Chapter Ten
ELIAS
Her grey eyes caught the moonlight, staring at me expectantly, a nervous hopefulness apparent in the twitch of her mouth.
A cacophony of thoughts swirled through my brain, and the thing that had been beating against my chest for weeks redoubled its efforts.
I gulped my wine, trying to pull myself together.
“You’re surprised,” she said, a shy observation, hesitant with fear of judgment or need for encouragement, it was hard to tell. I was too preoccupied by what it might mean if she stayed. My heart rate ticked up at the idea.
“I’m sorry. You caught me off guard. I was surprised, but not in a bad way. Expanding your business is a fantastic idea. And you already have a house.” The words sounded placating even to my own ears, and I hoped she didn’t pick up on my sudden unease.
“Thanks.” She beamed, her face alight with pride and hope, making her even more beautiful in the moonlight.
I exhaled, the confusion in my head falling away at the sight of her radiant smile. “You’re so beautiful, Lena.”
She lowered her eyes and tucked hair behind her ear.
She’d done that before, anytime she felt embarrassed or moments became too intimate. But I wanted her to acknowledge the truth. I took her chin between my forefinger and thumb, and tilted her head until she met my eyes. “Especially when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Smile. Really smile. From the inside. I remember the first time it happened.”
I released her chin but held her gaze, her grey eyes sparkling with surprise and curiosity.
“The first time we swam together. With the dolphins. Your entire energy transformed. Your face lit up. I remember thinking I wanted to do whatever I could to keep you smiling.”
The ocean breeze blew loose strands of moonlit hair across her freckled face, and she tucked them away. “It’s easy to smile around you, Elias. You have this… presence about you. This passion for life. It’s contagious. When I’m around you, I remember how wonderful life can be. How life used to be.
“I think I used to be like you. Living life to the fullest. Excited by each new moment, each new adventure. By nature and connection.” She looked out at the ocean. “And then life happened. So much betrayal and hurt and loss. All at once. And this heaviness settled over everything.”
The wind gusted, and she closed her eyes.
I sat quietly, allowing her a moment to simply be and feel, to soak in her realizations and the beauty surrounding her, because I’d sensed her emotions transforming over the past week.
Even though she described her pain, a distance separated her feelings from her understanding of them, and that separation had lightened her emotional burden.
She turned back to me, and those little wisps of moonlight floated around her face. My chest tightened and my fingers flexed, the urge to reach out and take her into my arms overwhelming. But she needed to finish.
“And then I came back to the island. I came home.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and contentment replaced the last vestiges of sorrow and heartbreak.
“This has always been home. I resisted it at first—the house felt so empty, so hollow. But my grandma’s spirit is still there.
It’s a part of the house, a part of the island.
It’s in my memories. And there’s comfort in that. I’m not sure I want to let that go.
“Life is peaceful here. And I desperately need peace. I think it’s time for me to start over. Here.”
Her energy lifted. She’d fallen back in love with the island, and I had no doubt its magic would heal the remaining wounds to her soul.
The song I sang to her that first night we talked sprang into my head. I couldn’t stop myself; my power surged.
Pleasures be waiting by the sea
with a smile for all the world to see.
The notes spilled out of me, threaded with my siren’s power, drawing her in as effortlessly as the words connected with her hope.
She sat transfixed, eyes wide, lips parted, breath quickening.
The beast in my chest exploded from its cage, refusing to be ignored, and in a moment of clarity, I finally knew its name—feelings.
My feelings. For Lena. Tenderness. Affection.
Desire. All for the radiant and resilient woman sitting across from me.
I needed her in my arms; the beast of my emotions refused to be caged any longer.
I sat up and moved to where she sat cross-legged on the blanket.
I reached across the remaining distance between us and brushed the wisps of hair from her face, lightly trailing my fingertips along her cheekbone.
She leaned into my touch, and the air between us crackled with anticipation.
Her eyelids shuttered, and gooseflesh pebbled her naked shoulders.
The feel of her skin and her body’s reaction made me harden with need and shattered my resolve.
I leaned in and took her bottom lip between mine.
She tasted of Chardonnay and vanilla lip gloss, and her plump, silky lip between mine destroyed rational thought.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into me.
She gripped my shoulders with delicate yet strong hands and squeezed, urging me closer.
Desire surged, and my body reacted on instinct, wanting more, wanting to possess her.
I parted her lips with my tongue and ran it along her top and bottom lip before taking her mouth.
My body hardened, aching with need, and my gentle kisses quickly turned passionate and hungry.
I lay back and pulled Lena down with me, one leg draped over my hips.
She slid a hand into the opening at the top of my shirt, and my skin burned under her touch.
I wanted to rip our clothes off and feel that sensation across my entire body.
She pulled back, and I thought I’d lose my mind.
Her fingers danced across my chest, and I ran my hand up and down her back.
She stared down at me, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, searching my face as if she wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there, but also as if she never wanted to leave.
She shifted her weight, wedging my leg tight between hers, and kissed me wildly, devouring my mouth with a hunger matching my own.
My emotions stirred, evolving into something far deeper than affection and desire. And although the feelings unnerved me, they didn’t deter my intent. I wanted her. Here. Now. I pulled her fully atop me and pressed my hips into hers. I wanted her to feel how hard she made me.
She whimpered, and I lost control. I dragged her sundress down below her breasts and thumbed her nipple. She groaned, and my breath quickened and cock twitched in response to her throaty reaction.
