Chapter 36 – Oliver
KNOW ME
OLIVER
We leave that alley behind, her slick still on my lips.
The taste lingers pleasantly on my tongue.
I drive downtown, licking them every so often, needing every single taste that clings to my lips.
Nothing tastes like Vale. Nothing tastes like her arousal or her blood.
At one point in my life, I would have been disgusted by my hunger, but with her, it feels inevitable.
I’d gone so long without it, pushing that hunger down for fear it would consume me, but it’s different with her. I’m jubilant with each taste.
I take her to an early dinner, near the market.
It’s a Greek place, little more than a dive.
We sit next to each other on a green vinyl booth that’s seen better days.
It’s possible to judge the restaurant poorly for its dated décor, but they serve fantastic food.
Of course it made me miss the Mediterranean.
I miss it eventually, no matter where I go.
It’s my constant. The place I feel the most at home.
Vale slides closer nervously. I’m stunned when she leans her head on my shoulder, and it occurs to me, as I lay my head against hers, that we are, in fact, on a date. I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a date with the intention of seeing someone again. I’m nervous just thinking about it.
“Where are you from?” she asks out of the blue, her head still on my shoulder. “I don’t recognize your accent. Your mom sounds like she’s from England, but you don’t.”
I place a kiss on her gardenia-scented hair. “You want to know where I was born or where I was raised?” Those two places are very different.
“Either. Both. I can’t figure your accent out. It’s been going around and around in my head. It’s familiar, like I’ve heard it before. I’m curious about you,” she says when I sit up. She’s looking up at me with those big aqua eyes now.
“My accent isn’t from anywhere. I’ve lived all over the world. I’ve picked up different accents on the way. I lived in Greece till I was twelve, Corinth actually. I left Corinth for Bab—” I can’t tell her Babylon. “I spent my teenage years in Iraq, near Baghdad.”
“Oh, wow. Is Greek your first language?”
“I grew up with people who spoke many languages. I think my first language was Greek, but I also spoke a unique dialect based on Semitic languages, similar to Aramaic and Hebrew. My uncle and my grandfather are very good teachers.” That’s an understatement, having angels for family means they can teach you anything quickly.
Almost like they can beam the information directly into your brain.
“You spoke multiple languages as a child? You must be very smart. I’ve never been outside the United States. My parents mission all over the world, but I don’t go with them. I’d like to travel one day. I want to see the world.”
I want to show it to her. “I don’t live anywhere very long. I like to wander, always have.”
Vale looks up at me sadly. “You won’t be staying long in Silver Springs?” She thinks she’ll lose me.
I get close to her ear and whisper. “I don’t age. I can’t stay anywhere very long before people notice.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. How old are you?”
Vale’s curious, but we don’t tell mortals about ourselves, not often anyway, and only with a trusted few. I’ve never wanted to tell anyone everything about myself. It’s a new thing for me, but most things are with Vale. I want her to know me.
“I told you the truth, I’m twenty-five. That’s when I stopped aging and became immortal.”
“When was that?” she pushes, but that part isn’t something mortals understand easily. You can’t tell someone you’ve been alive for more than two thousand years and expect them to understand. They don’t get it because they can’t fathom that length of time.
“Does it matter how long I’ve walked the earth?”
She thinks about the question, then shrugs. “It doesn’t matter, not really. I want to know you. I want all your secrets,” she whispers with a half-hearted smile.
There’s some part of me that loves it when she uses my words against me.
I love it when she stands up to me and when she gets snarky.
She’d come so far in the last couple weeks, continuing to surprise me at every turn.
She’s so brave. She wasn’t afraid when I told her what I was.
She didn’t judge me or run away. And, somehow, she still looks at me like I’m the normal one.
The owner steps over, food piled high on a serving tray, and I tell him thank you in Greek. When I met Alexander Dimitriou, he couldn’t have been more excited that I spoke his language. That, in fact, I was one of his countrymen. That’s how I saw myself at least.
Greece felt like home because it was the last place that I felt happy.
I had an amazing childhood, one that was blessed by joy.
Time didn’t matter, and I yearned for that peaceful existence again.
I returned again and again, searching, waiting, and hoping to feel it.
I knew it wasn’t possible. I’d never feel that innocent joy again because nothing would ever be the same.
“So this is your young lady friend. I’m happy you brought her with you this time,” he says, hiding his words from Vale. At least now he won’t ask me to marry his daughter again.
“This is Vale Granger, my girlfriend. Vale, this is Alexander Dimitriou, he owns this place.”
Vale offers her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dimitriou,” she says sweetly. He takes her hand in his, leaning over and kissing her knuckles while he looks at me. His thick eyebrows go up and down. It’s hard not to laugh because he’s trying to make me jealous.
“Call me Alex, no mister this and that. You make me too old,” he says, giving Vale a playful wink. He tells us to enjoy the meze, then steps away. He meets up with his youngest daughter. She looks over at me with a sad smile and a wave.
“Who is that woman?” Vale asks when I wave back.
“That’s Alex’s daughter Daphne.”
“It looks like her heart is broken. What did you do?”
“I did nothing. He told her that you’re my girlfriend, and she missed her chance. He asked me to marry Daphne when we met. I declined obviously.”
“I noticed you said girlfriend. Am I your girlfriend now?”
I turn away from the father and daughter, who’re now arguing over grandchildren, and wrap my left arm around Vale’s shoulder. When I squeeze her close, our eyes meet. I can’t get over how beautiful she is.
