Chapter 14 #3
“You’re going to stay and sleep with me?” I asked, amazed, because I couldn’t imagine that he would want to spend the whole night with me and, on the other hand, it seemed like something too intimate that I had only done with Lino.
“It doesn’t make sense for me to leave in the early morning only to come back in a few hours. Does it bother you if I stay?”
“No, really. It’s just that I thought... you didn’t sleep with the people you were dating.”
“I never have, but with you I’m going to make an exception.”
“Why?”
“I already told you, it doesn’t make sense for me to leave only to come back in a few hours. Now that we’ve cleared that up, can I get into bed?” he asked, pointing to the bed.
“Go ahead,” I said, and turned to go to the walk-in closet because I was still wrapped in a towel.
I was going to sleep with Cavaller; I had to pinch myself because I couldn’t believe it.
I chose to put on the shortest nightgown I had, made of satin and lace, and my most daring underwear.
I needed to feel pretty, although it was very difficult for me to see myself that way, and I still didn’t understand how a man like him had noticed me.
Everything seemed unreal. It was all so crazy—a little while before he knocked on my door, I had been thinking about him and longing for him, and he had arrived and swept away all my sanity with amazing sex, and now I had him in my bed.
I felt insecure; I was an insecure person by nature, but with him, a man who was any woman’s dream, I felt even more so.
I tried to calm myself down, inhaled and exhaled several times, and when I thought I had succeeded, at least a little, I came out of the closet trying to appear calm.
All my confidence went out the window as soon as I saw him.
He was in my bed, sitting and leaning against the headboard, and the first thing that came to my mind was that this man couldn’t be real—he was too attractive and sexy.
The second was that he was in my spot in the bed, because I always slept on the right side.
He looked at me, or rather made a complete survey of my body.
“Do you always sleep in this type of nightgown?”
“Yes,” I lied, because I wasn’t going to tell him that I had put it on for him.
“Well, let me tell you that with that perfect and wonderful body you have and that extremely sensual nightgown, I don’t know if I can keep my hands away from you—what am I saying, my hands—my entire body,” he added, looking at me with brutal desire, and that emboldened me, but also disturbed me more than I already was. That look could destabilize anyone.
“I'm going to check on Aurora and I'll be right back,” I said, needing to get out of there and find some air for my lungs.
“I already did,” he said, adding: “and she's sleeping peacefully. Now come to bed,” he requested, patting the mattress.
“You're in my spot,” I said, looking at him with a touch of shyness.
“Then we'll both have to sleep on this side because it's my favorite too,” he stated, with that slow, mischievous smile he used when he was teasing me.
“Since you're the guest, I'll allow it,” I said.
“But we'll have to reach an agreement because I don't think this will be the last time we sleep together,” he stated with conviction, and once again, my heart danced in my chest.
I looked at him with a shy smile and lay down beside him. He immediately put his arm around my back and pulled me against his body, leaving me no choice but to rest my head on his chest.
“I told you we'd sleep on the same side. I'm not letting go of you all night,” he pointed out.
“I thought you were joking.”
“Joking? Not at all. If I have you by my side, I want to hold you in my arms, I have no doubt about that. Aren't you used to sleeping with your partners? Not counting your ex-husband, of course,” he asked, with great curiosity.
“No; besides...” I said, pausing to think carefully about what I was going to say, and although it embarrassed me, I felt I should be honest about my nonexistent romantic relationships, so I added: “since my separation, I hadn't been with anyone.”
He took my chin and turned my face to look into my eyes.
“How is that possible? I can't understand how a woman like you wouldn't have propositions.”
“I didn't say that. I simply didn't accept them. At first because I needed time for myself, then because I didn't feel comfortable.”
Then came the question that made me regret opening my big mouth, because even I didn't have the answer.
“And why did you agree to go out with me?”
“I don't know; I really don't know. I suppose because I was very attracted to you, even though at first I thought you were a brute,” I pointed out, and he smiled.
