Chapter 35
SOFIA
Paradise – George Ezra
Was she dreaming?
Because if she was, Sofia never wanted to wake up.
Even though they’d barely registered the alarm for their flight to Margaret River, they’d somehow made it to the final stop of their Australian tour, and Sofia still felt drunk.
Not from alcohol, but from everything Ilias had done to her body the night before.
How he had touched her. Opened her. Ruined her, in the best way possible.
She still hadn’t said everything she felt for him, not fully. Not yet. But physically? She had surrendered. And he had taken everything she gave.
Last night, they hadn’t slept at all. Not even a minute. And this morning, she was deliciously sore between her thighs after nearly a year without sex. The final stretch with Thomas had been cold and empty; her body had shut him out long before the breakup.
But with Ilias?
She was awake. Lit from the inside. Every nerve ending was still humming. She couldn’t decide if it was him, the way he knew exactly how to make her come, again and again, or if it was simply the effect he had on her. Or both. All she knew was she wasn’t complaining.
On the five-hour flight west, they both passed out, hand in hand.
Her head on his shoulder. Her mind lazily replaying the moment he’d used the showerhead on her clit while his tongue had been inside her, and his finger teasing her ass.
She’d felt like she might implode from how much pleasure, how much feeling, he drew from her.
When she stirred from her nap, he was already awake, looking down at her with a soft grin.
He kissed her.
“And that was for?” she asked, licking her lips.
“Just because I can.”
God, she loved Horny Ilias. The man was a walking sin created to worship her body like it was a religion.
The plane was descending, not the ideal moment for emotional declarations, but the seat beside them was empty, and she could feel the truth stirring in her chest.
“Thank you,” she said softly, toying with his silver ring, “for waiting. For letting me heal. For letting me go at my own pace.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for, habiba,” he replied, brushing his thumb along her knuckles.
“I told you, I would’ve waited forever.” He chuckled.
“At first, I won’t lie, it was physical.
I was insanely attracted to you. But then I got to know you.
You’re… smart. Brave. Passionate. Funny. Sarcastic. So sexy.”
“Stop,” she said, half-laughing. “You’re going to make me fall harder.”
“As you should,” he teased with a grin, then sobered slightly. “What that asshole did to you, stealing your research, breaking your heart? It’s criminal. But the fact that you still know your worth? That you let yourself love again?” He shook his head. “You’re the bravest person I know.”
Sofia blinked back a sting of emotion. “I’m giving you my heart, Ilias Ríos El Idrissi,” she said solemnly. “Take care of it.”
His smile was crooked and beautiful. “I’ll treat it like my most prized possession.”
“More than your Olympic gold?”
He scoffed. “No contest.”
She laughed, cheesy, lovestruck, over the moon. But she needed it.
Once they landed, they made their way to the beach house Ilias and Amira had rented. It was empty. And the moment the door shut behind them, his hands were on her waist.
“As much as I’d love to fuck you on every surface of this house,” he whispered, voice already rough with need, “I have to train. Are you coming to the Athlete Zone?”
“Yeah, let me change,” she replied.
While he prepped his boards, she went into the bedroom and changed into a sundress, carrying an oversize jacket when the sun was going to dip behind the horizon.
Before she could reach the door, he blocked her, pressed her back against it, his hands gripping her wrists and pinning them above her head.
“This fucking sundress,” he growled, his mouth already at her throat. “It’s been the death of me for weeks.”
He kissed down her neck, then lower, his ringed hand slipping the strap off her shoulder. He freed her left breast from the dress and immediately sucked her nipple into his mouth.
Sofia gasped, hips grinding into the bulge pressing between them.
“Tonight,” he whispered, lips hot on her skin, “I’m going to do so many scandalous things to you, habiba. You won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”
Her whole body shuddered. Her hands clenched in his. Her pulse was screaming.
“Can you wait for me?” he asked, face buried between her breasts.
Sofia nodded breathlessly. “Can you?”
He groaned, lifting his head, chest heaving. “I’ll just think about the time my grandmother’s boobs ended up in my face. That should do the trick.”
She burst out laughing as he pulled her dress back into place.
They stepped out together, strolling down the path to the beach, the Athlete Zone already buzzing in the distance.
She hadn’t had a second to text Alejandra and spill what happened. Or, more accurately, who had gone down on her. But when her best friend spotted them approaching, hand in hand, glowing from the inside out, her Cheshire Cat smile said it all.
“Fucking finally,” Alejandra grinned.
“What do you mean?” Sofia asked, playing coy as Ilias greeted Alejandra with a kiss on the cheek.
“You fucked.”
“Efectivamente,” Ilias said proudly, like it was a championship title. “She’s got the Ríos glow now.”
“Ew, Ilias,” Sofia laughed, swatting at him while Alejandra cackled, her signature ungraceful witch laugh that always made Sofia crack up too.
“You weren’t saying ew last night when I—”
She slapped a hand over his mouth. “Go. Train. Surf. Do whatever you need to do.”
He grinned devilishly. “Alright. Bye, girls.”
He gave her a deep, slow kiss, no more polite cheek pecks now, then sauntered off, greeting people, glowing with that signature post-sex swagger.
“He’s got the Moretti Gómez glow too,” Alejandra said, nudging her. “You light him up even more than he does you.”
Sofia blushed. “Thanks for last night. For kicking me into doing it.”
“I should be worshipped as a goddess,” Alejandra declared. “You should build me an altar.”
The mood shifted the moment Edward passed nearby, smiling with that Aussie girl from Snapper. Sofia’s eyes narrowed.
“Edward,” she called out, her tone calm. Too calm.
He turned, still smug. “Sofia. Still here with Ilias?”
She smiled sweetly, then turned to the blonde. “He has untreated chlamydia. You should get tested.”
Edward’s face went pale. The girl looked horrified.
“And he’s a cheater,” Sofia added casually. “Won’t take him long to move on once he finds a shinier toy.” She patted the girl’s shoulder. “Have fun while it lasts.”
Then she walked back to Alejandra, whose jaw was on the floor.
“What the fuck just happened?”
Sofia grinned. “I think Ilias fucked the provocative spirit into me.”
Alejandra let out a breathless laugh. “Oh my god, I love Ilias for that.”