“You’re more than that. This, between us, is special. I want you to be my girlfriend and one day, if I’m lucky, you’ll be my wife,” I explain nonchalantly. My words shock her. I knew they would. She has no idea how much I want her to be mine.
“Do you love me?” she whispers, her cheeks heating, her heart beating faster. She turns away, unable to look at me. She stares down at her hands in her lap.
I swallow hard, then squeeze my right hand into a tight fist.
“You don’t have to answer that,” she says.
And suddenly I hear, Please, let Oliver love me.
It's the first time I’ve ever heard her thoughts.
I can read many human thoughts, and immortals, but Vale’s mind is strong and usually closed off.
The way she begs, like it’s a prayer to the Light, is painful to hear.
“I’ll tell you everything later. I’ll offer you all my secrets. If you loved me, would you tell me right now? Or would you wait till tonight when no one but us can hear our confessions?”
Vale tries to calm her breathing as she realizes what I said. I admitted I loved her without saying those exact words. Am I selfish not to tell her in a restaurant? She asked me, and I want to tell her, but I want it to be special, just us.
“Let’s eat. Then tell me what’s your favorite.”
“I already know. Dolmades. Those are always my favorite.”
I grab one between my fingers and hold it up to her mouth.
She stares at me for a moment before she takes a bite.
Her eyes close as she chews, and a soft moan escapes.
I’m hard right away. I’m part lust demon, but I’ve never been so horny as I am around this woman.
She fucks my brain all up. My body’s constantly on fire when she’s near me.
It’s been difficult to deny her. She thinks I’m not affected, but I am.
Vale wraps her lips around my fingers as our eyes meet. Her gaze is hot, hungry. She has no idea how desirable she is. She steals the last bite from my fingers. “Mmm. So good,” she moans. It’s such a simple sound, but my brain blanks for a moment as all the blood in my body rushes to my cock.
“You’re so sexy right now,” I growl, the sound vibrating in my throat like the purr of a wild cat.
Her body reacts. I can smell her desire in the air. She’s getting wet, again. She bites her lip when she’s turned on. In that moment, she sucks her own lip in and bites it hard. She’s trying to get control of herself, but I don’t want her to. I want her to lose herself with me.
“Tell me your favorite.”
“That’s easy, you,” I explain as I lean in close to whisper in her ear. “Nothing tastes as good as you do. It’s all ashes on my tongue in comparison.”
“Oliver, stop. I’m struggling. Please,” she begs, and it’s so sweet.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her until I realize I’m not sorry, not in the least. “I lied. I’m not sorry. I want you. I know how it feels, Vale. You showed me exactly how it made you feel. The only part I’m sorry about is that I haven’t taken your ache away yet, but I will. I swear to you, I will.”
Vale takes a drink of sparkling water, trying to cool herself down. She grabs another dolma, but I grab her hand and take it with my teeth, wrapping my lips around her fingers. Then I lick her fingers clean as she stares at me with wide eyes.
“Mmm, those are good.”
“That was mine,” she pouts, and I want to bite that lip. I want to make it bleed. Then I want to lick and suck it, soothing the pain away.
I grab another and feed it to her. Then it’s her turn to feed me.
It’s foreplay, a dance. When we finish, she excuses herself because she can’t take it a moment longer.
Alex comes to the table and waves his hand in front of my face.
“I should charge you extra for scaring off the customers,” he says angrily, but laughs anyway.
“Sorry,” I say, even though I’m not.
“Love is special,” is all he says before he departs with the plates.
I call my mother while Vale is in the bathroom. “You gotta get Nick out of my house,” I say the moment she answers the phone.
She starts laughing. “Why is that?” she asks, being irritating as always. It’s not a great thing because I’m on edge.
“You know why. I can’t wait any longer. I need you both gone. Please, Mother. Take him out. Night on the town. Get super drunk and stay in a hotel. I don’t care, just make sure we’re alone.”
“He’s already drunk. Half an hour before passing out, I’d imagine.” I can hear him singing a Sinatra song in the background.
“Please! I need you to do this for me.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she says. “Nick, let’s go dancing! Out to the clubs,” she yells like a young party girl.
“That sounds fun. Can’t drive though. Call a cab!”
“You owe me, you little shit,” she groans. She’s joking. This is the kind of thing she lives for.
“Right. Please feed him, give him some coffee. Don’t bring him back till tomorrow evening at least. I need time with her.”
“I know. I think we’ll play, ‘Woke up hungover in Savannah. Unsure how we got there.’”
Vale steps forward. “Gotta go,” I tell my mother, then hang up.
“Who was that?”
“My mother. She’s just letting me know that Nick and her are going clubbing tonight,” I say with a chuckle.
“What? It’s five o’clock on a Wednesday.” She can’t believe what I’m telling her.
“Yeah, they wanted to go dancing.”
Vale shakes her head. “Is Lais trying to corrupt Gramps?” She looks amused and worried at the same time.
“Maybe, but she won’t let anything happen to him. I’m sure they’ll have a blast. No worries.”
Vale stands there staring at me. “I need to get him some of those cookies, so we have to make a stop at that posh market. Is that okay?”
“Of course it is. I thought you wanted to go shopping. There’s one place I want to take you before we go back.”
I can’t wait to get her into lingerie. I can’t wait to rip it off her. I can’t wait to experience everything with her. I can’t wait till she’s mine.