppe is pressed against his leg, offering Eros the same support he gives me.
He’s a naturally empathetic dog who notices subtle shifts and responds to physiological and emotional cues. Whatever’s going on with Eros right now, Beppe is aware of it.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
Eros presses a gloved hand to the back of his head and releases a rough exhalation. “Yeah. Come to bed.”
He pulls back the covers, and I get inside and plug my phone in, but he doesn’t join me.
His body has gone rigid, something tense settling in the air.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I just need to sit here for a few minutes.”
“Tell me what I can do to help,” I offer.
“Gabi, please just go to sleep. You’re tired.”
There’s a bite in his voice I’m not used to. For whatever reason, this is a conversation he’s not willing to have.
I close my eyes and lie there in the silence, but sleep doesn’t come. Eventually, I hear a sharp intake of breath, and the mattress shifts as he rises to his feet.
When I open my eyes, I see him stumbling forward, bracing himself against the wall.
“Eros?” I toss the covers back in a panic.
“Don’t,” he grits out.
The ferocity in that single word makes me freeze, and it confuses me.
“What’s going on?”
“Don’t come near me,” he growls.
I don’t understand what’s happening, and all I can do is watch as he staggers from the room.
Beppe whines, and I stare after Eros, horrified that something might be wrong with him.
I’m torn by indecision because he’s never spoken to me like that. Still, I can’t just let him walk away without knowing he’s alright.
I walk down the hall, but by the time I reach the living area, he’s already gone.
I pause for a moment in front of the elevator. I’m in my pajamas, but if I waste any more time, I won’t be able to catch him in the lobby.
I press the button, and the doors slide open right away, which confuses me. In the midst of trying to figure that out, Julian appears, looking slightly disheveled from sleep.
“Hi,” I blurt. “I’m sorry, but I have to go down to the lobby—”
“No, Miss Bianchi.”
“What?”
I stare at him in confusion as he stalks over and blocks the entrance of the elevator.
That’s when it occurs to me he’s probably angry at me about what happened earlier. He asked me not to run off alone again after the Nate situation, and I agreed.
“Look, I’m really sorry about what happened at the dinner. I didn’t mean to disappear, but I have to go to the lobby to check on someone.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Bianchi.” He shifts, and I can tell he’s uncomfortable with this entire conversation. “But I can’t allow that.”
“I don’t understand. Just come with me if you’re worried—”
“For your safety, I need you to stay here right now.”
My gaze drifts past him, wondering if I could actually make it into the elevator, but I know I can’t. Julian is built like a giant.
“Is there something going on that I don’t know about?”
He hesitates before he nods. “All you need to know is that this is for your safety.”
“Does it have something to do with the power going out in the IVI building?” I press.
“It’s nothing for you to concern yourself about.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. This is such a typical response from the men in our world. They never tell us anything that’s going on. Regardless, I don’t have time to worry about it.
I turn around and head back down the hall to grab my phone. My call to Eros goes unanswered, so I try texting him, but he doesn’t respond.
As I lay there staring up at my ceiling until the sun rises…I realize he’s not going to.