“Besides, my friends were always insisting that I should go out, that I shouldn't just dedicate myself to work, and I thought the time had come to do it.”
“It's good that your friends insisted, although your little friend Araoz seems to look after you a lot. It pisses me off a bit that he's always getting between us.”
“Orson just looks out for me. He's a great friend.”
“Is there something between you two that I should worry about?”
“Worry about?”
“I don't want anyone touching you. You're mine, 'Dulce,'” he said, bringing his face close to mine and giving me a delicate kiss.
“Orson is just a great friend,” I replied, surprised by the possessiveness in his tone and words.
“Better that way,” he stated, then asked, completely changing the subject: “How many days off do you have?”
“Two weeks.”
“Then we're going to make the most of those free days,” he commented, like a promise.
“Do you know when Alba is coming back?”
“She hasn't told me yet. I'll ask her as soon as I can. Now let's sleep, my sweet doctor,” he said, making my heart clench at such warmth.
“Good night, William.”
“Good night, 'Dulce.'”
He pulled me close to his body and embraced me, feeling the warmth of our bodies and our synchronized breathing, until sleep overcame us both. We fell asleep embracing, two bodies fused into one. Sleeping in his arms was wonderful and comforted me in a way I couldn't describe with words.
Between reality and dreams, I woke up curled against his body and surrounded by his strong arms. It was quite early, but I probably woke up due to the fact that I had him in my bed and felt nervous.
It wasn't discomfort, on the contrary, because I hadn't slept so well in a long time, it was the natural nervousness of a new situation.
After performing all kinds of contortions, I managed to get out of bed without waking him.
I put on a robe and before leaving the bedroom, I observed him for several minutes.
The bedroom was barely lit because I had drawn the curtains, and the vision of Cavaller sleeping in my bed, with the sheet covering him to the waist, revealing his magnificent chest covered with dark hair, triggered my wildest and most erotic fantasies, and I had to leave the bedroom because I was about to throw myself on him to kiss every inch of that magnificent body.
My goodness! When had I become such a passionate woman? It was evident that Cavaller was completely transforming my life.
I went to the kitchen and started the coffee maker and prepared breakfast for Aurora.
When I had everything ready for her and for us, I went to her bedroom to try to wake her up.
As I walked to her bedroom, I thought about how this would be my beautiful morning routine if I had been able to form a family.
Waking up in my husband's arms, going to get my daughter.
.. I shook my head to get rid of those ideas.
There was no point in dreaming about something I could never have; it would only cause me more pain.
“Good morning, princess,” I whispered, while stroking her little head.
Aurora began to stir, but it took her a while to open her eyes. I continued caressing her soft hair and her cheeks tenderly, until she opened her eyes, looked at me and smiled.
“Good morning, little one. How did you sleep in the new bed?”
“Good,” she said, still a bit sleepy.
“And did this little friend keep you company?” I asked, picking up the teddy bear she had slept hugging.
“Yi.”
“That’s great, then we’ll let him continue to keep you company whenever you come to visit me. Now let’s go have breakfast,” I said, without mentioning her father because I was afraid she might look for him and find him in my bed.
“Yiii,” she said, with her wonderful enthusiasm, and stood up on the bed and threw herself at me for a hug.
“This princess nightgown looks beautiful on you,” I said, hugging her tightly.
A husky voice interrupted our displays of affection.
“And isn’t there a hug and kiss for me?” he asked from the bedroom doorway with a big smile.
Aurora looked at him and smiled. I put her down on the floor so she could go to her father, and I observed him. He had gotten dressed and was wide awake.
“Daddy!” she exclaimed, and ran toward him as he crouched down to receive her with open arms.
“Hello, my love. How have you been?” he asked, hugging her and standing up with her in his arms.
“Good. This is my bed,” she said, pointing to it.
“It’s beautiful. Now you have two beds, one at home and another here for when you come to visit Devon.”
“Yi.”