I released her breast and ran my hand up her firm, muscular thigh. My hands clenched when I reached the ass I’d been staring at for weeks. I squeezed, hard, and rocked her against my cock.
I slid her thong to the side and found her impossibly wet.
I ran my knuckle along her seam, up and down, and her hips moved with the rhythm of my hand.
She let out a strangled sigh and propped her leg up, silently asking for more.
I sunk two fingers into her warm depths, and she moaned with pleasure.
I alternated flicking her clit and delving my fingers into her warmth, and she trailed hers down my torso to the waistband of my pants. She took the lobe of my ear in between her teeth and tugged. The shot of pain sent a fresh jolt of desire straight to my cock.
“I want to feel you.” The words left her lips in a breathy whisper, and I shivered as they caressed my ear.
My fingers slowed when she tugged my pants down over my hips, distracted by the idea of her holding me.
She pushed them down to my knees and slid her hand inside my boxers.
I jerked at the gentle touch of her fingers on my sensitive flesh, and when she moved her thumb over the wetness at the tip, I grunted like a hungry animal.
I flipped her onto her back and ripped the tiny piece of fabric from her body.
I palmed her clit while I fucked her with my fingers.
She took my cock and pumped in a slow, steady rhythm, her hand wrapped around it in a firm, unyielding grip.
I didn’t know how long I could last, her unrelenting strokes maddening.
She thrust her hips toward me, matching my rhythm, and gripped me tighter. I was going to come, pleasure building furiously at the base of my spine. It begged for release, so I pressed my thumb over her throbbing clit in faster, harder strokes.
“Come with me, Lena.”
She moaned, deep and throaty, and it nearly sent me over the edge.
“Come with me, baby.”
Her responsive body didn’t disappoint. She stiffened then trembled, seizing around my fingers and crying out with each pulse of pleasure. And with the next stroke of her hand, I came. Hot waves of come shot from me, my hips rigid through my orgasm.
I collapsed atop her, careful not to crush her beneath my weight. We lay there for a moment, panting, spent, and satisfied.
I pressed up onto my forearms. She was so beautiful, face luminous and flushed from sex, and she looked at me as if I was a hero.
Those beastly feelings returned with a vengeance, expanding out of my chest to conquer my soul.
Panic rose to meet the tenderness, and I swallowed, an overpowering need to escape kidnapping rational thought.
My brain went wild with impressions of an imaginary future.
Burying myself inside her in my bed. Watching her fall asleep after we made love.
Waking up each morning with her in my arms.
Panic consumed me, and I froze.
Lights flickered to my right, and my head snapped up. Two flashlights. A dog barked. “Shit.”
I rolled off Lena, and we both scrambled to our feet. I grabbed a towel to wipe us off and pulled up my pants. She righted her dress, smoothed out her hair, and cleared her throat. She caught my eye and giggled.
Gods, she was so happy. What the hell was I doing? I managed a nervous chuckle.
The couple and dog wandered by giving us suspicious glances, and her giggles devolved into laughter. Her mirth was contagious, and despite the panic, I found myself laughing along with her.
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” I said.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She yawned. “It’s getting late.” She placed a hand on my arm, and I stiffened, my feelings for her at war with my growing anxiety. “You’re amazing, Elias.” She squeezed. “Thank you for bringing me back to myself.” She stood on her toes and kissed me on the cheek.
I stared down at her expectant face and swallowed, my mouth as dry as the sand. “You did that yourself, Lena. I just reminded you of your destination.” I bent down and pecked her on the cheek. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”
We walked up the beach toward the dunes, and the loud, steady beat of my pulse drummed in my ears, drowning out everything around me except for a single question: how had I let this happen?
My arms sliced through the waves like propellers through air, and my heart thumped hard against the walls of my chest as I pushed myself to my physical limits. My lungs burned with exertion, and I prayed to the gods it would mask my burning desire for Lena.
“Elias! Dude! Hold up!”
Niko’s voice snapped me out of my self-inflicted punishment, and I stopped, nostrils flaring.
“What the hell, man?” Niko was panting even harder than I was. “Are you trying to kill us?”
“No. Sorry. I—” I dragged a hand down my face.
His forehead creased, eyebrows reaching for his hairline. “Man…” He shook his head, stupefied. “She’s got you all twisted up, doesn’t she?”
My jaw clenched. “Shit, Niko. I can’t get her out of my head.”
“Why? Cause she didn’t fall all over you like everyone else? Is that what this is about?”
“No.” I shoved a hand into my hair and tugged. “I mean, it was, at the beginning, but—it’s more than that.”
Images of her face flashed through my mind. Our swim with the dolphins when I’d first seen her smile. Her surprise and delight the day I’d shown up for her yoga class. Her parted lips and lidded eyes when I’d made her come.
This went far beyond a challenge, and it freaked me the fuck out.
“Don’t tell me Elias Georgiou has feelings for a woman.” Niko grasped his throat as if he was choking, rolled his eyes back, and sank under the water. When he emerged, he sputtered as he laughed.
I looked out at the horizon and ground my teeth. I didn’t need his shit. I was beating myself up enough as it was. I didn’t want to hurt her, but…
I snapped my attention back to Niko, determined. “Open mic tonight?”
He arched an accusatory eyebrow. “You sure about that?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
And before he could unleash any more commentary, I dove into the water.