“I see you have everything princess-themed, including this beautiful nightgown,” he said, looking at her with a smile.
They continued talking between themselves while Aurora showed him all her new toys, and I watched them feeling something strange inside me, a mixture of emotion and anguish that I didn’t understand.
I preferred to give them privacy and left the bedroom to head to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, they both arrived holding hands.
“I have Aurora’s breakfast ready. Would you also like breakfast, Mr. Cavaller?” I asked, returning to formality because I had no idea how to behave having both of them in my house.
He looked at me confused, then sat Aurora in one of the kitchen chairs and came over to me.
“There’s no need for us to speak so formally, I don’t like it. Call me William, please,” he asked, and discreetly took my hand and caressed it. “I’ll stay for breakfast with you both. How can I help?”
“I have everything ready, sit next to Aurora.”
“I assume you’re having breakfast with us,” he stated seriously.
“Yes, of course.”
The three of us sat together around the kitchen table and had a peaceful breakfast while father and daughter talked about everything Aurora had done in the past few days.
I would chime in with something occasionally, but tried not to do it too much so as not to intrude on their reunion.
Every so often, William would caress my legs under the table, and I had to make a great effort not to jump from my chair, spill my coffee, or choke on my toast. He, aware of the effect he had on me, smiled victoriously.
When it was time to say goodbye, I went to get Aurora’s bag with her things, but we encountered a complicated and uncomfortable situation. The little girl hugged me and didn’t want to leave.
“Aurora, we need to go back home, but Devon will come visit you or you can come whenever you want. Right, Devon?”
“Of course,” I responded.
“Nooo, want with Divon.”
“Princess, you have to go to your house with your daddy. He missed you a lot and wants to play with you.”
“And we can go to the park or to the beach,” William pointed out.
“But want go with Divon.”
I noticed William looking at me as if asking for help.
“Aurora, your daddy wants to be with you because he missed you so much. He had to be away from you for work and now he wants to be with you. In fact, he came early today to pick you up because he couldn’t be without you anymore.
Besides, now I have to go to work, but I promise we’ll see each other another day and we can talk on the phone as many times as you want,” I said, trying to convince her.
She continued hugging me tightly and had started to cry. William looked at me not knowing what to do, and I felt touched by Aurora’s affection, but with each passing second more uncomfortable for him.
“My love, Devon has to go to work. I promise I’ll bring you another day and you can spend time with her.”
“Nooo, I want to stay here.”
“Let’s do something,” he said, and she looked at him attentively, but without letting go of me, “now we’ll go home because Devon has things to do, but later we’ll come visit her and the three of us will go out for dinner.”
I looked at him in astonishment. That was the complete opposite of what he had told me before.
We couldn’t keep presenting ourselves to Aurora as if we were a family because that would definitely confuse her.
Since I noticed that Aurora was calming down, I didn’t say anything, neither confirming nor denying, but I was convinced it was better not to accept the outing he had proposed.
“Can we go home now?” he asked, stretching his arms toward her.
“Go with daddy,” I said, and placed her in her father’s arms while she looked at me with eyes glazed with tears. “Do you need help with the bag?”
“No, thank you. And thank you, truly, for everything you did for my daughter… and for me. If you hadn’t helped me, I would have had to miss some meetings that were very important for the company.”
“It was a real pleasure sharing these days with Aurora.”
“Will I see you later?” he asked, looking at me eagerly.
“We’ll talk. Okay?”
He nodded and left my apartment with Aurora in one arm and the bag in the other.
Aurora kept looking at me sadly, and I couldn’t bear to see her like that.
I walked them to the elevator, and as the doors were closing, William’s eyes didn’t leave mine, and I could hear Aurora’s little voice calling me.
“Divon, Divon.”
I returned to my apartment feeling completely deflated. These past few days my home had felt lively with Aurora’s laughter and little shouts, and the previous night had been wonderful with William sleeping beside me. Now I was returning to the unmistakable solitude that was my reality.